Tommy Lee, Deepak Chopra Sign On for Syfy Series

NEW YORK: Syfy has a total of 14 new original series and events on its upcoming programming slate, including a project featuring rock musician Tommy Lee and another with author and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

In July, Syfy launches four scripted series, with Alphas premiering alongside the returning shows Warehouse 13, Eureka and Haven. The second season of Hollywood Treasure kicks off in June, paired with Haunted Collector (working title). Legend Quest debuts in July, while Paranormal Witness launches in September.

The development slate features projects with Tommy Lee, as he attempts to uncover the various rituals, symbols and other mysteries of secret societies; Deepak Chopra, in which the spiritual leader invites some of today’s greatest minds and creators to dinner for conversation; and photographer Tyler Shields, following him and his team as they photograph the shocking and surreal. There are also series in development featuring a family who creates monster props for Hollywood studios, a stunt team used for the Hollywood movies and a competition with engineering geniuses and pranksters who pull hoaxes on unsuspecting people. 

On the scripted side, Syfy is developing Battlestar: Blood and Chrome, set in the tenth year of the First Cylon War. There are also three single-camera, half-hour comedies, including Lee Majors’ Me and Lee, from the creator of Weeds; In the Dark, featuring a team of wannabe paranormal investigators; and a new adaptation of Three Inches.

Joining the roster of Saturday Original Movies will be Red Faction: Origins, based on the highly successful video game franchise; Bigfoot, which features the ’70s TV icons Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce butting heads; a re-imagining of the classic fairy tale Gretl, led by Shannen Doherty; Roswell, the story selected by fans through the Syfy and IGN.com B Movie Mogul contest; and Jersey Shore Shark Attack.

Syfy is signed up as the first-ever official sponsor of New York City’s Halloween celebrations, partnering with NYC & Company for 31 Days of HalloweeNYC. Then in December, Syfy celebrates the holiday season with its second annual Countdown to Christmas Week, highlighted by the movie event Neverland.

Syfy Ventures is launching a new publishing business of completely sponsorable genre games under the Syfy Games banner. Available initially on Facebook in the U.S., the suite of games will feature the sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, action/adventure and superhero genres, ranging from original content to games based on Syfy programming. The first round of games are scheduled for launch later this year. Syfy is partnering with game developer Trion Worldwide for a new entertainment franchise, Defiance, that will pair a prime-time series with an online video game.

Mark Stern, the president of original content at Syfy and co-head of original content for Universal Cable Productions, said, "Our ambition in development is to push the boundaries of imagination, creativity, and story-telling. We want to transport our audience with high-quality, thought-provoking experiences that allow them to explore the un-explorable, to believe the unbelievable, and to truly… Imagine Greater."