Syfy Tweaks Lineup To Bring 'Caprica' Back Early
'Battlestar' Prequel Resumes Oct. 5 As 'Sanctuary' Stays On Fridays
by Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 9/9/2010 4:17:40 PM
Syfy will resume season 1 of hit series Caprica on Oct. 5 instead of in January after the network reworked its schedule.
The NBC Universal-owned network had planned for Stargate Universe's season 2 premiere and Sanctuary's season 3 premiere to come back to back at 9 and 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Those shows were to shift to Tuesday nights from their former home on "Syfy Friday." 
Eric Stoltz, Caprica director.
Now the plan is for SGU to maintain that move but Sanctuary, starring Amanda Tapping, will stay on Friday nights (at 10 p.m.).
Sanctuary will premiere on Oct. 15, after its new lead-in show, WWE's Friday Night SmackDown. (That show premieres on Oct. 1.)
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Syfy will air the series finale of WWE NXT at 10 p.m. The following Friday, Caprica returns at 10 p.m. for the second half of its debut season.
Key background: Syfy acquired the rights to Friday Night SmackDown, currently airing on MyNetwork TV, this past spring in a multi-year deal, precipitating the move of sci-fi shows from Friday and the cancellation of the lower rated WWE NXT.
"Though we initially announced the January return of Caprica, we still had hopes of finding a way to get the series back on the air sooner," Mark Stern, EVP of original programming at Syfy and co-head of content for Universal Cable Productions, said in a release. "We've been able to successfully re-work our schedule, and are thrilled to bring the show back during what is traditionally Syfy's most-watched time of the year. The outcome should also please fans who expressed their wishes for a shorter mid-season hiatus."
Caprica, a prequel series to Syfy's acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, is produced by NBCU's Universal Cable Productions.
Here's what Syfy had to say about Caprica's action: "The second half of season one will transport us from stunningly vivid, twisted virtual realities to the fascinating outer worlds of the 12 Colonies. Along the way, revolutionary tensions rise, family power shifts and our characters grapple with the physical and emotional consequences of their questionable decisions. As the season races towards its stunning conclusion, each episode lays the groundwork for the inevitable (and brutal) clash between the new Cylon race and its human creators."
Show star Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone) directed the season 1.5 premiere.
The juggling separates SGU, the third in a string of Stargate-related series on Syfy, from Sanctuary, which was created by Stargate graduates including Tapping.
On Sanctuary's Facebook page, the move was announced thusly: "We know -- it means waiting an extra 2 1/2 weeks for the new season, but trust us, it will be worth the wait. And we love Fridays!"
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