HBO sets 'Game of Thrones' premiere date, plus 'Veep,' 'Girls' and 'Game Change'
April will be a big month for HBO drama and comedy
Rory McCann and the rest of the "Game of Thrones" cast will return in April.
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HBO is about to kick off a three-hour bloc of press tour panels, mostly for new shows like the Milch/Mann horseracing drama "Luck," Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Armando Iannucci's "Veep," Lena Dunham's "Girls" and Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's "Life's Too Short." And now we know the premiere dates for all of those shows, plus when "Game of Thrones" season 2 will begin.
In press releases given out to the media ahead of the panels, HBO announced that "Game of Thrones" season 2 (which will again be 10 episodes) would debut Sunday, April 1 at 9 p.m. "Girls," a comedy about 20something women in Brooklyn which Dunham ("Tiny Furniture") wrote, directed and starred in (and produced along with Judd Apatow), kicks off its 10-episode first season Sunday, April 15 at 10:30 p.m. "Veep," in which Louis-Dreyfus plays the Vice-President of the United States, begins its eight-episode first season Sunday, April 22 at 10 p.m.
"Luck" had previously been announced as debuting on Sunday, January 29 at 9 p.m. for a nine-episode season(*), and "Life's Too Short" will debut its seven-episode season on Sunday, February 19 at 10:30 p.m., following the third season premiere of "Eastbound & Down."
(*) Yes, it seems HBO has a lot of irregular episode orders this year, but in some cases they're working with foreign talent, and in others they may be dealing with either budget or scheduling issues. (Dustin Hoffman may not have had a bigger window for "Luck" season one, for instance.)
HBO also announced that "Game Change," a TV-movie about the 2008 presidential election(**) starring Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin and Ed Harris as John McCain, will air Saturday, March 10 at 9 p.m.
(**) Reminder, as always, about the No Politics rule for this blog, which was created as a result of that 2008 election.
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All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is watch television! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a TV critic has been 15 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "What's Alan Watching" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan watches TV shows, then writes about what he watched. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupKen Raining How awesome would it be if "Game of Thrones" used the April 1 premiere date to play a "Terrence and Phillip" episode instead?
January 13, 2012 at 11:24AM EST Reply to CommentNiles Don't forget to ask them about the reasons for cancelling Bored to Death. One of the best comedies of the last couple of years. I'm still crying myself to sleep each night.
January 13, 2012 at 11:40AM EST Reply to CommentBadass I hate it!! Not I repeat NOT funny at all.
January 13, 2012 at 2:06PM ESTmp Do they need to offer more reasons than "continued crappy ratings" and "Ted Danson availability"? Actually, do they need to say anything beyond "crappy ratings"? They gave it a second year, which is pretty good considering how few people watched it, but that's the way HBO is.
January 13, 2012 at 3:45PM ESTMark We had 3 good years out of Bored to Death(and really only Season 2 was sublime). It had a good run...I'm satisfied.
January 13, 2012 at 3:55PM ESTEnjoy The Life & Times of Tim while it's currently on.
Trilby Wonderful show. Season 3 was amazing. I can't believe they canceled it, yet now it can remain a perfect little jewel of 24 episodes. No shark-jump.
January 13, 2012 at 4:16PM ESTM No premiere date for Sorkin's Newsroom? Does that mean it's more likely to air in summer or next fall?
January 13, 2012 at 11:49AM EST Reply to Commentsepinwall They only announced stuff airing in the first few months of the year. No dates on Treme or anything else coming later. It's unclear when Sorkin will go.
January 13, 2012 at 12:03PM ESTJohn Will the Jan 29 premiere of Luck be the pilot which originally aired? If not, do you know if they will either replay the pilot prior to, or put it up on-demand. I have been looking to watch it, but its not on-demand.
January 13, 2012 at 11:57AM EST Reply to Commentsepinwall Pilot re-airs January 29.
January 13, 2012 at 12:02PM ESTodessasteps Are Gervais/Merchant/Warwick Davis/Karl Pilkington there for their show(s) presentation?
January 13, 2012 at 12:17PM EST Reply to CommentJeremy Anybody know if season 1 of Game of Thrones is available for streaming purchase and will they stream the season 2 episodes as they air? I'm assuming I'll have to wait for the DVDs or buy HBO.
January 13, 2012 at 12:28PM EST Reply to CommentJoe It will be on DVD and Bluray on March 6 which means it will be in torrent-land any day
January 13, 2012 at 12:44PM ESTjoel It's been in torrent land since it aired, but the only way to stream it is via HBOGo, which requires an HBO subscription.
January 13, 2012 at 12:47PM ESTPhil You could be a good boy and pay something for hours of awesome entertainment
January 16, 2012 at 2:32PM ESTLJA Mad Men 3/25 and Game of Thrones 4/1? Spring is Coming.
January 13, 2012 at 12:33PM EST Reply to CommentGrimmy Life's Too Short is pretty damn awful. It is often as offensive as Two Broke Girls, particularly in the way that Warwick Davies has to fall off of something twice an episode.
January 13, 2012 at 12:50PM EST Reply to CommentIt also rehashes the worst aspects of Extras, namely the frequently pointless cameos and the use of an irredeemably stupid female character to create comedic conflict.
Looking forward to Veep though. When Iannucci gets it right he is practically peerless.
Jonnybon I don't think it's offensive. Some people are just too easily offended.
January 13, 2012 at 1:37PM ESTBut it IS pretty damn awful nevertheless.
lztouchthedream I actually thought Warwick Davis' physical comedy was the best part. John Cleese had some kind of pratfall in every episode of Fawlty Towers, but because it's a little person it's offensive and exploitation?
January 13, 2012 at 4:07PM ESTI also don't think you really got Extras if you can call Maggie "irredeemably stupid", there was so much more to that character.
January 14, 2012 at 2:56PM ESTMeh... I seem to be the only person who thinks The Thick of It/In The Loop (or "Peter Capaldi swears a lot, aren't we edgy and daring?") is grossly over-rated.
b What about Treme?
January 13, 2012 at 3:52PM EST Reply to Comment
January 13, 2012 at 8:45PM ESTTMC What about it?
January 15, 2012 at 2:13PM ESTSareeta Funny choice to premier GoT on April Fool's Day. Anyway, I'm happy it will be returning earlier (I was expecting mid-April, like last year).
January 13, 2012 at 6:08PM EST Reply to Comment