Get your nerd on this fall as some great sci-fi shows invade:
“Haven” (Friday, 10 p.m., Syfy) Mama can’t pinpoint exactly when this creepy-but-corny series based looooosely on a Stephen King novella became a must-see program, but it probably was about the time that the show realized it had a prize pairing with adversaries Nathan (Lucas Bryant) and Duke (Eric Balfour). The third season picks up with the men slugging it out over Audrey (Emily Rose), who’s been kidnapped. These two guys are more interesting together than they are apart (not unlike Bill and Eric’s excellent adventure last season on “True Blood”), especially for the normally wooden Nathan.
The show never shies away from outlandish scenarios; take this season’s premiere, for instance. And after three seasons, they’re finally exploring the kooky newspapermen’s (Richard Donat and John Dunsworth) reasons for concealing Audrey’s identity and getting around to talking about “The Colorado Kid,” the name of the book that inspired the series.
“Fringe” (Sept. 28, 9 p.m., Fox) Last season’s finale could’ve served as a tidy series ender — Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) vanquished William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) after he attempted to destroy both universes so he could be first in line at the petting zoo; Olivia (Anna Torv) died, as predicted by the Observer (Michael Cerveris), only to come back to life and reveal she’s preggers (busy day for that lady); and Walter enjoyed a Twizzlers with Astrid (Jasika Nicole). We could’ve all simply forgotten about Observer showing up to create havoc and moved on with our lives. But no. Now we have an entire final season of this “X-Files” heir to fill our Friday nights, and we feel obligated to stick around. We simply want to find out if they’re going to leap into that nerdy abyss and allow Nimoy’s Bell to grow pointy ears before boarding a starship; Rebecca Mader’s undead Jessica to reveal they’re on an island that can travel in time; or Katie Holmes to show up and take Pacey back to the Dawson’s Creek.
“Warehouse 13” (Monday, 9 p.m., Syfy) Laura Innes guest stars this week as Emma Jinks, who was estranged from her son, Steve (Aaron Ashmore). Wanna bet she acts like she’s on the Warehouse team’s side and then betrays them, but they somehow still like her ? Innes has created a career out of playing that character (“ER” and “The Event”).
We haven’t seen Emma yet because she and her son haven’t spoken in two years — she can’t really be blamed for not talking to him during that period of time when he was dead. But of course heartbroken Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) resurrected him in the second episode of the season — the latest twist to annoy Mama — as the series once again undoes any plot advances that would allow the characters to grow.
“Alphas” (Monday, 8 p.m., Syfy) As this show winds up its sophomore season, Mama has mixed feelings. Yes, she’s happy that the infinitely watchable David Strathairn’s Rosen is still alive, but the series apparently did not fare well enough in the ratings in its first season. There’s a marked increase in sex and violence: The two hot women (Azita Ghanizada’s Rachel and Laura Mennell’s Nina) have already made out, the true mark of a sci-fi show desperate to attract the lonely, horny nerds. But at least the series learned from predecessor “Heroes” and reunited the factious team before the audience could lose interest.
“The Walking Dead” (Sunday, Oct. 14, 9 p.m., AMC) For a person normally averse to violence, Mama is unable to explain why she cannot wait to see the undead nosh on the remaining survivors’ brains in the third season of this zombie-pocalypse. And the premiere is still a month away.
Phil Mushnick’s column will return Sept. 30