Tom Rozon is looking like you probably haven’t seen him before–or at least for the past 10 years. The handlebar moustache from his stint as roguish Doc Holliday on Wynonna Earp is gone, and that lack of facial hair he’s sported for his outlandish roles in Vagrant Queen on back to Lost Girl and beyond makes the real estate agent he plays in his next series seem boyish, trustworthy, and kindly–he looks at least 10 years younger than his 45 years. The new series is SurrealEstate, and the pilot episode that aired Friday on Syfy has all the makings of a regular addition to any good genre TV follower’s DVR. It begins with fantastic writing and dialogue, from new TV creator George Olson and writer Gillian Muller (Endlings, Life with Boys).
We were hoping for a new Ghostbusters this year (last year, too), but were happy to get Truth Seekers as a consolation prize. We get a double benefit coming with Syfy’s new supernatural series SurrealEstate. We thought we were losing our regular fix of Tim Rozon, co-star of both Wynonna Earp and Vagrant Queen–both wrapping up their series for good. So we’re glad Syfy tapped Rozon for another genre role, this time as Nick Roman, a real estate agent specializing in haunted houses, who brings along his own motley team of ghostbusting “experts.”
SurrealEstate also stars Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek), Adam Korson (The Twilight Zone), Maurice Dean Wint (Haven), Savannah Basley (Wynonna Earp), Jennifer Dale (Lost Girl), and Tennille Read (Heroes Reborn).
InArchitects of Memory, first-time sci-fi writer Karen Osborne creates an Alien-esque, Weyland-Yutani-inspired construct in outer space in Earth’s future, where corporations are competing for market share as salvagers acquire a laundry list of weapons of terrorism to pursue a pathway toward citizenship. A race of unknown and unseen aliens (like those seen in Ender’s Game and Starship Troopers) are the threat, yet it may very well be the corporations themselves are humanity’s worst enemy. Mad science has concocted the ultimate weapon. Gruesome and invasive, humans become the experiment and the conduit to deliver destruction to the alien race, as a group of strong women struggle to understand their role in the corporations’ schemes.
With all the changes at the movies, including delays for The New Mutants, originally scheduled for release two years ago and seemingly cursed to never get released by the studio, a television series also based on comics still doesn’t have a firm release date. That’s Syfy’s series Resident Alien, which currently is marketed to arrive this summer on the heels of Syfy’s current, similar vibe, sci-fi comedy Vagrant Queen. Based on a sci-fi/crime mystery mash-up series of comics beginning in 2012 by Peter Hogan(2000 AD, Tom Strong) and Steve Parkhouse (Milkman Murders, Doctor Who)–and first discussed here at borg back in 2013—the television series will be headlined by Firefly, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Doom Patrol fan-favorite actor Alan Tudyk.
Tudyk plays an alien posing as a human doctor (a la Coneheads), but he’s cloaked, at least to some. The big news for the series is that Linda Hamilton (The Terminator, Chuck) will co-star as a military general pursuing Tudyk’s alien visitor. Sara Tomko(Pandemic), Corey Reynolds (The Closer),Alice Wetterlund(People of Earth), Levi Fiehler (Mars), Mandell Maughan(Life), and Alex Barima(The Exorcist) co-star in the series.
While you’re waiting for this series, get caught up on the comics, released in five trade editions you can track down from Elite Comics or your local comic book store. In the first story arc we meet the alien and see how he goes undercover as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle in the first murder mystery. The second collection takes the alien/doctor to Seattle to try to help a new-found friend. The third finds him sleuthing out a criminal also hiding behind an alias in town. The feds arrive in the fourth arc, and the fifth arc/collection finds him on a trip to New York City.
How many sci-fi and outer space tropes can you pack into one hour of TV? You’ll find out in the first episode of Syfy’s new space fantasy series Vagrant Queen. It’s like Firefly and The Fifth Element as if they were directed by Sam Raimi. Star Wars elements meet Doctor Who aliens with effects that feel a lot like The Last Starfighter. And humor that’s a cross of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Or maybe it’s just sci-fi created by Canadians. Whatever it is you’ll be all-in with the crew of the spaceship Winnipeg as it takes off into adventures in some galaxy out there that is… not ours.
Adriyan Rae(Atlanta) plays the scavenger Elida, a mix of Marvel’s Valkyrie and Rey from Star Wars, who stealthily has masked her former persona as Queen Eldaya, being pursued by the dreaded Republic, led by Commander Lazaro, played by Paul du Toit (remember Gary Oldman’s Zorg in The Fifth Element? He’s like that guy). Tom Rozon(Lost Girl, Wynonna Earp) is Isaac, a frenemy from Elida’s past (part Han Solo or Jack Harkness or Lone Starr from Spaceballs or Bruce Campbell in… anything). They come together with a Kaylee-inspired ship mechanic named Amae, played by Alex McGregor, to save a space station’s bartender, get a ship back, and rescue the queen. And that’s just the first episode.
It’s light-hearted, campy fun a la Xena: Warrior Princess featuring a group of actors who seem to be competing to see who has the most fun. It’s a little bit… everything… that you enjoy about space travel, with a cool lead like Killjoys and alien makeups reminiscent of Farscape. Goofy banter and situations, you’ll find yourself calling out the inspiration from nearly every scene, beginning with an opening rif on The Mandalorian. This is the escapism you’re looking for right now.
A new sci-fi television series is coming your way next week with a similar vibe as Killjoys and Farscape. It’s an adaptation of a comic book series, but don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of it. Like many TV series adapting comic book stories of late, the production was practically overlapping with its release. The series is called Vagrant Queen and it hails from one of the smaller publishers, Vault Comics. The comic was written by Magdelene Visaggio and illustrated by Jason Smith, and the TV series is written by showrunner Jem Garrard (Killer High), Mariko Tamaki (X-23, Tomb Raider, Lumberjanes) and Mika Collins (Travelers).
Adriyan Rae (Atlanta) plays the series lead Elida, with Alex McGregor (Blood Drive) as Amae, and Paul du Toit (Maze Runner, Tremors) as Commander Lazaro. Fans of Wynonna Earp, Lost Girl, and Being Human fans will be happy to hear Tim Rozon is the series co-star, playing Elida’s old frenemy, Isaac.
The series promises cannibalistic aliens, dangerous planets, shootouts, karaoke, and parking tickets. Order Vagrant Queen–the graphic novel–now from Elite Comics (it’s also available at Amazon here). And check out this preview of Syfy’s Vagrant Queen:
