Category Archives: Television

‘Wilfred’ renewed for a fourth and final season

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The one show that I always felt could go on forever is coming to an end after four seasons. On Wednesday FX’s Wilfred starring Elijah Wood and Jason Gann was renewed for a fourth season and the network concurrently announced that it would be the series’ last. Was the philosophical comedy about a guy who interacts with a talking dog brutally cancelled? No, not necessarily. Though the show saw a ratings drop in its latest season, Variety reports that FX head John Landgraf sat down with the Wilfred producers “well ahead of time” so that they could map out the final season appropriately. Unlike all previous seasons, the final one will play out across 10 episodes instead of 13. Executive producer David Zuckerman, the man who developed the Australian show for US audiences, took off in season 3 and handed the reins to Reed Agnew and Eli Jorné who had also been with the show from the beginning. For the final 10, Zuckerman returns as showrunner with Agnew and Jorné at his side. Following the announcement he tweeted, “Very excited to be returning to Wilfred full time for S4! Time for some answers!”

I  could watch Wilfred come up with ways to torment and teach life lessons to his neighbor for a long time, but alas there’s one more chapter left in the dark, crude, hilarious, smart, and thoughtful tale of Ryan Newman and his best friend Wilfred. What exactly is Wilfred? The time is nigh to find out.

Wilfred returns in 2014 when it will join It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Legit, and Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell on FX’s spinoff network FXX.

Watch the long-anticipated final episode of ‘The IT Crowd’ right here

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It’s finally here. Creator Graham Lineham and stars Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson brought back The IT Crowd for one last hurrah. Three years after the fourth series concluded, the UK cult sitcom sees Roy, Moss, and Jen return to the basement in a one-hour special. The final episode titled “The Internet Is Coming” premiered in the UK on September 27. Lineham addressed his US fanbase via Twitter: “US peeps asking about the IT Crowd, it will be available at some point but in the meantime do what you gotta do. I know you’re good for it.”

Lucky for those of us in the States, the final ep found its way to YouTube the same day it aired across the pond and since then the uploader has not been forced to take it down. So what are you waiting for? Watch The IT Crowd go out with a bang after the break. Continue reading Watch the long-anticipated final episode of ‘The IT Crowd’ right here →

‘Breaking Bad’ goes out on top

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And just like that, arguably the greatest show to air on television has come to an end. Breaking Bad went out on its highest note, both creatively and in the ratings. The finale–or should I say “Felina”–drew 10.3 million viewers, a series high spanning all five seasons. Among the coveted group aged 18-49, 6.7 million people watched the final episode live. Thanks to streaming outlets like Netflix and iTunes, the show was able to break out not only as a critical darling but also as a pop culture phenomenon.

In an informative interview with EW, mastermind creator/producer/writer/director Vince Gilligan shared his feelings about ending on top. “Every story has its running time, and it’s just hard in television to know what that running length should amount to, and I feel very happy and satisfied by the fact that we’re wrapping up now. I can’t even believe that the ratings have increased with each episode — I just think it’s wonderful — and people have asked me, ‘Does it make you want to go on and do a bunch more episodes now?’ Just the opposite. It makes me think, through quite a bit of good luck being involved, we really did pick the right moment to exit the stage, and I feel even more confident of that now than I did before.”

In a statement AMC president Charlie Collier expressed his gratitude to the successful series. “Breaking Bad is simply unique. It all starts with Vince Gilligan who really only ever asked for one thing – the opportunity to end the show on his own terms. That is exactly what Vince did last night and, as always, brilliantly so. Congratulations to Vince and to every single person involved in this remarkable journey. We’re proud that AMC will forever be known as the birthplace and home of this iconic show and, at the same time, we tip our Heisenberg hat to the fans who made this a truly shared experience.”

The final episode proved to be the perfect ending to the perfect series. In fine Gilligan fashion, all loose ends were neatly tied up; it was supremely satisfying. In a TV landscape where many shows these days like to leave things up to the viewer’s imagination, it felt so refreshing to watch a story close with all the i’s dotted and all the T’s crossed. It concluded unapologetically and peacefully and right. Rock out to Badfinger’s “Baby Blue,” the best song to come along since “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” and remember it was all in the chemistry. Bitch.

#LOL: Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake engage in a real-life Twitter conversation

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Late Night host Jimmy Fallon has another viral hit on his hands. In what always proves to be a perfect comedic pairing, Fallon invites Justin Timberlake to a conversation filled with Twitter’s most prolific symbol, the hashtag. So now when you see people walking the street tapping their fingers and saying hashtag you’ll know where it all came from: this bit of genius.

Just for hits and even more giggles, jump after the break to watch Fallon face off against Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Stephen Merchant in one epic “lip sync battle.” Continue reading #LOL: Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake engage in a real-life Twitter conversation →

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

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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 →

‘The Following’ season 2 teasers tease “a new face of evil”

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The Kevin Bacon/James Purefoy serial killer thriller The Following doesn’t return to FOX until January but until then you can theorize what’s to come in season 2 with two brand new teasers (the other’s after the break). The famous Edgar Allen Poe mask melts; should fans expect a new big bad to enter the scene or does Joe Carroll emerge from the ashes with a new obsession in mind? Sound off. Continue reading ‘The Following’ season 2 teasers tease “a new face of evil” →

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]