Syfy Channel had already dropped the hammer on its time-travel pilot Rewind before the cable channel aired it on August 26 (story). But now that we’ve seen the start of the show that will never be, we know just how cool it might have been.
SciFi Stream’s readers agree: More than 50 people have commented on our last news item about the pilot, and thousands more discovered that story after watching Rewind and searching the Internet to try and find out when the next episode would air … only to discover that Syfy didn’t like it enough to send it to series.
The show starred Shane McRae as an ex-Special Forces operative Henry Knox, who joins up with a secret program that uses newly-discovered time travel technology to go back in time and alter events — for the benefit of humanity, of course. It incorporated the best of Stargate, Sliders, and The Outer Limits, with potential for both stand-alone episodes and (as the cliffhanger finale revealed) an on-going story arc.
Rather than dwell on the network’s decision to pass on the series, though, we’d rather focus on what Rewind did right. Here are three things we’d have liked to see had Rewind gone to series:
1. BIG STAKES
Rewind starts with an astonishing event: the destruction of New York City and the deaths of millions of innocent people, including those nearest and dearest to our heroes. Rather than a ticking clock that the characters stop juuuuust in the nick of time, the show’s premise allowed it to depict everything — even those old clichés — going horribly, horribly wrong.
Of course, not every week would necessarily provide New York-scale stakes. Smaller, more personal stories of altering the timeline could provide for some emotional, “City on the Edge of Forever” kinds of stories. But the show could have gone big on a pretty regular basis, eventually making it clear that the secret facility was all that stood between the world and total, global annihilation.
2. TEMPORAL PROBLEMS
Rewind is the first show in a long time (with the possible exception of Continuum) to feature time travel as a regular and central part of the plot. Rather than sidelining this staple of science fiction, the pilot put it front-and-center. Dr. Bryce’s facility was built around a super-collider that opened up a window to the past — one that uncontrollably jumps to another destination every few hours.
The premise makes for a huge number of potential stories — not just fixing things that have gone wrong, but challenges that are time-related themselves. What if the team doesn’t make it back to the window before it jumps? Can the jump to delayed, or forced to happen early? What if the machine breaks mid-mission? What if it sends them to the wrong time period? Or if someone from the past stumbles through to the present? Stargate told a lot of great stories that involved the gate itself going haywire, and Rewind could have done some very cool things here.
3. TOUGH QUESTIONS
Despite the big stakes, there is actually a pretty provocative question running underneath the surface of the pilot episode — especially after the team’s first mission is such a resounding success: Should they also change small things? Just how big does an event have to be in order to warrant the rewriting of events? What about a small town’s lack of preparedness for a deadly storm? Or the accidental death of one individual?
Good science fiction excels at posing difficult questions, including ethical dilemmas and “What If?” scenarios. That’s why Rewind is good science fiction: the concept is based on this. Should the heroes go back to the 1920s? How much can they get away with altering? If they wind up stuck in the past, would they really take suicide pills? If they can kill their target without any major ripples in history … should they? Is it right? Does the salvation of 7 million people justify the preemptive murder of a (mostly) innocent man?
These are the things that Rewind could have grappled with in a way that no sci-fi show has done in a long, long time. And that may be why we’re going to miss it most.
What did you think of Rewind?
I wonder if theirs any chance of another network picking up this show…….
I liked the pilot REWIND better than continuum!
I was thrilled that this was on SyFy on demand…awesome first episode. Then as weeks rolled by I googled the show and realized that it was dropped. SyFy seriously??? The crap you air daily and a promising show like this is cancelled.
As a longtime fan of SYFY, I find this move very distressing. You air so much junk now, ie Ghost Mine and Paranormal Witness, that when you have a possible hit on your hands, ou dismiss it and cancel it. This Show, “REWIND”, has lots of potential and should be allowed to flourish. Take the reality crap off. We know it does not cost much to produce reality shows versus Quality shows, but come on, enough is enough. We get enough reality shows for the other networks. SYFY should be 100 % better than the others. Bottom line is, you are slowly losing your fanbase with junk shows and you are letting winning shows get away. Just my opinion, but I know others share it…
Loved the pilot … and was actually looking forward to following this show religiously … like others said: I like Rewind much better than Continuum.
Thank you for finally giving me an answer to the question I have been searching for, for a very long time now? When’s the next episode? I’m very disappointed, but not suprised. Good show, intelligent, left on cliffhanger. Cancelled quick! Need I say more.
After Watching the Pilot I thought, this is finally real SCI-FI.
Then after it was canned before it was given a chance I was hooked.
And now, the ratings are in and it would have been number 10 on the best show list of 2013!
Makes me think that Syfy channel should be re-booted with a new ceo, Like me.!(
I just watched the pilot yesterday and I was instantly hooked. I am very dissapointed when i looked up more info on the show today and found out they won’t be making any more episodes. I hope some execs realize their mistake and pick up the show again.
Sorry to read about REWIND not going to series… they just re-played the pilot (movie) the past weekend (Jan 31/2014), and I too went on-line to find out when the next episode would air… NOT FAIR!!! Hoping they reconsider – or at the very least, do a movie sequel to finish the story they left hanging!!!
Just saw Rewind and not unlike many other comments I read above, I’m TOTALLY hooked – astonished it was was cancelled, and can’t understand why it wouldn’t come back full swing. Someone please make this happen!!! What could be wrong with such an amazing series in so too many ways to mention here? I’ve watched all the other TV series that people say are similar such as: Stargate, 7 days, Continuum, etc. None of the aforementioned series is a duplicate of Rewind and I believe there is room for the concepts, stories, suspense, etc. and science behind Rewind as opposed to just being a knockoff of the previous/re-runs/current TV series. Again, whoever is in charge, please, please bring Rewind back. Thank you.
http://www.scifistream.com/2013/09/syfys-rewind-three-things-we-loved/
I really Enjoyed watching Rewind!! Especially since it was like a mix of my favorite time/space travel Series. And as many others i have seen went searching for a sequel/ next episode only to come up short, As a fan of scifi It’s sad to see…. So my question is what goes into the process of choosing what will become a series and what will not? Now i understand Their was some holes in the science but the science could wait till a second episode you don’t want to bore your viewers with too much science or they will change the channel! so you introduce it slowly to give the viewer an opportunity to understand it. Anyway in short give us a conclusion or trial series.. to test the waters maybe spend some advertising and see where it goes? But don’t give us a movie/pilot knowing you’re going to drop it the next day!
Given SyFy’s renewed commitment to the SciFi genre after losing its way over the last couple of years maybe they’ll revisit the pilot and reconsider, if not i guess i can always dust off my old copies of sliders.
So sad to read that this pilot was not picked up, but not surprised as SyFy have been making some very dodgy choices lately. Like others I prefer this to Continuum.
We have all come to realize that Syfy has become a sham. With good quality shows like Warehouse 13 and Eureka going away, they are replacing them with reality shows. I had to find Rewind on Youtube. This is no longer a network for Science Fiction fans or shows. There has to be another nework out there to pick up the ball that Syfy dropped. And YES. Rewind would have made a great series.
SyFy has lost it’s way, I mean look at the name change, that should have been a sign. They put on wrestling and took off a good show like Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. Since then I have not watched anything on this so called network. I found Rewind on youtube and loved it. I wish another network, or maybe even Netflix could pick it up.
Just watched this on OSN Movies HD in the UAE. I thought the storyline was very clever and the cliffhanger at the end left me wanting more. I can’t imagine why the producers at SyFy decided against funding a series except maybe they felt that comparisons with other shows such as Stargate and Continuum left little room for originality. This, IMHO, is a surprising lack of vision for a Science Fiction channel, which relies on the creativity of its scriptwriters to create new and original storylines. As this article suggests, there are plenty of, “…things that Rewind could have grappled with in a way that no sci-fi show has done in a long, long time.” I think there is no shame in taking some premise which has been seen before and giving it a new and original treatment. The random nature of the time window allows great flexibility in the storyline in a way not seen since “Quantum Leap”, and let’s not forget that the pilot show’s cliffhanger sees the chief preparing himself for a jump back in time to an arctic environment, following which some kind of devastation befalls the world outside of the “secret facility”. So… Did his mission succeed – or fail? How did he know where the next jump was going to? Has he jumped before? These are questions I would love to be answered in a new and original script and I really hope that either SyFy revisit their decision, or another network picks up the baton.
liked this show would love to see more like these as series, you have had several i and many others have enjoyed but have been cancelled why??
I say take this show advertise it on tv reair it and see how many veiws it gets, reality tv channel exists already other networks have some ok shows like grim but I love these kinds of shows, another one i miss as well and really hated to see go after one season
legend of the seeker cant remember the name right now, but i read most of the books awesome story line, awesome first series you keep shows up like that, i may not watch them the night they air but bet your asses i will download and watch online aka youtube, hulu, or such.
anyone agree …. comment and lets let syfy know we want great shows like these to come and stay for sometime
Great show. I have stopped watching SyFy long ago. It has gotten to be too much reality-based, and nowhere near Sci-Fi based. This show would have brought me back. I loved the plot, story, characters, and controversial elements inherent with any series tackling a time-travel element.
Note to SyFy executives: Quit junk reality show productions, and put this show, Rewind, back on the air…
Carefully consider WHO’s running SyFy and WHO’s running THEM! Were excellent businesspersons who just happened to be card-carrying nerds were running SyFy, the “landscape” would look FAR different,FAR better, and FAR MORE interesting! THIS IS SyFy! Not the Horror channel,WWF Wrestling, Pawn Stars, People’s Court, or baby-mama drama! Why is it that garbage gets multi-season runs while truly intelligent material is constantly being squelched? Again, consider those who presently runs SyFy and who runs them!
Thought this was a great pilot with a lot of potential (came across it by accident on youtube) would have been interesting to see where they took it… does make one curious about the decision-making process they use.
Who or whom (more correctly?) is making the decisions there? WRONG DECISION FOLKS. This could have been interesting…moral conflicts, history and good cast. Better than Haven, Continuum and the other crap you air.B
Well apparently they blew through the last of their SG money on effects. I remember a time when SyFy was actually SciFi … wonder why they strayed so far off the path that got them started and had people watching?
This was one of the best SyFy shows I’ve seen in a long time. It was full pf action, it made you want to see what happened next. I hope some other network will be smart enough and pick this show back up, PLEASE!!!!
every time a really good show that they don’t even show that might come out some dick in a chair that picks shit… umm thinks to him self this show is was to dam good no don’t air it he thinks it would be to big…. and its not aired at all bc he don’t like it or it would be way too much work and all to be able to get it like if u seen all the old 1929 car in there tht cost a lot to get then to use them now think what else they would have to do….. I wish they would stop thinking about the money they can line there pockets with and start thinking on what could be or what can be in a show that’s what syfy is all about anyways… that’s what I think and its my voice… I would understand if they aired it for a yr or even half a season and made it in a small part movie that show over time and then come out as a full dvd movie it would of been nice for that alone to see it and how good the show would of been and how big of a hit it will be but nope I guess not im starting to be really disappointed in the SYFY channel and what there doing with shows and most butcher some of them to cut corners to save abit of money… if they think about it put abit more in to it and it would be a lot better then it is and maybe more ppl will tune in more and u make more money… like I hear all the time it takes money to make money… its just a vicious circle that’s all and some time it don’t work out but that’s a chance it takes.. if someone thinks the scrip is good to start making it atless make it in a small 6 – 18 part movie to give it something this way it can be a 2 part movie in all….
Never over-estimate the intelligence of a network executive. Look how many great shows (not just sci-fi) continues over the objections of executives and how may piles of utter garbage went on year in , year out with poxy ratings.
Her in Australia when a new star trek series came out, it was aired prime time for two weeks and then dumped to the midnight slot. Funnily it dit rate well.
Rewind looked like the best Sci fi since stargate so naturally they canned it. But Helix? Total crap. lasted a handful of episodes before I gave up.
There is an inverse relationship between quality and longevity.
no wonder Rewind got canned.