Killjoys (TV series)

Last updated

Killjoys
Killjoys Intertitle.png
Title card since the second season
Genre
Created byMichelle Lovretta
Starring
Opening theme
  • "Westerley Theme" by Finny and Katie McConnell (season 1)
  • "Happy Damage" by Jacuzzi Boys (seasons 2–5)
Country of originCanada
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes50 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • David Fortier
  • Ivan Schneeberg
Running time42 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network
Original releaseJune 19, 2015 (2015-06-19) 
September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)
External links
Website at Space
Website at Syfy

Killjoys is a Canadian space adventure drama series that aired on CTV Sci-Fi Channel (formerly Space) in Canada. The show was officially ordered to series on October 7, 2013, with a 10-episode pick-up. [1] In April 2014, it was announced that Syfy would co-produce the series, and the first season premiered June 19, 2015. [2] [3] Killjoys follows a trio of hard-living bounty hunters – Dutch, John, and D'avin.

CTV Sci-Fi Channel Canadian television channel

CTV Sci-Fi Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts speculative fiction and related programming. The network's original slogan was The Imagination Station, which for several years continued to be used informally by its fans. The channel first launched on October 17, 1997.

Syfy is an American pay television channel that is owned by the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The channel features science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural, paranormal, drama, and reality programming. Syfy is available to 92.4 million households in America.

Contents

In September 2017, Syfy renewed the series for a fourth and fifth season, each to comprise 10 episodes. [4] The fifth and final season premiered July 19, 2019 and concluded on September 20, 2019. [5]

Premise

Killjoys follows a trio of hard-living bounty hunters – Dutch, John, and D'avin. Working for the Reclamation Apprehension Coalition (RAC), they work in a four planet-and-moon system known as the Quad. [6] Taking on warrants to apprehend people or property, RAC Agents are given high authority by their agency. As part of their job, they swear to remain neutral in conflicts and owe no allegiance to any system, government, or other organizations. With their pasts coming back to haunt them, the trio will have to work hard to keep themselves, and their friends, alive.

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 10June 19, 2015 (2015-06-19)August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)
2 10July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02)
3 10June 30, 2017 (2017-06-30)September 1, 2017 (2017-09-01)
4 10July 20, 2018 (2018-07-20)September 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)
5 10July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)

Cast

The main cast for the series. From left to right: Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane. Killjoys cast.jpg
The main cast for the series. From left to right: Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane.

Main

Hannah John-Kamen English actress

Hannah Dominique E. John-Kamen is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Dutch in the Syfy television series Killjoys, Ornela in the HBO series Game of Thrones, F'Nale Zandor in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, and Ghost in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Aaron Ashmore Canadian actor

Aaron Richard Ashmore is a Canadian film and television actor. He is known for his roles on American television series, such as Jimmy Olsen on Smallville and Steve Jinks on Warehouse 13 and Johnny Jaqobis on the Canadian television series Killjoys. He is the identical twin brother of actor Shawn Ashmore.

Luke Macfarlane Canadian actor and singer

Thomas Luke Macfarlane is a Canadian actor and singer. He is known for playing Scotty Wandell on the ABC television drama Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011) and RAC Agent D'avin Jaqobis on the Space television science fiction series Killjoys (2015–2019).

Recurring

Frank Moore is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. He won the Canadian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1976 for the film The Far Shore, and was also a nominee for Best Actor in 1978 for The Third Walker.

Morgan Kelly is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles on Being Erica and Killjoys.

Rob Stewart (actor) Canadian actor

Rob Stewart is a Canadian actor born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Known for the lead role of Nick Slaughter in the action-comedy television series Tropical Heat and his recurring role as Roan in Nikita. He plays Khlyen in Killjoys.

Production

On September 1, 2015, Syfy announced it would renew Killjoys for a second season of 10 episodes. Bill McGoldrick, Syfy's executive VP of original content was quoted as saying "With exciting space-based action, deep world building, and a standout cast, Killjoys has struck a nerve with viewers and critics alike. We can't wait to see what adventures Michelle Lovretta and Temple Street take Dutch, John and D'avin on in season two." David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, the executive producers of the show, were quoted as saying "We couldn't be more excited to bring back Killjoys and its stellar cast to audiences across the U.S. We look forward to working with the team at Syfy for a thrilling second season." [7]

Starting with Season 4, Adam Barken became the showrunner of the series, with Michelle Lovretta remaining with the production as an executive producer and writer. [8] [9] [10]

Broadcast

Killjoys premiered June 19, 2015, in both Canada and the United States, and episodes air simultaneously on the two channels each Friday. [11] It premiered in UK on January 25, 2016 and in Australia on January 30, 2016. [12] On July 31, 2018, Ellation announced that seasons 1 through 3 would stream exclusively on its VRV subscription service. [13]

Reception

The first episode of the series received 286,000 overnight viewers in Canada. [14] Charlie Jane Anders of io9 gave the show a very positive rating:

If wanting to watch fun, quippy characters get into scrapes and survive by the skin of their teeth, on spaceships and alien planets, is wrong, I don't want to be right. Killjoys has just the right mix of guns, high-tech knives, assassins, cage fights, missions to hostile planets, dark secrets, tiny robot weapons and general space headbutting thrills to be the perfect treat for Friday nights.

Noting others' negative reviews, she went on to state "[w]e don't need every television show to be True Detective or even Battlestar Galactica ." [15] Writing for Forbes.com, Merrill Barr reviewed the first four episodes in a review titled "Sci-Fi Fun With Nothing Else To Offer", opining that though enjoyable for sci-fi fans, it featured "sci-fi archetypes that aren't bringing anything new to the table", an "overly complicated" fictional universe, and was "extremely light on depth and character intrigue". [16] Rotten Tomatoes gave Season 1 a score of 80% based on reviews from 15 critics. [17]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2015 IGN Awards Best TV Sci-Fi SeriesKilljoysNominated [18]
2016 Canadian Screen Awards Best Achievement in MakeupColin Penman, Ryan ReedNominated [19]
Best Visual EffectsKrista Allain, Igor Avdyushin, Jason Gougeon, Ran Long Wen, Ben Mossman, Yuhay-Ray Ng, Chris Ross, Kyle Sim, Somboun Souannhaphanh, Edward J. Taylor IVNominated [19]
Prix Aurora Awards Best Visual PresentationKilljoysNominated [20]
2017 Prix Aurora Awards Best Visual PresentationMichelle LovrettaNominated [21]
Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young ActorJack FultonNominated [22]
2018 Prix Aurora Awards Best Visual PresentationMichelle LovrettaNominated [23]

See also

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References

  1. Vlessing, Etan (October 7, 2013). "MIPCOM: Canada's Space Orders 'Killjoys' From 'Orphan Black' Producer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  2. Vlessing, Etan (April 30, 2014). "Syfy to Co-Produce 'Killjoys' Drama With Canada's Space". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. "Official website". Syfy . Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  4. Petski, Denise (September 1, 2017). "'Killjoys' To End Run With Two-Season Final Renewal By Syfy". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  5. "Killjoys | Final Season | July 19 at 10/9c". June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  6. Liptak, Andrew (June 30, 2017). "Syfy's space opera Killjoys returns tonight — here's why you should watch". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  7. Castleman, Tocarra (September 1, 2015). "Good News! Killjoys Season 2 Will Premiere in 2016". Syfy . Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  8. Sechere, Ama (February 1, 2018). "Original Series KILLJOYS Starts Production on Season 4" (Press release). Bell Media . Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  9. Heather M (July 13, 2018). "Showrunner Adam Barken Sets the Stage for Killjoys Season 4 [Exclusive]". TV Goodness. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  10. David, Greg (July 19, 2018). "Killjoys: Showrunner Adam Barken discusses Season 4". TV, eh?. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  11. Cox, Jennifer (May 14, 2015). "Space Original Series Killjoys Premieres June 19th". CraveOnline.com. Evolve Media, LLC. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  12. Purcell, Charles (January 21, 2016). "New This Week (Jan 25): War & Peace, Suits, Black Sails, Bear Grylls and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  13. Spangler, Todd (July 31, 2018). "First Three Seasons of Syfy's 'Killjoys' Streaming on VRV Under New Pact (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  14. "Space Original Series KILLJOYS Seizes the Day as 286,000 Overnight Viewers Makes it the #1". PR Newswire. June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  15. Anders, Charlie Jane (June 19, 2015). "Killjoys Really Is A Most Excellent Space Adventure Show". io9. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  16. Barr, Merrill (June 15, 2015). "'Killjoys' Review: Sci-Fi Fun With Nothing Else To Offer". Forbes. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  17. "Killjoys: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes .
  18. "Best Sci-Fi Series – IGN's Best of 2015 – IGN". IGN. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  19. 1 2 "Awards database". academy.ca. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  20. Publications, Locus. "Locus Online News » 2016 Aurora Awards Winners". www.locusmag.com. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  21. "2017 Aurora Award Ballot" (PDF). prixaurorawards.ca. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  22. Tech, Simon. "Nominees – Young Artist Awards". www.youngartistawards.org. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  23. "2018 Nominee List | Aurora Awards". prixaurorawards.ca. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

Further reading