The Box: T.V. & Electronic News – 4/27/08
 
1) Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku’s upcoming scifi series for Fox in the U.S., Dollhouse, is getting an immense amount of buzz. Whedon has cast Angel actress Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders in the show, and has also added Miracle Laurie as a character named November, and Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton, an ex-cop. Dollhouse concerns a secret facility that has men and women who can be imprinted with different personality packages for a variety of missions. When they are not working, they have their minds wiped and live like children in a dormitory called the Dollhouse. Dushku plays Echo, a young woman who begins to remember bits of her assignments and past life. Also in the cast are Tahmoh Penikett, Fran Kranz, Dichen Lachman, Enver Gjokaj and Olivia Williams. Dollhouse will premiere in the fall.

2) Fox continues their commitment to scifi t.v. by officially renewing freshman spin-off series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a second season of at least 13 episodes. (Shooting for the new season has apparently already started.) The series follows the characters of Sarah Connor and her son John Connor from the Terminator films, who have time jumped into the present day and are attempting to prevent an apocalypse where sentinent androids will take over the world. The show stars Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau. Brian Austin Greene, who appeared on the show as John Connor’s time-travelling uncle, Derek Reese, will also join the cast as a regular. The series is produced by C2 Pictures and Warner Brothers, who are doing the fourth Terminator movie.

3) The up-coming live action Star Wars television series currently in development will focus on the seamy underbelly of the Star Wars galaxy. Some familiar characters will appear, though the bulk of the cast will be new characters. A crew of writers is being assembled by Lucasfilm’s George Lucas and Rick McCallum. Production is expected to begin in 2009 with an air time in 2010, and to involve a lot of digital special effects. 

4) True Blood, the HBO series based on Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire fantasy series is now officially scheduled to air in Fall 2008. The show is produced by Alan Ball and stars award-winning actress Anna Paquin as a telepathic young woman who encounters vampires.

5) In case you lost track during the writers’ strike, here are the scifi shows that got cancelled or are being brought to a close in the U.S. market:

The 4400 – Alien abduction series had 4 seasons on USA Network

Bionic Woman – Remake of the 1970’s series about a female cyborg after 1 season, NBC

Blood Ties – Based on The Blood Books novels by Tanya Huff, about a private investigator dealing with the supernatural with the help of a vampire after 1 season, Life network

Cavemen – Based on the Geico commercials where prehistoric cavemen find themselves dealing with the modern world, lasted 6 episodes on ABC

The Dead Zone – Based on the novel by Stephen King, the USA Network show is ending after six seasons

Flash Gordon – Resurrecting the space explorer for 1 season on SciFi Channel.

Jericho – CBS’ cult post-nuclear war series ends after 2 seasons and a historic fan renewal campaign (with a faint possibility of moving to a cable channel)

Jouneyman – NBC’s freshman series about a man who finds himself mysteriously time travelling after 1 season

Life on Mars – BBC1’s series about a cop who finds himself in 1970’s Britain had two seasons and was shown on BBC America in the States. An Americanized version of the show is in the works.