HBO: April Return Date Set For Season Two Of ‘Veep’

Via Press Release:

EMMY^®-NOMINATED HBO COMEDY SERIES VEEP,

CREATED BY ARMANDO IANNUCCI AND STARRING EMMY^®-WINNER

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, RETURNS FOR SECOND SEASON APRIL 14

 ——–

Armando Iannucci, Christopher Godsick And Frank Rich Executive Produce

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With midterm elections looming, Vice President Selina Meyer is scoring higher ratings than the president in several popularity polls, which she hopes will boost her influence and help her curry favor with the chief executive. But as she knows all too well, even the most banal action can set off a ripple effect that has unexpected, far-reaching – and often disastrous – consequences.

The Emmy^®-nominated comedy series VEEP kicks off its ten-episode second season SUNDAY, APRIL 14 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Created by Armando Iannucci (Oscar^® nominee for co-writing “In the Loop”), the show stars Emmy^®-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, who becomes vice president, only to discover The Job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about.

VEEP follows the whirlwind day-to-day existence of Vice President Meyer as she puts out political fires, juggles a busy public schedule and demanding private life, and defends the president’s interests, even as she tries to improve her dysfunctional relationship with the chief executive.

The returning ensemble cast of the show also includes Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”) as Gary, Vice President Meyer’s right-hand man; Anna Chlumsky (“In the Loop”) as Amy, her chief of staff; Reid Scott (“My Boys”) as Dan, an ambitious political aide; Matt Walsh (HBO’s “Hung”) as Mike, Vice President Meyer’s weathered spokesperson; Timothy C. Simons (“Days Together”) as Jonah, an enterprising but annoying White House liaison; and Sufe Bradshaw (“Overnight”) as Sue, Vice President Meyer’s executive assistant.

Guest stars on the new season include Gary Cole (HBO’s “Entourage”), as Kent Davison, the president’s new senior strategist, Kevin Dunn (HBO’s “Luck”) as Ben, the president’s chief of staff, and Jessica St. Clair (“Bridesmaids”), as Dana, Gary’s new girlfriend.

Upcoming episodes:

Episode #9: “Midterms”

Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 14 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)

Other HBO playdates: April 14 (midnight), 16 (12:30 a.m.), 17 (9:30 p.m.) and 18 (10:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: April 15 (8:30 p.m.), 16 (11:00 p.m.), 17 (11:35 p.m.) and 20 (1:15 p.m., 8:30 p.m.)

Fresh off successful campaign appearances for midterm elections, Selina sees an opportunity to expand her role, but must first curry favor with Kent Davison, the president’s icy senior strategist. Meanwhile, there are new developments in the staff’s personal lives.

Teleplay by Will Smith; story by Armando Iannucci & Will Smith; directed by Christopher Morris.

Episode #10: “Signals”

Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 21 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates: April 21 (midnight), 23 (12:30 a.m.), 24 (9:30 p.m.) and 25 (10:45 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: April 22 (8:30 p.m.), 23 (11:00 p.m.), 24 (11:15 p.m.) and 27 (1:45 p.m., 8:30 p.m.)

Selina attends a pig roast in North Carolina as part of the president’s “Listen to Rural America” initiative. Dan takes up Pilates to get face time.

Teleplay by Simon Blackwell; story by Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci; directed by Chris Addison.

Episode #11: “Hostages”

Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 28 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates: April 28 (midnight) and 30 (12:30 a.m.), and May 1 (midnight) and 2 (10:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: April 29 (8:30 p.m.) and 30 (11:00 p.m.), and May 1 (12:30 a.m.) and 4 (2:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m.)

As a hostage crisis in Uzbekistan heats up, Selina and Secretary of Defense General Maddox have trouble getting on the same page at their joint appearance at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico. Sue testifies at a congressional hearing on governmental efficiencies; Dan and Gary jockey for the Veep’s ear.

Teleplay by Sean Gray; story by Armando Iannucci & Sean Gray; directed by Chris Addison.

Episode #12

Debut: SUNDAY, MAY 5 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates: May 5 (midnight), 7 (12:30 a.m.), 8 (9:30 p.m.) and 9 (10:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: May 6 (8:30 p.m.), 7 (11:00 p.m.), 8 (11:40 p.m.) and 11 (4:15 p.m., 8:30 p.m.)

Selina is rankled when the White House releases an unflattering photo of her. Mike and Kent bond over sailing; Jonah gets an executive parking space; Sue has a job interview. Selina takes steps to keep her staff happy as they prepare for her appearance at the Vic Allen dinner.

Written by Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci; directed by Chris Addison.

SHOCKER! HBO Renews ‘Game Of Thrones’ For Season Four Within 48 Hours Of Season Three Premiere

Considering that HBO renewed Game of Thrones for seasons two and three within 48 hours of the premieres of seasons one and two, respectively, this really should come as a surprise to no one.  I’m just going to copy and paste this piece and save it in my “Drafts” folder for next year.

Via Press Release:

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR FOURTH SEASON

——–

Season Three Soars To Highest Viewership Yet

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LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2013 – HBO has renewed GAME OF THRONES for a fourth season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, GAME OF THRONES is an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal. The Emmy^®– and Golden Globe-winning series launched its ten-episode third season Sunday, March 31 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, with other episodes debuting subsequent Sundays at the same time.

Among the early critical praise for the third season, the Hollywood Reporter called GAME OF THRONES “addictive and outstanding,” while Newsday termed the series “superb,” awarding the show an A+. The Chicago Tribunehailed the show as “spellbinding” and the Washington Post described it as “masterful.”

According to early data, GAME OF THRONES’ season three premiere March 31 on HBO topped the series’ highs, with record viewership for both the 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) airing and gross audience across the three plays. At 9:00 p.m., it averaged 4.4 million viewers, outperforming (+4%) the previous high of 4.2 million viewers from last season’s finale. GAMES OF THRONES improved 13% in comparison to last season’s premiere of 3.9 million viewers. Across the three plays for the night, 6.7 million viewers tuned in, surpassing last season’s debut night of 6.3 million viewers by 7%. Last season, GAME OF THRONES had an average gross audience (HBO linear plays + HBO On Demand/HBO GO + DVR) of 11.6 million viewers.

For more on the series, visit facebook.com/GameOfThrones and twitter.com @GameOfThrones #GameOfThrones.

Season three credits: The executive producers of GAME OF THRONES are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield; co-executive producers, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, George R.R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor; produced by Chris Newman, Greg Spence.

HBO: ‘True Blood’ Season Six Premiere Date Announced

Via Press Release:

The debut date for the sixth season of the hit HBO series True Blood has been confirmed.

The ten-episode season of True Blood kicks off SUNDAY, JUNE 16 at (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT).  Based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, this Emmy^®-nominated hit drama series was created by Alan Ball, creator of HBO’s Emmy^®-winning series “Six Feet Under.”  The show follows waitress and part-faerie Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who can hear people’s thoughts, vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).

For more on the series, please visit facebook.com/trueblood and twitter.com/TrueBloodHBO #trueblood

HBO: ‘Girls’ Renewed For Third Season

Via Press Release:

GIRLS

THIRD SEASON RENEWAL

HBO Entertainment

Third-season commitment is for 12 episodes.

The premiere episode of the second season already exceeds a gross audience of 3.8 million viewers with only partial data available.

LOG LINE: Created by and starring Lena Dunham (“Tiny Furniture”), GIRLS takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of four girls in their early 20s. The show recently received two Golden Globes, for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical (Lena Dunham); last September, GIRLS won an Emmy® for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series.

SEASON TWO CREDITS:

CREATED BY: Lena Dunham

EXECUTIVE

PRODUCERS: Lena Dunham, Judd Apatow, Jenni Konner, Ilene S. Landress, Bruce Eric Kaplan

CAST: Hannah: Lena Dunham

Marnie: Allison Williams

Jessa: Jemima Kirke

Shoshanna: Zosia Mamet

Adam: Adam Driver

Ray: Alex Karpovsky

HBO: New Documentary News Series, ‘Vice’ To Air In April

Again, here’s one of those situations where we normally wouldn’t have given a crap about making anything other than an announcement but unlike the silliness associated with Hawaii Five-O‘s “Choose Your Own Adventure” ending gimmick scheduled for January 14th, this press release actually caught our attention for something positive and that’s a rare thing because we normally don’t even bother with HBO news/documentary series as they are usually incredibly biased propaganda pieces.

This is not the case with the latest series, Vice, from HBO which we are enthusiastically recommending.  We became familiar with the folks at Vice through their DVD series The Vice Guide To Travel from 2006 that until recently was on Netflix streaming.  The Vice team covers the most unique news stories we’ve ever seen that are gritty and raw and would never make it to network or cable news.  Not sure what we’re talking about, well how about going to Chernobyl – as in literally IN Chernobyl – to document the devastation on the infamous nuclear disaster’s 20 year anniversary?  How about sneaking into North Korea or following the illegal gun trade in Pakistan.  These don’t kid around and they put themselves in highly dangerous situations to bring to the world these stories through an unbiased lens.  And don’t get us wrong, it’s not all heavy stuff.  Vice also does some great fun pieces like “The Wodka Wars” where they try to get to the bottom of who invented Vodka, the Russians or the Poles.

Before we get to the press release, avail yourself of this great content in advance by going directly to their site, here, where you can watch full episodes.

Vice  will premiere on HBO on April 5th at 11:00 p.m.

Via Press Release:

VICE, NEWS SERIES FEATURING STARTLING,

GROUNDBREAKING STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD,

DEBUTS THIS SPRING, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

——–

SHANE SMITH HOSTS;

BILL MAHER, SHANE SMITH AND EDDY MORETTI EXECUTIVE PRODUCE;

FAREED ZAKARIA IS A CONSULTANT

As U.S. troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, the Taliban stoops to an all-time low by recruiting confused, innocent kids as young as six to be suicide bombers.

A kindly South Korean preacher runs an underground railroad to rescue young North Korean women from sex slavery in China.

A hallucinogen is so powerful that it’s banned by the U.S. government, but is the key ingredient in a witch doctor’s bizarre ritual designed to cure heroin addicts.

These are the kinds of stories – usually overlooked by mainstream media outlets – that will be presented on VICE, the news magazine series debuting this spring, exclusively on HBO. Hosted by Shane Smith, founder of the revolutionary newmedia company of the same name, the weekly show will be executive produced by Bill Maher, Shane Smith and EddyMoretti, VICE’s chief creative officer, with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria serving as consultant.

“VICE’s savvy, fearless irreverencehas made it a premier new media brand,” notes Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “Their groundbreaking style of news coverage guarantees a show that’s like nothing else on TV.”

Founded by Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi in 1994, VICE now operates in 34 countries worldwide and attracts tens of millions of viewers and readers to its network of online channels dedicated to music, fashion, travel, news and sports. VICE’s international digital platforms and magazine are Gen Y’s most popular and entertaining source for news, part of a global media powerhouse that also includes a television production studio, a record label, an in-house creative services agency and a book-publishing division.

Hosted by Smith and two VICE correspondents, former intern Ryan Duffy and “Dos & Don’ts” book editor Thomas “Baby Balls” Morton, VICE smashes barriers of decorum to cover such stories as out-of-control political assassinations in the Philippines, the sumo/Mixed Martial Arts craze that has swept Senegal and the precarious nuclear stare-down in Kashmir.

Shane Smith says, “We’ve always been a little more raw in the content we make. When you’re presenting a variety of totally insane stories from around the world, when you’re showing some of the scariest, weirdest and most absurd customs and practices known to humanity, then that’s the only style that really works. You can’t present these stories in a teacup. You have to tell the story in a way that grabs the viewer and delivers a punch in the face.

“We are thrilled that VICE has found a home on HBO,’’ he adds. “HBO is perfect for us because it’s intelligent, independent and bold. We won’t have to dumb things down or put them in sound bites, and we won’t have to shy away from topics or modify our approach. On HBO, we will have all the freedom and creativity weneed. HBO is the gold standard of TV, and we want to be the gold standard on HBO. Oh…and we get to swear.”

As Bill Maher notes, “If a show is willing to do a segment on a guy who calls himself General Butt Naked, you have to watch. You can’t go to your grave without having that experience.”

Series consultant Fareed Zakaria observes, “VICE brings a new energy to television. Its stories mix a sense of adventure with compelling, high-quality journalism. The combination will engage a new generation of viewers.”

ABOUT VICE

VICE is a leading youth entertainment company operating in more than 34 countries, and includes vice.com, the world’s premier original online video destination; an international network of digital channels; a television production studio; a print magazine; a record label; an in-house creative services agency; and a book publishing division.

VICE is executive produced by Bill Maher, Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti; Fareed Zakaria is a consultant.

Game Of Thrones Season Three Premiere Date Announced by HBO

Season three of Game of Thrones will premiere on March 31, 2013.  If you watch other HBO series such as Boardwalk Empire or you have the Internets (thank you, Al Gore) then you probably already know this because although the premium cable network didn’t bother to issue a press release, they’ve been running this teaser trailer for about two months.  And, again, yes we know… we’re late.

HBO: ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Renewed For Fourth Season

Via Press Release:

HBO RENEWS EMMY®-WINNING DRAMA SERIES 

Boardwalk Empire FOR FOURTH SEASON

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2, 2012 – Following the hit series’ third-season debut on Sept. 16, HBO has renewed Boardwalk Empire for a fourth season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

“Terry Winter, Martin Scorsese and the rest of their outstanding team continue to produce a stunning show thatnever fails to surprise and entertain,” said Lombardo. “We are excited to bring this unique series back for a fourth season.”

From Terence Winter, Emmy®-winning writer of “The Sopranos” and Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire is set in the 1920s during Prohibition, and chronicles the life and times of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the undisputed leader of Atlantic City.

Last season, Boardwalk Empire averaged 8.6 million viewers an episode. To date, the first episode of the current season has already gathered 7.2 million viewers and will continue to grow via additional telecasts, DVR playback and HBO On Demand and HBO GO.

Among the early critical raves for the new season of Boardwalk Empire, the Boston Globe hailed the show’s “dazzling production” and “knockout performances,” while New York’s Daily News described it as “first-rate.” Newsday termed the series “immensely entertaining,” and Variety called it “as handsome, well cast and impeccably crafted as anything on TV.”

Boardwalk Empire recently received four 2012 Emmy® Awards, for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Tim Van Patten); Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series (tie with “Game of Thrones”); Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series; and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.

At the 2011 Primetime Emmy® Awards, the series led all programming with eight awards, including Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Martin Scorsese). In Jan. 2011, Boardwalk Empire received two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Steve Buscemi).

Season three credits: Created by Terence Winter, Boardwalk Empire is executive produced by Terence Winter, Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Tim Van Patten and Howard Korder; co-executive producers, Eugene Kelly, Chris Haddock, Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov, Rolin Jones; producers, Joseph Iberti, Rick Yorn; co-producer, Steve Kornacki; supervising producer, David Stenn.

CONFIRMED – HBO: Premiere Dates For True Blood Season Five And New Series The Newsroom

Via Press Note:

The debut dates for the new seasons of the HBO series True Blood and THE NEWSROOM have been confirmed.

The 12-episode fifth season of True Blood will kick off SUNDAY, JUNE 10 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, this Emmy®-nominated hit drama series was created by Alan Ball, creator of HBO’s Emmy®-winning series “Six Feet Under.” The show follows waitress and part-faerie Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who can hear people’s thoughts, vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).

THE NEWSROOM kicks off its ten-episode season SUNDAY, JUNE 24 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). This new series centers on a cable news anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), his newsroom staff (John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn) and their boss (Sam Waterston). Together they set out on a patriotic and quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles and their own personal relationships. Aaron Sorkin created the series and executive produces along with Scott Rudin and Alan Poul.

HBO: Game Of Thrones Renewed For Third Season

Shocker!

Via Press Release:

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR THIRD SEASON

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First Episode Of The Second Season Has Already Grossed 8.3 Million Viewers

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LOS ANGELES, April 10, 2012 – HBO has renewed GAME OF THRONES for a third season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

“Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss raised our expectations for the second season – and then surpassed them,” said Lombardo. “We are thrilled by all the viewer and media support we’ve received for the series, and can’t wait to see what Dan and David have in store for next season.”

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, GAME OF THRONES is an epic drama set in the world of Westeros, where ambitious men and women of both honor and ill-repute live in a land whose summers and winters can last years. The Emmy®- and Golden Globe-winning fantasy series began its ten-episode second season Sunday, April 1 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other episodes debuting subsequent Sundays at the same time.

Among the early critical praise for the second season, Newsday called GAME OF THRONES “the best show on television,” while the Los Angeles Times termed the series “a cinematic feast” and “masterful.” The Wall Street Journal hailed the show as “magnificent” and USA Today called it “near perfection.”

According to early data, GAME OF THRONES’ season two premiere has already accumulated a gross audience of 8.3 million viewers, and is on track to easily surpass the season one average of 9.3 million viewers.

Season two cast members include: Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aidan Gillen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson and Alfie Allen.

Season two credits: The executive producers of GAME OF THRONES are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger; co-executive producers, George R.R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor, Alan Taylor, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis; produced by Bernadette Caulfield.

 

HBO Makes Premiere Episodes of New Series Veep and Girls Available For Free To Non-Subscribers

HBO is taking a new approach in piquing interest in their new comedies Veep and Girls by offering the premiere episodes available for free the day after they premiere (Girls premieres tonight and Veep premieres on April 22nd).  Honestly, this isn’t very surprising as HBO continues to try to reclaim their status as television’s number one premium network for scripted television in a market that continues to become saturated with quality programming.

Will this work?  We think it’s doubtful simply due to the fact that HBO has done very little promotion of the two series outside the network and furthermore, this freebie promotion was just announced three days ago.  Now, that being said, despite this promotion the shows may do fine on their own.  Veep looks particularly funny (always good to see Julia-Louis Dreyfus and hey, look!  My Girl‘s Anna Chlumsky is in the cast!) and Girls looks tolerable (kinda like a Sex In The City with awkward, nerdy chicks…. except for that one girl who is on her own planet of hot.).  Read the full press release below.

 Check out the shows here, here and here.

Via Press Release:

HBO® MAKES PREMIERE EPISODES OF NEW COMEDY SERIES GIRLS(SM) AND VEEP(SM)

AVAILABLE TO ALL AUDIENCES, INCLUDING NON-SUBSCRIBERS, ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS

Audiences Get Free Access To Shows’ First Episodes on HBO.com, YouTube, Free On Demand Platforms and More Just One Day After Their HBO Network Premiere

New York, N.Y., April 12, 2012 – HBO is giving all audiences, including non-subscribers, a chance to discover its two newest original comedy series GIRLS and VEEP, by offering free access to their first full episodes on multiple platforms.

Beginning the day after their exclusive premieres on the HBO network, the pilots for GIRLS (HBO premiere: Sunday, April 15 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT) and VEEP (HBO premiere: Sunday, April 22, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT), will go live on HBO.com, YouTube, DailyMotion, TV.com, and multiple distributors’ Free On Demand platforms. The sampling opportunity will be promoted on HBO’s Facebook and Twitter profiles and will run from April 16-May 14 for GIRLS and April 23-May 21 for VEEP. (The VEEP pilot will also be available free of charge on iTunes during the sampling period.)

Created by and starring Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture), the new series GIRLS takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of young women in their 20s living in New York City. In addition to Dunham, the cast includes Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet and Adam Driver, with recurring guest stars including Chris Abbott and Alex Karpovsky.

Created by Armando Iannucci (Oscar® nominee for co-writing “In the Loop”) and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Emmy® winner for Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine), VEEP is the story of Selina Meyer, a woman who becomes vice president, only to discover the job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about. The ensemble cast includes Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy C. Simons and Sufe Bradshaw.

WATCH AT: HBO.com/girls, HBO.com/veep, Youtube.com/hbo TO FIND OUT MORE: Twitter.com/hbo