Penny Dreadful, Showtime’s new series, has all the ingredients to become a cult sensation – a very weird cult sensation. I can just imagine the fan fiction this intriguing, but strange, horror show will produce. Set in Victorian England the series features Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), who is a spiritualist/medium of great power. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) is the American Wild West sharp shooter hired to help her and Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) who is combing the underworld of London to find his missing daughter, Mina. This world is filled with supernatural creatures, swathed in violence and psycho erotic moments, where psychic powers are real and everyone has a secret, or two.

John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo), who created Penny Dreadful and wrote all eight of the first season episodes, surrounds his characters with other literary legends: Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his monster/companion, along with dilatant Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) all wander this macabre world. And in the second episode (Séance) we meet the wild, Irish prostitute Brona Croft (Billie Piper) who is entangled in both worlds.

The possible connections to other literary, historical characters and events are endless. This has made some critics suggest it’s too close to the premise of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (the wonderful comic book series/graphic novels by Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neil, not the dreadful movie version.) This literary device has been used many times, but to me Penny Dreadful has more of a flavor of Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula.

When we first heard about Showtime’s drama Homeland we have to admit we were a tiny bit skeptical. The truth is we had a bit of a hard time imagining Claire Danes as a CIA analyst gone rogue.

Fortunately, after watching the first few minutes of the first episode, we realized how wrong we were. She kills it, as do the rest of the cast, writers and everyone involved in this excellent show. Soon, the award-winning Homeland will be back for a second season and Showtime has released a new teaser for that season to help get you excited for it.

In it we see the return of our favorite cast members: Claire Danes is back in action, this time both as a blonde and a brunette, joined by Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin. Looks awesome and we cant’t wait.

Homeland season 2 premieres September 30th on Showtime. Click through for the video.

Fans of Chuck, the series that would not die (until it did) have probably been missing one of the best reasons to watch that show: Yvonne Strahovsky. Fortunately, the TV gods have smiled on us and will be giving us more of our favorite female super spy soon.

That’s right, the lovely Strahovsky will be joining Showtime’s Dexter in season seven for a multi-episode arc. She’ll play a “strong, independent woman” who helps Dexter and his colleagues with a few old cases — but Dexter thinks there’s something she’s not telling them. I’ll bet he’s right.

Of course, as we all know, Showtime is a premium cable network which often features a great deal of blood, violence and nudity/sex. Does this mean we’ll finally get to see more of Strahovsky than we’ve seen on those websites where they put celebrity heads on other nude bodies for fun? Not that we’ve ever gone there of course. . .

Whatever happens, this development is more than enough reason for us to take an interest in Dexter again. Kudos Showtime. Kudos.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.