Syfy knows they messed up. Now they have a plan to win you back.
The cable network’s top executives won’t say this in such blunt language, but they acknowledge that somewhere along the line, the network missed an opportunity to have more great scripted dramas. It happened sometime after the name change from Sci Fi Channel to Syfy and the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica—the acclaimed series that was once mentioned by critics alongside titles like Mad Men and The Sopranos as representing TV’s top-tier of storytelling.
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“We saw an explosion of sci-fi/fantasy content across every cable and broadcast network out there,” said Syfy president Dave Howe. “Perceptions of the genre have shifted dramatically. What that speaks to is an opportunity to re-own the genre and be at the forefront of high-end buzzy, provocative storytelling — and the epiphany of that was Battlestar.”
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But the two titles to really watch out for are space operas. The first is Ascension, a mini-series premiering in December starring Tricia Helfer (Battlestar again), about a space ark launched in the 1960s. The production includes a massive set that is four stories high. The second is The Expanse, based on James S.A. Corey‘s rollicking bestsellerLeviathan Wakes, which is aiming to be the next great Star Trek/Firefly/Farscape space dramas. “It’s probably one of the best scripts I’ve read in the last three to five years,” Howe said of The Expanse pilot. “We fought off a lot of competitors to get it.”
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BILL MCGOLDRICK: "In terms of where it was before with original content and some of the series that were on the air, maybe they were more procedural, more lighthearted in tone—and by the way, those shows worked really well for a long time. I’m referring to the Warehouses and the Eurekas. What we have in development now is more of a serious tone, more back to our roots. You’ve seen and probably heard about our desire to get back up to space. We have a couple really big shows that are trying to accomplish that—Ascension, The Expanse in particular, which play more toward I think the harder core sci-fi fan who used to be perceived as niche but is now mainstream and commercial in a way they have never been before. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish."
