TV

While we wait and see what NBC does to Hannibal (the show has not been picked up for a second season yet), the network has revealed the first images from another genre-themed series: Dracula.

It's exactly what I thought it woud look like.

A period drama starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (6 Souls), the show, per Entertainment Weekly, finds Dracula posing "as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society but secretly hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier."

Thomas Kretschmann will plan Van Helsing.  Dracula debuts this fall taking the 10pm-11pm Friday night time slot.  More pics await inside.

Angela Bassett and Patti LuPone are joining the third season of American Horror Story which has been sub-titled "Coven."  Co-creator Ryan Murphy made the announcement via Twitter this weekend.  This is shaping up to be quite the cast!

HBO has released new photos from Season 6 of True Blood which premieres Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m.

Based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, the Emmy-nominated hit drama series was created by Alan Ball, creator of HBO's Emmy-winning series Six Feet Under.

The show follows waitress and part-faerie Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who can hear people's thoughts, vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard).

Who's got your back, Rick Grimes?  Apparently, no one.  AMC revealed the first photo from The Walking Dead season 4 today.  Shooting began May 6th on the new season down in Atlanta, Georgia.  New episodes begin in October.  The pic doesn't present anything new.  Well, it's like not we haven't seen Rick in this scenario before.  Head inside for a look!

Fox has revealed that it picked up the series Sleepy Hollow for the 2013-2014 season.

From co-creators/executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (the Star Trek and Transformers franchises, Fringe), Sleepy Hollow is a modern-day retelling of Washington Irving's classic.

Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction and that he is humanity's last hope, forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer (Nicole Beharie) to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.

CBS revealed a new promo for Under the Dome called "Watchtower" and you can watch it inside.  The preview offers plenty of new footage from this adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name (you actually get a shot of the dome "coming down").

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, this adaptation of the Stephen King novel stars Chad Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Dean Norris, Jolene Purdy, Nicholas Strong, Britt Robertson, Aisha Hinds, Alex Koch, Natalie Martinez and Colin Ford.

BBC AMERICA’s co-production, In The Flesh, tells a very human story…about the undead. The mini-series springs to life with the channel’s special broadcast event, premiering over three consecutive nights. Zombie teenager Kieren Walker isn’t comfortable in his ‘undead’ state. He didn’t want to come back - he wanted to be dead. After his suicide four years ago, his friends and family thought they’d never see him again. But then, shortly after his funeral, thousands rose from the dead. After months of re-habilitation and medication, the zombies, now known as PDS (Partially Deceased Syndrome) sufferers, are gradually being returned to their homes. When Kieran returns, he is forced to confront his family, the community that rejected him and the haunting flashbacks of what he did in his untreated state. BBC AMERICA’s special three-night premiere event of In The Flesh begins Thursday, June 6, 10:00pm ET/PT.

A promo for the ninth episode of Bates Motel - "Underwater" - has arrived and you can watch it after the jump. In the next installment, Abernathy (Jere Burns) amps up the pressure, but Norman doesn't know what he wants. Dylan and Bradley connect. Norman has an active imagination, which Miss Watson encourages. Emma goes on a trip.

HBO revealed the trailer for True Blood season 6 this weekend.  You can now watch it inside and begin to speculate as to what the hell is going to go down this season.  It definitely looks like the stakes are high this time...

And damn, how good does Jessica look?  Ridiculous.  The new season begins June 16th.

Based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, the show follows waitress and part-faerie Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who can hear people's thoughts, vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard).

Check out the preview for next week's episode of Hannibal inside.  Episode 7, entitled "Sorbet," features Gillian Anderson, X-Files fans...

When the BAU investigates a murder involving organ removal Jack (Laurence FIshburne) believes that the Chesapeake Ripper may have resurfaced, but Will (Hugh Dancy) determines that the victim's murder is the result of illegal organ harvesting accident. Meanwhile, Will suffers from nightmares where he is Abigail's father, and Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) slowly starts to seduce Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) and begins to visit his own therapist, Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson).

Wes Craven took to Twitter to address the Scream television series in the works at MTV.  Last week, when the news broke, it was revealed Craven was in talks to helm the pilot.

"A lot of you have asked about the Scream TV series," he said via Twitter.  "It's true I've been approached.  My response was, it would depend on the script.  If they have a great script/concept, it could be fun.  If not, not."

This has been his usual response concerning any involvement in the future of the Scream franchise.

As we all know, Showtime is saying goodbye to Dexter with season eight.  What we don't know is: What the hell is the final season about?  After the jump, you'll find Showtime's description which was culled from a "programming overview" press release.

A&E's promo for Bates Motel episode 8, "A Boy and His Dog," can be found inside.  

In the next chapter of the hit series, a mysterious stranger causes problems for Norma; Bradley is not happy when rumors spread at school; Dylan and Remo go on a fateful road trip; Norman takes up a grisly hobby. 

Bates Motel airs Monday nights at 10pm.

Recently revealed to bear the subtitle "Coven," the third season of FX's "America Horror Story" has today announced, via co-creator Ryan Murphy's Twitter feed, that Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe will be joining the cast.

Plot specifics for the new episodes are still a mystery, but stars Frances Conroy, Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Lily Rabe are set to return with Kathy Bates also joining the cast as a "rival" to Lange's character.

A few updates from camp Dexter.  According to TV Line, Julian Sands (Warlock himself) has been cast as a character known as Miles Foster, "a wealthy industrial businessman."  Is he a bad guy or red herring or what?  Start speculating...

Also, two new promos for the upcoming - final - season have hit.  You can watch both inside.

Dexter season eight kicks off on June 30th on Showtime.

Last December, the screen rights to Stephen King's novel 11/22/63 slipped out of Jonathan Demme's hands.  The Silence of the Lambs helmer was grooming the tale for the big screen but, as of last year, the project was "off of the table," as he put it.

But now, a new party is circling the adaptation: J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot.  Deadline says that the company is currently in talks with Warner Bros. to have the story unfold on television as a series rather than a feature  film.

The Strain continues to build momentum as Guillermo del Toro winds up his Pacific Rim promotional campaign and prepares to direct the Strain pilot for FX before moving on to Crimson Peak.

The latest on the Strain-front?  Well, yesterday, Corey Stoll joined the cast and, today, we're learning that Kevin Durand will also appear in the pilot.

Durand was on Lost for a bit and appeared in Real Steel and Cosmopolis.

Although NBC has yet to give Hannibal season 2 the official green light, that's not stopping Bryan Fuller from thinking about who he'd like to reach out to casting-wise.

"I guess my dream casting for the show would be to cast David Bowie as Hannibal Lecter’s uncle," he recently told Getty Images Entertainment.  "If we get a second season I will reach out and see if there is any interest.  NBC are saying that they’re very happy with where we are at so I hope that indicates towards a second season because I have a plan for season two that I think would be very exciting.”

Who knows if that casting will come to fruition, but it's a terrific idea.  Also, after the jump, check out the promo for season one's fifth episode, "Entree."

Deadline is reporting that Corey Stoll will star in The Strain, an adaptation of the novel written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.  Stoll was seen in the Netflix original series House of Cards (see that one if you haven't already).

Carlton Cuse of Bates Motel is acting as showrunner on the FX pilot.  Currently, only a pilot has been ordered but FX's top dog has hinted that it will likely gone to series.  Del Toro is directing the pilot.

MTV is moving forward with a pilot based on the Scream franchise.  Yes, that proposed Scream television show may actually happen.

According to Deadline, the network revealed the pilot - reported about back in June 2012 - at its upfront presentation today.  

Here's the rub: The pilot no further along in development than it was a year ago.

Netflix reportedly has a hit on its hands with Hemlock Grove, the latest original series to stem from the VOD service, and today, we were provided with a 3-minute featurette that takes a look at the most talked about scene from the 13-episode season: The werewolf transformation.

In the featurette - entitled "It Hurts So Good" - the crew, including executive producer Eli Roth, discuss the nature of the transformation, performed by Landon Laboiron, and how it was executed.

The series begins with the murder of 17-year-old Brooke Bluebell.  Any of Hemlock’s peculiar inhabitants – or killer creatures – could be suspects. Through the investigation, the town’s seamier side is exposed, revealing nothing is what it seems.

And away we go...  With True Blood season 6 on Sunday, June 16th, HBO has begun its promo campaign.  Inside, check out a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming season via two videos: "Alcide" and "Jason."

It’s a special crossover episode of The BloodCast!

Host Ryan Turek and the trio behind Geek Nation’s Killer POV – Rebekah McKendry (Fangoria), Robert Galluzzo (FEARnet) and Elric Kane – come together to look back at their formative years and the television horror shows and made-for-TV horrror movies that fueled their fandom.

From TV classics like Chiller to contemporary fare like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this quartet discuss it all. They also weigh in on today’s genre offerings like Hemlock Grove and more.

Listen in after the jump, or, download the episode to your favorite device via Geek Nation here.

As we told you last week, Hannibal's true fourth episode - "Ceuf" - was not going to be aired due to its subject matter in the wake of the Boston bombings.  Instead, it will air episode five, "Coquilles," instead.  

TV Line reports that "Ceuf" is being "cannibalized" and spread out as a web series.  After the jump, you can watch a preview with an introduction from showrunner Bryan Fuller.

The Walking Dead's fourth season will welcome actor Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. to the cast, says idigitaltimes.com.  

According to the site, he'll take on the role of Roy Stark Bob Stookey, a former Army medic haunted by his past.  

Gilliard previously starred on The Wire and Army Wives.  For genre fans, he was most recently seen in Would You Rather.

Good one, Bates family.  You now have a dead cop on your hands!  How are you going to get out of this one?  We're not sure, but we'll find out next Monday when episode seven of Bates Motel, "The Man in Number 9," airs on A&E.  After the jump, check  out the promo for next installment of the hit series.

Next week, NBC intended to air Hannibal's true fourth episode, "Ceuf," instead the network is aiming to show "Coquilles" instead.

According to Deadline, "NBC quietly sent out an alert with the scheduling change on Monday, several hours before the Boston Marathon bombing, so the decision to pull the episode had no connection to this week’s violence in Boston. In fact, the premise of the discarded episode is more closely related with the December Newtown massacre."

Inside you'll find a promo for next week's episode of Hannibal, "Coquilles," which airs Thursday, April 25th.

In this episode, Will tracks a serial killer, but his return to field duty weighs on him heavily.

Elsewhere, Hannibal tries to drive Will and Jack apart; Jack’s wife enlists Hannibal as her therapist; and Beverly tries to bond with Will.

This week, we had the good fortune of speaking with showrunner Bryan Fuller from the show.  Listen in to our interview right here.

Mid-week, the Internet sort of gave the Zombieland pilot a false start, however, Amazon has officially placed the episode online.  YOU CAN NOW WATCH IT HERE.  According to the site, Zombieland is about "Four survivors are killin' zombies and searching for a home."

You'll also notice that there is a link allowing you to let Amazon know what you thought of Zombieland.  This is your place to sound off.  The folks at Amazon are listening and how this pilot performs will dictate if Zombieland is taken to series.

The Zombieland pilot comes from the feature film's original creative team, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and producer Gavin Polone. Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) directed the pilot.  Check out the trailer inside.

Hemlock Grove isn’t like most small communities. When a teenage girl is murdered, two boys - Roman Godrey (Bill Skarsgard), the spoiled and possibly vampiric heir to the Godfrey estate, and Peter Rumancek (Landon Liboiron), a gypsy traveler and werewolf – step up to solve the shocking crime. As the investigation unfolds, though, the steel town’s deep, dark secrets come to light. Nothing is as it seems and the lines quickly begin to blur over whether Hemlock Grove’s monsters are supernatural – or just really twisted humans. 

Hemlock Gove is the second original series from Netflix, which has now made 13 episodes available. The show is based on the novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy, who serves as the series' writer and executive producer. Hostel’s horror maverick, Eli Roth, is also an executive producer, and obviously has an exuberant passion and enthusiasm for the genre.

“What Eli brings is such a great, offbeat sensibility to it all, that we all hung onto, which continues to go through the whole series and doesn’t leave,” says executive producer and director Deran Sarafian to several visiting journalists. “I was on from the beginning to listen to the stories. Along with Brian and Lee [Shipman], we would watch movies all the time. And we started with Rosemary’s Baby, because there’s a very dark sense of humor in Rosemary’s Baby that we have in this show. Even The Shining has a sense of humor to it, but you need a very visceral dark experience, and that’s what we kept hanging on to.” 

The Hollywood Reporter says that Terry Moore's comic book "Rachel Rising" is being groomed for the small screen.  Alcon Television Group snatched up the rights to the property for development.  Moore is best known for his on-going series "Strangers in Paradise."

According to the outlet, "Rachel Rising" is "centers on a woman named Rachel who wakes up dead in a shallow grave.  She begins to unravel the mystery of her death while crossing paths with not only friends but also a mysterious blonde woman who is tracking her and a horrific little girl named Zoe, out on a killing spree. Also figuring into the mix is the history of the local town, magic and witchcraft."

Amazon has revealed a trailer and the pilot episode of Zombieland, the outlet's proposed series based on the hit film from 2009.

You can watch the first episode VIA THIS LINK. (Update: The link works, but you won't be able to view the episode until tomorrow - Thursday, April 18th.)

As we reported a bit ago, Amazon is going to weight its decision on whether or not it will be taken to series based on what the audience reaction is to the pilot.  Obviously, if it's favorable, Zombieland will continue on.

The Zombieland pilot comes from the feature film's original creative team, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and producer Gavin Polone. Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) directed the pilot. The part of Tallahassee will be played by Kirk Ward, Maiara Walsh is cast as Wichita, Tyler Ross will play Columbus, and Izabela Vidovic has the role of Little Rock. 

Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller drops in on The BloodCast for a lengthy, honest and insightful interview with host Ryan Turek.

The man behind Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me and last year’s “Halloween event” Mockingbird Lane (aka The Munsters reboot), discusses the origins of NBC’s Hannibal and what's to come on the series.  The chat then leans into all things horror as Fuller and Turek look at Friday the 13th, remakes and reflect on Fuller's early days in the genre which includes writing the 2002 made-for-TV Carrie adaptation.

Give the interview a listen inside!

To download this episode of the podcast, visit The BloodCast's home, Geek Nation, via this link.

Here's one more preview for Hemlock Grove (review), the new series hitting Netflix with a 13-episode first season run this Friday.  This latest look is a "red band" trailer, so expect some grisly imagery.

Executive produced by Eli Roth, the series goes like this:  When 17-year-old Brooke Bluebell is brutally murdered, any of Hemlock’s peculiar inhabitants – or killer creatures – could be suspects. Through the investigation, the town’s seamier side is exposed, revealing nothing is what it seems.  Roth also helmed episode one.

Last night, Norma learned Norman got laid.  Norma's no longer in jail.  Dylan killed a dude.  And Emma and Norman have rescued a sex slave.  Now what?  Well, we've got a sneak peek at the next episode of Bates Motel - "The Truth" - waiting for you after the jump.

Bates Motel concerns the early days of Norman's life.  Following the tragic death of her husband, Norma Bates buys a motel on the outskirts of the idyllic coastal town of White Pine Bay, seeking a fresh start.  As Norma and Norman get ensconced in their new home, they discover this town isn't quite what it seems, and the locals aren’t so quick to let them in on their secrets. But the Bates’ are done being pushed around and will do whatever it takes to survive – and will do whatever it takes to protect their own secrets.

One more Hemlock Grove clip was squeezed out of Netflix in anticipation of this Friday's release.  All 13 episodes of the series hit Netflix Instant.  Check out the  preview inside!  And if you haven't read our review yet, click here.

Chiller teamed with six filmmakers to make five shorts for its first anthology film - Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear - about the human senses and we've got the trailer for this endeavor waiting for you after the jump.

The directors include Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton with Hearing, Emily Hagins with Touch, Eric England with Taste, Nick Everhart with Smell, and Miko Hughes with Sight.  

Andrew Gernhard, Zach O'Brien, and Colin Theys produced for Synthetic Cinema.

Another new clip from Hemlock Grove has been revealed, this one showcasing an attack on a young woman while she sits in her car by the railroad tracks.  This is actually from the opening moments of the series, which kicks off April 19th on Netflix.

When 17-year-old Brooke Bluebell is brutally murdered, any of Hemlock’s peculiar inhabitants – or killer creatures – could be suspects. Through the investigation, the town’s seamier side is exposed, revealing nothing is what it seems.

For all things Hemlock Grove, click here.

Entertainment Weekly reports actress Yvonne Strahovski will return for Dexter season eight.  She'll appear in a multi-episode arc.  The new seasons begins on Showtime June 30th.

The BloodCast - hosted by yours truly - welcomes Jennings Roth Cornet of IGN to discuss Hannibal, the new series from Pushing Daisies’ creator Bryan Fuller and NBC.  

Cornet and yours truly examine Hannibal Lecter’s legacy in film and his cannibalistic antics on the small screen.  Naturally, it would not be a BloodCast without the discussion going off on various other tangents and, here, we most certainly do, talking about other television “psychos.”

To download this podcast directly, visit the home of The BloodCast, GeekNation.

After the jump, you'll find a promo clip for next week's episode of Bates Motel on A&E.  

In the fifth installment, called "Ocean View," Norma receives some much-needed help, while Norman desperately awaits his mother's return home; Emma and Norman follow more clues, leading to a big discovery.

Bates Motel was picked up for a second season, in case you haven't heard.  Read more about that here.

Taking a page from American Horror Story's style of promotion, Hemlock Grove has yielded a 12-second spot, this one offering very little in the way of answers or major revelations.  Instead, it's simple and mysterious.  Head inside for a look.

A&E Network has picked up a second season of the acclaimed drama series, "Bates Motel" starring Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore from executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, it was announced today by Bob DeBitetto, President and General Manager of A&E Network and BIO Channel.

The premiere of "Bates Motel" garnered 4.5 million total viewers and 2.5 million adults 25-54 and 18-49, based on Live+7 viewership, making it the most-watched original drama debut in the key demos in the network's history.

A new promo (the third so far) for CBS's 13-part adaptation of Under the Dome hit the web and this one features new footage, including a look at the "dome" itself.  You can check out the previous two promos - one a text-heavy "emergency call" version, the other being a behind-the-scenes look - right here.

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, this adaptation of the Stephen King novel stars Chad Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Dean Norris, Jolene Purdy, Nicholas Strong, Britt Robertson, Aisha Hinds, Alex Koch, Natalie Martinez and Colin Ford.

Episode one debuts June 24th.

A new clip from Hemlock Grove has made its debut; this one introduces Shelley, a teenager "with a giant heart."  She's just one of the many oddball characters featured in the Netflix original series debuting on April 19th.  You'll be able to catch all 13 episodes then.

Synopsis: When 17-year-old Brooke Bluebell is brutally murdered, any of Hemlock’s peculiar inhabitants – or killer creatures – could be suspects. Through the investigation, the town’s seamier side is exposed, revealing nothing is what it seems.

Read our interview with executive producer Eli Roth here.

Last night, NBC premiered the first episode of Hannibal and, now, we have a promo featuring clips from next week's episode and the season to come.

Next week, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), now an official special investigator with the FBI, helps Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) and the BAU unit search for a murderer who buries his victims alive to grow mushrooms. In their therapy sessions, Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) begins to gain Will's trust as they bond over responsibility for Abigail (guest star Kacey Rohl), and helps Will open up about his true feelings about killing Hobbs. Meanwhile, Freddie Lounds (guest star Lara Jean Chorostecki) snoops around the BAU's investigation.

In addition to the promo, you can now watch last night's episode here!  Check out both videos within...

In a case of "this is kind of obvious," reports are coming in that Chad L. Coleman and Sonequa Martin-Green have been elevated to series regulars as Tyreese and Sasha in the fourth season of The Walking Dead.  

The two entered season three rather late in the game, but now that they're on Rick's side, yes, we're going to be seeing a lot more of them.  Oh, and one other character, too.

Warning: Spoilers for the Season 3 finale of The Walking Dead...

The Walking Dead closed out its third season this past Sunday and fans are already wondering how it's going to play out in the fourth season, which begins this fall.

IGN spoke with The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman about what we can expect in the upcoming sixteen episode season. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

"Rick has had a success. The people at the prison have survived this conflict with the Governor, he brought people from Woodbury into the prison, and he’s kind of had this big win. He’s had this moment where he’s brought people together and he’s doing good things. But he’s had this tremendous loss in that Carl has lost this piece of his humanity. This has been Rick’s main mission throughout the show, to protect his family. We’ve seen two very big failures on that front this season."

The Walking Dead’s third season has come to an end, not with a bang but a whimper.  Well, that’s what BloodCast host and ShockTillYouDrop.com manager Ryan Turek and special guests Devin Faraci (BadAssDigest.com) and Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com) think.

Listen in as they talk about AMC’s hit series (we swear, this is the last you’ll hear of The BloodCast rambling about The Walking Dead for a bit), it's flaws and what could be fixed.

They also squeeze in some time to talk about Mad Men and go off on other random tangents.  Head inside to give it a listen or swing by Geek Nation, the home of the BloodCast, to download the podcast directly!

After the jump, you'll find promos for the fourth episode of Bates Motel.  The next installment, which airs on A&E Monday, April 8th is called "Trust Me."

Norma's suspicions about people in town are raised, but other distractions continue to surface.

Bates Motel concerns the early days of Norman's life.  Following the tragic death of her husband, Norma Bates buys a motel on the outskirts of the idyllic coastal town of White Pine Bay, seeking a fresh start.  As Norma and Norman get ensconced in their new home, they discover this town isn't quite what it seems, and the locals aren’t so quick to let them in on their secrets. But the Bates’ are done being pushed around and will do whatever it takes to survive – and will do whatever it takes to protect their own secrets.