Hoping to cash-in on the limited series trend, SyFy has greenlit one of its own, titled Channel Zero. The network has ordered two six-episode seasons to be produced.
Channel Zero comes from Nick Antosca (Hannibal, Teen Wolf) and Max Landis (American Ultra, Chronicle) and will be produced by Universal Cable Productions.
The first season is titled Candle Cove and is based on a story by Kris Straub. It’s about a man who is obsessed with a mysterious 1980s children’s TV show, which might have been linked to deadly events he heard about as a child. The season will debut in Fall 2016 and the pilot was written by Antosca.
The second season has yet to be determined, but it will debut in Fall 2017. Both shows will air during the 31 Days of Halloween programming event.
“As Syfy’s first ever Halloween original scripted series, Channel Zero will transport viewers into the deepest recesses of their darkest imagination, with frightening tales from two of the genre’s most accomplished storytellers, Max Landis and Nick Antosca,” SyFy and Chiller president Dave Howe said in a statement.
“As lifelong fans of experimental horror and science fiction, from The Twilight Zone to Tales from the Crypt, we are overjoyed to have the opportunity to offer exposure to a new generation of creators,” Ancosta and Landis said. “Channel Zero is a great opportunity to explore new frontiers in the genre, in a way that allows us to really dig in and get weird.”
The anthology series has returned to television with a vengeance, following the success of American Horror Story. Considering that science fiction shows were so important to the anthology series for decades, it only seems right that SyFy would finally make one.