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Killjoys and Dark Matter return for their second seasons on SyFy on July 1. I can't wait! Like them both although I ended up liking Killjoys better by the end of their freshmen runs.

"Personnel of Interest" returns this week. (Tuesday)

Also, "Penny Dreadful" returns to US premium cable Showtime, and something called "Houdini & Doyle" debuts on Fox, which is apparently some sort of steampunk police procedural. Because, there aren't enough cop shows.

CBS is burning off the last half-season of Person of Interest, so after the season premier on Tuesday, it will be on Monday and Tuesday nights. Ridiculous way to handle things, but at least we get to mini-binge on it and we get to what must surely be an epic finale very quickly.

So sad it's ending!

Michele wrote: "CBS is burning off the last half-season of Person of Interest, so after the season premier on Tuesday, it will be on Monday and Tuesday nights. Ridiculous way to handle things, but at least we get to mini-binge on it and we get to what must surely be an epic finale very quickly."

Much as I've enjoyed Person of Interest since it transformed from a crime drama with a thin layer of science fiction to outright sci-fi, I think endings are good thing.

I've mused before that TV shows are never allowed to voluntarily end and so produce stories that eventually twist their plots into messes more complicated than the nest of cables behind my entertainment center. So before we find out that Root is a Cylon and Bear is spy planted by Samaritan, I think we should just wrap things up.

I agree 100%, G33z3r. Lately, I've been calling it a bait and switch operation. They bring me in for the original premise -- save a person each week -- and then change it up.

If that's the show they wanted to make, why didn't they pitch it that way from the start?

I don't even watch reruns of the show, because I have no idea where in the "big story" it's going to be.

Seems like every show of this type wants to go from a "xxx of the week" format to "OMG! They're trying to take over the world!"

I've been preoccupied with anime for the past few months, so I haven't watched a lot of recent TV shows, but I did keep up with Lucifer. I liked it a lot! I like police shows, but they can get boring, so it was fun to spice things up with whatever crazy drama Lucifer gets going. I'm glad that they decided to renew it.

We liked Lucifer, too. It was an interesting take on the character.

It's "upfronts week", where the US broadcast networks show off their planned Fall shows for advertisers, which also tends to reveal what's new and what's canceled.

Supergirl will return, but moved to the CW to join other DC franchises Arrow, Flash, & Legends of Tomorrow.

Agents of SHIELD will return, but Agent Carter is done (Atwell has new new gig in a new crime show) and the rumored new "Marvel's Most Wanted" spinoff won't happen.

Gotham, Lucifer, Once upon a Time, Sleepy Hollow & Grimm will be back.

The CW had previously announced it was renewing all its then current shows (Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Vampire Diaries, Originals Supernatural, iZombie, The 100). Their currently running Containment is canceled (it really didn't feel like it belonged on the network.)

Last Man on Earth will return (defying expectations.)

I can't tell what they're doing with Limitless or Sleepy Hollow.


New SF&F:

"Time after Time", based on the (which is excellent, BTW) about HG Wells and his Time Machine.

"Frequency" based on the 2000 film.


Gone are: Minority Report, Gallivant, Agent Carter, Person of Interest, Heroes Reborn, Beauty & The Beast, Extant, Under the Dome, Second Chance, Angel from Hell, X-Files, Containment.


This is Broadcast Networks only (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW.)

Edit: Sleep Hollow is renewed.

Dang, I was enjoying Containment. But then I saw it was a "limited" series so I was hoping for a nice wrap up at the end anyway.

And, crap, I love Gallivant! Why can't the network ever embrace something that's fun and different? Instead they'll rerun episodes of crappy shows or put on more reality drivel that I will not watch.

Kivrin wrote: "Dang, I was enjoying Containment. But then I saw it was a "limited" series so I was hoping for a nice wrap up at the end anyway...."

"Limited series" is the network newspeak for "new show we don't want to feel embarrassed about if we cancel it".

Kivrin wrote: "I love Gallivant! Why can't the network ever embrace something that's fun and different?..."

I enjoyed Gallivant, too. But based on the ratings, you and I may be the only ones. :(

Is anyone else watching Gotham? It's fantastic. So different than the other DC series. It's really cool seeing the development of the characters & it's gritty. Has a steampunk feel in a lot of ways, but not always. Telephones have rotary dials, but they have cell phones, too. People get mutilated & killed, even good guys doing bad things.

DC has generally disappointed me. The last Flash I watched (I'm 3 or 4 behind) was awful & I quit watching Arrow halfway through season 2. I keep wanting to smack the characters. Not so in Gotham, though.

I somewhat enjoyed Gallavant, but they lost me on the first show of the 2nd season with that stupid song about how glad they were to be renewed. After about 5 minutes of that, I shut it off.

Jim wrote: "Is anyone else watching Gotham? It's fantastic. So different than the other DC series...."

I'm not a fan of grim dark & ugly, so I didtched Gotham after a couple of season 1 eps. I'm not watching any of the other DC series, either.

Randy wrote: "I somewhat enjoyed Gallavant, but they lost me on the first show of the 2nd season with that stupid song about how glad they were to be renewed. After about 5 minutes of that, I shut it off."

I thought that song was hilariously meta. But one of the advantages of a DVR is you can skip parts you don't like in any show. (Any time I fast forward through more than 50% of a show, I drop it. :)

Randy wrote: "I somewhat enjoyed Gallavant, but they lost me on the first show of the 2nd season with that stupid song about how glad they were to be renewed. After about 5 minutes of that, I shut it off."

But then you missed some of the BEST songs AND Tad Cooper! Seriously, the second season belonged to King Richard! It was great.

Sleepy Hollow...I can't imagine it keeping even half of it's viewers now that it is only one half of the team that made the entire show work. So disappointing! The show was a lot of silly fun the first season and then it just avalanched into a mess - and even through all that the two leads were amazing together no matter how stupid the episodes were.

The network is smoking some funny stuff if it thinks the show will survive after all this.

Michele wrote: "Sleepy Hollow...I can't imagine it keeping even half of it's viewers now that it is only one half of the team that made the entire show work. So disappointing! The show was a lot of silly fun the first..."

I wasn't watching the last season, but I did see that "Abbie" was leaving. That, the really low (and dropping) ratings, and the fact that so many of the fans the show had seemed really unhappy with Abbie's departure, meant the renewal came as a surprise to an awful lot of people. They're going to have to do some serious retooling.

Jim wrote: " I quit watching Arrow halfway through season 2. I keep wanting to smack the characters"

So did I. But I had to grit my teeth throughout because of the stupid hoods. How could martial artists possibly compromise their vision that way? Suspending disbelief for sci fi and supernatural elements is one thing; I cannot do it for quotidian stupidity.

I only watched as much as I did because my grown son loves the series.

FYI, AMC (US cable service) debuts this coming Sunday (5/22). Based on the supernatural comic of the same name by Garth Ennis �

Preacher

G33z3r wrote: "I can't tell what they're doing with Limitless "

I dropped Blindspot, despite my crush on Jaimie Alexander, in favor of Limitless for the award of my viewership in the category: "completely unrealistic super law enforcement agency in the midst of a conspiracy or musical." The character treatment is more entertaining, giving me a much easier time suspending disbelief for procedural and technical errors.

While I do still have the Finale Part 1! and Part 2!! on the DVR right now, I do hope this one gets picked up (and can maintain the fun-ness of the story).

The most recent science fictional TV series I'm interested in is the anime adaptation of Pandora in the Crimson Shell. It was first broadcast in mid-January of this year.

D. wrote: "I dropped Blindspot, despite my crush on Jaimie Alexander"

I'm still watching, even though the premise is absurd beyond belief.

D. wrote: "G33z3r wrote: "I can't tell what they're doing with Limitless "

I dropped Blindspot, despite my crush on Jaimie Alexander, in favor of Limitless for the award of my viewership in the category: "co..."

I also found Limitless a much more fun watch than Blindspot. The finale was fun and at least gave the show an opening for a new season. Hope it gets renewed. I have eight episodes of Blindspot on my DVR....which means I didn't care enough to keep up with it.

We dropped Blindspot quickly, too. I like Limitless, but The Boss didn't care for it much & it conflicted with one of her shows, so I rarely get to see it. It's not a big deal to miss, but it is fun.

Not really SF, but there is a new season of Robot Wars on now. Is anyone else watching it? I've only caught one episode, but really liked it. I used to watch something similar back in the early 90s on PBS. It was a British robot battle show. Great stuff. They've come a long way since then. Apparently there is a 250 lb weight limit & some contenders use multiple robots. They didn't fare well, but it was a cool idea.

Jim wrote: " new season of Robot Wars"

Funny, seems to be a week of reminding me of an art director I worked with for a while (over a decade). We were both huge fans of Battlebots and worked up some designs for bots to compete. We were obsessed with taking out ultra-light-weight champion Ziggo.

We never built any of our designs; we could never figure out how to get the magnetic couplers on the mini-lion robots to hold when they came together to form the giant civet robot, Skai-King.

Those pesky laws of physics...
;)

I don't know if this is still on or not, but I want to watch.

My husband found this Star Trek shuttlecraft tent idea and he knew I'd like it....


What I love is the comments under the tent!

LOL! You're right, the comments are great.
:)

Well, crap! Just heard Limitless has been cancelled. I'm sure CBS will replace it with some reality stupid reality show. I'm bummed.

Kivrin wrote: "Well, crap! Just heard Limitless has been cancelled. I'm sure CBS will replace it with some reality stupid reality show. I'm bummed."

Darn it... the finale made me really happy, too. Now I'm sad.

I wasn't super thrilled with Limitless, but found it better than many. I still watched it, anyway. I've had it with all the DC shows except Gotham. I left the last 5 Flashes unwatched & deleted them.

G33z3r wrote: "FYI, AMC (US cable service) debuts Preacher this coming Sunday (5/22). Based on the supernatural comic of the same name by Garth Ennis Preacher"

Well, I didn't even get through the first episode before I dropped it. Not for me.

BTW, US premium cable service Cinemax is premiering a series titled "Outcast" this Friday (June 3). It's described as a horror series about a guy who is possessed, co-developed as a comic of the same name, Outcast

G33z3r wrote: "BTW, US premium cable service Cinemax is premiering a series titled "Outcast" this Friday (June 3). It's described as a horror series about a guy who is possessed, co-developed as a comic of the sa..."

I bought the latest volume of The Walking Dead comic book a couple weeks ago and it came bundled with the first issue of Outcast (both series have the same writer, Robert Kirkman). It was OK but nothing great - it definitely had a lot to do with demon possession and exorcisms.

Well, I removed from the DVR after one episode. A dystopian Australian production running on Sundance channel in US. Gritty, ugly, repressive police state in which apparently everyone is mean and angry. I never got far enough to figure out what the title meant.

G33z3r wrote: "G33z3r wrote: "FYI, AMC (US cable service) debuts Preacher this coming Sunday (5/22). Based on the supernatural comic of the same name by Garth Ennis Preacher"

Well, I didn't even get..."

I did watch the whole thing, but being someone who isn't a comic reader, the episode seemed to unfocused and lacking in information, making it a struggle to watch. I'll probably watch another episode or two before making up my mind.

G33z3r wrote: "Well, I removed Cleverman from the DVR after one episode. A dystopian Australian production running on Sundance channel in US. Gritty, ugly, repressive police state in which apparently everyone is ..."

Apparently it's something to do with people who are different, ala x-men or something, but based on Aboriginal legends, but the show seems strongly focused on forms of racism and acceptance of diversity, which turned me off right away.

G33z3r wrote: "BTW, US premium cable service Cinemax is premiering a series titled "Outcast" this Friday (June 3). It's described as a horror series about a guy who is possessed, co-developed as a comic of the sa..."

Why are the main characters always damaged, with strange childhoods, and social misfits these days. I'd much prefer a nutcase who is clever enough to blend in with society like the Stainless Steel Rat

V.W. wrote: "Why are the main characters always damaged, with strange childhoods, and social misfits these days. I'd much prefer a nutcase who is clever enough to blend in with society like the Stainless Steel Rat ..."

I think I agree with that. The angsty, broody, loner anti-hero is getting really over-saturated. (There was a nice send-up of that in Deadpool with Reynolds & Baccarin trying to one-up each other in tragic background stories.)

Well put, G33z3r. I agree with both. The lack of self pity & angst in Deadpool was very refreshing, although the comedy was a bit over done. Still, a lot of fun. I forgot to DVR Cleverman, glad I did, now. I've had too many good books lately & haven't watched much TV at all. We're trying to watch 'Gods of Egypt', but this is night 2 & we're still only halfway through.

We ate early & then my wife & daughter went out to do the horses. They couldn't get the goats put away because we had pruned one of the rose bushes tonight (with all the rain, it grew over 3' in a month & was laying over in the yard) & they were too enthralled, so I had to go out. The girls were sweaty & peeved from chasing them around, so were really put out when I went out & they walked right in for me. Now they're sulking.
:)

Jim wrote: "Is anyone else watching Gotham? It's fantastic. So different than the other DC series. It's really cool seeing the development of the characters & it's gritty. Has a steampunk feel in a lot of ways..."

Totally agree. I am on the second season now and if anything it is shaping up to be better than the first.

Ron Howard to make Neil Stephenson's Seveneves into a movie.



I really have to read this book!

Nice interview with Terry Brooks about the The Shannara Chronicles t.v. show. I'm glad it got renewed.

I want to throw some applause to "Person of Interest", which ran its season finale last week after five seasons. It's an interesting show because it started out with the marginal sci-fi aspect (a predictive artificial intelligence that monitored everything and each week tossed out a "number" that led to a simple crime investigation) and after a few seasons chasing organized crime/police corruption, transformed itself into a real sci-fi show about a surveillance state (eerily predicting some of Mr. Snowden's disclosures along the way.)

Clearly CBS didn't expect much of its final season, but it did give it 13 episodes to wrap up its storyline. So thanks for that.

I hated the transformation of Person of Interest. I consider it bait and switch. I also disliked the organized crime and police corruption arcs. I wanted a simple "number of the week" show like they advertised at the start. IMO, killing Carter was the first nail in their coffin.

Randy wrote: "I hated the transformation of Person of Interest. I consider it bait and switch. I also disliked the organized crime and police corruption arcs. I wanted a simple "number of the week" show like they advertised at the start. IMO, killing Carter was the first nail in their coffin...."

I have hardly watched any of the episodes from the first 3 seasons. The crime of the week format just seemed like every other TV crime drama. I got interested somewhere in season 4, and then went back and filled in some episodes to catch up on the Samaritan storyline. So I have no real impression of Detective Carter.

I was a little surprised they didn't have Taraji Henson back to reprise the role for the finale, though.

Starting to binge Outlander. Still great. I love Tobias Menzies!

I tried Outlander. It was moving way too slow, but maybe I'll give it another shot now that Game of Thrones is over.

Jevon wrote: "I tried Outlander. It was moving way too slow, but maybe I'll give it another shot now that Game of Thrones is over."

Maybe The Last Kingdom is more to your liking.

Outlander does need time to get used to. I enjoyed the sceneries, score and costumes first, before I got attached to the characters. I tried to read the novel but could not past chapter 2 ;p