When you say the word “history” out loud, it’s usually met with a chorus of groans. “I hated history in school! All those dates and crap! So boring.” It’s depressing.

History, if taught right, is a story.  (That’s why it has “story” embedded into it. No joke.) It’s not names, dates, and places. It’s blood and sex, with a dash of art and higher aspirations. It’s the stuff you pay to watch in theaters or on HBO but with the kicker that it actually happened.

I couldn’t be happier that television has decided to take that idea and run crazy with it. The new trend on cable is taking finding some notorious era of history, populated with sex and swearing, and spin a few seasons out of it. HBO kicked off the trend with Rome and Deadwood (and promptly broke our hearts in the process), and now Showtime and Starz have taken up the gauntlet.

Showtime has been happily running around Renaissance England with The Tudors, which is about to wrap up in its fourth season now that Henry VIII is coming to the end of his wives. While it’s played a little fast and loose with history, it’s been a sumptuous watch, and fans won’t have to look far for a replacement.

Continue Reading →

We’re back this month with Cortney’s TV Digest, everything you need to know about the latest and greatest shows on the tube. This month we’ve got some interesting new shows to tell you about from a bunch of your favorite networks, as well as the resurrection of one show we worried we’d never see again.

Parenthood – NBC

Based on the 1989 film of the same name, this new show is produced by movie and tv genius Ron Howard. The show follows the parenting experience of the Bravemen family: single mom Sarah (Lauren Graham), her brother Adam (Peter Krause) and wife Christina (Monica Potter) whose son is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and their headstrong father (Craig T. Nelson). Parenthood premiers March 2nd at 10 PM on NBC.

Southland – TNT

Back in 2009, NBC premiered their new, gritty cop drama, Southland. The show centered around Los Angeles and the members of the LAPD, including The OC’s Ben Mackenzie as rookie Officer Ben Sherman. Shortly before the beginning of its second season, NBC suddenly canceled Southland. It was doubtful whether we’d ever see the six episodes scheduled to air, but TNT swooped in and bought them, effectively saving the show from certain doom. The previous season began airing in January and season 2 starts on March 2nd.

Continue Reading →

We’re all pretty big fans of the original Showtime series Weeds around The Flickcast offices. The show has managed to stay strong and innovative since it’s launch back in 2005, with plenty of plot twists and fan favorite cameos. One of the main reasons we love the show so much is the use of the ensemble cast, especially any major story arcs with Andy Botwin, played by Justin Kirk.

We recently got a chance to sit down with Justin about the show, his work on the recently released season five DVD, and where he sees the upcoming season going. One cool feature on the DVD is a collection of the University of Andy web shorts. We asked Justin where the idea came from, and he knew that it was already going to be a success.

The writers had done various web-based content over the years. I don’t know if you remember ‘Good Morning, Agrestic’, which was a faux public access channel, but it was all meant to be for the web and DVD’s, which inevitably turned into a big hit. There’s also a new round out right now. We are only 3 episodes deep into round 2, which is going on right now.

One of the biggest events of this past season was the jump ahead six months and the story progressed. Justin was more than excited about that idea when he first heard about it.

Continue Reading →

2009 has been a great year for TV. Everyone’s favorite shows like The Office, Lost, Weeds, and True Blood continued with some killer seasons, new shows like Trauma, Castle, and Lie to Me caught audience’s interests. We’ve got a list for you of our favorite TV shows of this year, including some of the latest and greatest of 2009 as well as some old favorites.

Glee – Fox

Glee has stolen viewer’s hearts this season not just with its love triangles and intense drama, but also the song and dance that the students in William McKinley High School’s glee club perform. The mid-season finale just aired, and it surely made “gleeks” even more anxious for the rest of the season, which will air beginning April 13th.

Not only has Glee swept the nation’s TV sets, but also it’s iTunes playlists. The first soundtrack to the season has already gone gold, while the second soundtrack is climbing the charts in the top 5.

True Blood – HBO

Where the Twilight series fails to thrill audiences, True Blood succeeds. Just finishing its action packed and hair-raising second season, the show, based off Charlaine Harris’ vampire mystery series continues to confuse us, surprise us, and make our blood boil with such storylines as an anti-vampire cult, a love triangle, and flying Eric, all in this season alone!

Continue Reading →

Chestnuts are roasting and Jack Frost is nibbling. It’s December already, and here at The Flickcast we’ve got another TV digest for you, ready to keep you entertained in between all your caroling, pigging out, and gift exchanges this holiday season.

This month, we’ve got the season finales of some of our favorite shows.

Glee

After last week’s huge reveal and with sectionals ahead for the Glee kids, this is one mid-season finale you won’t want to miss.  Musical tracks on the bill for the episode, which airs December 9th on Fox, include The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, and “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from the musical Dreamgirls.

Glee will return for the remaining 9 episodes of the season April 13th, 2010.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The season finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia airs December 10th on FX. In this episode, the gang tries to reignite their old rivalry with another local bar in a local drinking competition appropriately named “Flipadelphia.”

Finding that they are in need of some serious practice, the guys head to Dennis’ old fraternity house at the University of Pennsylvania to get their game up to speed.

Continue Reading →

Those who caught last week’s season premiere of Showtime’s original series Californication can give themselves a congratulatory pat on the back. Thanks to the astounding viewership, the show has already been picked up for another season. The episode had 821,000 viewers, which is more than twice as many as the first season initially got.

For those who aren’t on the bandwagon, the series stars David Duchovny as Hank Moody, an at-one-time successful writer, who has hit a bit of writer’s block and relies on vices like booze and women to help him cope. Being on Showtime, this becomes one of the bigger appeals to some watchers as an “adult show.”

The show has some great supporting characters to play alongside Duchovny as well, including Natasha McElhone (Ronin), Pamela Adlon (King of the Hill), Madeline Zima (The Nanny) and Evan Handler (Sex and the City). Also, there are enough celebrity cameos to make any Entourage watcher turn their head.

Keep this season going strong by catching episode 3 of Californication’s third season this Sunday on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT.