Allen Leech
With Downton Abbey killing off two of my favorite characters — Lady Sybil and Matthew Crawley — is it possible their surviving spouses could find love with one another? — Emma, New Orleans
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The Bachelor
The second-season return of Smash on Feb. 5 was always going to be a tough sell. But ABC's decision to schedule a last-minute special Tuesday-night edition of The Bachelor against it helped to crush NBC's musical drama, which attracted just 4.5 million viewers. Meanwhile, Sean Lowe and his roses brought in 7.9 million.
In this age of time-shifted and on-demand viewing, TV network scheduling seems like an antiquated idea. Yet as the networks fight over smaller pieces of the Nielsen ratings pie, scheduling — and the strategy behind how and when programs run — continues to play a critical role.
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Kevin Spacey
TV viewers have never had it so good — or maybe they have it too good. There's never been more original programming to navigate than at this very moment. Take Sunday nights: Even with the NFL season over, viewing options include The Good Wife (CBS), The Walking Dead (back Feb. 10 on AMC), Girls (HBO), Shameless (Showtime), Downton Abbey (PBS), Family Guy (Fox), Revenge (ABC) and Kourtney and Kim Take Miami (E!). And that's just in one timeslot: 9/8c.
That's a lot of DVR space being filled up week in and week out with must-see shows. "There's definitely more programming that I'm interested in watching than I can actually consume," says Showtime Entertainment president David Nevins.
According to FX Networks president John Landgraf, there were just 35 scripted shows on cable when The Shield premiered 11 years ago; now that number is up to...
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Julian Fellowes
NBC is looking to bring the next Downton Abbey to its airwaves.
The Peacock has signed Downton creator Julian Fellowes to create and produce The Gilded Age, a sweeping epic about the millionaire titans of 1880s New York, NBC announced Tuesday. Fellowes will write and produce the project, which is described as a "tale of the princes of the American Renaissance, and the vast fortunes they made - and spent - in late nineteenth century."
Downton Abbey renewed for Season 4
"This was a vivid time with dizzying, brilliant ascents and calamitous falls, of record-breaking ostentation and savage rivalry; a time when money was king," Fellowes said in a statement...
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Homeland
When Carrie confronted Brody for being a terrorist on Homeland; when Quinn Perkins' identity was revealed on Scandal; when Lori died on The Walking Dead; when American Horror Story: Asylum revealed who Bloody Face was: All of these things happened within the first five episodes of each of these series this season. Suffice it to say, the fall TV season has been full-steam ahead, with series diving straight into some of their biggest mysteries at such a breakneck speed, it has left fans wondering — and anticipating -- how the shows will top these events for the remainder of the season. Does this make speed the new suspense on television?
TV's Sophomore Class Report: Which shows are working? Which are slumping?
"Shows have sped up...
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Dan Stevens and Michelle Dockery
Before Downton Abbey's third season premieres, take a look back at some of the great moments from Seasons 1 and 2.
In Downton Abbey Revisited, fans can catch up on the PBS series as well as watch cast interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and also get a first look at what's to come for the Crawleys
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Joel McHale
Joel McHale's Sons of Anarchy character doesn't have a last name. There are a few possible explanations for this, according to the Community star, who starts a two-episode arc on Sons tonight: "That's either some serious arrogance, or he's...
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Steel Magolias
Is there a more perfect Lifetime movie property than Steel Magnolias? This tragicomic celebration of female bonding through gossipy good times and bad, all while getting their hair done at Truvy's Beauty Spot in suburban Louisiana, has been a crowd-pleaser since its first incarnation as an off-Broadway stage play (my preferred version, where the men are kept entirely offstage). The epitome of a leave-'em-laughing-while-weeping heart-warmer, Magnolias reached its pop-cultural apex in the all-star 1989 film version, but its can't-miss universality is underscored in Lifetime's oddly genteel but ultimately affecting new TV-movie (Sunday, 9/8c), whose big twist is in the casting of an all African-American ensemble.
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Julian Fellowes
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes says he plans to write a prequel to the beloved British period drama, the BBC reports.
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Bryan Cranston
This is a particularly difficult year to divine which way the Emmy winds will blow — toward past favorites or strong new drama and comedy contenders. Here's my wish list, and in some cases the usual wild guesses, about how it will all go down at Sunday's ceremony on ABC (8/7c) with Jimmy Kimmel's much anticipated first turn as host.
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