Calling all True Blood fans! Mark your calendars because HBO has announced that Sookie Stackhouse and her cohorts of vampires, shape-shifters and werewolves will be kicking off their third season on Sunday, June 13th.

Last time we saw our favorite Bon Temps inhabitants, Bill Compton proposed to Sookie during a night out at a French restaurant only to have her answer interrupted by someone mysteriously kidnapping Bill with a silver chain.

In case you’re not able to wait three months for its return, check out what’s in store for True Blood season three with our previous spoiler posts.

‘True Blood’ Season 3 Plot SPOILERS
More True Blood Season 3 Spoilers

Is Arlene leaving Bon Temp for good?

Remember back in October, when Alan Ball said that we will be saying goodbye to at least one main character when the show returns? Well, it looks like we may have a contender.

Carrie Preston, who plays Arlene Fowler – the only reliable waitress at Merlotte’s – will be a guest-starring for multiple episodes on CBS’s The Good Wife as Elsbeth Mann, a member of Peter’s legal team.

Considering that they’re currently in the middle of filming the third season of True Blood, does this mean that everyone’s favorite redhead will be killed off? Well, not exactly.

Even though they’re in the midst of filming, this new role on The Good Wife doesn’t mean that Arlene will be getting the axe. Anyone who’s read the Sookie Stackhouse books will tell you that Arlene doesn’t play that big of a part in the third book (which season three is based on) because the majority of the season takes place outside of Bon Temps.

Although, Alan Ball has been known to stray from the Sookie books. I guess we’ll have to wait until summer to find out!

Are you excited as me for the third season to start? Have thoughts on who nabbed Bill? Sad that Arlene might not last the season?

Catch the third season premiere of True Blood June 13th on HBO.

Source: TV Guide

Hankering for a True Blood? Want to talk more Sookie Stackhouse? Hit me up on twitter @anthonyocasio

Today marks the day when the nominations for the 36th Annual Saturn Awards are given out. In case you’re not familiar with them, they are given out by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (they also include TV shows and stage productions) so as a reader of Screen Rant I believe they’re right up your alley .

The awards will be given out on June 24th, so we have over four months to speculate and choose the nominees we’d give the award to. The categories range from the usual Best Film (separated into Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction etc) to Best DVD release and Best DVD Special Edition.

Keeping in line with all of the rest of the major awards, films like Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds have snagged a high amount of noms, with a couple of fan-favorites like District 9 and Star Trek also being included.

We have the full list of nominations for the Saturn Awards so what are you waiting for? Scroll down and find out what they are!

Best Science Fiction Film

The Book of Eli (Warner Bros)

Knowing (Summit Entertainment)

Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)

Star Trek (Paramount)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (20th Century Fox)

Best Fantasy Film

Avatar (20th Century Fox)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros)

The Lovely Bones (Paramount)

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Warner Bros.)

Watchmen (Warner Bros.)

Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)

Best Horror Film

The Box (Warner Bros.)

Drag Me to Hell (Universal)

Frozen (Anchor Bay Films)

The Last House on the Left (Rogue / Universal)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment)

Zombieland (Sony)

Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film

2012 (Sony)

Brothers (Lionsgate)

The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)

Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Co.)

Law Abiding Citizen (Overture)

The Messenger (Oscilloscope Pictures)

Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)

Best Actor

Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Tobey Maguire (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Viggo Mortensen (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)

Sam Rockwell (Moon) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)

Sam Worthington (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best Actress

Catherine Keener (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Natalie Portman (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Zoe Saldana (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Charlize Theron (The Burning Plain) (Magnolia)

Best Supporting Actor

Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) (Sony)

Stephen Lang (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Frank Langella (The Box) (Warner Bros.)

Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Supporting Actress

Malin Akerman (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Lorna Raver (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Susan Sarandon (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) (Summit Entertainment)

Bailee Madison (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Brooklynn Proulx (The Time Traveler’s Wife) (Warner Bros.)

Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Director

J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) (Summit Entertainment)

Neill Blomkamp (District 9) (Sony)

James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Zack Snyder (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Writing

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9) (Sony)

James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Alex Tse, David Hayter (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Best Music

Brian Eno (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Michael Giacchino (Up) (Walt Disney/Pixar)

James Horner (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Taro Iwashiro (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)

Christopher Young (Drag Me To Hell) (Universal)

Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Best Costume

Colleen Atwood (Nine) (The Weinstein Co.)

Jenny Beavan (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Anna Sheppard (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Jany Temime (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Tim Yip (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)

Best Make-Up

Barney Burman, Minday Hall,

Joel Harlow (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Joe Dunckley, Sarah Rubano,

Frances Richardson (District 9) (Sony)

Sarah Monzani (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)

Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Mike Smithson, John Rosengrant (Terminator: Salvation) (Warner Bros.)

Best Production Design

Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Scott Chambliss (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Stuart Craig (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

Sarah Greenwood (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Philip Ivey (District 9) (Sony)

Alex McDowell (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Best Special Effects

Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicholas Aithadi, Tim Alexander – (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

John DesJardin, Peter G. Travers, Joel Whist, Jessica Norman – (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Volker Engel, Marc Weingert, Mike Vezina – (2012) (Sony)

Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton – (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken – (District 9) (Sony)

Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones – (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best International Film

District 9 (Sony)

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics)

Lorna’s Silence (Sony Pictures Classics)

Red Cliff (Magnolia)

Taken (20th Century Fox)

Thirst (Focus Features)

Best Animated Film

Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney Studios)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Fox)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox)

Monsters Vs. Aliens (Paramount/DreamWorks)

The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Studios)

Up (Walt Disney Studios/Pixar)

Best Network TV Series

Chuck (NBC)

Fringe (Fox)

The Ghost Whisperer (CBS)

Heroes (NBC)

Lost (ABC)

The Vampire Diaries (CW)

Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series

Breaking Bad (AMC)

Battlestar Galactica (SyFy)

The Closer (TNT)

Dexter (Showtime)

Leverage (TNT)

True Blood (HBO)

Best Television Presentation

Doctor Who: The End of Time (BBC America)

Alice (SyFy)

The Prisoner (AMC)

Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)

The Tudors (Showtime)

V (ABC)

Best Actor in Television

Josh Holloway (Lost) (ABC)

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Matthew Fox (Lost) (ABC)

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) (Showtime)

Zachary Levi (Chuck) (NBC)

Stephen Moyer (True Blood) (HBO)

David Tennant (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)

Best Actress on Television

Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer) (CBS)

Evangeline Lily (Lost) (ABC)

Anna Paquin (True Blood) (HBO)

Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) (TNT)

Anna Torv (Fringe) (Fox)

Best Supporting Actor on Television

Jeremy Davies (Lost) (ABC)

Michael Emerson (Lost) (ABC)

Aldis Hodge (Leverage) (TNT)

Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

John Noble (Fringe) (Fox)

Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) (HBO)

Best Supporting Actress in Television

Morena Baccarin (V) (ABC)

Gina Bellman (Leverage) (TNT)

Julie Benz (Dexter) (Showtime)

Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) (Showtime)

Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) (ABC)

Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) (NBC)

Best Guest Starring Role in Television

Bernard Cribbins (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)

Raymond Cruz (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Michelle Forbes (True Blood) (HBO)

John Lithgow (Dexter) (Showtime)

Leonard Nimoy (Fringe) (ABC)

Mark Pellegrino (Lost) (ABC)

Best DVD Release

House of the Devil (Dark Sky/Magnet)

Laid to Rest (Anchor Bay)

Not Forgotten (Anchor Bay)

Nothing But the Truth (Sony)

Pontypool (MPI)

Super Capers (Lionsgate)

Surveillance (Magnolia)

Best DVD Television Release

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (BBC America)

Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season (Warner)

Primeval, Volume 2 (BBC America)

Lost: The Complete Fifth Season (Buena Vista)

Life on Mars: The Complete Series (Buena Vista)

Best DVD Special Edition

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Warner)

300 Complete Experience (Warner)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-Ray) (Walt Disney)

District 9 (Two-Disc Edition) (Sony)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Skynet Edition (Lionsgate)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two Disc Special Edition) (Fox)

Best Collection

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Volume 1 (Sony)

The Hannibal Lector Anthology (MGM)

Hellraiser Boxed Set (Anchor Bay)

Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection (Sony)

Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection (Paramount)

The William Castle Collection (Sony)

Similar to the Scream Awards, I really dig the Saturn Awards because of the types of films they celebrate. Often with awards like the Oscars and the Golden Globes, purely fun films that have every bit of merit as the serious ones get left out.

Here’s just some of my quick thoughts on who and what’s been nominated: I’m glad to see so many nominations for my favorite show Lost, racking up nine in total (nice to see Josh Holloway finally get recognition for his acting). I’m delighted to see Sam Rockwell get recognition for his fantastic performance in Moon (I was really annoyed that he didn’t get nominated for an Oscar).

I’m a little (no, A LOT) suspect of The Book of Eli, Transformers 2 and Wolverine getting nominated for Best Fantasy Film (and District 9 didn’t?!) and New Moon and The Box getting nominated in the Horror category (were either of those even horror movies?).

Which Saturn nominations do you agree and disagree with? Which nominees are you hoping snag wins come this June?

The Saturn Awards will be presented on June 24th, 2010.

Source: Collider

Over the few months we’ve been sharing some wicked minimalist posters, such as the movies of Quentin Tarantino and the various Star Wars movies. Today we continue highlighting these posters by showcasing a few based on some of the most popular TV shows out there.

Long time readers of Screen Rant might remember a few of these posters from our editor Rob Keyes’ regular Poster Friday articles, but since “major sites” are now reporting on them like they’re new or something, we thought we’d offer you a few more.

There’s literally dozens of these posters by artist Albert Exergian but we’ve chosen just a handful either for how clever/cool looking they are or because the shows are of particular interest to our readers. We’ve chosen posters for True Blood, Heroes, 24 and Flashforward. As always with these posters, it’s not immediately obvious what they’re referring to, however fans of the  shows should be able to work them out

Here are some of the posters below:

-

Pretty damn cool, eh? I always love seeing these minimalist posters not just because of their simplicity, but for the challenge of figuring out just what the art is referencing in the show. That last Flashforward one in particular had me puzzled for a couple of minutes before I realized it’s referring to the push pins used to put the clues up on the board.

Which of the posters is your favorite?

Sources: For the rest of the great minimalist TV show posters you can head over to Exergian.com. If you’re interested in purchasing any art prints of them you can head over to Blanka.

As we previously reported, the third season of True Blood will have three villains in it compared to season 2 and the wacky Maryann. While Alan Ball has already cast the first two male villains, the role of Debbie Pelt – the psycho ex of werewolf Alcide Herveaux – was still open. Well not anymore, as Brit Morgan has been cast in the r0le.

Not really much can be seen with Brit Morgan in it. She guest starred in CSI:NY, Cold Case and was part of the ABC Family show The Middleman. Though, I doubt anyone will remember her from that. Still, just because she hasn’t been in much doesn’t mean she won’t nail this part. Ball knows how to cast well.

This should be a good role for her because while Debbie Pelt is already has a major character in this season, Alan Ball has beefed up the part even more so.  He specifically cited the fact that since she would be in more episodes than previously thought, it would have an impact on who he decided to cast. I guess Brit Morgan fit the bill.

While we’re talking about True Blood we might as well talk about the rumors of Alex Skarsgård’s real life father, Stellan Skarsgård, being cast as Eric’s father on the show. Well, not only are those rumors false, but there’s no way it’s going to happen.

Although, I can see why people might think so… check out the character description below,

In his 40s to 50s, warm, a battle-scarred Swedish Viking king, [Ulfrick] is Eric’s father, seen in a flashback to 900 A.D. Though they have a good relationship, there is some tension between father and son, because Ulfrick wants Eric to learn responsibility and behave in a manner befitting royalty…GUEST STAR (47) ACTOR MUST SPEAK FLUENT SWEDISH.

Stellan Skarsgård

There’s nothing like a Swedish actor’s Swedish father to play his on-screen vampire father. I don’t know about you, but that last sentence even confused me and I wrote it.

With filming going on for the current season, it’s only a couple more months before we get our True Blood fix. Unless you can’t wait – in that case, read the books.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Don’t lie, you’ve been wondering when season two of HBO’s hit series True Blood is going to come out on DVD. Sure, you can play it off as trying to be a helpful friend, but we all know that you can’t get enough of Sookie, Vampire Bill, Jason, Tara, Lafayette and the always dumbfounded Andy Bellefleur.

Well, wonder no more as HBO has announced that season two of True Blood will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 25th. Oh, yeah… make sure to get that information to your “friend.”

Details on the DVD are still being finalized, so there is no information about what special features fans can expect to see, but I’d assume that it would be as much, if not more, than the first season. So, you can look forward to more commentary and possibly some behind-the-scenes features. I wouldn’t be surprised if they also included some of the PSA’s that were created by Rev. Steve & Sarah Newlin for the Fellowship of the Sun website.

Season 3 Tidbits

Alright, now on to what you’re really hear for. While these aren’t as big as our first True Blood season 3 plot spoilers or even our more recent spoilers, these are more like tidbits. So, what are these tidbits? Well, it appears as if True Blood’s clothing optional attitude will be even less optional this season.

Todd Lowe (Vietnam Veteran, Terry Bellefleur) says,

“A lot of people will be getting naked this season.”

Carrie Preston (Barmaid, Arlene Fowler) confirms, Citing Alexander Skargård’s lack of inhibitions,

“Alex is not shy about getting naked at all. And there will be lots of those kinds of scenes with Alex this season.”

Lowe confirms,

“He’s already been naked a time or two so far since we’ve gotten back to filming.”

Really True Blood? Sounds like you’re kicking things up a notch. Where’s Lafayette to change the subject to something else?

Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette) says,

“There are a lot of hunky dudes and beautiful women who have been added to the cast, so it doesn’t surprise me that more clothes are coming off.”

You tricked me again! Darn you, Lafayette. Darn you!

Is this is all that season three of True Blood going to be or can we expect to see something awesome? Possibly in the first episode? If you listen to Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), it would appear so.

“There is a surprising—well, shocking—scene in the first episode. Some people will be happy and some people will not.”

Hmmm… Let the speculation begin.

So, there you have it. Season two True Blood DVD release date and some more tidbits from season three. What more could you want for a Wednesday?

Expect to see the premiere of the third season of True Blood in June.

Source: HBO & E! Online

[WARNING: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!]

With filming of the third season of True Blood starting you’d have to expect some more spoilers to slip out… and they have. While we’ve previously brought you a slew of True Blood spoilers, this time it may not be as many, but nonetheless, SPOILERS they are. You’ve been warned.

• Sam and Bill get close – a little too close.

Fans of the show know that drinking the blood of a vampire has some “interesting” repercussions. Since Sam drank Bill’s blood at the end of last season, there’s now a connection between them. “Not just any connection, an erotic connection” says Ball.

Alright, Ball… maybe some information is too much information.

• Unlike the first two, this season will have three “big bads” to replace the hole that Maryann left.

Ball says, “We have a triumvirate of evil this season. I’m talking about Franklin Mott, Russell Edgington, and Debbie Pelt. They are all bad to the bone. They’re not just crazy, they’re evil.”

In case you’re wondering who those three are, here’s a rundown:

Franklin Mott – A tall, dark, and handsome vampire who seems to have an “immediate and torrid” connection to Tara.

Russell Edgington – The vampire king of Mississippi.

Debbie Pelt – Alcide’s psycho werewolf ex-girlfriend. She is described as sporty and spiteful with black hair.

While Debbie Pelt has yet to be cast, we’ve previously reported on Thomas Cromwell singing on as Frankling Mott and Denis O’Hare as Russell Edgington.

Whoever does end up with the role will have more screen time than originally planned,

“We actually beefed up Debbie. She’s going to be in more episodes, so maybe that will have an impact on [what actress] we can get for her, which is a big question right now.”

• Eric’s journey for the third season can be summed up in one word – revenge.

Skarsgård speaking on his character’s journey for this season,

“I’d say it’s about revenge. He will continue to explore the whole Sookie thing and what that’s all about. He’s trying to figure out what’s different about her. He’s intrigued by that. And in addition to that, there’s something that happened a thousand years ago that he’s still carrying in his heart. All I’ll say is he’s trying to avenge someone.”

So, there you have it. Should be enough True Blood news to hold you over until more spoilers come out (and you know they will). Until then, what do you think of new bits of info?

True Blood returns to HBO in June.

Source: Ausiello Files

With the award season in full swing, we at Screen Rant figured that maybe we should be covering these prestigious events because who knows, Mariah Carey could get up and say something crazy at one of these things OR Mariah Carey could get up and say something crazy at two of these things.

In case of such events, the general consensus is that we need someone around to provide hilarious, informative and cute/endearing commentary as well as someone that you, the reader, can yell at when you don’t agree with something we say.

So, join us back here at 8PM (EST) and we’ll kick things off as the always wonderful Ricky Gervais hosts the 2010 Golden Globe Awards.

In case you’re wondering who’s nominated for what or if you’re just in a general curious mood, here’s a list of all the nominations so you can follow along.

2010 Golden Globe Nominations

No need to wait til 8pm. Start your predictions now.

[THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!]

Got some TV news updates about some of your favorite small screen stars who for will be shifting shows this year:

First we have word that Dexter star Julie Benz will be joining up with another bunch of psychotics – ones with much better wardrobes. Also, we have word that a star of the recently resurrected Southland will also be finding new life amongst the freaks of True Blood.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Julie Benz has been a fan-favorite as the love-interest of serial killer-killer Dexter, but [SPOILER ALERT] after her character Rita’s shocking murder at the end of the season 4 finale, people have been wondering where Benz will next appear onscreen [END SPOILERS].

The answer: Wisteria Lane.

That’s right, Julie Benz will have a reoccurring role on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Benz will play a stripper who has a master’s degree in education (don’t they all ) and gets a chance at the straight and narrow life when Susan (Teri Hatcher) tries to “save” her. Although, getting involved with the girls of Wisteria lane is rarely a good idea…

.

TRUE BLOOD

We’ve been reporting on True Blood season 3 casting news non-stop in recent weeks, and now we have another name to add to the list. Kevin Alejandro (of Southland fame) will be joining the inhabitants of Bon Temps, playing Jesus, a Latino nursing home orderly charged with caring for Ruby Jean Reynolds, the mother of fan-favorite Lafayette Reynolds.

Sparks will reportedly fly between Jesus and Lafayette – we’ll see how momma Reynolds (who will be played – ironically enough – by Desperate Housewives alum Alfre Woodard) handles the situation.

No worries though, Southland fans, Alejandro isn’t leaving the show – the respective shooting schedules are allowing him to do some double-duty acting.

That’s it for TV news. Check back with you soon.

Sources: THR & Entertainment Weekly

Lindsay Pulsipher has recently joined the cast of the HBO hit series, True Blood (Bloody Disgusting sounded the alarm).  Update: She’ll be playing Crystal, a mysterious young woman who shares an electric connection with Jason, or so says EW.  That puts the total number of women who’ve shared an electric connection with Jason somewhere in the vacinity of 400,000.  Pulsipher is the newest addition to the long line of folks recently cast for the coming third season of True Blood.

Where have you seen her before?  Who else is scheduled to show up?  Got a few answers for you on those fronts.

Pulsipher has previously  appeared in CSI: NY and the brilliantly titled Touched by an Angel and Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.  Other new faces include Theo Alexander (also of CSI: NY fame), Marshall Allman (Prison Break) and Alfre Woodard (The Practice).  Click here and here to find out who else is coming to dinner.

Pulsipher, Alexander, Allman, Woodard et cetera ad infinitum will be joining the beloved Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten and numerous others in Bon Temps.

The next season of True Blood airs on HBO in June of 2010.  Want the inside scoop on what’s comin’?  Willing to sacrifice the thrill of remaining unspoiled for it?  Sully yourself with spoilerific knowledge in our season 3 preview!

Source: Bloody Disgusting, EW

Update: We have word on two more actors joining the cast of True Blood in season 3…

James Frain, Alfre Woodard and J. Smith-Cameron have joined the cast of True Blood.  Shock Til You Drop brought us the news.  Who are these people, where have we seen them and what’ll they be doing in Bon Temps?  Hit the jump for answers…

Frain, who’s best known for his portrayal of Thomas Cromwell on The Tudors will appear as Franklin Mott, Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) newfangled love interest.  We’ll see how his superhuman strength and mind-control powers hold up against Tara’s bad attitude.

The two-time Emmy-winning Woodard (who picked up those trophies for her work in The Practice and Miss Evers’ Boys) will star as Lafayette Reynold’s mother, who fans of the show know is therefore Tara’s aunt and her born-again mother’s sister.  Woodard brings an undeniable strength to her performances that I look forward to seeing butt up against the established characters, especially considering the conflict in that family.  Not to mention, Nelson Ellis’ work as Lafayette Reynolds is some of the best acting being done on TV today and I expect big things from scenes between mother and son.

Woodard

J. Smith-Cameron of Law & Order fame will be playing Sam Merlotte’s estranged mother, Melinda.  Ol’ Sam’s luck with the ladies hasn’t been very impressive – here’s hoping his relationship with mom doesn’t end in death or heartbreak.  Click here for more recent additions to the cast of True Blood.

Update: Lastly, THR reports that actor Joe Manganiello – best known for a reoccurring role as a hunk on How I Met Your Mother – will be joining the True Blood cast as “Alcide” a “sexy alpha male werewolf.”

Character actor Cooper Huckabee will be joining the cast as Sam Merlotte’s dad, Joe Lee Mickens.

These newbies will be joining Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten and numerous others.

The next season of True Blood airs on HBO in June of 2010. If you simply can’t wait ’til then, check out our season 3 preview for some juicy secrets!

Source: Shock Til You Drop

Update Source: THR

Shock Til You Drop may have been glamouring us, but it looks like HBO’s True Blood has added Marshall Allman , Theo Alexander and Grant Bowler into the fray for the coming third season of the deep-south vampire drama.

Allen, who played LJ Burrows in Prison Break and popped up in Mad Men and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will appear as Sam Merlotte’s long-lost younger brother, Tommy Mickens.  Is shapeshifting genetic?  I guess we’ll find out.  Alexander, of CSI: NY and Chuck fame, will be playing Talbot, the beautiful, blood-sucking boyfriend of the vampire king of Mississippi (which must be a more impressive title than it sounds).  How did kingdoms and wards get divided up by these folks anyway?  Bowler, who we know from Ugly Betty and Lost, will play a biker gang-leading werewolf (obviously) named Coot.

Of course a lot of these roles were referenced in our SPOILERIFIC True Blood Season 3 preview. Check it out HERE (if you dare!).

Take a look at the “new blood” being pumped into the True Blood cast:

Allman

Alexander

Bowler

For those who don’t know (and are missing out), True Blood is based on the Charlain Harris’ novels, The Southern Vampire Mysteries and is produced by Alan Ball, who wrote the 400 lb. gorilla known as American Beauty and previously produced Six Feet Under for HBO.  Allen, Alexander and Bowler will be joining cast members Anna Pacquin, Stephen Moyer and Ryan Kwanten and Alexander Skarsgård.

Season Three of True Blood will premiere in June of 2010.

Source: Shock Til You Drop

[WARNING: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!]

Last week the Paley Center for Media hosted an “Inside the Writers Room” for the hit HBO vampire series, True Blood. Before the event started, the folks over at Sci-Fi Wire caught up with writer/producers Alan Ball, Alexander Woo and Raelle Tucker, to ask them what kind of things we can expect to see in Season 3.  It appears that the showrunners may still be under demon-god Maryann’s spell as they have no inhibitions about revealing anything and everything about the third season.

Readers beware, WHAT LIES BELOW IS NOTHING BUT SPOILERS!!! So, if you’re the type that doesn’t want things ruined for you, turn back now. But, if you’re like me and can’t bear to wait until June 2010 for the next season, then enjoy.

First up is executive producer Alan Ball with news on kidnappings, werewolves and the vampire king & queen.

Bill’s kidnapping is going to last a while.

The last thing we saw in the season two finale was that Bill had been taken and Alan Ball says that his kidnapping will last around six episodes.

Just because his kidnapping lasts six episodes doesn’t mean that we won’t see Bill before then. Remember that in season two there was a lot of time spent with Lafayette and his captors…

(There are some Eric SPOILERS below)

Werewolves invade Bon Temps.

It seems as if this small town just can’t catch a break. Now it appears that the town is going full on “Team Jacob” as werewolves are the newest beasts to invade Bon Temps.

Ball explains what they’ll look like.

“They’re just wolves. It’s just people who can turn into wolves, but they’re slightly bigger and much stronger. Their eyes glow orange a little bit.”

Vampire Queen of Louisiana will be in hot water.

With Evan Rachel Wood signing on to return for a couple of episodes in season three, it appears that her fun nights of playing scrabble as the vampire queen of the Louisiana sector might be over – for good.

“Well, Sophie Anne, when last we left her, she was sort of behind this selling of  ‘V’ as a recreational drug on the streets, pretty much. That’s not something a vampire authority figure should be doing. If higher-up vampire authority figures figure that out, they’re not going to be happy.”

All hail the Vampire King.

If there’s a Queen, there has to be a King and as Ball stated, the Vampire King companion to Sophie Anne doesn’t look like he has same sense of humor.

“He’s older. He’s much more mature. He’s much more methodical and grounded. She’s kind of crazy. To me, she’s kind of like Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan, where she has a very short attention span and she’s very, very egomaniacal and very self-obsessed and doesn’t really think about her actions, whereas the Vampire King is very much an adult. He has an agenda. He has things he wants to achieve. I think he’s much more formidable than she is.”

Next up is Alexander Woo with news of a new character and some other creatures that might be stirring in the night.

New character impacts our favorite townsfolk.

It looks as if Bon Temps is going to have a new character by the name of Tommy Mickens and it looks like Mr. Mickens may become quite important to many of or favorite characters.

“Tommy Mickens is someone I don’t want to reveal too much about, because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. He’s a completely new character, but he plays very prominently in the emotional life of at first one and then, later, several other of our characters. He’ll be the first domino to push the rest.”

Vampires, maenads & werewolves aren’t the only things lurking around.

It seems like the Sookie’s world is going to get much bigger as werewolves aren’t the only things coming in the new season.

“The entire world is going to get a lot bigger. Not only the human world, but in Sookie’s eyes, she’s going to see the whole supernatural world. Luckily, since this show is through Sookie’s eyes, as an audience we’ll get to see a much larger supernatural world.”

Finally, Raelle Tucker concludes the spoilers with Sam’s family, Sookie’s Powers, Jason’s trouble-making, biker gangs, headgear and Eric’s screen time…

This past Saturday, October 17th, I attended my second year of Spike TV’s annual Scream Awards. Not only did I attend, but I had been hand-picked by the casting director to sit front row center for the show! As a fan-focused awards show, it’s much more enjoyable being seated amongst JJ Abrams, Karl Urban, Elijah Wood and Woody Harrelson. My favorite personal surprise of the evening came when the Best Science Fiction Actress nominees were being announced. I cheered (maybe a little too loudly for my girlfriend’s tastes) for Eliza Dushku when her name was announced, only to discover she was sitting right in front of me. She turned around and flashed me her lovely smile. Good thing my girlfriend isn’t the overly-jealous type.

As for the show itself, it seems as though the winners have already been leaked online, and the best surprises have been revealed, even on Spike’s own website. So keep in mind there be spoilers here.

Starting off the show was the “Most Anticipated Movie” award. I’m sure everyone there was utterly surprised by the winner. After a black and white checkerboard “red” carpet, and a Wonderland-esqe stage design, who would have guessed it would be Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland?

In all seriousness though, having Johnny Depp there was very cool. After his extremely brief appearance at the San Diego Comic Con panel this summer, I half-expected that to be his only appearance for this show. Thankfully I was wrong and he came back onstage one more time to present the Rock Immortal award to Keith Richards. Johnny was very gracious on his way up to the small center stage, shaking hands with many of us in the pit next to the stage. Keith Richards was very spry on stage, bounding up the steps to receive his award from his former on-screen “son.” Johnny reiterated the old axiom that after the End of the World, “all that will be left are cockroaches… and Keith Richards”. Take that, Nancy Reagan!

Megan Fox, as I’m sure you all have already heard around the net, was apparently trying to smooth things over with Michael Bay. Here’s her speech:

“I would like to take this moment to actually say something genuine. There have been a lot of false reports concerning how I feel about this movie and I just want to be very clear that I’ve always felt that I am a very ordinary part of an extraordinary film. These movies took me out of obscurity and they gave me a career and I am completely grateful to everyone involved with this franchise. I don’t know why you guys keep voting for me for these things. I don’t feel like I deserve them but thank you and I love you so much, thank you.”

At first, it seemed as though she was setting us up for a SNL-style gag. I thought we’d see her then jokingly refer to Jennifer’s Body, since she never once uttered the names Transformers or Michael Bay. But then, after the disappointing box-office on Jennifer’s Body, it’s no surprise she wants to be a part of Transformers 3. Her speech did sound genuine, it just sounded odd not hearing either name.

Vampires and Werewolves were very well represented this year, from stand-out series True Blood, to the new movie Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. But judging by the cheers, it was Twilight that had the best reception. Representing the franchise was Taylor Lautner, star of the upcoming The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The footage shown to us was more behind-the-scenes than actual movie footage. After Depp and Lautner, my girlfriend had all but forgotten my earlier Dushku encounter.

Harrison Ford presented the Best Director award to JJ Abrams. It would be exceedingly cool to see these two Hollywood titans do a project together. I wonder if having Ford in the next Star Trek movie would cause some kind of mass nerd head-explosions? William Shatner was also present at the show. He practically begged JJ to be in the next movie. I would have given anything to have been a fly on the wall of that green room! Just imagining Shatner and Ford having drinks and talking shop, I’m reminded of a line from Free Enterprise. When the young character in that movie complains that a kid at school “said that Han Solo was cooler than Captain Kirk”, Shatner, playing himself, remarked “kick the little f&@ker’s @$$”. Seriously though, it would be pretty mind-blowing to see Ford play a Trek villain.

Click to continue reading “Scream Awards 2009: A Report From Front Row Center “

Season 2 of Alan Ball’s growing-in-popularity adult vampire show came to an end Sunday on HBO. The True Blood Season 2 finale tied up the major plot threads of the season and set up several more that will be key story elements moving forward into the third season.

Join us as we look back on some of the things that happened this season and in the finale, and as we look forward on what things we could be seeing next season.

[Warning: Spoilers Ahead]

You’ve been warned – If you’re reading this, I expect that you’ve seen the episode, so some spoilers will be mentioned. Let’s get to it then, shall we?

The End of Maryann

The focus of the finale is on putting an end to Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes) and her wicked ways. As we know, she has the entire town under her control and sporting black eye contacts, the kind that makes people eat raw hearts and start community orgies.

Anyway, that craziness aside, Maryann is getting ready for her very special day, preparing to make a sacrifice to the bull-horned god of evil so she can marry him. Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) is the worthy sacrifice in her mind and her maid of honor absolutely must be the show’s leading lady, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin).

There’s a bunch of usual weirdness around this situation with them forcing Sookie to drink blood and lick a big ostrich egg, a nest that Tara and Eggs built on the bed of Sookie’s grandma, and a tree made of raw meat, but we’ve come to expect that from scenes involving Maryann. We also got to see Jason Stackhouse and Deputy Andy try to be the annoying heroes for 15 seconds before finally enlisting in Maryann’s zombie army against their will.

On the other side of town, good ol’ Bill Compton is back to help save the day and he joins with Sam to form a plan to put an end to Maryann. We don’t know what that plan is yet but we soon find out it involves poor Sam almost dying and Maryann getting horned to death and her heart getting ripped out. Poor Sookie didn’t know what was going on and we got a lot of her screaming and crying as Sam got introduced to Eggs’ ability to use a knife.

I was so thankful when Maryann got put down as I was not digging that whole situation all season long or her crazy interest in Tara, another character I wasn’t entertained by this season.

The Other Stories

With that plot thread finally coming to a close, we still had half the episode left!

During the main event, we also got a few scenes for the other storylines also taking place around that time. We only got one scene of big bad Eric Northman, played by rising star Alexander Skarsgård and that involved him getting owned in a game of Yahtzee by Queen Sophie-Anne, the vampire Queen of Louisiana.

Although it was only one scene, it was very important and has implications for the future of the show. The scene finally presented viewers with a purpose for the vampire mistress as she demonstrated some harsh negative emotion with Eric. As it turns out, that vampire blood that Eric asked Lafayette to start selling is actually hers and he was doing it under her orders. She was not impressed finding out that Bill knew that Eric had done that. This is something to be explored in True Blood’s third season.

The other storyline we got a bit of is that of Hoyt and Jessica’s relationship. Hoyt became a major player this season compared to last year where he played a guest role here and there. He represents pure innocence and goodness and he’s a good balance for Jessica whom we thought was on the right track. Unfortunately, Hoyt’s zombified mom ruined that for them and it sets them apart.

After the Maryann situation, Sam goes to his foster parents who abandoned him after the shock of him shapeshifting into a dog years prior. He’s on a mission to find his true parents who he’s warned against as being bad people from his foster mom. His dying foster dad however, gives him the info he desires.

Click to continue reading about where every character is left off, and info on True Blood’s Season 3…

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

Below is the list of a selection of the 32 categories from this year’s Scream nominations. For those of you (all of you?) who want to have YOUR say on which film should win, you’re in luck!  Public voting for the awards has opened already and will run right up to October 17th. But before you head off to vote, here are some of the nominees:

BEST FANTASY MOVIE

“Coraline”

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

“Twilight”

“Up”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST HORROR MOVIE

“Dead Snow”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“Friday the 13th”

“Let the Right One In”

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”

“Splinter”

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

“Dragonball Evolution”

“Punisher: War Zone”

“The Spirit”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST VILLAIN

Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”

Cam Gigandet as James; “Twilight”

Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; rag Me to Hell”

Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men”

Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; “True Blood”

BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”

Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”

Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”

Duncan Jones; “Moon”

Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

BEST TV SHOW

Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Fringe

Lost

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

True Blood

BEST ACTOR IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Ed Asner, “Up”

Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Robert Pattinson, “Twilight”

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Michael Sheen, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

BEST ACTRESS IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Scarlett Johansson, “The Spirit”

Jamie King, “The Spirit”

Rhona Mitra, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

Kristen Stewart, “Twilight”

Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

For the rest of the nominees you can head over to Spike.com, where you can also cast your votes.

Although some of the awards are truly suspect (how the hell The Spirit got nominated for ANYTHING is beyond me), I still like the overall celebration of the type of sci-fi, fantasy, comic book and horror films we here at Screen Rant revel in Although I won’t go into a specific rundown of who I think should win, I’d like to throw my opinion in the ring for a few of them:

Lost should win Best TV Show (I love Dexter, but it’s no Lost); Best Horror Movie should go to Let The Right One In (I would say Drag Me To Hell, but since that’s a comedy too, Let The Right One takes it for me); Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie Or TV Show should go to Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and Best Comic Book Movie should (EASILY) go to Watchmen.

But enough from me, what and who will YOU vote for? As stated, you can cast your votes over at Spike.com, and you can see if the winners match your picks when the Scream Awards 2009 air on October 27th this year on Spike TV.

It’s a new week and today your TV news includes a look at Fringe’s second season; Superman will be teaming with Chuck; The Alien Nation is rising again; True Blood takes a big bit of DVD sales; Patton Oswalt talks life on Caprica; and could Supernatural rise from the grave?

Let’s get to it:

FRINGE

Got a few pics from Fringe’s upcoming second season. The pics include The Bishops (Joshua Jackson, John Noble) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) up to their usual hijinks in the lab, as well as guest star Meghan Markle, who will play junior FBI agent Amy Jessup – I’m guessing while Sr. Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is hanging out with Leonard Nimoy in alternate dimensions.

If you haven’t caught up on Fringe, you really need to. Here are the pics:

Should I even ask what’s up with the cow in a birthday hat? Of course not! It’s Fringe!

For the full gallery head over to Sci-fi Wire.

Fringe Returns on September 17 (Thursdays now) @ 9pm ET/PT on Fox.

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CHUCK

Superman Returns star Brandon Routh will be joining the cast of Chuck for a multi-episode story arch in the upcoming season. Routh will join the show during its fourth episode where he will be playing a new spy named Shaw who takes over Operation Bartwoski and naturally starts competing for Sarah’s affections.

Chuck returns this spring on NBC.

Source: EW

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ALIEN NATION

Alien Nation is still making its way back to television. Syfy (and parent company NBC Universal) are working with Twentieth Century Fox to reboot the 80s-90s cult hit show, under the creative direction of Tim Minear, a TV vet with shows like Firefly and The X-Files under his belt.

Minear has claimed that he was the new Alien Nation to be ‘The Wire with aliens,’ and after seeing all the great stuff that director Neil Blomkamp milked out of the premise for District 9 (a film undoubtedly inspired by shows like Alien Nation), I’d say a retooled Alien Nation definitely has potential.

As for contemporary relevance, Minear claims that examples like the culture clashes happening in many European countries would be a good starting point for the series (transplanted to the US of A, of course).

Head over to Earth’s Mightiest for the full interview with Minear. Alien Nation hopes to be in production sometime next year.

Source: Cinemastatic

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TRUE BLOOD

True Blood has “glammed” the masses! The DVD of the HBO Series’ first season is slowly gaining on Flight of the Concords as the best-selling TV DVD. True Blood has sold almost $46 million in DVDs as of the middle of August.

Personally, I think True Blood deserves to be crowned king of DVD, considering how explicitly adult-themed the show is. Guess sex (mixed with violence and vamps) still does sell…

If you still haven’t seen True Blood season 1 (shame on you!) you can snag the DVD for cheap by going here.

Source: TV By The Numbers

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SUPERNATURAL

Seems Supernatural still has its neck on the chopping block. Said show creator Eric Kripke in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline…Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we’re in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down.”

Well… Kripke at least makes a kind of concession do Supernatural die-hards out there, claiming that is finale for the series will leave room for a whole new installment of the show, with a whole new mythology to build on, in case it gets an eleventh-hour stay of execution. As Kripke points out, Buffy did it, The X-Files did it, so can Supernatural.

The show returns on September 10th @ 9pm ET/PT on the CW.

Source: EW

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CAPRICA

Wanna hear actor/comedian Patton Oswalt talk about his role on the upcoming Battlestar Galactica series, Caprica? Oswalt will play Baxter Sarno, a talk show comedian who snags an interview with Cylon creator Daniel Graystone and his wife. There are a couple of good tidbits of the series for you BSG fans who have been wondering what’s coming your way.

Caprica starts with a two-hour premiere on January 22, 2010, @ 9 p.m. ET/PT and will air Fridays at 10 p.m. on Syfy.

Check out the interview with Oswalt over at AV Club.

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

]]> http://screenrant.com/tv-news-notes-fringe-season-two-images-true-blood-dvd-alien-nation-syfy-chuck-brandon-routh-supernatural-series-end-patton-oswalt-capric-kofi-23582/feed/ 12 http://screenrant.com/fringe-supernatural-paris-hilton-smallville-dark-true-blood-ratings-house-six-season-ncis-premiere-brusimm-21489/ http://screenrant.com/fringe-supernatural-paris-hilton-smallville-dark-true-blood-ratings-house-six-season-ncis-premiere-brusimm-21489/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:31:26 +0000 Bruce Simmons http://screenrant.com/?p=21489

In today’s Weekly TV Wrap Up, we’re going to talk about Fringe realities, Supernatural & Smallville news & True Blood setting records.

We’re then going to touch on some news from Fox’s House, and wrap things up with an NCIS tidbit and some more summer time ratings.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

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Fringe

Despite the possibility of there being multiple realities, the showrunners for Fringe are only going to torment the viewers with one alternate reality at a time.  Thank god.  I have enough trouble with my own reality as it is!

As they put it, there’s “over here” and the alternate reality referred to as “over there,” where William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) lives.

The upcoming season will take place mostly “over here,” but what occurs “over there” will have a great impact on what happens “over here.”  (Did you follow that?)

Leonard Nimoy has already filmed one episode for season 2 and will be making numerous appearances throughout the season.

Fringe returns Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

Source:  TV Guide

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Supernatural

I call this when worlds collide!  I know you’ve all been waiting for this one moment in time, but Paris Hilton is going to guest star on Supernatural.  Crickets…

She’ll be playing a demon that takes the form of, all things, Paris Hilton.  I so can’t wait for the Winchester brothers to stake her!

Eric Kripke calls it a “… a fun, irreverent episode.”  I call it frightening.

The episode, titled “American Idol,” will air on October 8, 2009.

Source:  The CW

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Smallville

According showrunner Brian Peterson, they’re backing down from claims made earlier in the off-season that the upcoming 9th season of Smallville will be darker.

After they dropped that bombshell, fans started to get grumpy saying “Superman fans don’t do dark.” and “Nobody watches a TV show to become depressed.”  LOL…  I’m guessing they weren’t Battlestar Galactica fans.

Peterson went on to sooth the fanbase by adding that season 9 will not be all gloom and doom and backpedaled saying that Clark will just have some hard decisions to make.

WARNING:  He did warn us that sparks may very well fly between Clark and Lois… and they’ll be fighting zombies and …  well crap, I may have said too much already.  Zombies?  Am I reporting on Supernatural or Smallville?

Source:  EW

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True Blood

2 weeks ago, True Blood on HBO hit a record number of estimated viewers, at 4.3 million.  But then last weekend they dusted the record books again and the show brought in an estimated 4.4 million pairs of eyeballs, breaking their own personal best.

It is an awesome, well-written show and I am not surprised that they’re pulling in the viewers.

Source:  EW

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House

For you Cameron and Chase fans from House, good news:  They’re going to be back in their old jobs and off the sidelines.  Of course, nothing comes easy and with them working side-by-side, that may put some strain on their brand new marriage!

We’ll also be seeing Foreman filling in as the top doc while Dr. Gregory House is on “leave,” which promises to be a rocky transition for Foreman.

As far as Cuddy and House go, don’t be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for anything to develop anytime soon between them.  Despite the tease of the imaginary hook-up, the showrunners are taking a step back and letting this premise simmer for a while.

Of course it all makes sense, right?  They want us to go stir crazy, but really, speaking of crazy, House does have to sort out a few things as he tries to re-balance his sanity.  He’s apparently not going to have an easy time of it.

Sources: EW: Link 1, Link 2

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NCIS

According to sources, be sure you do not miss the very first minute of NCIS when it starts up its new season. According to exec producer Shane Brennan, you’re going to be asking yourself if you’re seeing things or not!

The new season of NCIS premieres on September 22nd.

Source:  EW

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If you missed my prequel TV News article to this one, I chatted about Dollhouse, 24, Lie To Me, Damages, Lawman, King of the Hill and the The Office

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Ratings

Well, without really digging up a lot of info, amongst all the reality shows, repeats of NCIS (3rd with 9.9 million viewers), CSI:NY (9th w/ 8 mil viewers), CSI Miami (11th), The Mentalist (13th) & CSI (15th) eeked out their spots in the top 20.

On cable, Burn Notice, The Closer, Royal Pains and Monk chipped out 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively amongst the top 10 cable shows.

Source:  TV By The Numbers

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Thanks for coming by.  Questions and comments are always welcome, here on Screen Rant.

If you haven’t been watching True Blood this season, you should start. The show is gaining momentum quicker than ever and it just keeps getting better and better.

The last two episodes in particular have both ended with big multiple major cliffhangers that have left fans dying for more. If you’re a fan, we’ve got something for you today – the very first look at Queen Sophie-Anne, the vampire Queen of Louisiana who will soon be making her reigning debut.

This image comes from Michael Ausiello’s column at Entertainment Weekly and depicts Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, Across the Universe) in character as Queen Sophie-Anne.

The vampire queen makes her debut in episode 11 of this season, titled “Frenzy,” which airs August 30, 2009.

In describing the character, series creator Alan Ball says,

“Nobody’s ever entirely happy to see her… She’s very powerful, capricious and most likely insane.”

As for her role in the show, we only know that she’s likely up to no good with her own ambitions in mind. Ball hints at her purpose by revealing only that she “has more than one secret agenda… which we will slowly become aware of over season 3.”

True Blood incredible cast of growing stars includes Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Michelle Forbes, Nelsan Ellis, Sam Trammell, Deborah Ann Woll and Alexander Skarsgård.

Are you keeping up with True Blood? Where do you think the story’s heading with the Queen coming to town?

If you missed it, check out our coverage of the True Blood Comic-Con panel which talked about a lot of good stuff for the second half of season 2.

Source: EW

The HBO True Blood Panel had the loudest crowd I’ve been a part of this weekend so far.  Today they had a few interesting announcements amongst the bits from today’s session.

On the panel were Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse.  It’s Anna’s birthday today.), Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton), Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton), Alan Ball (Executive producer), Michelle Forbes (Maryann Forrester), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds), Charlaine Harris (Author of source books: The Southern Vampire Mysteries ), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby) and Alexander Skarsgard (Eric Northman).

The biggest and first item out of the panel was what Alan Ball announced to us, all while holding up a bottle of True Blood.  Yep, the drink is a reality now.  It’s blood orange soda with all natural products.  The label is an exact replica of the product in the show.

Then we were treated to a trailer from the last 1/2 of season 2.

After the trailer, here’s some of what was touched on in the panel:

Rutina Wesley on Tara:  Tara is more mellow this season.  Though fans liked Tara’s fiery mood, this is the side of Tara that needed to be seen.

Michelle Forbes keeps getting ass kicking roles because sci-fi makes it more possible to cast those roles.

Nelsan Ellis is very popular.  He said that Lafayette may stop doing his hustle.

Charlaine was rather shy about some of the scenes in the show after watching the screener that HBO sent her.

Sam gets a little lucky with Daphne and he’s a real magnet for abuse this year.

Deborah Ann Woll is very nervous and is now picturing all of us in our underwear…  eesh.  Brave girl.

Why is Eric so drawn to Sookie?  Eric has been around a long time and he’s over humanity and Sookie is just something different about her.  It’s that mystery about her that he can’t put his finger on.

Eric wants to explore the possibilities.

We then went straight to questions quickly

Charlaine just signed a contract for 3 more novels on the Sookie Stackhouse novels, taking her writing though 2014.  She said the show doesn’t really affect her writing.  She can keep them separate.

Eric seems more sensitive this year, in season 2.  They said you can’t play the same emotional note for 2 years and that change is necessary.

Though it’s not been officially announced yet, Alan Ball is excited about season 3, We’ll be seeing werewolves for the first time.  They’ll be delving into Russell Edgington and the Mississippi vampires.   And Ball said we won’t be seeing Elvis.  Even if Elvis helps out Sookie in the books, it would basically be an impersonation and that takes away from the quality of the show.

In the preview, a panel attendee noticed someone behind Sookie in a quick scene that was personal in nature and it was asked if that was Eric?  Ball said I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Anna likes that Sookie speaks her mind…  no matter what she’s in the middle of.

How much of a handful will Jessica be for Bill.  Deborah Ann Woll said as much as they let me.

Lafayyete is scared of Eric, while Eric has plans for Lafayette in the future.

On their fangs:  They said the older hard fangs stay in where they’re supposed to while the newer rubber ones fly out if you talk too fast.  The rubber ones were made because the hard ones were fairly hard and sharp.  Paquin coyly chimed in with a smirk saying, “Yes… they are.”

Ball said that there should be evolution and change in the characters in time but it will be a natural evolution of characters.

Charlaine Harris was asked what her inspiration was.  She said the tabloids, but in all honesty she doesn’t trust the word inspiration.  Writing is work and you wouldn’t want to be around her when she’s trying to make words or ideas come to her.  She says when you’re under contract, you have deadlines and inpsiration doesn’t seem to work well with deadlines.

Instead, Charlaine just turns on her word program and asks herself, “Who’s coming to Sookies house today?”

Ball said this show has been the most fun he’s ever had in a job.

The difference between V and real blood is that V is older blood.  Direct from the source is a much better experience.

Now the question remains, if Eric does snag Sookie away, what will Bill do about it?  Stephen said he might just take more drastic measures if that were the case.

That’s all I have for everyone from the True Blood panel.  It was fun, loud and a lot of people waited a long time in line to see this panel.  Skarsgard was quite the popular personality here today and they had a few exclusive bits of info to let us know about.

One of the shows I was pleasantly surprised by last year was True Blood. The series joined the vampire craze with a heavily adult-oriented take on the genre and stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer among many others of its strong cast.

One notable cast member and a fan-favorite of the series is Alexander Skarsgård who’s been making plenty of headlines over the last few months for having been in the running for the role of Thor in the upcoming Marvel Studios film of the same name.

In season one of True Blood, he played a relatively minor background character, not appearing in all of the episodes. This season, he’s back with a much bigger role!

The good folks over at IESB had a chance to talk with young Skarsgård about the second season and the role he plays and I’ve pulled some parts of it for you to see.

One of the first questions posed was about his change to play a bigger role in the second season of the hit vampire series:

“Yeah, I love it. Eric didn’t do anything in Season 1. You can sense that he is violent, strong and powerful, but he didn’t have to show it, at all, in Season 1. I think the audience wants to see a little example of that, and we give it to them.”

I guess that means we’ll see much more Eric and Bill dialogue and some interesting dynamic added to their relationship stemming from their different perspectives.

“…Eric sees Bill as pathetic. He’s a kid. He’s not even 200 years old, and he’s naive. Eric is much more jaded and he’s seen so much more than Bill has. Bill is old school and he believes in humanity, in a way that Eric doesn’t anymore.”

Again, Alex played a relatively minor role in the first film but the fans definitely picked up on him and I thought he was a cool character, good enough to make me a supporter of him getting the Thor role. IESB asked Alex what it was like to get that much support from a relatively minor role in the show:

“…I was shocked. I’m pretty much a glorified extra in Season 1. I didn’t do much. I didn’t expect anything, and I was overwhelmed when it started airing and I got all the reactions. It was very flattering, of course.”

Most importantly, how does he feel about the show and his gig?

“I enjoy everything. Every single part of it is great — just going to work, every day, and working on this show. It’s HBO and it’s Alan Ball. Just look at the cast, and the writing is phenomenal. I couldn’t ask for a better job. I’m so happy to have the job. And, it was challenging, definitely in the beginning, when I was trying to find the character. I was reading the books and trying to figure out who this guy was, and also trying to find that balance of making him likeable, but menacing. I wanted people to be intimidated by him, but intrigued, at the same time.”

To check out the full interview which includes questions about the cast and his role, head on over to IESB.

I love this guy’s attitude and his appreciation for what he does and the fans that follow.

He showed a similar positive attitude in response to not getting the role of Thor for which he was widely speculated to be a lead contender for some time.

If you’ve not seen it already, check out the neat teaser poster for season 2 of the show.

I’m excited for this season of True Blood and to see much more of Alexander’s character on screen playing a more integral role.

What do you think of the show and Skarsgård’s character?

True Blood Season 2 is currently airing on HBO. Check it out!