The Killing season 3 premieres tonight

The Killing is back tonight at 8/7c on AMC with a few familiar faces appearing in the two-hour season premiere, "The Jungle"/"That You Fear The Most."

Aaron Douglas and Ryan Robbins will be recurring this season, and Ben Cotton will make an appearance in at least one episode.

Here is the setup, from Alan Sepinwall's review:

The new season picks up a little over a year after the last one concluded with the election, the arrest of Aunt Terry, and Mireille Enos' over-invested cop Sarah Linden walking away from Holder and the job. Holder is climbing the ladder at the Seattle PD with the advice of new partner Carl Reddick (Gregg Henry) when he catches the murder of a teenage prostitute who was killed in a manner very similar to a case that Linden worked years before with her old partner James Skinner (Elias Koteas). Linden and Skinner arrested their victim's husband, Ray Seward (Peter Sarsgaard), who sits on Death Row, a month away from his execution date. As the two ex-partners begin looking into the cases past and present, evidence begins to suggest that a serial killer is preying on young women.

Trailer & featurette:

Hell on Wheels is back tonight

Hell on Wheels is back with the season two premiere tonight on AMC at 9 pm.

Christopher Heyerdahl is a regular this season and Ryan Robbins makes his first appearance as Hawkins the train robber in tonight's episode.

Synopsis:

On the run for his crimes, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) robs trains with a group of ex-Union soldiers, while Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott) and Durant (Colm Meaney) continue the Union Pacific Railroad's westward progress.

On Sun., Aug. 12 at 9/8c, the second season of Hell on Wheels continues its epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a former Confederate soldier, and his dramatic journey west as he struggles to leave his past behind.

Executive produced by John Shiban (Breaking Bad, The X-Files), Joe and Tony Gayton (Faster, Uncommon Valor) and Endemol USA’s Jeremy Gold, the show depicts the traveling town known as Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot that follows and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.

Hell on Wheels also stars Common as Elam Ferguson; Colm Meaney as Thomas “Doc” Durant; Dominique McElligott as Lily Bell; Christopher Heyerdahl as The Swede; Robin McLeavy as Eva; Tom Noonan as Reverend Cole; Ben Esler as Sean McGinnes; Philip Burke as Mickey McGinnes; and Eddie Spears as Joseph Black Moon.

Here is a sneak peek:

Falling Skies premiere, The Killing finale, Christopher Heyerdahl in True Blood, and a few more updates

Falling Skies returns tonight at 9 pm on TNT with a two-hour season premiere, season two of The Killing ends at 9 pm on AMC, Christopher Heyerdahl makes his first appearance in True Blood (HBO, 10 pm), and there are new episodes of Continuum and Longmire.

First stop, Falling Skies. Luciana Carro and Ryan Robbins will be recurring this season, and other than the showrunner, three BSG/Caprica writers -- Mark Verheiden, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle -- worked on season two.

Rémi Aubuchon (showrunner) and the cast have been doing interviews left and right in recent weeks. Jim Halterman talked to him about the new season. You can read the interview at The Futon Critic. Snippets:

Jim Halterman: Having watched the first few episodes of the second season - and not taking anything away from the first season - I felt like things were sharper and tighter.
Remi Aubuchon: Steven [Spielberg, Executive Producer] is very terse and concise in his direction and basically what he said was 'Look, I want you to amp up the second season.' And I think that what a lot of that comes from is us deciding that we've set the backdrop, we've established the foundation of the story now let's just go with it and I think you can feel that energy in the second season.

Meg Tilly, Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl win Leo Awards

The Leos were presented in Vancouver last night.

Meg Tilly won the award for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for Bomb Girls.

Ryan Robbins won for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama for Marilyn.

Christopher Heyerdahl won the Leo for Best Performance in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series for The Haunting Hour.

Sisters & Brothers with Kacey Rohl, Michael Eklund and Ben Cotton was the big winner in the film categories. It won six Leos including Best Feature and Best Direction.

Blackstone with Carmen Moore won four awards in the TV categories, including Best Dramatic Series. Sanctuary also nabbed four (production design, VFX, costume design, guest actress).

Big congrats to all!

Susan Gittins has posted several photos of the cast on Flickr. They can't be embedded, but you can see them here: Carmen Moore, Kacey Rohl, Christopher Heyerdahl, Ryan Robbins & Ben Cotton.

You can find the complete list of winners at LeoAwards.com.

Leo Award nominations

Big congrats to all the Leo nominees this year!

The nominations were announced earlier today. Sanctuary, Arctic Air, Endgame and Blackstone are up for Best Dramatic Series and all five films nominated for Best Feature Length Drama have familiar faces in them: Daydream Nation (Luke Camilleri, Calum Worthy, Genevieve Buechner), Doppelgänger Paul (Ben Cotton), Marilyn (Ryan Robbins), Sisters & Brothers (Kacey Rohl, Michael Eklund, Ben Cotton), and The Odds (Calum Worthy).

Sisters & Brothers nabbed 12 nominations, Hamlet (with Peter Wingfield) and Marilyn have eight each, Sunflower Hour (with Kacey Rohl and Ben Cotton) has seven, Donovan's Echo (with Hiro Kanagawa) has six, Daydream Nation and Doppelgänger Paul five each, The Odds has four, and Everything and Everyone (with Ryan Robbins) and Hannah's Law (with Ryan Kennedy and John Pyper-Ferguson, to be aired in June) scored two each.

On the TV side, Sanctuary is way ahead of the pack with 18 nominations, followed by Arctic Air with nine and Blackstone with six.

Blood and Chrome trailer screened, Falling Skies season two premiere date, interview with Remi Aubuchon, and general updates

Just a few updates to end the week.

Blood and Chrome trailer was shown at the BSG panel at WonderCon this weekend. Hero Complex has a report from the panel with Kevin Grazier. Here is a description of the trailer (no, it's not available anywhere yet):

At the end of his talk, Grazier screened a trailer for the upcoming “Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome,” a two-hour television film which is set in the 10th year of the First Cylon War. Edited at rapid-cutting pace to Trent Reznor and Karen O’s cover of “Immigrant Song” for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – which was actually quite fitting with images of ice-covered planets and (space)ships – the trailer ended with title cards flashing the words “It’s time for a SyFy game-changer.”

Still no official word on what Blood and Chrome is (a TV film or a pilot) even though the decision was supposed to be made in February, but hopefully Syfy will announce something at the upfronts (April 24) if not sooner.

Elsewhere, TNT has announced a return date for Falling Skies:

Falling Skies
• Two-Hour Season Premiere: Sunday, June 17, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)
• Season 2: 10 episodes
The wait is nearly over as basic cable's #1 new series of 2011 returns to continue its extraordinary story about life and survival in the wake of a catastrophic alien invasion. Noah Wyle stars as a college professor who becomes an unlikely resistance leader in this gripping series from DreamWorks Television and executive producer Steven Spielberg. Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Maxim Knight and Connor Jessup also star.

In the same press release, TNT has also announced the dates for The Closer (Monday, July 9, at 9 pm ET) and Major Crimes (premiere: Monday, Aug. 13, at 10 pm ET, regular slot: Mondays at 9) with Mary McDonnell, and Perception (Monday, July 9, at 10 pm ET) with Jamie Bamber recurring. Longmire with Katee Sackhoff also got a premiere date in recent weeks: June 3 on A&E.

Aleks Paunovic on Arctic Air, Bomb Girls picked up, Falling Skies update, interviews with Scott Porter & William B. Davis

Aleks Paunovic is back in Arctic Air tonight. It's not the first time that he has appeared on the show, but he will have a more central part in tonight's episode, which airs at 9 pm on CBC in Canada. Other familiar faces will probably show up, too. CBC has a new interview with Aleks. Snippets:

You play Jim McAlister on Arctic Air, what is that guy all about?
Jim is a fun-loving best buddy with a big heart. He's stoked to have Bobby (Adam Beach) back in town. He's a prospector and trusts Bobby to the fullest. He'll do anything to protect his friends, family and the North.

What is it like working on a all Canadian production as opposed to a U.S. production that is being filmed in Canada?
I love home grown projects. Most of the U.S. projects are about situations, not about where they are shooting.

Knowing that we are making a show about our land, and showing it to the people of the land, gives us a warm feeling knowing we are connecting with people that know our culture and country. Plus the cast and crew are amazing! So I love coming into work.

Read the rest at CBC.ca.

Blood and Chrome update, Grimm & Sanctuary previews, first look at Arctic Air & The Firm

First stop today, Beginning of Line. Episode 16 of Caprica season two has been posted. You can read it here: Assassin Nation.

Second, Young Adult opens wide today. Patton Oswalt was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor earlier this week. He also got nods as Runner-up from the Los Angeles Film Critics and Toronto Film Critics Association. Big congrats! (He's done a bunch of interviews this week too, but I won't be posting them until tomorrow.)

Also, congrats to Jane Espenson -- Game of Thrones was named one of the TV Programs of the Year by the American Film Institute last week.

Antipodal has an audio interview with Sasha Roiz. You can download it here.

Grimm 1x07, "Let Your Hair Down," airs tonight at 9. Synopsis:

A mysterious homicide deep in the woods leads to Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) reopening a long-aborted missing persons case. When Nick suspects this abducted person might be a feral creature, he asks Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) to help remind this wild child of her human nature. Bitsie Tulloch, Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee also star.

Patton Oswalt on Raising Hope, Young Adult Q&A, new Sanctuary tonight, and interviews with Hiro Kanagawa, Jane Espenson and Christopher Heyerdahl

If you missed it on Twitter: Beginning of Line is back and the new episode of Caprica season two, "Children Through the Cracks," written by Vikki Bingham, has been posted. Check it out at the link.

Several notable TV appearances tonight.

Tahmoh Penikett is in Scott Turow's Innocent, a TV film that premieres on TNT as part of the network's mystery movie night at 9 pm. Spoiler TV has the press release and a behind-the-scenes video.

Aaron Douglas' episode of Flashpoint that aired in Canada a couple of weeks ago airs in the U.S. tonight at 10 pm on AON.

Patton Oswalt guest stars on Raising Hope in episode "Bro-gurt," which airs at 9:30 pm on Fox. Synopsis:

When the National Invention Convention Extravaganza comes to town, Virginia encourages the family to submit their own inventions that could bring home a large cash prize. Burt teams with the family’s neighbor Andrew (guest star Ethan Suplee) and invents unusually flavored yogurts, while Jimmy partners with Sabrina to develop a new baby mop. When convention day arrives the competition between each team escalates as they pitch their inventions to Andrew Dice Clay (guest-starring as himself). During the competition, the family ends up realizing family and friends are what matter the most.

And here is a sneak peek with Patton, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt and Ethan Suplee:

New Grimm & Sanctuary tonight, interviews with Sasha Roiz and Bear McCreary, VFX Minds panel & general updates

Let's start with Friday night TV.

Grimm 1x04, "Lonelyhearts," airs at 9 pm on NBC. Synopsis:

After investigating a strange cluster of female deaths and disappearances, Nick (David Giuntoli) sends Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) undercover to get a whiff of a hypnotic suspect.

In the meantime, a stranger shows up looking to avenge the death of his friend at the hands of a Grimm, but he’ll have to get past Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz). Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch and Reggie Lee also star.

Patrick Fischler (Mad Men, Southland, Lost) guest stars. Blastr has a first look at the creatures from tonight's episode, and you can see a few sneak peeks on NBC.com.

Sasha Roiz did a round of radio interviews this morning. You can listen to them on Blog Talk Radio, MrMedia.com and KeyW.com.

Sanctuary 3x07, "Icebreaker," airs at 10 pm on Syfy. Synopsis:

Henry, Declan and a team from the UK Sanctuary go to the Bering Sea to investigate a mystery on a shipwrecked icebreaker, where the crew has killed the Abnormals on board and each other.

Alessandra Torresani on American Horror Story tonight, new interviews with James Marsters, Scott Porter & Christopher Heyerdahl

Okay, for real this time:

Alessandra Torresani guest stars on American Horror Story tonight at 10 pm on FX. Here is the synopsis for both Halloween episodes, from THR:

In Part 1, Vivien (Connie Britton) and Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) met the house's previous tenants, a gay couple (played by Zachary Quinto and Teddy Sears) obsessed with decorating the home just right for Halloween so the Harmons can unload the property.

In addition, Tate (Evan Peters) and Violet (Taissa Farmiga) inch closer when the couple takes advantage of the old Halloween loophole that all the ghosts come out to walk the streets for the night as they hit the beach for their first official date.

Alessandra plays Steph, one of the unwelcome visitors on that date. For previews, go to Sci Fi Mafia.

Ryan Robbins tweets that one of his recent films, Marilyn, will premiere at the Whistler Film Festival, which runs from November 30 to December 4.

For production stills and more details about the film, visit the official site at MarilyntheMovie.net. Here is some info from the press release (PDF link):

Halloween updates: Grimm, American Horror Story, Chillerama, Crazy Dracula, The Monster Frankenstein & The Divide

Happy Halloween!

In today's round of updates, Alessandra Torresani is a zombie, Aleks Paunovic is Frankenstein, Ryan Robbins turns invisible, and Michael Hogan fights Frankenstein.

None of the videos are safe for work.

Not sure what kind of creature Sasha Roiz plays in Grimm, but NBC will re-air the pilot again on Saturday, November 5. If you're in the US, you can watch the episode on NBC.com/Grimm. You can also catch it tomorrow at 7 pm on Syfy. NBC has posted a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos here (no Sasha). Episode 1x02, "Bears Will Be Bears," airs on Friday at 9 pm.

Bear McCreary has posted the official album artwork for his Chillerama: Zom-B-Movie soundtrack, which gets released in a couple of weeks. You can see it on Bear's site. Here is a snippet from the press release that goes with it:

People's Choice nominations & new projects for Paula Malcomson, Alessandra Torresani and Ryan Robbins

The polls for the 2012 People's Choice Awards are open for nominations and Caprica is on the list for the Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show.

You can nominate the show here. There are also several other categories with some write-in potential: Favorite Cable Drama, Best TV Drama Actor & Actress, and Favorite TV Guest Star.

Not sure how long the polls will stay open, so go nominate.

Cast updates:

Paula Malcomson has a new credit on the IMDB, for the TV pilot Outlaw Country, a new FX drama about organized crime in Nashville, starring Mary Steenburgen. Paula's Deadwood BFF John Hawkes is also in it. More details in this Deadline article.

Alessandra Torresani starts shooting a new movie, The Green Story, with Ed O'Ross, Shannon Elizabeth, Annabella Sciorra and George Finn in early November. Movieweb has some details:

Sanctuary season premiere, new interviews with Christopher Heyerdahl, Jane Espenson and Scott Porter, and general updates

Sanctuary is back tonight at 10 pm with the season four opener, "Tempus." Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl are still series regulars and Peter Wingfield is back as Dr. Watson. Here is the synopsis:

Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) pursues Adam Worth (Ian Tracey) back to 1898 London as he attempts to save his daughter. If successful, Magnus knows he will destroy the natural order of history and must stop him from irreparably altering the world’s future at whatever cost.

Space has a couple of behind-the-scenes videos that include interviews with the cast here and here, and Pop Culture Zoo has an early review, a preview and some cast photos.

Eric Stoltz is back on the set of Glee. Jenna Ushkowitz posted this photo of him yesterday. If you're in the Seattle area, you can catch Fort McCoy at the Tacoma Film Festival tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 pm.

Husbands episode eight, "This Together Thing," has been posted on HusbandstheSeries.com.

Previews for Grimm & Psych, and new interviews with Luciana Carro, Jane Espenson, Sasha Roiz, Ryan Robbins, Scott Porter and Patton Oswalt

Since yesterday:

Spoiler TV has the promotional pics from the next episode of Hart of Dixie and Comic Book Resources has a new interview with Scott Porter. He mainly talks about the X-Men animated series, which premieres on October 21. Snippet:

This version of the X-Men story is a very modern one that Warren Ellis initially wrote with a lot of influence from his "Astonishing X-Men" run, but the one twist that brings in the classic thread for Cyclops is that the series starts just after the death of Jean Grey at the end of "The Dark Phoenix Saga." What was it like to pick up the character after the worst tragedy in his life?
That made it completely interesting for me. To allude to why I have such respect for Cyclops, it's because he's been through hell. He's lost Jean how many times now? He has to control this odd band of misfits who are under constant duress by the universe. He is ultimately powerful and has to always rein this power in or he could level cities with it. Seeing the control that Cyclops has to have and then seeing him in a very vulnerable position at the start of this cartoon where he just doesn't care anymore and is more careless with his powers. He wants to hang it up and quit. That's a very emotional place for the character, and then he falls back into his natural role where he's always been the leader because the X-Men need him. You really see all that here.

Cast interviews, previews, behind-the-scenes clips and new projects

A bunch of new interviews with the cast and Jane Espenson showed up in recent days. In random order:

KTLA has a new video interview with Scott Porter, mostly about Hart of Dixie, which premieres on Monday, September 26. The clip can't be embedded, so go here to see it. Hollywood Reporter also has a short interview with Scott and his co-stars that has a bunch of new information about the show's characters. Spoiler TV has posted the stills from episode 1x02, "Parades and Pariahs." Here is one with Scott:

Weekly wrap: cast news, interviews, previews, festivals and new projects

One weekend monster update coming up.

Galactica Geek, a new BSG site run by the folks behind Battlestar Wiki, that will cover everything from the shows and the cast & crew to the fans, has launched today. Hit the link to check it out. You can also follow them on Twitter @galacticageek and Facebook.com/GalacticaGeek.

And in news of the regular variety:

The Hunger Games with Paula Malcomson has finally wrapped production in North Carolina. The film is still scheduled for release in March.

Gun Hill Road has opened in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and San Diego this weekend. More details on Facebook. The Miami Herald has a new interview with Esai Morales.

Fort McCoy with Eric Stoltz will be shown at the Boston Film Festival on Wednesday, September 21. Details and tickets here. Eric's new episode of Glee airs this Tuesday at 8 pm. Spoiler TV has the teaser. And here is the first pic from the set of Modern Love, from Twitter:



Sasha Roiz posted a new photo from the set of Grimm. He will make another appearance in Warehouse 13 in episode 3x10, "Insatiable," which airs this Monday at 9 pm.

New interview with Carmen Moore, new projects for Meg Tilly, Ryan Robbins and Mike Dopud & some general updates

Let's start with the writers this time.

Jane Espenson wrote an article about Torchwood for BBC.co.uk that provides some info about the creative process behind Miracle Day. You can read it here.

Mark Verheiden tweets that he is back in the Falling Skies writers' room. Caprica co-creator & new FS showrunner Remi Aubuchon confirms that Verheiden will be on staff for season two as a consulting producer. (Yes, Remi Aubuchon has joined Twitter.)

Race Bending has a fantastic new interview with Carmen Moore. She talks about Blackstone, playing Fidelia in Caprica, how she got cast in Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome (she will likely be a regular if B&C gets picked up) and some of her other projects, both old (Andromeda) and more recent (Two Indians Talking).

You can read the partial transcript here or listen to the whole interview below.

Blood and Chrome update, new interviews with Esai Morales & new projects for Eric Stoltz, Leah Gibson, Patton Oswalt, John Pyper-Ferguson and Ryan Robbins

I go on vacation and all this happens:

Eric Stoltz might be coming back to weekly TV. He has been cast as the lead in a new Lifetime pilot, Modern Love. Report from Deadline.com:

[Modern Love] follows newspaper science editor Simon McElvane (Stoltz) as he faces a deteriorating marriage, the ramifications of potentially starting over and balancing his relationship with his adopted 15-year-old daughter. Unexpectedly handed the job of editor of the newspaper’s Modern Love column, Simon discovers he has a lot to learn about life and love.

NWCN has a video report from the set of Grimm in Portland. Sasha Roiz mentioned they’ve started working on episode four today.

Sasha will be back on Warehouse 13 next Monday. Alessandra Torresani will join him the week after that.

Esai Morales did a few more interviews while promoting Gun Hill Road in San Francisco. There is one at SFBayTimes.com and a longer one at SFWeekly.com. Snippet:

New interviews with Leah Gibson and Ryan Robbins, Riese premieres in Canada

A bunch of updates today, in random order:

Esai Morales is taking part in this year's Record-A-Thon, a marathon week organized by RFB&D (Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic) to bring accessible materials (audiobooks & audio textbooks) to people with visual and learning disabilities. Esai posted photos and a clip on his Facebook page.

Spoiler TV has a behind-the-scenes video from the new season of United States of Tara, with Patton Oswalt.

Avan Jogia has shot a brief anti-homophobia ad for the Straight But Not Narrow campaign, which he also launched. You can check out the clip at On Top Magazine.

Red Riding Hood, with Kacey Rohl and Michael Hogan, opens in theatres later this week. Collider has a bunch of clips from the movie. Spoiler TV has a nice still with Kacey Rohl and Amanda Seyfried.

Genevieve Buechner and Richard Harmon will both attend the first screening of Judas Kiss at the Phoenix Film Festival. More details at the Judas Kiss blog.

A.V. Club has the full teaser for Game of Thrones (Jane Espenson on the writing team).

The Walking Dead will return for a second season in October.


Riese: Kingdom Falling is finally available in Canada. Caprica and BSG actors include Ryan Robbins, Alessandro Juliani, Leah Gibson, Ben Cotton and Richard Harmon. You can watch the show at Spacecast.com and it's still up at Syfy, too.

This Needs to Stop blog has a new interview with Leah Gibson. Snippet below, follow the link for the rest.

TNTs: Was Doctor Manhattan’s blue “member” distracting in The Watchmen?

Leah: Incredibly. I had my hands up on guard between takes the entire time.

TNTs: What was the first celeb encounter you’ve had since being in the business that left you completely star struck?

Leah: Juliette Lewis. When I was at the Toronto Film Fest in the fall, I walked right into a personal photo shoot she was having. We locked eyes for a few moments and I could feel in my heart it was love at first sight. I’m sure she’s still thinking about me with just as much affection. Juliette I love you.

TNTs: Who would you love to work with in the future?

Leah: I am slightly obsessed with Meryl Streep. With Susan Sarandon. With Debra Messing. And Juliette, of course. -- Keep reading

You can also catch Leah in He Loves Me, a TV film that premieres tonight on Lifetime (9 pm ET). Jill Teed (Col. Patel) also appears in it. Daemon's TV has the promotional pics and teaser.

Spacecast has an interview with Ryan Robbins, mostly about Riese:

“It has elements of mystery and discovery. It’s a fairy tale for grown-ups. It’s an underdog story, it’s a story about trying to get somebody back to where they rightfully belong and it’s a journey and I really think that people respond to (that),” says Robbins.

Robbins plays Rand, the leader of the Resistance, who is trying to stop the hostile takeover of Eleysia and surrounding areas.

“It was ultimately a no-brainer that I wanted to do this project. The character really drew me in and what I had seen of the show, I’d never seen anything like it. I knew people who saw it would respond to it, I just didn’t realize how many people.”

The Daily Blam has the first pic of Ryan in Mortal Kombat. There are also a couple of clips with him and Chris Heyerdahl talking about Sanctuary at the Armageddon Expo at Multipleverses. And the first stills from the next new episode of the show, "Pax Romana," with Polly Walker returning, are at Spoiler TV.