Sarah Barnett, President and GM of Sundance Channel, stated, “Sundance Channel is becoming a go-to network for quality scripted television that’s a little bit different to what’s airing elsewhere, and The Returned has proven to be an incredible addition to our slate.  We were delighted with the overwhelming critical and fan response to the series and we expect that season two will continue to seduce and chill audiences.”

Sundance also renewed original non-fiction series The Writers’ Room for a second season of six half-hour episodes that will look into the writers’ rooms of television series in the pop culture zeitgeist. Last season, the series, hosted by Jim Rash (Community), spotlighted the writers of Dexter, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Parks and Recreation, and New Girl, while season two will feature the writers’ rooms of Scandal, Pretty Little Liars, Sons of Anarchy, House of Cards, and The Good Wife. Season two will feature a special episode about the growing trend of comic book and graphic novel adaptations in TV.

You can check out a trailer for The Returned and a clip of The Writers’ Room below, as well as where The Returned landed on the TVHackr Best of 2013 list here.

Where do you think The Returned will go during season two? Can the show continue the strong creative momentum it generated in season one? What other shows would you like to see featured on The Writers’ Room, should the show garner a third season renewal?

The post Sundance Channel Acquires The Returned Season 2; Renewed The Writers’ Room appeared first on TVHackr.

Listed below are the times, titles, and descriptions of the episodes included in Sundance’s marathon of The Returned.

12:00 p.m. – “Camille”
Supernatural series set in a quiet village in the French Alps begins with a group of confused people returning to their homes unaware that they have been dead for a number of years. As the newly walking dead try to reestablish their past lives, they uncover longtime secrets, while at the same time, a rash of brutal murders are sweeping the area.

1:00 p.m. – “Simon”
Camille has problems reestablishing with her family; and Simon makes an overture to his former fiancée, while unusual happenings suggest others in a similar situation have been brought back.

2:00 p.m. – “Julie”
Camille adopts a new identity; and Adele finally admits that Simon is who he says he is.

3:00 p.m. – “Victor”
Camille’s new identity proves successful; and Lena’s scar increases in size, sapping her energy.

4:00 p.m. – “Serge and Toni”
Gradually, the newly walking dead begin to come out into the open, but resuming normal lives proves difficult. Camille faces rejection, while Julie begins to second guess herself, and the serial killer tries to throttle back some.

5:00 p.m. – “Lucy”
An electrical outage strikes the town; and members of the community begin to perceive Camille as a kind of “prophet.” Meanwhile, a dead Simon returns among the living yet again and Victor’s body begins to strangely distort.

6:00 p.m. – “Adele”
Individual clans form; and Camille is accused of being dangerous. Meanwhile, Pierre assumes a leadership role with the Outstretched Hand community, and Julie and Laure consider running away with Victor.

7:00 p.m. – “The Horde”
Strained relations develop between the living and the dead as a new and more frightening horde creeps into town, and the separate factions must choose sides.

The first season finale of The Returned is set to air this Thursday at 9:00 on Sundance.

The post The Returned Marathon to Air December 22nd on Sundance appeared first on TVHackr.

“We decided to take zombies to a new and utterly original level – we made them French!” stated Sarah Barnett, President of Sundance Channel. “The Returned is smart entertainment that shocks and entertains at every turn. We think our audience will love how this series grounds the supernatural in deeply human emotions.”

The Returned tells the story of a French mountain town where a group of seemingly random people long thought dead emerge alive and seemingly normal. They look the same, they act the same, and it’s as if they’ve merely been sleeping or blacked out rather than dead for numerous years, but their return has brought about strange phenomena that could place them in danger should the connection be made between their reappearance and the start of the chaos.

The series marks the latest in a string of announcements from Sundance that indicate it has taken its approach to scripted series television quite seriously, as the network is now responsible for critical darling Rectify, acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake, upcoming crime drama The Red Road, and Maggie Gyllenhaal-led The Honourable Woman, a miniseries that will premiere in 2014. A success by The Returned on American soil could also free the network up to aggressively go after more non-English products and expand the purview of American television just a little bit more.

Featured in the expansive ensemble cast of The Returned are the likes of Anne Consigny (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Clotilde Hesme (Love Songs), Celine Sallette (Rust and Bone), Guillaume Gouix (Midnight in Paris), and Yara Pilartz (17 Girls).

Will you be watching The Returned? Should it prove to be successful, will this open the door to more international dramas coming to the United States? Would you like to see more networks program like this for Halloween night?

The post Sundance Picks Up U.S. Broadcast Rights to French Zombie Drama The Returned appeared first on TVHackr.