(1) THE WHEELS FALL OFF. Deadline reports “’The Wheel Of Time’ Canceled By Prime Video After 3 Seasons”.

Prime Video will not be renewing The Wheel of Time for a fourth season. The decision, which comes more than a month after the Season 3 finale was released April 17, followed lengthy deliberations. As often is the case in the current economic environment, the reasons were financial as the series is liked creatively by the streamer’s executives….

…Three seasons in, the series has remained a solid performer but its viewership has slipped, with the fantasy drama dropping out of Nielsen’s Top 10 Originals chart after the first three weeks of Season 3 while staying on the list for the entire runs the previous two seasons. (The Wheel of Time was back on the Originals ranker for the week after the Season 3 finale at #10.)…

…The Nielsen rankings reflect U.S. viewership. Streaming renewal decisions are made based on how a show does around the world, and The Wheel of Time is a global title. It did rank as #1 on Prime Video in multiple countries with the most recent season. Still, the Season 3 overall performance was not strong enough compared to the show’s cost for Prime Video to commit to another season and the streamer could not make it work after examining different scenarios and following discussions with lead studio Sony TV, sources said.

With the cancellation possibility — and the show’s passionate fanbase — in mind, the Season 3 finale was designed to offer some closure.

Still, the news would be a gut punch for fans who have been praising the latest season as the series’ best yet creatively. Prime Video executives also have spoken of the show getting better creatively every season, which is supported by critics as Season 3 ranks 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, up from 86% for Season 2 and 81% for Season 1….

(2) OUT OF TIME LORD? Deadline is also collecting bad news from the outrage journals about another fan favorite: “‘Doctor Who’ Ratings Dive, Supercharging Uncertainty About Future Of Sci-Fi Series”. Are these just rumors? Here’s what’s on The Sun’s front page:

Deadline says:

…Rupert Murdoch-owned The Sun newspaper sparked the latest flurry of rumors, reporting that Ncuti Gatwa had been “exterminated” from the BBC series amid a ratings “nosedive.” The BBC said it was “pure fiction” that Gatwa had been fired.

The Sun‘s front-page story also gives credence to speculation that Doctor Who will be “rested” after Season 15 has finished screening on the BBC and Disney+…

… So what can we say with certainty about the destiny of the Time Lord?

Firstly, the show’s UK ratings have dropped considerably. Detractors have pinned this on so-called “woke” storylines, though it is not clear if this is the only reason people are switching off.

Deadline has analyzed official seven-day viewing figures for the first half of Season 15, and it does not make easy reading for those involved in Doctor Who.

The first four episodes have averaged 3.1M viewers, which was 800,000 viewers down from last year’s season, which was Gatwa’s first as the Doctor.

Compare the first half of Season 15 to Jodie Whittaker’s last outing as the Doctor, and things get uglier. Season 13 was watched by 5M people over its first four episodes in 2021, two million more viewers than the show is currently managing….

… In a small development today, the BBC was prepared to say that Gatwa had not been fired from the show, but refused to deny that he had quit. Gatwa’s rep has been contacted for comment….

(3) EATING THE FANTASTIC. Scott Edelman invites listeners to toast writer/editor Craig Laurance Gidney on Episode 254 of the Eating the Fantastic podcast.

This episode, which invites you to take a seat at the table with Craig Laurance Gidney, captures a meal which could have taken place during AwesomeCon — but didn’t. If you want to know why — you’ll have to join us!

Gidney’s short stories have been collected in Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories (2008), Skin Deep Magic: Short Fiction (2014), and The Nectar of Nightmares (2022), the first two of which were Lambda Literary Award finalists — as was his 2019 novel A Spectral Hue (2019). He received the Bronze Moonbeam Medal and Silver IPPY Medal for his 2013 novel Bereft. In 1996, at the start of his career, he was also awarded the Susan C. Petrey Scholarship to attend the Clarion West Writing Workshop.

From 2020-2023 he co-edited Baffling Magazine with Dave Ring, and he’s also the co-editor — with Julie C. Day & Carina Bissett — of Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, published this month.

We discussed how meeting Samuel R. Delany led to his attending the Clarion Writing Workshop, the influence of reading decadent writers such as Verlaine and Rimbaud, why he kept trying to get published when so many of his peers stopped, the many ways flaws can often make a story more interesting, our shared love of ambiguity, the reason there must be beauty entwined with horror, why he’s a vibes guy rather than a plot guy, the time Tanith Lee bought him a pint and how that led to him coediting her tribute anthology, what he learned from his years editing a flash fiction magazine, and much more.

(4) YOU’RE FROM THE SIXTIES. Steven Heller remembers “When Undergrounds Shined the Light” at PRINT Magazine.

England was the epicenter of cool during the ’60s, not only because the Beatles and Stones spawned some of the great music and fashion innovations of the era, but also due to the wellspring of underground newspapers there. Working at undergrounds gave me access to periodicals from all over the world. IT (International Times) and Oz where the two most influential for their design and content. Muther Grumble was one of the many others that filled mailboxes.

Founded in 1966 (contrary to the 1960 dateline on the issue above), International Times was one of the earliest and most important British underground papers. After being threatened with lawsuits by the London Times, International Times changed its name to IT, but often kept the original name as a subhead on its covers. In its heyday, IT appeared regularly for 13 years. The paper’s logo was an iconic black-and-white image of Theda Bara. Contributors included most of the prominent underground figures of the period, including Allen Ginsberg (who interviewed the Maharishi), William S. Burroughs, Germaine Greer, John Peel, Heathcote Williams and Jeff Nuttall….

(5) THE WRITER GETS PAID. John Scalzi interviews himself “About That Deal, Ten Years On” at Whatever. His famous Tor contract, to be precise.

If you could go back in time to 2015, would you sign the same contract again?

Pretty much? I understand this sort of contract is not for everyone; not everyone wants to know what they’re doing professionally, and who with, for a decade or more, or wants the pressure of being on the hook for multiple unwritten books. But as for me, back then, I was pretty sure in a decade I would still want to be writing novels, and I would want to be doing it with people and a publisher who were all in for my work. Turns out, I nailed that prediction pretty well. And from a financial and career point of view I can’t say that it hasn’t benefitted me tremendously.

Now, to be clear, other writers have sold more than me, or gotten bigger advances than I have, or have won more awards than me, in the ten years since that contract made the news. But I’ve sold enough, been paid enough, and have been awarded enough to make me happy and then some. I’m happy with the work I’ve done in this last decade. I’m happy with how it’s been received. I’m happy with where I am with my career and life. Much of that is because of this contract. So, yeah, I would do it again. I kind of did, last year, when I signed that ten-book extension.

(6) PBS SELF-CENSORSHIP. “Criticism of Trump Was Removed From Documentary on Public Television” reports the New York Times. “A segment in a documentary about the cartoonist Art Spiegelman was edited two weeks before it was set to air on public television stations across the country.”

The executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning “American Masters” series insisted on removing a scene critical of President Trump from a documentary about the comic artist Art Spiegelman two weeks before it was set to air nationwide on public television stations.

The filmmakers say it is another example of public media organizations bowing to pressure as the Trump administration tries to defund the sector, while the programmers say their decision was a matter of taste.

Alicia Sams, a producer of “Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse,” said in an interview that approximately two weeks before the movie’s April 15 airdate, she received a call from Michael Kantor, the executive producer of “American Masters,” informing her that roughly 90 seconds featuring a cartoon critical of Trump would need to be excised from the film. The series is produced by the WNET Group, the parent company of several New York public television channels.

Stephen Segaller, the vice president of programming for WNET, confirmed in an interview that the station had informed the filmmakers that it needed to make the change. Segaller said WNET felt the scatological imagery in the comic, which Spiegelman drew shortly after the 2016 election — it portrays what appears to be fly-infested feces on Trump’s head — was a “breach of taste” that might prove unpalatable to some of the hundreds of stations that air the series.

But the filmmakers have questioned whether political considerations played a role. They have noted that earlier this year, according to Documentary Magazine, which first reported the “American Masters” decision, PBS postponed indefinitely a documentary set to air about a transgender video-gamer for fear of political backlash.

Sams pointed out that their film had already been approved for broadcast — the filmmakers agreed it would be shown at 10 p.m. rather than 8 p.m., so that certain obscenities would not need to be blurred or bleeped — and that the call came a week after a Capitol Hill hearing in which Congressional Republicans accused public television and radio executives of biased coverage (the executives denied that accusation in sworn testimony).

“If PBS cannot protect the free speech of its content creators and subject matters without fear of retribution from members of the government who may find their views displeasing, then how can it strengthen the ‘social, democratic and cultural health’ of the American people?” Sams and four other producers and directors wrote to PBS and WNET executives last month, quoting from PBS’s mission statement….

(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

May 24, 1963 — Michael Chabon, 62.

The first work by Michael Chabon that I read was the greatest baseball story ever told, and yes, I know that statement will be disputed by many of you, or at least the greatest fantasy affair which is Summerland in which a group of youngsters save the world from destruction by playing baseball.  It’s a truly stellar novel, perfect, that in every way deserved the Mythopoeic Award it received.

Next on my list of novels that I really enjoyed by him is The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, the alternate history mystery novel, which would win a Hugo at Devention 3. Like Lavie Tidhar’s Unholy Land, this novel with its alternate version of Israel is fascinating. 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is story of them becoming major figures in the comics industry from its start into its Golden Age. It’s a wonderful read and an absolutely fantastic look at the comics industry in that era.  It has a screenplay he wrote a quarter of century ago ready to be filmed but it’s been tied up in pre-production Hell ever since. 

An interesting story by him is “The Final Solution: A Story of Detection” novella. The story, set in 1944, is about an unnamed nearly ninety-year-old retired detective who may or may not be Holmes as this individual is a beekeeper. 

He is, I’d say, a rather great writer. 

I’d be remiss to overlook his work on the Trek series. He joined the writing team of Picard, and later was named showrunner. He had two Star Trek: Short Treks episodes co-written by Chabon, that one “Calypso”; the second written only by him was “Q&A”. 

(8) COMICS SECTION.

• Cul de Sac begins a graphic novel. 
• The Flying McCoys is photobombed. 
• xkcd offers a rocket launch tip.  
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal  says relax…they just want you to feel loved.

(9) JURASSIC BODEGA. amNewYork’s “Ask the MTA” feature explains “How the Whispering Gallery works, A line service and more”. The “and more” includes a dinosaur-themed bodega.

Q: What’s going on with the dinosaur pop-up at Grand Army Plaza? – Meghan K., Upper East Side  

A: Rex’s Dino Store is an art installation and the first (and only) bodega for dinosaurs in New York City. Featuring a hand-crafted 7-foot-tall paper mâché orange dinosaur named Rex, the scene is a life-size diorama of a bodega with prehistoric-themed products and publications with seemingly endless dinosaur puns, like the Maul Street Journal or ClawmondJoy bars.

Created by Brooklyn artists Akiva Leffert and Sarah Cassidy, the installation is a whimsical celebration of New York City bodegas and a childlike exploration of what it’s like to be a New Yorker. Rex’s Dino Store is part of the MTA’s Vacant Unit Activation Program, which aims to fill former retail units in the subway with creative non-traditional public projects and exhibits to make stations more vibrant and welcoming. Those interested in applying to use available spaces can submit proposals on the MTA website, MTA.info. — Mira Atherton, Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships and Sustainability, MTA Construction and Development

(10) REH NEWS. The Robert E. Howard Days website thinks you may be surprised to hear “Howard Days Fans Have Arrived!” – after all, the convention’s still three weeks away. But wait…!

…Well, our feeble attempt attempt at humor notwithstanding, the Pavilion will be a cooler place for Howard Days 2025! Working in conjunction with Project Pride, the Robert E. Howard Foundation has seen to the installation of three giant ceiling fans in the roof of the Pavilion next to the Robert E. Howard Museum….

That will be a welcome improvement in Texas this summer.

(11) HOW WEIRD ARE THEY? Sci-Fi Odyssey introduces fans to “5 Weird Civilisations Sci-Fi Books You Need to Read”

Today we’re taking a tour through some of the weirdest civilisations in science fiction. Eden by Stanisław Lem; The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman; The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle; The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov; Honourable Mentions: Embassytown by China Miéville; City by Clifford D. Simak; Engine Summer by John Crowley; A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.

(12) IT’S LIFE JIM, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT! [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] I have a vague recollection (which needs fact checking) that a brief (a very concise) aside in a David Brin ‘Uplift’ novel had intelligent species in our part of the Galaxy coming together to agree a treaty whereby all heavy element life forms would get to be able to colonise systems with planets amicable to their own kind, and all carbon-based life forms would get to be able to colonise systems with planets suitable to them…  All well and good, but could there really be life that that is unlike our water-based, carbon life?

So step up astrophysicist Dr Becky who has just posted a video on “The search for LIFE: but NOT as we know it…”  What solvent would it use? (We use water.) And if not carbon-based, on which elements might it be based?

We only know of one planet in the universe that hosts life: Earth. So when we search for other life out there in the Universe we look for what we know. We look for water, and ozone, and methane, and a whole bunch of carbon containing molecules because we know that those ingredients point to life here on Earth. But what if life out there in the Universe is NOT as we know it, and we’re missing the signs because it doesn’t have the same signatures of Earth-life?! This is a real possibility, and there are astrochemists and astrobiologists out there who are working through all the options of what we think life could be like. So let’s chat about the fundamental biochemistry of life and pick out a few things that could be different to Earth…

[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Microtherion.]