Showtime’s Spring 2014 Schedule, TV show Air Dates, New Series Orders

Showtime‘s Spring 2014 Schedule, TV show Air Dates, New Series Orders. Penny Dreadful, Californication, Nurse Jackie, Years of Living Dangerously, The Affair, and Happyish are among the programming discussed in the latest announcements by the premium cable and satellite television network.

The official press release for Showtime’s TV show air dates:

1) The highly-anticipated new Showtime Original Series PENNY DREADFUL has an official release date. It’s coming Sunday, May 11th at 10PM ET/PT and here’s a special NEW TEASER to get you excited!

2) NURSE JACKIE and CALIFORNICATION will be returning Sunday, April 13th with Jackie in the 9PM slot and Cali at 9:30PM. Get a sneak peek at Hank’s final season and get a glimpse at how Jackie is holding up on the high road.

3) Our new documentary event series from James Cameron, Jeremy Weinstraub, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, will also premiere on Sunday, April 13th at 10PM ET/PT. More info.

3) We have given series orders to THE AFFAIR and HAPPYISH! THE AFFAIR is a one-hour drama starring Dominic West, Maura Tierney, Ruth Wilson, and Joshua Jackson. HAPPYISH is a half-hour dark comedy starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kathryn Hahn, and Rhys Ifans! I’ve attached some early press images for both.

4) MAD DOG: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF MOAMMAR GADDAFI, a fascinating doc about the Libyan dictator, will also air in April.

The official press release for Showtime’s new series orders:

SHOWTIME^® ADDS TWO NEW ORIGINAL SERIES TO ITS LINEUP
WITH SERIES ORDERS FOR THE AFFAIR AND HAPPYISH

SHOWTIME Orders 10 One-Hour Episodes Of Drama Series THE AFFAIR Starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson

And 10 Episodes of Comedy Series HAPPYISH Starring Oscar^® Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathryn Hahn And Rhys Ifans

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 16, 2014) – Building on the network’s existing slate of acclaimed and award-winning programming, SHOWTIME will add two new original series to its lineup with orders for the one-hour drama THE AFFAIR and half-hour comedy series HAPPYISH. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.  THE AFFAIR,  a one-hour drama series starring Golden Globe^® nominees Dominic West (The Wire) and Ruth Wilson (Luther), as well as Emmy®  nominee Maura Tierney (ER) and SAG Award®  nominee Joshua Jackson (Fringe), received a ten-episode series order.  HAPPYISH, a comedy starring Academy Award® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Kathryn Hahn (Revolutionary Road) and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) also received a 10-episode order.

“THE AFFAIR is a beautiful pilot. It is an intense exploration of two marriages and the affair that disrupts them – with great acting and a very clever, deeply-observed script by the marvelously talented Sarah Treem,” said Nevins. “Shalom Auslander and Phillip Seymour Hoffman make for a formidable and unusual comedy team. The chance to get one of the truly great actors of our time into a such an incisive and current comedy was totally and completely irresistible.”

THE AFFAIR explores the emotional and psychological effects of an extramarital affair. The provocative, one-hour drama will be told separately from the male and female perspectives – using the distinct memory biases to both misdirect and intrigue. Wilson plays Alison, a young woman waiting tables at a popular Hamptons diner, trying to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragedy. Her husband, Cole (Jackson), struggles to keep it all together, with his wife and with the financially-strained ranch that has been in his family for generations. Their emotionally-charged marriage becomes even more complicated when Alison begins an affair with Noah (West), a New York City public school teacher and aspiring novelist who is spending the summer at his in-laws’ estate out on the island. Tierney plays Helen, Noah’s college sweetheart, best friend, mother of his children, lover and wife of 17 years. Award-winning playwright and writer/producer Sarah Treem (House of Cards, In Treatment) wrote the original script from a story co-created with Hagai Levi. They first worked together on the American adaption of Levi’s show In Treatment. Treem and Levi will both serve as executive producers, along with director Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights).

Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in the SHOWTIME comedy HAPPYISH, a dark examination of our pursuit of happiness, a pursuit that might just be the very thing causing our unhappiness in the first place. Thom Payne (Hoffman)  is 42, his new bosses at work are half his age and they say the words ‘digital’ and ‘social’ far too often. His mentor and boss, Jonathan (Ifans) tells him to “rebrand” himself, his corporate headhunter tells him happiness is a myth, and Thom’s not sure if his Viagra will interfere with his Prozac, or vice versa. Acclaimed actress Kathryn Hahn stars as Lee Payne, Thom’s wife, who is looking for a larger goal, a purpose, a meaning. Good luck with that. Happiness? In this world? Happiness after all is pretty high bar; in a world as absurd as ours, maybe the best anyone can hope for is happyish. Created, written and executive produced by author and This American Life contributor Shalom Auslander, HAPPYISH was developed by Ken Kwapis, who will executive produce, and Alexandra Beattie, who will co-executive produce, under their In Cahoots banner. John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) directed the pilot.  Philip Seymour Hoffman will also executive produce under his Cooperstown Productions banner.

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The official press release for Showtime’s Spring 2014 new series orders:

SHOWTIME^® ANNOUNCES SPRING 2014 SCHEDULE

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DRAMA PENNY DREADFUL DEBUTS ON MAY 11

THE EPIC DOCU-SERIES YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, WHICH EXPLORES GLOBAL ISSUES OF CLIMATE CHANGE, PREMIERES ON SUNDAY, APRIL 13 ALONG WITH NURSE JACKIE AND CALIFORNICATION

PASADENA, CA (January 16, 2014) – Today, SHOWTIME announced premiere dates for a number of its highly–anticipated new and returning programs this Spring.  Beginning Sunday, April 13, the sweeping docu-series YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY makes its debut in time for Earth Day at 10 p.m., immediately following the season six premiere of NURSE JACKIE, starring Edie Falco, at 9 p.m. and the seventh and final season of CALIFORNICATION, starring David Duchovny, at 9:30 p.m.  SHOWTIME’s new series PENNY DREADFUL, the psychological thriller starring Eva Green and Josh Hartnett, premieres on Sunday, May 11 at 10 p.m.

NURSE JACKIE stars actress Edie Falco in her Emmy^® Award-winning role as Jackie Peyton, a strong-willed and brilliant – but very flawed – emergency room nurse. Emmy Award nominee Clyde Phillips serves as showrunner and executive producer.  Richie Jackson and Tom Straw and also serve as executive producers. The series also stars Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Dominic Fumusa, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Wallem, Betty Gilpin, Adam Ferrara, Ruby Jerins, Mackenzie Aladjem and Peter Facinelli. Morris Chestnut is the season six special guest star.

CALIFORNICATION stars and is executive produced by David Duchovny in his Golden Globe^®-winning role as the hedonistic writer who fights to balance the demands of his libido, his unpredictable career, and his ex-girlfriend/muse Karen. He’s aided (and sometimes abetted) by best friend/agent Charlie and Charlie’s bawdy wife Marcy. Over the course of its run, the series has been honored with many accolades, including five Emmy nominations and two wins, six Golden Globe nominations and one win, and a Screen Actors Guild^® Award nomination.  The final season will find him joining the writer’s room as his never-released film “Santa Monica Cop” now becomes a television series of the same name. He’s riled frequently by his boss, the show’s old-school executive producer Rick Rath (guest star Michael Imperioli), and his fellow writing team members, including Goldie (guest star Mary Lynn Rajskub) and Alonzo (co-star Alonzo Bodden). But he’s thrown by the reemergence of old friend Julia (guest star Heather Graham), whose arrival causes chaos in Hank’s already hectic life, and with his on-off relationship with Karen (Natasha McElhone). Meanwhile, Charlie (Evan Handler) and Marcy (Pamela Adlon) grapple with the aftermath of their reunion and an enticing offer from her ex-husband, Stu Beggs (guest star Stephen Tobolowsky). Rob Lowe, Brandon T. Jackson, Oliver Cooper and Mercedes Masohn will also guest star.  Tom Kapinos is the creator and  executive producer.

YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY follows a star-studded roster of major film, television and renowned journalists traveling the globe, tackling an enormous range of subjects on the hot button topic of climate change.  The correspondents are Jessica Alba, Mark Bittman, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, America Ferrera, Harrison Ford, Thomas Friedman, Michael C. Hall, Chris Hayes, Olivia Munn, Dr. M. Sanjayan, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ian Somerhalder and Lesley Stahl.  YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY is executive produced by James Cameron, Jerry Weintraub, Schwarzenegger, along with Emmy^®-winning former 60 Minutes producers Joel Bach and David Gelber, and climate expert Daniel Abbasi.  The series is co-executive produced by seven-time Emmy winner Solly Granatstein (60 Minutes and Rock Center with Brian Williams) and Maria Wilhelm (Avatar Alliance Foundation).  Dr. Joseph Romm (ClimateProgress.org) serves as the chief science editor.

In PENNY DREADFUL, some of literature’s most famously terrifying characters – including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all brilliantly reimagined in a whole new light – have become embroiled in Victorian London. The series stars Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, License to Kill) and Eva Green (Casino Royale). Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger) and Danny Sapani (The Bill) also star. PENNY DREADFUL is a frightening psychosexual thriller created, written and executive produced by John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan’s Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar^® winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street. Of the eight episodes, the first two will be directed by J.A. Bayona, who helmed The Orphanage and the acclaimed film, The Impossible starring Naomi Watts in her Oscar-nominated performance.

The SHOWTIME Spring 2014 Schedule is as follows:

Sunday, April 13^th

NURSE JACKIE (9 p.m.)

CALIFORNICATION (9:30 p.m.)

YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROULSY (10 p.m.)

Sunday, May 11

PENNY DREADFUL (10 p.m.)

All times Eastern/Pacific.

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