2011 Sunday Night Preview

Sunday nights are looking to be the most exciting and explosive nights this year on Abaza TV. There is such a vast amount of great content to pick up from the networks and cable but it all starts at 9:00pm or after creating a programming logjam.

Tentatively Abaza TV has scheduled Walking Dead's second season (AMC) to start at 9:00pm, followed by Pan Am (ABC) at 10:00pm (my most anticipated new show of the year), CSI Miami (CBS) will follow at 11:00pm, and two cable shows are scheduled to run at 2:00am and 3:00am respectively; Homeland (Showtime) and Hell on Wheels (AMC).

All of that does not even include possible preemptions for Winnipeg Jets hockey as well as Sunday Night NFL Football, the CFL playoffs and Grey Cup. Finally, it also makes no mention of one of Abaza TV's favorite shows Mad Men (AMC) which will likely return in the winter.

Pan Am
Passion, jealousy and espionage... They do it all - and they do it at 30,000 feet. The style of the 1960s, the energy and excitement of the Jet Age and a drama full of sexy entanglements deliciously mesh in this thrilling and highly-original new series. In this modern world, air travel represents the height of luxury and Pan Am is the biggest name in the business. The planes are glamorous, the pilots are rock stars and the stewardesses are the most desirable women in the world. Not only are these flyboys and girls young and good looking, but to represent Pan Am they also have to be educated, cultured and refined. They're trained to handle everything from in-air emergencies to unwanted advances - all without rumpling their pristine uniforms or mussing their hair. There's Dean (Jonah Lotan) - a cocky, charismatic and ambitious new pilot - the first of a new breed not trained in the war. On the sly against company policy, he's dating Bridget, a stunning beauty with a mysterious past. A rebellious bohemian, Maggie (Christina Ricci) turns into a buttoned up professional for work so she can see the world. Rounding out the crew are flirtatious Collette (Karine Vanasse), the adventurous Kate (Kelli Garner) and, finally, Laura (Margot Robbie) - Kate's beauty queen younger sister, a runaway bride, who recently fled a life of domestic boredom to take to the skies. "Pan Am" stars Christina Ricci ("Penelope") as Maggie, Kelli Garner ("Going the Distance") as Kate, Karine Vanasse ("Polytechnique") as Colette, Margot Robbie ("Neighbours") as Laura, Jonah Lotan ("24") as Dean and Michael Mosley ("Justified") as Ted. Jack Orman ("ER," "Men of a Certain Age,"), Tommy Schlamme ("The West Wing," "Parenthood," "Mr. Sunshine") and Nancy Hult Ganis ("Akleeh and the Bee") are the executive producers of "Pan Am." Orman is also the writer, with Schlamme directing. "Pan Am" is produced by Jack Orman Productions, Out of the Blue Entertainment and Shoe Money Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Hell on Wheels
After breaking the Western mold with the hit mini-series "Broken Trail," AMC returns to the genre with the epic drama "Hell On Wheels," starring Anson Mount (City by the Sea, Cook County), Common (Just Wright, Date Night), Colm Meaney (Get Him to the Greek), Dominique McElligott (Moon), Ben Esler (The Pacific), Philip Burke (Mercy), and Eddie Spears (Into the West). The series is written and produced by Joe and Tony Gayton (Faster, Murder By Numbers) and John Shiban (X-Files, Breaking Bad). The project is developed by Endemol USA and Jeremy Gold, Endemol USA's SVP of scripted programming serves as executive producer. David Goldberg is Chairman of Endemol North America. The pilot is directed by David von Ancken (Californication, Seraphim Falls). "Hell On Wheels," is set to premiere on the network with a ten episode run on Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 10PM ET/PT. "Hell On Wheels" transports audiences back to post Civil War America and examines the struggles and hardships of rebuilding and repairing our country after the bloodiest war on American soil. The series examines the railroad's institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience, the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans during Reconstruction, and the ravaging of the Native American land and people, in the name of progress. The main throughline of "HELL ON WHEELS" is the story of Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) and his quest for revenge over the wartime death of his wife. Over time, "Hell on Wheels" chronicles this potent turning point in our nation's history, and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be.

Homeland
Hot off its panel sessions at Comic-Con today, SHOWTIME has released an exclusive First Look at Season 6 of the network's signature original series DEXTER, and never-before-seen footage in a brand new trailer for its original drama series HOMELAND, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. The HOMELAND panel featured actress Morena Baccarin (V, Firefly) and executive producer Howard Gordon. HOMELAND is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Sgt. Nick Brody (Damian Lewis) a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for nine years, was a set-up and may be connected to an al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. Baccarin plays the role of Jessica Brody, Brody's (Lewis) intrepid and complicated wife. HOMELAND premieres October 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT only on SHOWTIME.