If you’ve never read Brian K. Vaughn’s comic series Y: The Last Man, you’re really missing out. It’s very well written and has enjoyed tremendous popularity.

So much so, in fact, that it’s one of the reasons Vaughn ended up as a writer for ABC’s LOST for several seasons. Now, it looks like Vaughn’s TV writing career is going to continue.

According to Deadline, he has been signed to write Showtime’s drama series adaptation of Stephen King’s 2009 novel Under the Dome, from DreamWorks Television. According to the report, Vaughn was chosen after a long search by the show’s producers and will begin writing the adaptation immediately.

In case you’re not familier with the story, the supernatural thriller concerns locals at a Maine vacation spot who battle one another when a force field suddenly surrounds their town and cuts them off from the rest of the world. Yes, it takes place in Maine. Try to contain your surprise.

To be honest, this is not my favorite Stephen King novels. However, Vaughn is one of my favorite writers so hopefully he will bring his trademark wit and style to the project. The series expects to begin filming early next year for a debut sometime next Fall.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to reveal I’ve had Stephen King’s Under the Dome on my Kindle for about a year and still haven’t gotten around to reading it. Not that I think it won’t be good, it’s just that other things have come up.

Fortunately, it seems I may not ever have to bother reading the book. Why? Well, today it was announced Showtime is partnering with Steven Spielberg and Stephen King for an Under the Dome drama TV series, which will be produced by DreamWorks Television.

In case you haven’t had the time either and don’t know the story of Under the Dome, it’s a supernatural thriller which revolves around locals at a Maine vacation spot who battle one another when a force field suddenly surrounds their town and cuts them off from the rest of the world. Wasn’t that the premise of an old Twilight Zone episode? Huh.

Anyway, now that the deal appears to be done with Showtime, the search is now underway for a writer (or writers) to adapt the novel into series form. No word yet on who that may be.

However, if I may make a suggestion, I hear Frank Darabont is available. I think he would be a great choice.

Showtime, you listening?

This week’s pick is Hiroshima (1995), which was a made for T.V. mini series on Showtime Network, and was directed by both Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode . The film is about the events that led up to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan during the tail end of World War II. The film is told through the eyes of both American and Japanese militarists, and civilians who were responsible, and were greatly affected by the decision to use the bombs.

The film stars Kenneth Welsh (president Harry S. Truman), Ken Jenkins (Secretary of State James F. Byrnes), Wesley Addy (Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson), Richard Masur (Maj. General Leslie Groves), Colin Fox (Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal), George R. Robertson (Admiral William D. Leahy), Saul Rubinek (Professor Leo Szilard), Cedric Smith (Gen. Curtis Lemay), Bernard Behrens (Asst. Secretary of War John J. McCloy), Jeffrey DeMunn (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Tim West (Prime Minister Winston Churchill), Naohiko Umewaka (Emperor Hirohito), Kazuo Kato (Prince Fumimaro Konoe), Ken Maeda (Minister of War Korechika Anami), and Hisashi Igawa (Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo).

Hiroshima sets the tone of the film almost immediately with the death of president Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. His reluctant successor Harry S. Truman assumes the presidency and quickly learns of the secret government project that has devised a “gadget” which will help end the war first in Europe. Welsh, who is the spitting image of Truman, plays him to perfection. Other actors play the their historical counterparts the same.

Other notable standouts are Masur as General Groves who was the military mind behind the Manhattan Project that created both bombs at the Los Alamos, New Mexico laboratories. One of my favorite characters in the film is played by Wesley Addy who plays Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War. Stimson pleaded with Truman that the use of such a weapon could create a new arms race for atomic weapons in the near future. One scene in the film that has been debated by historians for decades is the meeting between Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard (Rubinek) and James Byrnes (Jenkins) at Byrne’s home in South Carolina.

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TV genres come in big waves, whether it’s the faux superhero story with shows like Heroes and Modern Family, or mysterious sci-fi series like LOST, V, Surface, and countless others. Lately, the name of the game seems to be raunchy cable historical dramas.

Between shows like The Borgois, The Tudors, Camelot, and Game of Thrones, there are plenty of ways to see sexy and/or violent times of the middle ages. So why wouldn’t someone want to capitalize on this genre and get straight to the point?

That’s where Alex Fernie’s newest Funny or Die skit, The Sexy Dark Ages, comes in. Starring Justified’s Natalie Zea, Diora Baird, and Robert Englund, we get a look at a “brand new” series for Showtime, in which the concept of the overly sexual and dramatic historical fiction gets mocked beyond belief.

Not as many laugh-out-loud moments as you’d get from most FoD videos, but this clip is certainly a hot pick for anyone who’s hooked on shows like Game of Thrones, which is pretty big right now.

Check out the video after the jump, and pray that nobody from Showtime watches the video and decides to option this idea.

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While we are kinda sorry that ABC decided to cancel V (hey, it had potential) we are glad at least one of our favorite actresses from the show is moving on to something new. That’s right folks, you’ve loved her since she starred as Inara, the companion with a heart of gold, in Firefly and now you’ll be able to see Morena Baccarin next on Showtime’s upcoming new series Homeland.

The new thriller, from 24 executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, centers on Marine Sergeant Scott Brody (Damian Lewis), who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a driven CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America.

Baccarin will play Jessica Brody, Scott’s smart, strong wife. She replaces Laura Fraser, who played the role in the pilot. The series, which also co-stars Mandy Patinkin, is slated to debut in the fall.

Sounds like a cool show — as long as Mandy Patankin doesn’t sing in every episode. Plus, always liked Damian Lewis since he was in Band of Brothers and through his stint on the under appreciated series Life . Could be fun.

Until we know for sure, check out a trailer for the show after the break, coutesy of the folks at Showtime. Sadly, Morena Baccarin isn’t in it.

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Recently, we told you about Showtime’s pickup of two new series. One of those series was Homeland and now the network has released the first advance look at the show, which is set to begin production this Summer.

The thriller, based on Gideon Raff’s Israeli series Prisoners of War, was written by former 24 showrunner Howard Gordon, Raff and Alex Gansa. It tells the story of Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Scott Brody (Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed deal for nine years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.

Mandy Patinkin plays Saul, a veteran CIA Division Chief who is Carrie’s boss and mentor. As I said before, sounds interesting. I guess we’ll get a look at the other new Showtime series House of Lies soon enough as well.

Until then, check out the teaser for Homeland after the jump. Homeland comes to Showtime later this year.

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In addition to HBO, Showtime has also usually been a home for good original drama and comedy programming. From Weeds to The Tudors, Californication, Dexter and the recent The Borgias, the network has been pulling out all the proverbial stops to up the ante for pay cable entertainment.

Following that line, Showtime has given series commitments to two new show: the drama Homeland and the comedy House of Lies. Both have received 12-episode orders.

Homeland, which comes from 24 showrunner Howard Gordon, stars Claire Danes, Damien Lewis and Emmy-winner Mandy Patinkin. House of Lies stars Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell.

Here’s more info on each show:

Homeland, produced by Fox 21, is based on Gideon Raff’s Israeli series Prisoners of War. written by Gordon, Raff and Alex Gansa, it tells the story of Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Scott Brody (Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed deal for nine years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. Mandy Patinkin plays Saul, a veteran CIA Division Chief who is Carrie’s (Danes) boss and mentor.

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Ever since The Walking Dead went off famously on AMC, it seems like other networks are ready to jump on the “indie comic” bandwagon. Showtime has recently picked up a script based on the comic book series Chew about a detective who gets a psychic impression of things he eats. From Deadline.

Showtime has bought a script for Chew, a quirky half-hour cop show based on John Layman and Rob Guillory’s bestselling comic book of the same name. Stephen Hopkins is attached to direct and executive produce the project, which hails from Circle of Confusion, the company behind AMC’s hit series adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.

Chew tells the darkly comic story of federal agent Tony Chu, a “cibopath” able to get psychic impression from the things he eats who is assigned to the most usual and bizarre crimes.

Not only is Circle of Confusion the studio behind the brilliance of bringing The Walking Dead to screen, but they’re also the company that is working on bringing Brian Michal Bendis’ Powers to FX. Expect the next few years to be quite huge for the lesser-known comic book world. Which is not a bad thing at all.

With news of Chew hitting, who would you like to see as the titular character Tony Chu? John Cho? Stephen Chow? Are these all too easy?

You tell us.

Costume dramas featuring sex, violence, intrigue and political machinations are always welcome if well done. This new one from Showtime called The Borgias and we’ve got a trailer for it right here.

The Borgias is set in Renaissance Italy and tells the story of the crime family’s rise to power and their eventual decline. It features Jeremy Irons, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Derek Jacobi and Joanne Whalley. It’s produced by Michale Hirst and Neil Jordan and many of the episodes are directed by Jordan as well.

Looks pretty interesting to us. Kind of like The Tudors set in Italy — which makes sense considering Hirst’s involvement. It could be cool and we’ll be tuning in.

Showtime hasn’t set an air date for the series as of yet but we’ll let you know when they do. In the meantime, take a look at the trailer after the jump.

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In what could be definitely be considered a bad news/good news situation there’s been some developments among shows that we like here at The Flickcast. First off, FX has decided not to give freshmen series Terriers a second season due to, it would seem, the show’s continued mediocre ratings.

But with every cloud often comes a silver lining. This time that lining comes in the form of Showtime’s announcement that it will be renewing Dexter for a sixth season given that the show remains very popular and series star Michael C. Hall continues to be healthy.

While I’m happy about Dexter, I’m pretty disappointed in FX and their decision about Terriers. The show as very well done and told an interesting story with compelling characters you actually cared about. Obviously, that’s not something FX was interested in. Of course, the low ratings didn’t help either.

When considering the show I have to wonder why it never found and audience. Was the story too much of a downer? Were people not interested in a flawed protagonist who worked at the fringes of the law? Was the name confusing or off-putting in some way? Or do people just not like Donal Logue?

If you watched the show and are disappointed at its cancellation what do you think was the reason? Sound off in the comments.

It’s not easy being a consumer trying to cut the cable or fiber cord these days. You’d think with a bevy of hot new set-top boxes like Apple TV, Google TV and Boxee, we’d be living in a Utopian future where television finally does what we want and dumping your expensive provider was a real possibility.

Not so fast, because it’s just not the reality, at least not yet. And predictably, given the nature of content owners, the issues are control and profits.

As thousands of new Apple TV owners plugged in their shiny new boxes, the realization that only a handful of networks were available, slowly began to sink in. With shows from ABC, Fox, Disney, and BBC, Apple TV via iTunes simply does not offer enough diverse content to satisfy most TV-watchers. While that’s a nifty start for Apple’s reboot of Apple TV, certain shows are conspicuously absent.

Are you a ‘Wipeout’ or ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan? Unfortunately, you’re out of luck since iTunes doesn’t carry those shows. And if you think Google TV might be your salvation, it just may be worse for owners of Logitech’s Revue Google TV devices. Upon Google TV’s release, the big three networks as well as Hulu began to block Google TV owners from streaming their shows.

So it’s no shocker that the recent reporting talking about how Microsoft is potentially cobbling together enough network deals to launch it’s own streaming service on the back of its extensive installed base of Xbox gaming systems, has many consumers quite skeptical.

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While the Summer might be ending, great television for the year is just beginning. That’s why Cortney’s TV Digest returns to The Flickcast this month, where we’ll be bringing you some great shows from our favorite networks, including Showtime and MTV.

Mad Men

AMC might not have a lot of television shows, but what they lack in quantity they certainly make up for in quality. Breaking Bad just finished up a fabulous third season over the Summer, and that means it’s time for Mad Men. Season 4 started last month but continues on this month, as Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce begin to establish their new, but struggling, ad firm.

Mad Men is on every Sunday at 10/9C on AMC.

Weeds

Our favorite pot-dealing, crime-scheming Nancy Botwin is back, as Weeds enters its sixth season. It’s so hard to write about this show without absolutely spoiling everything, but to be discrete, this episode picks up right after the last one left off, and looks like this season is going to be a doozy as everyone in the Botwin pack deals with the implications of Shane’s actions.

If you’re a new-comer to Weeds, you’ve got about two weeks to catch up on all five of the previous seasons, but the episodes are so good (and, luckily, short) that it won’t take you much time at all to see what all the fuss is about. Weeds begins its new season on August 17th on Showtime.

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