Syfy Looking to Order Helix and The Almighty Johnsons Straight to Series

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There’s a buzz in the air, sending a very clear message: Syfy is looking to greenlight some scripts, probably within the next week. Strangely, Syfy might be ordering these scripts straight to series instead of the traditional order of a pilot. The two series that look like they’ll be getting the greenlight love both come from Battlestar Galactica creator and executive producer Ron Moore. They are Helix and The Almighty Johnsons. I don’t know if they’ll get that series order, but I think they have a great shot thanks to their intriguing – and very different – premises. But why listen to me gush about these potential shows? Allow me to introduce you to them.

According to Deadline, Helix revolves around a team of scientists investigating a disease outbreak in an Antarctic research facility. Right off the bat, you’ve got my interest by making this an isolated story, but you’ve also made me extremely wary. I know a disease is very different from an alien attack, but I can’t help thinking this bares more than a passing similarity to the classic horror movie The Thing. Obviously I have not read the script – Cameron Porsandeh wrote the spec script the pilot is based on – so this is just my projection right now. It’s still sounds very interesting and could be nothing like The Thing.

As for The Almighty Johnsons, it will center on Axl Johnson, who discovers on his 21^st birthday he and his family are the reincarnations of Norse Gods. It’s an adaptation of a New Zealand fantasy comedy/drama created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang. I’m not sure how great this will look on a Syfy budget, but the concept sounds too good to be true. If properly nailed, we could have something truly magnificent. Or a big pile of poo. It could go either way. It’s being produced by All3Media’s South Pacific Pictures with Chris Dingess writing the adaptation.