John Goodman
Imagine a world in which the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball all decided to move their seasons to the same time of year. It would be chaos, for fans and the professional sports business alike. And yet, in television, that's essentially what happens during pilot season.
The broadcast networks traditionally order pilots during the first few months of the year. From there, it's a race to find the best actors, hire a crew, build sets and produce a show before May, when the upcoming fall schedules are announced. The field has always been crowded, but this spring, several cable networks and online retailer-turned-programmer Amazon are also developing new shows that they hope will go to series (cable networks typically produce pilots throughout the year, usually avoiding the spring).
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Andrew Lincoln
You'd think Easter weekend might be a quiet time for TV. You'd be wrong. Easter Sunday turns out to be one of the most overstuffed nights since February's sweeps-stakes, capped by a face-off between the season finale of cable's hottest horror show and the premiere of pay cable's most deluxe epic fantasy.
AMC did not make the third-season finish of The Walking Dead (Sunday, 9/8c) available for preview, but we're already fearing the worst as the climactic showdown approaches between the Governor's troops and TV's most heroic prison gang, while failed peacekeeper Andrea swelters in the torture dungeon back in Woodbury. It's nothing new to wonder who'll live or die in this bleak post-apocalypse. But until this riveting and wrenching season, we were mostly worried about the zombie "walkers," who've taken a back seat lately to the human monsters battling for power and revenge.
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Eliza Coupe, Zachary Knigthon
The grumbling you've been hearing for the past two months has been the unhappy Happy Endings fans who have been waiting for the comedy's return to ABC's schedule. Yes, it's now on Fridays at 8/7c and yes, like a Xela dress, a move like that can turn a good girl bad. But according to executive producers David Caspe and Jonathan Groff, the show is coming back with a bunch of new episodes that are worth the wait. So spread the word, set your DVR, and tell your friends. Because it would totally sooook to lose this one now.
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Dylan Baker and Julianna Margulies
When accused wife-killer Colin Sweeney (Dylan Baker) turned up in The Good Wife's first season, it was loathe at first sight. Sweeney knew exactly which of then-first year associate Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) buttons to push, and since then the writers have used the twisted relationship to set up some of the show's best shows. Sweeney returns for the March 31 episode, which sees the domestic bliss he's found with former employee Isobel (Morena Baccarin) and their son threatened by the Supreme Court. Baker called up TV Guide Magazine from the Anchorman 2 set in Atlanta ("I haven't ruined any takes yet by laughing, but it's early days," he admitted) to talk about the return of everyone's favorite slimy — or "uncomplicatedly, refreshingly open," as Baker puts it — Lockhart/Gardner client...
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John Walsh
Lifetime has decided not to pick up another season of America's Most Wanted, TV Guide Magazine has learned exclusively. The decision effectively ends the groundbreaking reality series after 25 seasons, at least for now.
Separately, however, the cable network is looking to stay in business with...
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Garret Dillahunt
Oy vey. Or as Virginia Chance (Martha Plimpton) might mangle her Hebrew-isms: "Molotov! (for mazel tov)." Fox sure doesn't make it easy to say goodbye to Raising Hope as it ends its third season on a new night with back-to-back episodes (9/8c), the sort of treatment you'd normally see from a network burning off a show in which it has lost faith. Thankfully, that's not the case here. Hope has already been picked up for a fourth season, and it goes out on a delightfully deranged musical high, with Burt (the sublime Garret Dillahunt) center stage as he frantically preps for his overdue Bar Mitzvah.
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She's back! Four years after last appearing on TV, Lana Lang returns to Smallville — in comic-book form. Clark Kent's first love shows up in a new arc of DC Comics digital series Smallville Season 11 on Friday, April 5.
The character — Clark Kent's first true love — last appeared in 2009, during the eighth season of the TV series. Shortly after gaining super powers (courtesy a special suit developed by Lex Luthor) she saved Metropolis by absorbing a kryptonite bomb, which essentially made her toxic to Clark. She then flew off into the proverbial sunset and out of his life. (The role was played by Kristin Kreuk, now starring in The CW's Beauty and the Beast.)
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Leo Howard
Disney XD is kicking back into action with the third season premiere of Kickin' It. The martial arts comedy goes for the gold with guest star Gabby Douglas, last summer's Olympic gymnastics all-around champion. Whether Douglas will show up the dojo cast remains to be seen, but series star and real-life martial artist Leo Howard puts his skills to the test in the 007-themed episode, titled "Spyfall."
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Shaquelle O’Neal
Move over, Joel McHale, Daniel Tosh and Rob Dyrdek: Shaquille O'Neal is taking the video clip show to new heights. TruTV's Upload With Shaquille O'Neal (Thursdays, 10:30/9:30c) features the former NBA star and comedians Gary Owen (Think Like A Man) and Godfrey (The Mr. Men Show) as they showcase funny online videos, as well as make their own viral videos and pull various pranks. O'Neal and his executive producer, Greg Heller, took time out to explain why we should keep up with Upload...
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Poppy Montgomery
Sometimes even network executives admit they've made mistakes. After canceling Unforgettable last year, CBS is bringing back the cop drama this summer. AMC changed its mind about dropping The Killing and, most recently, Lifetime decided to revive Drop Dead Diva.
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