With “Sharknado: The 4th Awakens” (8 p.m. Sunday, Syfy), this B movie series most definitely — wait for it — jumps the shark.
The “Sharknado” films always have been cheesy, bad movies but the first and second evinced so-bad-it’s-good fun. The third one was a snooze until its gonzo ending. After sharks in space, what’s left to do?
Turns out, not much.
Rather than going to Europe — too expensive, perhaps? — this time the series avoids the coasts in favor of the heartland with sharknadoes, bouldernadoes, hailnadoes, lavanadoes, lightningnadoes, firenadoes and ultimately a nuclear sharknado (aka “a nuclearnado”) destroying parts of Nevada, Kansas (lots of “Wizard of Oz” references), Chicago and Niagara Falls.
This installment is set five years after the third film that threatened to kill off April (Tara Reid), although Syfy already revealed she’s back and now she’s basically the Terminator, even aping some of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous lines. But her husband, Fin (Ian Ziering), doesn’t know she survived. Everyone thinks she died after four years in a coma, but it turns out her nutty father (Gary Busey, of course) reanimated her.
“The 4th Awakens” is overstuffed with characters, from Fin’s ever-expanding family to the Z-list cameos by largely unrecognizable reality TV/social media stars (it’s a lot less fun if viewers don’t recognize the celebrity who’s being eaten by a shark).
Once again written by Thunder Levin and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, “The 4th Awakens” is at times incoherent. There’s a shark-themed Vegas casino that evidently has tanks full of real sharks — early visuals make it look like projected images of sharks on the hotel exterior, not actual tanks full of sharks — the only way, within the logic of the “Sharknado” universe, to explain how a sharknado forms after the casino is destroyed by a dust storm.
“Sharknado” offered a fun social media-driven phenomenon when the first cable movie caught everyone by surprise. Now it’s just a tired minor media property and product placement tool for Comcast, which gets name-checked multiple times. At this point, “Sharknado” deserves to sleep with the fishes.
New ‘Star Trek’
Franklin Park native Gretchen Berg and writing partner Aaron Harberts, late of “Revenge” among other TV series, have reunited with their former “Pushing Daisies” boss, Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal”), to serve as executive producers on “Star Trek: Discovery,” the new series coming in 2017 to subscription service CBS All Access.
Kept/canceled
Netflix renewed “BoJack Horseman” for season four and “Daredevil” for season three.
A&E’s “Bates Motel” will end after the upcoming fifth season that introduces singer Rihanna as Marion Crane, the role played by Janet Leigh in the film “Psycho.”
MTV’s “Teen Wolf” will end with its 100th episode in 2017, the show’s upcoming sixth season.
The CW’s “Vampire Diaries” will end after its upcoming eighth season.
AMC renewed the Revolutionary War drama “Turn” for a fourth and final season to air in 2017.
Channel surfing
Netflix will revive “Mystery Science Theater 3000” with Patton Oswalt and Felicia Day joining members of the show’s original cast. … ABC’s “Boston EMS” returns for a second season at 10 p.m. Saturday.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Read the Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook.
First Published: July 27, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
