The Fall season is just about over, but Mid-Season will be here quickly with shows returning from hiatus or having their season premieres starting the first week of January. There will be quite a lot of of sci fi TV to watch right away with Doctor Who having its Season 12 premier on New Years Day, NBC’s Manifest returning for its second season the next week, The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths cross-over wrapping up after that, and the highly-anticipated Star Trek Picard having its debut on CBS All Access on January 23rd. You can see the full preliminary Mid-Season schedule at this link.
Of note for Mid-Season is the paucity of new shows on the broadcast networks and cable channels, similar to what we saw in Fall. Currently there is only one new show scheduled for the broadcast nets, FOX’s AI drama neXt (though no premiere date yet), and one on the cable channels, AMC’s conspiracy thriller Dispatches from Elsewhere. There are also a couple of imports that will hit the cable nets, both of which are adaptations of War of the Worlds. The French produced series will hit EPIX in February, and the BBC version will likely land on BBC America at some point, though it is not on the schedule yet. Apart from that, there are no other new shows set on the linear channels.
For the streaming services, new entries currently scheduled include Star Trek Picard (Jan 23 on CBS All Access), Locke and Key (Feb 7 on Netflix), and DCU’s Stargirl which will debut in Spring and will also air episodes the day after their streaming release on The CW. I expect more new entries from the streaming services over the next couple of months, but they tend to release shows with little or no advance notice (Netflix especially).
Another thing to note, Syfy currently only has one original on its schedule for Mid-Season: The Magicians which returns for its fifth season on January 15th. That cabler has only had one show running in Fall (Van Helsing), and appears to be really slimming down its scripted programming slate. It does have some shows in development such as Resident Alien and a Night Gallery reboot. But no new shows are on the schedule at this point.
Other highlights on the preliminary Mid-Season schedule: History Channel’s Project Blue Book returns for its second season on January 21st. The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow will be back for its fifth season which will include its Crisis on Infinite Earths cross-over episode. Star Trek Discovery has its third season debut on CBS All Access early in 2020. And The Orville will be back for its third season after jumping from FOX to Hulu. A premiere date for that one has not been set yet.
You can see all the sci fi and fantasy shows currently on the Mid-Season schedule at this link, and be sure to check back on a regular basis because I expect additions and changes. And you can keep up with the weekly sci fi TV listings at this link.
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I’m really getting fed up with the Syfy channel. They need to get back to producing quality programming with a quickness.
The Magicians is one of the best things they have done in a decade and I love it well. But, one show does not make a network. They need to product 5 “Magicians” and have them on all in the same year to truly be relevant as a Scifi lover’s destination.