One show is ending, two more are coming and other is getting a black-and-white rerun in this round-up of small screen news….
With the season 5 finale of “Mad Men” airing next week, it’s time to look forward to AMC’s other critically acclaimed drama, “Breaking Bad.” The network recently
Another cable series is drawing to a close, although it airs on the premium network Starz. It was announced yesterday that the upcoming third season of the network’s high-rated original series “Spartacus” will be its last. Series creator Steven DeKnight said the decision was made so the show would go out on a high note “by rolling all of the remaining action and drama of Spartacus’ journey into one stunningly epic season that will be extremely satisfying for everyone who’s been along for the ride.” DeKnight still has an overall deal with Starz that includes the hourlong “Noir” with executive producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Josh Donen and we presume that's where he might put his focus next. [Variety]
AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was a show that started off with a lot of promise, with Frank Darabont was spearheading the production, but after clashes with the infamously frugal network over budget, Darabont left and the already shaky writing got worse. Now, in order to drum excitement for the impending third season of the zombie show, the network will be airing a marathon of all 19 episodes of the series that ends with the airing of a black-and-white version of the Darabont-directed pilot. The decision to air the pilot in black and white isn’t entirely without precedence, with Darabont releasing his adaptation of the Stephen King horror novella, “The Mist,” in both color and black and white versions upon its home video release. He even went as far as saying that he would have preferred the black and white version to have been the one that screened theatrically. The marathon airs on July 7th and July 8th. [Grantland]
HBO is gearing up for its summer season, which includes Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom,” and they’ve now released three teaser clips for the upcoming season of “True Blood.” The fifth season has new additions to the cast that include Christopher Meloni, Scott Foley and Alexander Drew. The show premieres on June 10th at 9pm, watch the clips below. [Collider]
