Linda Lavin, Sean Hayes, Megan Hilty
Pity the network that has to follow cable at the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills. Such was long-time underdog NBC's lot on Saturday, putting its happiest face on a mixed bag of new fall programming in front of an audience that just a day earlier had sat in rapt fascination as the cast and creator of AMC's Breaking Bad presented their farewell TCA panel — the first episode of its final run (airing Aug. 11) is as gripping as you could hope, by the way. The cable portion of TCA also included a spectacularly geek-tastic celebration of Doctor Who's upcoming 50th anniversary staged by BBC America (complete with TARDIS and Dalek, a roving Cyberman and a museum-quality display of costumes and props).
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Sean Saves the World
Will & Grace is returning to NBC ... sort of. The better half of Will & Grace is returning to NBC — aka Just Jack ... minus Karen.
Sean Hayes comes back to the network that made him a household name in his new comedy Sean Saves the World. In the multi-camera sitcom, Hayes stars as...
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Hugh Dancy
Send questions and comments to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter!
Question: This TV mid-season has brought us three dramas about serial killers: The Following, Hannibal and Bates Motel. Why do competing networks often program similar TV shows? Remember the recent explosion of shows set in the 1960s (The Playboy Club, Pan Am, The Hour)? Last year we had the more successful slate of fantasy universe-meets-modern universe shows (Grimm, Once Upon a Time). What gives? Are the networks just waiting around for word of what their rivals are doing so that they can make a duplicate? Or is it all just coincidence? — Sam
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NBC logo
NBC has given pilot orders to two dramas and three comedies from Carlton Cuse, Dick Wolf, Jason Bateman and others.
From Lost's Cuse, The Sixth Gun is a supernatural Western that follows the story of...
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Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes could be returning full time to primetime next season. The Will & Grace alum has signed on to executive produce and star in a new NBC sitcom project from writer Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted).
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