Good News For The 6% Of The U.S. That Doesn’t Have Cable or Satellite Who Want To Pay More To Get Less: Showtime Announces Standalone Streaming Service

Cord-cutters rejoice… or something.

Following in the footsteps of HBO and making a big to-do about nothing, Showtime, the network you really only subscribed to for Dexter (…and maybe Homeland), announced today the launch of their HBO Now-like standalone service in July, simply called – wait for it… – Showtime.

What Showtime the Showtime (the name for the service that we’ve made up for free) didn’t spend on marketing to come up with a clever three-letter name like HBO Now (it’s safe to assume “Showtime Ass” was pitched at least once for a variety of metaphorical reasons at some point but was rejected) is being used to pass savings on to the glorious cord-cutting 6% of U.S. households that don’t already subscribe to cable or satellite television services giving them the pleasure to pay $10.99 ONLY for an app that is accessible for free with a Showtime (not to be confused with Showtime the Showtime) cable/satellite subscription along with a dozen other Showtime channels included for roughly the same price in a cable or satellite subscription… waitaminute… let’s walk that back a bit.

Like with HBO Now, the only cord-cutters that will be able to pay more to get less will be Apple device owners (right now). Come to think of it, “paying more to get less” perfectly describes Apple device owners regardless of these standalone services.

Confused?  Well, allow us to set you straight.

These standalone apps are a sham and have very little impact on 94% of the television viewing audience who already subscribe to cable or satellite.  Why?  Well, this is why…

The Internet-based cord-cutting warriors have convinced themselves and their followers that these standalone services exist based as a reaction to the premise that people hate their cable/satellite provider sooooooooo much and want a la carte programming options sooooooooo badly because they’re sick of paying for channels they don’t watch that they can’t wait for an opportunity to cancel their subscriptions so they can subscribe to a HBO (or… Showtime… we guess).

And there’s the fallacy.  NO ONE is subscribing to cable/satellite for the privilege of then paying an additional fee to subscribe to premium channels. They may not care for HGTV but they DO watch other networks and they didn’t just subscribe to cable just to watch flipping Game of Thrones! Anyone who claims that this is the case and that these services are designed with that in mind is just completely full of crap.  They are designed to do exactly what has been alluded to multiple times here: tap into the 6% of the audience that doesn’t subscribe to cable/satellite.

Forget all the hype, forget all of the dire predictions from re: the demise of cable/satellite because of these standalone apps from financial news outlets that really should know better, this nonsense isn’t about taking down cable with a cord-cutting revolution, it’s about getting to customers who never had a cord to begin with (or did but cut it beforehand).  It’s a tiny sliver of the market that has no impact on cable/satellite providers.  It’s not about them, it’s about competing with Netflix… duh.

From The Street:

HBO CEO Richard Plepler repeatedly rejected the notion that an HBO stand-alone service will cannibalize pay-TV. The decision to go “over-the-top,” the industry term for set-top boxes that stream video to the television, Plepler said, is all about going after the 10 million U.S. homes that have an Internet connection but don’t subscribe to pay-TV. It’s about going after the additional 70 million homes that get pay TV but don’t get HBO.

Again… duh.

Dopey trailer and press release below…

Via Press Release…

SHOWTIME^® TO OFFER STAND-ALONE SERVICE OVER THE INTERNET 

Service To Launch In Early July To Apple^® Customers

NEW YORK – June 3, 2015 – For the first time ever, SHOWTIME will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early July, with Apple as its first partner. The stand-alone service will be called SHOWTIME, a brand already embraced by consumers as the home for cutting-edge original programming, sports and movies. The launch of SHOWTIME will coincide with the new seasons of the critically-acclaimed, hit series RAY DONOVAN and MASTERS OF SEX, premiering on Sunday, July 12^th.

iPhone^®, iPad^®, iPod touch^® and Apple TV^® users will be able to subscribe to SHOWTIME as a stand-alone service on the SHOWTIME app anywhere in the U.S., for one monthly price ($10.99) to view on all Apple devices. To learn more about SHOWTIME, watch and share: http://s.sho.com/1FTryf8. Additional platforms and providers will be announced soon. The announcement was made today by Leslie Moonves, CBS Corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and Matthew C. Blank, Chairman and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

“Going over-the-top means Showtime will be much more accessible to tens of millions of potential new subscribers,” said Moonves. “Across CBS, we are constantly finding new ways to monetize our programming by capitalizing on opportunities presented by technology.  This works best when you have outstanding premium content – like we do at Showtime – and when you have a terrific partner like Apple – which continues to innovate and build upon its loyal customer base.”

“At Showtime, we’re excited to offer consumers the opportunity to subscribe in new ways, by simply having an internet connection,” said Blank. “Our intent is to make SHOWTIME available to viewers via every manner possible, giving them an enormous amount of choice in accessing our programming, starting with the season premieres of our award-winning series RAY DONOVAN and MASTERS OF SEX.”

“We’re excited to offer Apple customers SHOWTIME’s live channels and extensive on demand library of great TV shows and movies, without a cable or satellite subscription,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV customers will now be able to subscribe to SHOWTIME directly and instantly start viewing their favorite programming with the same simplicity as buying an app.”

Subscribers will have unlimited on demand access to every season of award-winning SHOWTIME original series, and hundreds of hours of movies, documentary and sports programming, as well as the live broadcast of the east and west coast feeds of SHOWTIME. Showtime will offer a 30-day free trial to new customers who sign up through Apple in July. Apple users simply need to go to the SHOWTIME app on their device to sign up and create a SHOWTIME account.  Subscribers can use their SHOWTIME account to watch the service across all supported devices, as well as online at www.showtime.com.

Showtime and its acclaimed original programming continues to make its mark on the cultural landscape. The network is home to one of the most successful programming line-ups in all of television, with hits that include HOMELAND, RAY DONOVAN, THE AFFAIR, MASTERS OF SEX, PENNY DREADFUL, SHAMELESS, HOUSE OF LIES, NURSE JACKIE, HAPPYish, EPISODES, and the anticipated new series BILLIONS and the limited series TWIN PEAKS. Original series play a key part in the network’s programming mix, along with box office hits, comedy and music specials, provocative documentaries, and hard-hitting sports programming, including the flagship franchise SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^® and the news magazine programs 60 MINUTES SPORTS and JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME. The network’s diverse slate of films includes Boyhood, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Philomena,St. Vincent, The Imitation Game and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

SHOWTIME: ‘Shameless,’ ‘House Of Lies’ & ‘Californication’ Renewed

Via Press Release:

SHOWTIME® ORDERS ANOTHER ROUND OF SHAMELESS, HOUSE OF LIES & CALIFORNICATION

Following Record-Breaking Season Premieres And Continued Year-To-Year Audience Growth, All Three Hit Series To Return in 2014

LOS ANGELES, CA – (January 29, 2013) – After record-setting premiere ratings on the network’s Sunday night line-up and continued year-to-year audience growth, SHOWTIME has picked up brand new seasons of SHAMELESS, HOUSE OF LIES and CALIFORNICATION for 2014. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.  Season-to-date, all three series are pacing above their prior seasons across platforms. The third of season of SHAMELESS is up 22 percent, currently averaging 5.4 million weekly viewers across platforms (vs. second season average of 4.4 million), and up 63 percent versus its first season (vs. 3.3 million). The second season of HOUSE OF LIES is averaging 3.2 million weekly viewers across platforms, up 10 percent from its freshman season (vs. 2.91 million), and the sixth season of CALIFORNICATION is averaging 3.1 million weekly viewers, up 21 percent versus season five (vs. 2.5 million). Production for the new seasons of all three series will kick-off in Los Angeles later this year.

“Californication, House of Lies, and Shameless possess highly distinctive comedic voices, and given that all three continue to grow their audience season after season – the pick-up decision was easy,” said Nevins. “I am incredibly excited to see what each of these series has in store for their next seasons.”

SHAMELESS, HOUSE OF LIES and CALIFORNICATION returned on January 13 with their highest-rated episodes ever, up double-digits versus their series averages and besting their prior season premieres and season finales. In its third week (January 27), SHAMELESS delivered 2.53 million viewers for the night, the series’ biggest total night ever, outperforming the season three premiere night (vs. 2.44 million – 2 plays). On Sunday, HOUSE OF LIES’ third episode was on par with its season premiere, which delivered the series’ best numbers ever, with 1.4 million viewers for the night across two plays. CALIFORNICATION’s third episode attracted 1.05 million viewers.

From Emmy® Award-winning television and film producer John Wells, SHAMELESS (Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT) stars Academy Award® nominee William H. Macy and Golden Globe® nominee Emmy Rossum.  Season three picked up several months after last season ended, with the Gallaghers each seeking their own unique version of the “American Dream.” Fiona (Emmy Rossum) realizes that it’s going to take more than earning her GED to make ends meet, and that a long term relationship with Jimmy (Justin Chatwin) isn’t as fulfilling as she expected.  Brothers Lip (Jeremy Allen White) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) continue their ingenious scamming ways, which threatens Ian’s shot at West Point, while Sheila (Joan Cusack, in her Emmy Award-nominated role) and Jody (Zach McGowan) do their best to raise baby Hymie. Meanwhile, Frank (Macy) reappears south of the border with no idea as to how he got there. The series also stars Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Laura Slade Wiggins, Noel Fisher and Emma Greenwell. Based on the long-running hit UK series, SHAMELESS is executive produced by Emmy Award-winning television and film producer John Wells, Andrew Stearn and Mark Mylod. Wells developed the series for American television. Paul Abbott serves as Executive Consultant. SHAMELESS is produced by Bonanza Productions, Inc. in association with John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

HOUSE OF LIES (Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT), which stars Don Cheadle in his Golden Globe^® Award-winning and Emmy nominated performance as Marty Kaan, is a timely comedy that dives head-first into the shark tank known as corporate America. Marty is the big-money earner at Galweather Stearn, who commands a hot, young team known as The Pod: Jeannie (Kristen Bell), Clyde (Ben Schwartz) and Doug (Josh Lawson). Marty and The Pod’s work life revolves around first-class travel, top-shelf liquor and anything they can charge the client on a black Am Ex. Marty is the ultimate power player and under his direction, this ruthless, pull-no-punches team is here to beat the corporate suckers at their own game – and they’re loving every minute of it. This season, The Pod – especially Marty and Jeannie – must deal with the fall-out from the big merger showdown. On the home front, Marty is thrown when Roscoe (Donis Leonard Jr.) decides to move in with his unbalanced mother, Monica (Dawn Olivieri). The series is based on the hit tell-all book from best-selling author Martin Kihn (House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time). Produced by SHOWTIME, HOUSE OF LIES is created and executive produced by Matthew Carnahan. Jessika Borsiczky, Stephen Hopkins and Don Cheadle also serve as executive producers.

CALIFORNICATION (Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT) stars David Duchovny in his Golden Globe Award-winning role as hedonistic novelist Hank Moody, who struggles to be a good father to his college-aged daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin), while still carrying a torch for her mother, and his ex-girlfriend, Karen (Natascha McElhone). For the sixth season, noted actress Maggie Grace (Lost) has signed on for nine episodes as the infamous rock groupie Faith, who develops an unconventional relationship with Hank. She is joined in two episodes by her former Lost co-star Jorge Garcia as an old contact from Faith’s past. International comedy star Tim Minchin takes on the role of Atticus Fetch, a mad-as-a-hatter rock star who will write the music for the Broadway production of Hank’s hit novel.  Fetch enlists the ever-cynical Hank to collaborate on the project, which he calls “…a rock opera about love conquering all.” Notorious rocker Marilyn Manson will also make a guest appearance. CALIFORNICATION is created and executive produced by Tom Kapinos and executive produced by David Duchovny.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ and FLIX^®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2^™, SHOWTIME^® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME^®, SHOWTIME BEYOND^®, SHOWTIME NEXT^®, SHOWTIME WOMEN^®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD^™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND^®, FLIX ON DEMAND^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ ON DEMAND, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks^™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel^™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV^®.

 

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Showtime Renews ‘Homeland’ For Third Season

Via Press Release:

SHOWTIME® ORDERS SEASON THREE OF HOMELAND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SHOWTIME^® ORDERS SEASON THREE OF HOMELAND 

Network Greenlights Third Season of Its Emmy^® and Golden Globe^® Award-Winning Series –

Season Two Premiere Delivered 5.2 Million Viewers During Its First Week of Availability 

HOMELAND Delivers Its Highest-Rated Episode Ever Last Night

LOS ANGELES, CA – (October 22, 2012) – On the heels of HOMELAND’s biggest numbers yet, with newly-released, record-breaking across platform ratings for its second season, SHOWTIME has ordered a third season, consisting of 12 new, one-hour episodes. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.  HOMELAND returned for its second season on Sept. 30^th, up 60 percent from its season one premiere, delivering 2.07 million viewers for the night.  The season two premiere week of HOMELAND attracted 5.2 million viewers across platforms (including Live+7, DVR and On Demand), up 25 percent vs. season one (4.1 million), a series high and the best performance ever for a sophomore series on SHOWTIME. Last night, HOMELAND delivered its highest-rated episode ever with 1.75 million viewers at 10 p.m., a series high that outperformed its season two premiere (vs. 1.73 million). Four weeks into the season, On Demand has increased views of the HOMELAND season two premiere to a total of 5.7 million viewers. Season three will begin production spring 2013. The series is produced by FOX 21.

“The Emmy wins for HOMELAND have certainly set the stage for a great second season,” said Nevins. “The writers, cast and crew of HOMELAND continue to create a remarkably entertaining and suspenseful roller coaster ride, growing audiences week after week.  We can’t wait for our viewers to experience what unfolds through the rest of season two.  Our partners at Fox 21 have been tremendous, and we are thrilled to begin the planning for HOMELAND’s third season.”

Most recently, HOMELAND tied for the most wins of any program this year at the Emmy Awards, honored with six wins including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor in a Drama Series.  Additionally, HOMELAND has been awarded Golden Globe Awards, Peabody, Television Critics Association, AFI and Critics’ Choice Awards in its freshman season.  In the week leading up to its season two premiere, HOMELAND season one received 1.7 million views On Demand, the most pre-premiere viewing of a previous season On Demand in SHOWTIME series history. HOMELAND is currently filming the conclusion of season two in North Carolina.

HOMELAND is a one-hour drama series that tells the story of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for eight years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.  The series also stars Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor, Jamey Sheridan, David Marciano and Navid Negahban. The series executive producers are Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa, Gideon Raff, Michael Cuesta, Alex Cary, Chip Johannessen, Henry Bromell, Meredith Stiehm, Avi Nir and Ran Telem.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ and FLIX^®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2^™, SHOWTIME^® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME^®, SHOWTIME BEYOND^®, SHOWTIME NEXT^®, SHOWTIME WOMEN^®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD^™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ ON DEMAND, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel^™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV^®.

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GEEK ALERT: Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) Joins Season 7 Cast of Dexter, Premiere Date Announced…

Keep your pants on nerds but your favorite hottie spy from five seasons of fan-favorite Chuck, Yvonne Strahovski, has been cast on your favorite Sunday night gorefest, Dexter, and let’s be honest, this is Dexter we’re talking about so there’s a 50/50 chance that your fantasy will be fulfilled and she will appear naked or at least topless on-screen… or get chopped up into a bunch of tiny pieces and dumped in the ocean.  We’re pulling for option one.

In the meantime, enjoy this. You’re welcome…

Via Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 12, 2012) – Actress Yvonne Strahovski has joined the cast of the Emmy^®-nominated SHOWTIME^® drama series DEXTER. Strahovski, who will appear in a multi-episode story arc in the upcoming seventh season, will play the role of Hannah McKay, a strong, independent woman with a past that she’s struggled to put behind her. As a turn of events leads Miami Metro Homicide to ask for her help in solving some old cases, Dexter works with her and begins to wonder if there’s more to this woman than she’s professed. Production on season seven began last week and will premiere on SHOWTIME on Sunday, September 30^th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Yvonne Strahovski is best-known for playing CIA operative “Sarah Walker” on NBC’s long-running action-comedy Chuck, from executive producers Josh Schwartz and McG. Up next, she co-stars in two films: Guilt Trip opposite Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen; and as the female lead in I, Frankenstein with Aaron Eckhart. She also starred in the 2011 Toronto Film Festival darling Killer Elite.

One of the most acclaimed series on television, DEXTER stars Golden Globe^® and SAG Award winner Michael C. Hall as a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer. The show has received both multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for best television drama series, as well as a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008, and was twice named one of AFI’s top ten television series. The show also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, and James Remar.

•••

Oh, yeah… almost forgot…

Dexter season seven premieres Sunday, September 30th at 9:00 p.m. on Showtime.

Showtime: Weeds Canceled After Eight Seasons

On June 13th, Showtime officially announced the cancellation of the successful Comedy Weeds after eight seasons.  This was not unexpected and though we’ve really never gotten into the show (we don’t attach ourselves to many half-hour comedies, it’s nothing personal), we think it’s a nice touch for the series and the fans that the show goes out on a scheduled high-note as opposed to having to wait to find out whether the ratings gods would have the last word.  It’s obvious that this was planned well in advance so that means that they have written a resolution to the series into the storyline and for that, they are to be commended.  On that note, Showtime President of Entertainment David Nevins had this to say:

“TV fans love nothing better than to complain about how shows end and we really want to end this one the right way.”

Couldn’t agree with you more, David.

Via Press Release:

Eighth & Final Season of the Network’s Long-Running Hit Comedy Series to Bow July 1^st at 10 PM ET/PT

LOS ANGELES, CA – (June 13, 2012) – The show that introduced America to a pot-dealing soccer mom and changed the face of the network is sparking up its final toke: after eight Unforgettable, jaw-dropping seasons, WEEDS is coming to an end. SHOWTIME will air the final 13 episodes beginning Sunday, July 1^st at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. In addition, the series will achieve a much-coveted television milestone: the 11th episode of the season will mark the series’ 100^th. Created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate, WEEDS has been honored with multiple award nominations, including 21 Emmys^®, 10 Golden Globes^® and six SAG^® Awards over the course of its seven seasons on air. Its success put SHOWTIME on the map as a destination for top-quality original series and set the stage for hits like DEXTER^®, Nurse Jackie, Californication and Homeland.

“WEEDS has been a seminal series for SHOWTIME and was key in establishing the network as a home for great original programming,” said David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. “It has had a groundbreaking run, and will be one of the longest-running comedies in the history of cable. It was very important to us that we bring the story of Nancy Botwin and her family to a satisfying conclusion for the devoted fans who have spent years following these characters. Jenji has surprised us every step of the way with her storytelling and I am confident in her plan for a spectacular series conclusion.”

Since its debut on August 7, 2005, viewers have watched and marveled as Nancy Botwin (series star Mary-Louise Parker in her Golden Globe Award-winning role) progressed from a suburban widow who turned to selling dime bags to make ends meet for her family to a full-fledged marijuana queenpin. She was aided by brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) to help raise her sons Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) – along with fellow Agrestic neighbor Doug (Kevin Nealon) in constant tow. Her narcissistic, danger-junkie antics paved the way for future sympathetic yet highly flawed anti-heroes who have since become standard television fare. The show and its many signature moments (including Nancy setting Agrestic ablaze, Shane’s croquet mallet-bludgeoning, Andy’s dog-eaten toes and self-gratification speech, the Armenian mafia Mexican stand-off, etc.) generated critical acclaim, a legion of fans and watercooler buzz for their sheer outrageousness.

“WEEDS was a groundbreaking series for us,” said Kevin Beggs, President, Lionsgate Television Group. “The brilliant work of Jenji Kohan, Mary-Louise Parker and the entire cast and creative team — and the resulting popularity of the series both here and abroad – were game-changing for our TV division and set the stage for all the shows we’ve produced since. Though it will be hard to say goodbye, this last season will be an exciting one that we trust will reward fans with a conclusion befitting their support and loyalty for so many years.”

For the final season, it’s back to the ‘burbs for the Botwins. The fallout from the shot heard round the Tri-State area will transform everyone for the better, at least initially. The tragedy has caused Nancy to turn over a new (pot) leaf and return to her pre-dealing soccer mom ways. Meanwhile, Andy finds some semblance of love with someone uncomfortably close to Nancy, and Doug uses his hedge-fund money in a surprisingly good way. But just as it was in Agrestic, nothing is as serene as it seems in Old Sandwich, Connecticut. Just how long before the Botwins return to their old ways and blow up this new neighborhood, literally and/or figuratively, will remain to be seen.

About Showtime Networks Inc.:

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ and FLIX^®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2^™, SHOWTIME^® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME^®, SHOWTIME BEYOND^®, SHOWTIME NEXT^®, SHOWTIME WOMEN^®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD^™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ ON DEMAND, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel^™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV^®.

Showtime Reveals Summer Schedule With Announcements Of Weeds And Episodes Premiere Dates

Showtime has announced premiere dates for the eighth season of Weeds and the second season of Episodes.  On Sunday, July 1st, Weeds will premiere at 10:00 p.m. followed by Episodes at 10:30 p.m.  In what might be its final season, Weeds will air 13 episodes and Episodes will air nine episodes.  Read the full press-release below.

Via Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, CA – (March 14, 2012) – It’s going to be a sizzling summer of comedy on SHOWTIME with the season premieres of the hit series WEEDS (10 p.m. ET/PT) and EPISODES (10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on Sunday, July 1^st. Thirteen half-hour episodes of WEEDS’ eighth season go into production in Los Angeles in April, and nine half-hours of EPISODES’ second season recently wrapped production in London and Los Angeles.

WEEDS stars Mary-Louise Parker in her Golden Globe^® Award-winning performance as Nancy Botwin, a former suburban widow who turned to selling marijuana to make ends meet and has bloomed into a full-fledged queenpin. The series is created by Emmy^® Award winner Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate.

EPISODES stars Matt LeBlanc, in his recent 2012 Golden Globe Award-winning role as a fictional version of himself.  EPISODES is a co-production between SHOWTIME Networks in the U.S. and the BBC in the UK, written and executive produced by David Crane (Friends, The Class) and Jeffrey Klarik (Mad About You, The Class). Jimmy Mulville executive produces through his successful Hat Trick production company (Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Worst Week).

The WEEDS season finale was punctuated at a family dinner by a fateful bullet from a lone gunman. Which of our beloved Botwins was the target and who pulled the trigger? Last season jumped ahead three years and picked up with Nancy finishing a stint in federal prison. She, her brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) and sons, Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) – with Doug (Kevin Nealon) in tow – were reunited in New York City where she re-launched her pot business, worked at a hedge fund, and fought for custody of her son, little Stevie, from her sister Jill (special guest star Jennifer Jason Leigh).

The second season of EPISODES picks up four months after the finale with Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) no longer living together, but forced into an Awkward working relationship with Matt, as Pucks! goes from a pilot to full-blown series. As Beverly struggles to save her marriage, Matt is determined to save his “bromance” with Sean, and all of them are forced to try to save Pucks! as its ratings start to plummet and the pressure mounts. EPISODES centers around Sean and Beverly, a husband–and-wife producing team who are forced to navigate the many pitfalls of the Hollywood television business when their successful British show is brought to America, and the U.S. network insists on making the show more audience friendly by replacing their venerable thespian lead with…Matt LeBlanc.  Season one left off with Beverly and Sean’s comedy, Lyman’s Boys, mangled beyond recognition by the Hollywood powers-that-be into Pucks!, a sitcom about a high-school hockey coach starring Matt LeBlanc. When Beverly sleeps with Matt in a moment of drunken madness, her marriage is left as battered as the state of their TV show.

REVIEW: House of Lies (Showtime – Sunday, 10:00 p.m.)

Charming, fast talking Marty Kaan and his crack team of MBA-toting management consultants are playing America’s 1 percent for everything they’ve got. They put the con in consulting as they charm smug, unsuspecting corporate fat cats into closing huge deals, and spending a fortune for their services. Twisting the facts, spinning the numbers, and spouting just enough business school jargon to dazzle the clients, there’s no end to what this crew won’t do to and for each other, while laughing all the way to the bank. Starring Academy Award® Nominee Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell, nothing is sacred in HOUSE OF LIES, a hilarious, irreverent send-up of corporate America today. – Showtime

22 out of 100

It’s hard to explain exactly how we knew this show was going to be as bad as it was before it even started, but let’s just say that we had an idea based on the general snarkiness that oozed from the trailers that Showtime was pumping down our throats at the end of each episode of Dexter and Homeland.  And even though we knew it would be distasteful based on what we had seen, being distasteful in and of itself isn’t automatic disqualifer as far as television is concerned, especially for comedies.

We enjoy a lot of shows that would be considered distasteful.  F/X’s  Archer is probably one of the most distasteful shows on television and it also happens to be the most brilliant comedy on television.  As far as dramas are concerned, Starz’ Boss couldn’t be any more distasteful but we absolutely love it and of course there’s all of those reality shows that we sheepishly admit that even we enjoy (yes, Celebrity Wife Swap, we’re looking at you). This is what we like to call guilty pleasure programming; we know it’s terrible for us but it’s just soooooooo good. It’s kinda like eating an entire Whitman’s Sampler box in one sitting.

Therein lies the problem with House of Lies.  It’s not a guilty pleasure and we had a funny feeling that it wasn’t going to be because like all of the characters on the show, it just looked too slick for its own good.

Here’s the opening two minutes of the pilot:

An overhead shot of a naked Don Cheadle (Kaan) passed out on a naked Dawn Olivieri (Monica Talbot).  Kaan wakes up in a panic and immediately attempts to revive his “overnight guest” and nothing’s working which seems a little odd for the audience to say the least.  Then the voice-overs and the cutaways begin and Marty explains that naked woman who he is so desperately trying to revive is his prescription medication addicted ex-wife and he dresses her while she’s unconscious and props her in a chair with a laptop because… why?  Get ready for this: he wants his 10 year-old cross-dressing son to think she was doing work.  Charming, isn’t it?

Nope, it’s not and neither is Cheadle’s portrayal of Kaan, or any of the characters on this show or the show itself.  House of Lies is just another in a long line of shows with reprehensible characters behaving reprehensibly under the guise of being charming and clever.  There is nothing charming or clever about this show.

Again, we have no problem with nudity or other adult-audience oriented behavior on premium cable, but it becomes an issue when it’s used gratuitously as a crutch in an effort to hide the fact that the writing on a show is lacking and that’s exactly what’s going on here. House of Lies is using cheap gimmicks to try to hide the fact that it’s not just not a very good show.

“HOUSE OF LIES, a hilarious, irreverent send-up of corporate America today.”

No, what House of Lies is is a big fat snooze-fest.  This show is supposed to be a comedy but not only did we not laugh once, it was the longest 35 minutes of TV watching we’ve ever endured.  It was so slow that it honestly felt like over an hour had passed at the 22-minute mark.

Seriously, this is a big fact stinker and we expected a lot more from Cheadle and Kristen Bell.

RENEWED: ‘Homeland’ Picked up For A Second Season By Showtime

Here’s no real surprise, but Showtime has renewed their new, highly acclaimed, spy-thriller Homeland.  We gave it a perfect 100 out of 100 score.  Yeah… it’s that good.

Via Press Release:

SHOWTIME^® ORDERS SEASON TWO OF HOMELAND

 

Network Greenlights Second Season of Its Highest Rated Freshman Drama Series Ever

Starring Claire Danes, Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin

 

 

LOS ANGELES, CA – (October 26, 2011) – On the heels of HOMELAND’s biggest numbers yet, for this past Sunday’s airing, SHOWTIME has ordered a season two, consisting of 12 new one-hour episodes. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.  Developed for American television by executive producers Howard Gordon andAlex Gansa, HOMELAND stars Emmy^® Award winner Claire Danes, Golden Globe^® nominee Damian Lewis and Emmy and Tony^®Award winner Mandy Patinkin. HOMELAND debuted as the network’s highest-rated freshman drama series ever, generating 4.4 million viewers across platforms in its first week. The series has continued to increase overall viewership since its premiere, with its most recent episode delivering the series’ best ratings to-date this past Sunday.  Season two will begin production in spring 2012.

“HOMELAND is just getting started,” said Nevins.  “Clearly, the overall audience growth from week one to week four demonstrates that this show is hitting a nerve in the cultural zeitgeist.  Alex and Howard have created a psychological thriller that holds special relevance in the post 9/11 world.  I’m quite confident that its passionate audience will be riveted as the season unfolds and people discover where this story is going.”

The countless accolades for HOMELAND keep coming as the show gets deeper into its debut season.  Newsweek calls HOMELAND “the most addictive show of the season.”  The New York Times notes “Homeland is well made and gripping…impossible to resist” andTV Guide says “Hands-down the best new drama on TV.” USA Today raves “Stands out as the season’s best new drama.”  “Grade: A” says The Boston Globe. The LA Times relays “It’s the first telling of a post-9/11 story that is all the things it should be: politically resonant, emotionally wrenching and plain old thrilling to watch.”

HOMELAND is a one-hour drama series that tells the story of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for eight years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.  The series also stars Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Morgan Saylor and Jackson Pace. HOMELAND is based on the original Israeli series “Prisoners of War,” by Gideon Raff.   Along with Gordon and Gansa, the executive producers for season one are Avi Nir, Ran Telem, Gideon Raff and  Michael Cuesta. The series is produced by FOX 21.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ and FLIX^®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2^™, SHOWTIME^® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME^®, SHOWTIME BEYOND^®, SHOWTIME NEXT^®, SHOWTIME WOMEN^®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD^™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND^® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel^™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV^®.

REVIEW: Homeland (Showtime – Sunday, 10:00 p.m.)

Who’s the hero – who’s the threat? When MIA Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody returns home to a hero’s welcome after eight years in enemy confinement, brilliant but volatile CIA agent Carrie Mathison isn’t buying his story. She believes that Brody has been turned and is now working for Al Qaeda. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse with nothing short of American national security at stake. Claire Danes, Damian Lewis and Mandy Patankin star in the provocative, suspenseful new Showtime Original Series HOMELAND, from Executive Producers of 24.  – Showtime

Carrie Mathison’s unorthodox investigation of threats to U.S. security in Iraq leads to a serious diplomatic incident, and Carrie is stripped of her field status and assigned to a desk job. But along the way she learns from her sources that an American Prisoner of War has been turned. When Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, Missing in Action for eight years and presumed dead, is suddenly recovered in Afghanistan, the timing is too suspicious for Carrie to ignore. She must break protocol in order to prove her theory that Brody now poses a major threat to his own country. – Showtime

100 out of 100

Sorry about the redundant show descriptions, but this was the best we could do because of Showtime’s crappy webpage.

If you haven’t heard by now, yes, indeed, Homeland is the best new drama of the Fall 2011 season and as much as we love Dexter, it’s even better than Dexter (which, by the way, is fantastic this season, already).  It has earned the extra-rare and highly coveted perfect score from The ‘Tastic.

Why does Homeland work so well?  Simple: because it’s a story about a contemporary war with ZERO political agendas.  It’s not pro-war, it’s not anti-war, it’s simply a fantastic character piece and psychological thriller.  The show pulls no punches whatsoever and you literally have no idea where it’s going from one minute to the next because every time you think you have something figured out, they switch gears on you.

We’ve seen multiple comparisons to The Manchurian Candidate and to be honest, that thought never even occurred to us once because in The Manchurian Candidate there was no question from the moment the film started that Raymond Shaw was indeed brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin so any comparisons to The Manchurian Candidate are just plain lazy by the reviewer in question who brings it up. The whole point of Homeland is that we have no idea for sure whether or not Brody has actually been turned because if we did, it would be a very short series.

The characters are amazingly well-written, shades-of-gray characters all of whom have their own personal demons, motivations and agendas and you really don’t know who to trust at any given point during a given episode because your loyalties and sympathies as a viewer are in a constant state of flux.  To make it more interesting, they are adding new layers with new characters every week to keep the story that much more intriguing and exciting.

This is by far the best role that Claire Danes has ever played in her career and she is completely authentic as the brilliant C.I.A. operative with a history of mental illness. What’s interesting is that her mental illness doesn’t make you doubt her instincts, but what it does do is make you question her prudence and self-control.  How far will Carrie go to prove that Brody has been turned and is indeed a terrorist?  She could be absolutely correct in her suspicions about Brody but she could personally unwittingly undo any progress that she has made to prevent him from carrying out an attack because of her own erratic behavior. It’s hard for us to believe that this is the same actor that starred on MTV’s My So Called Life in the 1990’s.

As far as Damien Lewis is concerned as Brody… what can we say?  Lewis is just fantastic in everything he does.  He, of course, first caught our attention in the epic HBO World War II miniseries from Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Band of Brothers in 2001 and has continued to shine in every role since and in particular, Life (2007) on NBC and a little-known yet fantastic little film called Assassin in Love (2007) that we had the pleasure of seeing a few months back.  Lewis thrives as the understated hero (he has a very Jimmy Stewart-like quality to him) and that’s exactly what Brody is and because of the excellent casting and writing, it is impossible not to be sympathetic with Brody even though we know there’s a good possibility that he may indeed have been turned by the jihadist terrorists.

The supporting cast is amazing, with everyone perfectly believable and relatable in their roles and in particular, another favorite of The ‘Tastic, Mandy Patinkin in the role of Danes’ mentor at the C.I.A., a role that he was born to play.  It’s literally like the role was written for him.

The plot and subject matter, like the characters is incredibly complex.  As far as dealing with complex issues is concerned and presentations that are designed to make the audience reflect about implications of a vast number of policies concerning the war on terror (and warfare in general), it reminds us of the fantastic thriller, Unthinkable (2009) starring Samuel L. Jackson that never saw a theater due to its controversial nature and went straight to video (we saw it on Netflix streaming).  Now, the similarities between Unthinkable and Homeland really end right there but they both grab hold of you and don’t let go.  It’s all very compelling and having been produced by three of the producers from 24, it doesn’t seem like much of stretch to us that this crew has brought much of their experience from that series over to this one, albeit focusing a lot more on a psychological thriller of a plot and a lot less on the absurd “pew-pew-pew” week after week.  And they also brought Sean Callery with them to do the score for the show and we can’t thank them enough for that.

This show is a mental thrill-ride from one scene to the next and you find yourself being annoyed at the end of each episode that you are going to have to wait another week for the next installment.  We are seriously considering letting the next ten episodes just load up in the DVR and watching them all in one sitting so we don’t have to go through the torture of waiting each week.

Enjoy the (edited for a PG-13 audience) pilot below.

Dexter: Lights Out‘s Billy Brown To Join Cast For Season Six

Well, the prospects of a Lights Out rescue by another network just got a little slimmer as it’s been announced that Billy Brown, who played Richard “Death Row” Reynolds on the critically-acclaimed albeit short-lived series, has been added to the cast of Showtime’s hit drama, Dexter, in a major role as a Chicago detective who has recently transferred to Miami Metro and is already ruffling feathers.

As we noted two days ago, Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica, Miami Vice), Mos (fka, Mos Def) and Colin Hanks (The Good Guys) are also joining Michael C. Hall on this talent-heavy cast for its sixth season.