Category Archives: Television

‘Happy Endings’ revival can happen, but will it?

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Adam Pally departed The Mindy Project last week. Damon Wayans, Jr. announced he’ll be exiting New Girl (again) after the sitcom’s fourth season wraps this May. Eliza Coupe‘s USA comedy Benched got the axe after one season. Are you starting to recognize the pattern here?

Half of the main cast from the criminally underrated but highly lauded cancelled NBC sitcom Happy Endings is about to be available for a triumphant reprise. At least, that’s the idea that popped in my head when all this news made itself public in the eerily same window of time.

Now, Max, Brad, and Jane are crucial to a Happy Endings comeback, but there cannot be such a thing without the other half: I’m talking about Penny, Dave, and Alex, of course. So what are their portrayers up to? Casey Wilson currently stars in NBC’s Marry Me, a funny show you should be watching from Happy Endings creator (and Wilson’s husband) David Caspe. Zachary Knighton and Elisha Cuthbert are primed to star in Fox’s Weird Loners and NBC’s One Big Happy, respectively. (Fun fact, because why not: Cuthbert stars alongside Endings‘ alum Nick Zano in her new series.)

Where does this leave us? Well, if Marry Me continues to perform well creatively with the occasional uptick in the ratings department, it very may well be renewed for a second season; star Wilson and creator Caspe would then be attached to that. As for Knighton and Cuthbert, it’s too early to tell their availability status since their new series have yet to premiere (both are set to launch next month).

Enter the curveball the length of my wide-eyed smile. On Feb. 6, the Happy Endings writer’s Twitter account blasted out a cryptic tweet that takes you to a countdown portal with the words “It’s almost a new day” sprawled across the page. The timer will reach zero in 50 days from now. I’ll do the math for you: that’s April 1, aka April Fools Day. Are the writers hinting at series comeback? Their Twitter account currently follows Netflix, Amazon, and Yahoo! Screen–Internet streaming services known for resurrecting dead shows (see: Arrested Development, Community). Or, more likely, are they teasing a one-off reunion of sorts that will bring back the cast for one final hurrah? OR, is this a heinous mind trick set to explode in tears of disappointment come April 1? I doubt that; the worst news, I suppose, is that the team is teasing a brand new series. And even that’s not bad news, per se, but it’s not a Happy Endings revival. The thing we are all now anticipating.

With that, let the wild speculation begin.

Update: Hope you’re keeping tabs on @HappyWrites. The Happy Endings writers are barraging followers with all kinds of tantalizing tweets involving hashtags like #ketchup and #wintercomestwice. Most exciting, though, is this video they shared; it’s Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and the video starts playing at the “Winter” section of the song. Not sure what the winter hooplah is all about but “Four Seasons”–get it?! If Endings were to make a comeback, a new season would be the series’ fourth! This is getting real, people. Or is it a hoax? The anticipation is killing me slowly.

NBC renews five dramas for next season

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You can file this under no surprises here: the Peacock network has gifted five of its well-performing dramas another season each. James Spader vehicle The Blacklist, Dick Wolf’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D., and Friday night genre staple Grimm will all be back next TV season. Other NBC dramas such as State of Affairs with Katherine Heigl, The Mysteries of Laura with Debra Messing, and other Friday genre fare Constantine remain in contention for next season.

“The creative vision of the executive producers who’ve guided these outstanding dramas has been nothing short of incredible,” said NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke in a statement. “We’re highly appreciative of the passion they bring to their shows at every step of the creative process and we’re thrilled to reward that dedication with these renewals.”

‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 trailer hints at Dany’s ascension to the throne

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After debuting it to moviegoers who attended the limited-time IMAX presentations of last seasons final two episodes, HBO released the Game of Thrones season 5 trailer online for the masses to watch and obsess over. Here it is, embedded above, in all its glory. The premium cable network manages to pack a whole lot of action inside this two-minute clip. Let’s summarize:

Littlefinger consoles Sansa and tells her to avenge, presumably, the death of her parents. Margaery weds Tommen, and if there’s anything we learned from this show, expect death in this scene. Varys and Tyrion land in what appears to be Dorne (where Oberyn was from), and the two discuss the future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms; sounds like Varys is enlisting Tyrion to help Daenerys “climb those steps and take that seat.” Speaking of the Mother of Dragons, Dany is prepared to make a power move: “I’m not going to stop the wheel. I’m going to break the wheel.” Elsewhere, Melisandre is still playing with fire; Jon Snow leads an army into battle, and Arya–with Needle–finds herself knocking on a giant, mysterious door in Bravvos.

Speaking of the IMAX presentation, I just came out of it last night and if you’re a fan of the show I highly recommend you check it out before it vanishes from theatres. Thrones, an already cinematic series, transfers spectacularly to the big screen, both visually and sonically. The epic Battle of Castle Black in “The Watchers on the Wall” and the thrilling fight sequence with Brienne and The Hound in “The Children” are elevated to a whole new level. Click here to see participating theatres.

Game of Thrones returns April 12 to HBO.

Update (3/10): Watch a second trailer after the break! Continue reading ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 trailer hints at Dany’s ascension to the throne →

TV reminder: 4 premieres to look out for in February

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February is all about quality over quantity in terms of appealing premieres to look out for. The new month packs two specials, one highly anticipated series premiere, and the return of the show that popularized the art of binge-watching. It’s all after the break. Continue reading TV reminder: 4 premieres to look out for in February →

Super Bowl XLIX: the emotionally-charged commercials and buzzy trailers inside!

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Despite a last-second reception that will go down in history as one of the best, the Seattle Seahawks lost to the New England Patriots in an exciting, nail-biting Super Bowl that ended with a final score of 28-24. Now that the game’s over, instead of analyzing Russell Wilson’s downright barbaric decision to throw the ball instead of run it into the end zone for an easy touchdown, let’s take a look at some of the most memorable commercials that aired between the gameplay. A whole bunch of them, including the buzziest movie and TV trailers, are posted after the break.

Update (2/2): NBC and the advertisers who shelled out $4.5 million for a 30-second spot have reason to celebrate today just as much as the Pats did last night. The final tally is in and a record 114.4 million people tuned into the big game. So many eyeballs; somebody do the math. This makes Super Bowl XLIX the most watched telecast in U.S. history. Bam. Continue reading Super Bowl XLIX: the emotionally-charged commercials and buzzy trailers inside! →

Conan invites Marshawn Lynch & Rob Gronkowski to compete in ‘Mortal Kombat X’ ahead of Super Bowl XLIX

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The Super Bowl is just a day away, and to stoke the proverbial fire, late night host Conan O’Brien pitted competitors Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks and Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski of the New England Patriots against each other in an epically hilarious Mortal Kombat X showdown. The next-gen MK title doesn’t drop until April, but luckily Conan was able to get his hands on it for his “Clueless Gamer” segment; if you haven’t watched these, ahem, video game reviews you’re sorely missing out. This latest installment featuring NFL heavyweights duking it out before Sunday’s big game is an instant classic. Plus, MKX pushes the violence to a whole ‘nother level (fair warning!) and it looks incredible. Enjoy!

‘Wet Hot American Summer’ brings back its memorable cast for new Netflix original series

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Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, “Wet Hot American Summer” follows a group of counselors who are each trying to complete their unfinished business before the day ends. The entire summer of pent-up sexual frustrations, unresolved post-traumatic stress, pending separations and of course, the talent show, all weigh heavily on the minds and groins of counselors and campers alike.

Now follow me here. Flash-forward 14 years after the release of that 2001 cult comedy and coming soon to Netflix is an 8-part limited series that will take us back to the summer of ’81 following the events of the first day of camp!

Who needs a theatrical sequel when streaming giant Netflix can round up the film’s director, writers, and pretty much the entire wildly impressive ensemble cast to make a Wet Hot American Summer TV series?! WHAS director David Wain and his co-writer Michael Showalter (he also played Coop!) are reuniting to produce the show that serves as a prequel to the movie. As maybe not so conveniently explained above, the series takes place at Camp Firewood in the same summer featured in the movie, except this time we’ll be witness to the first day of camp instead of the last. Get it? Good!

The video above blasts out the returning cast and your favorite camp counselors. Think you might recognize a name or two: Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Amy Poehler, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Michael Showalter. Getting this all-star cast to return today to reprise their 2001 roles–especially when many of them like Banks, Cooper, Poehler, and Rudd have turned into massively talented and constantly working actors–is beyond impressive.

Wain and Showalter’s Wet Hot American Summer reunion hits Netflix (you guessed it) this summer.

Update (1/28): Deadline reports new cast additions today and they are: Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Kristin Wiig (SNL, Bridesmades), Jason Schwartzman (Bored to Death), and Chris Pine. “I hear Hamm will play a secret spy, Wiig is playing a snobby counselor at the preppy rival camp Camp Tigerclaw, Schwartzman is the boy’s camp head counselor while Pine’s character is described as mysterious,” reports Deadline. The already amazing cast just got amazing-er.

HBO renews ‘Togetherness’ for a second season

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Mumblecore heroes Jay & Mark Duplass have more than sufficiently entertained viewers with their new series Togetherness, so much so that HBO has renewed it for a second season after airing only two episodes.

“We began our love affair with HBO in our parents’ living room in 1983, and to have these brilliant creative people put a ring on our fingers with a second season of Togetherness is a real-life dream come true,” said the brothers Duplass upon hearing the great news.

Mark, along with ensemble cast members Melanie Lynskey, Amanda Peet and Steve Zissis, have constructed a show that is inherently funny, fascinatingly introspective, and most of all, fun. A husband and wife with kids, his best friend and her sister living under one roof in Los Angeles just trying to make their way and find meaning in their lives–even after just two airings Togetherness manages to captivate with its unapologetic realism and strife. Plus, Zissis is a breakout star whose fame is long overdue (see previous Duplass works Baghead, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon).

Togetherness airs Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO.

‘Hannibal’ season 3 trailer is quite the Apéritif

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Will Graham lives! As for the rest of Hannibal’s victims involved in last season finale’s bloodbath, we still don’t know for sure. Here’s a sublime trailer for the upcoming third season of Bryan Fuller’s dark masterpiece of a series that is Hannibal. In it, Graham (the magnificent Hugh Dancy) is plotting his revenge on the good doctor Lector (the equally magnificent Mads Mikkelsen) whose has seemingly escaped to Florence, Italy with new series regular Gillian Anderson. Also featured is Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine); she’s a new character and from the looks of it she’s ready and willing to help Graham capture his nemesis. At the end of the trailer, oddly enough, Will speaks to Hannibal, “I forgive you.” Is he playing mind games again, or is this the continuation of a never-ending twisted relationship?

The hunt begins this summer when Hannibal returns to NBC.

*If you’re paying close attention, as you should be, you’ll recognized the word “Apéritif.” It was the title of the series’ pilot episode and it translates to “a small drink of alcoholic liquor taken to stimulate the appetite before a meal.” In case you haven’t picked up on it by now, each season Fuller chooses episode names based on international fine cuisine. Season 1 was French, season 2 was Japanese, and season 3 is all about Italian foodstuffs. The premiere is titled, “Antipasto.”

FOX renews ‘Gotham,’ ‘Empire’ & ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ discusses futures of ‘X-Files,’ ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ (!)

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Days after renewing animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers for a sixth season, FOX is expanding its security blanket over three more of its series. Freshman Gotham and Empire, as well as sophomore sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, will be back next fall to unspool new episodes. And this renewal news shouldn’t really come as any sort of surprise: the Batman origin story and the hip hop soap opera both performed well out of the gate with popular pilots; in fact, Empire‘s ratings went up in its second week which these days is a rare feat indeed. As for the Andy Samberg laugher, that series is comfortably enjoying its new digs on Sunday nights stuffed between The Simpsons and Family Guy.

What about the fates of other FOX shows such as Bones and Sleepy Hollow? “We are in conversations on both,” FOX studio and network head Dana Walden told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour this week. “We’re at the end of our deal on Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. We’re very hopeful Bones will return. We can’t announce it today because deals aren’t closed, [but] nothing will make us happier.”

As for Sleepy Hollow, Walden said the network is “going to wait a little bit longer” to renew it as creative calibrations are made behind-the-scenes. “We’re excited about some creative changes on the show and bringing it back to something that feels a little more episodic in nature, that has closure and doesn’t feel quite so serialized,” said Walden. In sum, the network would like the series to take the serialization down a couple pegs and “return the fun to it” that was rampant in season 1. That being said, worry not, Sleepy heads–Fox brass holds the show in a special place in their hearts and wants to see it grow. “We really love the show,” she added. “We love Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie. They have fantastic chemistry. We feel like it’s a really unique series.”

And now for the juicy stuff. Walden and network/studio co-head Gary Newman shed a glimmer of light on the futures of classic FOX series like The X-Files, 24, and yes, even Prison Break. For more, jump after the break. Continue reading FOX renews ‘Gotham,’ ‘Empire’ & ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ discusses futures of ‘X-Files,’ ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ (!) →

‘Community’ season 6 premieres on Yahoo March 17 (video inside)

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Mark your calendars: class is in session March 17, for Community season 6, that is. With series creator Dan Harmon back at the helm and a new reign of creative freedom ahead thanks to Yahoo scooping it up after NBC cancelled it last season, Community is primed to premiere its best season yet. Original cast members Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong are all returning, and they are joined by newbies Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) and Keith David (The Cape). Yvette Nicole Brown joins Chevy Chase and Donald Glover on the bench this season but you never know–perhaps Harmon will surprise us with special appearances by the dearly departed study group members. Community will be watchable at Yahoo Screen (supported by ads but no subscription required). On the 17th of March two episodes will land, and then the season will unfold with one new episode every Tuesday following the double-dose premiere.

As we approach our wish for #sixseasonsandamovie, does this sixth season mark the beginning of the end for the Greendale Gang? According to Harmon, nope! When asked about the future of the series at the Television Critics Association winter press tour today, he responded like this: “I’m definitely not writing [this season] as if it’s the end. My sixth-grade mentality about it is this show has lived by the sword of its intimate relationship with the fans, and needs to die by that sword. Only when people stop watching would I ever want to stop making the product. I have to continue writing the show as if it’s going to last for 20 seasons.” Be gone, darkest timeline! For today we live in the light!

But still. As long as we get the movie in and solidify that special preordained fate, I am one happy Human Being. Now jump after the break to watch a fun little promo for the upcoming season of Community.

[Via Yahoo; TVLine; EW] Continue reading ‘Community’ season 6 premieres on Yahoo March 17 (video inside) →

‘The Walking Dead’ 5B: new poster, haunting teaser, and a sneak peek at the back eight episodes

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The Walking Dead returns in less than a month and so it’s time to ramp up anticipation for the back half of season five. AMC does it right by pumping out a flashy new poster, a truly epic teaser, and a brief sneak peek at what’s in store next for Rick and the gang. In the poster (see above), the survivors are walking down a dilapidated, deserted street. And what’s that on the side of the road? It’s the map that Abraham scribbled the following note on before departing for Washington: “The new world’s gonna need Rick Grimes.” [Spoiler!] Though Washington ended up being a bust (thanks a lot, Eugene!), perhaps the band of brothers (and sisters) are about to catch some much needed luck and find a new safe haven to fortify and for Rick to lead. A post-credits scene in the 5A finale featured Morgan finding the overrun church and that map inside; perhaps the poster is signaling a long-awaited reunion for Rick and the man who cried clear.

There’s more after the break: a haunting teaser following the survivors in the woods as they take down off-screen walkers, and a look at what’s ahead including commentary from the cast and producers. Showrunner Scott M. Gimple calls the back half of the season “a very interesting structure. There are some very emotional moments, there are some very crazy moment, and there’s a huge change for the situation for these characters.” Star Andrew Lincoln says, “it feels like a new show visually and also story-wise.”

The Walking Dead returns February 8 at 9pm on AMC.

Continue reading ‘The Walking Dead’ 5B: new poster, haunting teaser, and a sneak peek at the back eight episodes →