Television

Rob Hughes and Kevin Ivey join the company's Los Angeles office.read more

On a day so many of us are so shaken by James Gandolfini's sudden death, it's sadly appropriate that my Emmy focus turns to the category that the "Sopranos" star towered over, a category still dominated by characters and performances that never would have been possible without Tony Sopr...http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print

This week’s episode of Defiance, “If I Ever Leave This World Alive,” was written by Bryan Gracia and directed by Allan Kroeker. Gracia’s only other writing credit is for One Tree Hill. Up to this point, there has been very little overlap between the writers with only three having written more than one episode. I’d be curious to know how the writing process works for the show. Knowing that the show was in development for five years leads me to believe that they must have a pretty well-fleshed outline of the characters and where they want to go with the show on which the individual writers are expected to draw. I’m curious how much influence showrunners Murphy, Taylor, and O’Bannon had on the individual scripts that came into them. I’m also curious to see what season two will look like, both in terms of scripts and the writers’ room when both Taylor and O’Bannon have gone on to other projects. This week’s episode seemed to have the clearest plot link to the video game. I’ve only played the game once – at the press tour last fall, but I do seem to recall that plague medicine factored into the game. I’d love to hear from people playing the game in the comments below! Am I remembering that correctly? At the very least, the shout out to Doc Yewll’s (Trenna Keating) friend in San Francisco is a reference to where the game is set. Coming on the heels of my discussion with Beth Roberts (NBCUniversal) last week, this does seem to point to a closer connection between the two mediums. The episode picks up right where we left off last week with the outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever. Once again the episode also manages to tell the viewer something about past events and cultural relations while also revealing some new facets of the characters. We learn, for instance, why the Castithans refer to the Irathients as “unclean.” Because they are disease carriers, they don’t get the plague. This, of course, makes the humans fear them too. It’s interesting to see Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) growing closer to the rest of the Irathients. We see both a spiritual side and an animalistic side to her in the episode. Once again, I was impressed at how much Leonidas is able to convey with her body language while being somewhat impeded by the prosthetics of her character. She mentioned sitting at the Toronto Zoo and just watching the wolves as preparation for the role, and it certainly pays off in her body language. It will be interesting going forward to see how this new facet to her life will impact on her relationship with Nolan (Grant Bowler). The moment they share at the end of the episode would indicate that the two have forged a strong enough bond to weather the inevitable strain. The misperceptions between the races was an interesting facet of this episode. While the “typhoid Mary” scenario felt a bit cliché, it still worked. While the Irathients really do seem to be the more primitive and animalistic of the races, they were praying for the other races before the miners got violent. The humans seem to tolerate the other races but remain ready to become hostile primarily out of fear. I can hardly imagine the Castithans praying for any of the other races. Of course, so far, the only real Castithans that we’ve met have been the Tarrs. Quentin (Justin Rain) goes to see Nicky (Fionnula Flanagan) to find out about his mother, Pilar. Once again Flanagan’s performance is outstandingly creepy. We learn that Pilar was bi-polar but controlled by medicine that she and Datak Tarr (Tony Curran) supplied. If we needed further proof that Nicky was corrupt, the fact that she was obviously dealing with Datak proves it. She takes great delight in torturing Quentin by telling him his mother was caught trying to poison him and that his father (Graham Greene) almost killed her. She also reveals that she was having an affair with Rafe. Quentin gives Nicky the artifact in exchange for the information, even though “Luke” (Wesley French) tells him it means he

Sony has set release dates for its third and fourth Amazing Spider-Man films, which hit theaters on June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018, respectively. The move sets the course for the marquee superhero franchise for the next five years. The threequel had been mentioned, but never a fourth film. The Amazing-Spider Man 2, which will see Andrew Garfield return in the role of Peter Parker, is currently in production in New York and rolls out in theaters May 2, 2014. “ Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise," said Sony Pictures vice chairman Jeff Blake, "so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.” Source: THR Shailene Woodley will not appear in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and neither will her character, Mary Jane Watson, THR has confirmed. Woodley’s appearance in Spider-Man 2 always was intended to be brief – the actress only worked three days and shot around three scenes – but sources say director Marc Webb decided to streamline the story. "I made a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship," said Webb. "Shailene is an incredibly talented actress, and while we only shot a few scenes with Mary Jane, we all love working with her.” The plan now is for Watson, one of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s iconic love interests, to be introduced in the third movie. "Of course I'm bummed," Woodley told Entertainment Weekly, which first reported the news. "But I'm a firm believer in everything happening for a specific reason. … Based on the proposed plot, I completely understand holding off on introducing [Mary Jane] until the next film." Source: THR

Geraldo Rivera just put his foot in his mustache-topped mouth. The Fox News correspondent and former talk show host took to Twitter to criticize late journalist Michael Hastings, prompting outrage amongst the journalism community that is still mourning Hastings' death. Related Articles: Geraldo Rivera Blames Hoodie for Trayvon Martin Shooting (Video) Geraldo Rivera Issues Snarky Non-Apology for Trayvon Martin Comments BuzzFeed Journalist Michael Hastings Dead at 33 read more

James Gandolfini's final film will be Fox Searchlight's crime drama "Animal Rescue," starring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace. The film's director Michael Roskam offered this statement to TheWrap regarding Gandolfini's tragic death: Related Articles: James Gandolfini Death: 10 of Tony Soprano's Most Memorable Moments (Videos) James Gandolfini Death: Hollywood Reacts to 'The Sopranos' Star's Passing (Video) James Gandolfini, 'Sopranos' Star, Dead at 51 read more

Network: TNT Episodes: Ongoing (hour) Seasons: Ongoing TV show dates: June 10, 2013 -- TBD Series status: Has not been cancelled Performers include: Jon Tenney, Rebecca...

Reelz has decided to air the first season of the King TV series. Produced in Canada, there are eight episodes in the season. King ran for two seasons and 21 total episodes, between 2011 and 2012....

BET's The Game is returning on Tuesday, July 2nd, at 10pm. It's unclear how many episodes are remaining in season six but 10 installments have aired so far. The fifth season had 22 episodes. Here...

James Gandolfini, who helped usher in a new golden era of television in his Emmy-winning role as Tony Soprano on HBO's "The Sopranos," died suddenly in Rome of a possible heart attack. He was 51. A spokeswoman for the cable network said that Gandolfini was on holiday in Italy, and provided the apparent cause of death. Related Articles: James Gandolfini Death: Hollywood Reacts to 'The Sopranos' Star's Passing (Video) James Gandolfini Death: 10 of Tony Soprano's Most Memorable Moments (Videos) read more