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TV reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ returns tonight at 9PM on AMC [Update: The ratings are in…]

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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]

TV reminder: ‘Bored to Death’ returns tonight at 9PM on HBO

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This post marks the end of the This week in NEW TV installments. Over the course of the next three weeks, three new shows (2 returning and 1 new) will premiere. It begins with…

HBO’s Bored to Death returns tonight for its third season at 9PM. Have you been missing author-turned-P.I. Jonathan Ames, his best friend Ray Hueston, and his boss George Christopher in your life? Well tonight white wine lover Jason Schwartzman, pot smoking Zach Galifianakis, and the versatile, sex-driven Ted Danson (he now stars in this show and CSI) are back in the season three premiere entitled “The Blonde in the Woods.” That happens to be the name of Jonathan’s new book. Also happening in the premiere: Ray hangs out with his sperm donation and George reunites with his daughter. If you’re not watching this show you should be; it’s a riot. Check out stills from tonight’s episode in the gallery below.

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[Images via IGN]

‘South Park’ docu goes behind-the-scenes with creators Parker & Stone

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Tonight (10/9) Comedy Central is airing a South Park documentary called “6 Days to Air: the making of South Park.” Show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone allowed documentarian Arthur Bradford to sneak a peek behind the scenes at the making of a full 22-minute episode. The doc was shot over the course of three months at the South Park Studios in Los Angeles. According to the press release, “Viewers will get a look at Parker and Stone’s thought process as they approach a new episode and the 24/7 grind they subject themselves to each time the show is in production. The documentary also includes in-depth interviews with Parker and Stone about their working partnership and reflections on highlights from their careers, such as the making of the original short, “The Spirit of Christmas,” as well as their memorable appearance at the 2000 Oscars when they walked the red carpet in drag.”

“We wanted to make something that would appeal to both the hard-core fans and the casual viewers,” said Bradford. “Trey and Matt are two of the most interesting people I know and the way they make ‘South Park’ is completely fascinating and inspiring.”

Hop after the break to watch Parker and SNL player Bill Hader voice characters from the recent episode “You’re Getting Old” (it’s a riot!) and click here to watch some more previews.

6 Days to Air: the making of South Park airs tonight–that is Sunday October 9 at 10PM on Comedy Central.

[Via SouthParkStudios] Continue reading ‘South Park’ docu goes behind-the-scenes with creators Parker & Stone →

FRINGE FRIDAY returns tonight at 9PM on FOX

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The wait is finally over. Fringe begins its fourth season tonight on FOX. And the question on everybody’s mind is Where is Peter Bishop? Though showrunners J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner would never spoil that for fans, they did talk with the press recently to ramp up excitement for the new season. Here are some choice quotes for you to munch on before things get rolling at 9PM.

Wyman and Pinkner went back and forth reiterating the importance of Peter. Wyman: “Just because he [Peter] doesn’t exist doesn’t mean that those three years we’ve invested all didn’t happen. It did happen. And it will all unfold itself for you to understand what context I’m speaking.” Pinkner: “Look, Peter is part of the DNA of the show. We’ve done some pretty crazy things in the past where people were always like, ‘Well, wait a minute. Why are they doing that? What’s going on?’ Hopefully in season four, people will trust us enough to realize that we are doing things for a reason. To sort of have Fringe without Peter in some way, shape or form is really not Fringe…The show constantly tries to recontectualize your perception of this story…The idea that Peter is gone — and, ultimately, he’s not permanently gone — is an opportunity to recontectualize the story and what we’ve seen again. It’s something we love to play with.”

Wyman explained that the new season will tell a story about “how are these universes going to work together to heal their joint damage now that they have a means to do so…This offered us a good opportunity to…watch how the two Olivias are looking at problems very differently. It goes back to our major theme: Our experiences are who we are.” Standalone Fringe cases will take place in our universe, the alt-universe, and some will overlap in both universes over the course of the season.

The duo went on to give hints about else we can expect from the upcoming season.

  • Pinkner talked about now-series regular Seth Gabel, who plays Lincoln Lee. “We’re kind of in love with the theme of having this guy come in and have to go into a very strange world and [realize] that everything he thought was true is no longer valid. He’s going to have to put back together a psyche that has been sort of fractured by this knowledge that he really shouldn’t have.”  Added Wyman, “He brings us a certain thematic element that we really needed to tell this year. A lot of the things his character will be going through will help us tell our story. One of the themes we’re really interested in getting into this year is the impact we have on each other’s lives. We’re defined by the connections we make, and who we know, and who knows us, and how we define other people.”
  • “There will be returning faces,” Pinkner said. “We hate to spoil things, but there will be characters that you’ll be delighted to see again, hopefully some that you’ll be surprised to see again, and some you may have seen before that come back in a completely different context.”
  • The opening title sequence is a new color: orange! “The significance of the color is simply just to put out the notion that this is the universe without Peter in it.”  “It’s a different chapter,” added Wyman.
  • “Walternate, despite all promises to the contrary, is still a bad guy manipulating things behind the scenes. So that’s another story we’re going to be delving into,” said Wyman.
  • Hope you enjoyed season two’s “Brown Betty” musical and season three’s “LSD” animation trip because Wyman hints there’s another episode coming up “that’s off the beaten track.”
  • Get ready for some super freaky cases this year. Shares Wyman, “We have a slew of really crazy, hopefully thought-provoking, far-out cases that deal with time travel, out-of-control biology, and humans who either for very understandable and sometimes not so understandable reasons, are messing with the rules of nature and the rules of physics. This year…more than any other year, we have some mind-blowing standalone stories. Because ‘over there’ is so messed up, and over here is a little suspicious as well right now, it gives us carte blanche to push our imaginations to the hilt and see some really cool things realized.”

And there you have it. Fringe season four is ready to fire on all cylinders. Before it begins, take the time to watch FOX’s 12-part recap series “Past + Present + Future” on YouTube. Whether you’re new to the series or just want to brush up on everything Fringe, these collection of videos will take you on an exciting journey spanning all three seasons of the fantastic sci-fi series. Prepare for your mind to be blown.

Bonus! Look after the break to learn about the brand new DC Comic based on the show Beyond the Fringe.

[Via EW; TVLine] Continue reading FRINGE FRIDAY returns tonight at 9PM on FOX →

TV Reminder: ‘Party Down’ cast reunites tonight on ‘Childrens Hospital’ [Update: clip inside]

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So get this. Tonight on Adult Swim’s Childrens Hospital the Party Down catering service will reunite! Just because the insanely underrated, ill-fated Starz comedy Party Down was cancelled after a two-season run in 2010, that doesn’t mean the gang can’t get back together again. If you watch the irreverent comedy from Rob Corddry then you should know that the show stars two Party Down members–Ken Marino and Megan Mullally. In tonight’s episode Ron Donald and Lydia Dunfree will be joined by fellow caterers Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr, and Ryan Hansen. Unfortunately, pending any surprises, Adam Scott and Jane Lynch will not be on hand for the scene. Dr. Glenn Richie (Marino) is celebrating his Bar Mizvah and the Party Down crew show up to cater it.

In an interview with EW, Marino shared his initial excitement on shooting day. “I couldn’t believe all the Party Down actors showed up!” he said. “I love the guy who plays Ron. He came in. He was kind of a d—, actually, in real life.” Funny man! He continued, “We had so much fun doing that little scene. And then we were like, goddammit, why is this show not happening anymore?” He went on to describe his hair dilemma. “We had to try to fake my Ron Donald haircut because I had my Glenn Richie haircut,” he said. “It was too long and looked a little ridiculous.”

Childrens Hospital airs Thursday nights at midnight on Adult Swim.

Update: In case you missed it or want to watch it again, jump after the break for the 35-second Party Down cameo. They ended up sticking it all the way at the end between the credits. But boy was it sweet. Continue reading TV Reminder: ‘Party Down’ cast reunites tonight on ‘Childrens Hospital’ [Update: clip inside] →

TV Reminder: Entourage premieres tonight at 10:30PM on HBO

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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. Continue reading TV Reminder: Entourage premieres tonight at 10:30PM on HBO →

TV Reminder: Childrens Hospital returns tonight at midnight on Adult Swim

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The hilarious web series turned TV show Childrens Hospital returns tonight for its third season. And the whole gang of idiots is back! Creator Rob Corrdry reprises his role as Dr. Blake Downs, a clown who believes in the healing power of laughter. But as we learned last season, Childrens Hospital is in fact a show within a show, so these characters are actually playing “doctors” on the show. So for instance, Corrdry’s Dr. Blake Downs is really a man named Cutter Spindell. The same goes for the rest of the all-star cast: Ingrid Hagerstown is Dr. Valerie Flame (Malin Akerman), Dixie Peters is Dr. Cat Black (Lake Bell), Lynn Williams is Dr. Lola Spratt (Erinn Hayes), Just Falcon is Dr. Glenn Richie (Ken Marino), Rob Huebel is Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel), Lady Jane Bentick-Smith is Chief (Megan Mullally); and Fred Nunley is hospital administrator Sy Mittleman (Henry Winkler).

This series is more than a parody of Grey’s Anatomy-type shows. It completely does away with episode continuity and this makes for an off-the-walls, truly organic laugh-fest every week. In an interview with IGN, Erinn Hayes explains it. “We don’t have any regard for episode to episode continuity,” she says. “There’s a chart somewhere in the production offices that shows who is having a relationship with who in a particular episode so they don’t have too many of the same pairings. They don’t want repeats.” Co-star Rob Huebel adds, “We have no continuity. One episode I’m dating one girl and the next episode I’m married to someone else. There’s no continuity at all so we don’t care about that. The only thing we really care about is that it’s funny.” And forget about medical training. Hayes continues, “This season there have been two scenes where we have to actually look like we’re trying to save someone’s life and we just have no idea what to do. There’s not even a hint of reality. All we knew how to do was check his pulse and say ‘we’re losing him.'”

The 14-episode third season of Childrens Hospital premieres tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. The uninterrupted 15 minute episode is titled “Run, Dr. Lola Spratt, Run” and is about a kid getting stuck in quicksand; watch out for guest stars Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Lisa Edelstein (House). See images from the ep below, and watch a preview after the break. New episodes will air every Thursday at midnight. And if you missed the first two seasons, they’re now available on DVD.

Continue reading TV Reminder: Childrens Hospital returns tonight at midnight on Adult Swim →

TV Reminder: Steve Carell departs ‘The Office’ tonight

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Oh, I can already feel the tears swelling up. Tonight’s episode of The Office is called “Goodbye, Michael” and it will be the final episode starring the brilliantly talented Steve Carell.

The Office boss is going out with a bang, thankfully. The super-sized episode is extended from a half hour to fifty minutes in length; it will air from 9PM to 9:50PM, followed by a beefier episode of Parks and Rec (9:50PM-10:30PM) to soften the blow.

Don’t miss Michael Scott’s swan song tonight (4/28) at 9PM on NBC. The Office will attempt to forge on without him; two more episode will follow, then the season seven finale airs May 19. Perhaps this impressive slate of upcoming special guests will have you excited for the final three episodes. Will Ferrell, Ricky Gervais, Ray Romano, James Spader, Catherine Tate, Will Arnett, and Jim Carrey will all be vying for Michael Scott’s managerial position at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch! Continue reading TV Reminder: Steve Carell departs ‘The Office’ tonight →

TV Reminder: South Parks returns tonight at 10PM on Comedy Central

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HUMANCENTiPAD

The boys of South Park return tonight! For the season fifteen premiere, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have something quite disturbing in store for us. What do you get when you bring together Apple’s iPad and the Dutch horror film The Human Centipede. Well, um, the “HUMANCENTiPAD” of course! And that is the title of tonight’s episode. It’s bound to be a riot. Watch a cartoony Steve Jobs introduce the revolutionary new product in the preview above and tune into Comedy Central at precisely 10PM for the goods.

Reminder: Kiefer Sutherland’s web series ‘The Confession’ premieres tonight on Hulu

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The Confession, fully previewed here, is a thriller that follows a hitman (Kiefer Sutherland) who has a theological discussion with a priest (John Hurt) about why his victims deserved to die. The series streams exclusively on Hulu; 10 five-to-seven-minute webisodes have been produced. The first batch of “chapters” have been made available to watch starting today. In “Chapter 1” Sutherland enters a Catholic church confessional where he confronts a priest at gunpoint and forces the holy man to listen to his sins. Sutherland makes it a point that it has been 35 years since his last confession. The episode switches back and forth between the confession and action-packed flashbacks highlighting the hitman’s misdoings. Having watched the first episode I can say though this new character is not Jack Bauer, Sutherland certainly can’t contain the man he played for so many years. Also of note, 24‘s composer Sean Callery has produced the music for this series, and you can hear (ever-so-slightly) hints of 24‘s sound effects. Whether or not you’re a fan of the genre-defining FOX show you should make some time to watch this top notch, high caliber series being distributed over the web. Graphic scenes do pop up, so if you haven’t signed up for a free Hulu account you’ll have to do that to access the video page.

Watch the intense trailer above, then head over to Hulu and stream the first three chapters of The Confession.

TV Reminder: Robert Knepper reprises T-Bag tonight on ‘Breakout Kings’

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Prison Break fans, listen here: Robert Knepper will reprise Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, the slimy, handicapped villain from Prison Break, on tonight’s episode of Breakout Kings. In an interview with TVLine, Knepper shared his excitement about bring back the fan favorite everyone loved to loathe.

“Nick Santora – one of my favorite writers on Prison Break – wrote me an email right before we started shooting, saying, “You know what? I think this might be the best dialogue I’ve ever written for T-Bag.” And I’m here to tell you it was. It was all the familiar things you love to hate about T-Bag – the danger, the humor – but it was interesting to highlight him in this episode by saying, “Let’s try to get in his head a bit. Let’s figure out why he’s doing this.” And the pathos and emotion that comes out is just…. I could not have just jumped into this thing if I hadn’t had four years of basically getting ready for it.”

When asked why is escapes prison this time around he said, “There is a huge reason. I’m not going to give it away, because it’s so beautiful, and it’s such an incredibly important reason. I will tell you that he’s not escaping to escape. It’s not just, “I want to be free.” He has a very, very specific reason for doing it, and it will break your heart.”

Knepper’s four-episode guest stint on Breakout Kings begins tonight in “The Bag Man” at 10PM on A&E. Check out a handful of images in the gallery below.

[Images via IGN]

TV Reminder: ‘The Event’ returns tonight on NBC [Update: Low ratings]

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After an extended three month hiatus, NBC’s sci-fi drama The Event returns to the airwaves tonight. After a promising start (remember–what happened to that plane?!), the mysteries started piling on top of each other with no cohesive plot thread tying them together and this resulted in contrived, lackluster plotlines that failed to challenge the viewer intellectually (or in any way for that matter). Save for the handful of character-driven episodes the first half of the season was dominated by run-of-the-mill action sequences, cheesy dialogue, and lots of running (Sean and Leila need more to do!). As the show’s creativity lost its touch early on, viewers dropped in significant numbers. The long hiatus provided the show’s creators plenty of time to retool things; I have faith that the show can transform itself from a rollercoaster of good-decent-filler episodes into a reliable mystery drama that’ll make me want to tune in every week. But first things first–they’ve got to tell us what the event IS! Perhaps episode 15 will provide some answers.

The Event returns tonight at 9PM on NBC. It’s a 2 hour, erm, event, so set your DVRs accordingly. Check out photos from “And Then There Were More” and “Inostranka” in the gallery below. Beware of minor spoilers. Need a refresher? Jump after the break to watch a brief recap.

Update: To the surprise of no one The Event returned not with a bang but as a bust. Though the two-hour return was (for the most part) fast-paced with some fun action segments, the writing is still poor and the story is, well, uneventful. The ratings agree: the show drew a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 demo and 5.2 million total viewers. That’s down 26% from its last original airing back on November 29. If these numbers don’t start to steadily increase and stabilize between now and April, you can kiss this thrill-less sci-fi thriller goodbye.

[Images via IGN; Deadline]

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Continue reading TV Reminder: ‘The Event’ returns tonight on NBC [Update: Low ratings] →