Tag Archives: Showtime

Renewals: AMC’s ‘Halt And Catch Fire’, FX’s ‘The Strain’ & Showtime’s ‘Masters of Sex’

Let’s start with the unexpected. AMC has gone ahead and renewed freshman series Halt And Catch Fire for a second season. Despite middling ratings and buzz, the 80s period drama about the PC Revolution will return next year. Star Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) provided the initial draw and after a slow build the show became fun summer fare with its knack for capturing the exciting, experimental era it’s set in. From the technological jargon to the music, HCF eventually found its creative streak and has me yearning to see more in a second season. Props to Pace’s costars Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, and Kerry Bishé for their emotionally grounded performances that made it easy to get invested.

“This is a show about invention, experimentation and the inherent risks in trying to break new ground — themes that really resonate with us as a network and attracted a passionate audience,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “We have a history of demonstrating patience through the early seasons of new shows, betting on talent and building audience over time. We see that opportunity here and look forward to a second season of Halt and Catch Fire from creators Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers, and showrunner Jonathan Lisco.”

Elsewhere, FX renewed Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse’s vampire horror fest The Strain and Showtime is bringing back Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan for a third season. No surprise here, really. Though I’m not the loudest Strain supporter (I have issues with the writing and acting) it’s the type of summer fare that just makes sense. As for Masters of Sex, this is the show that just keeps on giving. This season’s bottle episode “Fight” might be the series best thus far featuring phenomenal performances by stars Martin Sheen and Lizzy Caplan.

“We’ve never had any doubts about The Strain,” said FX Networks head John Landgraf. “It is thrilling when you have a show that is a creative and commercial hit, which is a rare accomplishment in this increasingly crowded marketplace. We look forward having it on FX for as long as Carlton, Guillermo and Chuck Hogan need to tell this epic tale.” Added del Toro: “I am thrilled! Another season to spread the virus! Working with Carlton, Chuck and FX has been immensely rewarding and we have such sights to unveil in the upcoming episodes — the blood hits the fan on this one, mankind becomes an endangered species.” Added Cuse: “I am grateful for all the blood, sweat and tears (but mostly blood) given to the project by all involved, and I could not be more excited to continue telling this epic story.”

“Both Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex are quintessentially Showtime: bold, provocative, premium television with production values at the top of the food chain,” said Showtime president David Nevins. “These acclaimed shows are filled with complex and interesting characters and settings that will no doubt give audiences compelling television to invest in for seasons to come.”

‘Homeland’ stars discuss upcoming new season

Homeland stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, and Nazanin Boniadi take time during their promotional photoshoot to talk season 4. In addition to a brief glimpse at this season’s shooting location (Cape Town, South Africa will stand in for parts of the Middle East), this new clip does a fine job at teasing the upcoming Brody-less season just as the “First-Look” trailer did before it.

Homeland returns October 5 to Showtime with a two hour premiere.

‘Homeland’ showrunner teases season 4 (first trailer inside!)

I can guarantee that Dana Brody will not be back for Season 4.”

Let’s start with that choice quote from Homeland executive producer Alex Gansa at the TCAs on Friday. Moving on…

With the demise of the show’s male lead Damian Lewis (who so elegantly played Nicholas Brody), Homeland‘s fourth season serves somewhat as a series reboot. This time around the action takes place in the Middle East and it follows Claire Danes’ Carrie Mathison in the field dealing with political ramifications that comes with US troops withdrawing from the area.

“It’s about seeing Carrie Mathison for the first time doing the job she was trained to do — being a case officer in a foreign capital,” Gansa shared in an interview with EW. “We’re going to see what an intelligence officer does on the ground. How she recruits assets, how she deals with the foreign government and her country team — the people she works with in the embassy — and the host country’s intelligence services. That is a complicated and murky world, one that we hope is filled with intrigue and drama and adventure.”

What else? “About six months” have passed since season 3 ended; Carrie’s had her baby but it’s left back in the States so, no, you won’t be seeing her balancing motherhood and taking down terrorists. In terms of her mental stability, “she’s quite stable,” says Gansa. “Where she is managing her grief about her loss of Brody is a different question.” Speaking of Brody, Gansa says it isn’t outside the realm of possibility for Lewis to reprise his role via flashbacks. “He was such as significant part of Carrie’s life that just to drop him completely would feel wrong, because Carrie is grieving for his loss.”

Gansa also commented on the status of fan favorites Saul Berenson and Peter Quinn. “Saul plays a central role this season, albeit a different role, a reversed role. Saul in the past was Carrie’s boss. Now that he’s in the private sector he finds himself working underneath her and at her behest, so there’s a role reversal that takes place there.” And then: “Everybody is clamoring for a relationship between [Quinn and Carrie]. And it is certainly something we’re toying with. However the question is whether Carrie is in any kind of emotional state to be open to a romance of any kind and does Quinn realize that’s the case. But it’s enough to say he watches over her this season because he cares about her so much.”

For more on season 4, check out the interview with Gansa in full at EW.

Now, jump after the break to glimpse what’s in store. It’s true: There’s no place like Homeland. Which returns October 5 on Showtime. And how incredible is that season 4 key art hanging above? Best one yet. Continue reading ‘Homeland’ showrunner teases season 4 (first trailer inside!)

TV reminder: 5 premieres to look out for in July

Summer has arrived! Now that you’ve binged OITNB and revisited the Dome, it’s time to jump into new worlds including Halle Berry’s Extant and Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain. Skip after the break for the full rundown of anticipated July premieres you can’t miss. Continue reading TV reminder: 5 premieres to look out for in July

Preview Showtime’s upcoming psychosexual horror ‘Penny Dreadful’

Some of literature’s most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. PENNY DREADFUL is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.

That’s the current logline for Showtime’s upcoming psychosexual horror drama Penny Dreadful starring Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor), Eva Green (Casino Royale), Billie Piper (Doctor Who), and Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights). The 8-episode series hails from James Bond filmmakers John Logan and Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road).

There will be blood, and sex and scares. Watch the first trailer for Penny Dreadful above, and jump after the break to screen previously released teasers. It premieres May 11. Continue reading Preview Showtime’s upcoming psychosexual horror ‘Penny Dreadful’

Showtime renews ‘Homeland’ & ‘Masters of Sex’

Showtime has renewed Homeland and Masters of Sex for a fourth and second season, respectively. The Emmy-award winning Homeland is the network’s #1 rated show averaging 6.5 million weekly viewers. The CIA drama is exploring new avenues this season with intense character studies of its two main protagonists Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody, both of whom are experiencing extreme isolation as they remain worlds apart from each other. Some think it to be too slow, but I am appreciating the shift in pace and the focus on character. If you’re caught up you know the game has changed with a surprise twist so things are expected to ramp up in terms of sheer fast-paced action Homeland is famous for.

Freshman Masters of Sex has proven to be a hit as well, averaging 5.4 million viewers. Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, who portray real-life human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, lead a great cast in a show that everybody knew would be sexual and risqué yet also addicting and very intriguing.

Homeland continues to prove its strength for Showtime, and is one of television’s most exciting, provocative and widely-discussed shows. It has grown its audience significantly in each of its three seasons,” said Showtime President David Nevins. “And, the critical and audience reaction to Masters of Sex since its great launch has been incredibly gratifying. It’s a privilege to get to work with such talented and creative people as Alex Gansa and Michelle Ashford, as well as their tremendous casts. They have each created truly original shows, with distinctive voices that are among the most admired series on television.”

Homeland and Masters of Sex air Sunday nights starting at 9PM on Showtime.

Fill in Brody’s gap with ‘Homeland’ audiobook

Brody was finally reintroduced into Homeland last Sunday after being absent from the first two hours of the new season. Viewers found him nearly fatally shot in the abdomen but he was saved by international colleagues of Carrie Matheson in Caracas, Venezuela. How did he get that gunshot wound? What happened between the time he left Carrie in the woods at the end of season 2 and his stay at the Tower of David? Executive producer Alex Gansa says the show won’t tell that story in flashbacks but there is a way for fans to be filled in.

Enter Homeland: Phantom Pain, a 30 minute audio book narrated by Brody’s portrayer Damian Lewis that reveals Brody’s untold story of crossing the border.

Emmy Award-winner Damian Lewis, who stars as Former Congressman and U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the hit series Homeland, narrates this original Homeland story of Brody’s journey into exile. Picking up at the end of Season 2 after he has parted from Carrie at the border, Brody relates, in the form of a letter to Carrie, his desperate escape by sea and land as the world’s most-hunted fugitive. Guided off the grid by a former CIA analyst and a battle-scarred French mercenary, he stays in the shadows…both physically and emotionally. But wherever he goes and whoever he meets, he cannot stop thinking about Carrie.

“The audible book is specifically designed to tell that interstitial story,” Gansa told the New York Post. “There’s also a bit of interstitial information on the Season Two DVD, in which you see Brody at the border in the scene where he’s wounded.”

But why not include this backstory in the show itself?  “Our feeling was that it’s a fairly straight narrative line between Brody being dropped off [at the Canadian border] and how he got to Venezuela,” Gansa explained. “He’s been on Carrie’s underground railroad…and ran into some difficulty at a border crossing. Maybe people feel differently, but our goal was to reveal Brody in an interesting way, rather than showing him being shot. He’s carried into the [camera] frame and there he is with his head lolling about and blood spilling from his gut. That was the most impactful and narrative way [to show Brody] after not seeing him in the first couple of episodes. One of the men [guarding Brody] does allude to ‘those Colombians’ and the fact that Brody didn’t have a pleasant border crossing. I don’t know if it had to be explicated beyond that.”

Though it may not be key to Homeland‘s season 3 arc, fans are gobbling up this bonus material rating the audiobook 4.3/5 stars on Audible.com. Click here to download the book for free and shine a light on Brody’s backstory.

Homeland airs Sundays at 9PM on Showtime.

[Via NYP]

TV reminder: ‘Homeland’ & ‘Masters of Sex’ premiere Sunday on Showtime

Brody is on the run and Carrie and Saul are left to deal with the aftermath of the cataclysmic CIA bombing in the season 3 premiere of Homeland. Pledge allegiance to the poster hanging above and tune in at 9PM on Showtime.

Following the return of Homeland is the series premiere of Masters of Sex at 10PM, a risqué dramedy starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Watch the stimulating trailer after the break. Continue reading TV reminder: ‘Homeland’ & ‘Masters of Sex’ premiere Sunday on Showtime

‘Homeland’ season 3 injected with more teasers plus a series recap

Following that somber full-length trailer, Homeland is letting a few more videos creep onto the scene before Showtime unveils the third season on September 29. Above, the main cast of talented actors discuss the state of the show with brand-new, never-before-seen footage placed throughout. After the break, two new teasers titled “Haunted” and “Who Do You Trust” reside along with a welcome “From The Beginning” recap.

And now I ask you, dear readers, who do you trust? Continue reading ‘Homeland’ season 3 injected with more teasers plus a series recap

‘Homeland’ season 3 gets a somber full-length trailer

Have you been itching to find out what happens next on Showtime’s award-winning Homeland? Here is your first look at the drama’s highly anticipated third season. Carrie is depressed (again), Brody is back sporting a whole new look, Saul is heavily involved with senate hearings following the CIA bombing, Quinn is playing with fire(arms), and Dana makes a bad decision (again) but also surprises with one major revelation revealed. The trailer, set to The Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build a Home,” is somber in its own right and sets that tone for the season.

Homeland returns September 29.

TV teasers: ‘Homeland’, ‘Breaking Bad’ & ‘Sherlock’

Here we have three tantalizing TV teasers for fans of some of the hottest shows today: Showtime’s Homeland, AMC’s Breaking Bad, and BBC One/PBS’ Sherlock. Warning: spoilers within!

Above, the Homeland teaser titled “Signals” begs the question: Where is Brody? At the end of season 2, a car bomb destroyed the CIA and it was made to look like Nick Brody was behind the devastating attack. Carrie, of course, believes him when he says he didn’t do it and she helps him escape the country. “Does Carrie know I’m here” is just one of the many “signals” broadcast in this 30-second teaser that unfortunately shows zero footage from season 3. Homeland returns September 29.

After the break you’ll find the teasers for Breaking Bad and Sherlock. Continue reading TV teasers: ‘Homeland’, ‘Breaking Bad’ & ‘Sherlock’

Showrunner Alex Gansa talks ‘Homeland’ finale

–SPOILER ALERT–

Did you watch last night’s episode of Homeland? “The Choice” served as the second season finale and what played out was certainly unexpected. Everything we witnessed Abu Nazir do was a ruse, believe it or not. It was not until after he died did his ultimate plan come to pass. Showrunner Alex Gansa discusses the exciting finale in the video embedded above. In the discussion he makes a very interesting point regarding the Quinn situation: had Estes’ shooter gone through with the plan to assassinate Brody, Nazir’s plan would have been foiled! Gansa also teases season three and we learn that Saul is indeed the “acting director of the CIA” and he will be rebuilding the institution with Carrie at his side when Homeland returns in 2013.