Category Archives: Entertainment

2013 Emmys: ‘Breaking Bad’ & ‘Modern Family’ big winners

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The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards were packed with expected and not-so-expected wins. Breaking Bad and Modern Family won Best Drama and Best Comedy–both deserved and mostly expected. Breaking Bad, riding high on its fifth and final season, was also celebrated for one of its supporting actresses in Anna Gun who plays Skyler White. Modern Family has now won the top prize four seasons in a row but none of its actors took home a trophy. Veep‘s Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale (the latter somewhat surprisingly) won Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy, respectively. Jim Parsons won Best Actor for his role in The Big Bang Theory and Nurse Jackie‘s Merritt Wever surprised everyone and won Best Supporting Actress. Speaking of surprises, over on the drama side Jeff Daniels of HBO’s The Newsroom won Best Actor and Boardwalk Empire‘s Bobby Cannavale won Best Supporting. Claire Danes went on to win her second consecutive Best Actress statue for Homeland.

For the full list of winners, click here.

TV reminder: ‘South Park’ season 17 premieres tonight (9/25) at 10PM on Comedy Central

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South Park takes on the NSA in the season 17 premiere episode titled “Let Go, Let Gov.” The logline goes like this:

When Cartman manages to get himself behind the doors of the NSA, he doesn’t like what he finds in his personal file. He thinks it’s time he told everyone the truth. Meanwhile, Butters finds someone new to listen to his prayers.

Watch two clips, one featuring Cartman and the other Butters, after the break.

South Park returns tonight (Wednesday, 9/25) at 10PM on Comedy Central. Continue reading TV reminder: ‘South Park’ season 17 premieres tonight (9/25) at 10PM on Comedy Central →

‘Breaking Bad’s final two episodes get supersized

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There are only two episodes left of Breaking Bad. Now, what’s the best way to send off arguably the greatest show in television history? By super-sizing its remaining episodes, that’s what! Executive producer Peter Gould confirmed it in a tweet: the final two installments of Bad have a runtime of 75 minutes with commercials included. That’s tight, tight, tight, yeah!!

And if you’re up for it, AMC is airing a major marathon leading up to the series finale. Starting Wednesday, September 5 at 8PM through Friday the 27th the network will air all 46 episodes that make up seasons one, two, three, and four. On the 28th at 11PM the marathon will resume by showing all of season 5 leading up to the big series finale on Sunday the 29th.

A one-hour version of Chris Hardwick’s after-show Talking Bad will come on immediately after the final episode airs (Low Winter Sun will have to wait) with some really special guests like series creator Vince Gilligan, current and former cast members Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemons, RJ Mitte, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks, and “super fan” Jimmy Kimmel.

The end is upon us. Brush up on your Ozymandias and reminisce all the fun cooks we’ve been on by staring endlessly into the new promotional poster posted above. It was all in the chemistry.

AMC greenlights a ‘Walking Dead’ companion series with Robert Kirkman at the helm

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Shortly after announcing a spinoff series from the land of Breaking Bad in the tentatively titled Better Call Saul, AMC is more than kicking around the idea of launching a new series set in the post-apocalyptic world of their other hugely successful show The Walking Dead. The cabler is calling it a “companion series” and Walking Dead executive producers Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert are all on board with it. Essentially the new series will take place in the world that Kirkman created in the comics, but it won’t be shackled to his story since it will follow a completely different group of people surviving the zombie apocalypse. The following statements paint a clearer picture for what’s in mind.

Kirkman: “After 10 years of writing the comic book series and being so close to the debut of our fourth, and in my opinion, best season of the TV series, I couldn’t be more thrilled about getting the chance to create a new corner of The Walking Dead universe. The opportunity to make a show that isn’t tethered by the events of the comic book, and is truly a blank page, has set my creativity racing.”

AMC president Charlie Collier: “Building on the success of the most popular show on television for adults 18-49 is literally a no-brainer. We look forward to working with Robert, Gale and Dave again as we develop an entirely new story and cast of characters. It’s a big world and we can’t wait to give fans another unforgettable view of the zombie apocalypse.”

Seems like a fun idea to me. Can you imagine if storylines intertwined and all of a sudden you saw Rick’s camp interfere with the people in the spinoff. It’s not so far-fetched since the same creative minds are in control of both series. We shall wait and see.

The Walking Dead spinoff won’t air until 2015, so for now you can look forward to the return of the flagship series on October 13.

‘Mad Men’s final season will air in two separate halves

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Just like it did with the last season of Breaking Bad, AMC is splitting the seventh and final season of Mad Men into two halves. Fourteen episodes will air in 7 episode chunks across two years; the first batch of seven is set to air in the spring of 2014 (act one is dubbed “The Beginning”) and the final seven installments (dubbed “The End Of An Era”) will bow in spring 2015.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner agrees with the cable network that this is indeed the best way for his show to end. “We plan to take advantage of this chance to have a more elaborate story told in two parts, which can resonate a little bit longer in the minds of our audience,” he says. “The writers, cast and other artists welcome this unique manner of ending this unique experience.”

AMC president Charlie Collier backs up Weiner’s statement: “This approach has worked well for many programs across multiple networks, and, most recently for us with Breaking Bad which attracted nearly double the number of viewers to its second half premiere than had watched any previous episode. We are determined to bring Mad Men a similar showcase.  In an era where high-end content is savored and analyzed, and catch-up time is used well to drive back to live events, we believe this is the best way to release the now 14 episodes than remain of this iconic series.”

So what do you think about this not-so-unexpected news? Do you prefer to sit and watch everything unfold without a sudden, potentially fragmenting break, or do you find solace in knowing that Mad Men will live on until the distant future that is the year 2015?

[Via EW]

HBO picks up Damon Lindelof’s next TV project ‘The Leftovers’

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Following in the footsteps of his former Lost collaborator Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof is trekking to the land of cable to produce his next TV series. Also like Cuse (who went on to make A&E’s Bates Motel, based on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho), Lindelof is basing his next project on already existing material, in this case a novel. The Leftovers is a book published in 2011 and authored by Tom Perrotta that chronicles life on earth after the Rapture takes place. Like the book, Lindelof’s adaptation “takes place after the Rapture happens, but not quite like it’s supposed to. It is the story of the people who didn’t make the cut — and a world that never will be the same.”

HBO picked up the series for 10 episodes to air sometime next year. Many well-known actors are attached to the project, namely: Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Chris Zylka, Brad Leland, Max and Charlie Carver, and Emily Meade. Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) directs the pilot and executive produces alongside Lindelof, Perrotta, Sarah Aubrey, Ron Yerxa, and Albert Berger.

More as this project develops.

[Via Deadline; TVLine]

Preview ‘Revolution’ season 2 ahead of next week’s premiere (inside J.J. Abrams teases new supernatural element)

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NBC’s action-packed drama that poses the question “what would happen if the lights went out” returns for its second season next week so there’s no better time to catch a new preview of what’s to come in Revolution. At Comic Con we learned that the nukes set off at the end of season 1 do in fact go off and decimate large sections of North America. We also learned that the lights will turn off again, and this time for good. In the new preview clip embedded above you’ll hear from the cast and they spill s’more season 2 details: time jumps three months into the future, our main band of survivors makes camp at a fictional town in Texas named Willoughby, and you’ll also catch glimpses of Rachel’s encounter with her dad (played by Stephen Collins), Monroe’s fight club, and Neville’s beard. “It’s the same Revolution everybody knows and loves,” says Tracy Spiridakos (Charlie Matheson), “but with a different little kick to it.”

What might that kick be? Executive producer J.J. Abrams teases it in an interview posted after the break. When the power goes out for good early in the season, Abrams describes a “rip” in reality that occurs. In essence, a supernatural element is being introduced into Revolution this season and Abrams says it will provide the launchpad for more compelling storytelling and higher stakes. Get the tantalizing scoop after the break; below that is a season 1 recapper.

Revolution returns Wednesday, September 25 at 8PM on NBC. Continue reading Preview ‘Revolution’ season 2 ahead of next week’s premiere (inside J.J. Abrams teases new supernatural element) →

John Noble to join the cast of FOX’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’

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Normally I wouldn’t report on casting updates, but this one’s real special. Actor John Noble, who famously and delicately portrayed the mad scientist licorice lover Walter Bishop for five seasons on Fringe, is boarding the new FOX drama Sleepy Hollow. On Monday the show about Ichabod Crane and the fight against the evil four horsemen of the apocalypse premiered to big ratings; 10.1 million people tuned in making it FOX’s most-watched fall drama debut in seven years. News of Noble entering the mix will surely stir the pot some more and attract more eyeballs.

Here’s what we know. Noble will appear later in the season as Henry Parrish, a kind and reclusive man who possesses supernatural powers that have the potential to help Crane. If there’s anything we know about Noble it’s that he can most certainly play “reclusive” and “kind.”

Noble joins the cast of Sleepy Hollow as a recurring guest-starring role (which will hopefully turn into a series regular part) and this occasion marks a creative reunion–Sleepy Hollow executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Heather Kadin all worked on Fringe as well.

Sleepy Hollow airs Monday nights at 9PM on FOX.

‘SNL’ season 39 cast locked in (6 new members!), Cecily Strong to co-anchor ‘Weekend Update’

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Later this month Saturday Night Live kicks off its 39th season and fans of the late-night sketch comedy show are bracing for a major overhaul in terms of talent. After veterans Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis moved on from the show last season, SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels was tasked with finding a new crop of potential stars who have the comedic chops to rock Studio 8H.

This August report has been confirmed: Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Noël Wells, John Milhiser, and SNL writer Michael Patrick O’Brien are all being added to the cast. Also confirmed is stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan, a contributing writer at CollegeHumor. A grand total of six new comics are joining the SNL cast this season, and Lorne Michaels is well aware of the importance of finding the right mix of people to fill his cast.

“You can’t be famous before you’re famous,” he told The New York Times. “It’s one thing to be on a stage in Chicago or L.A.; it’s another thing to be standing in 8H. It’s like standing in Yankee Stadium. They can all play baseball, but this is something different. And the weight of all that was just more palpable to me this summer, more than ever before.”

In addition to confirming the six new cast members, Michaels dropped an even bigger bomb: in only her second year on the show, breakout featured player Cecily Strong is joining Seth Meyers at the Weekend Update desk as co-anchor. Famous for her Weekend Update character “The Girl You Wished You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party,” Strong will join Meyers at the desk in the upcoming season premiere. Michaels makes it seem like the decision was an easy one: “Cecily, from the first show, was right there,” he said. “She exploded.”

If all goes according to plan, Strong will take over as the sole Weekend Update anchor when Meyers departs SNL to host Late Night when Jimmy Fallon departs his show to run The Tonight Show. Michaels hopes, however, that Meyers will stay in his seat for the entirety of this transition season before relinquishing his title to Strong. Technically Meyers can pull double duty–Late Night only shoots Monday through Thursday leaving Friday and Saturday open for Meyers to write and anchor. As it stands, Meyers is poised to leave SNL in late February when his own late night show takes off.

Elsewhere, last year’s rookie Tim Robinson is stepping off the stage to contribute behind the scenes in the writer’s room and Colin Jost and Rob Klein will share the head writer title, the job formally held by Meyers.

SNL premieres September 29 on NBC with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire.

[Via NYT]

2013 Fall TV Schedule: NBC

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The majority of NBC’s fall lineup hits the airwaves the week of September 23–the official premiere week. Perhaps the fall’s buzziest new drama The Blacklist starring James Spader premieres Monday, September 23 at 10PM following The Voice. Revolution returns on its new night Wednesday, September 25 at 8PM. The Peacock’s new Thursday night comedy lineup doesn’t air in full until October 3 when Welcome to the Family and Sean Saves The World enter the mix; the week before NBC will air the one-hour premiere of Parks And Recreation followed by two episodes of The Michael J. Fox Show. Drama Ironside with Blair Underwood premieres Wednesday, October 2 and Dracula with Jonathan Rhys Meyers comes later paired with Grimm on Friday, October 25.

Click here to preview the new shows.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule. Browse the gallery below for key art.

Continue reading 2013 Fall TV Schedule: NBC →

2013 Fall TV Schedule: FOX

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FOX is getting a jump on the other big broadcasters by premiering the majority of its show one week before the official premiere week of September 23. The X Factor and Masterchef already started on Wednesday, September 11. And this Monday, Sleepy Hollow gets its big debut at 9PM following Bones (the Emily Deschanel/David Boreanaz crime dramedy relocates to Fridays at 8 starting November 8). The net’s Tuesday night comedy lineup premieres September 17 with Seth MacFarlane’s Dads, the fall’s buzziest new comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, New Girl, and The Mindy Project. Glee enters the scene with a tribute to The Beatles the following week on Thursday, September 26 at 9PM and Masterchef Junior sees its series premiere on Friday the 27th at 8. Starting Sunday, September 29 FOX’s Animation Domination lineup premieres with The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, and American Dad. J.H. Wyman’s new sci-fi crime drama Almost Human is being held until Monday, November 4 (it will take Bones‘ place at 8PM) and Greg Garcia’s sitcom Raising Hope comes to the schedule Friday, November 8 at 9PM. Rookie army comedy Enlisted was supposed to debut that Friday too, but FOX has pushed it to midseason.

Click here to preview the new shows. Browse the gallery below for key art.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule.

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Continue reading 2013 Fall TV Schedule: FOX →

2013 Fall TV Schedule: ABC

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Much like NBC, the Alphabet network is premiering most of its shows during the official premiere week of September 23. A few shows enter the ring before that week: Reality series Dancing with the Stars kicks off Monday, September 16 and on Friday the 20th Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing returns along with The Neighbors and Shark Tank. Enter premiere week: Tuesday the 24th introduces four brand new shows–sitcoms The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife sandwiched between buzzy drama Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Lucky 7; Wednesday the 25th is home to The Middle, new Bad News Bears inspired sitcom Back in the Game with James Caan and Maggie Lawson, the one-hour season premiere of Modern Family, and Nashville. ABC’s sudsy Sunday night lineup premieres the following week on September 29 with Once Upon A Time, Revenge, and new marital drama Betrayal. Three shows won’t make their mark until October: the new Rebel Wilson half-hour Super Fun Night (Wednesday, October 2), Shonda Rhimes’ red-hot Scandal (Thursday, October 3), and the spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland (Thursday, October 10).

Click here to preview the new shows. Browse the gallery below for key art.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule.

Continue reading 2013 Fall TV Schedule: ABC →