Television:
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 7/16/2007
Intrepid and determined, and always trying to find out the details on our favorite shows, iF MAGAZINE cornered SCI FI Channel Executive Vice President Dave Howe at a cocktail party at this year's TCA's and got the inside line on some of our favorite shows and what’s coming up for the network.
The biggest announcement was that FARSCAPE would be returning care of SCI FI Channel and Jim Henson Productions via a new 10-episode webisode series, but there were some other questions we needed answered about projects on one of our favorite networks.
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iF MAGAZINE: Will the original cast be returning for FARSCAPE?
DAVE HOWE: We don’t know. Literally, we closed the deal yeaterday, so we haven’t gotten into any of the creative conversations about casting, or story; all of that is yet to come. It is based on FARSCAPE so it will involve the characters from the series, but we don’t know who or what.
iF: I’ve heard rumors of the 1980 FLASH GORDON Sam Jones guest starring on the new series any truth to the rumors?
HOWE: [Laughs] Where have you heard that? I think that’s a natural rumor to start when thinking about that movie. I love that movie and how can you not think of Sam, and that is something that is at the back of everyone’s mind and if we could make the deal it would be great to get Sam involved.
iF: How about Max Von Sydow?
HOWE: He’s not in the rumor mill that I’ve heard, but all of these things are up for grabs. We’re doing twenty-two episodes a year and we’d love to get anybody that we could bring back from that movie.
iF: Is PAINKILLER JANE coming back for a second season?
HOWE: Don’t know. We don’t have to make the decision on PAINKILLER for another few weeks. With any series pick up we look at all of the data and the research and we test it among the areas that are watching it. Then we make a decision based on all of the data and we haven’t made that decision.
iF: With BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ending, are STARGATE: ATLANTIS and FLASH GORDON going to become the flagship series for SCI FI channel?
HOWE: STARGATE, as a franchise, has been a flagship since I’ve been at SCI FI and it’s been incredibly important to us and I could never see SCI FI in the short or long term without STARGATE. FLASH GORDON is like any series, we won’t know anything until we air it and see what the reaction is. I would love to get that to be a flagship in the same way that you want every show to succeed.
iF: TIN MAN is a mini-series event, but is there any chance of having more futuristic OZ stories beyond that?
HOWE: It’s a six-hour mini-series. Who knows? It wasn’t conceived as something beyond the six-hour mini-series because it was based on a known franchise. Again, if it creates record ratings, we look at that and see if there is a series there. We never rule anything out.
