Sci Fi Channel, which on July 6 will relaunch as SyFy, is developing a new take on the 1988 movie Alien Nation. Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly) will pen the series.
Previously adapted in 1989 as a short-lived Fox series (succeeded by five TV-movies), Alien Nation follows a human cop and his alien detective partner, against the backdrop of Earth's begrudging assimilation of ETs banished from their home world, where they served as slaves. The original film starred James Caan and Mandy Patinkin (sporting a prosthetic scalp).
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"It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny mixed with big, giant scary," Minear told ...
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Ever-underappreciated TV journeyman Tim Minear and Emmy-winning director Todd Holland, with whom Minear collaborated on the critically praised Wonderfalls, have landed a pilot commitment from ABC for Miracle Man, the Reporter reports. The drama — which sparked a bidding war between ABC and Fox — focuses on a disgraced televangelist who realizes that God is using him to perform real miracles and get Drive back on the air change lives. Minear is penning the script, Holland will direct, and both will exec-produce.Related: Exclusive! Buffy Comic Keeps the Faith
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A Fox spokesperson tells TVGuide.com that the final two episodes of Tim Minear's Drive — which were originally slated to air July 4, then pushed back to July 13, but ultimately got unceremoniously yanked from the broadcast schedule entirely — are now set to be streamed on MySpace.com/fox and network affiliate sites beginning Monday, July 16.
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Question: What do you think of Drive's unceremonious cancellation? Fox heavily promoted it and was expecting big ratings. But giving a high-concept show like Drive only a week to catch on, without the benefit of repeats, seems like a complete lack of faith — even if it is a show that can't be cheap to produce. I understand that a Sunday two-hour premiere/Monday regular-time-slot strategy works for an established hit like 24, but why would Fox deny a new show with mostly unknown actors a lead-in like House or American Idol? Now 24's sinking ratings are being blamed on Drive as well, but I'm convinced that's just natural viewer drop-off in a subpar season. I'm not one to swear off any show that doesn't first make it through an entire season, but I can't help ask a few questions: Why wouldn't Fox debut this kind of show in the summer, when it has a greater chance for a slow build, a strategy that worked for The O.C.? What leads NBC to stick with a ratings-challenged, quality show like ...
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Drive has been impounded. Multiple sources confirm that Fox has axed the Tim Minear creation after less than three weeks on the air. I'll go out on a limb and say the show's crappy ratings were to blame. House encores will take over its Monday/8 pm time slot. There is one piece of good news: I'm hearing the final two unaired Drive eps may get burned off on consecutive Fridays in May. UPDATE: Fox now says the final two Drives will air this summer, specific date TBA.
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