Here’s our first real look at the upcoming fourth season of HBO’s Girls. Lena Dunham’s Hannah Horvath and company are back in a season that’s about “the girls making smarter choices and realizing that life is still hard.” Preview season 4 in the video embedded above and see how many guest stars you can find.
Girls returns early next year.
Update (11/7): HBO’s released another look at Girls season 4. Watch it after the break. Continue reading ‘Girls’ season 4 trailer [Update: New trailer inside]
How have you been enjoying American Horror Story latest incarnation? Only four episodes in and it’s already proven to be one of the franchise’s best seasons yet. The Halloween themed “Edward Mordrake” two parter was quite exquisite, to say the least. And I’m sure you feel the same way I do about the inclusion of little miss Pepper. It’s a shame she never got her meatloaf, but more than that she’s served as a great addition to the season’s sprawling cast. Creator Ryan Murphy said including her and effectively bridging a gap between season 2’s Asylum and the current Freak Show was a decision that was not made lightly. But now that the door is cracked open, he’s going all the way in.
It’s been reported that AHS mainstay Lilly Rabe is making an appearance later this season and she will be the second actor to reprise a character from a previous season. She’s coming to the Freak Show as her Asylum alias Sister Mary Eunice to snatch up poor Pepper and bring her to the mental institution Briarcliff Manor. In an interview with EW, Murphy waxed about Rabe’s return as well as the interconnectedness of it all.
I don’t want to say much about it but obviously she’s playing Sister Mary Eunice. The interesting thing about doing a show like this is every season is incredibly its own story and its own beginning, middle and end. Its own journey. But we have always from the very beginning in the intertwining mythologies and how things connect. This is the first year where we begin to tell you that season two is connected to season four which is connected to season one. People have started to write articles about that. A lot of their hypotheses have been completely right on. That’s the fun of the show. Hopefully by the end of the run, be it 10 years or 15 years, people will be able to stand back and be able to say, “Oh that was connected to x.”
There’s definitely a rhyme or a reason and a connectedness to all of these seasons, but in the same way, they’re standalones, which is the fun of it. But it is a puzzle. And Lily coming back and dealing with Pepper is sort of the first unveiling of that connectedness. She’s so great in that role, Lily. I understood she wanted to go off and do her own show. But I was thrilled she was able to come back and give us a couple days and show how Sister Mary Eunice and Pepper are connected and how it’s all connected. I’m glad she’s back in the habit!
So AHS fans, rejoice! The show will remain an anthology series, but going forward Murphy and co. will begin to tie at least some things together for studious fans to froth over. I, for one, cannot wait to find out how exactly this season will make a bridge to Murder House!
AHS: Freak Show airs Wednesdays at 10 on FX.
Good news for fans of The Eye’s older-skewing programming: four freshman series will live on to see their first season of television all the way through and they are: hacker drama Scorpion, spinoff NCIS: New Orleans, Kevin Williamson’s thriller Stalker, and Téa Leoni top-lined Madam Secretary.
“These four shows have had an immediate impact on our schedule by improving nights, winning time periods and adding more hours of success across our primetime lineup,” said Nina Tassler, CBS’ Entertainment Chairman, in a statement.
Elsewhere, The Peacock picked up The Mysterious of Laura for a full 22-episode first season.
Debra has effortlessly infused Laura with a relatability that is captivating audiences,” said Jennifer Salke, NBC’s President of Entertainment. “We can’t wait to see how Laura will continue to evolve throughout the entire season.”
And now, the sour news. Low ratings are forcing out rom-coms Manhattan Love Story (ABC) and A to Z (NBC), as well as Kate Walsh sitcom Bad Judge (NBC) and FOX’s “social experiment” reality show Utopia. MLS and Utopia were pulled from their network schedules on the dates of their cancellation (10/24 and 11/2, respectively), but in a surprise move NBC is allowing A to Z and Bad Judge finish out their original 13-episode orders. The former comedy has shot 11 of 13 episodes and the latter has produced 10. What this means is that the creatives behind them will be able to scramble together plotline bookends since they’re aware the end is in sight. A silver lining: at least these shows will air final episodes that will indeed serve as series finales with at least some closure before audiences are forced to say goodbye.
If you’re keeping count, these full season orders join previously announced pickups of ABC’s Black-ish and How to Get Away with Murder, FOX’s Gotham, and The CW’s The Flash and Jane the Virgin.
Update (11/7): ABC has cancelled rom-com Selfie and has given a full season order to the Ioan Gruffudd-led drama Forever.
Here we go. Some great news for longtime fans of Saturday Night Live who might have lost faith in the late night variety show’s funny bone. SNL writer and featured guest Leslie Jones has officially joined the cast as a featured player four episodes into season 40. Audiences were first introduced to Jones’ off-kilter comedy last season when she invaded Weekend Update as an “Image Expert” and talked about black beauty; the controversial discussion projected her unique and brash delivery. SNL head honcho Lorne Michaels must have noticed the effect she had on viewers; she as brought back to the desk again this month to talk about relationships, once again proving her comedy chops. And now, she’s getting upgraded from writer/guest to full on featured player. Welcome to the cast, Leslie Jones!
She will make her official debut this coming Saturday, Oct. 25 with host Jim Carrey and musical guest Iggy Azalea. Let’s hope she’s the spark SNL has been craving ever since Wiig/Hader/Armisen/Samberg era ended.
On Tuesday, The CW expressed their confidence in two of their fall freshman series–The Flash and Jane the Virgin–by allotting them full season orders. Both were buzzy shows pre-launch, and then they fared well in the ratings. The DC Comics-based Flash pilot, in fact, was crowned the network’s most watched series premiere ever with 6.1 million viewers in Live+3 tracking.
“We have had a fantastic start to our season this year, with The Flash launching as our most-watched series premiere ever, and Jane The Virgin recognized as the best new show this season by critics across the country,” said CW president Mark Pedowitz. “Over the past three seasons, we have made it our mission to grow and to broaden out our audience, and to keep raising the bar with the quality and impact of our new shows, and The Flash and Jane have both exceeded our expectations on all counts.”
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 and Jane the Virgin airs Mondays at 9.
Earlier this week, newly inducted Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon invited actor Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) over for a typical late night interview and what audiences got was something…different. Donning bizarro visors with Guy Fieri-like hair sprouting out, Fallon and Cooper simply could not keep it together. For ten minutes straight the two engaged in an uncontrollable laugh fest that is admittedly unprofessional but simultaneously unabashedly hysterical and infectious. Enjoy the uncut “interview” above!
A new, exciting, buzzy series called Powers is coming soon and here’s your first look. It’s based on a graphic novel series of the same name from writer Brian Michael Bendis and illustrator Mike Van Oeming and it stars District 9‘s Sharlto Copley with an American accent. Powers follows detectives Christian Walker (Copley) and Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) who are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as Powers. The 10 episode series is written by Charlie Huston and David Slade (Hannibal) is directing the first two.
Now here’s the catch: Sony Pictures Television is out to rival subscription-based companies like Netflix and HBO by making Powers a PlayStation-exclusive. In other words, you’ll have to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber to watch the show on your PS4, PS3, or PS Vita handheld. The pilot will premiere for free on PlayStation Network and across other outlets such as YouTube and Crackle so the public at large can get a taste. If you like what you see then you’ll have to sign up for PlayStation Plus to access more.
The trailer packs quite the punch in terms of action, humor, and vulgarity. Bendis, Oeming, and Sony seem to be pushing the envelope here with PlayStation’s first original series and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd gets drawn to it. Of course PlayStation Nation will gobble it up, but will Powers have the ability to attract new members to Sony’s gaming-turned-entertainment destination? It premieres this winter.
All 10 seasons (236 episodes) of famed NBC sitcom Friends is coming to Netflix on January 1, 2015! To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the series (it ran from 1994-2004) and its new streaming home, Netflix has put out a live recording of the show’s theme song. Click play above to hear The Rembrandts perform the forever catchy and hand-clappy “I’ll Be There For You” featuring Central Perk manager Gunther. The music video was recorded at the Central Perk pop up coffee shop in NYC.
Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy seems to be in a really good place when the third season of The Following picks up. In this first look at the new season he’s seen getting lovey-dovey with new romance Zuleikha Robinson (Lost, Intelligence). But this being a serial killer thriller and all, the quiet moment doesn’t last. “Where there was hurt, there’s comfort. Where there was dark, there’s light,” narrates Hardy. And then BLAM, cut to black and screams and the shadowy title card.
The most depressing bit of this tease is that we see Hardy’s niece Max Hardy with another man as Mike Weston looks on with a tinge of remorse. WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!
The Following returns in January on FOX.
This week at New York Comic Con, Warner Bros. and a panel consisting of executive producer Greg Plageman and stars Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, and Amy Acker debuted this Person of Interest series recapper that reminds fans just how freakin’ awesome this show truly is.In a way, this nearly 2-minute clip serves as an extended version of the show’s ever-changing opening title sequence. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride that spans three seasons and counting.
Person of Interest airs Tuesdays at 9pm on CBS.
FOX becomes the second network to step up and grant a full season order to one of its new fall shows. DC Comics-based Gotham will tell its season one origin story across 22 episodes. Previously ABC placed confidence in Shondaland drama How to Get Away with Murder and Anthony Anderson sitcom Black-ish.
“Gotham debuted as one of the most buzzed-about shows of the fall, and with good reason,” said Fox Television Group’s Dana Walden and Gary Newman. “Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon have created an incredibly rich world, with characters that draw you in and a cast that brings to life these heroes and villains in a way we’ve never seen before. We are so excited to see where Bruno, Danny and the entire Gotham team take this story over the course of this season, and so thankful to all the fans who have embraced it this fall.”
The Batman & villains origin story has gotten off to a pretty solid start. The pieces of the puzzle started to align in Gotham‘s most recent episode “Arkham” as the procedural nature of the show is finally starting to give way to a more serialized approach involving Ben McKenzie’s Det. Gordon, David Mazouz’s young Bruce Wayne, Jada Pinkett Smith’s seducing Fish Mooney, and of course scene-stealer Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin.
Gotham airs Mondays at 8pm on FOX.
FX has renewed Ryan Murphy’s fun fright fest American Horror Story for a 13-episode fifth season to debut in October 2015. This follows the news that the season premiere of the anthology series’ fourth iteration Freak Show debuted to record ratings not only for the franchise but also for the cable network. When factoring in Live+3 data (that is, viewers who tuned in on premiere day and those who watched on their DVRs the following three days after), a total of 10 million viewers got acquainted with the freaks (6.5 million of which fall into the coveted adults 18-49 demo). The episode handily surpassed the previous franchise record-holder, last year’s AHS: Coven premiere, which attracted 7.27 million viewers.
The American Horror Story anthology has had the highest growth trajectory of any show in FX history, not to mention an unprecedented track record of success in awards recognition,” said FX head John Landgraf. With Nip/Tuck, Glee, The Normal Heart, and American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy has established himself as one of the most successful and prolific producers of this generation. We expect AHS: Freak Show and the next incarnation of AHS to further his legacy.”
AHS: Freak Show airs Wednesdays at 9pm on FX. And speaking of the upcoming season five, Murphy spilled to EW in an interview that the first two episodes of Freak Show do in fact contain clues scattered throughout that pertain to the plot of his next horror story.