Network Sci-Fi/Fantasy Shows: Renewals, Cancellations, and Newcomers

With the networks officially kicking off their upfront presentations this month, we’ve now gotten official (and in some cases, semi-official) confirmations about which shows are coming back, which ones are gone, and what new offerings will be available to the genre fans out there. The schedule for the upfronts are: FOX’s begins today, followed by ABC on Tuesday, and CBS on Wednesday. NBC already did theirs earlier this month.

THIS LIST WILL BE UPDATED WHEN APPROPRIATE

NBC:

It was recently confirmed that Chuck will return for a third, albeit shorter season (more info here), while Heroes will also be back for a fourth season. Meanwhile, the fantasy/parallel Earth show Kings is dead in the water, and so is the new Knight Rider despite a lot of tinkering. The net’s supernatural show Medium is also gone from the network, but didn’t stay gone long. It’s now at CBS.

New additions include the mind-reading The Listener and the post-apocalyptic Day One.

FOX:

The surprise news this weekend was that Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse had been renewed for a second season, returning with a limited number of episodes and budget cuts (more info here). Dollhouse will be joining Fringe, which will also be heading into its sophomore year, though J.J. Abrams’ show won’t have the constraints put on Whedon’s show. Not so good news for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which has been officially canceled (more info here).

New shows include Past Life, about reincarnation crime investigation (previewed here) and Ron Moore’s Virtuality, which may not go to series unless its 2-hour pilot movie does gangbuster numbers when it premierse on July 4th.

ABC:

Only three shows worth mentioning on ABC, including the renewed Lost and two new sci-fi offerings, Flash Forward and the new V TV show (full preview here).

CBS:

A network you probably aren’t watching on a regular basis if you’re a sci-fi/fantasy fan is CBS, which as of right now only has one real sci-fi show in its entire line-up, the Jerry Bruckheimer produced Eleventh Hour. No official word on the show’s cancellation or renewal, though rumor has a second year looking bleak. Scratch that. The Eleventh Hour has been officially canceled. But CBS has added Medium after NBC canceled it.

THE CW:

A couple of sci-fi/fantasy renewals, Supernatural for a fifth season, and the aging Smallville for a ninth year.