SciFi Rebooting "Alien Nation"

The SciFi Channel is developing a new television series based on Alien Nation, a 1988 science fiction movie that spawned a TV series and a handful of made-for-TV movies. Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon, the Alien Nation movie was a dark police procedural with a science fiction twist. Aliens known as “Newcomers” who crashed in the California desert formed a colony of sorts in the Los Angeles area, and a human policeman (Matthew Sykes) teams up with an alien cop (Sam, later “George” Francisco) to investigate a number of crimes in the Newcomer community.

According to Variety, the cable channel sees Alien Nation, with its prominent police procedural elements, as being more than just hard sci-fi, and thus a perfect choice for the network, which is trying to “widen its footprint” as it prepares to re-brand itself as the SyFy Channel starting next week in what has become a controversial marketing maneuver.

Tim Minnear, who has worked on Angel, The X-Files, and Firefly, is creating the backstory and mythology for the new Alien Nation. The series is likely to take its cue more from the Alien Nation TV series, which was essentially a series of morality plays about the evils of racism with the Newcomers standing in for racial, ethnic, and even gender minorities, than from the original feature film.

The TV series only lasted on year on Fox before it was cancelled (along with all the other dramatic series on the fledgling network because of a cash crunch), but it made a definite impression. It developed a cult following and inspired a number of spin-offs including a series of novels, a comic book from Malibu’s Adventure Comics imprint that was published from 1990-1992, and five made-for-TV-movies, which Fox began airing in 1994.

The ratings success of the updated Battlestar Galactica is behind the cable network’s desire to reboot Alien Nation for 21st Century audiences. The new version of Alien Nation will take place in the Pacific Northwest in the 2020s after the Newcomers have grown to a minority of over 3 million living in ghettoized communities. Like the original TV show, the new Alien Nation will be a “buddy cop” series that takes on the issues of racism, immigration, assimilation, and the clash of cultures, and like the original it will also include some satire and humor.

Gundam 00 Premieres on the Sci Fi Channel Tonight

1st 2 episodes of re-imagining of robot war anime to run at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT

The Sci Fi television network in the United States will premiere Bandai Entertainment's English dubbing of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime series with two episodes tonight at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. The series provides a new interpretation of the Gundam robot war mythology that is set in our own real-world history.

In this wartorn future, mankind has splintered into three major factions over energy resources. However, a group known as the Celestial Being aims to eradicate war with four giant robotic mecha known as Gundams and their Gundam Meister pilots.

Fullmetal Alchemist's Seiji Mizushima directed this series with scripts supervised by Honey and Clover's Yousuke Kuroda. Loveless and Earthian manga creator Yun Kouga designed the original characters, which Basilisk's Michinori Chiba adapted for animation.

Gundam 00 to Premiere November 24th on Sci Fi Channel's Ani-Monday

November 11, 2008 (Cypress, CA) – Bandai Entertainment Inc. announced today that it has licensed the television rights to the series “Mobile Suit Gundam 00” to Starz Media. The series will have its U.S. premiere on the Sci Fi Channel November 24th at 11 p.m. on SCI FI's “Ani- Monday” programming block. Two episodes will air that night and each week throughout the fall and spring of 2009.

“Mobile Suit Gundam 00” is the latest installment in the long running franchise and takes place in the year 2307 A.D. When fossil fuels have been completely depleted and humanity has turned to solar energy to maintain its way of life, the controlling nations of the solar power find themselves at war with more impoverished countries. These sun-deprived countries threaten the “promised land of God,” which leads to the formation of a group called the Celestial Being, whose purpose is to end war and unite humanity through the use of four Gundam mech.

The series is directed by Seiji Mizushima whose past credits as a director and storyboard artist include Fullmetal Alchemist, Evangelion, and Appleseed: Ex Machina.

Following its U.S. broadcast it will be released on DVD in 2009 by Bandai Entertainment Inc.

'Stargate: Universe' in 2009

After 'Atlantis' Wraps, DTV Movie

August 22, 2008
Sci Fi Channel has pulled the trigger on Stargate: Universe, the third series in the successful franchise, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The new series, which has been in development for some time (see “Third Stargate Series in Development”), will kick off with a two hour movie early next year, with the regular series premiering in the summer.

The producers of the first two Stargate series, Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, are also producing Universe. The storyline follows a team of explorers who end up on an ancient unmanned spaceship which takes them on a preprogrammed mission through space, and as such, will have more space-based action than the other two series. The producers are planning to look for a cast with a younger appeal, to introduce Stargate to a new audience.

Sci Fi Channel has announced that the current season of Stargate Atlantis, its fifth (see “Stargate Atlantis Renewed”) will be the last, and will be followed by a two hour movie in January 2009. The film will be shown on the Sci Fi Channel before being released on DVD.

Sci Fi has released two Stargate DTV movies, Ark of Truth and Continuum. Stargate Continuum, just released on DVD, was the third best selling DVD in America its first week of release (ssee “Stargate Continuum Solid on DVD”).

Stargate SG-1, the first series, ran 10 seasons on Showtime and Sci Fi; Stargate Atlantis will have run five years on Sci Fi Channel.