Dead Again will reconstruct crime scenes and allow Wood, Schillaci, and Gannon to interview various witnesses and specialists in order to see if they come to the same conclusion as the original verdict. Among the cases that will be investigated are a double homicide that killed a father and son in Georgia, the murder of a young Ohio mother, and the death of a young art student in Texas whose murder was wrapped up in a case of revenge.

This isn’t the first true crime series that Wolf has produced, as TNT is currently airing Cold Justice, which centers on a former prosecutor and a former crime scene investigator as they investigate unsolved murders and reopen cold cases throughout the country. Not only does Dead Again fit with Wolf’s brand of television, it will easily slide into the A&E lineup that includes several crime-related unscripted series (e.g. The First 48, Beyond Scared Straight), so this is a move that feels natural for both parties. Wolf gets to expand his already considerable television portfolio, while A&E gets to work with a vaunted producer and give themselves an unscripted series that could be both important and solid scheduling material.

Will you be watching Dead Again? Do you think the show will go well with the network’s other true crime series like The First 48? What other variations of the true crime genre would you like to see from A&E?

The post Dead Again to Premiere October 2nd on A&E appeared first on TVHackr.

“The Returned has the potential to be one of the most compelling drama series on cable, thanks to phenomenal scripts written by Carlton and Raelle,” said General Manager and Executive Vice President of A&E Network David McKillop.  “We look forward to seeing their vision brought to life on screen.”

The Returned tells the story of a small town turned upside down when several locals, who have long been presumed dead, suddenly reappear. The families of those who returned are left with questions about what happened, what their loved ones saw when they “died,” and how all this is possible; what makes this potentially dangerous is the reaction of the town and how quickly paranoia can spread within the confines of a small town. Until the families can find something resembling an answer, they’re going to have to keep the reappearance of their loved ones a secret, but in some instances, they might not have a choice.

The original series, based on the 2004 film of the same name, finished airing its first season on SundanceTV last fall and ended up on many year-end Top 10 lists. While the second season of The Returned will arrive later this year, ABC has Resurrection, a drama based on a book titled The Returned that has no relation to the French series, and NBC has Babylon Fields, another drama with a similar premise, in development.

The Returned begins casting immediately for what’s likely to be a late 2014 or early 2015 premiere. You can check out a look at the original series below.

Will you be watching the American adaptation of The Returned? How much mileage does this concept have with the original series, Resurrection, A&E’s version of The Returned, and Babylon Fields? Do you think a show like this can find a mass audience without sacrificing what made the original so stunning?

The post A&E Orders American Adaptation of The Returned to Series appeared first on TVHackr.

It’s rare to see a highly promoted cable drama be yanked from the schedule, especially this early in its run, but it’s better in the long run for Those Who Kill that A&E pulled it when it did. Had the network allowed the show to languish with low ratings, there might not have been a chance for it to build an audience and it would have ended up canceled following its season finale in May. While giving it a relaunch doesn’t guarantee an upturn in the ratings, it’s clear that airing at 10:00 in an increasingly crowded Monday is too much for the young show and that it might be better served by airing either a different time of year or different night of the week.

Based on Danish series Den som draeber, Those Who Kill follows Catherine Jenkins (Sevigny), a recently promoted homicide detective who enlists the help of a forensic psychologist (D’Arcy) to track down serial killers and get closer to answers about the murder of her brother. In addition to Sevigny and D’Arcy, Those Who Kill stars James Morrison (Hawthorne), Omid Abtahi (Last Resort), Anne Dudek (Covert Affairs), Kerry O’Malley (Shameless), and Bruce Davison (Close to Home).

Do you think A&E made the right decision to pull Those Who Kill? Where should they relaunch the show – summer or another night during the spring? Will the show be able to find an audience wherever the network opts to place it?

The post A&E Pulls Those Who Kill, Moves Bates Motel to 10:00 appeared first on TVHackr.

“Glen Morgan and the incredible team behind the Those Who Kill have crafted a captivating drama that we’re thrilled to add to our slate of original scripted series,” said David McKillop, Executive Vice President and General Manager of A&E Network. “As the story unfolds, these damaged yet good-intentioned characters are brought to life by the talented cast.”

Based on the format of a Danish crime drama that was inspired by a series of Elsebeth Eglholm novels, Those Who Kill stars Chloe Sevigny as Catherine Jensen, a recently promoted homicide detective who, motivated by the disappearance of her brother, tracks down serial killers. To help get insight into her cases, she enlists the help of forensic psychologist Thomas Schaeffer (James D’Arcy), as she suspects that her stepfather might be a serial killer and has gotten too close to cases in the past to where she knows she needs a third party. However, Schaeffer too finds himself deeply connected to the cases that he works, only through the killer rather than the victim.

In addition to Sevigny and D’Arcy, Those Who Kill stars Bahar Soomekh (Saw III), James Morrison (24), Kerry O’Malley (Case 39), and Omid Abtahi (Argo). The X Files‘ Glenn Morgan wrote the pilot episode and will serve as both executive producer and showrunner for the 10-episode first season. The series joins a scripted lineup that includes the likes of Bates Motel, which is heading into its second season this year.

Will you be watching Those Who Kill? If you’ve read the Eglholm novels, do you think the television series can adequately depict Catherine and Thomas’ relationship? Who would you like to see stop by the show for a one-episode guest stint or a longer arc?

The post Those Who Kill to Premiere Monday, March 3rd on A&E appeared first on TVHackr.

“The Returned takes an incredibly unique approach, filled with suspense and twists and turns, to the subject of the living dead,” said David McKillop, General Manager and Executive Vice President of A&E Network. “Part mystery, part thriller; The Returned is a perfect complement to A&E’s unique brand of scripted storytelling.”

Based on the 2004 film They Came Back from Robin Campillo, The Returned tells the story of a seemingly idyllic French mountain town grappling with the sudden reappearance of several people who were long thought dead. They haven’t aged since the time of their demise and carry no memory of what happened to them, making their reassimilation into society that much more difficult. Not helping matters is the fact that their resurrection rouses buried secrets to the surface of the town and coincides with a series of gruesome murders that match the M.O. of a serial killer from the past.

Among those featured in The Returned’s expansive cast are Anna Consigny (A Christmas Tale), Samir Guesmi (District B13), Alix Poisson (Micmacs), Laetitia de Fombelle (Lights Out), and Pierre Perrier (American Translation).

Do you think an English adaptation of The Returned could stack up to the French version? How different do you expect the show, should it be picked up to series, to be from ABC’s upcoming Resurrection? Since an American television network is already set to begin showing Les Revenants this year, is an adaptation even necessary at this point, no matter how quality a premise it might have?

The post A&E Developing Adaptation of French Drama The Returned appeared first on TVHackr.

Hitchcock himself has been scrutinized this past year in two films, one made for TV and one theatrical, so it’s no surprise that a film he famously directed would be brought to the small screen in one form or another.

In the case of Bates Motel, it’s being brought to us by the A&E Network as a sort of a prequel. I say “sort of” because it takes place in modern times. That was something that took me a few minutes to suss out, what with the style of dress chosen, the furniture and even in some cases the way the characters speak. It’s not very often your see a housewife wearing a wide, belted floral skirt with similar shirt and an upturned collar in 2013, let alone washing the dishes in the outfit.

There are movies and television productions that deliberately try to throw you off kilter by their ambiguous sense of place and time, and for some reason Bates Motel has chosen to do this. I was only 100% certain we were in modern day when Norman (Freddie Highmore) had headphones in his ears and a cellphone attached. Dead giveaway.

Most of us have seen the movie, and know how it ends – only Norman was still alive during the story, but his trusty mother was in the film throughout. If you haven’t seen it, use your imagination. The path to Norman’s future, however, has only been shared in bits and pieces throughout the original and in the (dreadful) sequels.

Norma (Vera Farmiga) tries to be a loving mother, but comes off as a selfish, needy and controlling mommy dearest type. That doesn’t seem to stop Norman from loving her deeply, even though he does have his moments of rebellion.

Norman makes some friends at school, but the one that seems mostly like to stick makes him, another loner, a girl with cystic fibrosis named Emma (Olivia Cooke). It’s during one of his only attempts to reach beyond his mother than an unspeakable act binds them together in the premier, and it’s something that will not only hold them together but with which they will be able to use against one another for a very long time to come.

As Norman struggles to be a normal boy, his social insecurities are very apparent when he’s away from the house. We learn shortly after his father’s death (the catalyst for their move to White Pine Bay) that they have moved at least five times since he’s been in school because Norma tends to have flights of fancy she needs to pursue.

Before the end of the premier, they’re visited by the local sheriff (Nestor Carbonell) and his deputy (Mike Vogel) who appear to just want to snoop around the motel. It makes you wonder if there’s not more going on in the little village that we’ll learn as time progresses.

In the extended season clip below, we’ll see hints of Norman going class A angry, something he learned to tame by the time we met him in Psycho, and the arrival of his brother, Dylan, who we only meet via telephone in the premier.

While I wasn’t all that interested in the plot, to be honest, the inclusion of Dylan seems intriguing as does what occurred in the last ten seconds of the premiere that left me scratching my head and wondering “what the HELL?”

Is it worth tuning in? Sure. Psycho is a piece of history, there can’t be any harm done by checking out what Lost’s  Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights’ Kerry Ehrin have in store for the prequel.  There’s even a shout out to the great shower scene in case anyone could ever forget what happened in there.

Check it out by tuning in tomorrow, Monday, March 18th on A&E at 10/9c.

The post Bates Motel: Advance Pilot Review and Season Sneak Peek appeared first on TVHackr.