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Worlds Without End Blog

The Expanse: Coming to SyFy in 2015 Posted at 2:34 PM by Dave Post

Dave Post

I’m guessing most of you have seen this already but in case you haven’t here it is.  The Expanse, based on the series of the same name by James S. A. Corey (shared pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) is coming to SyFy.  See?  If I had said HBO we’d all be juiced as hell!  But since it’s SyFy we have to pause and consider first.

Leviathan Wakes Caliban's WarThese are the people responsible for Sharknado (1,2 and 3), Sharktopus, Mansquito, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Piranhaconda, Megapython vs. Gatoroid, Frankenfish, and oh so many more like them.  I found a list of 206 SyFy movies on IMDB and never a one has ever earned more than a 5.6 out of 10 with most sitting in the 2-4 range.  There’s a bit of damning evidence.

On the other hand they seem to fare a little better with their series.  They made 2 Dune miniseries that were pretty decent on the whole, for the SyFy channel anyway,  and there was of course Battlestar Galactica and that 12 Monkeys looks pretty decent so far and there are a number of semi-watchable shows in there like Warehouse 13 and some incarnations of Star Gate.

But always the caveat “for the SyFy channel” has to be appended to any sort of praise to set the bar low enough to be believable.  Admit it.  When I mentioned the Dune miniseries above you cringed a little bit but then the caveat hit and you relaxed.  Your sudden burning urge to correct me dissipated.

Abaddon's Gate Cibola BurnSo what can we expect from The Expanse?  Well, as of now I’d say 10 episodes and hope that it will be pretty good, “for the SyFy channel”.  Any more would be be nice but we’ve been down this road too many times before to hold out for too much.  Still, I’ll watch because hey, sci-fi!

I’ll admit the trailer does look pretty snazzy.  The ships look really cool and the interiors look to be varied and interesting.  Lots of faces in there that I recognize and many that I have liked in other things – that bodes well.  And the writers gave us Children of Men and Iron Man?  And who doesn’t like the notion of a zero-g booty call?  And the bit about paradise paved over?  I like that too.  Ah…. stupid hope,  tempered as it is, has me by the beard again, I guess. I’d love for SyFy to prove me wrong and hit this one outta the park.

What do you think?  Does the trailer do anything for you?  Have you read The Expanse?  Are you feeling more sanguine about the show than me?