TV Heartbeat! Beyonce and the Leftovers! Stephen King Cameo! Vicious Ian McKellan! Dress like Olivia Pope! Gotham characters!

Beyonce is headed to HBO in 10 parts! Well, one Beyonce, but in 10 episodes. Each episode of Beyonce: x10 will feature a song recorded live during her Mrs. Carter World Tour. Here’s the song list (which may or may not be the episode order):
“Blow/Cherry”
“Drunk in Love”
“Ghost/Haunted”
“Flawless/Younce”
“Get Me Bodied/Baby Boy/Diva”
“Girls”
“Heaven”
“Partition”
“Why Don’t You Love Me?”
“XO”

In one of the most eclectic night of programming, HBO’s new Sunday night will be: Beyonce: x10 at 8:55 pm (7:55 central), followed by True Blood, The Leftovers and then Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. What’s The Leftovers you may ask? Why it’s the new show from Damon Lindelof (Lost). It’s the story about what happens to the people who are left behind after 2% of the population mysteriously disappears. With a pilot directed by Peter Berg, the show stars Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler and more. It’s intriguing and I’ll elaborate more on this with a review this week.

By the way, are you watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver? If not, you should be! While his segment on net neutrality may or may not have galvanized enough viewers to crash the FCC website in protest, it’s certain that his segment on Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was hilarious and capped with a special performance by one of the dictator’s favorite bands – Right Said Fred.

Under the Dome begins its second season with a premiere written by Stephen King himself. Not only that, but he also makes a cameo in the episode as well!

No, the picture below is not another fantastic bromantic picture of Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart! It’s an image from Vicious which tells the story of bickering partners Freddie (Ian McKellen) and Stuart (Sir Derek Jacobi), who have lived together in a small central London flat for nearly 50 years.

The Vicious cast is rounded out with a couple of neighbors so you can get a look at Ramsey Bolton (who loves to flay people on Game of Thrones), er Iwan Rheo as he helps Ian learn his lines for his Downton Abbey audition.

Speaking of flaying people (verbally or otherwise), Spartacus: Blood and Sand is making the move from premium to regular cable. If you missed the series on Starz, it’s worth watching. Syfy will air the series, with some alterations (of course) so perhaps a toned-down version may appeal to some.

Prepare to say a few farewells this week as Continuum, Penny Dreadful and 24: Live Another Day close out the season. Must say, I really enjoyed this shorter season for 24 since we had fewer cougar attacks and amnesia spells. It’s also a pleasure to see Michelle Fairley (Game of Throne’s Catelyn Stark) once again!

Tonight: Big Brother premiere (CBS), Taxi Brooklyn debut (NBC), Wilfred premiere (FXX)
Thursday: Spartacus: Blood and Sand premiere (Syfy)
Friday: Girl Meets World debut (Disney), Continuum

season finale (Syfy)
Sunday: Unforgettable premiere (CBS), Reckless debut (CBS), Beyonce: x10 (HBO), The Leftovers debut (HBO), Vicious debut (PBS), Penny Dreadful season finale (Showtime)
Monday: Under the Dome premiere (CBS), 24: Live Another Day season finale (Fox)

Health check

The Last Ship sailed off with the biggest cable debut for its maiden voyage! So far TNT’s been doing well with Falling Skies, Major Crimes and Murder in the First so let’s see if they can keep the streak going with Legends (starring Sean Bean) in August.

Meanwhile ABC’s new music reality show, Rising Star, did meh ratings for its launch and got savaged by the critics so let’s see if the curtain will rise, er, wall will fall again next week.

The reports of issues have been greatly exaggerate for Better Call Saul! A few weeks ago a few internet rumors went around saying the show was in trouble – which has proven to be false with AMC’s renewal for a second season even though they are still in production on the first season. The bad news is that the show has been pushed back to 2015. Here’s a very non-spoilery look at the first shot from Better Call Saul! Yes! There is an exclamation point in the title! Yeah! Exclamation points!!!!!

AMC is also feeling good about Turn which just got a renewal for a second season. I wonder if there are any spoilers on who wins the war…?

Sneak Peak

Entertainment Weekly got a hold of the first close up look at the characters in Gotham, the new Fox TV show about Commissioner Gordon before he was a commissioner. Lots of good early buzz about this show!

Random cross promotion alert!

Ever wanted to dress like Scandal’s Olivia Pope? (Duh! Yes!) Kerry Washington and Scandal’s costume designer Lyn Paolo will be creating a wardrobe collection so you can dress in white power suits like your favorite gladiator! Get the look of Escada, Armani and Gucci at….The Limited! Hmmm…. (And I thought the Mad Men collection at Banana Republic was a bit off brand.) Check out The Limited Scandal Collection in stores and online on September 22.

Stay tuned!

Comment below or email me at Erica@MikeTheFanboy.com
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