TVSquad

SyFy has picked up the rights to broadcast an American version of the BBC show Being Human. For those who are unaware, Being Human is about a twenty-something ghost, a werewolf and a vampire that live together, each with their own set of melodramatic problems. It's a bit like a supernatural Melrose Place.

Actually, given the context of the program, it would go much better on The CW. But that's not likely at this point. They already have The Vampire Diaries anyway.

While relaunching Americanized versions of Brit shows has been successfully done on television before (such as The Office), it's the first time that I'm aware that SyFy has tried it. Usually they have new versions of old television shows with hit-or-miss results (there was Battlestar Galactica, and then there was Flash Gordon).

The BBC series was okay but not great. If the British makers of the show are lucky, SyFy won't butcher it beyond recognition.

It's almost impossible to fathom a six-episode run being a full season of a series, but in the case of Being Human, it is. Granted, it's a show that came from the UK, where shorter seasons are the norm. And yet, in only six episodes we got so much character and world development, it's amazing the installments didn't feel rushed.

In those episodes, we learned a little bit about the world of ghosts, explored werewolves and uncovered a lot about the secret society of vampires plotting a mass conversion of humanity into their undead world. We also had time to become intimately familiar with our three main characters.

Saturday night saw the season finale of Being Human on BBC America. In it, we got the resolution to Mitchell's staking, Annie's decision about the door to the afterlife, and George's latest transformation, which saw him do something he'd so far managed to avoid.

First of all, I should probably apologize for the title. I just couldn't help myself.

You may have missed it in all the excitement and hullabaloo over a certain Comic-Con convention over the weekend, but BBC America debuted a new show on Saturday night. A little thing called Being Human. You know how popular the vampires are with the kids these days, right? True Blood is huge. This one's got 'em. How about werewolves? New Moon's rocking the werewolf action. This one's got 'em. And a ghost, too, for good measure. (As Joel reported, they also presented at yesterday's BBC America press tour session, which generated far less hullabaloo).

What's an oddity about this show is that the premise sounds like an outrageous comedy idea. "Okay, here's what we got. A vampire and a werewolf move into an apartment with a ghost, where they try to live normal everyday lives." Shenanigans? Sure, but it's so much more. It's unexpectedly amazing television.

When you're bombarded with one panel after the other, it's sometimes hard to figure out how to group them together. One writer I was sitting with at the BBC America panel, for instance, was blogging each individual panel, and was such a frantic blur of writing and Photoshopping that she developed what can best be described as SCTS (Sudden Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).

You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. Me, I figured that there were three panels that could be put in what I call the "Comic-Con group": Spartacus on Starz, and Doctor Who and Being Human on BBC America. These shows got extensive showcases in San Diego over the weekend, and there wasn't many details revealed in any of these panels that you wouldn't have heard over the din at SDCC. So I'm going to go over the three of them in brief after the jump.

Let me give you a good teaser: If you were on the fence about seeing Spartacus, the prospect of a naked Lucy Lawless may convince you.

BBC America has added two new science fiction shows to their line-up, along with a new season of Primeval.

The first is a show called Being Human, which focuses on the "lives" of a werewolf, vampire and ghost. Where's the zombie roommate? My guess is that each supernatural character will represent some sort of minority. That didn't work so well for a series called Cavemen.

The second is called Survivors, which is similar in theme to Stephen King's The Stand. This is a remake of the original 1970's series of the same name. It was created by Terry Nation (who started it as a book), who is famous in England for creating sci-fi cult hit Blake's 7 and the Doctor Who aliens The Daleks. My only question is: who created the concept first, King or Nation? This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Both shows have already broadcast in England. Having not seen them, I can offer no opinion. If anybody has seen them, let us know in the comments if they're worth catching.