Mad Men returns Sunday, April 7. There it is. The sixth season premiere is two hours in length, written by series creator Matthew Weiner and directed by executive producer Scott Hornbacher. The two-hour “movie” airs at 9PM on AMC. Also made public is that the second episode, which will air in Mad Men‘s regular 10PM slot, is written by Weiner and Matthew Igla and directed by star John Hamm. This marks Hamm’s second time helming an episode; he previously served double-duty on season five’s “Tea Leaves.”

In an interview with EW, Weiner briefly spoke about the highly anticipated premiere: “If you like the show, there’s a good chance you’ll like the premiere…It is different than last year’s in a sense that it was my idea and I was just trying to give bang for a buck to an audience that I didn’t want to lose because we’d been away for so long. This year it’s really constructed like a film. It is its own story and hopefully it foreshadows the rest of the season.”

When asked when exactly the new season will pick up following Don’s apparent flirtation with deviating outside his marriage, Weiner was typically coy with the NYT: “It will advance in time, as it does. I can’t say how much or how little. We’re coming off a period in Don’s life where he’s trying to normalize, and trying to have this relationship – a real relationship with this woman that he fell in love with. She expressed her desires, and that was a surprise for him. On this show, it’s a very rich, full orchestra, and we like to follow what is the next stage in these people’s lives.”

Check out new season 6 cast photos provided by AMC in the gallery below.

Ten months, five trailers, numerous posters, and one 22-minute featurette later, HBO’s wildly popular fantasy series Game of Thrones is finally back. War is coming, friends, and the battle for the Iron Throne is already in progress. We return to the Starks and the Lannisters breathing down each other’s necks, Jon Snow leading the Night’s Watch beyond the Wall into supernatural territory, and Daenerys training her dragons. The season 2 opener is titled “The North Remembers” and it starts precisely tonight (4/1) at 9PM on HBO.

The gallery below contains some new posters hyping tonight’s must-see event. Warning: one contains a major season 1 spoiler, so if you haven’t caught up yet (what are you waiting for?!) don’t go digging just yet.

Update:  The ratings are in and boy are they spectacular. So many more people tuned into the second season premiere of Game of Thrones compared to the first season. Here are the record-setting facts. A grand total of 3.9 million viewers tuned into “The North Remembers” at the 9PM hour; that’s up a significant 74 percent from the first season premiere. This is also the most watched episode of Thrones to date; it beat out the previous record holder, the season one finale “Fire and Blood” (that episode clocked in just over 3 million viewers). When you factor in all three airings from Sunday night, a grand total of 6.3 million viewers took in the premiere. HBO greenlighting season 3? Now it’s only a matter of time.

Tonight marks the season 5 premiere of AMC’s breakout drama Mad Men. Can you even recall the last time you watched an original episode on TV? To refresh your memory, the date was October 17, 2010. Those were the days…

I hope you’re excited to be reacquainted with the likes of Sterling Cooper Draper Price because tonight’s (3/25) premiere is extra long maxing out at two hours. It all starts at 9PM on AMC. Check out some cool stills in the gallery below, and watch a promo after the break.

Update: Last night’s Mad Men season 5 opener brought about record ratings for the period drama. 3.5 million total viewers tuned in to the two-hour premiere (that’s up a significant 21% from season four debut), crowning this episode the series’ most watched episode to date. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the important demo numbers are way up, too: in adults 18-49 the show drew 1.6 million viewers (an increase of 30% from the season four debut) and in adults 25-54 it attracted 1.7 million viewers (up 17%). Here’s one more tally for you to nod your head in amazement at: if you include the encore airing of the premiere, a total of 4.4 million people watched last night’s episode. These ratings can’t touch AMC’s other staple The Walking Dead but still I say, hot damn. AMC president Charlie Collier says, “Almost five years ago, with a focus on distinction and quality, AMC launched Mad Men as the first series in its commitment to original scripted dramatic television. Mad Men set the bar high and we are incredibly proud that it continues to engage audiences looking for unexpected, unconventional and uncompromising television.”

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They’ve made it this far. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have completed (or are probably still in the process of completing) the 224th episode of the crude animated series to air on Comedy Central. The episode to kick off season 16 is titled “Reverse Cowgirl” and the log line goes something like this:

After a South Park citizen meets with an unfortunate accident, the TSA steps in to prevent it from happening again… One of the boys had been told time and time again about leaving the toilet seat up after he goes to the bathroom, but he didnt listen. His actions have consequences and ultimately result in an unimaginable catastrophe.

Embedded above is a thirty second preview featuring the one and only Randy Marsh. Might this be a Randy-centric episode? If so, it’s got classic South Park written all over it.

South Park premieres tonight (3/14) at 10PM on Comedy Central. The show will continue to air Wednesday nights at 10 for an additional six weeks, and then take its usual extended hiatus and return with the second half of the season in October.

The hilarious web series turned TV show Childrens Hospital returns tonight for its third season. And the whole gang of idiots is back! Creator Rob Corrdry reprises his role as Dr. Blake Downs, a clown who believes in the healing power of laughter. But as we learned last season, Childrens Hospital is in fact a show within a show, so these characters are actually playing “doctors” on the show. So for instance, Corrdry’s Dr. Blake Downs is really a man named Cutter Spindell. The same goes for the rest of the all-star cast: Ingrid Hagerstown is Dr. Valerie Flame (Malin Akerman), Dixie Peters is Dr. Cat Black (Lake Bell), Lynn Williams is Dr. Lola Spratt (Erinn Hayes), Just Falcon is Dr. Glenn Richie (Ken Marino), Rob Huebel is Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel), Lady Jane Bentick-Smith is Chief (Megan Mullally); and Fred Nunley is hospital administrator Sy Mittleman (Henry Winkler).

This series is more than a parody of Grey’s Anatomy-type shows. It completely does away with episode continuity and this makes for an off-the-walls, truly organic laugh-fest every week. In an interview with IGN, Erinn Hayes explains it. ”We don’t have any regard for episode to episode continuity,” she says. “There’s a chart somewhere in the production offices that shows who is having a relationship with who in a particular episode so they don’t have too many of the same pairings. They don’t want repeats.” Co-star Rob Huebel adds, “We have no continuity. One episode I’m dating one girl and the next episode I’m married to someone else. There’s no continuity at all so we don’t care about that. The only thing we really care about is that it’s funny.” And forget about medical training. Hayes continues, “This season there have been two scenes where we have to actually look like we’re trying to save someone’s life and we just have no idea what to do. There’s not even a hint of reality. All we knew how to do was check his pulse and say ‘we’re losing him.’”

The 14-episode third season of Childrens Hospital premieres tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. The uninterrupted 15 minute episode is titled “Run, Dr. Lola Spratt, Run” and is about a kid getting stuck in quicksand; watch out for guest stars Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Lisa Edelstein (House). See images from the ep below, and watch a preview after the break. New episodes will air every Thursday at midnight. And if you missed the first two seasons, they’re now available on DVD.

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The boys of South Park return tonight! For the season fifteen premiere, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have something quite disturbing in store for us. What do you get when you bring together Apple’s iPad and the Dutch horror film The Human Centipede. Well, um, the “HUMANCENTiPAD” of course! And that is the title of tonight’s episode. It’s bound to be a riot. Watch a cartoony Steve Jobs introduce the revolutionary new product in the preview above and tune into Comedy Central at precisely 10PM for the goods.

Finally, finally!  The Pawnee gang led by the one and only Leslie Knope returns tonight!  In the season 3 premiere “Go Big or Go Home” Leslie is trying to convince newcomers Chris and Ben (Rob Lowe and Adam Scott) to give the Parks Department more money.  Prepare for the premiere by watching this informative and hilarious preview, and look in the gallery below for character profiles.

BONUS! Hop after the break to watch Rob Lowe flip out at the cast of Parks and Rec, presented by Funny or Die. NSFW warning is in full effect (language).

Update: Parks and Rec hit a series-high rating–6.2 million people tuned into the season 3 premiere.  That’s up 52% from its fall season premiere in 2009.  The Office lead-in helped; Parks retained 71% of its viewers.

[Images via IGN; Deadline; TVLine]

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“Red Rain” is about to fall out of the “Red Sky”.  Anna’s vengeful act at the end of season one will be addressed head on during tonight’s one hour season premiere of V.  We’ll also be introduced to Anna’s mother Dianna who is played by Jane Badler, the original V baddie from the 1980s miniseries.

In an interview with EW star Elizabeth Mitchell promises that the season two 10 episode arc will be grander than the first season.  ”If you were frustrated by the last season, which you probably were — I was, a little bit — I think that this will be far more satisfying,” says Mitchell. There is far more action and there is far more of what you want in an alien-invasion story, where the aliens are out to use us as food and take our technology and do everything bad you can think about. There’s more of that wonderful thing of “Us-Against-Them” stuff, which is always so satisfying in a fictional sense. And also, there’s some good sexy stuff!”

“I think the last three episodes [of season 1] were a good indicator of where this season is headed,” Mitchell continues. “Instead of people sitting around talking people were actually accomplishing things. I wanted to be an action hero, not an exposition hero! I spent all that time training, learning to kick ass, and then all I did was talk. I was like, “I’m so bored! I wanna hit people and kiss boys!” The first one comes in quickly, and it’s eerie, what happens and the way they go about it. It starts just like a movie, which is the way that you want it to. The effects in it are just gruesomely good.”

Less talk, more action.  I like it.

THEY RETURN tonight at 9PM ET on ABC.  Peer into the galleries below to view stills from the episode and character profiles.

Update: If you watched the fantastic season premiere (spoiler alert), then you know that the producers finally decided to reveal more of what’s hiding underneath the V’s human skin.  First we saw Anna take her long, scaly tail out of hiding and kill a disloyal V ship captain, and then we caught a glimpse at Ryan’s alien/human hybrid baby.  USA Today managed to get their hands on an image coming directly from executive producer Scott Rosenbaum that shows what the Vs look like if you found them on their home planet stripped of their human skin.  If you think that V skeleton featured in the episode was revealing, you haven’t seen nothing yet.  Note: USA Today reports that the V’s physical appearance will be revealed piecemeal over the 10-episode second season, and the full alien body will show up in the season finale.  If you don’t want to spoil the surprise, don’t look after the break. Otherwise, click here: (Click here for more…)

South Park fans, here’s a reminder that the second half of season 14 begins tomorrow night (Wednesday, October 6) at 10PM on Comedy Central.  If you happen to miss it, don’t worry; Comedy Central reairs it multiples times throughout the week (at midnight and 10:30PM on Thursday, 11PM on Sunday, and 2AM on Monday).  For now, preview the Nascar-themed episode titled “Poor and Stupid” in the window above.

[Via IGN]

Need your animation fix?  The Simpsons (8pm), The Cleveland Show (8:30pm), and Family Guy (9pm) premiere tonight (9/26) on FOX!

In “Elementary School Musical”, Lisa goes to performing arts camp where she meets friends (voiced by Glee‘s Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, and Amber Riley) and artsy counselors (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords).  The 22nd season of The Simpsons will be jam packed with guest voices.

In “Harder, Better, Faster, Browner”, Cleveland helps struggling rapper Kenny (aka Kanye) West by encouraging him to record a new hit single.  Get a taste of “Be-Cleve in Yourself” here.  The episode also packs other Kanye references including a humorous nod to the Swift incident and a montage backed by Late Registration‘s “Touch the Sky.”

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The one-hour Family Guy premiere “And Then There Were Fewer” plays out like a cinematic murder-mystery in a case of whodunit.  James Woods invites virtually all of Quohag to his ominous mansion where all the light drama unfolds.  Fun fact: Family Guy has finally gone HD this season!

Glance at the premiere stills above, and get ready for three hours of animation domination tonight on FOX.  (American Dad fans–your show premieres next Sunday, October 3).

[Via IGN, here, here & here; FOX]

Excellent!  Schwing!  Saturday Night Live premieres this Saturday (9/25) at 11:35PM on NBC.  Hosted by Amy Poehler with musical guest Katy Perry.

Princeton Plainsboro Hospital is almost open for business.  The mad doc has finally found love in Cuddy, Thirteen will be taking some time off, and young Amber Tamblyn will be joining the cast in the beginning half of the season.  Check out these House cast and season premiere stills (organized in the two galleries below); add ‘em to the collection that includes the awesome season poster and cast group shot.

House premieres Monday, September 20 at 8PM on FOX.

[Via IGN]

With the unfortunate news of Will Forte’s departure still wrecking havoc in my mind, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels has decided to move forward and hand pick four new cast members for the late-night sketch comedy show.  But before he could that, someone had to be let loose.  And that someone is Jenny “I said the F-word during my first SNL sketch” Slate.  In my opinion she really didn’t bring much to the table in terms of raw comedic talent, so I am feeling good about her leaving.

Moving on to the cast additions, Michaels is bringing on Taran Killam, Paul Brittain, Vanessa Bayer, and Jay Pharoah.  If you don’t recognize these names, you’re not alone.  The only reason I know Killam is because, um, I remember him as Spalding from Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show (1999-2002).  He’s also been featured in How I Met Your Mother, MadTV, and Wild ‘N Out.  The only footage of Vanessa Bayer I could find online is this Blue Shield of California commercial on YouTube featuring just her head.  Jay Pharoah, on the other hand, can be seen doing all sorts of celebrity impressions on YouTube.  This eight minute “50 impressions” video includes some impressive parodies of Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker, Christopher Walken, and Owen Wilson.  This guy’s got major potential.  Look out for him and the other three newbies when SNL premieres later this month.

Speaking of the premiere, we’ve got our first host!  It’s SNL alum and star of NBC’s Parks and Recreation Amy Poehler.  She will kick of SNL’s 36th season premiere on September 25 with musical guest Katy Perry.

[Via EW, here, here & here]

NBC’s Community returns with a BANG thanks to guest star Betty White.  In “Anthropology 101″ White plays a ”slightly unhinged anthropology professor” named June Bauer.  Doesn’t she just fit right in with the entire Community gang in that picture up there?  Want to see more stills from the premiere ep?  Look in the gallery below to find more Betty White plus images of fearless leader Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), Hawthorne Wipes’ Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase), Annie Adderall (Alison Brie), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), dream team Abed & Troy (Danny Pudi & Donald Glover), and Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) as a student!  What, no Britta “Baagels” Perry (Gillian Jacobs)?  She’s above, left.  Oh, and didcha see Starburns?!

Greendale Community College is back in session Thursday, September 23 at 8PM on NBC.

[Via HitFix]

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Today ABC confirmed that the final season of Lost begins on February 2 2010.  It will be a 2-hour premiere and run from 9PM-11PM.  It follows a one-hour Lost recap episode at 8PM.

Also confirmed in the press release are the season regulars: Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jeff Fahey (Frank) Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Ken Leung (Miles), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Terry O’Quinn (Locke), and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana).

Though not listed above, the following characters have been confirmed to guest star in some of the season’s episodes: Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), and Katey Sagal (Helen).

Celebrate the beginning of the end by watching this fan-generated promo for Season 6.  And just try to hold back emotions (ie. tears, hair-raising intensity).

T minus 75 days.

[Via EW; LA Times]

With host MEGAN FOX and musical guest U2.  It’s going to be a great show.

Fringe Season 2 premieres Thursday, September 17 at 9PM ET on FOX.

[Via IGN]

Life and Style picked up the scoop from “an insider close to the star” that Megan Fox will be the host of the season premiere of Saturday Night Live.  The source says, “Megan is psyched to have gotten this opportunity.  She has a lot of surprises in store for the audience.  This is the perfect opportunity for her to show off her comedic skills, as she’s launching her new movie Jennifer’s Body [on Sept. 18].”  The source also hinted that she will star alongside funnyman Andy Samberg in the season’s first SNL Digital Short.  I am so excited, I cannot wait for–…and I just jizzed in my pants.  Be sure to catch the 34th season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 26 on NBC.

[Via IGN]

The second season of Fringe premieres on Thusday, September 17 at 9PM on FOX.  Check out all the lastest stills in the gallery below.  CAN’T WAIT.

[Via IGN]

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“What happens when the doctor becomes the patient?”

The two-hour Season 6 premiere of House premiere on September 21 at 8:00PM on FOX.  Look after the break for interview videos with the main cast including Hugh Laurie (House), Robert Sean Leonard (Wilson), Omar Epps (Foreman), and David Shore (creator).  They discuss the repurcussions of Season 5′s brilliant finale.  FYI, the song used in the trailer is “Grounds For Divorce” by Elbow.

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