''Channel Zero'' is an American horror

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television series created by

Nick Antosca Nicholas J. Antosca (born January 23, 1983) is an American film and television writer, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and showrunner of the horror anthology television series '' Channel Zero'' (2016–2018). He also co-created and sh ...

, who serves as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. The series was

greenlit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

for two 6-episode, self-contained seasons, which aired in late 2016 and late 2017 on

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

. The storylines for the series are based on popular

creepypasta Creepypastas are horror-related legends that have been shared around the Internet. Creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal ...

s. On February 9, 2017, Syfy renewed the series for a third and fourth season. The series premiered on October 11, 2016. The first installment, based on

Kris Straub The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...

's '' Candle Cove'', stars Paul Schneider and

Fiona Shaw Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles as Petunia Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2010), Marnie Stonebrook in the fourth season of the HBO serie ...

and was directed by

Craig William Macneill Craig William Macneill is an American film director, writer, and editor. His feature film ''Lizzie'', starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, premiered in the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The fi ...

. It centers on Kris Straub's story of one man's obsessive recollection of a mysterious children's television program from the 1980s. The second season premiered on September 20, 2017, is based on Brian Russell's ''The No-End House'' and was directed by Steven Piet. The third season, ''Butcher's Block'', premiered on February 7, 2018, is based on Kerry Hammond's "Search and Rescue Woods" and was directed by Arkasha Stevenson. The fourth season, ''The Dream Door'', was broadcast between October 26 and 31, 2018, is based on Charlotte Bywater's "Hidden Door" and was directed by E. L. Katz. On January 16, 2019, Syfy cancelled ''Channel Zero'' after four seasons.

Series overview

Plot

Season 1: ''Candle Cove'' A child psychologist returns to his hometown to determine if his brother's disappearance is somehow connected to a series of similar incidents and a bizarre children's television series that aired at the same time. Season 2: ''No-End House'' A young woman and her group of friends visit a house of horrors only to find themselves questioning whether it is a tourist attraction or something more sinister. Season 3: ''Butcher's Block'' A young woman and her schizophrenic sister move to a city haunted by a series of disappearances and, after suspecting that they may be connected to a baffling rumor, they must work together to discover what is preying on the city's residents. Season 4: ''The Dream Door'' Newlyweds Jillian and Tom have each brought secrets into their marriage. When they discover a door in their basement, those secrets start to threaten their relationship — and their lives.

Cast and characters

* * *

Episodes

Season 1: ''Candle Cove'' (2016)

Season 2: ''No-End House'' (2017)

Season 3: ''Butcher's Block'' (2018)

Season 4: ''The Dream Door'' (2018)

Production

In 2015, Syfy announced that they had greenlit ''Channel Zero'' for twelve episodes, which would air as two six-episode seasons. The first season would center upon the popular

'' Candle Cove''. The second season would focus on a new story, based on the creepypasta ''The No-End House''. Universal Cable Production would serve as the production company for the series, with Max Landis and

both serving as the series' executive producers. Craig William Macneill was chosen to direct the first season of ''Channel Zero'' in February 2016. Paul Schneider and

were confirmed as starring in ''Channel Zero'''s first season in June 2016. Schneider was set to portray Mike Painter, a child psychologist whose twin brother went missing years before and whose mother, portrayed by Shaw, is reluctant to indulge his desire to investigate. Natalie Brown and

Shaun Benson Shaun Benson (born January 16, 1976) is a Canadian actor and director. Early life Benson was born in Guelph, Ontario. He is the son of Eugene Benson, an English professor and a prolific novelist, playwright and librettist."Just Cause for Benson: ...

were also named as starring in the series. Filming began in

Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba, located on the Red River about northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 2021 census. The mainstays of the local economy are tourism, ...

, Canada during May 2016 and wrapped on July 28, after 46 days of shooting. Filming for Season 2 was set to start September 13, 2016 in

Oakbank, Manitoba Oakbank is an unincorporated community in Manitoba, Canada located about 15 km east of the provincial capital Winnipeg, in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. It has a population of about 5,000, making it the largest unincorporated commun ...

. An advance screening of the first episode premiered at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

. Creator Nick Antosca revealed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that season 2 would premiere on September 20, 2017. Filming for Season 3 took place from July to August 30, 2017 in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada. Filming for Season 4 began in early May 2018 and wrapped that July.

Music score

In season 2, "Bathysphere" by Cat Power plays at the end of the first episode. "Concrete Walls" from

Fever Ray Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. Dreijer released their debut solo album under ...

's eponymous album plays during the end of the third episode and "Between the Bars" from

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

's ''

Careless Love "Careless Love" is a traditional song, with several popular blues versions. It has been called a "nineteenth-century ballad and Dixieland standard". The death referenced in an old version was the son of a Kentucky governor. Although published ac ...

'' plays at the start of the sixth episode. In season 3, portions of "

Koyaanisqatsi ''Koyaanisqatsi'' (), also known as ''Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance'', is a 1982 American experimental film, experimental non-narrative film directed and produced by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by R ...

" by Philip Glass play during the fifth and sixth episodes. Some of the Kyrie from

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

's Requiem is also heard during the sixth episode. Selections from The Caretaker's ''

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World ''An Empty Bliss Beyond This World'' is the ninth studio album by the Caretaker, an ambient music project of English musician Leyland Kirby, released on 1 June 2011 through History Always Favours the Winners. The record is based on a study re ...

'' also recur as motifs throughout all six episodes of the season.

Broadcast

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

broadcasts each season in Canada after Syfy has finished airing it within the United States. The horror streaming service

Shudder Shudder may refer to: *Shivering * ''Shudder'' (album), a 2008 album by American band Bayside *Shudder (streaming service) Shudder is an American over-the-top subscription video on demand service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural fic ...

streams all four seasons of the series as of October 10, 2019.

Reception

The first season of ''Channel Zero'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has an approval rating of 86% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 6.83/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Creepy, unsettling, and refreshingly unique, ''Channel Zero: Candle Cove'' draws on easily relatable childhood fears while peeling back layers of spine-tingling mystery." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

it has a rating of 75 out of 100 based on 5 reviews. The second season received highly favorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 100% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''No End Houses central mystery is stronger and scarier than Channel Zero's first, solidifying its status as one of TV's scariest horror offerings." The third season on Rotten Tomatoes has an approval rating of 100% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Creepier than ever, ''Channel Zero: Butcher's Block'' delivers the disturbing elements a good horror demands, with the added bonus of a solid narrative.".

Ratings

Season 1: ''Candle Cove'' (2016)

Season 2: ''No-End House'' (2017)

Season 3: ''Butcher's Block'' (2018)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Syfy Shows 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American horror television series Adaptations of works by Kris Straub 2010s American anthology television series Filicide in fiction Fratricide in fiction Fiction about mind control Television series about parallel universes Syfy original programming Television series based on short fiction Television series about fictional serial killers Television series about missing people Television series about television Television series based on Internet-based works Television series by Universal Content Productions Television shows filmed in Manitoba Television shows set in Ohio Works about psychology Works by Max Landis