Speculative Fiction Summer Shows To Check Out

We've got 11 shows on the to check out and watch list plus four specials from the Movies, Miniseries and Monsters category.

TV Shows

True Blood: season three

• Awesome show must see

• Vampires done very well

• Loved the first two seasons

• Kind of mad at HBO for not making this at least available on iTunes yet.  It has the problem of not being decabled friendly.

June 13, at 9 p.m. on HBO.

There's more sex, blood and supernatural action as the red-hot series picks up where it left off. Sookie's man is missing, and so she's searching for Bill with a little help from vampire Eric and werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello). Meanwhile, Tara gets mixed up with a vampire who takes her to the dark side, and we meet Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare), the vampire king of Mississippi. Elsewhere, Sam hunts for his birth parents and Jason finds romance with a local woman who has a secret. Look for tons of new regular, recurring and guest characters.

The Gates: series premiere

• Concerned about the pitch it is trying too hard to be liked

• I am kind of interested in the show

• It sounds more like eureka with stock fantasy / Gothic characters

• Every time I hear about the show I get the slug line "The Gates where abnormals go to be domesticated" in my head.  My hope is that I'm wrong on that

• Eric hopes it will be like charmed.

June 20, at 10 p.m.  on ABC.

Mix Desperate Housewives with Twilight, add a drop of True Blood, and you've got The Gates. In the series, when an ex-Chicago cop becomes the new police chief of an exclusive gated community, he and his family slowly come to learn exactly how exclusive that community is. Apparently humans aren't the only creatures that want to feel safe. This community has vampires, werewolves, witches and other creatures, and they don't always play nice.

Futurama: season six

• Love me some Futurama

• So excited the show is back with full cast intact

June 24, at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central

Thank you, Comedy Central! The ultimate animated space ride, Futurama, is returning for 12 glorious new episodes with Fry, Bender, Leela and all the gang from the Planet Express.

Warehouse 13: season two

• Season one rocked

• must watch show

• What happened to Artie? is it the pheonix artifact and who or what will pay for it

• could they be doing a where's claudia

July 6, at 9 p.m. on SyFy

Syfy's highest-rated series returns and Artie, who appeared to have died in an explosion at the end of last season, will return in an unusual way. With the season-one finale leaving just about everyone in a tough situation, look for lots of surprises to get them back in the supernatural artifact-hunting business. This season, love will bloom and there will be a Eureka crossover with Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston) when he installs a new Global Dynamics computer system at the warehouse. Nolan Gerard Funk joins the cast as a romantic interest for Claudia, while Lindsay Wagner and Tia Carrere guest-star.

Eureka: season four

• great show

• time to get our geek on again

• Hoping that Jaime Ray Newman will come back since East Wick is gone.

July 9, at 9 p.m. on SyFy

Something big is coming that will be a major game-changer for Eureka, and it isn't just James Callis joining the cast this season. Expect an Allison/Jack/Dr. Grant (Callis) love triangle, a race to the moon, people turning into stone, and even zombies! Guest stars include Jamie Kennedy, Wil Wheaton and the return of Jaime Ray Newman and Matt Frewer.

Haven: series premiere

• Based on Stephen King is a yellow flag

• My hope is for it to be good but past attempts to translate his works onto the screen have meet without much success, see Dead zone and Langoliers.

July 9, at 10 p.m. on SyFy

Based on the Stephen King novella The Colorado Kid, the series centers on FBI agent Audrey Parker, played by Jericho's Emily Rose, as she arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine, to look into the murder of a local ex-con. What seems like a routine case lands her in the middle of events in the town, which is a refuge for people with a range of supernatural abilities. Haven also stars Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour.

Ghost Hunters International: season two finishing episodes

• Love me some Ghost Hunters

July 14, at 9 p.m. on SyFy

The GHI team is off to Nottingham, England, in the hunt for the Sherriff of Nottingham's ghost at the Galleries of Justice. Other countries they'll explore during their global adventures include Wales, Norway, Poland, Ukraine and Estonia. The team is joined by new member Scott Tepperman, as well as Ghost Hunter Academy winners Susan Slaughter and Karl Pfeiffer.

Being Human: season two

• I want to see season one have heard good things about the show.

• Watching this will be tricky since BBC America is not decabled friendly

July 24, at 10 p.m. on BBC America

Before Syfy can have its way with the subject matter, you can catch a second season of the BBC original with the supernatural roomies—vampire Mitchell, werewolf George and ghost Annie. In the second season, George has to deal with relationship troubles, Mitchell tries to create order within the vampire community, and Annie takes on motherhood with a baby ghost. The series moves to its regular timeslot at 9 p.m. on July 31. BBC's announced that a third season is in the works.

Movies, Miniseries and Monsters

Princess of Mars: Syfy original movie

• Love some Barsoom book series, hoping it will at least be craptastic but with Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords in it there is no hope.

Saturday, June 5, at 9 p.m.

How about a little Edgar Rice Burroughs? This Syfy original flick adapts the Burroughs novel and takes Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords on an adventure about a U.S. soldier who is mysteriously transported to Mars in the midst of a war between two alien races.

The Phantom:  Syfy one night event

• Four hour miniseries

• don't know why The Phantom needed re-imagining so I hope they do well with it

June 20, at 7 p.m.

This modern-day re-imagining of the comic book follows Kit Walker (Ryan Carnes), the son of the Phantom, who ends up with his father's iconic ring. In the tale, Kit is targeted by the deadly Singh crime syndicate, who hope to stop the ascension of the next Phantom. Add in Isabella Rossellini as Lithia, the head of an experimental mind-control program, and you have one interesting miniseries. This mini was directed by The Last Templar's Paolo Barzman and stars Sandrine Holt and Cameron Goodman.

Dinocroc vs. Supergator: Syfy original movie

• What can I say I'm a sucker for a crappy giant monster flick

June 26, at 9 p.m.

Yep, it's a Dinocroc vs. Supergator smackdown a la Roger Corman! The two massive critters escape an experimental facility (which happens to be on a lush tropical island) and begin rampaging toward populated beaches filled with tourists. While the creatures work up an appetite battling each other, there are plenty of tourists around to snack on to keep them going.

(SCI FI Wire)