stars on screen
hollywood q&a By Adam Thomlison TV Media
By Andrew Warren TV Media
Q: Will the “Vikings” series ever be back on History? A: The ambitious Ragnar Lothbrok has lain in wait for nine months, but he’s ready to unleash another season of havoc on land and sea (and on cable). History’s dramatic series set in medieval Scandinavia will return on Feb. 27 for its second season, and fans will be happy to hear that this season will have a whopping 10 episodes (not a lot, perhaps, but one more episode than the last). The pickup was an easy decision for the network, and came midway through the first season. The show, History’s first scripted series, was an instant hit, drawing 8.3 million total viewers for its premiere. “People think they know the Vikings — but the reality is more complex,” said Nancy Dubuc, entertainment and media president for A+E Networks (History’s parent company). “We knew our audience had an appetite for this unexpected storytelling and it was a big bet that paid off.” The new season will feature a couple of notable cast additions. “Law & Order” fans will recognize Linus Roache, who plays Ecbert, King of Wessex, in the new season. Roache played Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter on “Law & Order” from 2008 to 2010. Budding film star Alexander Ludwig, who appeared in the 2012 smash hit “The Hunger Games,” will join the cast as Ragnar Lothbrok’s son. Ragnar is the central character on the series and is a figure drawn from actual Norse legend. Don’t bother looking at Viking history for spoilers, though — the historical record is unclear as to whether Ragnar was a real person or a composite of several. One account says he was a Danish king in the ninth century who went to war against the Holy Roman emperor Charlemagne. The network is no more precise about plot details. “Season 2 brings crises of faith, of power, of relationships,” an official release said vaguely. “Brothers rise up against one another. Loyalties shift from friend to foe, and unlikely alliances are formed in the name of supremacy.”
Happy with Hoffman: Showtime is loading up their plate with new scripted fare, and they’re tapping an Oscarwinning actor to help out. The specialty channel has announced the addition of two new shows to their slate, the Philip Seymour Hoffman dark comedy “Happyish” and drama “The Affair.” “Happyish” follows along with Hoffman’s Thom Payne, a middle-aged man with bosses half his age who begins to realize that the pursuit of happiness may just be the thing that’s making him unhappy in the first place. The 46-year-old actor took home the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in 2005’s “Capote,” and he’s been nominated for three more Oscars since: for “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007), “Doubt,” (2008), and “The Master” (2012). Rounding out the cast with Hoffman will be Rhys Ifans (“The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012); CBS’ “Elementary”), as Payne’s boss and mentor, and Kathryn Hahn (“Parks and Recreation”). “The Affair,” on the other hand, has a darker concept. In an intriguing twist, it will explore the emotional effects of an affair from both the male and female perspectives, and with both sides having their own biases and spotty memories, piecing together the full story could be half the fun. Ruth Wilson (“Luther”), Joshua Jackson (“Fringe,” “Dawson’s Creek”), Dominic West (“The Wire”) and Maura Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to star in “Happyish”
Q: I loved the British comedy series “The IT Crowd,” and its credits say prominently that it was created by Graham Linehan. Has he made any other shows? A: Ireland-born writer-director Graham Linehan is now best known for “The IT Crowd,” his smash-hit sitcom that combined office jokes with nerd jokes (“IT” stands, in this case, for “information technology”). He had made a number of other shows prior to “The IT Crowd’s” debut in 2006 — though none was as popular — and one since. Other than “The IT Crowd,” he’s best known as the head writer of the late ‘90s sitcom “Father Ted,” about three priests living in rural Ireland. It was hugely popular, airing for three seasons and taking home a number of BAFTAs (British Association of Film and Television Awards) and British Comedy Awards. Since the end of “The IT Crowd,” Linehan’s been mostly working on his new project, “Count Arthur Strong,” a show about a washedup and delusional actor recounting his life story. It aired its first season last summer and has been renewed for another. His other, less popular series have included “Black Books,” about a cantankerous bookshop owner, which ran for one season in 2000, and “Big Train,” a sketch-comedy series that ran from 1998 to 2002, but only produced 12 episodes in total.
Tierney (“ER”) are all bringing their considerable acting chops to this drama. While “The Affair” may not have the cachet of an Oscar winner on-side, the level of talent working on bringing it to screen is no less impressive. Watch for both new programs on Lifetime later this year. A second chance: Sometimes the second time’s a charm. Fox has breathed new life into “Backstrom,” a series that CBS left on the cutting room floor last year. Starring Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) in the titular role, the crime drama went so far as to film a pilot episode before being dropped. Whether Fox or CBS has the right idea about giving “Backstrom” a second chance remains to be seen, but it certainly won’t be lacking in quality source material. The series is based on best-selling Swedish author Leif G. W. Persson’s crime novels, and the people adapting the literary works for the screen are no slouches. Wilson, of course, will barely need an introduction to TV audiences. As “The Office’s” Dwight Schrute, he seemingly effortlessly brought on the laughs, but “Backstrom” won’t be his first spin in a more serious role — not by a long shot.
He’s had appearances in “Six Feet Under,” “Numb3rs” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and on the silver screen he’s popped up in “Almost Famous” (2000), “House of 1000 Corpses” (2003) and “Juno” (2007). The team also includes “Bones” creator Hart Hanson as executive producer, along with Persson himself. “Backstrom” revolves around detective Everett Backstrom (Wilson) with Portland’s Serious Crime Unit who’s trying — and failing — to change his self destructive behavior. As he and his team navigate some of the city’s most sensitive cases, his offensive and irascible nature become just as integral to the plot as the crimes themselves. A cosmic event: A beloved television classic is being updated for a new generation. TV audiences were awed in 1980 when world renowned cosmologist and science communicator Carl Sagan stepped onto the screen and brought modern science into people’s homes. PBS’s “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” was a 13-episode wonder, winning both an Emmy and Peabody Award and was, at the time, the most watched series in the history of American
public television. Now, “Cosmos” is returning to awe and inspire a new generation with a new host, the latest science and two new TV networks. “Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey” will premiere the first of its 13 episodes on Fox the evening of Sunday, March 9 with an encore presentation airing on the National Geographic Channel the following night. At the helm for this exciting exploration of our universe is cosmologist and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. While he may feel at home among the stars, he’s also no stranger to being on the TV screen. As one of the planet’s most recognizable science popularizers, he’s been a frequent guest on “The Colbert Report,” “The Daily Show” and “Jeopardy!,” and hosted PBS’s “NOVA ScienceNow” from 2005 to 2011. This updated “Cosmos,” which has been in the works for years, will, much like the first series, explore the wonder and awe that understanding our universe can inspire. It’s not a remake of the original, though; in the three decades since the first series, our understanding of reality has grown by leaps and bounds, and with Tyson leading the charge audiences will be able to learn not just what we know, but what that knowledge truly means.
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FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2014
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS