Last week it was announced that Syfy is developing a Lobo spinoff from Krypton from the producers of Krypton.
Reaction to the character so far on Krypton has been good, and we’re all for more good DC TV from the people who made a show about Superman’s Grandpa cool. Assuming it goes to series, and we get 10-episode seasons, that means there will be 20 episodes of good DC content on Syfy every year.
20…. out of 52 weeks.
There is no doubt that Syfy’s promotion of Krypton, during the months it is on, is great. The promos look great, the social media is popping…. but the long breaks (nearly a year between the time Season 1 ended and Season 2 began) are killer. And during that time, perhaps a product of “Peak TV,” it is mostly forgotten that Krypton is even a thing…. to the extent that I fear that when Season 2 started, viewers might have had a “that show is still on?” worry.
Again, this is a “problem” that a lot of basic cable outlets have; Freeform does the same. But at a time when Syfy really needs a hit, when series like Happy! and Deadly Class were ended all too early and who knows what is going to happen with Wynonna Earp, forgetting something good is… not good.
Now, we don’t know the nature of Syfy’s deal with Warner Bros. who produces the series. But we do know that during the months the show is on, each episode is shown multiple times. And that’s great. But then, 30+ weeks of… nothing. If Syfy could earmark, say, Wednesdays at 10 indefinitely for repeating past episodes of Krypton (or Lobo, when/if it happens), it would be a weekly reminder that the show is still a thing. Invest in the notion that Krypton is the crown jewel of the Syfy lineup and there are other great shows in its orbit.
Another possibility that Syfy may want to consider is seeing if they can work out a deal with the DC Universe series to fill those dead weeks. DC Universe does, after all, get Krypton several months after the fact. But we can’t help but think that Warner Bros. might make more money, say, licensing Swamp Thing to Syfy rather than relying on consumer subscriptions, and then they’d still have the content ready for their WarnerMedia empire when it becomes a thing. Maybe such deals could prevent us from losing gems like Swamp Thing so quickly; then again, in an era where streaming will ultimately rule all, would Syfy/NBCUniversal want to fund content that will end up on a competing streamer? And for that matter, why would they want to invest in Krypton and Lobo for too long if they don’t own them? I’d be feeling a lot better about “Lobo in development” if I heard that Krypton was at least renewed for Season 3 already, or even better, two more seasons.
I’m all for Syfy nurturing Krypton into a franchise. But again, I’m so worried that Syfy won’t invest the time, or worse, they’ll cut the shows off after all-too-short runs the way Deadly Class just was. I’m hopeful, and I do think with the right attention and investment, DC TV on Syfy could be a huge winner.