LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- Syfy viewers will get to revisit "Riverworld" and "The Phantom" later this year.
Mark Stern, the network's head of original programming, confirmed to me during the TCA Winter Press Tour we'll see one this spring with the other due later in 2010.
Tahmoh Penikett and Laura Vandervoort both topline its "Riverworld" update while Ryan Carnes plays the title role in "The Phantom" revival. Both projects were ordered as backdoor pilot mini-series back in April, meaning each could continue as weekly series should the ratings merit.
They'll be joined by recent series pickups "Haven," based on the Stephen King novella "The Colorado Kid," and "Being Human," a re-imagining of the U.K. series of the same name, both of which could be ready for summer launches.
Stern also revealed that husband-and-wife duo Jeremy Carver ("Supernatural") and Anna Fricke ("Privileged") have been tapped as the writers of the latter. "[He's] kind of got the genre cred and Anna comes out of a more character-based drama world so between them they'll be really interesting."
And on the development side, "Alphas," from Zak Penn and Michael Karnow, is still a go as a 90-minute pilot while
"Unfinished Business," from Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment, is in the script stage.
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