Icon vs. Icon

World Wrestling Entertainment® and Syfy announced today a multi-year agreement that brings Friday Night SmackDown® to the “Imagine Greater” network beginning in October 2010. Friday Night SmackDown will premiere on its new home October 1st at 8:00 PM ET. The program, which debuted more than 10 years ago, is one of the longest-running, weekly episodic shows on television.

Syfy’s original Friday night drama series will move to Tuesday night, where hit series such as Warehouse 13 and Eureka have yielded unprecedented ratings success. WWE NXT™ will leave Syfy in October as Friday Night SmackDown joins the schedule.

“WWE® is the ultimate in imagination-based sports entertainment. The fantastical thrills of Friday Night SmackDown provide an ideal addition to the Syfy slate, as it targets the younger male and female demographics, which are the fastest growing categories for WWE,” said Dave Howe, President, Syfy. “With Tuesday night, a proven winner for our original drama series including Warehouse 13, there is bigger opportunity for series such as Stargate Universe, Sanctuary and Caprica to thrive on a night with a significantly larger number of viewers available to watch live.”

“Syfy is a terrific partner and we look forward to bringing our proven ratings winner and ten year television institution, Friday Night SmackDown, to the network,” said WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. “With this move, WWE is thrilled to be expanding its long-standing relationship with the NBC Universal family.”

Friday Night SmackDown averages more than 3.4 million viewers a week and is currently the most watched TV program on Friday nights among Males under 55 and beats all Friday primetime programming on ABC, NBC, FOX and CW among Men 18-34*. The two hour television program will be presented weekly on Syfy and features a star-studded cast of WWE Superstars and Divas including Undertaker®, Edge®, Rey Mysterio®, Chris Jericho®, CM Punk®, Michelle McCool®, Beth Phoenix™ and Layla™.

Syfy (formerly Sci Fi Channel) has announced the premiere dates for its upcoming slate of new and returning original series, including Stargate Universe, Destination Truth, Sanctuary and Scare Tactics.

Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe, the latest installment in the long-running franchise, debuts with a two-hour premiere on Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. and will air Fridays a 9, starting Oct. 9.

The series stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ming-Na, Alaina Huffman, Louis Ferreira, David Blue, Jamil Walker Smith and Brian J. Smith, with special guest stars Janelle Monáe, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Gary Jones and Carlo Rota.

Destination Truth
Destination Truth‘ third season debuts on Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. This season, host Josh Gates will travel to some of the most extreme locations on earth, including the isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and the heart of the world’s worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Viewers will also ride along on unprecedented investigations, including the world’s first overnight exploration of King Tut’s cursed tomb and pitch-black dives in ancient Caribbean caves.

Sanctuary
The second season of Sanctuary premieres on Oct. 9 a 10 p.m. Special guest stars this season include Christopher Gauthier (Eureka) and Michael Shanks (Stargate SG-1).

Scare Tactics
Scare Tactics returns with new episodes on Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.

Ghost Hunters
The original series Ghost Hunters will continue to air new episodes throughout the fall on Wednesdays at 9 p.m., and featuring special guest investigators Meatloaf and Josh Gates of Destination Truth.

Warehouse 13
The summer’s new hit original series Warehouse 13 will air new episodes through Sept. 22 in its regular timeslot, Tuesdays at 9 p.m., with a host of special guest stars including Battlestar Galactica’s Michael Hogan and Mark Sheppard; Gossip Girl’s James Naughton; Roger Rees; Eureka’s Joe Morton, Erica Cerra and Niall Matter; and Stargate Atlantis’ Joe Flanigan.

Source: Syfy

Sci Fi Channel is developing a new take on “Alien Nation,” the 1988 feature that previously spawned a spinoff series on Fox and series of TV movies.

Tim Minear—the writer/producer (Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls) is writing the new take on the franchise. Minear is currently outlining the “Alien Nation” script and mapping out the project’s mythology. The new “Alien Nation” will likely take place in the Pacific Northwest, and will take place about 20 years after the first ship of aliens – who have been banished as slaves – crash lands into Earth.

The new “Alien Nation” would include a mythology that evolves over time and will also touch on some of the issues of the day, such as the immigrant experience and how society integrates an incoming culture.

Sci Fi is also looking to broaden its footprint, as it preps to rebrand itself as “Syfy” next week.