‘Divorce’ is coming back; ‘BrainDead’ off life support
You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: What’s up with “Divorce” on HBO? Any idea if and when it’s returning?
A: HBO has ordered a second season of the series with Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church as a couple whose marriage has fallen apart. I have not yet seen a premiere date for the new season.
Q: For the last couple summers (I think) there was a show on about how alien bugs came to Earth, got into politicians’ ears and consumed their brains. They “took over” these politicians, and it was hilarious! Tony Shalhoub was in it. Will it be back?
A: The series you remember was called “BrainDead.” It ended in 2016 after a 13-episode run that summer and early fall.
Q: Will the shows “Pure Genius” and “Madam Secretary” return? My husband and I really enjoyed them.
A: “Pure Genius” was canceled after a single, short season. Its star, Augustus Prew, told TV Line: “I think we got caught between two different shows. I think CBS wanted something a little more procedural, and (executive producer) Jason (Katims) wanted something a little more character-driven . ... We weren’t enough of either.”
I have better news with “Madam Secretary.” It will be back for a fourth season beginning Oct. 8.
Q: Will “Good Behavior” be back?
A: I keep getting asked about the TNT drama starring “Downton Abbey’s” Michelle Dockery. TNT recently announced its return date: Oct. 15. At first life will seem to be better for Letty Raines, the thief and con artist played by Dockery, but TNT promises that things will go awry.
Q: I always liked watching AMC, but now instead of American Movie Classics they have “The Walking Dead” and other programs and very few movies. What a shame that what used to be a wonderful channel is now nothing but killing and depression. What happened?
A: Oh, where to start? While it began in 1984 as a commercial-free movie channel, American Movie Classics started having intense competition 10 years later when Turner Classic Movies and its sizable film library arrived. Saddled with a less impressive lineup than TCM, and little clout when it came to dealing with cable companies, American Movie Classics over time added commercials, changed its name to just AMC and started working on original series to become, as critic Alan Sepinwall put it, more than “the place to watch ‘The Godfather’ five times in a row on a Saturday.” The result was “Broken Trail” in 2006, “Mad Men” in 2007, “Breaking Bad” in 2008, “The Walking Dead” in 2010 and still more shows. With such programs came critical acclaim, new AMC viewers or both. (You can read more about the AMC transition in Sepinwall’s book “The Revolution Was Televised” and Brett Martin’s “Difficult Men.”) Movies then became less important to it — much the way they did for other movie channels, such as HBO, Showtime and Starz — as consumers had other ways to see films, but only one path to the networks’ original programs.
Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present or future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or bren fels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.