It’s that time of year again. We bid farewell to Summer genre programming, the likes of USA’s stellar Burn Notice and Syfy’s various spooky offerings (don’t stay away so long this time, Jack Carter!) and experiments like -- shudder -- ABC’s The Gates and settle in for the season proper. And a bumper one it looks to be! With a bushel of returning favorites as well as a few newbies to round out the pack (with The CW’s Nikita reboot being kind of a hybrid of both), sit back and set your DVRs to stun as we assay a whole new world -- many whole new worlds -- of genre fare in the 2010-2011 television season...

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Caprica

Returns: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Entering: Season 1.5

After a shaky first half-season, Syfy's Battlestar Galactica prequel wasn't looking good for an early return to our screens; the official date was set for January, but has since been pulled forward to October. Syfy has yet to confirm the rumor (which we're just now starting) that this decision was made in order to assuage fears and/or hopes of outright cancelation. And, after all, no loyal Caprica viewer should have to wait too long to see if the sentient artificial life forms created thereon are going to revolt against their human masters, engage in a ghastly war of independence and then retreat, only to one day come back and destroy all the twelve colonies... oh, wait.

Chances of Renewal: Distressingly good.

Chuck

Returns: Monday, September 20
Entering: Season 4
NBC

Chuck’s fourth season was in doubt for almost the whole of its third, but with the introduction of a new ensemble dynamic and the final smiting of the inept Brendan Routh’s dreary villain Shaw, Season 4 promises to usher in a whole new era of awesomeness. With its trademark top flight guest casting (look for Linda Hamilton, Timothy Dalton and Joel David Moore; Freddy himself, Robert Englund, is set to appear in the Halloween episode), its offbeat humor, its intense family relationships -- we’re off to search for Mom Bartowski now! -- and a hot new haircut for freshly-minted superspy Chuck (Zachary Levi), expect big things. And if General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) could die at some point this season, that would be nice, too.

Chances of Renewal: It’s an unhappy truth that any show struggling to get a fourth season rarely sees a fifth. But here’s hoping.

Fringe

Returns: Thursday, September 23
Entering: Season 3
FOX

With its paradigm-shifting finale, Season 2 of FOX’s troubled paranormal drama went out with one hell of an impressive -- if predictable -- cliffhanger. With “our” Olivia (Anna Torv) stuck in the other universe and her less earnest counterpart having infiltrated this one, word is we’ll see alternating episodes with alternating Olivias for the first half-season… which all sounds well and good, until you remember that one universe has no Peter in it, and Fringe without Joshua Jackson is rather like non-alcoholic beer: what’s the point? One must also remember that Farscape already covered this ground, showing us the paths taken by two different Crichtons; however, Fringe is well used by now to playing in other shows’ shadows, and yet always manages to give even its most unoriginal plot developments an original twist all its own. One suspects Fringe Science is at work. We’ll be watching to see how they do the impossible this time.

Chances of Renewal: Depends very much on how the alternate reality plays out, how the Peter/Olivia relationship progresses and how much they give the shamefully underused Astrid (Jasika Nicole) to do.

Glee

Returns: Tuesday, September 21
Entering: Season 2
FOX

Should we include Glee in this list (or in our magazine), considering it’s essentially a high school musical and that our mandate is all things sci-fi, fantasy, horror and covert ops? Perhaps -- technically -- not. But we love Glee, and it’s our magazine, so it’s in. Season 1 was drawn out over the course of more than a year, from its premiere episode in May 2009 to the finale in June this year. In that finale, Quinn (the impossibly beautiful Diana Agron) gave birth, both Will (Matthew Morrison) and Finn (Cory Monteith) confessed their love for their significant others, New Directions lost ignominiously at Regionals and Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) showed herself to be slightly less self-obsessed than we’d previously imagined. How any of these developments might affect Season 2 is anyone’s guess: will Quinn return to the Cheerios? Will Finn break Rachel’s (Lea Michele) heart again? Will guidance counselor Emma (Jayma Mays) lose her virginity? And as long as the -- often anachronistic -- songs keep coming and the voices continue to soar, does any of that even matter? That said, our one hope for this year is to learn more of the enigmatic Mike Chang.

Chances of Renewal: May suffer from “second album” syndrome; there is also the concern that surely some of the Glee Club kids will have to graduate at some point. However, a spirited, sprightly fanbase made up of eminently desirable advertiser demographics should keep it in business at least one more school year.

Human Target

Returns: Friday, October 1
Entering: Season 2
FOX

The second attempt at a TV series (loosely) based on the graphic novel of the same name, 2009’s Human Target astounded both comic book fans and television critics by being actually, y’know, good. With some deft casting -- Mark Valley was an inspired choice as secretive bodyguard hero Christopher Chance -- some well-written dialogue and more than a little gratuitous violence, the series’ early feel was marred by FOX’s regrettable tendency to air episodes out of production sequence (have they learned nothing from the parable of Firefly?), but hit its stride half way in, and Human Target ended its short first season with a rousing backstory-providing flashback and a guest appearance by the ever-enchanting Amy Acker. Season 2 is almost guaranteed to up the ante on the action with the inclusion of two new cast members -- perhaps providing a potential love interest -- and a mission to retrieve the kidnapped Winston (Chi McBride) from the clutches of some of the ne’er do wells with whom the series is populated. Good luck, Chance!

Chances (no pun intended) of Renewal: Not great, but devoutly to be wish’d.

Medium

Returns: Friday, September 24
Entering: Season 7
CBS

There have been six seasons of Medium? Sheesh!

Chances of Renewal: Apparently infinite.

Nikita

Began: Thursday, September 9
Entering: Season 1
The CW

This one was worrisome: a teenager-friendly version of a beloved cult covert ops show based on a perhaps even more beloved cult classic of French cinema? Oh, dear. However, Nikita posted impressive ratings for its debut episode and the critical response has been far more generous than might have been anticipated. Instead of reimagining the story of the movie (either Luc Besson’s original French version, or the US one starring Bridget Fonda) as La Femme Nikita did, this new series instead takes us beyond the movie and sees Nikita already gone rogue, a new recruit with a twist introduced, and offers up a very slick production. As for the cast, The CW has once again done what it does best: give us really, really ridiculously good-looking people to watch -- in this case, as they try to kill each other. Maggie Q is delightful as the disillusioned Nikita, a killer with killer legs; Lynsey Fonseca is eminently watchable as troubled teen Alex; and, um, hello Shane West as Michael! You’re no Roy Dupuis -- so stop trying to sound all gravelly, will ya? -- but you’ll do.

Chances of Renewal: Hard to say after one episode, of course, but it is certainly off to a great start, and The CW isn’t prone to kicking out its beautiful people without very good cause.

Sanctuary

Returns: Friday, October 15
Entering: Season 3
Syfy

Coming late to the comeback party, Sanctuary returns with a third season of otherworldly shenanigans as the seemingly immortal Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her adorable assistant Will (Robin Dunne) grapple with new mysteries, new species and old, old magics. With the conclusion of the hanging Kali-based plot from last season, the return of the irrepressible Nikola Tesla (Jonathon Young) and what looks to be a shake-up of the eldritch bureaucracy around which the show is based, this brainchild of Stargate SG-1 alum Damien Kindler will again bring its particular blend of mysticism, jaw-dropping green screen effects and often tenuous accents to a happy and grateful multitude in twenty projected episodes. (Seasons 1 and 2 only had 13.) And to think it all started as a web series…

Chances of Renewal: Syfy loves them some Amanda Tapping (as do we all). Season 4 is a practically done deal.

Smallville

Returns: Friday, September 24
Entering: Season 10
The CW

After nine years giving us the adolescent and post-adolescent doings of the finely-chiseled Man of Steel and his sundry allies and enemies -- and featuring almost every DC Comics character ever -- Season 10 of Smallville will show Superman actually flying. What else do you need to know?

Chances of Renewal: It has already been announced that Season 10 will be the long-running show’s last… or will it? (Yes, it will.)

Stargate Universe

Returns: Tuesday, September 28
Entering: Season 2
Syfy

Moving to a new night and despite a controversial first season either loved or hated by the Stargate faithful, SGU seems set to present us with yet another year of leadership contention, alien afflictions, the insane antics of Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) and more introspection-heavy melodramatics. Yay. At least our resident SGU reviewer Rachel Day will be happy.

Chances of Renewal: Stargate SG-1 ran ten seasons, Stargate Atlantis only five. The law of diminishing returns therefore gives Stargate Universe two and a half. Which means it should at least get -- in Syfy parlance -- a Season 3.0.

Supernatural

Returns: Friday, September 24
Entering: Season 6
The CW

After a killer, kick-ass Season 5 finale that shook the very foundations of the world as we know it, the much put-upon Sam (Jared Padalecki) took the Devil -- and the Archangel Michael -- down to Hell, putting and end to the season-long Apocalypse and leaving his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) to seek out the loving arms of a once and future girlfriend. The angel Castiel (Misha Collins) was off to take the mismanaged Heaven in hand, and we were left to ponder the nature of God in the Supernatural universe. And now to Season 6. With the all-but departure of series creator Eric Kripke and the show turned over to perennially gore-soaked and totally awesome writer Sera Gamble, Sam’s inevitable escape from Hell (yes, of course it’s going to happen) will probably be creative -- if bloody -- and Dean’s equally inevitable departure from domesticity could well be heartbreaking for all involved. We can’t wait.

Chances of Renewal: Season 5 inexplicably cost Supernatural a lot of viewers, and its frequent bouts of self-referentiality has some previously fanatical adherents currently sitting on the fence. Gamble has her work cut out for her.

The Event

Begins: Monday, September 20
Entering: Season 1
NBC

Emphatically not a rehash of FlashForward -- thank you very much -- NBC’s show website tells us this: “The Event is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker, an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.” Cool. Starring the adorable Jason Ritter, former ER nasty Laura Innes and Blair Underwood as the President, NBC is campaigning hard for this one… let’s just wait and see how that works out for them.

Chances of Renewal: Given the short shrift FlashForward met with from the public, hardly likely.

The Vampire Diaries

Returned: Thursday, September 9
Entering: Season 2
The CW

After a typical CW beginning, feeling very much One Tree Hill with things that go bump in the night, The Vampire Diaries got addictive at about the midway point of Season 1and returns for its sophomore year in a flurry of death, depression, doppelgangers and overly deconstructed sentences. Pretty people in perennial peril is ever appealing, and main cast members Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and -- especially -- Ian Somerhalder give us that in spades, with a little help from a town full of improbably attractive teens and their assorted caregivers. Expect angst, coming of age milestones, heavy-handed sarcasm, small town happenings, obsessive relationships and more lip gloss than is perhaps legally allowed. Pure sappy, soapy fun... with vampires.

Chances of Renewal: Very, very good indeed. Much like the show.

Undercovers

Begins: Wednesday, September 22
Entering: Season 1
NBC

J. J. Abrams and spy drama go together like a horse and very confusing carriage, and with Undercovers, Abrams gives us married couple Steven and Samantha Bloom, who are brought back into the most dangerous game after one of their friends disappears, and thence discover a new spark in their stagnating relationship. Starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (seriously: Boris and Gugu), Undercovers may sound very like Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets that super-fun Dennis Quaid/Kathleen Turner movie Undercover Blues, but… wait, that’s exactly what it sounds like. But with African-American hotness. Still, it’s J. J. Abrams, so let’s give it a chance, shall we?

Chances of Renewal: It’ll be lucky to last out the season.

V

Returns: November, 2010
Entering: Season 2
ABC

No one was more surprised than us when V got itself a second go around. After an ad hoc beginning and a ridiculously long mid-season hiatus, things did not look good. But V put in a valiant second half of its nominal first full season and left us with quite the cliffhanger: fried alien eggs, boiling red skies and renegade Visitor Joshua (Mark Hildreth) blessedly returned to life. Of all the returning shows of 2010, V may be the one we’re most excited about. Season 2 portends more genre royalty casting (for example: Jane Badler, of the original V series, will appear), more dubious mysteries and more people acting stupidly, no doubt, but it will also gift us with more Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin as FBI Special Agent Erica Evans and evil alien leader Anna, respectively: two of the strongest, scariest and sexiest women ever to be seen in genre TV. Hurry on November!

Chances of Renewal: Fingers crossed now, people. Fingers crossed.

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