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+Miscellany | March 19, 2012

The Week Ahead—10 Things To Watch, Read and Listen To: March 19–25

By Lily Rothman

Every Monday, for your planning purposes, we lay out the week ahead in entertainment. You're welcome.

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Tuned In+Television | March 15, 2012

A Third Horse Dies, and HBO Cancels Luck

By James Poniewozik
HBO

Under pressure from PETA, the network shut down the show as it was shooting its second season. Every frame of Luck exuded love of horses, but–like the races it faithfully chronicled–it ended up killing them.

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Tuned In+Television | February 21, 2012

Serial Killers: Are HBO-Style Dramas Ruining the TV Episode?

By James Poniewozik
HBO

I’m currently fighting off a cold so potent that you probably caught it simply by reading this sentence, so blogging may be a little light for a while. Fortunately, my colleague and critic-pal Ryan McGee at the A.V. Club has offered up an essay that should keep you busy for a while. In it, he [...]

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Tuned In+Television | January 27, 2012

Dead Tree Alert: The Beautiful Losers of Luck

By James Poniewozik
HBO

In the print TIME magazine out now, I review (subscription required) David Milch and Michael Mann’s new HBO series Luck, which debuts Sunday and which I loved. Eventually. Yes, this is another critic flogging a cable drama by saying “It’s really good, but give it a few episodes.” And I’ll throw in another caveat—this is [...]

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Tuned In+Television | December 12, 2011

The Morning After: Luck Jumps Out of the Gate, Another Peek from Thrones

By James Poniewozik

Last night, HBO aired the pilot of Luck, the new David Milch drama which debuts for realsies late in January. I may post some first impressions later, but not for now because: (1) I first need to handle the season finale of Boardwalk Empire, which HBO did not screen in advance and (2) HBO is [...]

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Tuned In+News Media | December 9, 2011

TV Weekend: A Little Louie, a Little Luck, a Little More Debating

By James Poniewozik
FX

Earlier this week, I posted my Top 10 TV series of 2011 list, with Louis CK‘s remarkable first-person show Louie at #1. You’ll have to wait until next year for the next season, but in the meantime, there’s a Louis CK special this weekend—and in the DIY spirit of his one-man show, the comedian is [...]

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Tuned In+Television | November 30, 2011

HBO Signs David Milch and His New Partner, William Faulkner

By James Poniewozik

HBO announced today that it signed a new contract with one of its favorite writers, David Milch, who created Deadwood, John from Cincinnati and various projects that never made air for the network, and whose horseracing drama Luck debuts next month. (A sneak preview will air Dec. 11.) In connection with the deal, the network [...]

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Tuned In+Tuned In | November 2, 2011

First Horse Out of the Gate: HBO to Sneak-Peek Luck Pilot

By James Poniewozik

HBO has announced a premiere date, Jan. 29, for its David Milch / Michael Mann horseracing drama Luck. But should you care to lay odds on it early, the network will run a sneak preview of the pilot episode on Dec. 11, after the season finale of Boardwalk Empire. Then HBO will hold its horses, [...]

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Tuned In+Tuned In | September 27, 2011

First Look: HBO’s Luck

By James Poniewozik

Among the things I didn’t get around to blogging about yesterday: Before the season premiere of Boardwalk Empire, HBO screened a trailer for horseracing drama Luck, which debuts in January. (They also aired an even briefer tease for season 2 of Game of Thrones, with no footage, just a recitation of the Red Priests’ line [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | July 29, 2011

TCA Roundup: Is AMC the New HBO? Is HBO the New AMC?

By James Poniewozik

The TCA TV critics’ press tour (which I will be joining next week) continued with its cable round yesterday, as critics and reporters heard from AMC, a critics’ darling that has recently taken some dings in its Teflon armor over the season finale of The Killing, ugly negotiations over Mad Men and a shakeup at [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | July 5, 2011

While I Was Out: A Little Luck, Colbert's PAC, The Final Chord

By James Poniewozik

I’m back from vacation! Related: I was on vacation! Before we get back to business as usual (i.e., superficial blog posts, grudgingly written and read with a feeling of vague dissatisfaction) a quick rundown of a few things that happened in TV while I was away: * HBO released a new (albeit very short) trailer [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | December 30, 2010

Vacation Robo-Post: TV to Look Forward to in 2011

By James Poniewozik

Having spent a lot of time this past couple of weeks looking back on 2010 here, it’s time to look forward. TV doesn’t have the same kind of lead time that, say, movies do: this time last year, we did not know what the broadcast fall schedules would be, or that Conan O’Brien would end [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | July 14, 2010

HBO Places Its Bet on Milch and Mann's Luck

By James Poniewozik

And they’re off! HBO, which has been beefing up its regular-series roster heavily in the past year, has ordered to series Luck, a drama set in the horse-racing world, created by David Milch, starring Dustin Hoffman, and its pilot directed by Michael Mann. Given the roster of names in that previous sentence, I would have [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | March 9, 2010

Showtime Seeks Oscar Bounce from Gaby

By James Poniewozik

Gabourey Sidibe—the Precious star who was also the most delightful new presence on the Oscar red carpet this year—is joining Showtime’s The Big C, a self-described “dark comedy” about cancer starring Laura Linney. Judging by the production still already available, this was in the works before the Oscars, but you can’t fault Showtime for the [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | March 3, 2010

HBO Picks Up Thrones, Places Bet on Dustin Hoffman

By James Poniewozik

While I was in New Orleans, visiting the set of Treme and seeing the premiere screening of The Pacific, HBO was keeping  busy on its next generation of series. First came news that Dustin Hoffman will star in the pilot of Luck, the horse-racing drama from David Milch and Michael Mann. It’s not guaranteed to [...]

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Tuned In+Television | January 6, 2010

HBO Adds to Stable With Milch, Mann Horse Drama

By James Poniewozik

David Milch is back in business with HBO, this time writing Luck, a drama pilot, to be directed by Michael Mann, about horse racing. There’s no guarantee that the pilot will become a series—since making Deadwood and John from Cincinnati, Milch made the HBO cop pilot Last of the Ninth, which never made it to [...]