It’s officially May which means we can now say this: Arrested Development returns this month! In anticipation of the return of the short-lived cult comedy, Netflix is going all out with an attractive ad campaign featuring images and taglines that evoke some of the most memorable bits from the series’ original run. You can sort through it all below; gallery #1 includes some laugh-out-loud promo posters while gallery #2 contains character portraits. Also, the storage container has sprung open (see above!).

Once you’re done there, you’re going to want to hop after the break to watch a BRAND NEW CLIP starring the dynamic duo Buster and his overbearing mother Lucille.

Arrested Development launches on Netflix with 15 new episodes all at once on May 24.

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(Click here for more…)

Arrested Development returns with all-new episodes on (drum-roll please) May 26, 2013.

Netflix issued a press release on Thursday expressing the long-awaited news. In addition to announcing the release date, the streaming company increased the episode order to a grand total of 15, way up from the originally planned 10 installments. Just like it did with its last premiere of original programming in House of Cards, Netflix will make all 15 episodes of Arrested Development available at the same time precisely at 12:01AM PDT on Sunday, May 26. Take note: the new season premieres Memorial Day weekend so fans will have plenty of time to marathon it all before the work week/school resumes on Tuesday.

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix: ”Arrested Development is now widely viewed as one of the top TV comedies of all time and Mitch Hurwitz is bringing it to Netflix in a brand new way, crafted for the on-demand generation that has come to discover the show in the years since it last appeared on TV. The highly anticipated return of this show is sure to make history all over again.”

Series creator and executive producer Mitch Hurwitz: ”Ted said that? Wow. Well don’t print this obviously, but he’s going to be immensely disappointed. In truth we are doing something very ambitious that can only be done with Netflix as partners and on their platform. Finally my simple wish for the show is coming true: that it be broadcast every second around the clock to every television, computer or mobile device in existence.”

In case you didn’t know… Arrested Development centers around Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) and his eccentric family comprised of his son George Michael (Michael Cera), his father George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), his mother Lucille (Jessica Walter), his brothers George Oscar Bluth II (Will Arnett), Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) and sister Lindsay Funke (Portia de Rossi), and Lindsay’s husband Tobias (David Cross) and their daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat). With the new episodes, each installment is dedicated to a different character’s point of view. And all of it is a major set up for a feature length film which is still in the works.

I don’t have a trailer for you yet (there may never be one since Hurwitz is keeping such a tight lid on the plotlines), but you can eye the first promotional poster above. I imagine the entire Bluth clan locked inside that bright orange shipping container with Gob trying his mightiest to bust them all out. It reads, “The Final Countdown Begins.” Celebrate with an appropriate scene after the break. (Click here for more…)

Get an Old Fashioned ready; Don Draper and company return to the box in your living room Sunday, April 7 at 9PM on AMC. Tonight’s season 6 premiere of Mad Men, written and directed by sereis creator Matthew Weiner, is called “The Doorway” and it is two hours long. “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,” Weiner shared to EW.

The season’s key art pasted above constructed by illustrator Brian Sanders features ad man Don Draper facing duality. When we last saw Don he was letting his wife Megan pursue her dream of acting; granting her this independence might have let Don slip into his old ways of infidelity. The poster does a fine job of expressing Don’s dilemma: will he continue to love Megan and remain faithful in his marriage or will he succumb to his former self and take the hand of a beautiful stranger? There are many ways the illustration can be interpreted; what do you think?

Since it’s been a while since Mad Men last aired, jump after the break to catch up with a “where season 5 left off” video with commentary from Weiner and the talented cast led by Jon Hamm. Also there you’ll find more commentary from the cast and creator plus a couple season 6 promos. (Click here for more…)

The battle for the Iron Throne resumes this Sunday night at 9PM on HBO. The network’s hugely successful and popular fantasy series Game of Thrones returns for its highly anticipated third season promises more surprises and more dragons; just look at the season’s key art above for proof of the latter. Or rewatch the season’s two brilliant trailers if you need to be reminded of the stakes at hand in the upcoming batch of episodes. After the break you’ll find a couple of recap clips that will catch you up on everything Thrones seasons 1 & 2. Directly below you can browse a gallery of 12 too-cool-for-school posters that each feature gritty close-up shots of the series’ main characters including the bastard Jon Snow, the conniving Cersei Lannister, the terrible Joffrey Baratheon, the Kingslayer Jaime Lannister, and everyone’s favorite Imp Tyrion Lannister.

Update (4/1): Last night’s season 3 premiere episode of Game of Thrones ranked as the series’ most watched installment to date. A record-breaking 4.4 million viewers tuned into “Valar Dohaeris,” up 13% from the 3.9 million who watched the season 2 opener last year. That tally is also up 4% from the season 2 finale which attracted 4.2 million sets of eyeballs; that ep was the previous record holder. In total, across three airings on HBO last night, 6.7 million took in the premiere.

(Click here for more…)

If you were intrigued by the platter of trailers that premiered in February promoting NBC’s upcoming serial killer thriller Hannibal, let this serve as a friendly reminder: the televised adaptation prequel to the classic 1991 horror film Silence of the Lambs premieres next week on Thursday, April 4 at 10PM. Hannibal comes from the visionary producer behind Pushing Daisies Bryan Fuller and stars Hugh Dancy as gifted criminal profiler Will Graham, Laurence Fishburne as Agent Jack Crawford, Caroline Dhavernas as Dr. Alana Bloom, and Mads Mikkelsen plays the infamous serial killer who eats his prey Dr. Hannibal Lector. Click after the break to watch two new trailers plus get an inside first look at the show with commentary from the cast, Fuller, and pilot director David Slade. (Click here for more…)

After an excruciatingly long four month hiatus, NBC’s Revolution returns on Monday night, March 25. Things will pick up right where they left off: our group of rebels have finally reclaimed long-lost Danny and they are forced to face Monroe’s evil empire that managed to harness some power thanks to the powerful amplifier Rachel built for him under duress.

At the winter TCAs, series executive producer Eric Kripke promised that the second half of the show’s debut season will be “bigger, better, more exciting and [with] more revelations–at the same time maintaining the format.” He added, “Giving [Monroe] power was more about making him an unstoppable force. We start to deliver on the promise of the title. The revolution begins.”

In a more recent interview with EW, Kripke opened up more about what to expect in the final ten episodes of the season. If you thought the first season featured some high-octane, action-packed sequences, things are about to get turned up to a whole other level. “It’s so big,” says Kripke. “It’s action on a level that I’ve truly never seen on network television before. This show is about the characters and it’s about the emotion, and we really keep it grounded, but man, we really blow some s–t up, too.”

In addition to more action, there more also be more revelations. In early April (on the 8th, to be exact), viewers will finally be privy to how the lights went out. “[Rachel] basically just sits there and tells the entire story. That’s it. Literally, she lays it out. It’s absolutely fun,” says Elizabeth Mitchell, Rachel’s portrayer. We’ll also learn more about Rachel and Miles’ past, Aaron will eventually have to face the wife he left behind, and relationship between Neville and his son Jason will be tested.

And now, some goodies. First, flip through a gallery of stills from Monday night’s new episode “The Stand” right here. Next, jump after the break to watch a couple promos highlighting the upcoming episodes, one of which will really pump you up ‘cuz it plays Fall Out Boy’s bangin’ new single “Light ‘Em Up” (how appropriate, yes?). And then there’s a very special clip embedded after the break–you can watch THE FIRST EIGHT MINUTES of the new episode, right here, right now. (Click here for more…)

Hannibal is coming to television this spring. NBC had ordered the serialized adaptation of the classic tale about Dr. Hannibal Lector (famously played by Anthony Hopkins in 1991′s Silence of the Lambs, originating in the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon) last May and has since been keeping it warm on the bench. With midseason bust Do No Harm dead and gone, the Peacock’s schedule suddenly has a vacant Thursday at 10PM slot that’s begging to be filled. On April 4 Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) will play the role of the mad serial killer and he’ll unleash his bag of mind tricks onto a gifted criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). Laurence Fishburne and Caroline Dhavernas also star. Hannibal is from Bryan Fuller, the man behind such visionary treats as Pushing Daisies and Heroes.

With FOX’s The Following gaining a cult of its very own, is there room for another, more familiar serial killer drama on network TV? The 30-second spot embedded above even evokes some of the Ryan Hardy/Joe Carroll back-and-forth that has come to pass on Kevin Williamson’s thriller. And yet it’s dark and just intriguing enough to warrant anticipation for Hannibal‘s premiere. Share your take in the comment section below. After the break you’ll find creepy yet tantalizing key art featuring Mikkelsen as Lector at the dinner table. Who’s hungry?

Update: There’s a new full-length 2-minute trailer now available for your viewing pleasure. Watch it after the break.

Update 2: A couple more new clips are posted after the break. (Click here for more…)

War is brewing. It’s Rick and his Prison pack versus The Governor and the wily town of Woodbury. Before The Walking Dead‘s midseason break, Rick infiltrated Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie who had been kidnapped by Merle. Rick’s ambush was a success and his nemesis The Governor (who he hasn’t even met yet!) came out of it all with vengeance on his mind. Michonne killed his zombie daughter Penny right in front of him and then she gauged one his eyes out. (I think it’s now safe to say that The Governor will never see eye-to-eye with anyone from here on out.) The major cliffhanger, of course, was the surprising reunion of the Dixon brothers under not-so-ideal terms; The Governor blames Rick’s attack on the one-handed Merle, after all, because he had lied about taking out Michonne in the woods.

What will be the fate of the Dixons? What is Rick’s next move and will he continue to lose his mind during a strenuous time when he needs it most? Which side will Andrea end on when the dust settles; will she choose to stick with the one-eyed (don’t-call-him-Phillip) Governor or return to her original group at the Prison? After her battle with The Governor Michonne’s wasn’t acting like herself–has she gone soft? How will the latest addition to our group Tyrese factor into it all? The Walking Dead resumes the second half of its 16-episode third season tonight (2/10) at 9PM on AMC. Watch a preview here. The Talking Dead–now in a one-hour format airing immediately after TWD with special guests Steven Yeun and Kevin Smith–follows.

Note: Since Dead has been on hiatus, news broke that for the second time the series’ showrunner is departing. Like Frank Darabont before him, Glen Mazzara is leaving the show due to creative differences. However, you should know that Mazzara had his hand in the making of the back half of this season. His successor Scott M. Gimple (the show’s supervising producer/writer) takes the reins during the production of season 4.

Update (2/11): Back from another break and The Walking Dead reaches a new series high in ratings. Sunday night’s midseason premiere drew 12.3 million viewers, besting the previous record holder that was the season 3 premiere (that episode garnered 10.9 million viewers). Across the first 9PM airing and the three encores that AMC showed Sunday night, the midseason premiere attracted a grand total of 16.6 million viewers. That’s huge people.

“When you look at numbers like this, the first thing that comes to mind is how grateful we are to the fans of this show,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “They embrace The Walking Dead in a way that we wanted to believe was possible but we never take for granted.The cast and crew put everything they have into making this show. They’re a phenomenally talented group who truly give their all. We congratulate everyone involved.”

After spending so many years as Jack Bauer on 24, Kiefer Sutherland has landed a softer, more philosophical role in FOX’s Touch from Heroes creator Tim Kring. Season 1 played like a symphony about human interconnectedness as each installment told a myriad of interesting stories from all around our tiny world. And at the end of each one, as much as the ball of red yarn twisted and stretched it found equilibrium and all wrongs were made right. Sutherland’s Martin Bohm has a gifted son named Jake (played incredibly by the silent narrator David Mazouz) and he can see the fractures in the universe and he uses his father as a source of might to restore balance to it. Though the first season introduced some serialized material when an unseen power wanted to tap into Jake’s gift for unknown purposes, what the show did best was offer exciting, visually stirring, emotional stories with a beginning, middle, and end each week.

Fans will notice some changes in season 2. First, the story picks up right where we left off. Fate has brought Martin and Jake to Lucy (Maria Bello) and together they will search for her gifted daughter Amelia. Kring promises a faster-paced, jolting journey for our characters, and answers. The Amelia Sequence and its ramifications on the nature of things is the more compelling serialized part of the series, after all. “[Lucy] only felt that her daughter was alive — like a mother’s intuition. So [Martin and Jake] absolutely reaffirm it,” says Kring. “The second season is very much about the search for Amelia and the fact that Maria Bello and Kiefer Sutherland’s characters are now joined together – two people who are searching for answers together.”

Maria Bello has been promoted to a series regular in season 2, but social worker and Martin’s partner-in-crime Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) will not be returning. Lucas Haas, a 24 alum (he played Andrew Paige in season 4), joins the cast as Calvin Norburg, a genius Aster Corps employee with special knowledge who will cross paths with our title characters.

If you missed out on the first season of Touch, don’t fret. Due to its typically procedural nature I’m sure the season 2 premiere will make it easy for first time viewers to jump right in. Kring has created a captiviating world here so don’t miss out. Touch premieres tonight (2/8) at 8PM on FOX with back-to-back episodes “Event Horizon” and “Closer.” Starting next week and for the remainder of the 13-episode season, it will air in its regular slot Friday at 9. Check out the official season 2 poster after the break. (Click here for more…)

A boy’s best friend is his mother.

That’s the oh-so-approproate tagline for first season of Bates Motel, the upcoming A&E Psycho prequel series from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights). A poster featuring young Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Norma (Vera Farmiga) Bates hangs after the break. Above, it comes to life in a such a creep-tastic way. Highmore solidifies the role here and now; that single smirk strikes a chord and he nailed it.

Bates Motel premieres Monday, March 18 at 10PM on A&E. (Click here for more…)

In three days the final episode of Fringe will come and go. What better way to anticipate and celebrate the final installment of the FOX cult sci-fi series than with a brand new promotional poster and one last epic trailer. Similar in design to the one that came before it, this poster features an Observer with a bad nose bleed but that’s the least of his worries. With Walter and Donald’s plan set in motion, it’s only a matter of time before the baldies go down. Last week anomaly Michael gave himself up to the Observers to ensure the safety of Olivia, Peter, and Walter, so now we’re stuck asking ourselves how will the plan proceed without its most important piece? After the break you’ll discover the final Fringe trailer that sheds some light on what we can expect this Friday. The most intriguing bit? Cortexiphan is back and Olivia is going to harness it to travel back to the other side! The incomparable John Noble narrates.

Exec producer J.J. Abrams describes “An Enemy of Fate,” episode number 100, written and directed by showrunner Joel Wyman, as “highly unexpected, incredibly emotional and a fitting conclusion to the series.” He added, “I mean, the script is unbelievable. [The episode is] beautifully done by Joel and the writers. “If it’s not satisfying, I don’t know what satisfying is.”

John Noble, who plays fan favorite Walter Bishop (and who better not bite the dust), also shared his admiration for the last hurrah. “I can honestly say that it was everything I had hoped it could possibly be,” he told TVLine. “It tied up our character lines, it tied up the great story arc… I was extremely elated. It’s certainly going [out] with a bang. I hope history will judge it as one of the great finales of all time. I really believe they will.” On his character’s fate he continued, “If you had asked me in Season 1 where I thought Walter should finish up, it would have been exactly where he does. That’s the remarkable thing — it’s the perfect arc for Walter.”

Fringe airs two back-to-back episodes (“Liberty” and then “An Enemy of Fate”) this Friday, January 18 starting at 8PM. (Click here for more…)

There are only four episodes of Fringe left. What better way to ring ‘em in than with a shiny poster? The elegantly harrowing image puts the season’s big bad baldie Captain Widmark front and center; his eyes remain transfixed but divert the gaze of the viewer. His stoic nature is intact, but he’s beaten up with black-and-blue patches and red blood seeps from his nose and mouth. The fedora donning mind-wiper has a bleak future because we have to believe that Olivia and the Bishops will in fact save the world by ridding it of The Observers. The final battle is imminent.

Fringe airs one more episode this Friday, December 21 titled “Anomaly XB-6783746″ before going on its final hiatus as we gun for the new year. It returns January 11 and the week after that the final two episodes will air back-to-back culminating in the series finale “An Enemy of Fate.”

[Image via TVLine]

This official poster serves as a reminder that HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones returns for its third season on March 31, 2013.

Update (11/19): A promo teaser joins the promo poster after the jump. There is no actual footage from the upcoming season; what we get is this fiery and icy quote: “The great war is between death and life, ice and fire. If we lose, the night will never end.” (Click here for more…)

Michonne. The Governor. Woodbury. The prison. There has been so much excitement about what’s coming next on The Walking Dead and now the time has finally arrived to regroup with Rick and our gang of zombie apocalypse survivors. Eye this season’s key art above that features Rick Grimes front and center (once again) atop an overturned bus outside the zombie-infested prison. Gotta love the tagline: “Fight the dead. Fear the living.” Next dive in the galleries below to view character profiles and pictures from tonight’s season premiere, “Seed.”

The Walking Dead premieres tonight (10/14) at 9PM on AMC. And don’t forget to tune into Talking Dead immediately following the episode; host Chris Hardwick will be talking to showrunner Glen Mazzara and Michonne–er, Danai Gurira.

Ramp up anticipation by watching the season 3 trailer a couple more times. It’s that good.

Update: Get used to it–AMC’s The Walking Dead shatters records when it premieres. 10.9 million viewers tuned into the season three premiere last night; that’s up 50 percent from the season two opener. It also performed extremely well in the two coveted demos; in adults 18-49 it attracted 7.3 million viewers (up 52 percent from the season two premiere) and in adults 25-54 it attracted 6.1 million viewers (up 46 percent). If you include the two encore airings of the episode, a grand total of 15.2 million people saw “Seed.” The show managed to garner this many viewers while Dish subscribers were left out in the cold due to a contract dispute. AMC can rightfully boast that last night’s return of The Walking Dead is most-watched drama telecast in basic cable history and in the 18-49 demo it is the highest-rated series this fall–including cable and broadcast offerings. Hats off to the zombies. I don’t think you’ll ever have to tell this show to break a leg going into a premiere. Oops, sorry Hershel…too soon?

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[Images via AMC]

(Spoiler alert) At the very end of Fringe season four, our favorite Observer September delivered grave, unexplained news to Walter Bishop: “they are coming” he whispered before the screen went black. Well fellow Fringe fans, a shiny poster surfaced today featuring that mysterious, tantalizing bit of dialogue, as well as three bald-headed sharp-dressed men carrying black briefcases. It confirms what we all expected: season five will shed major light on the Observer-ruled world we glimpsed in episode 19 “Letters of Transit.”

The poster you see above will be the one fans will takeaway from the final Fringe panel at Comic Con later this month. Newly lone showrunner J.H. Wyman spoke to EW about the affair. “The Comic Con panel is something I always look forward to, but this year it’s bittersweet,” he said. “I think we have lots of good stuff in store for them.” The panel will be held inside the massive Hall H on Sunday, July 15 at 10AM. Series stars Anna Torv, Josh Jackson, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, and John Noble will join Wyman on a panel that will serve as a Q&A for fans and also include “an exclusive video presentation.”

Fringe begins its fifth and final 13-episode season on September 28 on FOX. The season premiere is called “Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11.” Yeah.

[Via EW]

If the previous two trailers weren’t enough to amp you up for the return of Game of Thrones, this collection of photos should do the trick. Open the gallery below and check out what your favorite GoT characters might be up to in season 2; there are even a few newcomers thrown into them mix. The HBO fantasy series returns April 1.

Update: A tantalizing teaser poster awaits after the break.

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[Images via IGN] (Click here for more…)

The first half of the second season of The Walking Dead ended with a literal BANG when (spoiler) Rick Grimes was forced to shoot and kill a character that we all thought had gone missing but instead was turned into a deadly zombie. Life is about to dramatically shift on Hershel’s farm when the show returns from its winter hiatus next month. Gander at the official midseason premiere poster hanging above; it shows Rick pointing his revolver squarely at a target, little Sophia perhaps? Next, jump after the break to watch two scenes from the upcoming episode titled “Nebraska.” In the first, two strangers stumble upon Rick and Hershel; in the other Rick and Shane are shown in confrontation not for the first time.

The Walking Dead returns February 12 at 9PM on AMC.

[Via AMCTV] (Click here for more…)

Rick Grimes and company return tonight in the season 2 premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead. There’s a new showrunner in town (season 1 producer Glenn Mazzara has replaced Frank Darabont at the top), but you can expect the epic storytelling and zombie-infested thrills to absolutely remain in tact. If the season 2 trailer that debuted at Comic Con has anything to say, it’s that this time around every aspect of this amazing show is only going to get better. The creative team led by Darabont and comic book originator Robert Kirkman quickly found their footing in the premiere season, introducing the wide range of characters with precision, emotional impact, and top notch storytelling. This time around AMC is allotting the show 13 episodes; if you were wowed by all that went down in season 1 (which contained a 6-episode story arc), we can only imagine what they are going to do with over double the amount of time. After eyeballing the season 2 poster (which rivals the season 1 poster in how awesome it is), it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the survivors will reach Hershel’s farm, an important stop on their journey to salvation as the readers of the comics already know. As a personal aside, I really hope that Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) returns as The Governor!

The Walking Dead returns tonight at 9PM on AMC in an expanded 90-minute episode. FYI, the season will be split in two. Seven episodes will air consecutively this fall and then the show will go on an extended hiatus starting November 4. The remaining six episodes will air beginning February 12 in the new year. Lastly, don’t forget to watch Talking Dead, a live half-hour after-show hosted by Chris Hardwick that will air immediately follow each episode and recap and discuss it. Sunday night is about to become the best time of the week.

Gallery 1 contains shiny character profiles; in the one below that you’ll find stills from the premiere ep “What Lies Ahead.”

Update: The Walking Dead season 2 premiere scared up quite the audience. Check out these record-breaking numbers for a cable program: the premiere at 9PM drew 7.3 million total viewers and 4.8 million viewers in the coveted 18-49 demographic. Compared to last year’s pilot, that’s up 38 percent in total viewers (last year: 5.3 million), 36 percent in 18-49 (3.6 million), and 35 percent in 25-54 (3.1 million). And if you factor in the two encore presentations that followed at 10:30PM and 12:30AM, a grand total of 11 million tuned into the season 2 opener. This marks a series high for AMC’s gory staple.

AMC president Charlie Collier shared his excitement over the big ratings. “The Walking Dead is one of those rare television programs that reaches both a core genre fan as well as broad audiences simply looking for a great, character-based story. That The Walking Dead is now the most watched drama in the history of basic cable is staggering, just like our zombies.”

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[Images via IGN; Deadline]

Earlier this summer FX picked up a 13-episode order for its next original drama series. American Horror Story comes from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy and his Nip/Tuck and Glee collaborator Brad Falchuk. Deadline reports: “Described as a psychosexual thriller, [the show] centers on a therapist and his wife who, dealing with the aftermath of the husband’s adultery, move along with their kids into a new house that seems to know all about their fears and plays on them.” Now check out this all star cast extracted from a press release:

American Horror Story revolves around The Harmons, a family of three who move from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish. The All Star cast features Dylan McDermott (The Practice) as “Ben Harmon,” a psychiatrist; Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) as “Vivien Harmon,” Ben’s wife; Taissa Farmiga as “Violet,” the Harmon’s teenage daughter; Jessica Lange (Tootsie, Blue Sky, Grey Gardens) in her first-ever regular series TV role as “Constance,” the Harmon’s neighbor; Evan Peters (One Tree Hill) as “Tate Langdon,” one of Ben’s patients; and Denis O’Hare (The Good Wife) as “Larry Harvey.” Guest stars for the series include Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) and Alexandra Breckenridge (Dirt) as the Harmon’s housekeepers; and Jamie Brewer as Constance’s daughter.

AHS promises to be an extremely chilling TV series with intention to genuinely frighten audiences. Murphy describes it as a “feel-bad” show, as opposed to his “feel-good” show Glee. He and Falchuk were inspired by classic horror films Rosemary’s Baby and Don’t Look Now. Industry members who have seen the pilot were spooked and amazed by its originality.

Says FX president John Landgraf: “We’re thrilled to welcome Ryan and Brad back to their original home. They have shown an uncanny ability to bring original series to the air unlike any that have come before, and to reconcile ’wildly entertaining’ with the ’creatively ambitious.’ Once again, American Horror Story is a wholly unique and original take on its genre with richly drawn characters. The ability to put together a cast of stars such as Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Denis O’Hare, Frances Conroy and Oscar-winner Jessica Lange speaks to the quality of the writing and storytelling. This series is going to blow audiences back in their seats, and we can’t wait to have it on our air.”

Others who have seen the pilot say that it’s filled to the brim with character and plot development. One critic says, “The first episode has more stuff crammed into it than some shows have in their first season.” This may not be such a great thing because viewers typically don’t like to get suffocated by too much in the very beginning. At the TCAs, Murphy admitted that pilot “has like eight cliffhangers” but he went on to reassure potential viewers that he has “an obligation to the audience in the next two [episodes] to explain a lot of those things that are set up.”

Over the summer FX has been running a super creepy yet intriguing marketing campaign to amp anticipation for the series. Short commercials featuring AHS ”clues” can be screened at this YouTube channel. This week the cable network finally released a standard teaser clip featuring the main cast in the haunted (?) mansion. What’s up with Denis O’Hare vanishing up in flames and who’s that stalker-ish man (?) in the black latex suit grabbing at Connie Britton? This same question can be asked about the bizarre poster pasted above. The teaser video is after the break.

I will certainly give this show a try, and I think you should too. I trust Murphy and Falchuk’s creative vision and so I expect AHS will find its groove at some point during its first season run. The cast is stacked and the intrigue is there. Tune in to see what American Horror Story is all about when it premieres October 5 at 10PM on FX.

[Via FX; Deadline 1, 2] (Click here for more…)

The boys are back for one last hurrah. The eighth and final season of Entourage premieres tonight at 10:30PM on HBO. The shortened six episode season will air every Sunday at this timeslot; the series finale falls on August 28.

In an interview with Vulture, creator Doug Ellen says longtime viewers can expect a return to original form. “I wanted to get back to the early roots of the show, and get back to the guys sticking together, really looking out for each other” he says. “I wanted it to be a little lighter this season; obviously, the third episode is pretty dark, but I think we come out of that in a good way that’s realistic but also comedic.” As for the post-HBO run Entourage movie that’s in the works, Ellin says that the final season will not lead into the movie simply because the storyline for the feature film has not been decided yet. In his words: “I wish I was smart enough — everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you gotta leave it open, and do this and this.’ Every year I do the best I can and it ends somewhere and hopefully it satisfies. But it has nothing to do with any plan for the movie, because at this point there is no plan except [that] we’re gonna do one.” The plan is to ship the boys off to Europe in the movie, but beyond that Ellin’s taking his time in creating a satisfying conclusion for Vince and his friends.

Jump after the break to watch the season 8 poster animate and the latest trailer that teases what’s in store for the six-episode story arc ahead. (Click here for more…)