Syfy is really pushing it big time with new series announcements and the latest is their look at a future where our prison systems have failed the United States and our country has had to create a ’51st State.’
The series will be a new ongoing one hour drama from Fox 21 Television Studios. ’51st State’ was pitched by Oscar nominee Craig Borten (‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ ’The 33’) who will also be writing the pilot episode. In the Executive Producer chairs we will see Borten joined by Peter Chernin (‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,’ ’Oblivion’) and Katherine Pope (‘New Girl,’ ‘Terra Nova,’ ’Touch’).
‘51st State’ will see the United States confronting a prison population that is stretched to the limit so they purchase Greenland and convert it into a frontier prison colony with male and female convicts incarcerated together. Promised conditional freedom, the inmates are driven to the edge of their humanity when that promise, along with others, is broken. Struggling to seize control and exact revenge, reluctant heroes emerge — but what exactly are they fighting for?
There is a lot of potential here for a new state for America, complications with politics, an uprising and change of the status quo, and a rebellion that could somehow lead to a new nation run by criminals. I’m curious to see how factions rise and divide the prisoners and how tied to the United States they will still be.
Syfy has really been pushing the envelope with original content as of late that isn’t just a series of reality shows. With the release of ‘Ascension‘ and upcoming shows such as ‘12 Monkeys,’ ‘Krypton,’ ‘Childhood’s End,’ ‘The Magicians,’ ‘Kill Joys,’ ‘Olympus‘, and ‘Hackers‘ it would appear that the network really is back on track to develop and release original content that is worth seeing.
Do you think Syfy has a fun dystopian future set for us in the ’51st State’? Who would you love to see take part in the upcoming series? Share your thoughts below!
