Universal’s Dark Universe failed to give us a definitive, modern take on Count Dracula, with Luke Evans’ Dracula Untold not even being included alongside all of the other failed monsters of that series, but maybe a Syfy original series will do what the Dark Universe could not (stranger things have happened). According to The Hollywood Reporter, former Battlestar Galactica star Tricia Helfer has joined the cast of Syfy’s Van Helsing as Dracula, who will presumably be a new Big Bad for the series—because you can’t just bring Dracula into a show called Van Helsing and not make it a big deal.
A statement from executive producer Chad Oakes refers to Helfer’s Dracula as a “fierce and unstoppable Dark One” and that the battle between good and evil will reach “new heights” when she shows up in the upcoming fourth season. The series stars Kelly Overton as the eponymous vampire-hunter, and the next season will also feature Richard Harmon, Nicole Munoz, Keeya King, and professional wrestler Big Show (a.k.a. Paul Wight). The show’s fourth season is set to premiere in the fall.
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Jesus, that channel still exists? Jesus, someone is trying to resurrect Van Helsing?Honestly, I miss the old original Sci-Fi Channel when it was basically the best UHF station ever with nothing but reruns of old sci-fi movies and TV shows.
And, for some reason, wrestling.
Fictitious staged battles between good and evil. Not a fan of wrestling, but it kinda make sense. 🙂
They’ve apparently been trying to go back into pure science fiction after diversifying caused them to lose too many viewers. Personally, all I watch on there is the occasional Futurama rerun. Haven’t been a regular viewer since Eureka was new.
I’ve watched a few of their shows and they’re just not compelling enough for me to find them on cable. You can just wait six months and they show up on netflix.
I loved the days when these fledgling cable stations were just appearing with no content other than reruns of whatever shows most fit their genre.
G4 network -video games and COPS
I was about to say they never aired Cops, just the Cops-like Campus PD (which appears to have actually originated on G4, rather than being picked up from a different channel like I’d always thought), but I see now they DID in fact air Cops. I basically gave up on G4 after I think the network head was replaced and they decided that the network’s original concept wasn’t good enough, so becoming a second-rate Spike was the way to go. Which, to be fair, was probably not the worst idea. I can’t imagine having everything based on video games was the most profitable idea. But the early days had sort of an earnest “this is occasionally silly and/or dumb-feeling, but dammit it’s about VIDYA GAMES WOOOOOO” vibe that I enjoyed. And also Portal was awesome.Also worth noting, although I didn’t see it when it happened due to my previously mentioned abandonment of the channel, it apparently shut down by referencing how it launched in the first place, which involved a game of Pong. Which is also kind of funny considering the network had long since faded into meh, but a nice touch anyway. On the other hand, the last show aired was the very first episode of X-Play. I’d think airing whatever came on first during the original launch would’ve made more sense. Partially because that seems fitting thanks to seemingly trying to sign off with more than just “air some random crap, disappear off the air and leave a message from your provider telling you the channel is no longer available,” and partially because X-Play wasn’t even a “proper” G4 show, having been one of the very few things to survive from the time TechTV was swallowed up by G4. Or maybe all too fitting, considering how that merger left TechTV viewers in the cold more or less.AND THAT’S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT (not true).
I remember the Hawaii chair.
While I agree that Van Helsing isn’t the best show, SyFy still has Deadly Class, Happy!, Killjoys, The Magicians, Wynonna Earp, Z Nation and had The Expanse, BSG and 12 Monkeys… so it’s not exactly a poor channel.
I keep holding out hope they make a Farscape revival/next generation show
There is a comic book sequel to The Peacekeeper Wars, which is a nice ending to the whole Farscape story too.
It’s already been on three seasons.
This show called “Van Helsing” has nothing to do with the movie from a few years back. If I recall this one is based off a book and the gimmick is that it’s the post apoc future and the character is a lady named Vanessa “Van” Hellsing. I actually heard it’s not a terrible show but haven’t watched it myself.
I’ve got the same sense of time dilation. That “few years” was 15 years ago.
I think that just means we are old 🙂
Buried in my cable line up I found while on med. leave from work, is a cable network called “Comet”. Looks like they are going to have a “Space:1999″ marathon soon.
https://www.comettv.com/About CometCOMET is a new television channel dedicated to sci-fi entertainment offering popular favorites, cult classics, and undiscovered gems, every day. Watch COMET and Space Out.Where Can I Watch COMET?COMET is available over the air, on cable, streaming for free online and now on ROKU and APPLE TV!
I watched one episode of Van Helsing and it was hilariously, stunningly bad with a muddled, messy and downright stupid premise.
I don’t know, man. If that were true, why isn’t it a huge hit?
Bazinga!
Probably because it’s Canadian…?
Didn’t hurt Anne Murray.
That’s why I don’t watch it. It’s not that I’m above that sort of thing, it’s just that “Wynonna Earp” fills that niche for me.
Good. TV has been without a sexy Dracula since October of 2010.
I bet she’s a Dracula of the Transylvanian Draculas, but not Count Dracula.
She could be from the Hyannisport Draculas.
Dreadful bunch their cottage in Aspen didn’t even have a raclette wheel like I’m just supposed to drink port with a regular cheese plate.
Turns out she’s of the Chippewa Falls Draculas.
Instead of just making up some Wallachian Countess for her identity, I think the female Dracula should be the historical Queen Olga of Kiev, who seems to have been about as ruthless and badass as the historical Vlad Tepes was. Plus, they’d work up some spicy controversy for publicity purposes by making an Orthodox Saint into their Big Bad.
Or perhaps old Vlad just gotten bored of his schlong and chopped it off?
I like this casting! I hope they have her sexy Dracula (but really is there any other kind) team up with Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and the Gill-Man, forming something of a “monster squad,” if you will
And it’s perfect because Dracula doesn’t have any nards this time!
That … actually is a very good point
If the new Monster Squad is written by the GoT guys then no one will have nards
Who plays the van?
Eric Roberts. Dude’s in everything.
VAN DAMN!
On my recent rewatch of BSG I was really struck by how much she improves as an actor over the course of the series. She has a great screen presence right from the beginning but by later seasons she’s really pulling off a layered, complex performance(s). I don’t trust Van Helsing to do anything more complex than “scary beautiful woman” but who knows?
Tricia Helfer was also an effective villain on Burn Notice, though Battlestar was a better role for her
Burn Notice was an underappreciated gem of a series. Granted formulaic to some degree, but the cast just clicked in that rare way that made the show a fun watch. I just wish someone gave Gabrielle Anwar a hamburger, she was so darn skinny to the point I thought she might blow away in a good breeze compared to Scent of a Woman or For Love or Money.
(Gabrielle Anwar threatens to shoot you in a bizarre facsimile of an Irish accent)
But what a way to go!
Only in the first episode. She dropped the accent because she was terrible at it.
Yes & they retconned it so that after that Fiona was using a fake American accent, in order to blend in, which I thought was brilliant
When you’re a spy, it’s important to be able to use, and keep track of, several different accents at one time. Effortlessly slipping between dialects is crucial to survival when playing two sides of a war, and one little slip can quickly escalate an already tense situation. If that happens, it’s best to have an exit strategy already in place. (Car explodes in midtown Miami again, Fiona nods from a third floor window, Sam yells Yeah, and Michael judo chops a guy to death)I love Burn Notice.
Don’t forget, it’s also important to eat a lot of yogurt.
Good job getting me to read that in Michael Weston’s voice.
I’m a big fan of BSG, Burn Notice, and Helfer.My memory of Helfer’s character in Burn Notice is somewhat tainted by the way they put her on a motorcycle – that was kind of dorky, I’ve seen it done better.
I’m a big fan of how she snapped that baby’s neck in the first episode.
yah, I’m glad that she got this. hopefully it will be over the top and she will be amazing.she’s delightful in interviews so I always try to watch her new stuff.
I agree, she seemed like she might be a weak link in that cast when the show launched, but Tricia Helfer really rose to the occasion on BSG. I wish she had more opportunities post-BSG.
She was really quite good in seasons 2 & 3 of Lucifer, which is really a delightful show once you accept 1) no, they are not doing Carey’s Lucifer per re, but the spirit of how Gaiman’s character gets used across different things and 2) Devil-cop premise takes part of season 1 to really work out. But season 2 and 3 really hit their stride and Helfer does a lot towards that. She also has to give really different performances between seasons.
She’s become one of those good actors who is mostly in trash.
wow Van Helsing is still running, amazing
Oh yeah, this show…I came across it on Netflix and the premise made me sleepy it was that uninteresting and I fucking love vampire stories. But they just took a zombie story premise and made it vampires. Yawn.
She really is a Cylon, isn’t she? I mean she never ages.
I kinda like that show, so cool. Mostly though, I want to publicly post my bewilderment that Neil Labute is involved with it, which has boggled me since I discovered the fact.
I don’t know how involved he is now since he’s also developing a show for Netflix.
There’s probably precedent for it. Female vampires tend to be a bit one-note, so it would be nice to change that, although I don’t know if a SyFy Van Helsing show is going to successfully do so.
… mom?
I can here to support the 3 Lucifer fans ….was unexpectedly distracted by the Burn Notice convention.
I’ll be that guy: Dracula means son of the devil.
Says the guy using an image of the monster, but a name referencing the monster’s creator.Seriously, though, of all the things wrong with the Van Helsing show, casting a woman as someone who’d once been involved with The Order of the Dragon isn’t gonna make the list.
is there a word for the female version of whitewashing
Anyone with anything snarky to say about the SyFy channel without catching this show has never seen the genius that is Christopher Heyerdahl. The show is worth watching just for his character.
The Harmons are taking over televised science fiction.