Sci Fi channel picks up Passions

Sci Fi Channel is hoping to conjure up some femme fans via a supernatural sudsersudser. CablerCabler has struck a deal with corporate sib NBC U TV Studio to bring old episodes of PeacockPeacock's "Passions" to Sci Fi's ayemayem skedsked five days a week. Channel has acquired rights to the entire library of episodes and will launch the skeinskein Feb. 6, starting with the inaugural episode. Launched in 1999, ongoing soap operasoap opera stars a 300-year-old witch who meddles in the lives of the wealthy denizens of Harmony. Daytime serials might seem an odd fit for the cabler, but it's actually the second sudser the network has aired; Sci Fi in 1991 began rerunning ABC's "Dark Shadows," a drama populated with vampires, witches, warlocks and werewolves. Sci Fi execs had been in discussions for the past six months to acquire "Passions," which has amassed one of the younger female followings on daytime. Show even features special effects: In addition to the powers of the resident witch, characters on "Passions" have turned into zombies, and doorways to hell -- complete with demons -- emerge from mansion closets. [Variety]