Are you burned out from the incessant Christmas specials? Syfy has you covered.
Ever since the intrepid survivors of Syfy's Battlestar Galactica settled down on Earth five years ago, viewers have been longing for the next juicy space opera.
Well, here you go.
Syfy is rolling out Ascension, a three-night, six-hour limited series, at 8 p.m. Monday. The series continues at that same hour Tuesday and Wednesday.
The ambitious original drama, starring Battlestar's fetching Tricia Helfer (she played Cylon Number Six), is about a space ark launched in 1963 on a 100-year voyage.
We join the massive starship Ascension and its hundreds of men, women and children as they approach the halfway point in their interstellar journey.
Fifty years before, it was assumed that Earth was doomed. So for the sake of the species, the powers that be (were) sent out a spaceship with all sorts of people on it with the hope that they would find a new Earth.
The series takes place in the present day, and because of a strict caste system, there is now tension among the classes. Think of the Ascension as a giant cruise ship with the privileged upper deck elite and disgruntled workers below deck. It's sort of like Titanic and a big ol' soap opera thriller set in space.
Halfway is when Ascension will reach "the point of no return." Shortly before then, the mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship's population to question the true nature of their mission. Drama ensues.
Also, things are not what they seem. Seriously not. There's a surprise waiting at the end of the first episode that changes everything. I've only previewed the first episode, but it kept me enthralled all the way.
Ascension was created and written by executive producer and showrunner Philip Levens (Smallville) and also stars Brandon P. Bell (Hollywood Heights) as First Officer Aaron Gault and Brian Van Holt (Cougar Town, The Bridge) as ship's Captain William Denninger.
Helfer portrays Viondra Denninger, the captain's seductive, manipulative wife, who also serves as the ship's chief steward.
Meanwhile, back on the ground at mission control, Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal) plays Harris Enzmann, the son of the founder of the Ascension mission.
Syfy has big hopes that this effort will get folks buzzing about the channel again as they did in the Battlestar glory days.
Finally, it may be a "limited series," but if it's a big hit, I imagine Syfy will find a way to turn it into a regular series.
• Animal Planet. I find it amusing how some series contort to come up with a seasonal Christmas episode. Take, for example, Animal Planet's Mud Lovin' Rednecks: Holiday Special. Check it out at 8 p.m. today.
The episode, rated TV-PG, finds the good ol' boys down in Alabama going all out to create a festive "Muddy South Pole" for the holidays. The mud-covered bunch "hosts a scavenger hunt for gifts in the mud, muddy sleigh rides and a mud snowstorm for all the naughty and nice boggers."
Here are other Animal Planet specials this week.
Monsters Inside Me: Holiday Special airs at 8 p.m. Thursday. I mentioned last week this not-for-the-squeamish special episode. The series, which features gross-out tales of human parasites, gives a synopsis of this episode, but I can't repeat it because this is a family newspaper.
Who watches this stuff?
Tanked: Holiday Special rolls around at 8 p.m. Friday. In this episode, brothers-in-law Wayde King and Brett Raymer install a beefed-up butcher block aquarium for a Las Vegas Jerky Store. In South Florida, the guys design a pub-theme tank for an Irish family.
Finally, the entire gang gets into the holiday spirit, "but things get out of control when Brett takes his decorations a bit too far."
Pit Bulls & Parolees: Holiday Special airs at 8 p.m. Saturday. Earl Moffett rallies the parolees' festive spirits and enlists their help to decorate the Tahyo Tavern and prepare a very special Christmas feast for the Villalobos Rescue Center family.
ELSEWHERE
Monday: The Year Without a Santa Claus, 7 p.m., ABC Family. The 1974 offering features Mickey Rooney as the voice of Santa.
Wednesday: The Santa Clause, 8 p.m., ABC Family. This is the 1994 original (and only one worth watching), with Tim Allen as a reluctant Santa.
Thursday: Holiday Inn, 11:30 a.m., AMC. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star in the 1942 musical that gave us Irving Berlin's "White Christmas."
Friday: Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, 7 p.m., The CW. This is the animated 1962 musical based on A Christmas Carol. Raise your hand if you know who Mister Magoo was.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 12/14/2014