Sci Fi Kills the Pain, Cancels 'Jane'
Sci Fi Channel will put the Kristanna Loken actioner Painkiller Jane out of its misery when its 22-episode first season wraps on Sept. 21.
The Sci Fi Channel announced this week that Kristanna Loken's sexy action-hero TV drama Painkiller Jane is not returning next season, says The Hollywood Reporter. The British Columbia-based PJ team will fulfill its 22-episode first-season order as planned.
Based on the comic book series created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada, Jane centers on DEA agent Jane Vasco (Loken), a woman with regenerative powers who hunts down errant human mutants with neurological powers.
"My reaction is that I saw [the end] coming in a number of ways," Palmiotti told Comics Continuum. "The biggest was in San Diego and Sci Fi doing nothing to support the show except giving away some buttons. On a personal level, I am happy that all 22 episodes are airing; it's more than most network shows ever get.
"I think what didn't work is taking a character that works in the comic that people love and changing it to fit someone else's idea of what it should be. For me, in the end, it was an alternate universe version of the character that I thought was an interesting take."
The season (now series) finale is scheduled to wrap up on 21 September.