SCI FI Channel Unveils New Plans at Upfront Presentation

NEW YORK, March 19: At
yesterday’s Upfront presentation, SCI FI Channel announced that it has given
the go-ahead on a pilot for Caprica,
a prequel to Battlestar Galactica,
and unveiled its new scripted and unscripted development slate and plans for
new online content.

As Battlestar Galactica
heads into its fourth and final
season, Caprica introduces the
scenario 50-years prior, with two rival families—the Greystones and the
Adamas—at the center of growth and conflict in a world of 12 colonies.
The two-hour pilot prequel is from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick,
and production is slated to begin in Vancouver, Canada, this spring.

SCI FI is also developing
a variety of original scripted series pilots, including one in partnership with
Rosario Dawson to develop True Believer, a two-hour backdoor pilot centered on a 20-something comic-book nerd
who hires a washed-up real-life superhero to be his sidekick. Other scripted
pilots include The Stranded,
where five ordinary people must face the question ‘what if your entire life was
a lie?’; Deputized, a dramedy
about an average guy who suddenly finds himself possessing special abilities;
and Alice, a six-hour
mini-series that is a modern retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland tale.

The channel’s unscripted
development slate is led by an all-new season of the hidden-camera show Scare
Tactics, with host Tracy Morgan. Mind
Control with Derren Brown will
also return to the network. The second season will consist of six one-hour
episodes, which will kick off with a must-be-seen-to-be-believed special event.
New unscripted pilots include Estate of Panic, from the producers of Fear Factor, and Brain Trust, where a band of geniuses find new solutions to
everyday problems. Mystery of the Crystal Skulls is a new special for SCI FI Channel, which sees
Lester Holt (NBC News/Weekend
Today) explore the real story of
and search for the legendary crystal Skulls, which are at the forefront of the
highly anticipated summer release Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull. The network is also
set to air all three Indiana Jones movies—Indiana
Jones and the Raiders of the Los Ark,
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade—on May 18, as a lead up to the premiere of
the Mystery of the Crystal Skulls special.

The network is also
ramping up its online content. Mid-April, SCI FI is launching a new blog-style
site that will be a hub for reports on all things relevant to the gaming
lifestyle, along with The Game Center, which will feature an expanding number
of sci-fi-themed casual games. In an unprecedented move, SCI FI will also
launch the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica nine-hours prior to its television debut via live
stream on SCIFI.com. Viewers can also look to the site for special 2- to
3-minute webisode chapters that complement the fourth season of Battlestar. Other new web-based features for SCI FI include
an original web series, titled Starcrossed, and a social-gaming experience for Battlestar fans to fight for either the humans or cylons.
There is also a new video player, where online viewers can watch full-length
episodes of SCI FI original series with high-quality video streams using the
latest technology.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski