Chucky is returning to Syfy with the promise of more bloodshed than ever, and he’s not alone. Reginald the Vampire, a popular one-hour bloodsucking TV series starring Jacob Batalon, has also been renewed for another season.
Chucky is a TV series continuation of the Child’s Play/Chucky film series created by Don Mancini. Reginald the Vampire is a loose adaptation of Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire novel series. Syfy also revealed a new video for the return of Chucky in Season 3 in a new teaser video, noting how he “always comes back.” You can check out that teaser video below:
CHUCKY & REGINALD THE VAMPIRE HEADLINE THE SYFY SLATE
Horror and comedy have always intersected in unexpected and often thrilling ways, but horror-comedy has rarely had such a strong presence in the world of live-action television programming. The Child’s Play saga is one of the hallmarks of the slasher subgenre, and Reginald the Vampire is one of the freshest takes on vampires in recent memory.
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The Syfy TV channel has always had a strong presence in the genre of comedy, horror, and of course, science fiction. Former programming on the Syfy channel includes shows such as Krypton, Wynonna Earp, Channel Zero, Tremors, and The Magicians. The channel presently airs reruns of Xena: Warrior Princess, The Twilight Zone, and Battlestar Galactica. Currently, Syfy only has four ongoing TV shows, with a fifth on the way soon.
Resident Alien, Surreal Estate, Chucky, and Reginald the Vampire compose that slate. Each show on that list has been renewed for another season. Joining the lineup on Feb. 1, 2023 is a science-fiction drama titled The Ark. Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner are co-showrunners on this harrowing spacefaring journey.
Reginald the Vampire showrunner Harley Peyton may deviate from the source material when adapting the Fat Vampire books, but the source material still inspires the show in a surprising way. The first season of Reginald The Vampire ended with the introduction of Angels, and that thread can now be explored in a second season.
HARLEY PEYTON: SHOWRUNNER OF REGINALD THE VAMPIRE, WRITER ON CHUCKY
“In the book, there’s a war with the angels. Now bear in mind, we can’t afford a huge war with the angels. [Laughs.] Happily that’s not what happens. I’m not going to give anything away, but I got lucky there. It was just having a really big moment about how we can leave the audience wondering what happens next…It gave us a ramp to a second season that I was really happy with. It’s gonna be pretty wild.“
-Harley Peyton
Other plot threads to be furthered in the “wild” second season of Reginald the Vampire include Sarah and Reginald’s damaged relationship and Claire’s desire to become one of the living dead. Who knows what other surprises are in store for these unorthodox, hilarious heroes? Reginald the Vampire season 2 does not currently have a release date, so it may be some time before we find out, but stay tuned!
On the murderous doll front, the less spoiled about the Chucky TV series, the better. Instead of focusing on the gory details of the last seasons, allow me to shed some light on why Chucky might be the most important franchise in the slasher game today.
The Child’s Play story onscreen began in the late 1980s. On Nov. 9, 1988, the original installment of Child’s Play was released into theaters, starting an epic saga of murder and mayhem that endures to the present day. Don Mancini created the story, and Brad Dourif brought the killer doll known as Chucky to life through his voice acting. Two direct sequels followed shortly thereafter, (Child’s Play 2 & 3) before things took a turn for the weird.
The fourth installment in the franchise, Bride Of Chucky, introduced Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany, Chucky’s equally villainous partner. Diving deeper into horror-comedy than ever before, their adventures together would continue in the meta, fourth-wall-breaking Seed Of Chucky. After disappointing box office returns on Seed, the franchise went direct to home video and back to its sinister, terrifying roots.
The comedy was still there, but the focus on shocking violence was clearer. Don Mancini’s loving hand was guiding the character throughout the entire saga. The only exception was a Child’s Play reboot starring Mark Hamill and Aubrey Plaza which is wholly disconnected from the franchise and best viewed as a standalone feature.
Don Mancini was able to continue his long-running slasher saga on television in a co-production between USA Network and Syfy. While other slashers have been recently revived, Chucky is the only one to feature creative talent and a lead actor who have been a part of the horror series since the beginning. That gives this crazy killer doll story a built-in advantage over new films like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Scream in my book.
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If you love laughter and brutality, Chucky is going to deliver in spades. While Season 3 does not yet have a release date, we can only imagine that fast-tracking their biggest name is a high priority for Syfy. The killer doll will make his return to TV later in Fall 2023.
Reginald the Vampire Season 2 does not yet have an official release date either, but a newly released teaser video for the series only announces that the show “will return” later on.
Are you more excited for Reginald the Vampire Season 2 or Chucky Season 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on The Illuminerdi’s social media!
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