Sci Fi Fidelity

On the April edition of our podcast, we starts off with a discussion topic suggested by one of our listeners that took us down the rabbit hole of medium-mixing episodes where shows experimented with animation, parody, and the ever-popular musical episode.The show discussion begins with a look at Jessica Jones season 2, which dropped on Netflix on March 8, 2018, and how it has changed in tone somewhat from its first season. Then we dive into the premiere episode of ABC's time travel drama, The Crossing, which just began its run on April 2, 2018.Our interview this month is with Aaron Pierre, who plays the enigmatic character of Dev-Em on Syfy's new Superman prequel, Krypton.Timecodes: Medium Mixing Episodes - 1:59 Jessica Jones - 20:15 The Crossing - 39:07 Krypton Interview - 56:08   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We spoke with Thomas Schelesny, visual effects supervisor for Image Engine, who created Drogon the dragon for the loot train sequence in Game of Thrones season 7 episode 4, "Spoils of War." Schelesny helped us understand how CGI integrates with practical effects to make it look like Daenerys and her dragon are decimating the Lannister lines. We also spoke about Schelesny's other work on Starship Troopers, Enchanted, and Drag Me To Hell.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This month, we take on the varied world of shows that continued on without one or more principal characters. It was a difficult task to find just the right "success" stories (relatively speaking), but once we found our candidates, some interesting differences appeared.Our show topics this month include two new shows. The first is Hard Sun, a UK import from BBC One that's airing on Hulu here in the states. Is it really sci-fi? The other is Stargate Origins, an exploratory web series that MGM has released on its new Stargate Command service. Is this the right approach to reviving the franchise?Lastly, Nazanin Boniadi speaks to us about her Counterpart character, Clare, who took a surprising turn in the latest episode of this Starz series.Timecodes: Shows Missing Principal Character - 3:00 Hard Sun - 17:07 Stargate Origins - 32:43 Counterpart Interview - 57:31  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In honor of the start of The Magicians season 3 and the recent Charmed reboot cast announcements, this month's discussion topic is our favorite spellcasters on television, and we discover that they're not exclusive to fantasy shows!Our show topics this month include Altered Carbon, which had its 10-episode first season released to great acclaim on Netflix on February 2, 2018, and Counterpart, which also kicked off its first season on Starz to favorable critical response on January 21, 2018.Katherine Ramdeen also spoke to us about her character Alex and the backdoor pilot for Wayward Sisters which aired as part of Supernatural's thirteenth season on January 18, 2018.Timecodes: Spellcasters - 2:25 Altered Carbon - 19:56 Counterpart - 35:21 Supernatural Interview - 53:51  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

American television hasn't cornered the market on good sci-fi, but some networks (particularly Netflix) have been very savvy about rebroadcasting and reinventing the best from overseas and up north. We talk about six imports and reboots that are worth your time.Our show topics this month, in fact, are a couple of imports, both featuring very innovative time travel themes. The first is Dark on Netflix, which released its first season on December 1, and the other is Travelers season 2, which dropped on Netflix as well on December 23.The cherry on top of this month's podcast is our full interview with William B. Davis of The X-Files, which just began its 11th season on January 3 on FOX. He shares his experiences playing the iconic role of Cigarette Smoking Man on the show.Timecodes: US Imports & Reboots - 2:10 Dark season 1 on Netflix - 16:30 Travelers season 2 on Netflix - 35:35 The X-Files interview - 56:28  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We'll be sharing our full interview with William B. Davis, who plays the iconic cigarette-smoking villain on The X-Files, in our January podcast, coming soon, but since the season 11 premiere is January 3, we simply had to preview our discussion in the lead-up to the exciting return of The X-Files reboot.We chose the juiciest five minutes from Davis' discussion of the new season and where his character may be headed in The X-Files season 11. Tune in to our next podcast for more details about this history of the character and Davis' journey as an actor.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Christian Kane joins the podcast to talk about The Librarians season 4 and an episode coming on January 3, 2018 in particular in which he plays a pivotal role. Kaniacs will no doubt enjoy the installment which features a team-building retreat that simply can't be missed.Kane also talks a bit about his time on Angel and Leverage as well as some upcoming projects. You can see Kane in The Librarians each Wednesday at 8pm ET on TNT.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since Mike and Dave chose two Marvel shows to talk about this month, they decided to make their discussion topic about TV shows featuring superpowered groups that were not based on comics, of which there were surprisingly quite a few. They also share some listener choices in the category.Show topics in December include Marvel's Runaways, which began on November 21 and is now halfway through its first season on Hulu, and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, which just began its fifth season on December 1 on ABC.Dave spoke with Lindy Booth in our interview segment; she plays Cassandra Cillian on TNT's The Librarians, which begins its fourth season on December 13.Timecodes: Non-Comics Superheroes - 2:41 Runaways - 17:16 Agents of SHIELD - 38:44 The Librarians Interview - 55:27  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sometimes the antagonist of a show is just as enjoyable as the hero, and this month we share some of the villains we love even though we're not supposed to. Our listeners get in on the game as well and share some of their favorites.Our show topics this month include season 1 of The Gifted on FOX, which is over halfway through its 10-episode run, and Stranger Things season 2, which released its nine episodes on Netflix on October 27.We preview the time travel comedy Future Man, 13 episodes of which Hulu will share on November 14, by talking to Emmy Award-winning producer and showrunner, Ben Karlin, in our interview segment.Timecodes: Likable Villains - 1:47 The Gifted - 15:48 Stranger Things - 36:55 Future Man - 57:55  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This month's discussion kicks off with our list of genre characters who we think deserve their own shows. We select from a host of diverse shows, from Orphan Black to Iron Fist, and solicit audience opinions on whom they'd pick for a spinoff.Show topics this month include Star Trek: Discovery, which began with no small amount of controversy on CBS All Access on September 24, 2017, and The Good Place, which premiered its second season on NBC on September 20, 2017.Our interview segment is with none other that Dirk Gently himself, Samuel Barnett of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, who previews the second season coming to BBC America on October 14, 2017.Timecodes: Spinoff Characters - 2:21 Star Trek: Discovery - 13:50 The Good Place - 34:19 Dirk Gently Interview - 49:02  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mike and Dave spoke to Luvia Petersen about her upcoming role as Val McGrath-Dufresne on Syfy's Ghost Wars, premiering on October 5, 2017. The horror series reunites her with showrunner Simon Barry, whom she last worked with on Continuum, where she played Jasmine Garza. Ghost Wars joins the horror line-up on Thursday nights alongside Van Helsing, which has its season 2 premiere on October 5 as well.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our "Sci Fi Royalty" segment continues with discussion of the iconic ladies of genre television. These are actors who have either created a role that became an archetype for sci-fi television or whose body of work is so broad that they've bridged multiple fandoms. You may be surprised by some of our choices!Show topics include a spoiler-free preview of FOX's The Orville, a new comedic space drama from Seth McFarlane, and TNT's The Last Ship (Mike bingewatched it from the beginning), which is nearing the halfway mark of its fourth season.This month's interview is with Nick Antosca, showrunner of Syfy's horror anthology series, Channel Zero. Antosca talks about the creepypasta inspiration for season 2: No End House, which begins on September 20.Timecodes: Sci Fi Royalty - 2:09 The Orville - 18:05 The Last Ship - 30:01 Channel Zero Interview - 49:40  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this special bonus interview edition of our podcast, we talk to Michael Gatt, the composer of the rockin' music in the Syfy grindhouse series, Blood Drive. He tells us about the wonderful musical choices he's been able to make in a series which explores a different sub-genre in each episode.You can enjoy Michael Gatt's scores along with the rest of Blood Drive as it airs on Wednesday nights at 10pm ET on Syfy.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our two-part "Sci Fi Royalty" segment begins with the men and our picks for the most iconic or far-reaching genre actors in the business. These are actors who have either created a role that became an archetype for sci-fi television or whose body of work is so broad that they've bridged multiple fandoms. Next month, the women!The show topics this month include NBC's newest supernatural offering, Midnight, Texas, which began its run on July 24, 2017, and the asteroid-headed-for-earth thriller on CBS, Salvation, which is also a new series that began on July 12, 2017.Our interview is with the amazing, talented, and enthusiastic creator/showrunner of Killjoys, Michelle Lovretta, who talks about the show's third season on Syfy and her hopes for a season 4 renewal.Timecodes: Sci Fi Royalty - 2:04 Midnight, Texas - 12:28 Salvation - 26:58 Killjoys Interview - 46:20  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a follow-up to our discussion of short-form sci-fi series in our July podcast, this bonus interview edition brings filmmaker Stephan Zlotescu and producer Scott Glassgold to Sci Fi Fidelity to talk about their new line-up of shows for the international streaming service, Blackpills.Among the shows discussed...Tokyo Red, created and directed by Stephan Zlotescu, written by Phil Gellat: In the future, we follow one man's journey to find his family through a highly irradiated, post-fallout Tokyo.Isolated, created and directed by Tomas Vergara, written by Tomas & Manuel Vergara: Based on the hit short film, a man wakes up in the middle of what appears to be a zombie apocalypse. He has two hours to solve a puzzle that threatens not only his own life, but the world as we know it.Product Wars, created and written by Stephan Zlotescu: When product mascots are genetically engineered to boost sales, our consumer crazy population overlooks the mascot's well being which leads to an unexpected uprising.Future Sex,

Some of the best shows are hiding online with shorter episodes than televised series. Our discussion of short form sci-fi explores the viability and accessibility of episodes that are less than 15 minutes long and shares some examples you might enjoy including Con Man, H+, Project S.E.R.A., Blood and Chrome, Miss 2059, and Quantum Break.The show topics this month include The Mist, the Stephen King adaptation which recently began its first season on SpikeTV, and Killjoys, a can't-miss space drama which just aired its season 3 premiere at the end of June on SYFY.Our interview segment is with Graham McTavish, who plays the so-called "Saint of Killers" on Preacher, which is in the middle of its second season on AMC, and who also portrays Dougal MacKenzie on Outlander, which begins its third season in September.Timecodes: Short Form Series - 2:21 The Mist - 21:11 Killjoys - 36:55 Preacher Interview - 51:22  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We continue digging into the vault for our discussion this month; this time we're naming the shows that we think are ready for a rewatch. We even have a listener contributing his own suggestion - thanks, Scott! Which shows would you enjoy starting over with again?Our show topics this month include The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu, which wraps up its first season next week and has thankfully long since been renewed, and a spoiler-free preview of Blood Drive, a grindhouse classic-in-the-making from Syfy, which begins its run on June 14, 2017.Another double-header line-up for our interview segment includes two stars from Syfy's Wynonna Earp, which begins its second season on June 9, 2017. Melanie Scrofano - Wynonna herself - joins us as does Tim Rozon, who plays Doc Holliday.Timecodes: Shows To Rewatch - 2:18 The Handmaid's Tale - 16:51 Blood Drive - 36:25 Wynonna Earp Interviews - 49:56  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Last month we talked about classic sci-fi we somehow missed out on, and this month we're discussing some more obscure offerings that might have escaped your notice over the years. See if you agree whether these under-recognized classics deserve more attention!Show topics this month include American Gods, which began its run on April 30, 2017 on Starz, and Lucifer, which just began the back half of its second season on May 1, 2017 on Fox.And our interview segment gets nostalgic as well as we speak with two actors from the much beloved Fringe: Lance Reddick and Seth Gabel, who talk about their time on the show and what they're currently working on. Guest interviewer: Darrell DarnellTimecodes: Shows You Missed - 3:19 American Gods - 28:20 Lucifer - 38:44 Fringe Interviews - 49:07  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the April 2017 edition of our podcast, we confess to having somehow missed out on six quite popular shows, with some overlap between the two hosts. You'll be shocked at which classics we haven't seen!Show topics this month include iZombie, which began its third season on the CW on April 4, and a favorite we can't say enough good things about: Humans on AMC, which ended its second season recently and has already been renewed for season 3.Our interview segment is with Dez Dolly, founder of RocketJump and showrunner for the production company's collaboration with Hulu, an anthology series in the vein of The Twilight Zone called Dimension 404 that began on April 4.Timecodes: Shows We Missed - 2:30 iZombie - 18:04 Humans - 29:34 Dimension 404 Interview - 48:54  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this special interview edition of Sci Fi Fidelity, we take a detour into the genre-bending martial arts drama called Into the Badlands. We spoke with Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead fame about his new recurring role in season 2, which begins on March 19, 2017 on AMC.It's a post-apocalypse world in which guns are forbidden and barons rule in a feudalistic society with armies of cutters to fight their battles. Frost's character will join Daniel Wu as an unlikely but powerful companion.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.