It’s no secret that some of us here at The Flickcast are huge Spartacus: Blood and Sand fans, having written about the Starz show during it’s premiere season, covering Andy Whitfield’s battle with a treatable form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, as well as Starz’ decision to film a 6- episode prequel to buy some time for Andy to recover.

So when Starz announced there would be a SDCC 2010 panel featuring Andy Whitfield and the cast and producers, we knew we’d be there to cover all of the Comic-Con exclusive news and trailers.

The panel opened with a trailer, mostly highlight from Season 1, however it was great fun to re-watch some of the best moments from the show’s first dozen or so episodes. As the lights went up, Andy Whitfield, Spartacus himself, walked onto stage to thunderous applause from the enthusiastic audience.

Andy looked great, rested and perhaps a few pounds below normal, but considering what he’s been through, medically-speaking over the past 9 months, he’s definitely recovered nicely. The rest of the panel attendees were introduced and included: Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), John Hannah (Batiatus), Viva Bianca (Ilithyia) and Steven S. DeKnight (Writer/Executive Producer)

Whitfield talked a bit about being grateful for the prequel, which bought him some time for him to undergo treatment and how thankful he was that the show stuck it out with him. He talked briefly about his illness, and joked that he can’t wait to get back to the gym to try and bulk up a bit for Season 2. Andy clarified that the doctors have cleared him to work, he’s feeling really great and has had plenty of time to really rest and reboot. “Bring it on!” He shouted as the lights started to dim for yet another video.

Continue Reading →

Ralph Garman from L.A. radio station KROQ 106.7 hosted the official San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Dexter  panel. Ralph got things rolling by showing an exclusive  sneak peek at the second season of its animated webisode series ‘Dexter Early Cuts: Dark Echo,’ to a packed hall.

A video showing gameplay from Dexter ‘the game’ for the iPod and iPad was on tap next, revealing some of the in-game action from the 3D game based on the  Dexter series. But what the audience really wanted to see, was a trailer from the upcoming Dexter Season 5 which begins in September.

The trailer takes us back to the game-changing events of Season 4′s shocking finale. A crying baby; the police arrive with siren’s blaring at Dexter’s suburban house; an image of Rita, Dexter’s wife, resting lifeless in a bathtub full of blood. In front of the officers on the scene, Dexter appears to admit it. He admits he did it. Killed his own wife.

Ponderous, since Dexter’s serial-killing peer, the crafty and lethal ’Trinity Killer,’ played masterfully by John Lithgow, was most certainly responsible. Still, the apparent admission stirs suspicion in those around Dexter, and many begin to question if perhaps there is more to Dexter than meets the eye.

Continue Reading →

Oh Nancy Botwin, what have you gotten yourself into now? Oh wait, I already know. First, your husband dies and you have to turn to selling pot to make ends meet.

Then, you risk everything for a relationship with a known drug dealer and also have his illegitimate child. Oh, your youngest son also manages to bump off your baby daddy’s chief handler so she won’t be in the way. Too much to imagine? Nope, just another day for the folks over at Weeds.

With last season’s great cliff hanger ending still fresh in our memories this new season of the show, its sixth, promises to be even more fun. In this new trailer for it we see that although Nancy and the gang are in different surroundings, they are still the same awesome band of lovable misfits we’ve come to know and watch every week.

Click through for the trailer. Weeds begins its new season on August 16th only on Showtime.

Continue Reading →

The list of TV networks, studios and comic book companies attending San Diego Comic-Con keeps on growing. This time around it’s premiere cable network Showtime and their announcement of all they will be bringing to the show this year. The networks panels this year will include Dexter by itself as well as a special Anti-Hero panel featuring series star Michael C. Hall, Californication’s David Duchovny and Weeds’ Mary-Louise Parker.

Both panels will be on the first day of the con, Thursday, July 22.  In addition to the cast mentioned previously, the panels will feature producers and writers from Dexter, Weeds, Californication and Nurse Jackie. Okay, I like most of these shows and also are fans of their stars. However, I’m not really sure what these particular shows have to do with Comic-Con.

Granted, the con has become way more about movies, TV and such and less about comics, but I think the panels should have at least something to do with comics or the geek community in order to be included in the con. I can see what a show like The Big Bang Theory or Fringe, for example, are doing coming to San Diego but Weeds and Nurse Jackie? Not sure. At least Californiacation’s David Duchovny used to be in The X-Files so that, at least, makes a little sense.

Oh well, if you like these shows (and I do like most of them) and are going to Comic-Con, I guess you’re probably pretty happy now so I’ll just be quiet. Click through for a full description of all the panels and be sure to check back right here for more info than you can handle on this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Continue Reading →

In news that will most likely be met with meh by the major cable outlets, production company Relativity Media announced that it will make a deal with movie rental giant Netflix to stream its content via the service. While that may not sound impressive, the other part of this deal will see Relativity bypassing traditional home video routs and cable stations like HBO or Showtime and going directly to Neflix’s streaming movie service.

With the backing of backing larger companies like Lions Gate Entertainment, Sony Pictures, and Universal Studios, Relativity will grant Netflix first rights to stream popular movies that are typically sent to premium cable channels like Starz, HBO, and Showtime following the movie’s DVD release. This arrangement is seen as a major development because it’s the first time a major movie producer has turned to online distribution for its movies and not gone the traditional route.

Could this be the start of a trend? We’ll see. It would probably seem like more of a big deal (at least to me) if the movies were a bit more impressive and if HBO and Showtime didn’t seem more concerned with creating original programming than showing movies. Still, it is an interesting development to be sure. Time will tell if it has an impact on other companies and if they join in.

The deal is set to launch with movies Skyline and The Fighter, featuring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, with more titles to follow soon.

We’re about 3 months away from the August 16th premiere of Weeds Season 6, yet Showtime is already ramping up their marketing for the newest season with a brand new teaser showing Mary-Louise Parker rocking out to an indie track by April Smith & The Great Picture Show.

Last we left the family Botwin, things got pretty heavy when Shane (Alexander Gould) committed the unthinkable. There hasn’t been much speculation on where the series is headed this season, aside from the fact that Linda Hamilton will be joining the cast in the short-term.

From what we can gather in the cryptic teaser, Nancy seems to be burying everything that has to do with Esteban (Demian Bichir) including a gun, cell phone, and the infamous croquet bat.

Check out the teaser after the jump, and join Weeds on Showtime as “The plot deepens” on August 16th.

Continue Reading →

Even though Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and The United States of Tara have recently had their new season premieres, the network must be so impressed that they’ve already given the green light to another new season for both shows. The pickups come after both shows returned strong for their second debuts in the ratings.

Nurse Jackie had it’s most-watched episode ever with Tara close behind. All of which must have impressed Showtime execs very much indeed. In fact, here’s what they said about the shows, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Showtime is enormously proud of these two series starring two of the best actresses working today,” said Robert Greenblatt, president of entertainment, Showtime. “Both are iconic shows for our brand and our thanks to the dedicated producers, cast, and crews who work so hard to make them so great. Edie Falco’s portrayal of the fierce ‘Jackie’ is another extraordinary example of her range and brilliance, and recent Emmy and Golden Globe wins for Toni Collette in her tour de force role as a woman with multiple personalities put her in a class by herself. Strong women will continue to rule on this network for a long time to come.”

Well, there you have it. A network that rewards quality and stands by its shows is nice to see. Maybe Joss Whedon should do a show for Showtime?

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 →