News Briefs : Legend Of Korra is Back, Return Premiere dates and Renewals

... Legend of Korra fans, the news you've patiently waited OVER A YEAR for has arrived: Nickelodeon has finally announced a premiere date for Book 2, which is subtitled Spirits: Friday, September 13 at 7pm.

News Brief : Game Of Thrones castings, Show renewals and Who's the best 'Anti-hero' character on TV

.... FX's plan for The Strain 
The network's upcoming adaptation of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hagan's trilogy of vampire novels is already pretty highly anticipated around these parts: Lost and Bates Motel showrunner Carlton Cuse is working with del Toro to bring it to the airwaves, and House of Cards' Corey Stoll is starring. But at FX's TCA executive session, network head honcho (and all-around smart guy) John Landgraf announced that they already have episode and season limits (39-65 and 3-5, respectively) in mind for the show. Pre-planning doesn't always work, but knowing end dates early, especially for high-concept series, is a really good idea.

Shows airing this week 19th - 25th of May 2013

With the 2012/2013 TV fall season coming to an end, a lot of shows are ending. No fewer than 19 shows aired their season finales last week. 

This week, 4 shows Hawaii Five-0, Criminal Minds, Nashville and Modern Family, are airing their season finales, Criminal Minds is doing it with a double episode. This week, no episodes of Continuum and Da Vinci's Demons will be aired, till next week. Next week sees the Season 2 premiere of the Cowboy-Sheriff drama, Longmire.


==== Sunday - "Game of Thrones" Season 3 Episode 8, "Mad Men" Season 6 Episode 8, "Veep" Season 2 Episode 6, "The Borgias" Season 3 Episode 6.

==== Monday - "Revolution"  Season 1 Episode 18, "Defiance" Season 1 Episode 6, "Hawaii Five-0" Season 3 Finale Episode 24, "Warehouse 13" Season 4 Episode 14, "Rectify" Season 1 Episode 6.

==== Tuesday - "Awkward" Season 3 Episode 7, "Grimm" Season 2 Finale Episode 22.

==== Wednesday - "Criminal Minds" Season 8 Finale Episode 23-24, "Modern Family" Season 4 Finale Episode 24, "Nashville" Season 1 Finale Episode 21, "Rogue" Season 1 Episode 9.

==== Thursday - "Hannibal" Season 1 Episode 9, "Men at Work" Season 2 Episode 8.

==== Friday - Empty

==== Saturday - "Orphan Black" Season 1 Episode 9.


Leave comments on the shows you are most excited to see

CBS's 2013-2014 Season: New Nights for "Person of Interest" and "Hawaii Five-0", More Comedy on Thursdays

CBS's 2013-2014 schedule (new shows in bold and ALL CAPS):



MONDAY
8pm How I Met Your Mother
8:30pm WE ARE MEN
9pm 2 Broke Girls
9:30pm MOM
10pm HOSTAGES (fall) / INTELLIGENCE (midseason)

TUESDAY
8pm NCIS
9pm NCIS: Los Angeles
10pm Person of Interest

WEDNESDAY
8pm Survivor
9pm Criminal Minds
10pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

THURSDAY
8pm The Big Bang Theory
8:30pm THE MILLERS
9pm THE CRAZY ONES
9:30pm Two and a Half Men
10pm Elementary

FRIDAY
8pm Undercover Boss
9pm Hawaii Five-0
10pm Blue Bloods

SATURDAY
8pm Comedytime Saturday (encores)
9pm Crimetime Saturday
10pm 48 Hours

SUNDAY
7pm 60 Minutes
8pm The Amazing Race
9pm The Good Wife
10pm The Mentalist

WHAT'S MISSING?
As I mentioned above above, "Mike & Molly" and its 22-episode order are being held as a lifeline or a midseason replacement. Also being held for midseason are the new multi-camera comedy "Friends With Better Lives", starring Kevin Connolly, James Van Der Beek, and Brooklyn Decker as part of a group of friends that each think the other has it better, and the new drama "Reckless", about a sexy big-city female lawyer and a sexy country male lawyer who try a police scandal against each other and also try to get in each other's pants.

News : NBC Renews "Community" for Season 5, Cancellations, Renewals, New Series and a Bit of Gossip

CANCELLATIONS
.... NBC has cancelled Mathew Perry's comedy "Go On", Broadway musical drama "Smash" and Ryan Murphy's comedy "The New Normal", with only a decision on "Hannibal" left to be made (and that could take a while, since the show is still in season).
"The New Normal" and "Smash" join "Up All Night", "Whitney", "Guys With Kids", "1600 Penn", and "Deception" as recent additions to NBC's 2012-2013 graveyard.

.... CBS cleaned out its closet today, delivering a swift axe-chop to four shows, including a pair of long-running series. "CSI: NY" is saying goodbye after nine seasons, which means the original flavor is the only remaining iteration of the franchise. "Rules of Engagement" has also been canceled, after seven years of loyal service to the network. Going one-season-and-done are "Golden Boy" and "Vegas". Both series were just kinda there this season, getting middling reviews and ratings.

.... FOX has cancelled "Touch". "Touch", the Kiefer Sutherland starer about a father with a gifted son and how he interacts with the Universe isn't coming back after two seasons.

.... ABC has cancelled the comedy "Happy Endings". The show about 6 friends who remain friends with each other even after the couple amongst them don't go on with their marriage isn't returning for a fourth season.

.... TNT has canceled "Southland" after five seasons, as expected. The show was adored by critics but failed to make an impression with viewers, drawing fewer than two million viewers for its entire fifth season. "Southland" actually started on NBC, which ordered a second season of the show but then changed its mind, allowing TNT to step in and save it. There's early talk about a two-hour "Southland" wrap-up movie, but it's VERY EARLY TALK. As for the series finale that aired last month, it sort- of worked as an actual series finale. In other TNT news, the network also put a pillow over "Monday Mornings". The medical drama starring Ving Rhames never got going.


RENEWALS
.... "Criminal Minds" Overcomes Its Contract Standoff, Officially Gets Renewed for Season 9. The show I'm calling "1,000 reasons not to live in America" is returning for a ninth season after contracts negotiations were ironed out with the female cast members on the show, as they wanted to earn as much/close to what the males were earning.

.... Against the Odds, NBC has gone and done the unexpected and renewed cult fave "Community" for a fifth season, despite dismal ratings and lots of backlash,. The beloved comedy was barely hanging onto the bubble as the Upfronts approached, but its chances continued to improve throughout this week as NBC slowly axed nearly all of its other comedies. The decision comes the day after "Community's Season 4 finale jumped up in ratings, all the way to a 1.3 rating. Yeah, that's not good by any means, but it's a positive sign that NBC was hoping for from one of its veteran comedies. "Community" joins "Parks and Recreation" on NBC's extremely short list of returning comedies.

.... The CW has renewed "Nikita" and "The Carrie Diaries". There's no word on how long "Nikita" and "The Carrie Diaries" episodes next season will be, but rumors are the shows will looking at a 6-episode and 13-episode order for next season.
That means The CW's schedule next season will include "Arrow", "Supernatural", "The Vampire Diaries", "Hart of Dixie", "The Carrie Diaries", "Nikita", and new series "The Originals", "The 100", "The Tomorrow People", "Star-Crossed", and "Reign".

... When "Burn Notice" returns for Season 7 on June 6, it will be the beginning of the end. USA has announced that the spy show will conclude at the end of Season 7. Creator Matt Nix and USA will remain on good terms, however, and Nix will develop a medical drama called "Complications" for the network.

... TBS has ordered the comedy "Ground Floor" from Bill Lawrence, creator of "Scrubs" and "Cougar Town". The show is set in the corporate world and follows a banker who hooks up with a hottie, then finds out she works for the maintenance team in his building.

OTHER NEWS

... The Vampire Diaries stars Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev have broken up! [US Weekly]

News : Game Of Thrones Series High, New Shows and Casting News.

... This is your weekly reminder that Game of Thrones has hit a new series high. 5.5 million viewers this time, up from 5.3 million last week.

... Starz has announced a premiere month for its pirate epic "Black Sails": January 2014. The series follows Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and takes place 20 years before the events of Treasure Island. There are a lot of pirate shows coming out over the next year, but if you like your pirates with a side of boobs and gore, this will be the one for you.

... TNT has given a series order to "The Last Ship", a military thriller starring "Grey's Anatomy" vet Eric Dane. The series, based on the William Brinkley novel of the same name, follows the crew of a Navy destroyer that survives a global nucelar catastrophe. The 10-episode season season ships off in 2014.

.... NBC has cancelled "Deception", the Meagan Good starring series. After poor ratings and critical backlash, and subsequent mediocre episodes, this series isn't coming back.

... Awesome U.K. sitcom "The IT Crowd" is coming back for an episode, according to creator Graham Linehan. The plan is to air a final 40-minute special on Channel 4 in the U.K., with cast members Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry all returning. If you haven't seen "The IT Crowd" (which failed as an American import starring Joel McHale), do it!

... NBC is milking this "The Office" sendoff for all it can (and why not?), expanding the May 16 series finale to an hour and 15 minutes. It will preceded by an hour-long Office retrospective and followed by a new episode of "Hannibal", which will run with limited commercial interruptions.

... We spent all of Season 2 wondering when FX's "The Americans" would kill Soviet double spy Nina and FBI secretary Martha, and now we're going to spend all of Season 2 wondering how the show will keep them alive. Actresses Annet Mahendru (Nina) and Alison Wright (Martha) have both been promoted to series regulars for the spy drama's second season.

... There's a standoff happening over at CBS's "Criminal Minds". The drama has not yet been renewed due to salary disagreements between cast members and the studio-and-network combo that's behind the series, ABC Studios and CBS. Final offers have gone out to Thomas Gibson, Joe Mantegna, Shemar Moore, Kirsten Vangsness, and A.J. Cook, but Vangsness and Cook have declined theirs, opting to stand together to bring attention to the fact that the female actors on the show are, in some cases, getting paid less than half of what their male counterparts are making. It's unclear whether the show would move on without Cook and Vangsness.

News : Guillermo Del Toro to adapt Monster, News, Renewals, New Shows and Casting News.

... THIS SOUNDS PRETTY COOL NEWS

... Super famous director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is teaming up with HBO for a possible series based on the Japanese manga Monster, from author Naoki Urasawa. The 18-volume series follows a doctor who tracks down a psychotic teen—and the teen happens to be the child whose life he saved years earlier—to stop him from committing terrible atrocities on the world. So it's a feel-good story, basically.

...BBC America is replicating "Orphan Black" for a second season. The sci-fi series about clones has been renewed, with 10 new episodes due next year. "Orphan Black& is led by the performance of Tatiana Maslany, who plays multiple characters, all clones of one another.

... TNT has upped the episode order for the second season of Major Crimes from 15 episodes to 19 episodes following its wildly successful first season, which averaged 7 million viewers per episode. The network was also feeling generosity toward "Perception", and ordered an extra episode of that, too. Both "Franklin and Bas"h are still waiting by their phones.

... Netflix has slapped a premiere date on "Orange is the New Black", its next original series. The show from "Weeds" creator Jenji Kohan will debut July 11 and release all its episodes at once, as is the Netflix way. "Orange is the New Black" is a dramedy about a woman who gets thrown in jail and must learn to adapt to her new surroundings.

,.. ABC Family has picked up its pilot "Terminales" to series, but on one condition: The show has to change its name! The drama, an adaptation of a Mexican soap, follows a female journalist who balances work and family... and cancer. The new name of the series is "Chasing Life".

... NBC has given "Smash" a tiny lift for its season (and likely series) finale. The two-hour Season 2 ender being moved from the series' normal Saturday time-slot (LOL Saturday) to Sunday, May 26 at 9pm.

... Having already mastered drama, A&E Networks is now getting into original comedy with the pilot "Whitey". Producer Leslie Greif, who ushered in the surprise hit miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys", is behind the project that is apparently being earmarked for the History Channel. It's about a conservative guy (played by David Koechner, "The Office") in his 40s who doesn't know what to do after he gets fired.

... Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" has a return date: Season 5 will start June 23.

SHOWRUNNER NEWS

... "Criminal Minds" showrunner Erica Messer has signed a new deal with ABC Studios, which could trigger the first domino to fall like a house of cards in the "Criminal Minds" contract negotiations. The CBS procedural remains un-renewed as the cast has not penned new deals, but Messer's autograph bodes well for this standoff to come to an end soon.

... "Cougar Town" producer Blake McCormick will take over showrunning duties next season, the comedy's fifth overall and second on TBS. McCormick replaces Ric Swartzlander, who took over for creator Bill Lawrence after Season 3.

... ABC's "Malibu Country" is looking for a new showrunner should it be picked up for a second season. Nastaran Dibai stepped in to take over showrunning duties during the first season, but is leaving over creative differences.


CASTING NEWS

... Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) will star in and produce a pilot for HBO. The untitled half-hour dramedy will center on retired and active athletes living in Miami. Johnson will play one of the athletes. Peter Berg (Battleship, Hancock) will direct.

... The "Pretty Little Liars" spin-off "Ravenswood" has found its chunk o' hunk male lead. Tyler Blackburn, who currently stars on PLL as Caleb, will depart the ABC Family hit for the spin-off and start his journey in the annual PLL Halloween episode. If Caleb had a hard time with homicidal teen cliques, it won't be much better for him in Ravenswood. The show is set in the titular Pennsylvania town, which happens to suffer a curse that five youngsters must unravel. Ravenswood will premiere the day after the "Pretty Little Liars" Halloween episode.

... "Royal Pains" is welcoming some cool guest-stars to its fifth season, foremost among them being "Community"s Danny Pudi. Abed will play a radio personality who gets help from the doc when he loses his voice before a career-making gig. Also coming to "Royal Pains" will be "Grimm"s Claire Coffee and Tony-winner Stephen Spinella.

... "Ben & Kate" star Nat Faxon has grabbed the lead in the untitled FX comedy pilot from Andrew Gurland (The Last Exorcism). Faxon will play one half of a married couple who agree to "shake things up" in order to save their marriage.


Culled from TV.com

"Hannibal" : 3 Episode Review

"Hannibal", the latest in a long line of media offering based on the "Hannibal Lecter" character from the book "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. From creator Bryan Fuller, who created such series as "Dead Like Me", "Wonderfalls" and "Pushing Daisies".

Criminal Minds : 100 Reasons Not to Live in America

Anytime i watch Criminal Minds, it tells me how dangerous America is, the number of psychopaths, sociopaths and serial killers that live there. Their reasons for committing crimes are so ludicrous and appalling that I wonder if such crimes depicted in the show could actually happen. An FBI team that's tasked with catching criminals or offenders by thinking like them, trying to figure out why and how they think. This team is made up of interesting characters, " the Leader, old senior member, the computer geek, the black guy, the genius and the female character that brings feminine feelings to the show.
This show maybe serious and the death or kill scenes maybe too gruesome for some to watch, there's still some funny and light-headed moments, especially from Reese and Garcia. Reese is the Genius young Professor that was asked to assist in the 1st season and has been with them since, his quirks and way of interactions with people he meets is fun to watch, especially his know-it-all attitude. While Garcia is the tech-geek that brings the fun into serious situations with her banter with Morgan ( the black guy).
Criminal Minds is a show to watch, but not for the faint-hearted, it has its own heavy moments with its deaths, murders and criminal thought processes but its still a great show to watch, with its personalization of the team and their character's lives and how the job impacts and affects their lives.