SF Tube Talk Fall Preview From the Magrathea/SFTV Page http://tv.acmecity.com/scifi/4 Last updated Sept 9th, 1999 Sources include network & production company press releases and notices, inform ational sites such as Cinescape Online, Ain't It Cool News, Another Universe's Mania Ma gazine, Sci-Fi Wire, Backstage Pass, Ultimate TV, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and vario us SFTV list subscribers who have sent me info or links. New season start dates : Stargate SG-1 Sept 13 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 2) Outer Limits Sept 20 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 5) Poltergesit: The Legacy Sept 20 (Syndciated - Week of - Season 4) Psi Factor Sept 20 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 4) Honey I Shrunk The Kids Sept 20 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 3) Relic Hunter Sept 20 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) Peter Benchley's Amazon Sept 20 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) 3rd Rock From the Sun Sept 21 (NBC - Season 5 - Moving to 8:30 pm Tue) Star Trek: Voyager Sept 22 (UPN - Season 6) Early Edition Sept 25 (CBS - Season 4) The Pretender Sept 25 (NBC - Season 4) Profiler Sept 25 (NBC - Season 4) Futurama Sept 26 (FOX - Season 2) Hercules Sept 27 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 6) Xena Sept 27 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 5) The Lost World Sept 27 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) 7 Days Sept 29 (UPN - Season 2) Charmed Sept 30 (WB - Season 2 - Moving to 9:00 pm Thu) Earth: Final Conflict Oct 4 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 3) Beastmaster Oct 4 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) Dilbert Oct 5 (UPN - Season 2 - moving to Tues 8 pm) Buffy The Vampire Slayer Oct 5 (The WB - Season 4) Angel Oct 5 (The WB - Debut) Roswell Oct 6 (The WB - Debut) Harsh Realm Oct 8 (FOX - Debut) Blockbuster Video's Shockwave Cinema Oct 8 (UPN - debut) The X-Files Nov 7 (FOX - Season 7) Cleopatra 2525 Jan 17 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) Jack of All Trades Jan 17 (Syndicated - Week of - debut) Total Recall 2070 midseason (Syndicated - debut) Secret Agent Man midseason (UPN - Debut) ================== Broadcast Networks ================== NBC - No new weekly genre shows. NBC - Returning The Pretender - Returns at 9 pm ET/PT on Saturday nights The Profiler - Returns at 10 pm ET/PT Saturday nights. Ally Walker is leaving the show and will be written out in the season's opening two-parter, which will also introduce Jamie Lumer as Rachel Burke, the new Profiler that wi ll be the focus of the show. 3rd Rock From the Sun - Moving to 8:30 pm ET/PT Tuesdays NBC Mini-Series The Tenth Kingdom (NBC - February 6, 7, 13, 14, 2000) Ten hour fantasy miniseries from Robert Halmi, Sr. (Executive Producer), David Carson and Herbert Wise (Directors) and Simon Moore (Writer/Producer). The story starts in New York City where Virginia (Kimberly Williams) and her father Tony (John Larroquette) encounter a stray dog, who ends up being a prince under an evil spell. The group of them go to the Land of Nine Kingdoms via a magic mirror wherein they encounter an evil queen who has escaped from the Snow White Memorial Prison. The evil queen is trying to snatch the throne from a Prince Wendell (played by Daniel Lapaine). The world the story takes place in is where all those old fairy tales actually happened. Leprechauns (NBC - November 7 & 8, 1999) Forbidden love brings a bitter leprechaun war to the enchanted Emerald Isle. A young American who discovers the quaint country cottage tries to set things straight after a leprechaun runs off with a fairy princess -- setting off a cha in of humorous, spectacular and magical events. Dyson Lovell ("Alice in Wonderland," "Merlin") produces the pic penned by Peter Barnes ("Alice in Wonderland," "Noah's Ark") and directed by Nick Willing ("Alice in Wonderland"). Jason and the Argonauts (NBC - April 30 & May 1, 2000) Our hero sets out to find the Golden Fleece to reclaim his father's kingdom fro m the evil King Pelias. Braving six-armed giants, dragons, and beautiful women -- Jason me ets a king's daughter, Medea, and falls madly in love. Jason and Medea are forced to steal the Fleece and escape from her greedy family, using magic to overcome their obstacles. Robert Halmi, Sr. ("Merlin," "The Odyssey") is executive producer. John Mortime r ("Tea with Mussolini," "Brideshead Revisited") is the writer. NBC Mid-season NBC - The Others - This suspenseful one-hour drama series from DreamWorks, lace d with humor and romance, focuses on a diverse group of people bound by their powers to conn ect with the spirit world. Steven Spielberg, who got his start on NBC's "Night Gallery" hel ped in the genesis of this thriller starring Julianne Nicholson ("One True Thing" ) as Mar ian Kitt, a na‹ve co-ed with a gift for seeing into the past. DreamWorks Television and NBC Studios have signed a multiyear deal with Glen Morgan and Jim Wong, who will serve as execut ive producers for "The Others", which NBC has ordered 13 episodes for a mid-season replacemen t for next year. CBS - Returning CBS - Early Edition - Returning to its 8 pm ET/PT Saturday night time slot. CBS - New - Now and Again - Created by Glenn Gordon Caron ("Moonlighting"), is an action-drama about a sch leppy middle-aged insurance salesman (played by John Goodman) who is literally rebuilt into a six-million dollar man for a new age. When a freak accident leaves Ben (Eric Close) Wiseman's body completely obliterated (with the exception of his brain, which remains fully intact), the government covertly makes him an offer he can't refuse -- they'll save his life if he agrees to become a government agent. With his brain transplanted into the scientifically perfected body of a rugged guy 20 years younger, Ben must now carry out missions for his country as dictated by his employer, Theo (Dennis Haysbert). Unfortunately, for security reasons, Ben is also told he must give up his old l ife, including his wife, Lisa (Margaret Colin), daughter, Heather (Heather Matarazzo ), and friend and former co-worker, Roger (Gerrit Graham). Although Ben belongs to the government now, he still retains one major weakness - he and those around him a re realizing that the new Ben can't stay away from his old life. ABC - No Surviving Genre Shows - No New Genre Shows ABC Miniseries Arabian Nights The beautiful Scheherazade tries to postpone her execution by the powerful Sultan by telling him a different story each night. The magical stories of "A Thousand and One Nights" come to life as she tells them. Cast: Mili Avital ("Kissing a Fool") as Scheherazade, Dougray Scott ("Ever Afte r") as Schahriar, Jason Scott Lee (Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book") as Aladdin, Rufus Sewell ("Dangerous Beauty") as Ali Baba, Tcheky Karyo ("Addicted to Love") as Black Coda, Alan Bates ("Hamlet") as the Story Teller, and John Leguizamo ("William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet") in the dual roles of the Rin g Genie and the Lamp Genie. Emmy Award-winning producer Robert Halmi, Sr. produces epic four-hour miniseries set to air as an "ABC Premiere Event," Sunday and Monday, April 30 and May 1 at 9 p.m. (ET), both nights. FOX - Returning The X-Files - Entering it's 7th season on Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT Futurama - Continuing with its second season and being moved to 8:30 pm ET/PT b etween The Simpsons and The X-Files FOX - New Harsh Realm - Chris Carter, the award-winning creator of The X-Files and Mille nnium, steps into a new arena with another innovative, ground-breaking television even t -- Harsh Realm. Based on the comic-book series, Harsh Realm explores a highly advanced virtual reality world -- where anything is possible. After seeing the horrors of war in Sarajevo, Lt. Thomas Hobbes (played by Scott Bairstow) is finally ready to settle down with his fiance Sophie (played by Samantha Mathis). But the military has one more assignment for Hobbes: test out the newest in military combat training -- a top-secret computer simulation known as "Harsh Realm." Once inside the game, Hobbes immediately finds himself fighting for his life and struggling to comprehend what is real and what is not. Trapped in a dangerous world with no rules and no mercy, he forms an uneasy alliance with Mike Pinocchio (D.B. Sweeney), another soldier who is less than enthusiastic about helping out a 'rookie' player. But a mysterious figure named Florence (Rachel Hayward), believes Hobbes is not just another soldier -- that he will be the one to save all the 'virtual characters' who live in the Realm. Hobbes soon realizes that the only way out of the Realm is to complete his 'mission' -- beating the high-scoring player, Omar Santiago (Terry O' Quinn), a man who reigns over the Realm with an iron fist and possesses the secret of how to return to the real world. Unwilling to give up his kingdom, Santiago sends his forces to capture Hobbes. Hobbes is shocked to learn that Santiago's commanding officer is none other than Major Mel Waters (Maximilian Martini), who was Hobbes' best friend in the real world. Potentially even more dangerous to Hobbes is Inga Fossa (Sarah-Jane Redmond), Santiago's shadowy associate who is able to pass in and out of the game at will. Midseason - Dark Angel - James Cameron A futuristic drama from Academy Award-winner James Cameron ("Titanic," "True Li es," "Terminator," "T2") and Emmy Award-winner Charles Eglee ("Murder One," "Moonlig hting"), stars Jessica Alba ("Never Been Kissed," "10 Things I Hate About You," "Idle Ha nds") in the role of Max, a genetically-enhanced human prototype hunted by her former milita ry handlers through the edgy, underground street life of 21st century San Francisco. Eighte en-year-old Max is aided in her quest -- both to avoid capture and reunite with her "siblin gs" scattered in the aftermath of their escape -- by Logan Clarke, an idealistic cy ber- journalist battling repression and corruption in post-apocalypse America. Max i nitially resists Logan's attempts to enlist her unique skills and abilities in his strug gle, preferring instead to maintain the ultra-cool demeanor of detached, alienated y outh. Eventually, Logan calls her to the higher part of her being and Max becomes his samurai as the pair takes on the ruthless power-brokers of the new millennium. Alternately dark, moving, funny and irreverent, Max and Logan's odyssey leads them closer to the secret of her past, deepening and complicating their relationship in the process. Production Company: Lightstorm Television; Executive Producers: James Cameron, Charles Eglee The WB - Returning Buffy The Vammpire Slayer - Losing David Boreanaz (Angel) and Charisma Carpente r (Cordelia) to spinoff series Angel. Adding new love interest for Buffy and l ikely other supporting characters. Buffy & Willow are now Freshmen at Sunnydal e U. Buffy will have a new love interest, Riley Finn, played by Marc Blucas ("Pleasantville", "Eddie"). Sp ike will also be a recurring character along with Harmony, one of Cordelia's friends, wh o is now a vampire after having been bitten during last season's finale. Charmed - Moving to Thursdays at 9 pm ET/PT. The WB - New Angel - Joss Whedon, the executive producer and creator of The WB's first bona fide hit, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" combines supernatural adventure and dark humor in th e next chapter of this mythology. Just as Whedon brought the monsters of adolescence t o life with "Buffy", this new one-hour series will explore early adulthood with the same ir ony with which he viewed the high school years. The centuries-old vampire, Angel (David Boreanaz, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") cursed with a conscience, has left the small town o f Sunnydale and taken up residence in the City of Angels. Between pervasive evil and countl ess temptations lurking beneath the city's glittery facade, Los Angeles proves to b e the ideal address for a fallen vampire looking to save a few lost souls. With the help of Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and a disreputable mentor, Doyl e (Glenn Quinn, "Roseanne") Angel has one last chance to save his own soul by restoring hope to those impressionable young people locked in a losing battle with their own demons. Also appearing as a possible love interest for Angel is Elisabeth Rohm as Kate, a detective who joins forces with Angel in his attempts to save wayward souls in the Los Angeles area. From executive producers Whedon and David Greenwalt and producer s Howard Gordon and Tim Minear, the series is produced by Mutant Enemy, Inc, in associat ion with Twentieth Century Fox Television Roswell - A suspenseful and touching new drama that combines science fiction with the realities of young adulthood, this genre-bending one-hour series comes from writer/executive producer Jason Katims ("Relativity" "My So-Called L ife) and director/co-executive producer David Nutter ("The X-Files", "Disturbing Beh avior"). In the tiny, but notorious, southwestern town of Roswell, New Mexico, teenagers Liz (Shiri Appleby) and Max (Jason Behr, "Dawson's Creek") forge an otherworldl y connection that saves her life and risks his. Max, his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl, "NBC's "The Tempest") and his friend Michael (Brenden Fehr, "Disturbing Behavio r") share an unbelievable secret-they were orphaned on Earth after the imfamous 194 7 crash of an alien spaceship-and are passing unnoticed as "normal" Roswell teena gers. That is, until Liz experiences Max's powers firsthand, and the extraterrestrial trio must learn to trust Liz and her group of friends in order to keep their identit y safe and stay one step ahead of local officials. Majandra Delfino, Colin Hanks, Nick Wechsler and William Sadler ("Disturbing Behavior") also star. Written by Katims, who se rves as executive producer along with Kevin Kelly Brown (HBO's "Soul of the Game"), Jonathon Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Lisa J. Olin, the series is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television and Regency Television. UPN - Returning Star Trek: Voyager - Continuing into its 6th season at 9 pm ET/PT Wednesdays no w as the lone Star Trek series on the air. UPN has promised WWF guest stars. Seven Days - Returning for a second season at 8 pm ET/PT Wednesday Blockbuster Video's Shockwave Cinema - Fridays 8 p.m. ET/PT UPN brings fantasy, science fiction and thrilling adventure -- three highly suc cessful motion pictures genres -- together under one banner with a brand new slate of 2 2 original, innovative television movies. Paramount Network Television, Viacom Productions, Wilshire Court Productions and Warner Bros. International bring to UPN a mix of creative talent including Neil Moritz ("Cruel Intentions", "I Know What You Did Last Summer"); Robert Duncan McNeill ("Star Trek: Voyager"); Bennett Cohen ("Chameleon"); Ian Barry ("Inferno"); Parker Stevenson ("Baywatch"); and Glen Larson, creator of "The Si x Million Dollar Man," who brings the next generation of bionics to life with "Platinum M an." Also scheduled, from the legendary science fiction author Robert Heinlein ("Starship Troopers"), his only original television screenplay "The Novo Bomb." UPN - Midseason Secret Agent Man - This new, ultra-cool retro spy series, brimming with a healt hy dose of confidence, style and wit, centers on a trio of covert, jet-setting agents of P.O.I.S.E., a top-secret arm of the government that monitors high-sta kes global espionage. There's Monk, a guy who does it with panache, high-tech gadge try, and if necessary, physical strength. He's partnered with the highly skilled, no-nonsense beauty Holliday and together, they shepherd the agency's newest recruit, Parker, whose straight-laced manner is in stark contrast to Monk's freewheeling style. Starring are Costas Mandylor ("Picket Fences") as Monk; Dondre T. Whitfield ("Between Brothers") as Parker; and Dina Meyer ("Starship Troopers") as Holliday. The executive producers are Barry Sonnenfeld ("Get Shorty," "Men in Black," "Wild Wild West"), Barry Josephson ("Wild Wild West," "The Last Boy Scout"), Richard Regen and Rick Kellard. Originally scheduled to start airing in the fall, it has been pushed back to mid-season to allow more time for developing the hi-tech gadgets and special effects. The series is a production of Sonnenfeld Josephson Worldwide Entertain ment in association with Columbia TriStar Television. =========== Syndication =========== Syndicated Returning Earth: Final Conflict - Returning for its third season, the producers have said they will strive for more self-contained episodes while furthering the overall storyline. On Earth: Final Conflict, the season starts off with the Resistance crushed wit h Lili captured and arrested for treason and Liam, Augur and Doors in hiding. Lisa H oward's Lili will be absent through the first half of the season while she is on matern ity leave. Joining the cast will be Jayne Heitmeyer as Renee Palmer, a security officer fo r Doors. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Returning for a shortened final season of ei ght episodes. Kevin Sorbo's contract expired and he was not able to come to terms to do a full season. See the projects in development section for what he's up to now. Xena: Warrior Princess - Returning for a fifth season, even though both main ch aracters "died" at the end of last season. After they get better, the show will return to more stand-alone episodes, having fewer continuing storylines so if someone misses a n episode, they won't feel lost. They will also be dealing with Lucy Lawless's r eal-life pregnancy, with Xena also being pregnant. Conan The Barbarian (Syndicated - Threshold Entertainment) Apparently still in limbo. Original plans were to have it return in Fall 1999, but it looks like that won't be happening. Rumors are that they may go with a Red Son ja series starring former Wrestler Sable. It would have had Ralf Moeller return as Conan , leaving behind all the sidekicks he had in the first series, and be produced by Larry K asanoff, who also produces Mortal Kombat: Conquest. It would be a more action oriented a nd would feature several Red Sonja guest appearances for a possible spin off series. Th ey let the stations who carried the first season continue to air these episodes at no cost to keep Conan on TV but with the second season not happening this fall, most, i f not all, stations have dropped the repeats. The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (Syndicated - Polygram) A second season was initially given the go-ahead and then stopped when Universa l Studios acquired Polygram Television as part of a larger acquisition. Universal has so ld off their TV production arm (now USA Studios) and was not interested in continuing the se ries. Ed Pressman is attempting to get the rights back and hopes to find another stud io to pick it up again. Comments from Bryce Zabel are that it's likely not going to happen. Syndicated - New Relic Hunter (Syndicated - Rysher Entertainment) Stars Tia Carrere as a professor at a northeastern university where she gets ca lled on by museums, government officials, and wealthy philanthropists to recover ancient a rtifacts. She goes far and wide to recover a mask, a tomb or an ill-gotten painting. A long the way, she has to karate chop a few guys since she is a black belt. Beastmaster: The Legend Continues (Syndicated - Alliance / Atlantis / Tribune) "In a wild and primitive world where barbarism, magic and lusty adventure aboun d Beastmaster: The Legend Continues chronicles the journeys of the program's hero , Dar the Beastmaster. In his adventures, Dar uses his telepathic powers to communicate w ith animals to build a bridge between man and nature with the hopes of preventing t he two clashing worlds from annihilating one another." Daniel Goddard plays the Beastmaster in the series. Peter Benchley's Amazon (Syndicated - Atlantis Films) Action/adventure series that begins when a commercial airliner crashes deep in the Amazon jungle. Only a handful of people survive. When they cannot be located by search parties, the survivors are given up for dead. Injured, lost and with little hope of rescue, these modern-day castaways are about to come face to face with the unbelievable: an encounter with a secret tribe of Caucasians whose ancestors were shipwrecked and similarly marrooned in the vast Amazon jungle almost 400 years earlier. Stars C. Thomas Howell, Carol Alt, Chris Martin, Fabiana Udenio, Tyler Hynes, and Rob Stewart. Cleopatra 2525 (Syndicated - Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures) One of the replacement half-hours for Hercules which will debut in January in syndication. Jennifer Sky, (Sarah Webber on ABC soap "General Hospital") will be the title character. Cleopatra is an aspiring actress and part-time exotic dancer who was cryogenically frozen in the year 2001 after slipping into a coma during cosmetic surgery. She awakens in the year 2525 in an underground organ-harvesting lab where she is saved from imminent danger by Hel and Sarge, heroic female warriors who are fighting against evil robots that have taken over the world. Cleopatra and her new companions must escape the underground caverns to which humanity ha s been banished and reclaim the surface of the earth. Gina Torres, known for her recurring role as the beautiful pirate captain Nebul a in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," will star as Hel, a heroic warrior and natural leader. Victoria Pratt, a former Canadian track and field champion who most recently starred in the Spelling Television pilot "Forbidden Island," will star as Sarge, a fearless fighter with tremendous athletic prowess. She and Hel take the quick-witted and plucky young Cleopatra under their wing, educating her in the ways of war as she introduces them to the necessities of her former life, including breast implants and lip gloss. Armed with high-tech weapons and guided by a mysterious Voice Hel hears through a receptor implanted in her jaw, the trio bands together in a crusade to restor e mankind's rightful place on Earth. Jack of All Trades (Syndicated - Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures) The other replacement half-hour for Hercules, The swashbuckling "Jack of All Trades" focuses on the adventures of Jack Styles, an aristocratic, James Bond-esque British Secret Service agent stationed on a Caribbean island in the early 18th century. Styles' helpmate in monitoring the progress of the New World for the crown is Emilia, the distant relative of a long-lost governor of the island. "Jack" was created by Eric Morris, whose TV scripting credits include "The Pretender," "The Outer Limits" and "Sliders." No word yet on casting. ================ Multiple Outlets ================ Multiple Outlets - Returning Stargate SG-1 (Showtime & Syndicated) Second season of Stargate SG-1 starts this fall in syndication. Third season i s already well underway on Showtime. Outer Limits - Fifth season begins in syndication, sixth season on Showtime wil l start early next year. Poltergeist: The Legacy - Fourth season is in progress on the Sci-Fi Channel an d will be the last. Fourth season starts in syndication this fall. Lexx (Space) A second season of episodes is in production and will debut on Canada's Space: The Imagination Station sometime this fall. No U.S. outlet still. The four origin al TV movies aired in the U.S. as "Tales From a Parallel Universe" will get aired often on the new Showtime Beyond channel that starts Sept 12th. Mortal Kombat: Conquest (Syndicated/TNT - Threshold Entertainment) Is not continuing in syndication. The producers are attempting to work out a d eal with a cable outlet, possibly TNT, but no certain word on when, or if, it would continue. Multiple Outlets - New Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (AAN & Syndication - New Line Television / Freemantle / Telescene) "The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tale of dinosaurs, action and adventure has been transformed into a spectacular two-hour movie, and the Fremantle distr ibution agreement triggers production of at least 20 one hour episodes of original acti on set at the turn of the century. Shot on location in breathtaking settings, The Lost Wo rld tells the story of a mismatched expedition team led by adventurer Professor Edward Ch allenger, who is determined to prove the existence of an age unknown. Vicious packs of ap emen, giant crocodiles, bizarre plant life and flesh-eating dinosaurs - achieved with unparalleled special effects - test the group's resolve and threaten their retu rn home. The Lost World is a Village Roadshow Pictures and Telescene Film Group producti on in association with St. Clare Entertainment, with John Landis, Jeffrey Hayes, Lesl ie Belzberg, Greg Coote, Robin Spry, Paul Painter and Bruce Moccia all serving as executive producers of the series." Weekly episodes currently running on Direct TV on a pay per view basis with nud ity that will be cut for syndication, starting at the end of September. Total Recall 2070 (Showtime/Syndication - Alliance / Atlantis / Universal / Po lygram) Has already aired its first and only season on Showtime and in Canada and has n ot been renewed for a second season. It will be available via syndication in January, 2 000. Stars Michael Easton (Two, 413 Hope Street and Ally McBeal). Co-starring Karl P runer (The Agency), Michael Anthony Rawlins (NYPD Blue), Matthew Bennett (Showtime's Thanks of a Grateful Nation), Cynthia Preston (Miles To Go) and Judith Krant (Private Parts) Roughnecks : The Starship Troopers Chronicles (Syndicated/Sci-Fi Channel) CGI-animated adaptation of the Heinlein novel and movie from the BohBot Kids Ne twork. Airing Mon-Thur on the Sci-Fi Channel and Mon-Fri on BKN in syndication. The Roswell Conspiracies (Syndicated/Sci-Fi Channel) Another new entry from BohBot Kids Network. Will air on Fridays on the Sci-Fi Channel and on Saturdays in syndication on BKN. ====== Cable ====== TNT - Animal Farm - Sunday Oct 3rd - Two Hour Movie Live-action adaptation of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" novel. Produced by Hal lmark Entertainment with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Features the voices of Kelsey G rammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Ormond, Pete Postelthwaite, Paul Scofield, Patrick Stewart, and Peter Ustinov. TBS - Timeshifters - October 17 8 pm ET/PT Two Hour Movie Tabloid journalist makes creepy discovery. While examining photographs from fam ous disasters throughout time, he notices that a mysterious man appears in many of the pictures. From the Titanic to the destruction of Huricane Hugo -- this guy is t here and he's unchanged. When he investigates only to find his life on the line. Stars C asper Van Dien ("Starship Troopers"), Catherine Bell ("JAG"), Martin Sheen ("West Wing"), Theresa Saldana ("Raging Bull"), and Cathrine Van Dien (Dynasty"). Sci-Fi Channel Farscape - Renewed for a second season, which will start airing in March First Wave - SFC has committed to three seasons, the second will start in March . The Invisible Man - Starts in March on the SFC Invisible Man - Greenlit for 2-hour pilot film From Matt Greenberg, the writer of Mimic and Halloween: H2O, this one-hour drama is an ingeniously humorous new take on a classic SCI FI premise. A small-time thief avoids a third-strike prison sentence by und ergoing a surgical experiment enabling him to become temporarily -- and often accidentall y -- invisible. Now a secret weapon for the CIA, he balances his professional obliga tion against the tantalizing mischief no invisible man could resist. Vincent Ventresca (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion) has been cast as the lead for SCI FI's upcoming Invisible Man series. Ventresca will play the role of Darien , a small time thief who avoids prison by "volunteering" for a surgical experiment that e nables him to become temporarily--and often accidentally--invisible. Rebecca Chambers will star alongside Ventresca as Casey, Darien's gorgeous girl friend who also happens to have a genius level IQ. Joel Bissonnette will take on the role of Arnaud, an evil scientist who wants to capture Darien and use his invisible powers for no good. Paul Ben-Victor (Crazy in Alabama) and Eddie Jones (Lois & Clark) have also joined t he cast. The Invisible Man is an action/comedy series being executive produced by Matt G reenberg (Halloween: H20) and directed by Breck Eisner. The series is slated to air in the first quarter of 2000 as part of SCI FI's Friday night SCI FI Prime lineup. --------------------- The Hunger (Showtime - Telescene & Showtime Networks) Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien) and Tony Scott (Crimson Tide, Top Gun) pres ent Telescene's anthology series mingling the erotic and the forbidden. Second seri es will be hosted by David Bowie, star of the original movie "The Hunger". Half Hour e pisodes. Three episode trilogy debuts on Showtime Sept 10th, weekly episodes will be on Showtime Beyond, the new Showtime channel. ===================================== Direct TV's Action Adventure Network. ===================================== These shows are being developed for Direct TV to air as part of their Action Ad venture Network, some on a pay-per-view basis like "The Lost World". Not sure if all o f them will go to series or just be a one-shot movie. Some may also turn up later in syndication. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (AAN - Telescene/Zoetrope) Executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola, it takes the concept of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and sets it into modern day Hong Kong with plenty of Hong Kong action. Adam Ba ldwin will be the lead. Blackheart (AAN - Telescene) Co-creator of Twin Peaks, Robert Engels has created a comical and wild adventur e about Matthew Blackheart, an old-fashioned hero brought back to life in a modern worl d. Blackheart must overcome a constant battle with old foes and a government hit t eam assigned to kill him. Executive produced by Richard Donner. May be called "Monster Smasher" for overseas markets. Gulliver: The New Voyages (AAN - Telescene * Frankfurter Filmproduktion) Writer Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard) takes Gulliver through a journey of bizarr e and unexplainable events and people on a quest to find his way back home to far awa y Europe, all the while trying to bring his nemesis Van Dyke to justice for murder. The Vikings (AAN - Telescene & Granada) Leif Erikson, Erik the Red, and Princess Thorgunna unite, each week, in their b attle to conquer the new world that became North America, replete with menacing enemies and an ever-threatening wilderness. Witness to Fear (AAN - Telescene) From the creative horror genius of Clive Barker (Weaveworld) comes this new X-F iles-like series. Producers of a highly-rated tabloid TV show begin to see eerie links be tween the unusual stories they cover, and must struggle to deal with the real world a s it begins to collide with a frighteningly unreal one. ================================== Other Series - Destination Unknown ================================== Black Scorpion (Concorde/New Horizon) Series following on from the Roger Corman TV movies. No U.S. distributor lined up. The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (Talisman Crest Ltd.) Created by Gavin Scott, it assumes that Jules Verne had adventures like those i n his books. It stars Chris Demetral (Sometimes They Come Back) as Jules Verne, Michel Cour temanche as Passepartout, Francesca Hunt as Rebecca Fogg and Michael Praed (Nightflyers) a s Phileas Fogg. Being pitched for syndication, but no definite word on a US outl et. Down the Road - Projects in Development. Sci-Fi Channel Stormfront - In development From Steven de Sousa, writer of 48 Hours and Die Ha rd, and Kevin Rubio, creator of the highly downloaded Star Wars parody Troops, come s this dry-witted SCI FI original half-hour series. A no-nonsense veteran and an ambit ious career-hungry rookie are uniform cops patrolling the brutally extreme, weather- ravaged Los Angeles of 2025. Old-fashioned chop-busting paired with state-of-the-art interactive computer graphics makes this the Dragnet of the 21st century. Dune miniseries - A six-hour Dune miniseries produced by Richard Rubinstein from a script by John Harrison for ABC Pictures. Casting is said to be under wa y on the project with all parts expected to be filled by late september. The series is s cheduled to start shooting later this year on location in Prague and Tunisia. The series is likely to hit the small screen in the second half of 2001. Taken - A 20 hour miniseries about UFO abductions executive produced by Steven Spielberg with Bryce Zabel ("Dark Skies", "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven") being the show- runner. Taken is based on the premise "that there are abductions, that they're real and not made up. This will be a big story with multiple characters, protagonists and antagonists , and it'll span lots of decades." The Sci-Fi Channel plans to air two-hour segments of T aken in the third quarter of 2000 on ten consecutive nights. -------------------------- James Cameron Mars Projects James Cameron announced at the recent Mars society conference that he will be p roducing a 5 hour television mini-series about the first manned mission to Mars as well as an IMAX 3-D movie using some of the same sets and designs, but different scripts. For more details on these projects, especially the ship designs, check out his speech at http://www.marssociety.org/cameron_one.asp Cameron is also producing a mini-series for FOX based on the Kim Stanley Robins on Mars Books (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars). Dragon Riders of Pern (Alliance-Atlantis Entertainment) Television series based on fantasy/sci-fi author Anne McCaffrey's popular novel s, is gearing up for a 2001 worldwide release. According to The Hollywood Reporter , the Alliance Atlantis Entertainment series has been in development for more tha n a year since the rights were first obtained to the best-selling "Dragon" books series, which has an enormous worldwide following. Production will start in 2000 for the series, but international buyers will likely get their first look at the initial CGI special effects for the series i n October at the MIPCOM-TV market in Cannes. The pilot is being written by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens. The show will center around the characters Lessa, F'lar, F'nor and Jaxom--as well as their dragons, of course--although none of the roles have been cast at this point. The creators said they will be drawing on material from all of the Pern novels, with an emphasis on Dragonflight and All the Weyrs of Pern. The dragons themselves will communicate telepathically, will follow the basic rules laid ou t by McCaffrey, and will be rendered using computer-generated imagery in the "traditional" colors of gold, bronze, blue and green. ROBOCOP MINI-SERIES A four part RoboCop miniseries begins filming immediately in Canada. It is called RoboCop: Prime Directives. It is being produced for Fireworks Entertainment, the folks who bring us the Le Femme Nikita series. The four installments of the miniseries are entitled "Dark Justice", "Meltdown", "Resurrection", and "Crash and Burn" respectively. The miniseries will be distributed in syndication throughout the world, with airing currently slated for the Fall 2000 season. The mini will likely be released on DVD soon after airing. Julian Grant is producing and directing from a script by Joseph O'Brien and Brad Abraham. Page Fletcher (the eponymous narrator of Showtime's Hitchhiker series) stars as Alex Murphy / RoboCop. Maurice Dean Wint (Cube) will appear as Delta City Security Commander John T. Cable. Maria Del Mar (TekWar) will portray Security Concepts exec Sara Cable. AnthonyLemke is cast as James Murphy, Alex's son (who has grown up to be an executive at OCP). David Fraser plays OCP technical genius Edwin Hobley, and Geraint Wyn-Davies (Forever Knight) stars as one of the mini's central villains. RoboCop: Prime Directives picks up ten years after the events of the original Paul Verhoven RoboCop film. The two theatrical Robo-sequels (and subsequent TV series) are pretty-much being overlooked - in favor of more directly continuing the specific mythos created by the first film alone. During the course of the miniseries, Alex Murphy's past will be revisited - including the fateful events which led to Murphy's transfer to Detr oit's Metro West Precinct (which resulted in his subsequent murder & rebirth as RoboCop). Roddenberry Projects Several series are in development by Majel Barrett-Rodenberry based on Gene Rod denberry concepts. Kevin Sorbo has signed on to participate in one or both and former D S9 writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe is also involved in developing one of the series. One series will likely be animated with Mainframe (Reboot) involved. Just announced in early September is a go-ahead for "Gene Roddenberry's Androme da" which will star Kevin Sorbo and will have Robert Hewitt Wolfe developing the se ries to debut in Fall 2000. Andromeda will have Sorbo as the captain of a starship who attempts to restore order to a galaxy in chaos. Gene Roddenberrys Starship, which is being produced by Mainframe, tells the story of a team of interplanetary troubleshooters and space explorers led by Captain Dylan Hunt. Witchblade (TNT - Top Cow/Oliver Stone) "Once every generation a magical gauntlet, known as the Witchblade, chooses a person to wield it. In this era, a New York City homicide detective Sara Pezzini must defend herself from those who seek to steal the awesome power of the Witchblade." Series has been in development for over a year and producers finally have a pil ot script they are happy with. TNT is still listing the show as an upcoming serie s. Based on the Top Cow comic book series. Buckaroo Banzai: Ancient Secrets & New Mysteries Being developed for FOX by W.D. Richter (Executive Producer) and Earl Mac Rauch (Writer). A pilot script has been completed and Foundation did a demo reel to show how ef fects shots could be done for the series.