Based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda, the Starz series The Serpent Queen gives a contemporary look at Catherine (Samantha Morton)’s rise to power, told through flashbacks from her teenage years through adulthood.

Recently, to promote the series, SciFi Vision spoke with writer and executive producer Justin Haythe and executive producer Erwin Stoff about creating the series.

According to Haythe, they became aware of the project ten years ago when friend and executive producer Francis Lawrence had read a piece about Catherine and told them about it. “It was really specifically about Catherine, Diane and Henry, this unusual love triangle,” Haythe told SciFi Vision, saying that the project went away, but then the book became available again. “The nature of the business had changed,” he explained, “because it really is a story you want to tell in an extended format. Suddenly, the television business had gotten to where it was, and and Francis and Erwin said, ‘Hey, it's available again, what do you think? Have a read.’ I did, and I immediately saw this possibility of telling a singular story of a particular tone, a particular voice, and one that was apt for our times.”

Tonight, Starz airs an all-new episode of the historical drama, The Serpent Queen. The series is a contemporary take on the rise to power of Catherine de Medici, told through flashbacks from her teenage years and through adulthood. Young Catherine is played by actress Liv Hill, with Samantha Morton playing the elder Catherine.

Hill admitted that playing Catherine de Medici was a bit daunting once she learned more about her. “I didn't know who she was beforehand, to be honest,” the actress told SciFi Vision during a recent interview. “Then, when I read about her, and I realized her notorious, infamous reputation as a sort of evil queen…it was a gift of a character to play. Also, the idea of playing Samantha Morton young was also a little bit overwhelming.”

The following interview contains light spoilers for Wednesday night’s season premiere

In Wednesday night’s season eleven premiere, Chicago Fire wrapped up the Severide-Kidd wedding cliffhanger before throwing a few wrenches into everyone’s personal and professional relationships. There’s a new guy on the truck and his cocky attitude is sure to make waves; Kidd (Taylor Kinney) doesn’t like him already. Meanwhile, Gallo (Alberto Rosende) had an illuminating conversation with Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas), who revealed that he took the fall for the Emma (Caitlin Carver)’s situation. Being a stand-up guy, Gallo shared the info with Violet (Hanako Greensmith), fully aware that he’s probably sending her straight back into Hawkins’ arms.

Prior to the episode, SciFi Vision spoke with costars Greensmith, Rosende, and Daniel Kyri, who plays Ritter. We asked for the lowdown on the love triangle, how Violet feels about Hawkins at this point and what happens when they all turn up at Molly’s bar. Check out the video of our conversation, which centers on that big [spoiler]!

Acorn TV’s Recipes for Love and Murder, which is based on the book series by Sally Andrew and was adapted for television by Karen Jeynes, takes place in a small town in South Africa. When a woman who writes advice columnist Tannie Maria (Maria Doyle Kennedy) ends up murdered, Maria and her colleague, journalist Jessie September, played by Kylie Fisher, partner up to find answers, against police advice. Can they track down the killer before it’s too late?

Recipes for Love and Murder was the first big role for costar Fisher, who spoke recently with SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview. The star didn’t read the book until after doing her role research so she could create her own version. “I kind of didn't want to initially read it,” said Fisher, “because the book is different to the adaptation, and I didn't want to get a preconceived notion of the character from the book. So, as we were doing filming, I was reading the book, and I was like, ‘This is what [Sally Andrew] says about the character, and this is what Karen’s written. Where does my understanding of the character also meet with these two versions of the story?”

The actress also pulled from her real life to find Jessie. “I identify with Jessie and the fact that we're both from the same racial background as well,” she told the site. “I didn't grow up in a small town; I grew up in Dubai, but my family is from South Africa, and we came back every single year.”

NBC’s Chicago P.D. returned for its tenth season Wednesday night, picking up about two weeks after last season’s finale. The premiere focused almost entirely on Hank Voight’s (Jason Beghe) reaction to the violent death of his CI, Anna Avalos (Carmela Zumbado), in the Los Teminos case. It was an incredibly tense episode that had viewers on the edge of their seats, but it didn’t leave much time for other storylines. So, Burzek shippers will have to wait at least another week to learn what’s next for the on-and-off couple.

At the end of last season, Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) offered to give Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) a house – his childhood home! – where they could raise her adopted daughter, Makayla. But Kim hasn’t accepted the offer and we have no idea what she’s thinking. It could be an ideal home for her and Makayla, or it could upset the balance of Kim and Adam’s platonic co-parenting relationship, which is very strong.

Just before the premiere, Squerciati told SciFi Vision that we can expect Kim’s answer soon, perhaps as early as episode two. Check out the video of our interview below and watch Chicago P.D. Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC or on Peacock.

In Reboot, which premiered Tuesday, Hulu decides to revive and update a fictional sitcom from the early 2000s, “Step Right Up,” reuniting the dysfunctional cast. Eager to restart their careers, but full of insecurities and hangups, the performers try to find their way as they learn how much things have changed.

The series comes from the mind of Modern Family’s Steve Levitan, which was what really attracted star Keegan-Michael Key, who plays Reed Sterling, to the project. “[It was] the pedigree of Steve Levitan really more than anything,” the actor told SciFi Vision during a recent exclusive interview. “When we first discussed the show at the beginning, I was like, Modern Family is such a bonafide solid show that I [want] to be involved with something that would be of that caliber.”

It isn’t just the showrunner that makes the job enjoyable, however. “I would say the easiest thing, really, is that I have such a wonderful collaborative cast to work with, and that makes almost everything else easier,” said Key.

Are you ready, Chicago fans? Tonight’s the night you’ve been waiting for!  All three shows - Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD – air their season premieres beginning at 8/7c on NBC. To celebrate the triple whammy, cast from the three shows sat down yesterday for a series of rapid-fire interview panels.

SciFi Vision asked Chicago Med stars Nick Gehlfuss (Dr. Will Halstead) and Jessy Schram (Dr. Hannah Asher) about the season-ending fire at Will’s apartment building. The new episode is ominously titled “How Do You Begin to Count the Losses.” Is everyone OK, and will the incident affect former addict Hannah’s recovery?

When we left her, Hannah “is in a really healthy mindset,” Schram reminded us, “and is doing the work to be in a recovered space.”  However, there will be ramifications – avoiding spoilers, both Gehlfuss and Schram referred to post-fire “complications” for Hannah. And when it comes to complications, said Schram, “what’s going to be hard for Hannah is that her past is always catching up with her.”

Tonight, NBC premieres the anticipated new Quantum Leap series. The series picks up some thirty years after Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) disappeared after stepping into the Quantum Leap accelerator. A new team has been put together, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), to bring the project up to date and figure out what went wrong originally. When Song makes an unauthorized leap without telling anyone, the team, including his fiancé Addison (Caitlin Bassett), who serves as his helpful hologram, is left to figure out why.

The series may technically be a sequel, but according to showrunner and executive producer Martin Gero, who recently talked to SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview, you don’t need to see the original to enjoy and understand the new series. “The great news is, you don't need to do that at all,” said Gero. “Anything that you wouldn't understand will be explained in the body of the episode. So, [it’s] not like a here are the ten episodes you should watch of Quantum Leap to understand it; we're going to do all that work for you.”

He did add, however, that there would be some Easter eggs for fans of the original.

Tonight, the new Quantum Leap premieres on NBC. The show is a remake of the original series in ’89 that starred Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett, a scientist who during an experiment with time travel ends up trapped in the past, leaping into different people each episode, trying to return to his original timeline. In the new series, physicist Ben Song, played by Raymond Lee, is part of a new team of scientists trying to understand machine and what happened to its creator.

Most of the cast of the series was familiar with the original show. “My best friend in sixth grade, this was his favorite show,” Star Lee revealed to SciFi Vision during the recent TCA panels. “Prior to that, it was just all, like, X‑Men and Ninja Turtles for me, which was the first real show I remember watching, and also my first introduction to sci‑fi. So, I have very fond memories of just, like, playing and then going home and watching it with him.”

Ernie Hudson, who plays the role of Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams said that he used to watch the show with his two older sons. “I was a single parent,” said Hudson, “and we loved watching the show and talking about it, discussing it after.”

Last night, America’s Got Talent revealed the top five acts and eventually whittled it down to the winner of the season, the dancing group Mayyas. While judge Simon Cowell was surprised by the top five chosen by America, as were a lot of viewers, he feels the right act won. “There were a few surprises tonight along the way,” Cowell told SciFi Vision last night after the live finale. “…However, when it comes down to who is actually going to win, and if I had to put my money on it last night, I would bet on the people who won. I thought they were sensational.”

We also spoke to Mayyas on the virtual red carpet before the night was over, asking them what they learned about themselves from the competition. “It taught us about how Lebanese people are really strong,” Maryjoe Tarabay of Mayyas told the site. “No matter how pressured we are, no matter how much we feel pain, we just push, push, push to get to whatever we want and just prove to all the people that we're strong, and we're here, and we're ready to win anything we want.”

For more, including what shocked judge Heidi Klum the most this season and how ventriloquist Darci Lynne felt being on the AGT stage again, watch the interviews below!