Without question, the hour of TV I have been most anticipating — and dreading — this week is the season, and for all we know, series finale of TNT's remarkable, brutal, bleak yet gripping cop drama Southland (Wednesday, 10/9c). Anticipating because each week, this series somehow raises the dramatic stakes for its characters, in a grueling but rewarding tour of duty through the socio-ethnic sprawl of Los Angeles. Dreading because Southland has almost always lived on the verge of ratings extinction, from the time TNT rescued the show after NBC dumped it before its second season could even premiere, and I fear (as do many) that this fifth season could very likely be its last hurrah. (Several of its stars have signed up for new work during this pilot season, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall.)
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I was heartbroken to learn that there probably won't be a new season of The Glee Project this summer. Over the last two seasons, it has quickly become my absolute favorite guilty pleasure, and I've loved seeing last season's winner Blake Jenner (Ryder Lynn) become a star on Glee. I've heard the reason behind The Glee Project not filming this year is because Glee has not been renewed yet for Season 5! Should I be worried at this point? Do you think Glee will be really be canceled? — Amy
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The Pacific Dining Car near downtown Los Angeles is the kind of old-school, coronary-clogging restaurant where the walls are green, the steak is red and the clientele is LAPD blue. You won't find a Lohan or a Kardashian hanging out here, and the closest they have to a juice fast is a filet mignon smothered with Roquefort cheese. So it's only fitting that this is where the cast of the cop drama Southland has chosen to do an interview with TV Guide Magazine after a long day's shoot; the show prides itself on keeping it real.
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Question: This is more a commentary than a question, but what are your thoughts on Southland? Ben McKenzie and Shawn Hatosy have recently landed new pilots, so it would appear that this will be the last season of the very fine cop show Southland. Yes, the show is an ensemble and could certainly go on without the two characters they portray, but it would be a different Southland without them, even with a cast as strong as one that includes Regina King and C. Thomas Howell.
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Southland's Regina King worked a double shift for the TNT drama's March 13 show, starring as Det. Lydia Adams and directing the episode. "Let's just say I didn't get much sleep," she says. It's not the first time King has yelled "Action!" (she shot the movie Let the Church Say Amen, which will air on BET later this year), but it is her first time helming Southland.
The episode reconnects Detective Adams with a man she sent to...
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