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TV Bulletin Board (Tues., March 24) -- The X Files returning to Fox while Easter Sunday is loaded with prime attractions

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X-rated anew on Fox: truth-seekers Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It had begun to seem as though a continuation of The X Files on Fox was about as likely as a 24 feature film. Lots of false starts but no payoff.

But a renewal of the famed sci-fi series is now an officially announced reality, with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reuniting as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in a six-episode “event series.” Creator/executive producer Chris Carter also is returning as show runner, Fox said Tuesday. Production is scheduled to start this summer.

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter said in a publicity release. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

The X Files premiered on Fox in September, 1993, ages before Facebook, Twitter and the whole social media upheaval. It nonetheless became a much-talked about phenomenon in those primitive times. The series ran for nine seasons and 202 episodes while also spawning two big-screen films starring Duchovny and Anderson.

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Showtime has ordered 12 episodes of Billions, a new drama series starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, who will be returning to the network after three seasons as the ill-fated Nicholas Brody on Homeland.

The network describes it as a “complex and contemporary drama about power politics in the New York world of high finance.” The series is due in 2016, with Giamatti playing “hard-charging, politically savvy” U.S. attorney Chuck Rhoades and Lewis cast as “brilliant, ambitious” hedge fund king Bobby “Axe” Axelrod.

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Easter Sunday, April 5th, threatens to run DVRs into the ground with a wealth of significant premieres plus the return of AMC’s Mad Men for its concluding seven-episode run, subtitled “The End of an Era.”

Besides Don Draper’s last stand, here’s what else is coming on Easter night.

*PBS’ Wolf Hall, a six-part Masterpiece presentation starring Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and the aforementioned Lewis as Henry VIII.
*HBO’s Sinatra: All or Nothing At All, a two-night, four-hour documentary on the legendary singer.
*NBC’s American Odyssey, an ambitious, Homeland-like drama series delving into global politics, corporate espionage and military skullduggery.
*Lifetime’s The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, an eight-episode continuation of the network’s hit movie starring Christina Ricci in the title role.
*NBC’s A.D. The Bible Continues, post-crucifixion sequel to the History network’s The Bible.
*ABC’s annual reprise of The Ten Commandments

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

TV Bulletin Board (Mon., March 9) -- demonic killers, big prize competitions spur NBC's summertime schedule

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Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony) strums up business in Aquarius. NBC photo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s “tentpole” summertime premieres include three name-brand returnees and a new series in which David Duchovny chases down Charles Manson.

Aquarius, starting on Thursday, May 28th, stars Duchovny as LAPD Sgt. Sam Hodiak, who joins two other cops in pursuing Manson (Gethin Anthony) “down a rabbit hole of drugs, sex, murder and a cultural revolution.” It’s set in 1967.

Another twisted psycho, Hannibal Lecter, is due back on Thursday, June 4th for Season 3 of Hannibal. That’ll put the series in tandem with Aquarius for a full two-hours of maniacal killers and manipulators.

The Peacock’s biggest summertime hit, America’s Got Talent, launches its 10th season on Tuesday, May 26th. And American Ninja Warrior will be back the night before on Monday, May 25th.

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CBS has its major hot weather attractions lined up. Big Brother is first in line with a Wednesday, June 24th re-launch. It also will air on Thursdays and Sundays.

Season 3 of Under the Dome gets going on Thursday, June 25th and the second season of Extant is due on Wednesday, July 1st.

The network’s summertime newcomer is Zoo, adapted from the James Patterson novel. James Wolk (Mad Men, The Crazy Ones) heads the cast as a “renegade biologist” battling a wave of animal attacks against humans who presumably aren’t members of PETA. Kristen Connolly (House of Cards) co-stars.

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Kevin Spacey, currently skewering his many enemies as President Frank Underwood on Netflix’s House of Cards, has been signed to produce the six-part docu-series Race For the White House for airing in 2016 on CNN.

Each of the one-hour chapters will revisit a “no-holds-barred” presidential campaign. CNN hasn’t announced which ones yet.

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CBS on Monday, March 9th launched “Viewers to Volunteers,” which the network says “empowers people to give to a charity of their choice without spending their own money.” D-FW is the one of the first four “launch markets,” joining Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. For more information on how this all works, go here.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net