"Sanctuary" Moves To SCI FI Channel
The hit online series "Sancturary," starring "Stargate" alum Amanda Tapping has been optioned by the SCI FI Channel and given the go-sign, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The internet series is a huge online hit and the cable channel is hoping it will transfer that success to its network as well. "Sanctuary" will be the only TV series to use the same kind of fully green screen/live-action technology currently employed in motion pictures.
The series is written and produced by two other "Stargate" veterans Damian Kindler and Martin Wood. Wood has served as the series director. Sam Egan has executive producer duty.
The SCI FI Channel has committed to a 13-episode season that centers on Dr. Helen Magnus (Tapping) who, with her team of experts, hunt down and help non-human intelligent creatures living on Earth. As well as Tapping, all of the original cast from the series will be joining the television production.
"We were blown away by the level of quality they have been able to achieve on a Web budget," stated Mark Stern, SCI FI Channel Executive VP of original programming. "We loved the world they'd created, and we particularly loved their approach, since we had been looking for a way to apply the virtual-set CGI environment from films like '300′ and 'Sin City' to a television series."
Many insiders in the industry are seeing this move as proof of new channel President Jeff Zucker's promise to refocus the cabler's vision back to its name - SCI FI.
"Sanctuary," will debut on the network with a new 2-hr premiere episode that will introduce the already established web-characters to the television audience that may have not seen the series online. There will be enhanced footage from the webisodes used as well so that the transition from Internet to Cable is a smooth one.
CAST of "SANCTUARY"
Amanda Tapping - "Helen Magnus",
(Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis)
Robin Dunne - "Will Zimmerman",
(Species 3, Dawson's Creek, The Big Hit)
Emilie Ullerup - "Ashley Magnus",
(Battlestar Galactica)
Christopher Heyerdahl - "John Druitt".
(Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis)
This looked intriguing. Cool they are giving it a shot on TV.
I really enjoyed the 2 hour premiere on Sci-Fi last night. Well done, interesting story and characters, lots of cool stuff! I'll definitely keep watching. Here's a little taste of it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKGWlK79uz0
I've only seen the first episode of the web series (which I liked), but I definitely plan to try to catch the TV version - are they adapting the web stories for TV or is this a completely new written show?
Just watched the first 5 webisodes on youtube. Pretty cool show! It's hard to believe that the main character is the same woman from Stargate. I'd forgotten all about her other role after the first 3 minutes.
Quote- are they adapting the web stories for TV or is this a completely new written show?
Beats me. That's a pretty good question, though...
Quote from: celestialteapot on October 05, 2008, 04:08:00 PM
I've only seen the first episode of the web series (which I liked), but I definitely plan to try to catch the TV version - are they adapting the web stories for TV or is this a completely new written show?
I'm not really sure as I didn't watch much of it on the web. I think it's a bit of a mix. Obviously they have had to string some things together to make them longer for TV and added more as well. I will try and find out more.
I finally watched all four episodes today.. I really enjoyed it. Now I have to catch up on Terminator SCC.
Sanctuary Season Two OK'd
SCI FI Channel has ordered a second season of Sanctuary, its hit new show starring Amanda Tapping.
The channel gave a green light to 13 new hours. Sanctuary is slated to resume production in Vancouver, Canada, early next year for a 2009 premiere.
More than 3 million viewers tuned in to the premiere of Sanctuary on Oct. 3, making it the highest-rated original series premiere since Eureka debuted in July 2006.
Sanctuary stars Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, a brilliant scientist who holds the secrets of a clandestine population: a group of strange and sometimes terrifying beings that hide among humans.
The show also stars Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins, Emilie Ullerup and Christopher Heyerdahl. Created by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary's season two will be executive-produced by Kindler, Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and N. John Smith.
Now I'm annoyed. I've just found this on TV over here but it looks like this week was episode 11. For a 13 episode show, that's pretty far in to start watching.
Watch the last 3 or wait for reruns?
I'd wait - but that's me. I don't like starting in the middle of something. And there is a continuing story going on this even though some of the episodes are kind of one-shots.
Anybody catch the 'Cheeky Monkey' in a recent episode?
Maybe they have been reading the forums!
Quote from: Dangelus on January 06, 2009, 02:18:34 AM
Anybody catch the 'Cheeky Monkey' in a recent episode?
Maybe they have been reading the forums!
LOL! I caught that too! I thought that was my 'title' and not Will's on the series - hehe!
Quote from: Rico on December 27, 2008, 03:43:48 PM
I'd wait - but that's me. I don't like starting in the middle of something. And there is a continuing story going on this even though some of the episodes are kind of one-shots.
If there's a continuing story arc going through I probably ought to wait it out and go through the whole show. I've sampled one of the episodes and it looks like the sort of thing I want to watch. Still, I might no be able to resist :)
Yay! ITV4 are rerunning the entire series over the next 3 nights.
Just watching episode 3 now.
Season finale is on tonight here on Sci-Fi.
Quote from: Feathers on January 09, 2009, 03:02:19 PM
Yay! ITV4 are rerunning the entire series over the next 3 nights.
Just watching episode 3 now.
Result! It's a great show.
Finally caught up on all of Sanctuary (need the DVR space back!). It was one for only watching while my wife's out since she didn't appreciate it at all, so it's taken me a little time.
As someone else said, after the first few minutes it's very easy to forget that Amanda Tapping has ever been anyone else - something that I thought was a necessity in order for me to get into the show. I think the English accent helped there (and maybe that was one of the reasons they went for it in the first place?) although as she is technically English, perhaps she simply fancied trying her native language ;)
Not everything was great, some of the episodes didn't get beyond average, but it was good enough for me to stick with. I'm glad I did too as I loved the season finale. The whole 'Englishness' of the characters' history may have had something to do with my enjoyment too, although the foggy London sets didn't look too convincing to me.
Overall, a good start, I thought. Hopefully season 2 will build on it as there's certainly a lot that can be explored and quite a few unanswered questions.
I haven't seen any comments on season two here yet.
Personally, I missed the first airing so need to wait for the first repeat on Friday before I can watch it.
I think I need to accept that I have this thread to myself :)
Interesting this week (S2 Ep04) but not necessarily 'special'.
[spoiler]The concept of the 'Super-suit' made of abnormal goo was interesting but I think was taken far too far in terms of the powers it could bestow on its 'owner'. It was certainly entertaining but stretched credibility just a little bit too much.
The monster egg story was a little more interesting but I didn't feel I got sufficient explanation as to what it really was. I may well have missed something there though so it's probably my fault and not the shows.
(Loved the vulcan salute through the glass and the 'Live long at prosper' at the end!)[/spoiler]
What episode are you at? I've seen I think three of season two so far.
Monday nights (and thus the one with the spoiler tag above) was Episode 4 of season 2.
Perhaps I'll amend it to say that...
Quote from: Feathers on November 04, 2009, 06:04:28 AM
Monday nights (and thus the one with the spoiler tag above) was Episode 4 of season 2.
Perhaps I'll amend it to say that...
That one aired on Friday for us in the states. I love that the Eureka cast is showing up everywhere these days. I am not so happy that some of them have new leading roles in new series.
Does anyone know if there's a gap in the schedule for this in the US this week?
We don't seem to be getting a new episode next week for some reason.
I'm not sure what episode you are on, but I'm pretty sure a new one airs here tonight. Here's a good website to check for many TV shows and when they have aired or will air here:
http://www.tvcountdown.com/ (http://www.tvcountdown.com/)
Hmmm. Looks like we're just skipping a week then.
It also looks like there's some disagreement about what the episode order is. The site you referenced has "Veritas" as the title while Wikipedia and ITV4 (our channel) has it as "Fragments". I guess you'll find out tonight.
Yeah, that tvcountdown.com site isn't always accurate or up to date. Best place for info on "Sanctuary" is www.syfy.com (http://www.syfy.com). They list the episode "Fragments" for tonight here and "Veritas" for next week.
I'm just curious if anyone else is feeling the 2nd season so far is really lacking. It might just be me I suppose. Partially might be attributed to the fact that I really miss Ashley on the show, and I really don't like the cheap replacement with this Freelancer chick, she just irritates me.
We've had a few bottle episodes that do little for any overall story, but wasn't the first season that way round too? The last one we've seen here seemed to be about
[spoiler]what I can only call Zombie Reavers in the future and for a moment I thought we were in for a mini flash-forward arc to try and avoid that happening. Then it simply became a warning dream sequence an was instantly resolved.[/spoiler]
I guess it was slightly disappointing that they didn't take it further but I'd say that in tw whole um still enjoying the series. That isn't to say I'm not hoping for a build up to another big series finish.
Quote from: Sheppard on November 14, 2009, 10:19:16 PM
I'm just curious if anyone else is feeling the 2nd season so far is really lacking. It might just be me I suppose. Partially might be attributed to the fact that I really miss Ashley on the show, and I really don't like the cheap replacement with this Freelancer chick, she just irritates me.
Amanda Tapping does another interview with the boys at Geek Syndicate and actually mentions some of that. Needless to say your irritation at Kate Freelander is intentional and they were over ruled about the Ashley situation.
I was assuming she was intenionally irritating but there's also the fact that we haven't seen anything more than setup pieces for her so far. Hopefully she'll get something a little more mainstream to do now she's shown some sort of allegiance to the team.
(Oh, I've found out why we're skipping a week here. Darts. Hopefully Dr Bashir is playing...)
I know it's everly possible that it's just me and my indifference,
[spoiler]but they can't just kill my favorite character and expect me to be happy about it.[/spoiler]
I'll keep watching. I have hope that it will get better and maybe I'll come round to liking Kate (who knows), but right now I'm just a little disappointed. So what's everyone else thinking about Season 2 so far?
Having run it to the end now, I'm quite happy with what we got. I like a show that is prepared to do away with main cast and move on. Life/reality doesn't revolve about the same people doing the same thing year after year without consequences and TV needs to recognise that.
Whether the stories were as good as those of season 1 is a different question but one that I'd settle for a 'Yes' on. I think this season was more subtle, though, concentrating on differences and division within the Sanctuary network rather than some mystical external Cabal which I never felt was built up or explained enough for me. That maybe because I watched the entirity of season 1 across about three nights last year but, if anything, I would have though that should have helped.
Setting up the Sanctuary network as fragile and subject to an amount of infighting leaves us with some interesting possibilities for next season, including some complete changes in direction. I doubt it will go that far but I'm certainly interested to find out.
I've only just come on board this season/series so I can't give any opinion based on past episodes. The first episode of this season was quite good in my opinion and I haven't missed any episodes since.
I feel that the show has a great deal of potential with some interesting characters and possibilities for really good ongoing story lines. I really don't want to be negative, but I feel the writing could be better.
It's a good show and I do think it's entertaining and I will continue to watch. I just feel that with a little more effort it could be taken to a higher level and become a great show. If anyone disagrees with me please state why. I'm interested in hearing other opinions.
Season 3 is up and running over here (on a very odd channel - only heard about it from a tweet from Amanda Tapping!). They seemed to have predictably resolved the end of season 2 without too much hassle and so cleared the decks to a new story this year.
I hope for something slightly stronger than previously since I believe they have more time for it to play out this year.
The season seems to be going OK so far, watched two episodes today, but I'm not sure where it's going too.
Other than the ran up of last season, there seems to have been only stand alone stories so far. The last one had the first hint of what may be an arc but if that's where it's going I'd have hoped for a stronger start.
I'm behind on this one. Need to catch up sometime soon.
Quote from: Rico on November 16, 2010, 12:51:48 PM
I'm behind on this one. Need to catch up sometime soon.
So am I. I'm kinda on the edge about even bothering though. A season later and I'm still angry...
[spoiler]...about them killing Ashley.[/spoiler]
You're probably not the only only one but I do think the series has settled into a new rhythm despite that event. Despite not going for a strong arc out of the blocks, I think I'm happier this year than I have been previously.
I feel like the series has kinda gone down hill since the end of Season 1. All the multiframe scenes drive me nuts and I don't feel like the story or writing is as good. I think I'll keep watching for a bit, but I'm just not liking it as much anymore, so if I don't start liking it again I think I'm gonna call it quits.
I'm still very much enjoying "Sanctuary." They had an awesome episode last week that ended up being sort of a musical episode. For those not watching, Will's girlfriend Abby in the episode gets infected with a small parasite that only lets her understand you and communicate via song. I'll put a couple clips below. Reminded me a lot of the Buffy musical episode. If you haven't seen this series in awhile, give it a go. Still very enjoyable in my opinion.
http://youtu.be/67mdmT0T8So (http://youtu.be/67mdmT0T8So)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJclQG-HV0# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJclQG-HV0#)
It was a fun episode, reminded me of "Once More With Feeling" of course, andbim sure tat was the intention.
Latest episode was pretty good too, actually the series is great and the cgi has improved a lot over the years.
Sanctuary has gone downhill for me. I'm annoyed by Will and Abby. The only character in the "present" timeline that I'm interested in is Henry, and his current situation has made many of his story lines like Will's of late. I'm much more interested in when they tell stories form the past, using Tesla and Watson.
Just my opinion, of course, but I'm losing interest. I hope that changes, because I liked this show a lot for a long time.
I usually don't like these kind of episodes but wow - Sanctuary on broadway was great
Where is the latest season of this?
It must be all over in the US but I haven't heard even a sniff of it over here. (I must double check my Sky programme alerts).
Darn! Cancelled after four seasons. First Eureka now Sanctuary. Come on SyFy channel!?!
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2012/05/sanctuary-cancelled-after-four-seasons/ (http://www.gateworld.net/news/2012/05/sanctuary-cancelled-after-four-seasons/)
Quote from: Rico on May 26, 2012, 11:12:55 AM
Darn! Cancelled after four seasons. First Eureka now Sanctuary. Come on SyFy channel!?!
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2012/05/sanctuary-cancelled-after-four-seasons/ (http://www.gateworld.net/news/2012/05/sanctuary-cancelled-after-four-seasons/)
It's a shame, but I am not completely suprised by SyFy's decision. I am still watching the show, but I find that I am not enjoying the show the same way that I did when it first started.
I did see the 'singing episode' today and thought it rather weak...IMHO! Buffy had the best singing episode...again IMHO. :)
Bummer. At least it ended on high note.
Still showing over here and I think these last two seasons have been much, much stronger than the first ones.
It's a shame to see it go. I'm running out of current shows to watch and I'm really losing the inclination to start watching new ones to be honest. I hope something good comes up soon.