I don't know about you, but I love a good character arc. Whether it's someone bad turning good, someone good turning bad, or just a character growing up and maturing over time, a good character arc makes a TV show a million times better. 

Don't forget that a good character arc also makes fans favorites, and these characters certainly became major fan favorites after their well-deserved character arcs on their television shows. 

Alexis (Schitt's Creek)

The Schitt's Creek cast is incredibly talented in many ways, but everyone had a better character arc than Alexis. Starting as a pretty, spoiled girl who didn't have a clear direction in life, she seriously matures toward the end of the series and begins to figure out what she wants – through hilarious moments. However, it's still a great character arc. 

Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

It's well-known that Zuko has one of the most significant character arcs of all time, especially in television, but most definitely in Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

Starting as a banished prince, Zuko had to undergo serious self-reflection, punishment, and much more to realize his true destiny. In the end, he was willing to sacrifice his life for the Avatar and his friends rather than try and earn the honor of his father over and over again. 

Loki (Loki)

Loki is a curious character because he had character arcs in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Loki television show, but we'll talk specifically about the series. 

Throughout its two seasons, Loki changes immensely, from the villain he was at the end of the first Avengers film to someone who would lock himself away forever to ensure his friends survive in timelines and keep the universe intact. I mean, talk about a change. 

Walter White (Breaking Bad)

We could say that Walter White had one of the best character arcs ever on television. Breaking Bad was an incredible show for many reasons, but I think the Breaking Bad cast was one of the main things that made it fantastic, including that of Bryan Cranston as White. 

In the beginning, we can almost see White as a savior, desperate to do anything to help his family after his inevitable death from cancer. Still, over time, we see how he changes into this power-hungry fool, ostracizing himself from his life and the people he loves. 

John Silver (Black Sails)

Black Sails is one of the best pirate shows, and John Silver was one of the best characters. I mean, think about it – he started off with nothing, just working as a cook due to being captured and taking out another cook. Silver had a brilliant mind, and through the show, we see him turn into a great strategist behind Captain Flint. He was always able to find a way out of any issue, making him more interesting. 

Jamie Lannister (Game Of Thrones)

For years, I have considered Jaime Lannister one of the best character arcs on television. As part of the Game of Thrones cast, Jaime Lannister was as selfish as a Lannister could be when the series started and then began to change throughout the following seasons, fighting for what was right, denying his sister, and so much more. Let's ignore what happened in Season 8 of the show. He was still a great character – just not his sad death. 

Octavia (The 100)

Good god, I remember when I first watched Octavia, a character a part of The 100 cast, I could not stand her. She was bratty, selfish, and straight-up annoying. 

But it wasn't long before she began to mature, and sooner or later, she learned how to fight, lead, and kill, which is needed in this world. What makes her even better is that she's a flawed character at best—she has moments of morally grey instances that really make you either root for her or hate her—which is why she's a fan-favorite. 

Jimmy McGill (Better Call Saul)

Oh, Jimmy McGill. Better Call Saul was a spinoff of Breaking Bad and told the story of Jimmy McGill or Saul Goodman. He started as someone genuinely trying to make it as a lawyer, but as the seasons go on, we see him sink more into criminal activity to get ahead since no one would give him a chance, thanks to his past. It's a slow, depressing character arc, but it's still fantastic either way.

Roy Kent (Ted Lasso)

He's here, he's there, he's every-well, you know the chant. 

Roy Kent of Ted Lasso began the series as a crude, mean, and old (in the eyes of sports) man, bitter about his past and despising Lasso coming in as their coach. But through the help of his close friends, significant others, and more, we see how much of a heart he has. He starts to show his true colors, and sooner or later, we see him even making friends with Jamie Tartt.  

Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)

Out of everyone on The Walking Dead, I think Daryl Dixon's character arc is among the most intriguing and fun to witness. When we first meet Daryl, he's super selfish and only cares about himself and his brother, but by the end of the series, he has a family, a life, and so much more that he's willing to die for. He was so beloved that there was a phrase called, "If Daryl Dies, We Riot." I would know, I had a shirt that said it.

Diane Nguyen (BoJack Horseman)

BoJack Horseman focuses on so many traumatized characters, but one of the best they really did a good character on is Diane Nguyen. She starts off as BoJack's ghost-writer, and while she's a bit passive at first, we start to see her grow into herself as time passes, confronting her past and future and even dealing with her own mental issues. 

Steve Harrington (Stranger Things)

I'm pretty sure everyone during the first season of Stranger Things was not the biggest fan of Steve, played by the excellent Joe Keery. But of course, we all ended up loving Steve Harrington because he learned to care for others and also became the best babysitter ever for the kids we loved. 

Nick (New Girl)

I could do any of the boys from the apartment, but Nick began New Girl as the type of guy I don't think any girl would want. He was immature and didn't have any direction in life. But towards the end of the series, even if he was still silly, he committed to fixing his life, growing stronger bonds with others, and opening up about his feelings instead of keeping it all closed inside. You have to love him. 

Carol (The Walking Dead)

Carol's timeline on The Walking Dead is something special. Her character arc makes me smile every time I think about it. Carol began the show as an abused wife of a beating husband, but once he's gone, she begins to get stronger every season, becoming a kick-butt zombie slayer and doing anything to protect the ones she loves. 

Starlight (The Boys)

Starlight from The Boys is the epitome of the phrase "never meet your heroes," literally in the sense of this show. She joins The Seven with bright ideas and discovers that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Over the course of three seasons so far, she's truly stood out and tried to make change—even going as far as breaking the law to do so. 

Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso)

Jamie Tartt from Ted Lasso was so immature and selfish when we first met him, but he gets his time to shine in Seasons 2 and 3, where we start to see him change. He begins to grow and understand his role as a leader, making amends with old rivals and past relationships and building new bonds. 

Lexa (The 100)

While Lexa wasn't in the series for nearly as long as she should have been, she was an impactful character in The 100. Lexa's character arc, from being Clarke's enemy to doing a full 180 and becoming her lover before her tragic demise, will haunt every The 100 fan. This reminds us of all the great 'enemies to lovers' movies. 

Negan (The Walking Dead)

Negan was one of the best characters on TV when he appeared on The Walking Dead. His character arc not only made him stand out but also made him an easy fan favorite. Clearly one of the franchise's antagonists from the very beginning, Negan ended up finding his morally grey middle line and helping his once-enemies while also learning to find people to truly love and care about. 

Ahsoka (The Star Wars Franchise)

Ahsoka was one of the most hated characters in the Star Wars franchise when she first debuted because many thought her immature. Years later, through the Clone Wars and the Disney+ Star Wars shows, she matured into a Jedi master, was calm and collected, and was one of the most versatile warriors out there.

The Big Three (This Is Us)

As someone who loves the This is Us cast, the Big Three certainly had some of the best character arcs. These three go through so many heartbreaking hardships and moments throughout the franchise that it's a miracle they turn out fine by the end. 

But they didn't just end up surviving – they faced some of their worst moments, from drug addiction to racism to body issues to so much more, and came out on top. That's a character to root for – well, three characters in this case. 

Lydia (Teen Wolf)

There are plenty of great supernatural teen dramas with superb casts, but Lydia from Teen Wolf certainly has the best character arc. She starts as a popular girl who only cares about herself embraces her powers, and helps her friends down the line with whatever they need, even risking her life on multiple occasions. 

Arabelle (I May Destroy You)

I May Destroy You is a miniseries, but Arabelle's character arc is top-tier. Through nine episodes, we see Arabelle face one of her darkest and loneliest moments as she tries to figure out who sexually assaulted her one night, and she must face her grief, trauma, and so much more to find inner peace towards the end. 

Eren Yeager (Attack On Titan)

There are plenty of character arcs in anime, but the one I have to do is Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan. He started off this anime as a brat who only wanted to kill Titans and would do anything to achieve it, but towards the end, he wound up becoming one of the most complex anime characters out there, with deep, hidden intentions and feelings that we could barely comprehend. 

Eleanor Shellstrop (The Good Place)

Out of the many characters in The Good Place, I have to give the character arc award to Eleanor. Her whole journey in the afterlife literally begins with a lie and being super selfish, but towards the end, she is filled with wisdom and selflessness and is willing to fight for what is right. It's a beautiful story. 

Bubbles (The Wire)

Surprisingly, The Wire is a show that has never won Best Drama at the Emmys, but it should have these character arcs, and I have to give it to Bubbles. One of the show's many characters, Bubbles' road to recovery, made you want to root for him from the very beginning and support him no matter what. 

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sokka was probably one of the most misogynistic characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender. At first, he believed that women could not fight, but towards the end of the series, he becomes a valuable leader, leading both men and women and becoming the man he was always meant to be. 

Sansa Stark (Game Of Thrones)

I know for a fact that many people did not like Sansa in the first few seasons of Game of Thrones, but she had some serious character growth that turned her into a fan favorite. From spoiled brat to Queen of the North, Sansa's maturity shines through. 

Spike (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

Starting as a villain in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike was initially super unlikable. Over time, as he realized there was more than watching everything that went against him fall, he eventually worked with Buffy and became a trustful person.

Rebecca (Ted Lasso)

Rebecca's entire journey began with her as a villain in Ted Lasso, where she specifically hired Ted for the team to do poorly so it would shut down for revenge towards her ex-husband. But she is changed through Ted's kindness; towards the end, we miss her as much as we miss Ted. 

Peggy Olsen (Mad Men)

Peggy Olsen was a boss, and she wanted you to know. Mad Men was an AMC show that followed advertising executives in NYC, and Peggy was a character who worked her way up in power, beginning as a secretary unaware of the world she was entering and becoming an absolute leader despite her being a woman in the workplace in the 1960s. 

Theon Greyjoy (Game Of Thrones)

While Game of Thrones’ last season had issues, Theon Greyjoy's character was not one of them. Starting off as selfish and a betrayer who would do anything for power, Theon devotes his life to the Starks' cause in fighting against the Night King and dies in Season 8 defending Bran—but he dies a hero. 

April (Parks And Recreation)

April from the Parks and Recreation cast really started off as a slacker, but over the course of the series, through the help of her friends, relationships, and more, we start to become a heck of a lot more trusting—and still keeping that same deadpan humor that fans love. 

Which one of these classic fan-favorite character arcs is your favorite? This makes me want to rewatch all these shows again, just for fun. 

There's no doubt about it, Outlander, the steamy Starz series about a woman who mysteriously travels back in time from the 1940s to the 1700s is one of the most talked about shows on television right now. And there's a pretty good reason for that, or four reasons for the show's continued success even now in its fifth season.

There's no doubt about it, Outlander, the steamy Starz series about a woman who mysteriously travels back in time from the 1940s to the 1700s, has been one of the most talked about shows on television for years, even with the extended Droughtlanders that fans usually have to deal with. And, there's a pretty good reason for all the viewer obsession, or, actually, six reasons for the show's continued success, with Outlander Season 7 now being filmed.

Ever since we were first introduced to Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe) and her Highland warrior love, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), we haven't been able to get enough of this incredibly epic, time traveling romance, its steadfast attention to historical details, the visceral battles, and yeah, all of that steamy Outlander sex that fills each episode like fog from a misty Scottish morning.

But, what happens when you get all caught up on Outlander streaming, and you want something else to watch on the ever-growing list of streaming services? Well, we've gone through many of those platforms and found the best series that have one or more key similarities to the hit period drama and come up with a list of shows that every Outlander fan should spend some time watching.

Bridgerton (Netflix)

What it’s about: This Regency-era costume drama follows the love lives of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they attempt to find their perfect mates, all while getting into a good dose of Shondaland shenanigans.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Well, if you’ve been hiding under a rock it would make sense that you’re unaware of the immensely popular series, which traffics in Outlander adjacent period costumes and historical drama, lots of romantic entanglements, and, of course, the sexiest sex scenes ever created for Regency love stories.

Stream Bridgerton on Netflix.

Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix)

What it’s about: This historical drama is a spinoff of History’s popular, battle-filled series, Vikings, and Vikings: Valhalla does the parent show proud. In it, we see the adventures of historical figures like Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter), a little over a century after the events of the first show.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Not only will Outlander fans will tempted by the many real-life people and events portrayed in the series, but there are a good number of battles, political machinations, some steamy sex, and a few awesome love stories to root for.

Stream Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix.

Black Sails (Hulu)

What it's about: Black Sails tells of the adventures of Captain J. Flint (Toby Stephens) and his crew of pirates as they fight for survival, and treasure, on and around the New Providence Island in the Bahamas in the early 18th Century.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Much like the fellow Starz show that would follow in its footsteps, Black Sails has enough heart-stopping historical action and some complicated storytelling. In the middle of all that action, though, there are quite a few steamy sex scenes and even some deeply emotional love stories, just like we see on Outlander.

Stream Black Sails on Hulu.

Love Life (HBO Max)

What it’s about: Across two seasons, Love Life has focused on the romantic history of two different singles (played by Anna Kendrick in Season 1, and William Jackson Harper in Season 2) in modern day New York City, right through when they each get their happily ever after.

Why Outlander fans would like it: This might seem like an out of the box pick for fans of Outlander, but the one big thing Love Life definitely has in common with the Starz hit is how it shows people persevering through their romantic troubles to find the love of their life, as they also deal with a number of other challenges that threaten to upend their lives… Just like Claire and Jamie.

Stream Love Life on HBO Max.

The Tudors (Showtime)

What it's about: Long before shows like Outlander and Black Sails took audiences back to lands set centuries in the past, the Showtime series, The Tudors, showed viewers what it was like to live during the Tudor dynasty in England. This historical drama mostly follows the reign of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), his multiple wives, and the political intrigue of the time.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Like any good historical drama on a premium cable channel, The Tudors is full of the romance and political intrigue that would later draw fans to Outlander. If you're into keen attention to period details and steam-filled sex scenes, here's a show to watch when you're finished with Claire and Jamie's love affair.

Stream The Tudors on Showtime.

Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)

What it’s about: A fictional account of the real-life “Gentleman Pirate,” Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) as he and his misfit crew attempt to get their footing in the early 1700s’ Golden Age of Piracy, and their adventures with the much-feared, Blackbeard (Taika Waititi).

Why Outlander fans would like it: Is Our Flag Means Death mostly a comedy? Sure. But there are also several really delightfully slow-burn romances in play, and great emotional moments where these tough, water-bound warriors talk about their deep feelings, amidst the period costumes and occasional piracy-related shocking deaths.

Stream Our Flag Means Death on HBO Max.

Five Bedrooms (Peacock)

What it’s about: Five single acquaintances who want to buy a home but can’t afford it on their own decide to pool their money and live together, but it’s not long before romantic troubles and a number of other problems begin to cause a lot of drama.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Much as we do with Claire, Jamie, and the many other couples on Outlander, we see the main characters on Five Bedrooms experience the highs and lows of romantic love (and life in general). If you want some joyous, sexy moments mixed with hard and emotional scenes that make you sob uncontrollably, this show is for you.

Stream Five Bedrooms on Peacock. 

Defending Jacob (Apple TV+)

What it’s about: Parents Laurie and Andy Barber (Michelle Dockery and Chris Evans) struggle to protect their son, Jacob (Jaeden Martell), after the boy is arrested for killing a classmate, which he says is a crime he didn’t commit.

Why Outlander fans would like it: I know! This is a show centered around a mystery, so it seems nothing like Outlander, but let me tell you, once you get through the Defending Jacob ending and see how fully Laurie and Andy have supported each other and tried to do everything they can to keep each other and their kid safe, you will understand that this is another sometimes hard-to-watch drama about sticking together through extreme challenges.

Stream Defending Jacob on Apple TV+.

Versailles (Netflix)

What it’s about: Versailles begins in 1667, after King Louis XIV (George Blagden) becomes sole ruler of France, and follows the political upheaval surrounding him having the palace at Versailles built.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Historical people and events? Check! Period costumes? Check! Political battles that lead to war? Check! Hot sexytimes and plenty of steamy romance? Double check!!

Stream Versailles on Netflix.

Sanditon (Amazon)

What it’s about: In the early 1800s, young Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) gets an education in romance as she gets to know the (sometimes less than trustworthy) residents of Sanditon, a seaside village much different from her small farming community.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Sanditon is filled with aspects that Outlander viewers already enjoy, as it’s a fish out of water story with sumptuous period details, frequently tricky characters, a lot of very swoon-worthy romance, and all of the drama that goes with it. Sanditon Season 3 will air in 2023, so this is the perfect time to catch up!

Stream Sanditon on PBS Masterpiece through Amazon.

Rome (HBO Max)

What it's about: Rome was a short-lived HBO historical drama based on the transitional stage in Rome's history where civilization went from a Republic to an Empire. Much of the show's first season sees the rise and fall of Julius Caesar (Ciarán Hinds), with some focus on two of the soldiers who have to do his bidding, Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) and Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd), starting with his civil war and ending with his assassination on March 15, 44 BC. The second and final season turns its attention to the power struggle following Caesar's death.

Why Outlander fans would like it: Fans of Outlander's attention to historical details will appreciate the high production value of this HBO drama. Not to be outdone, the show also has lots of political maneuvering, and features some history-based battles, steamy scenes, and some deeply emotional romantic relationships.

Stream Rome on HBO Max.

A Discovery Of Witches (Amazon)

What it’s about: When historian Dr. Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) accidentally finds a long-lost bewitched manuscript while studying at Oxford, she has to call upon her (previously unacknowledged) magical powers to find out the book’s secrets and why a number of deadly magical creatures are now hunting her, with the help from the mysterious, dangerously sexy, and ancient vampire, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode).

Why Outlander fans would like it: Aside from featuring a steamy, nearly insta-love romance between our leads, A Discovery of Witches is also filled with dangerous characters and situations, lots of mystery, has a female protagonist who’s thrust into a world she knows next to nothing about, features a bit of time travel, and a main couple who will do literally anything to keep their partner out of harm’s way and to stay together for the long haul, regardless of how hazardous it might be.

Stream A Discovery of Witches on AMC+ through Amazon.

Hopefully, this list will help you find some sexy and exciting new-to-you shows that will fill the massive void left in your heart until Outlander Season 7 finally hits Starz! 

The time has finally come - Vikings: Valhalla has officially premiered on Netflix and the long-awaited spinoff sequel series for the hit History Channel show, Vikings, has become a success for the streaming platform, jumping into the top ten right away. But, with only one season so far, one can probably binge the series pretty fast. 

Thankfully, we have plenty of awesome shows like Vikings: Valhalla for you to try out. From classics to newer series, this is what you should watch once you finish the new Netflix series. 

The Original Vikings Series (Amazon Prime)

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right? Vikings mainly follows the story of Ragnar, his Viking brothers, and his rise to king of the Viking tribes through his trials and triumphs as a deadly warrior. 

Vikings was a huge success while it was on the air, largely because of the amazing battle scenes, badass characters, and everything else you could possibly think of. If you’re looking for something close to Vikings: Valhalla, there’s no better option than revisiting the show that may have gotten you into Viking history in the first place. While the historical drama wrapped up back at the end of 2020, with a satisfying Vikings ending, we at least have the spinoff to look forward to now. 

Stream Vikings on Amazon Prime.

Spartacus (Starz)

You want blood? Oh, Spartacus has that and more. This Starz original series is set in the Roman Empire between 73 and 71 B.C., and follows Spartacus, the famed warrior and gladiator who led a rebellion against the Romans in order to become the legend that he is today. 

If you’re a fan of Vikings: Valhalla for the pure bloodshed and adult aspects of the show, then Spartacus is the perfect option for you. It’s a brutal series with killer fights that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat, with characters you’ll want to root for and others you’ll want dead in an instant, just like Vikings: Valhalla. 

Stream Spartacus on Starz. 

Barbarians (Netflix)

This newer series is one for the ages. Barbarians is a Netflix original that mainly follows Arminius. While he was raised by the Roman people, once he sees the treatment of his original tribe, he breaks away from the Romans in order to stage a rebellion that will change the lives of everyone he knows forever.

Barbarians seems like Netflix wanted to make their own version of Vikings, and in some ways it does feel like a copy. However, that doesn’t change the fact that there are plenty of awesome battles for fans of Vikings: Valhalla to enjoy, and the politics of the tribes feel very familiar in a way that’s similar to what we see in that new series. 

Stream Barbarians on Netflix.

The Thor Films (Disney+)

He is the mighty Thor. For those who don't regularly watch Marvel films, Thor is one of the mightiest Avengers and is a Norse God, who has a trilogy (so far) of movies that show his story as a hero, from his first adventures on Earth to Ragnarok and the end of his homeland. 

While the Thor series isn’t necessarily accurate (they're just superhero movies based on Norse mythology), it’s still a hell of a lot of fun for fans of Vikings: Valhalla. If you are into Norse mythology from the show, you’ll see plenty of references in the Thor films, as well as appearances from other famous Norse gods such as Loki, Odin, Hel, and more. And, with Thor: Love and Thunder releasing in 2022, now’s the best time to watch all of them on Disney+.

Stream the Thor films on Disney+. 
Rent the Thor films on Amazon.

Norsemen (Netflix)

Sometimes, you just need a break from all the drama and intense bloodshed. Norsemen, another Netflix original series, is all about the life of Vikings living in the village of Norheim, but with a comedic twist that often ends in shenanigans for these so-called “warriors.”

Norsemen is such a breath of fresh air for fans of Norse history. While Norsemen has all the costumes and accents you imagine, just like Vikings: Valhalla, it’s so funny and spoofs Norse culture rather than take it so seriously. We love drama, but sometimes, we'd rather just sit back and have a laugh. What makes this show even better is that while everyone is dressed like Vikings, they talk pretty regularly in modern slang, so it's even more fun. 

Stream Norsemen on Netflix.

Game Of Thrones (HBO Max)

You knew this would be on here, let’s be honest. Game of Thrones was a popular HBO series that ran for eight seasons. During its much talked-about run, it followed several contenders for the Iron Throne, as whoever sits on it rules all of Westeros. From the north to the far east, both men and women will fight to their deaths in order to claim it and be crowed the ruler of the seven kingdoms.

Game of Thrones was a stellar show and won several awards. For fans of Vikings: Valhalla, I feel that this is the only show that does battle scenes better than Vikings, and is a great pick because of it. The Game of Thrones cast is excellent, the story is exceptional (for the most part), and everything else melds together so well. Don’t miss out on this one. 

Stream Game of Thrones on HBO Max. 

Real Vikings (History Channel)

Ever wanted to actually learn about the true Vikings? That’s what Real Vikings wishes to inform you about. After the success of Vikings on the History Channel, this show was created to tell viewers about the real Vikings that the show is based on, examining their history, lore, and everything else. 

I mean, if you’ve watched both Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla, I don’t know why you wouldn't want to watch this show. While it’s not as action-intense as the dramas, as it is a docuseries, it’s still as intriguing to watch and really teaches about the world of the Vikings and their culture, showing just where the popular series got all of its ideas from. 

Stream Real Vikings on the History Channel.

Marco Polo (Netflix)

If you’re looking for another historical drama, Marco Polo is the way to go. Based on Marco Polo (the person, not the children’s game) and his years with Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire, following his rise from the simple son of a merchant to a high profile man in politics.

I was appalled when I found out Netflix has canceled this show after only two seasons. Marco Polo was so good and something that many could really enjoy, especially fans of Vikings: Valhalla. With heavy attention to the culture of the Mongol Empire and their customs, and a protagonist who was really badass, it had all the makings of a great show. Unfortunately, it ended way too soon. 

Stream Marco Polo on Netflix.

The Witcher (Netflix)

One of the most popular shows on Netflix is also a great show to watch next. The Witcher, starring movie and TV star, Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, follows Geralt, a legendary Witcher who is able to slay both monster and man with his sword. We are told his story alongside Ciri, a princess-turned-warrior, and Yennefer, a powerful sorceress. 

While The Witcher is far more about fantasy than Vikings: Valhalla (like there is legit magic in this show, which features witches and a wild variety of strange and dangerous creatures), this series is still a fantastic pick just for the battles. If you’re a fan of the fights of Vikings: Valhalla, oh boy, are you going to love Geralt. Whether he’s on his own, in a group, or simply training someone, dude always has a sword and is ready to fight, making him an amazingly badass character. And, with The Witcher Season 3 on the way, you might as well watch the first two seasons now.

Stream The Witcher on Netflix.

Black Sails (Starz)

Last but not least, we have Black Sails. This Starz series is set in the 18th century and acts as a prequel to Treasure Island, following Captain Flint and his escapades in the age of piracy and how he and those around him became the legends we know them as today. 

I sort of consider Black Sails the pirate version of Vikings: Valhalla. While it is a drama, it’s one of those series that I feel educates you on a culture that you might not know much about, i.e. what life was like as a pirate back then. With plenty of awesome fight scenes as well as intriguing characters (several who are based on real people), Black Sails is a fun time and will have you wanting to say, “Arrrr” soon enough.

Stream Black Sails on Starz.

Vikings: Valhalla has, luckily for it many fans, already received the go-ahead for a Season 2, but I doubt it will be out for some time. Until then, be sure to check out any or all of these awesome shows for something that might take the pain away from binging Vikings: Valhalla so quickly.   

If you are a fan of Outlander, the Emmy-nominated drama that fuses history with fantasy, you are more than likely a subscriber to Starz. I am not necessarily talking about the cable channel itself, but its digital streaming platform which includes plenty more wonderful television series available now for you to check out.

One aspect of the series lineup at Starz is the variety. Meaning, if there comes a day you are not in the mood for anymore Scottish combat and sweeping romance, you could travel forward in time to have a laugh with the cast of Party Down or turn the clock back again, but for the same purpose, with a classic episode or two of The Jeffersons.

The eclectic selection is enough to keep you binging until you really do begin to see stars. To help preserve your sanity and narrow down your search, these are our picks for the 12 best shows you can stream now on Starz, starting with one of its most popular and acclaimed hits.

Outlander

It is a curious how, as time further progresses, historical fiction has become more and more popular, especially with a twist that brings it into the realm of fantasy. One of the more potent examples is this acclaimed Starz original starring Golden Globe nominee Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall, a married English World War II-era combat medic inexplicably living a second life in 18th-century Scotland, where she falls in love with the chivalrous Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). 

Developed by Ronald Moore, the Emmy winner behind the modern reinvention of Battlestar Galactica, and based on the novel by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander is a thrilling, romantic, and ever-so mysterious drama of unique creation that has captured audiences hearts for five seasons thus far.

Stream Outlander on Starz here.

Spartacus

For decades, the prime retelling of a gladiator's resistance of the Roman Empire was Stanley Kubrick's 1960 epic Spartacus starring the late Kirk Douglas. That was until 2010, when Steven DeKnight introduced the bloodiest version of that legend to be brought to the screen yet. Despite lasting only three seasons, and suffering the loss of star Andy Whitfield to cancer after just one season in the title role, Spartacus would soon inspire a prequel spin-off and has since been remembered as one of the most exciting period dramas on Starz, or anywhere else for that matter.

Stream Spartacus on Starz here.

Black Sails

In keeping up with the current running theme of historical legend, this Starz original series serves as both a dramatized account of the days when piracy was in its prime and a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island. So, in other words, Black Sails, from co-creators Robert Levin and Jonathan E. Steinberg and producer Michael Bay, is not particularly a show made to appeal to history buffs, especially those who hold accuracy dear. However, even they should be easily swept up in three seasons of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), a young John Silver (Luke Arnold), and other swashbucklers boldly taking on the high seas (and each other) in search of riches worthy of the gods.

Stream Black Sails on Starz here.

American Gods

Speaking of gods, that is a literally authentic description of the central characters in this Emmy-nominated series inspired by Neil Gaiman's novel that puts a modern day spin on ancient mythology legend. The story is centered around Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), an ex-convict who, soon after he is released from prison, is hired as a bodyguard for a strange wealthy socialite who calls himself Mr. Wednesday (the always dazzling Golden Globe winner Ian McShane), whose true identity is more marvelous than he initially lets on. With two seasons (and counting) under its belt, Starz's own American Gods is a visually unique and narratively engaging spectacle worth putting your faith into.

Stream American Gods on Starz here.

Boss

Someone with a bit of a god complex himself is Tom Kane, portrayed in a Golden Globe-winning performance by Kelsey Grammer that is a long stretch from his days in the title role of Frasier, for which he also won two Globes. Boss follows Kane's struggle to not lose control as mayor of Chicago as he begins to lose control of his own mind amid his diagnosis of early onset dementia. Despite lasting only two seasons, this political epic in the vein of House of Cards is one of the most acclaimed dramas to air on Starz in the past decade for how it puts into question the extent of one's ambition for power against even the most dire consequences.

Stream Boss on Starz here.

Power

Speaking of power, James "Ghost" St. Patrick (Sorry to Bother You star Omari Hardwick) has plenty of it as an international drug kingpin. However, this aptly titled Starz original actually chronicles Ghost's aspirations to leave that life behind in favor of focusing purely on his Manhattan night club, which is something he learns is much easier said than done. Rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson serves as executive producer and has a recurring role on Power, an intense, award-winning redemption tale that came to a close after six seasons in early 2020, but its legacy still continues in spin-offs.

Stream Power on Starz here.

Luther

The title character of this British import is not one to be phased by consequence, particularly that of his deeply alienating personality. In fact, if London detective John Luther was not so good at his job, his colleagues would have no issue throwing him to the dogs and the same can be said for those in life while off duty. Plus, if it were not for Idris Elba's Golden Globe-winning performance in the title role, Luther may not have had the fans it acquired during its five-season, nine-year run that offers an engaging take complexities of a complicated, Sherlock Holmes-esque character.

Stream Luther on Starz here.

Hightown

John Luther is not the only crimefighter on the Starz app with demons of their own, only National Marine Fisheries Service agent Jackie Quiñones (Chicago Fire vet Monica Raymud) is making an active attempt to fight them off. The battle begins when she discovers a murdered opioid user on the shores of Cape Cod, inspiring her to finally get sober as she falls prey to a new addiction of solving the case. Created by Gotham writer Rebecca Perry Cutter, Hightown, which premiered in May 2020, is an intense, high-stakes thriller that expands the drama beyond the scene of the crime and into the personal struggles of its flawed protagonist.

Stream Hightown on Starz here.

Knight Rider

The law-seeking protagonist of this cult mid-1980s thriller does not have many recognizable flaws, but the show itself, from original Battlestar Galactica creator Glen A. Larson, admittedly does. However, you could argue that the inherent cheesiness of Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff as a government agent by an artificial intelligence on wheels voiced by Boy Meets World's William Daniels, is key to its charm and why it lasted four seasons and inspired a soft reboot in 2008. However, in my. humble opinion, you can skip that crap and stick with the original fun, wholesome, sci-fi twist on the buddy cop genre which may be the ultimate highlight of The Hoff's career.

Stream Knight Rider on Starz here.

The Jeffersons

One classic of yesteryear that actually did inspire a successful reimagining recently, with Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington in the title roles paying tribute to co-creator Norman Lear, is The Jeffersons. Initially a spin-off of the groundbreaking All in the Family, this sitcom, following a black, middle-aged married couple's (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) lives in an upper class Manhattan apartment building, acquired an equal level of acclaim and importance over its 11-season run in the 1970s and 80s. If not just for a laugh, rewatching all 253 episodes on Starz is worth especially worth it to see how George Jefferson's worldview compares to the current social climate.

Stream The Jeffersons on Starz here.

Party Down

This Starz original does not have the luxury to say it lasted 11 seasons (wrapping up after only two in 2010). However, Party Down, featuring notable talents such as Parks and Recreation's Adam Scott, Castle Rock's Lizzy Caplan, and Silicon Valley's Martin Starr to name a few, is still one of the most celebrated, yet often overlooked, comedies of its time. Its brutally authentic depiction of a group of aspiring actors who resort to working in the catering industry while looking for work puts it on par with Ricky Gervais' original British iteration of The Office in terms of classic cringe humor.

Stream Party Down on Starz here.

Ash Vs. Evil Dead

With the latter entries of his Evil Dead trilogy, director Sam Raimi introduced his own sensational brand of comedy mixed with horror. That splatterific marriage evolved into its most perfect execution with this series that pairs Bruce Campbell's chainsaw-handed "Deadite" hunter with S-Mart colleagues Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) as they work together to rid the world of evil once and for all, amid much trial and error along the way. Campbell decided to retire his most beloved character, Ash Williams, once Ash vs. Evil Dead was ultimately cancelled by Starz after three seasons, but most fans would agree that the "The King's" send-off with this series could not have been groovier.

Stream Ash vs. Evil Dead on Starz here.

What do you think? Are these the best series available to watch now on the digital platform, or should we have gazed at the Starz a little longer? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on what to seek out on Starz, as well as even more recommendations of the best movies and TV shows you can stream, here on CinemaBlend.

This poll is no longer available.

Outlander has been taking viewers back to the 18th century for the past few years. Claire's accidental journey through time from the 1940s to the 1700s resulted in a love story that has taken her and her husband Jamie all throughout Scotland and France. The upcoming third season will take the lovebirds farther than ever before, and it turns out that the show was able to crossover with Starz' Black Sails in a pretty unexpected way. Executive producer Ron Moore revealed the way Outlander crossed over with Black Sails at San Diego Comic-Con, saying this:

Yes, the two Starz series will soon have ships and sets in common as well as a network. Traveling on the ocean was obviously a huge deal for Black Sails, and it seems that the Outlander crew was determined to make sure that its scenes at sea will look just as intricate and genuine. Outlander spent months down in South Africa filming on the Black Sails sets, with even the Black Sails crew and techs on hand to help them out. If the scenes on deck are going to look and feel as authentic on Outlander as they did on Black Sails, I think we'll be able to understand why poor seasick Jamie was so stricken.

Given that Black Sails actually came to an end in April after four seasons, the sea-faring scenes of Outlander might be a fun blast from the past for fans of both series. Ron Moore's comments are also good news for readers of Diana Gabaldon's book series, as it sounds like Season 3 will be able to do justice to what amounts to a huge chunk of the third book.

Warning: spoilers ahead for the third book of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander saga, called Voyager.

In Voyager, Claire and Jamie end up leaving Scotland behind and setting sail after young Ian Murray is kidnapped and taken to the West Indies to be sold as a slave. The book definitely earns its name, as there are plenty of voyages to be found in Voyager, and the characters go for quite a while without spending much time on solid ground. Diana Gabaldon has already said that Season 3 will be more faithful to her books than Season 2 was, so fans have had reason to expect some fantastic episodes with Jamie and Claire at sea. The Black Sails crew and sets should allow Season 3 to deliver something truly spectacular.

The early footage for Outlander Season 3 (which we broke down in gif form) is focused on reuniting Claire and Jamie after their heartbreakingly long separation. We haven't gotten a look at the Black Sails ships just yet, and we may have a while still to wait. A lot needs to happen before Claire and Jamie set off on the next leg of adventure together. When last we saw them, they weren't even in the same century.

Outlander will return to Starz for Season 3 on Sunday, September 10 at 8 p.m. ET. Check out our rundown of what we know so far about Season 3 for a peek ahead, and swing by our fall TV premiere schedule for all the other dates for returning TV series.

The 2016-2017 TV season has seen the end of a number of great TV shows, one of which was Starz' Black Sails. While that series won't be coming back, the folks who brought Black Sails to life are collaborating once more for a brand new show that sounds just as badass as Black Sails ever was. Black Sails creators Jonathan E. Steinberg, Robert Levine, and executive producer Dan Shotz are working on a project all about the legendary Eygptian leader Cleopatra.

Cleopatra has been put into development by Amazon Studios. It will be a revisionist version of the historical figure Cleopatra. In the prospective series, the action will pick up after the leading lady was nearly killed in a coup. After surviving, she must rely on her political brilliance and inherent wit to stay alive. She'll need all of her skills if she's going to take back the Egyptian throne and restore the lost honor of her kingdom and her family.

Robert Levine is the writer of the project, according to Deadline. Levine, Jonathan Steinberg, and Don Shotz are all on board as executive producers. This collaboration marks the latest in a number of times that Cleopatra's story has been put into development for television, including a Lifetime miniseries in 2013 and an NBC drama in 2012. Neither of those projects ever made it to the small screen, but there's a good chance that Amazon's unique methods of producing pilots could mean that this version of Cleopatra will be a success. Amazon certainly has a trio of producers who know how to craft a hit series.

A lot may depend on who would star in the series. A big name starring as Cleopatra could elevate the project and increase its odds of a series order from Amazon. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility; while movie stars aren't flocking to Amazon the way that they are to Netflix, actors like Jeffrey Tambor and Titus Welliver have done quite well for themselves with Amazon originals.

We'll have to wait and see. Cleopatra has only just gone into development, so we may have to wait a while before we learn if Amazon is moving forward with the project. Given the talent behind the scenes, the historical appeal of Cleopatra, and Amazon's successes with streaming, I'd say that the odds aren't too bad that we'll get to see a new version of Cleopatra.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. Our TV season finale schedule can give you all you need to know about your shows ending.

It's becoming more and more common for networks to cancel shows but to do it in a way that is less shocking than in previous years on TV. The best way to accomplish this is to cancel a series and then give it one more season to finish out the story. This has several positives. It means that the creative team gets the chance to finish out a series in the way they wanted and it means that fans are not blindsided when their favorite show gets cancelled. Still, it can be hard to keep track of what is ending and what is not. To help you out, we've compiled a handy list of the shows that we know--so far--are ending in 2017. Take a look. And do expect more cancellations to come down the pipeline as the TV season wears on.

Grimm, NBC

Grimm had a nice run on NBC on Friday nights. The series has really been the show that has ushered in an era of supernatural content on network TV at the end of the week, as Friday nights are now home to The Vampire Diaries and Sleepy Hollow. However, its ratings have dwindled over the years and last season NBC renewed the series for the 2016-2017 season, cancelling the drama at the same time. Give the show a watch while you still can, as its looking more and more likely NBC is going to have to blow up its Friday night lineup next year.

Bones, Fox

Unlike a lot of the shows on this list, Fox's Bones has been on the air for years and years. In fact, many fans have been on the page that the show hit its peak years ago, but Fox has still been rolling out new episodes, even after the ratings started going down. Last TV season, the show was moved to Fridays in what we thought was the final death knell. However, Fox surprised us with a renewal--albeit for a shortened season--and the last set of episodes is airing this winter. Catch the final episodes on Tuesday nights.

Bloodline, Netflix

Up until recently, Netflix was not really known for cancelling shows. Sure, Lilyhammer was axed at one point, but really most Netflix shows have been going strong and continually getting renewed, some of them for many seasons. Then Bloodline, a critically acclaimed but seemingly under-watched program, got cancelled. The good news? The series was also given one final season to wrap up its story. Expect new episodes later in 2017.

Black Sails, Starz

Another show that airs in the winter, Black Sails was the first in a string of more prominent originals to hit the schedule on Starz. While Black Sails had a big splash at Comic-Con and was noted for its larger budget, it hasn't been the ratings bringer like Power and Outlander have. Season 3 of the drama began the long journey of wrapping up the Treasure Island prequel, and it wasn't a huge shock when Starz stated the show would be ending after Season 4. Catch the final set of episodes starting in January.

Turn: Washington's Spies, AMC

AMC has a lot of well-received shows that haven't really earned high ratings. The period drama Turn is one of them. Despite sporting Jamie Bell and Angus MacFadyen and having a really cool premise about a Revolutionary War spy ring, the show has never been a big winner in total viewers. Turn is getting 10 more episodes to tell its story in 2017, but that will be the end for the series. We'll let you know as soon as the network gets the final series on the calendar.

Girls, HBO

HBO's Girls is one of the comedies that has put the network on the map in terms of original comedies, along with Veep and Silicon Valley. While new seasons of Veep and Silicon Valley are on the way, Girls will be wrapping up with a final season that is starting this weekend. The show will make us laugh and make us cringe for a few more times before it finally says sayonara on the cable network. Not too shabby for the show that figured out the line in terms of sex scenes that HBO will accept.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars has been a bit of a phenomenon during its run on ABC Family and the brand new Freeform. The show has an extremely avid fanbase and that has propelled it into a long run. However, Freeform has been reworking its lineup since the network changed names, and Pretty Little Liars will be ending in 2017. Catch the delicious drama while you still can.

Longmire, Netflix

Longmire possibly has my favorite trajectory of any series on this list. Originally, the show aired on A&E, where it was pretty popular. So popular, in fact, that we were all really surprised when the network opted to cancel the show. However, fans loved the show enough to petition to keep it, and Longmire is one of the rare times that has worked out. While the show is ending this season, on Netflix it was able to be a little more experimental and darker in tone with its content and the pick-up has been really great. We hope to see the show end on a high note.

Bates Motel, A&E

Bates Motel is one of A&E's first scripted originals, and it certainly survived for longer than Longmire managed to on the network. The show will be ending after Season 5 and production recently wrapped on the drama. However, Bates Motel will most definitely be going out with a bag, ending with Marian Crane and a lot of memorable moments from the original Psycho film. Tune in when the show returns on February 20.

Halt and Catch Fire, AMC

Another under-watched AMC drama, Halt and Catch Fire has followed a ragtag group of rebels as they've tried to navigate the world of business and technology in the early age of computers and the World Wide Web. AMC has a knack for deep writing and great performances and it all can be found in Halt and Catch Fire, which will sadly be ending after its fourth season. Expect new episodes to land in the schedule sometime later in 2017.

Workaholics, Comedy Central

Workaholics has always had a small niche fanbase, and the show managed to earn an impressive seven seasons with that small audience. Unfortunately, when Season 7 was announced, so was the show's cancellation. You can catch _Workaholic_s' swan song on Comedy Central right now, as the final set of episodes is airing on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

Orphan Black, BBC America

Tatiana Maslany has played multiple characters on BBC America's Orphan Black for four seasons, and a fifth is on its way. It's got to be exhausting to play multiple clones, and now that the girl has some awards nominations under her belt, she's really done all she can do to put the sci fi series onto the map. While not a huge ratings bringer, the show has developed an avid following over time and will really be missed. There's even a sweepstakes to appear in the final season, should that interest you.

Episodes, Showtime

Episodes is just the show that keeps on giving. I've thought the Matt LeBlanc starrer had ended a couple of times, especially as it has been off of the air since 2015. However, it has been renewed for a fifth season and we will be getting one final set of episodes sometime in 2017. (There's probably an Episodes episodes joke in there somewhere but I just can't quite reach those comedy heights, or maybe lows.) We'll let you know as soon as the show is back.

The Vampire Diaries, The CW

The CW has a track record of airing some shows well beyond their peak. In fact, if they do well at the network, they tend to keep airing for a long, long time. The Vampire Diaries has chugged along ever since Nina Dobrev left the series in 2015. At the end of the network TV season, however, TVD will be wrapping up. There is some light at the end of the tunnel. Elena will be making her comeback before then.

Switched At Birth, Freeform

Switched At Birth's trajectory has been a little confusing. By all rights, this show should have ended already, but then the cabler kept it off the schedule for some time; in fact, the last set of episodes aired in 2015. The show finally hit the schedule in January and will be wrapping up its storyline soon. It's cancellation is part of an overall push by Freeform to take its programming in a new directions. That's why ABC Family became Freeform in the first place.

The Strain, FX

There was a time when supernatural dramas were all the rage on TV and at the movies. While vampires are less of the rage these days, there are a few shows on the air that are still distinctly supernatural dramas, including FX's The Strain. The show has introduced us to the Strigoi and a rich world with lots of political nuance. The show has had plans from the start regarding where it wanted to end; however, ratings have only give The Strain one more season to catch up. Stayed tuned for reactions from CinemaBlend!

The Leftovers, HBO

Lost's Damon Lindelof gave us an HBO series that is deep and dark and emotional with The Leftovers, but that is still filled with the twists and confusion we've come to expect from a Lindelof production. For many reasons, this one didn't take off as a ratings winner, but it's a drama that's totally worth catching up on, even though you might be an emotional mess afterwards. Catch the final season this April.

Spoilers for tonight's episode of Black Sails can be found throughout this article. If you'd like to go into the episode fresh, please check out one of our other excellent articles.

The bromance between Captain Flint and the newly dubbed Long John Silver has been growing over the last several seasons of Black Sails, and the Season 4 premiere kicked off with Silver admitting he hadn't wanted to kill Flint in months. There wasn't much time to crack morbid jokes, however, as the final season picked up with the pirates attempting to take on the British with flawed information given by Billy Bones. It soon became clear that the Brits sunk ships to force Flint's fleet to run aground, leaving Teach's ship to turn away and avoid the carnage. Men died and drowned before the few that were left escaped on rowboats to hunker down and plan on how to takeover Nassau once more.

Black Sails has always been a series that is impressive not just for its scope and character development, but also for its practical sets. Watching the men get torn apart by cannon blasts and fight at close quarters is seen in full here. The fighting was brutal. One particular swordfight had Rackham in close quarters with an unyielding British soldier who stabs with ferocity. He's set up to die but conveniently has a gun on hand, shooting the soldier in the face. Still, it was a near miss for the scrappy pirate, and it was quite exciting.

Surprisingly, while there was major bloodshed in the episode, our heroes---or antiheroes, rather---mostly came through unscathed. After Season 3 finally saw Vane's story play out, it seemed as if the final 10 episodes would simply be about pirates fighting in vain to maintain some semblance of a position in Nassau. We know from history that Nassau was eventually taken back by the British government---and with great help from Woodes Rogers. We also know from Treasure Island that Long John Silver won't perish at the hands of the Brits. In fact, Black Sails is setting up neatly to line up with the events in the famous children's book. The treasure has already been buried and Flint was not crazy about telling Billy Bones or others the hiding place this week.

Although we already know the fates of some of the characters, the fact that Black Sails has always intermixed fictional characters with historical figures like Rackham and Blackbeard has elevated the plot considerably. The future may be inevitable, but seeing the brave underbelly of society fight hard against the tide has always been the fun part. While I was really missing Charles Vane during this episode, the action was still picking up in his wake, and Rackham and Anne Bonny won't be forgetting the man anytime soon, despite trying to move forward without him.

This was a rockier start to the season in terms of storytelling than the past two openers for Black Sails, but Season 4's "XXIX" truly feels different in tone. It finally feels like we are getting to the end of something, although Black Sails is not going to be a series that goes gently into that good night.

New episodes of Black Sails air on Sundays--new night!-- at 9 p.m. ET, only on Starz. Be a bonny lad or lass and tune in for this one.

There's been a lot of talk about peak TV in recent years. There's a lot more television available on more formats than ever before, and even as someone who lives and breathes and writes about television, I can't catch every prestige show on Amazon, cable, subscription cable, network TV, Hulu, or Netflix, among others. But I do watch a lot of television. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. This season there were plenty of great programs that aired--some old standbys that have gotten better as they've aged, and some newer shows. So without further ado, here are my Top 10 picks for 2016.

10. Game Of Thrones, HBO

Prior to its premiere, there was a big question regarding whether or not HBO's sixth season of Game of Thrones would be as top-notch as in seasons past, mainly because the TV series went beyond George R.R. Martin's original written works. While personally, I'm not sure anything will completely beat earlier surprises like Joffrey's death or the Red Wedding, Game of Thrones is still churning out memorable and emotional moments and intriguing plotting. We saw that this season in Sansa's choices with Ramsay and his army or when Hodor held the door for Bran and Meera. Game of Thrones is still among the best shows on television, and I can't wait to see where it goes in Season 7.

9. Atlanta, FX

FX has a penchant for putting together exasperating and sometimes even unlikable protagonists as part of really funny shows. The network's latest series is headlined and co-created by Donald Glover, a hotter than hot property in both the music and acting business right now. In its fledgling outing, Atlanta doesn't always know exactly what it wants to be as a series, but the flavor of the city it is trying to represent and the day-to-day observations of lead character Earn make this one worth watching. If you stuck around for the first few episodes, it gets even more intriguing later on.

8. Brooklyn Nine- Nine, Fox

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been consistently good from the beginning, but the show kicked things up a notch in 2016, introducing us to characters like Jason Mantzoukas' Adrian Pimento and Ken Marino's Captain CJ. The series also amped things up a notch when the show dealt with criminal mastermind Figgis, which eventually led to Captain Holt and Jake Peralta hiding out in witness protection in Florida and leading to some of the strangest and bravest episodes yet early on this fall. It's hard to know if Brooklyn Nine-Nine has peaked yet, but it still consistently makes me laugh more than any other show on TV.

7. The Night Manager, AMC

I struggled with the idea of putting a limited series on my list. If it were something like Sherlock which comes back every now and again, it might be easier, but The Night Manager was a one and done, gone as swiftly as it came. Months later, however, it's still a show I'm thinking about, with great performances from Marvel actor Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman. The miniseries' twisty and turn-y globetrotting plot is half the reason I'd totally be comfortable watching Tom Hiddleston play James Bond, if that were a direction the franchise chose to go in. For now, watch The Night Manager. You won't regret it.

6. Veep, HBO

I'm usually more of a drama fan, but there are so many comedies right now that are figuring out how to get people to tune in every week rather than haphazardly, there's more great funny stuff out there than usual. Watching Selina Meyer run for the office of President in Season 5 and lose was one of the greatest twists of a comedy series ever and all of the moments in between--from Amy and Dan wheeling and dealing Carson City, to the c-word episode and the one in which the Chinese President mistakenly thought she was kissing her daughter were all standouts. Now that Selina has to pick herself back up again, Season 6 should be pretty freaking fun.

5. Red Oaks, Amazon

Red Oaks has one of the most easily likable and digestible plots of any series on this list, but what it offers is a great tone: one of nostalgia and glory and feeling as if the world is at your fingertips--a feeling we don't get that often from television. An homage to eighties films, Red Oaks picks up its second season with David following Skye to Paris and working on his video career there. Things aren't as easy back in the suburbs, but the characters are still being propelled forward into adulthood or, in David's parents' case, divorce. Red Oaks isn't always the most cleverly scripted show on television, but its tone makes you stand up and pay attention. It's can't miss, must-binge TV.

4. Black Sails, Starz

I don't think anyone is really talking about Starz enough. The network is often looked at as a step down from HBO, but between Power, Outlander, Black Sails and others, it is producing some of the most consistently good television right now. Black Sails started a bit slowly but has been producing dynamite episodes for the last two seasons and we expect that to continue into its fourth and final season on the subscription cable network. Give it a watch. The nice thing about subscription cable is that back episodes are usually easy to access, and no show is more exciting than buried treasure, betrayals and the introduction of a really sharp Blackbeard.

3. South Park, Comedy Central

If you've been watching South Park, by now you know the series has figured out how to create through plotlines that tie all of the episodes of a season together. That might seem like a small thing, but the result has been a series with far clearer direction and more memorable jokes. This year had the added benefit of being an election year, and I don't think I'll ever forget an orange-faced Mr. Garrison facing off against Hillary Clinton or the wild nods to sports icons choosing not to stand for the National Anthem. If all South Park did this year was inspire signs at sports events like this, it would probably still make my top 10, but Season 20 was bigger and bolder in so many ways and even hit an f-bomb milestone. Member Dildo Schwaggins?

2. Outlander, Starz

It's been a long hard few years of trying to get romantic shows like A to Z and this year's No Tomorrow to stick. However, apparently what works is throwing a Scottish Highlander into a wild time travel plotline featuring a nurse post WWII traveling to the 18th century and trying to change history. The show has the big budget, the appealing characters and the epic storyline, but what makes it really stand apart from almost everything else on TV is its engaging love story. In Season 2 of Outlander, Claire and Jamie also spent a good chunk of time in France, plotting to put down the Jacobite Rebellion, which meant the fashion was to die for. Be still, my beating heart.

1. Westworld, HBO

Westworld has been a series that has geared itself toward a slew of big reveals. While some of those in Season 1 were hypothesized by fans before they eventually worked themselves out on the freshman drama, there was a lot to like about the new show, including the world it built and the directions its characters could still go in. Part of the reason Westworld may have worked so well in Season 1 is because we were left in confusion for most of the first season and the big reveals, even when discussed by fans prior, were still well done. There's no series that was more appealing or exciting in 2016, even in its slowest moments, and there's no series that I'm anticipating more coming up. If that's not the mark of a good series, I don't know what is.

Close but no cigar: This is Us, The Expanse, Speechless, Halt and Catch Fire, Poldark, Silicon Valley, The Crown

Big Shows I missed: Pitch, Stranger Things, Luke Cage, Rectify

It's always a long wait between the end of the fall TV schedule and the start of the winter TV shows. Luckily, the networks and streaming services have gotten better and better about keeping our attention during the holiday season. Along with the holiday marathons, networks have been premiering gap programming between the fall and winter seasons and also premiering shows a whole lot earlier in January than they used to. This winter, there are a slew of shows airing on the major networks, but also on cable and via alternative streaming sources. You can check out the list of what is coming, below.

As always, the schedule is still in the works. Sometimes the networks even shuffle things around and change their minds after dates are announced, and if you do notice a date has been changed, let us know in the comments, below. In addition, if there is a new or returning show you don't see on here, we'll see if we can dig up the date for you!

We've also listed shows that haven't been given official return dates and stuff that is expected to premiere later in the year, so if your favorite show doesn't have a date, yet, take a look at the end of the list first! Some surprises are on this list, including the Sherlock Season 4 premiere date, so if there's a show you have been waiting for, do scan through. Please note: listed times are in ET/PT. New shows are also listed ALL CAPS. If you are wanting to take a look at what is still coming up before 2017, you can check out the fall TV premiere schedule.

January

Sunday, January 1

8 p.m. -- THE MICK -- Fox

8:30 p.m. -- RANSOM -- CBS

9 p.m. -- TO TELL THE TRUTH -- ABC

9 p.m. -- Worst Cooks In America -- Food

9 p.m. -- Sherlock -- PBS

10 p.m. -- Conviction -- ABC (new timeslot)

Monday, January 2

7 p.m. -- Paradise Run - Nickelodeon

8 p.m. -- Shadowhunters - Freeform

8 p.m. -- The Bachelor - ABC

8 p.m. - The Celebrity Apprentice -- NBC

8 p.m. - Masterchef Celebrity Showdown - Fox

9 p.m. -- BEYOND - Freeform

Tuesday, January 3

8 p.m. -- New Girl -- Fox

8 p.m. -- THE WALL -- NBC

8 p.m. -- Seven Year Switch -- FYI

8:31 p.m. -- The Mick -- Fox (Time Period Premiere)

9 p.m. -- Chicago Fire -- NBC

9:01 p.m. -- Bones -- Fox

10 p.m. -- KISS BANG LOVE -- FYI

10 p.m. -- Chicago P.D. -- NBC

Wednesday, January 4

8 p.m. -- Lethal Weapon -- Fox

8 p.m. -- Blindspot -- NBC

9 p.m. -- Law & Order: SVU -- NBC

9:01 p.m. -- Star -- Fox (Time Period Premiere, Actual Pilot Premiere Was Wednesday December 14)

10 p.m. -- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia -- FXX

10 p.m. -- Match Game -- ABC

10 p.m. -- Too Close To Home -- TLC

10:30 p.m. -- Man Seeking Woman -- FXX

Thursday, January 5

8 p.m. -- Hell's Kitchen -- Fox (Special Two-Hour Episode)

8 p.m. -- Superstore -- NBC

8:30 p.m. -- The Good Place -- NBC

9 p.m. -- Nashville - CMT

9 p.m. -- Chicago Med - NBC

10 p.m. - The Blacklist- NBC

10 p.m. - Portlandia - IFC

? p.m. - GHOSTS IN THE HOOD - WeTV

Friday, January 6

12:01 a.m. PT -- ONE DAY AT A TIME -- Netflix

8 p.m. -- Rosewood -- Fox (Time Period Premiere)

8 p.m. -- Grimm - NBC (final season premiere)

9 p.m. -- EMERALD CITY - NBC

9 p.m. -- Sleepy Hollow -- Fox

Saturday, January 7

8 p.m. -- Ransom -- CBS (timeslot premiere)

10 p.m. -- The Guardians -- Animal Planet

Sunday, January 8

8 p.m. -- 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards -- NBC

Tuesday, January 10

9 p.m. -- This Is Us-- NBC

10:00 p.m. -- TABOO-- FX

10:00 p.m. -- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.-- ABC

Wednesday, January 11

8 p.m. -- Schitt's Creek -- Pop

10 p.m. -- Girlfriends Guide To Divorce -- Bravo

10:30 p.m. -- Full Frontal With Samantha Bee -- TBS

10:30 p.m. -- JEFF AND SOME ALIENS -- Comedy Central

Thursday, January 12

8 p.m. -- Hell's Kitchen -- Fox (Time Period Premiere)

8 p.m. -- Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian -- E!

9:01 p.m. -- MY KITCHEN RULES -- Fox

10 p.m. - Colony - USA

? p.m. - FANCY BOY - Seeso

? p.m. - MAD FAMILIES - Crackle ORIGINAL movie

Friday, January 13

12:01 a.m. PT -- A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS -- Netflix

9 p.m. --Great Performances: Bel Canto The Opera -- PBS (SPECIAL)

10 p.m. -- The Rap Game -- Lifetime

Saturday, January 14

11:30 p.m. -- Saturday Night Live -- NBC

Sunday, January 15

9:00 p.m. -- VICTORIA -- PBS

9:00 p.m. -- Homeland -- Showtime

9:00 p.m. -- THE YOUNG POPE - HBO

Looking For Netflix Premiere Dates? We Have The Full Schedule

Monday, January 16

8 p.m. -- Gotham -- Fox

9 p.m. -- Lucifer-- Fox

Tuesday, January 17

10 p.m. -- Teachers --TVLand

10:30 p.m. -- THROWING SHADE --TVLand

Wednesday, January 18

10 p.m. -- SIX --History

Thursday, January 19

10 p.m. -- Baskets -- FX

Friday, January 20

12:01 a.m. PT -- VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER -- Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT -- FRONTIER -- Netflix

Saturday, January 21

8 p.m. -- Beaches -- Lifetime (MOVIE)

Sunday, January 22

8 p.m. -- Mercy Street -- PBS

10 p.m. -- HUNTED -- CBS

10 p.m. -- Secrets of the Six Wives -- PBS (Miniseries)

Monday, January 23

8 p.m. - Supergirl -- The CW

9 p.m. - Jane the Virgin -- The CW

10 p.m. - Quantico -- ABC

Tuesday, January 24

12:01 a.m PT -- Gad Gone Wild-- Netflix

9 p.m. - Face Off -- Syfy

8 p.m. - The Flash -- The CW

9 p.m. - Legends of Tomorrow -- The CW

9 p.m. -- Outsiders -- WGN America

10 p.m. -- Frontline: Trump's Road To The White House -- PBS

Wednesday, January 25

8 p.m. - Arrow - The CW

9 p.m. - The Magicians -- Syfy

10 p.m. - Suits - USA

? p.m. - The Path - Hulu

Thursday, January 26

8 p.m. - Supernatural -- The CW

8 p.m. -- Grey's Anatomy -- ABC

9 p.m. -- Scandal -- ABC

9 p.m. - RIVERDALE -- The CW

10 p.m. -- How To Get Away With Murder -- ABC

? p.m. - Adam Newman's Fuzzies - Seeso (comedy special)

Friday, January 27

? p.m. - Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING - Amazon

Saturday, January 28

8 p.m. -- Love by the 10th Date -- Lifetime (MOVIE)

Sunday, January 29

9 p.m. - Black Sails -- Starz (final season)

Monday, January 30

10 p.m. - Becoming Warren Buffett -- HBO (documentary)

Tuesday, January 31

8:00 p.m. - The Fosters - Freeform

9:00 p.m. - Switched at Birth -- Freeform (final season)

February

Wednesday, February 1

8 p.m. - Spy in the Wild - PBS (Miniseries)

9 p.m. - Criminal Minds - CBS

9 p.m. - The 100 - The CW

10 p.m. - Code Black

Thursday, February 2

8 p.m. - POWERLESS - NBC

8 p.m. - The Big Bang Theory - CBS

8:30 - The Great Indoors - CBS

9 p.m. - Mom - CBS

9:30 - Life in Pieces - CBS

10 p.m. - TRAINING DAY - CBS

10 p.m. - Nirvanna The Band The Show - Viceland

10:30 - People Just Do Nothing - Viceland

? p.m. - The Cyanide & Happiness Show - Seeso

Friday, February 3

120:01 a.m. PT - SANTA CLARITA DIET - Netflix

Sunday, February 5

? p.m. - Super Bowl LI - Fox

10 p.m. - 24: LEGACY - Fox (Series Premiere, Part One)

Monday, February 6

8 p.m. -- 24: Legacy - Fox (Series Premiere, Part Two/ Time Period Premiere)

9:01 p.m. - APB - Fox

Tuesday, February 7

10 p.m. -- IMPOSTERS - Bravo

10:30 p.m. --DETROITERS - Comedy Central

Wednesday, February 8

8 p.m. - City in the Sky- PBS (Miniseries)

8 p.m. - So Cosmo - E!

10 p.m. - LEGION - FX

Thursday, February 9

8 p.m. - Masterchef Junior - Fox

Friday, February 10

8 p.m. - The Vampire Diaries - The CW

9 p.m. - Reign - The CW

12:01 a.m. PT - David Brent: Life on the Road - Netflix (movie)

Sunday, February 12

8 p.m. - 59th Annual Grammy Awards - CBS

8 p.m. - The Missing - Starz

9 p.m. - The Walking Dead - AMC

10 p.m. - Girls - HBO

11 p.m. - Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver - HBO

Monday, February 13

10 p.m. - Humans - AMC

Tuesday, February 14

? p.m. - The Mindy Project - Hulu

Wednesday, February 15

10 p.m. - DOUBT - CBS

Saturday, February 18

9 p.m. -- PLANET EARTH II -- BBC America

Sunday, February 19

8 p.m. -- THE GOOD FIGHT -- CBS All Access

9 p.m. -- BIG LITTLE LIES - HBO (Miniseries)

10 p.m. -- Billions -- Showtime

10:30 -- Crashing -- HBO

Monday, February 20

10 p.m. -- Bates Motel -- A&E (final season)

Thursday, February 23

? p.m. -- My Brother, My Brother and Me - Seeso

8 p.m. - THE BLACKLIST: REDEMPTION

Sunday, February 26

? p.m. -- 89th Academy Awards -- ABC

Monday, February 27

8 p.m. - The Voice- NBC

9 p.m. - Africa's Greatest Civilizations - PBS (Miniseries)

9 p.m. - WHEN WE RISE - ABC (Miniseries will air nightly)

10 p.m. - TAKEN - NBC

March

Wednesday, March 1

3:01 a.m. PT - NATIONAL TREASURE - Hulu

8 p.m. - Catfish: The TV Show - MTV

10 p.m. - Skin Tight - TLC

Thursday, March 2

9 p.m. - 60 Days In - A&E

9 p.m. - Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out - MTV

Saturday, March 4

9 p.m. - Love Thy Neighbor - OWN

Sunday, March 5

8 p.m. - Little Big Shots - NBC

8 p.m. - Once Upon A Time - ABC

8:30 p.m. - Making History - Fox

9 p.m. - CHICAGO JUSTICE - NBC

9 p.m. - Time After Time - ABC

9 p.m. - Keeping Up with the Kardashians - E!

9:30 p.m. - The Last Man on Earth - Fox

10 p.m. - Shades of Blue - NBC

10 p.m. - FEUD: BETTE & JOAN - FX

10 p.m. - Naked & Afraid - Discovery

10 p.m. - Who Do You Think You Are? - TLC

10 p.m. - THE ARRANGEMENT - E!

Monday, March 6

5:30 p.m. - CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS: THE SERIES - Cartoon Network

8 p.m. - Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta - VH1

Tuesday, March 7

10 p.m. - PEOPLE ICONS - ABC

10 p.m. - The Americans - FX

Wednesday, March 8

8 p.m. - Survivor - CBS

10 p.m. - Designated Survivor- ABC

10 p.m. - Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - CBS

10 p.m. - Underground - WGN

Thursday, March 9

9 p.m. - KICKING AND SCREAMING - Fox

10 p.m. - The Catch - ABC

Friday, March 10

12:01 a.m. PT - Hand of God - Amazon

12:01 a.m. PT - Love - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - ONE MORE TIME - Netflix

7:30 p.m. - TANGLED: THE SERIES - Disney

Saturday, March 11

11 p.m. - Samurai Jack - Adult Swim

Sunday, March 12

10 p.m. - American Crime - ABC

Monday, March 13

8 p.m. - Young & Hungry - Freeform

8:30 p.m. - Baby Daddy - Freeform

9 p.m. - Top Gear - BBC America

10 p.m. - Hip Hop Squares - VH1

Tuesday, March 14

10 p.m. - Trial & Error - NBC (Later episodes will air from 9-10 p.m.)

Wednesday, March 15

10 p.m. - Hap & Leonard - Sundance

Thursday, March 16

12:01 a.m. PT - SHRINK - Seeso

12:01 a.m. PT - BEAU SEJOUR - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - SNATCH - Crackle

10 p.m. - Review with Forrest Macneil - Comedy Central

Friday, March 17

12:01 a.m. PT - MARVEL'S IRON FIST - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - SAMURAI GOURMET - Netflix

8 p.m. - The Originals - The CW

11:30 p.m. - Animals. - HBO

Sunday, March 19

10 p.m. - Into the Badlands - AMC

Monday, March 20

8 p.m. - Dancing with the Stars - ABC

9 p.m. - Happily Ever After? - Freeform

Wednesday, March 22

8 p.m. - SHOTS FIRED - Fox

9 p.m. - Empire - Fox

9 p.m. - Rogue - Audience

10 p.m. - THE COMEDY JAM - Comedy Central

Thursday, March 23

10 p.m. - Idiotsitter - Comedy Central

Friday, March 24

12:01 a.m. PT - INGOBERNABLE - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - Grace & Frankie - Netflix

Sunday, March 26

9 p.m. - To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters - PBS (Miniseries)

Wednesday, March 29

12:01 a.m. PT - HARLOTS - Hulu

8:30 p.m. - IMAGINARY MARY - ABC (SNEAK PEEK)

10:30 p.m. - Lopez - TV Land

Friday, March 31

12:01 a.m. PT - 13 REASONS WHY - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - Trailer Park Boys - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - BORDERTOWN - Netflix

April

Sunday, April 2

8 p.m. - Call The Midwife - PBS

9 p.m. - Home Fires - PBS

9 p.m. - THE KENNEDYS: AFTER CAMELOT - Reelz

9 p.m. - The Real Housewives of Potomac - Bravo

Tuesday, April 4

9 p.m. - iZombie - The CW

9:30 p.m. - IMAGINARY MARY - ABC (actual timeslot)

? p.m. - Prison Break - FOX

Wednesday, April 5

9 p.m. - The Total Divas - E!

10 p.m. - Archer - FXX

10 p.m. - BROCKMIRE - IFC

10 p.m. - TALK SHOW THE GAME SHOW - TruTV

Thursday, April 6

9 p.m. - FLIP OR FLOP: LAS VEGAS - HGTV

10 p.m. - The Dark Net - Showtime

Friday, April 7

12:01 a.m. PT - The Get Down - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - AMERICAN PLAYBOY: THE HUGH HEFNER STORY - Amazon

8 p.m. - FIRST DATES - NBC

8 p.m. - THE TOY BOX - ABC

9 p.m. - YOU THE JURY - FOX

Saturday, April 8

9 p.m. - THE SON - AMC

9 p.m. - MOONLIGHT IN VERMONT (TV Movie) - Hallmark

Sunday, April 9

11 p.m. - TALKING WITH CHRIS HARDWICK - AMC

Monday, April 10

10 p.m. - Better Call Saul - AMC

10:30 p.m. - Angie Tribeca - TBS

Tuesday, April 11

8:00 p.m. - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Fox

Wednesday, April 12

8:00 p.m. - HOLLYWOOD DARLINGS - Pop

8:30 p.m. - RETURN OF THE MAC - Pop

9:00 p.m. - The National Enquirer Investigates - Reelz

Friday, April 14

12:01 a.m. PT - Chelsea - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Netflix

Saturday, April 15

9 p.m. - Doctor Who - BBC America

9 p.m. - LIKE CATS AND DOGS (TV Movie) - Hallmark

10 p.m. - CLASS - BBC America

Sunday, April 16

8 p.m. - THE WHITE PRINCESS - Starz

9 p.m. - The Leftovers - HBO

9 p.m. - GUERRILLA - Showtime

9 p.m. - IRON CHEF GAUNTLET - Food Network

10:30 p.m. - Veep - HBO

Tuesday, April 18

8 p.m. - Pretty Little Liars Final Season - Freeform

9 p.m. - FAMOUS IN LOVE - Freeform

10 p.m. - COOPER'S TREASURE - Discovery

Wednesday, April 19

10 p.m. - Fargo - FX

Thursday, April 20

9 p.m. - The Blacklist - NBC

Friday, April 21

12:01 a.m. PT - BILL NYE SAVES THE WORLD - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - GIRLBOSS - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - Thunderbirds Are Go - Netflix

8 p.m. - The Amazing Race - CBS

10 p.m. - Blue Bloods - CBS

Saturday, April 22

8 p.m. - THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS (TV Movie) - HBO

Sunday, April 23

10 p.m. - Silicon Valley - HBO

11 p.m. - MARY KILLS PEOPLE - Lifetime

Monday, April 24

8 p.m. - Gotham - Fox

Tuesday, April 25

9 p.m. - GREAT NEWS - NBC

9 p.m. - GENIUS - NatGeo

Wednesday, April 26

12:01 p.m. PT - THE HANDMAIDS TALE - HULU

10 p.m. - Gomorroah - Sundance

Friday, April 28

12:01 a.m. PT - DEAR WHITE PEOPLE - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - LAS CHICAS DEL CABLE - Netflix

12:01 a.m. PT - Catastrophe - Amazon

Sunday, April 30

9 p.m. - AMERICAN GODS - Starz

Incredibly, we've nearly gotten to the holidays and the big five networks have yet to cancel an underperforming freshman series, although episode orders for shows like Conviction and Pure Genius have been cut. Regardless, there are still quite a few shows that have already been slated to end this TV season, and if you want to know which shows you are going to have to say goodbye to, we've compiled them into this easy-to-read list.

Please note that this list excludes shows that will technically be ending next TV season. So if you're wondering where some shows you know are ending are at, like Longmire, they may not be ending until the next season rolls around. But, as usual, let us know about any we may have missed!

Grimm

Grimm was a steady Friday night series on NBC for years, airing opposite a slew of shows that were quickly cancelled, including Constantine and Dracula. However, over the last couple of seasons, the ratings for the drama faltered a bit, leading NBC to both cancel the drama and push it back to midseason. The final set of episodes will hit the schedule in 2017, starting on Friday, January 6.

Black Sails

Starz kicked off its modern programming slate with the launch of Black Sails four seasons ago. Over time, Black Sails has become one of the most exciting and best written programs on television, one that has been highly ignored by critics. The pirate-based drama will be ending after its next airing at midseason, but it will be remembered as the show that helped launch Starz into a new era of quality originals. Catch its final season starting on Sunday, January 29.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars has already aired the first half of its final season, which has made its cancellation a little bit confusing. If you are a fan, don't fret, there's still a half season of the Freeform drama left to air. The final set of episodes are expected to hit the schedule this coming April, and some of the episodes are coming with grave titles like "Farewell, My Lovely" and "Till Death Do Us Part." I don't anticipate this one going out on a totally happy note.

Duck Dynasty

Just a few scant years ago, Duck Dynasty was one of the highest-rated reality programs ever. It also helped put A&E on the map in terms of original programming and presumably made the network a lot of money. Recently, the whole Duck Dynasty clan announced the show will be ending after the upcoming Season 11, which will hit the schedule in early 2017.

Bones

Bones has been on the air for a long time. While there are a few shows---including the original NCIS---that have been on the air for longer, it's still prepping for Season 12, which is a long time to be on the air. While Bones was widely expected to be cancelled at the end of last season, it earned a Hail Mary pass from Fox, which is allowing the show to wrap up in a way that will hopefully give fans closure. New episodes will hit the schedule on Tuesday, January 3.

Bloodline

Netflix is relatively new to the original programming game, and the subscription streaming service has not cancelled very many shows. One exception would be Bloodline, the well-received family drama filled with mystery and murder. Bloodline will get a third season before it goes off of the air. In the past, episodes have aired in the spring, and we'll let you know as soon as Netflix gives the show a final season premiere date.

Girls

Girls has long been a polarizing series on HBO. Those who love it really love it and those who hate it are often openly scathing in their critiques. The Lena Dunham-penned drama is finally ending, much to peoples' happiness/chagrin. But not before one final set of episodes hit the schedule. You can catch Girls Season 6 when it begins airing on Sunday, February 12.

Hand of God

While Netflix has been less fond of cancelling its originals, Amazon's slate has been more of a mixed bag. There was a lot of notice surrounding the launch of a new series starring Sons of Anarchy actor Ron Perlman, but Hand of God apparently didn't pan out when the numbers were considered. The show is getting a second season, which is better than other programs like Mad Dogs have done, but it will officially be done after Season 2. Since Season 1 hit the schedule back in the fall of 2015, you would think Season 2 would have already happened, but we're still waiting on a premiere date, which is expected to be scheduled in 2017.

Bates Motel

For a while, A&E had a pretty good thing going between originals Bates Motel and Longmire, plus reality shows like Duck Dynasty. By the end of this TV season, all of those shows will have disappeared from the lineup. (Longmire was cancelled and moved to Netflix a couple of seasons ago.) Bates Motel will return for a fifth and final season in 2017, thanks to getting a two-season renewal a couple of years ago, but it will be ending after that. If other seasons are any indication, it's likely we'll see the show hit the schedule sometime in March.

The Vampire Diaries

I honestly thought The Vampire Diaries would end after Nina Dobrev left the series and again when it was having ratings issues and was bumped to Fridays last season. However, the long-running vampire drama hung on and was rewarded with an eighth and final season, which started airing in October. You can catch new episodes on Friday nights over at the CW.

To find out what else is hitting the schedule in the coming months, check out our winter TV premiere schedule.

As the major Blu-ray and Digital content producers start gearing up for the holidays, the list of interesting releases gets a little larger. From box sets, to TV series and even some big movie releases, November has a lot to offer. One big thing we should note is that Netflix and Marvel have teamed up to put the first of its combined offerings onto Blu-ray and DVD, and you'll be able to catch Matt Murdock in action without logging into Netflix starting on Tuesday, November 8. You can take a look at the big November 2016 releases, below.

In addition, if you are wanting to see what hit shelves in October, you can take a look at last month's new DVD releases, here. Unless otherwise noted in the "Early" release column, Digital releases come out the same day as the Blu-ray and DVD releases.

Star Trek Beyond Blu-ray Review

It's been a couple of months since director Justin Lin mentioned it wouldn't be likely that we'd be seeing any deleted scenes on the Star Trek Beyond Blu-ray, but Paramount Home Media Distribution's set is finally here, and it definitely does come with a slew of features, including two deleted scenes. The third film in the Kelvin Timeline kicks off with Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the rest of the crew (Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban) on a five-year mission in space. That mission can be challenging and has left Kirk and others feeling a little disconcerted about their respective paths. After encountering a bad guy named Krall (Idris Elba), the team is separated, and Scotty meets a local named Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) who helps the team reach each other and take on Krall. It's an action-packed adventure, filled with exciting space sequences and amusing jokes. Paramount's set comes with a slew of behind-the-scenes extras, including an interview with J.J. Abrams, who explains why Justin Lin was hired for the gig. A tribute feature for Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin is also memorable, and the extra talks about why the movie nodded at Spock in the way it did. 3D and regular Blu-ray copies of the movie are available and you can order your own over at Amazon. In addition, there are a bunch of different options for Star Trek Beyond Blu-rays. To take a look at our unboxing of seven of the different sets available, head here.

Outlander: Season 2 Blu-ray Review

Over the past few years, Starz has quietly built up a shining lineup of original programming as varied as Power, Black Sails and Ash vs. Evil Dead. Quickly spearheading this lineup has been Outlander, a time travel romance series that just finished out its second season run this October. If you enjoy steamy scenes, lush sets and costumes and historically-inclined plotlines---or really, any one of the three-- Outlander: Season Two is probably a set for you.

Season 2 kicks off with Claire (Caitriona Balfe) in the present, where we learn she left Scotland and the 18th century to return to Frank (Tobias Menzies). Eventually, however, we get to see scenes between Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire leading to Claire's ultimate decision. The two become embroiled in the Jacobite Revolution and spend time in Paris trying to play double agents, which leads to some seriously tense moments. The whole season is spectacular, and a fitting follow-up to the freshman episodes of the show, although the adventure is very different this time around. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Blu-ray is a 5-disc set with bonus features on each disc. An extended episode is sure to please fans who caught the show's original run on Starz, and deleted and alternate scenes abound. If you are a fan of podcasts, some that are geared to the show are included, which is a slightly different sort of feature than you would normally see with a Blu-ray release. Since the show has made some big changes from the story Diana Gabaldon originally wrote, the Blu-ray also tackles those changes head on with a feature dedicated to them. You really can't go wrong with this set, unless you are holding out for the Ultimate Collection that is probably going to come at some point. Order your own copy of Outlander: Season Two here.

Bad Moms Blu-ray Review

It's a big week for movie and TV releases, but luckily each of those releases is in a very different sort of genre. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment's Bad Moms mixes female characters with raunch comedy in a movie that does not shy away from f-bombs. But if you're OK mixing chardonnay with profanity, this might be a movie for you. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore's film stars Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell as moms who are rioting against being perfect. After her husband cheats on her, Amy (Kunis) stops giving a crap about being the perfect mom and career-woman. She makes friends with single mom Carla (Hahn) and stay-at-home mom Kiki (Bell) and the two start skipping PTA events and buying store-bought baked goods for school functions in order to spend their free time getting drunk and raging against the system. Some of this is very funny whereas some of it falls flat, but in terms of female raunch comedy these days, Bad Moms is a movie that a lot of moms---and women in the workplace in general---will identify with. Extras with the set aren't spectacular, although you'll love the interviews with the cast and their own moms (snippets of these appear in the end credits of the film). A DVD and Digital copy are also included with the Blu-ray set. Order your own copy here.

Tuesday, November 1 Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Star Trek Beyond

Bad Moms

The Sea Of Trees

Outlander: The Complete Second Season

Nine Lives

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

The Librarians Season 1 DVD

Hell On Wheels: Season 5 Volume 2 The Final Episodes

Reign of Assassins

The Lost Bladesman

Gleason

Athropoid

Imperium

The Lost Bladesman

Week Of November 1 Early Digital Releases

Sausage Party

Outlander Season 2 (October 31)

Space Dogs: Adventure to the Moon

Black Sails: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Review

Black Sails was not a show that kicked off with a bang. It took time for us to get to know the characters and get invested in the setting and the characters. If you've stuck with the drama, you've been rewarded with a series that is both delicate and brazen, a drama with complex characters and complicated relationships foraging ahead in one of the most dangerous places on Earth. The Starz drama just recently made its third season available on Blu-ray and DVD, and it's one of the nicer sets we've see this year, with a holographic cover, cool packaging featuring Toby Stephens, Luke Arnold, Hannah New, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Zach McGowan, Tom Hopper, Winston Chong and Ray Stevenson in full costume. Plus, it offers a slew of bonus features looking behind the scenes at the series. The third season follows Captain Flint (Stephens) and his crew, including through near starvation and eventual imprisonment by islanders. Eventually, Charles Vane (McGowan), Flint and others get involved in ideals leading to war. This fight between Nassau and the British claims lives and alliances and makes for an explosive 10 episodes, which can be viewed in this three-disc Blu-ray set that also comes with a Digital copy. Black Sails has already been renewed for a fourth season, a season which will also be the show's last, and this set is a nice setup for those final episodes. This is a nice set, indeed, with extras looking at Blackbeard's origins and "A Pirate's Last Words" segment being the standouts. Order your own copy here.

Tuesday, November 8 Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Daredevil: The Complete First Season

Sausage Party

Billions: Season One

Black Sails: The Complete Third Season

Powers: Season Two DVD

Turn: Washington's Spies: The Complete Third Season

Indignation

Lo and Behold

Morris From America

Legend of Bruce Lee: Volume One

Week of November 8 Early Digital Releases

War Dogs

Kubo and the Six Strings

Absolutely Fabulous (November 11)

Finding Dory Blu-ray Review

Finding Dory doesn't have quite the originality or sense of wonderment of its predecessor Finding Nemo, but it's actually even funnier and perhaps even more delightful. Andrew Stanton's well-executed sequel has a lot to say about family, both those we're born into and those we make, and with just the right number of jokes, it's a really satisfying ride. The end result is a Pixar movie with plenty of smiles to offer and a touching and uplifting message to take away, starring Ellen DeGeneres as the short-term memory-challenged Dory and also featuring the return of Martin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (new actor Hayden Rolence) from the original film. Walt Disney Home Entertainment's Blu-ray set features over two hours of extras. It would take some time going into detail about these, but we'll give you the highlights. There's an extra about the animation that explains that Dory always starts out in a ping-pong shape and is drawn out from there. Other behind-the-scenes extras look at how Dory's theme was made and more. The living aquariums are fine enough looks at underwater life, but they may not distract the kiddos as much as a real aquarium. A slew of partially animated deleted scenes also round out the disc and come with an explanation for why deleted scenes become deleted scenes. You can order your own copy of Finding Dory here.

Tuesday, November 15 Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D Collectors Edition

Finding Dory

The Mindy Project: Season Four

Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season

Looking: The Complete Series And The Movie

Better Call Saul: Season Two

Eight Days A Week (November 18)

Week of November 15 Early Digital Releases

Suicide Squad

Jason Bourne

War Dogs Blu-ray Review

Based on a true story, Todd Phillips' War Dogs follows two dudes who are living out the bromance from hell, packaging and selling weapons as part of a covert government contract. In the complex world of nabbing large arms contracts, David (Miles Teller) and Ephraim (Jonah Hill) get involved in a scheme to repackage Albanian arms bought from China in order to resell them to the U.S. for the war in Afghanistan. It's a crazy scheme that comes with danger, bad intentions, failures and broken friendships and it makes for one heck of a movie. If you haven't given Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's movie a watch, yet, you'll be able to do so this week, as War Dogs is heading to Blu-ray on November 22. The release comes with a Digital copy of the movie along with the Blu-ray (the disc is also pink, which is adorable.) There are a couple of featurettes with the movie, but not any really compelling extras, which is surprising because War Dogs is based on a true story and frequently the networks love to get into depth with behind-the-scenes info. To get more on the story, check out Guy Lawson's factual article written about the events or order your own copy here.

Tuesday, November 22 Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Space Dogs: Adventure To The Moon

War Dogs

Texas Rising/ Sons Of Liberty Double Feature

Hell or High Water

Kubo and the Two Strings

I.T.

Masterpiece Poldark: The Complete Second Season

Yoga Hosers

Mechanic 2: Resurrection

Chicken People

Week of November 22 Early Digital Releases

Pets

Pete's Dragon Blu-ray Review

Disney has made a big push back into live action over the last couple of years, reimagining some of the company's classic films in a whole new way. One of these reimagined films is Pete's Dragon, which reimagines Pete (Oakes Fegley) as a young boy living in the 1970s who loses his parents in a car crash. He's rescued by a dragon named Elliott and lives in the woods with him until a logging incident introduces him to humans Jack (Wes Bentley) and Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard). The ensuing adventure features plenty of love but also plenty of danger for Pete and his dragon pal. Director David Lowery did a good job with the look of this film, creating a dragon that doesn't look too cartoon-y but is still imposing when he needs to be. The movie has heart, too, and it's a more memorable feature than some of Disney's other live action Disney films. If you've seen the movie and want it for your own collection, Walt Disney Home Entertainment's set is pretty enticing. For the adults, David Lowery put together a set diary that features some intriguing tidbits from the making of the film. There are some "lost" scenes on the disc for kids of all ages, and even a goofy blooper reel, which is unusual for a family movie. The Blu-ray also comes with both a DVD and Digital copy, which is becoming increasingly rare. Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, the movie is currently running at a very special price on Amazon. You can order your own copy here.

The BFG Blu-ray Review

Walt Disney Home Entertainment has two big releases our today. One is the aforementioned Pete's Dragon and the other is the less prominent release The BFG. While the gobblefunk language of the Big Friendly Giant may be hard to understand at times, the movie is at its best when the BFG is showing Sophie his inventions in his home or acting as a fish out of water character in the palace. The Roald Dahl children's classic looks great on the big screen in Steven Spielberg's capable hands, as green screen technology has allowed giants to grow taller and fantastical settings to look more vivid in recent years. The movie hits the best beats in the book and is a good adaptation for avid readers everywhere. Extras on the disc are fun, especially for readers. One of the big extras is a behind-the-scenes feature, which has Ruby's set diaries but is better when we are hearing from Lucy Dahl or the producers on the show, who were all simply captivated by the original book. If you'd like to get your human-sized hands on your own copy, you can order the movie here.

Don't Breathe Blu-ray Review

Writer/director Fede Alvarez may always be known as "the guy who remade Evil Dead," but his 2016 follow-up Don't Breathe is proof that he can do even better work with completely original material. With a bare-bones synopsis of "young thieves pick the wrong blind man's house to rob," Don't Breathe makes up for narrative complexity with a wall of tension that starts up in the middle of the first act and doesn't ease up until the credits are rolling. Actor Stephen Lang gives arguably the most terrifying performance of his decorated career as the unnamed war vet homeowner whose presumed victimization gives way to completely different opinions as the movie goes on, and Lang's work is complemented by tortured turns from co-stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette and Daniel Zovatto. So many indie horror movies blow their own potential with thinly drawn main characters and horribly conceived dialogue, and Don't Breathe manages to cleverly use both of those elements to its advantage, making us wonder why more horror films don't utilize the concept of silence more often. The Don't Breathe Blu-ray offers up featurettes centering on said silence, the central location and the cast, along with eight deleted scenes that can be watched with or without director commentary. The best extra of the bunch, to me, is the feature-length commentary from Alvarez, Lang and co-Writer Rodo Sayagues, since they get into the nitty gritty about making the film. If you want to own a copy of Don't Breathe's Blu-ray for yourself, but are too afraid to speak up about it, you can order it here.

Tuesday, November 29 Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Pete's Dragon

The BFG

House of Lies: The Final Season

The Wild Life

Don't Breathe

A few months ago, we learned that Starz had cancelled its big budget pirate production Black Sails. Luckily, series lead Toby Stephens already seems to be on to his next adventure---and it's a big one. News this week indicates the Black Sails actor has signed on for the Lost in Space remake that is coming together over at Netflix. Along with Toby Stephens, Sense8 actor Maxwell Jenkins has also been cast.

Toby Stephens is set to play astrophysicist John Robinson, the patriarch of the Robinson clan in the Lost in Space remake. The original series followed a family on a ship heading into space in the hopes of creating a new colony on a planet circling Alpha Centauri. Things go awry when a stowaway appears on board, wreaking havoc and altering the ship's flight path, which causes them to become---you guessed it---lost in space. The original series ran for three years on CBS and produced 83 episodes, becoming a cult classic.

In the series, John Robinson is traveling with his family, including his wife Dr. Maureen Robinson and his kids Judy, Penny and Will. Per Deadline, Maxwell Jenkins will be playing Will on the series, which isn't expected to hit Netflix until 2018.

That should be alright for Toby Stephens, who stars on Black Sails as that show's lead. The Starz drama is known for filming episodes well in advance of the season premiere. This means that technically Black Sails has been cancelled, but only after the upcoming Season 4 hits the schedule. Luckily, because we won't be getting new episodes of Black Sails until midseason, it won't seem like Toby Stephens is out of a gig for quite some time. In fact, he'll have Black Sails airing in early 2017 and then Lost in Space in 2018. In terms of shooting schedules, this should be pretty seamless, as well.

Lost in Space reportedly isn't changing a lot from the original series, but I'm guessing we should expect some changes in production value---in fact, I'm guessing we deserve a higher quality sci fi drama. The original series was actually set in a future that was actually only the 1990s, so I'm assuming that will change for the Netflix series, as well. In terms of reboots, this TV series is one of the ones we are most excited for, namely because a lot of stuff has changed in terms of science fiction shows and the technologies they can incorporate. We're very excited to see what Netflix can do with this genre series.

For now, you can find out what Netflix has coming up with our Netflix TV premiere schedule. In addition, we'll also let you know as soon as the final season of Black Sails gets a premiere date.

OK, fans of the Starz series Black Sails are going to be disappointed that the show has been cancelled. It's been the best source of swash-buckling action and drama since the first season. But, at least we know that the news isn't all bad. It looks like we will, indeed, get a fourth season of the pirate drama in 2017 before it shuffles off the plank and into the great ocean of TV shows that once were.

Starz confirmed to CinemaBlend today that Season 4 of the action adventure will air sometime in 2017, and that the season will, unfortunately, also be the last for the drama. The fourth season will feature 10 episodes, and will focus on the pirates at war in the West Indies, with civilization fighting back by any means necessary. Season 4 of the drama had originally been ordered about a year ago.

Black Sails is a prequel tale to the Robert Louis Stevenson classic "Treasure Island." The show is set about 20 years before the novel, during what's known in history as the Golden Age of Piracy. The show focuses on the crews of several pirate ships and their captains, and their fight for survival on New Providence island, a place populated and run by pirates. Black Sails' main pirate leader is Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), who takes on new crew member John Silver (Luke Arnold) in 1715, while his crew and others are all searching for the Spanish treasure galleon, the Urca de Lima.

Captain Flint is a man of mystery; when the series starts out we soon find that he was actually a London gentleman and navy officer. We don't find out until Season 2 why a man who would have seemed to have everything going for him turned to a life of crime on the high seas. The pirate way of life on the island, and in the open seas, is being threatened by all civilized nations, since, you know, pirates steal things and disrupt lawful trade. Several real life pirates are fictionalized in Black Sails, including Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Charles Vane, Blackbeard, Ned Low and Benjamin Hornigold.

Series co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg noted in a press release that he and the producers of Black Sails were forced to make a difficult decision when looking to end the show after Season 4, but they all felt that what they had planned for that season would be the best way to cap off the ramp up to "Treasure Island" that the show had always been. While Black Sails has received overall mixed reviews from critics, the show has done quite well for Starz. The first three seasons of the series averaged 3.6 million multi-platform viewers for each episode, with the show being distributed in almost 200 countries and territories. The program has also been nominated for 20 awards, and won two Emmys in 2014, for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.

Black Sails is truly one of the most down-and-dirty historical dramas ever put to the small screen, and it will be sad to see it go. But, at least we can look forward to one more blood-soaked season of double crosses, dirty fighting and gold chasing next year.

It's unfortunate that Black Sails was cancelled. However, if you are looking to add the series to your dvd or blu-ray collection, you can check that out here.

Television is filled with shows that can boast heroes who are both morally sound and worth investing in. Other shows happen to have bad guys who are just much more fun to root for than the good guys. They can range from black-hearted evildoers to antiheroes to criminals with hearts of gold. The bad guys can be so fascinating, frightening, and/or funny that the good guys pale in comparison. There’s really no shame in wishing for the antagonists to get the big wins on a series. Who needs the straight and narrow road when there’s a path of twisted morals and murky motivation? To pay tribute to the villains who bring the very best entertainment, check out our list of 8 current TV shows that make us root for the bad guy.

Daredevil

Season 2 of Daredevil introduced a new antihero in Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher. Castle entered the vigilante scene with a much more lethal stance on how to stop criminals than Matt Murdock as Daredevil. He favored a sniper rifle for his killing, but he wasn’t averse to improvising and beating folks to death with whatever happened to be handy. Castle was such a compelling character that it was hard not to see his point and be pretty okay with his attitude toward killing the worst of the worst. The Punisher did do a few too many bad things to be called a good guy, but at least he does his bad things to even badder guys, and he does have a pretty tragic backstory. Who can really argue that “One batch, two batch, penny and dime” wasn’t the best line of all in Season 2?

Black Sails

Black Sails is a show about pirates, so there really aren’t too many characters who should be classified as “good guys.” Captain James Flint has secured the role of antihero. He’s not afraid to attack, maim, or murder, but he tends to be smart about how to do what is best for himself and those he particularly cares about. Flint is a leader who is one of the best pirate strategists out of Nassau. An affair with another man in the British Empire caused his exile and has made him an antihero who is easy to sympathize with. He’s managed to come out on top of what should have been no-win situations, and it’s always thrilling to see how he manages to survive against all kinds of enemies--from bad weather conditions to threats from the empire that exiled him.

Game Of Thrones

The Hound has been an unforgettable character on Game of Thrones by virtue of his disfiguring facial scares and horrific backstory of how he got them. He’s been rough and murderous and completely unapologetic for his love of his violent work. In fact, one of the first things that he did on the show was to kill Arya’s friend because he happened to be present during Arya’s altercation with Joffrey. Later, however, the Hound revealed a somewhat softer side to the Stark girls. He had a bizarre sort of bond with Sansa in King’s Landing, and he refused to kill or abandon Arya even when his attempts to ransom her back to her rich relations failed. His travels with Arya were also pretty funny. He did seem to come to an untimely end in Season 4, but we have definite reason to believe that he’ll be back.

House Of Cards

The Netflix political thriller House of Cards introduced binge-watchers everywhere to a main character who is a shameless villain that will do anything and everything to further his career. Frank Underwood’s one weakness from early on was his wife Claire, who luckily turned out to be just about as devious as her husband. They make such an epic power couple that it’s actually easy to see them manipulate their way into America's biggest power couple. Kevin Spacey has nailed the role of Frank, and Robin Wright is perfect as Claire. Frank is so good at being bad that it’s too much fun to watch him weasel his way up the political ladder to want him to fail.

Gotham

Gotham has had no shortage of villains over its two seasons so far, but none has been so regularly enjoyable as Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin. Cobblepot elevated himself from Fish Mooney’s underling to crime lord in the space of a single season, and his downfall wasn’t enough to stop him from finding methods of getting his way via whatever means necessary. The death of his mother motivated him to become more vengeful than ever, and the death of his father pushed him over the edge to murder his pseudo-stepmom and stepsiblings… and then eat them for dinner. He’s delightfully impossible to predict, and he switches from ally to enemy for Jim Gordon every other episode. Cobblepot has been a consistent highlight in a somewhat inconsistent show, so it’s nice to know that he’ll probably survive long enough to someday menace Batman.

Blacklist

Blacklist’s Raymond Reddington can qualify as a bad guy turned good... ish. After being on the run from the authorities for twenty years, Red Reddington turned himself in to the FBI to volunteer information in exchange for immunity. He’d build a syndicate of criminal contacts that made him an invaluable resource to the FBI. Despite turning himself in, he hasn't been the most cooperative or obliging person to work with. Until the shocking events of the latter half of the season, he's mostly demanded to only deal with Agent Elizabeth Keen. Throughout his exploits – which have ranged from criminal to selfish to occasionally altruistic – he’s dropped enough great one-liners and even greater strategy that has made him one of the best bad guys on television.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Who says that all the best TV villains have to come from dramas? Doug Judy – also known as the Pontiac Bandit – from Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a hysterical bad guy who is best when he's on the run and outsmarting Detective Jake Peralta. His continued escapes in the most unlikely ways have turned him into Jake’s nemesis, and the shenanigans never fail to reach hilarious heights. Craig Robinson is fabulous as Judy as he brings out the best in Andy Samberg as Jake. Hopefully, the hero never wins this particular battle so that Judy can be free to vex him again and again.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead has spent the last few seasons proving over and over again that humans are the real threat in a post-apocalyptic world. The zombies are still always ready for a meal, but it’s the people who are truly scary. The Season 6 finale finally introduced the villain Negan, who had been built up as a man not to be trifled with before he ever appeared on screen. His first and only scene to date was such a combination of terrifying and thrilling that he’s definitely somebody that plenty of us want to see a lot more of in Season 7. We may change our tunes depending on who was the unlucky person to get a face full of Lucille, but Negan is so far a fantastic bad guy who needs to appear much more.

This poll is no longer available.

There’s a lot of hype around Marvel’s Daredevil Season 2, which is heading to Netflix this spring. A lot of that hype stems from the fact that Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, is being included in the new set of eps. Ray Stevenson, who played Punisher in the movie realm in Punisher: War Zone, still has his fans in the Marvel universe. Recently, he was speaking out in support of Black Sails Season 3 when he touched on how he feels about Marvel making a new version of the iconic character.

Translation: it’s going to be tough to compete with what Marvel has done with the Punisher on the big screen via gigs played by both Stevenson and by Thomas Jane. Both The Punisher and The Punisher: War Zone are R-rated films, known for intense violence but also forceful language. The good news? Marvel’s Netflix shows are a helluva lot darker and more intense than Marvel’s ABC broadcast shows. They also have more creative freedom in terms of how much language, sex and more can be shown and Netflix shows tend to run closer to subscription cable programming than any of the Big Four networks. Still, there’s something about a violent R-rated experience that is different than a long-running TV series, both in terms of what’s acceptable in language and storytelling, not to mention what works budget-wise.

Ray Stevenson is popular as The Punisher and even reprised the role in The Super Hero Squad Show. Of course, he hasn’t given up totally on his dreams of playing Punisher either. In fact, if an opportunity ever came along….

Ray Stevenson has a slew of other iconic characters under his belt at this point. This weekend, he’s set to take the small screen by storm in a very different role, playing iconic historical character Blackbeard on Starz’s Black Sails, who he describes as being sort of like Keith Richards, which sounds amazing. (Interestingly, Black Sails is about as close to an R-rated cinematic experience as you can get on TV.) Catch him in action—and with a full beard—on Saturday, January 23 at 9 p.m. ET.

And if you’d like to see how Stevenson’s Punisher stacks up to newcomer Jon Bernthal’s portrayal, Daredevil Season 2 is expected to return on Friday, March 18. You can check out when the rest of your favorites are returning with our midseason TV premiere schedule.

Starz’s Black Sails is gearing up to return for Season 3 this weekend, and the show has been giving us plenty of opportunities to get excited for the new episodes. One of the main additions that should add some extra oomph to Season 3 is Blackbeard, a character that will be played by veteran actor Ray Stevenson. We recently got a chance to speak with the new Starz star, who revealed that the Blackbeard we meet on Black Sails will actually be a whole lot like Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Here’s why:

We already know that Stevenson is going to look pretty imposing as Blackbeard. An early look at the character has shown Blackbeard will sport wildly long hair and a signature beard, as well as a slew of weapons. He reads like a pirate through and through. Ray Stevenson certainly looks like a rock star in the new promos:

Interesting, while Ray Stevenson's not exactly a dead ringer for Keith Richards, the man pulls off the “larger than life” correlation to the rock star, pretty well. It also may have helped Stevenson's vision of the character that Keith Richards actually played a pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, as well as had a cameo in the franchises' 2011 follow-up, On Stranger Tide. If you've seen his version of a pirate, Richards also channels Blackbeard a bit, making this whole analogy perfect.

Black Sails often mixes historical characters with fictional ones, but Blackbeard was very much a real tyrant who took to the high seas in order to plunder as a pirate but who eventually left Nassau and set his sights elsewhere. At the start of Season 3, Blackbeard will have returned to Nassau for the first time in years, but early scenes between Blackbeard, Captain Flint and Charles Vane indicate that Blackbeard will be a legend, but one who isn’t immediately aware of the current state of affairs in Nassau.

The pirates in Nassau already have plenty of trouble to deal with without having a pirate like Blackbeard return to shake things up. The British government is trying to control Nassau, and the trailer shows the series will have Eleanor Guthrie at its disposal. Still, shake things up Blackbeard will, and we can't wait to see what will happen, especially as we've heard Blackbeard will be back for Season 4.

Black Sails will return to the schedule for Season 3 on Saturday, January 23 at 9 p.m. ET. In addition the popular pirate drama has already been renewed by Starz for Season 4. You can find out when your favorites will return with our midseason TV premiere schedule.

It’s the time of year when families have holiday decorations out and fires roaring. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when TV shows go on hiatus for the winter, leaving us with less new stuff to watch. On the bright side, many of the networks have already announced when your favorite shows are returning. So, we’ve compiled a handy calendar of 2015 premiere and return dates.

The schedule is a work in progress, and dates are subject to change as we head into midseason. In the meantime, if there's a new or returning show you don't see on here, feel free to leave a comment and we'll see if we can dig up the date for you! We’ve also listed shows that haven’t been given official return dates and stuff that is expected to premiere this summer, so if your favorite show doesn’t have a date, yet, take a look at the end of the article first!

Looking for summer premiere dates? No problem, head over here.

Friday, January 2

8:00 p.m. - Undercover Boss - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Hawaii Five-O - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Blue Bloods - CBS

Sunday, January 4

8:00 p.m. - GALAVANT - ABC

8:00 p.m. - Madam Secretary - CBS

8:00 p.m. - The Simpsons - Fox

8:30 p.m. - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Fox

9:00 p.m. - Downton Abbey - PBS

9:00 p.m. - The Good Wife - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Family Guy - Fox

10:00 p.m. - CSI - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Revenge - ABC

Monday, January 5

8:00 p.m. - Bachelor - ABC

8:00 p.m. - 2 Broke Girls - CBS

8:00 p.m. - Gotham - Fox

8:30 p.m. - Mike & Molly - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Sleepy Hollow - Fox

9:00 p.m. - Scorpion - CBS

10:00 p.m. - NCIS: Los Angeles - CBS

10:00 p.m. - State of Affairs - NBC

Tuesday, January 6

8:00 p.m. - Pretty Little Liars - ABC Family

8:00 p.m. - NCIS - CBS

8:00 p.m. - New Girl - Fox

8:30 p.m. - Mindy Project - Fox

9:00 p.m. - AGENT CARTER - ABC

9:00 p.m. - NCIS: New Orleans - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Marry Me - NBC

9:30 p.m. - About A Boy - NBC

8:00 p.m. - Switched at Birth - ABC Family

10:00 p.m. - Chicago Fire - NBC

10:00 p.m. - Person of Interest - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Forever - ABC

Wednesday, January 7

8:00 p.m. - American Idol - Fox

8:00 p.m. - The Mentalist - CBS

8:00 p.m. - The Mysteries of Laura - NBC

8:30 p.m. - The Goldbergs - ABC

9:00 p.m. - EMPIRE - Fox

9:00 p.m. - Modern Family - ABC

9:00 p.m. - Law and Order: SVU - NBC

9:30 p.m. - Black-ish - ABC

10:00 p.m. - Chicago PD - NBC

10:00 p.m. - American Horror Story: Freak Show (final 3 eps) - FX

Thursday, January 8

8:00 p.m. - The Big Bang Theory - CBS

8:30 p.m. - Mom - CBS

9:00 p.m. - Two and a Half Men - CBS

9:30 p.m. - The McCarthys - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Elementary - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Archer - FX

10:00 p.m. - Parenthood - NBC

Friday, January 9

8:00 p.m. - Last Man Standing - ABC

8:30 p.m. - Cristela - ABC

9:00 p.m. - Shark Tank - ABC

9:00 p.m. - Glee - Fox (2-hour premiere)

10:00 p.m. - Banshee - Cinemax

Sunday, January 11

9:00 p.m. - Girls - HBO

9:00 p.m. - Shameless - Showtime

9:30 p.m. - TOGETHERNESS - HBO

10:00 p.m. - Looking - HBO

10:00 p.m. - House of Lies - Showtime

10:30 p.m. - Episodes - Showtime

Monday, January 12

10:00 p.m. - Castle - ABC

Tuesday, January 13

8:00 p.m. - Parks and Recreation - NBC

10:00 p.m. - YOUNGER - TV Land

10:00 p.m. - Wrestling with Death - WGN America

Wednesday, January 14

8:00 p.m. - Melissa & Joey - ABC Family

8:30 p.m. - Baby Daddy - ABC Family

9:00 p.m. - Criminal Minds - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Stalker - CBS

10:00 p.m. - It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia - FXX

10:30 p.m. - MAN SEEKING WOMAN - FXX

Friday, January 16

8:00 p.m. - Constantine - NBC

9:00 p.m. - Grimm - NBC

9:00 p.m. - 12 MONKEYS - Syfy

10:00 p.m. - Helix - Syfy

Monday, January 19

8:00 p.m. - The Fosters - ABC Family

8:00 p.m. - The Originals - The CW

9:00 p.m. - Jane The Virgin - The CW

9:00 p.m. - Chasing Life - ABC Family

Tuesday, January 20

8:00 p.m. - The Flash

9:00 p.m. - Supernatural

10:00 p.m. - Justified - FX

Wednesday, January 21

8:00 p.m. - Arrow - The CW

9:00 p.m. - The 100 - The CW

Thursday, January 22

8:00 p.m. - The Vampire Diaries - The CW

9:00 p.m. - Reign - The CW

9:00 p.m. - BACKSTROM - FOX

Saturday, January 24

9:00 p.m. - Black Sails - Starz

Tuesday, January 27

10:00 p.m. - SIRENS - USA

Wednesday, January 28

10:00 p.m. - The Americans - FX

10:00 p.m. - Suits - USA

Thursday, January 29

8:00 p.m. - Grey's Anatomy - ABC 9:00 p.m. - Scandal - ABC

10:00 p.m. - How To Get Away With Murder - ABC

Sunday, February 1

? p.m. - The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl premiere) - NBC

Wednesday, February 4

8:30 p.m. - FRESH OFF THE BOAT - ABC (Will move to Tuesdays at 9 starting February 10)

10:00 p.m. - Nashville - ABC

Thursday, February 5

9:00 p.m. - The Blacklist Official Return - NBC

10:00 p.m. - ALLEGIANCE - NBC

Sunday, February 8

9:00 p.m. - The Walking Dead - AMC

10:00 p.m. - BETTER CALL SAUL (2-night premiere) - AMC

Monday, February 9

10:00 p.m. - BETTER CALL SAUL (2-night premiere) - AMC

Thursday, February 12

8:00 p.m. - THE SLAP - NBC

Thursday, February 19

10:00 p.m. - THE ODD COUPLE - CBS

10:00 p.m. - Vikings - History

Monday, February 23

8:00 p.m. - The Voice - NBC

10:00 p.m. - The Night Shift - NBC

Wednesday, February 25

8:00 p.m. - Survivor, 90 minute episode - CBS

9:30 p.m. - The Amazing Race, 90 minute episode – CBS (will subsequently move to regular Friday night timeslot)

Friday, February 27

12:00 a.m. - House of Cards - Netflix

Sunday, March 1

8 p.m. - Once Upon A Time - ABC

9 p.m. - SECRETS AND LIES - ABC

9:30 p.m. - THE LAST MAN ON EARTH - FOX

10:00 p.m. - BATTLE CREEK - CBS

Monday, March 2

8 p.m. - The Following - FOX

Tuesday, March 3

8:00 p.m. - Hell’s Kitchen - FOX

9:00 p.m. - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - ABC

Monday, March 4

8:00 p.m. - CSI: CYBER - CBS

Thursday, March 5

10:00 p.m. - AMERICAN CRIME - ABC

10:00 p.m. - DIG - USA

Friday, March 6

12:00 a.m. - UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT - Netflix

Monday, March 9

9:00 p.m. - Bates Motel - A&E

10:00 p.m. - The Returned - A&E

Tuesday, March 17

? -Community -Yahoo

9:00 p.m. - Undateable - NBC

9:00 p.m. - IZOMBIE - the CW

9:30 p.m. - ONE BIG HAPPY - NBC

Wednesday, March 18

9:00 p.m. - Supernatural - the CW

Friday, March 20

12:00 a.m. - BLOODLINE - Netflix

Monday, March 23

12:35 a.m. - The Late Late Show with James Corden - CBS

Friday, March 27

12:01 a.m. - Inspector Gadget - Netflix

Tuesday, March 31

9:30 p.m. - WEIRD LONERS - FOX

Saturday, April 4

9:00 p.m. - Outlander (second half of Season 1) - Starz

Sunday, April 5

9:00 p.m. - A.D. - NBC

10:00 p.m. - ODYSSEY - NBC

Thursday, April 9

10:00 p.m. - THE COMEDIANS - FX

10:30 p.m. - Louie - FX

Friday, April 10

12:00 a.m. - DAREDEVIL - Netflix

8:00 p.m. - CEDRIC'S BARBER BATTLE - the CW

8:30 p.m. - Whose Line Is It Anyway? - the CW

9:00 p.m. - The MESSENGERS - the CW

Sunday, April 12

9:00 p.m. - Game Of Thrones - HBO

10:00 p.m. - Silicon Valley - HBO

10:30 p.m. - Veep - HBO

Monday, April 13

9:00 p.m. - Turn: Washington's Spies - AMC (will move to 10 p.m. the following week)

Saturday, April 18

9:00 p.m. - Orphan Black - BBC America

Wednesday, April 29

8:00 p.m. - The Casual Vacancy - HBO

Summer Premieres

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY AT CAMP

Orange Is The New Black

Hannibal

WAYWARD PINES

Beauty and the Beast

MR. ROBINSON

THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB

The Last Ship

The Leftovers

Under the Dome

Extant

Defiance

Continuum

Power

America’s Got Talent

Married

You’re The Worst

View the Summer TV Schedule here!

When it comes to kicking ass on TV, the women were out in full force in 2015. Ranging from ladies adapted from page to screen to ladies that we wish were on page so we’d have something to pass the time over hiatus, this past year was a good time to see heroines in action. Of course, there are more ways to be a prominent character than to awesomely pummel bad guys, but watching women more than holding their own against zombies and aliens was super satisfying all around. Who says that the girls can’t keep up with the boys?

Check out our list of 10 particularly kick-ass ladies of 2015.

Peggy Carter, Agent Carter

Peggy Carter may have been introduced to audiences as Captain America’s love interest in Captain America: The First Avenger, but she came into her own as the lead in her own ABC series in early 2015. As a government agent in the 1940s, Peggy was a lone woman among an office full of men who thought her only good for fetching coffee and answering phones. Peggy turned their expectations around and spent most of the first season kicking ass and taking names to clear Howard Stark’s name while the other agents followed false lead after false lead. She may not have gotten the credit that she deserved at the end, but she did get a second season to do it all again in 2016.

Anne Bonny, Black Sails

Some characters may get kick-ass cred just for being pirates, but Anne Bonny of Starz’ Black Sails more than earns the title on her own. A female pirate operating out of the Bahamas in the 1700s, she carries a pair of swords and wears a permanent glare. She’s willing to cut down just about any enemy who stands in her way. In fact, her introduction on Black Sails in Season 1 saw her killing a man in a tavern. While it’s difficult to call her a hero, she’s a pirate through and through, and what’s more incredible than a female pirate?

Jane Doe, Blindspot

One of the newest hardass female characters on television is Jane Doe of NBC’s Blindspot. After waking up naked in Times Square with no memory of who she is or how she got there, the tattoos covering her body lead her to the FBI. Latent abilities began to surface as her past as a special ops agent comes to light, and the question of whether or not she was a bad guy in the past lingers over her search for identity. Not only is Jane great in her action sequences, but actress Jaimie Alexander is the coolest just for dealing with all of the false tattoos applied all over her body for the series.

Brienne Of Tarth, Game Of Thrones

Brienne of Tarth may be a lady by birth, but she’s more of a knight than most of the men called “ser” on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Complete with sword, armor, and squire, Brienne spent 2015 traversing through Westeros and fulfilling vows as best she could. Determined to protect the daughter of Catelyn Stark despite Sansa’s protests, Brienne followed Sansa to Winterfell. In a stroke of luck, she happened upon Stannis Baratheon and was able to finally avenge the death of her beloved Renly by cutting down the brother who had him killed (presumably). Let it not be said that Brienne could ever be called “oathbreaker,” and watching her slice and dice her way to Winterfell was fantastic.

Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones was the first female Marvel super-powered hero to headline her own successful series in recent years, and it was just about impossible not to binge-watch the series quickly on Netflix. Although Daredevil paved the way for Marvel on the streaming service, Jessica Jones more than stands on its own thanks to the awesomeness that was Jessica Jones herself in her first season. Traumatized by her experiences with nemesis Kilgrave, Jessica nevertheless fought against her own PTSD as well as Kilgrave’s powers of mind control to epically take him down. Although there’s no official word on a second season, we'll still be able to see Jessica kick some ass on The Defenders and beyond.

Alex Parrish, Quantico

Alex Parrish is another kick-ass female character new to TV in 2015. As the lead character on ABC’s Quantico, she is a top recruit at the FBI Academy falsely suspected of committing a terrorist attack. Between her skills as a problem solver and her proficiency with weapons, she’s a formidable force who is trying to uncover who has framed her and figure out how she can clear her name. Between the flashbacks and present action, Alex is one of the most compelling characters on television, as well as one of the most skilled agents, thanks to that FBI training.

Carol Peletier, The Walking Dead

The past 12 months has been a solid time for the ladies on The Walking Dead to show off just how badass they can be. While Rick was busy creepily flirting with a housewife and Daryl was busy moping, Carol adapted to life in Alexandria so perfectly that it’s somewhat surprising that she has not yet declared herself queen and been accepted. Trading in her bloody travel duds for sweater sets and cookie recipes, Carol played the role of a harmless domestic while gathering intel on how best to stage a coup d’etat in Alexandria. As terrifyingly ruthless while clean and chirpy in Alexandria as she was with a machine gun at Terminus, Carol was essential to Rick and Co. effectively taking over the settlement.

Kara Danvers, Supergirl

Kara Danvers on CBS’ Supergirl gave DC its first female protagonist on television in recent years, and she’s been a fantastic leading lady. Her action sequences are unlike any others on television as she uses everything from flight to superspeed to freeze breath to take down aliens who crash-landed on Earth and are now threatening humankind. Despite frequent mentions of her off-screen cousin Superman, Supergirl has been able to stand on her own as she grows from girl who happens to be an alien with powers to superhero in her own right.

Lagertha, Vikings

Lagertha of History’s Vikings is about as remarkable as they come. Rising from her position at the start of the series as what amounted to the Viking version of a housewife, the shieldmaiden elevated herself through the ranks of powerful characters. Not content to sit idly by while her husband took a second wife, she divorced the lead character, married an earl, killed the earl, and took his rank for herself. Although her earldom was usurped, there can be no doubt that Lagertha will have her vengeance before too long. Besides, any woman who can twist her hair into those braids is automatically kick-ass.

Michonne, The Walking Dead

Carol wasn’t the only woman taking names on The Walking Dead in Alexandria. Michonne insisted that they stay in a place with a certain degree of safety and then blossoming when named a constable was great to see. Arguably the most stable of the group to join the settlement, Michonne adapted to life without losing her edge… or her skills with a katana. There are few things as satisfying on The Walking Dead as watching Michonne slice and dice her way through a horde of zombies, and Season 6 has given her plenty of zombie action to make up for the episodes of Season 5 that saw her sword up on the wall.

This poll is no longer available.

Every year, the Golden Globes puts together a list of some of the biggest and best names in Hollywood who have completed TV or movie projects in the past year. Usually some nods are surprising in a good way, and some give us the opposite feeling in the pit of our stomachs. In a year that saw Lady Gaga actually earn a Golden Globes nod, there were a ton of shows, actors and actresses who were totally snubbed. You can check out our picks, below. And if you haven’t seen the full list of TV nominations, head here. (We also have movie nominations available).

Wacky Comedy Nods

Alright, I get there is star power in hour-longs like Jane the Virgin and—especially--Scream Queens, and I get that Veep and Silicon Valley are favorites in the Best Series (comedy) category, but a lot of awesome half-hour comedies are getting little love. Among these are cable’s Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Blunt Talk (although that Patrick Stewart nod is nice), You’re The Worst, Netflix streaming’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and network TV’s The Grinder. And while we’re talking about constant snubs in comedy, can someone please tell me how The Goldbergs’ Wendi McLendon-Covey has never earned a nod for her portrayal of matriarch Beverly Goldberg on the ABC comedy? She’ so underrated.

No Love For Black Sails

After getting off to a rocky start, Black Sails had a phenomenal second season. Toby Stephens, in particular, deserves a nod for his part in Season 2, as his backstory was finally fleshed out in flashbacks. The writers capably created a plot that intertwined past and present, but kept all of the action and political finagling inherent to the drama series. Louise Barnes also deserves a mention, especially for her work in “XVII.” Pirate dramas have a rough go of it and Black Sails lacks the flashiness and trendiness of some of the shows that did earn nods, but it’s a compelling show, nonetheless, and its budget allows for one of the best-looking sets on TV. Maybe Blackbeard will help next season, but I’m not holding my breath.

Animation Shut Out Once Again

Alright, last week’s episode of The Simpsons was nothing special, but Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers and Archer all had a slew of fan-fucking-tastic episodes this year. I get that Scream Queens was amusing—although clearly not all that popular— and that J the V takes the telenovela format and cheekily winks at it, but let’s give animation a little love in the comedy nominations, even if it is already a crowded category.

The Lannisters Are Losing Their Edge

Peter Dinklage typically gets a nod at these sorts of ceremonies, and it wasn’t like Game of Thrones was edged out completely, as it earned a best drama nod. However, if this was a year for anyone, it was a year for Lena Headey. Headey had some of her toughest material yet as Cersei Lannister, sparring opposite Margaery on Game of Thrones in Season 5 and taking on the High Sparrow to boot. This led to an onscreen penance and a now-famous nude scene toward the end of Season 5 that cost a ton to shoot. Perhaps Headey would have been on here if she hadn't hired a body double for the stint.

Walton Goggins’ Final Justified Bow

While Raylan Givens was always getting out of tight situations in Elmore Leonard’s stories, Justified took Leonard’s main character and changed the story to fit a narrative of brotherhood and betrayal in the back woods of Kentucky. As much as we all enjoyed Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy and guest stints from Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen and Garret Dillahunt in Season 6, I think most of us can agree that Justified’s swan song was not its finest season. What it did feature was perfection from Walton Goggins, who over the course of six seasons took a bit character named Boyd Crowder and turned him into one of the most fascinating antagonists on TV. The villain rarely earns a nod, but this time around the committee got the supporting actor field really wrong. (As much as we love The Good Wife's Eli, there's totally room to breathe some new life into that field).

Starz has been a pioneer in early renewals, and fans of the subscription network’s drama Black Sails got an extremely early renewal this week. On Friday, Starz announced that Black Sails will definitely return for a fourth season months and months ahead of the show’s Season 3 release. So, there are a lot of Black Sails episodes coming.

The news isn’t a huge surprise by any means. Like Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey and other shows with big budgets and lengthy shooting tenures, Black Sails typically begins shooting before the previous season even airs on the subscription cable network. Thus, it makes sense for the network to announce renewals well in advance so that the creative team can begin to think ahead for the following season. The one downside is that it can be hard for fans to track exactly how many seasons there are and what season the show is heading into. Thank goodness the internet is around to provide that info quickly and painlessly.

The renewal also makes sense considering a slew of Starz subscribers do tune in to watch the series. The first two seasons have averaged 4.5 million viewers an episode. Those numbers are across multiple platforms rather than same-day ratings, but since subscription cable doesn’t rely on Nielson numbers like other channels do, those numbers just mean that a sizable number of people are watching Black Sails.

Season 2 ended with a few big reveals and several plots that still need to be played out, but it will be a while before Season 3 hits the schedule. New episodes of Black Sails are not expected to be unveiled until 2016. Luckily, we do know a little bit about the upcoming episodes, including the fact that Rome’s Ray Stevenson has signed on, and he’ll be playing the iconic character Blackbeard on the show.

If you’d like to see what Black Sails is about, Starz has certain free episodes available on the subscription streaming channel’s site. If you already are caught up on the series, the network has also put out a first look at Season 3 of Black Sails, which you can check out, below.

In the meantime, if you’d like to see what Starz and other channels have coming up this fall, head here.

Starz has slowly and quietly been building an enviable programming lineup. While early efforts at original shows like Spartacus have already ended their runs, the subscription cable service has found new period dramas and entertaining modern shows upon which to thrive. Today, the network announced its first quarter 2015 earnings, which revealed that a whopping 23.7 million people now subscribe to Starz.

The subscription cable network is steadily growing, and while it doesn't have the numbers or the prestige of HBO, it's thundering forward. It recently passed Showtime in total subscribers, and while it still trails sister network Encore, a lot of that has to do with pricing and how the channels are packaged. In fact, according to The Wrap, the premium network just added another 400,000 subscribers. It’s no surprise considering the beefing up of original programming the network has been doing recently.

Right now, the network’s Season 1 drama Outlander has caught both the critical world and the fans at home by storm. In addition, both Power and Black Sails have proven to be strong performers for the network; the latter just wrapped up its second season on the air, while the former is set to premiere its second season this June. And I’m not evening mentioning smaller but well-liked performers like Da Vinci’s Demons, The Missing and Survivor’s Remorse or the network’s larger supply of movies. That last part might actually be the key. While other premium channels have invested more and more money in original programming, Starz has taken a middle of the road approach. It has more than its share of originals mentioned above, but it also has a very strong lineup of newer movies that keep a certain percentage of the subscribers very happy.

It’s hard to compete with the juggernaut 18 million viewers that tune in for Game of Thrones, but by continuing to grow, Starz has managed to stay ahead of Showtime in total subscribers—a feat that Starz achieved just a few months ago, at the end of 2014. Part of this may have to do with the fact that Showtime’s originals are on the downward slide while Starz’s original programming is trending upward. Showtime hasn’t done a lot to replace hits such as Dexter or Weeds. Right now, the company’s most popular and prestigious series is likely Homeland. Even its long-running series Nurse Jackie is ending. This isn’t to say Showtime is in the middle of a crisis or anything, but Starz is just more on top of its game right now.

This trend could change when Showtime adds its next buzzed about show, but for the time being, Starz has every reason to celebrate. Here's to hoping the network uses the extra money to continue adding to its diverse and wonderful programming lineup.

Black Sails is a story that mixes fact and fiction. Characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s popular adventure novel Treasure Island intermix with real historical pirates like Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham. Next season, Black Sails will be adding a notorious pirate from English history into the mix. Edward Teach, the pirate most commonly referred to as Blackbeard, will appear in the third season of Starz’s epic drama. You can check him out, below.

If you don’t recognize him right away, the actor playing Blackbeard is Ray Stevenson, who recently popped up in Insurgent playing faction leader and Four’s father, Marcus. He’s also recently taken roles in The Three Musketeers, the Thor movies and Dexter, although he’s most notable for starring in HBO’s drama Rome. Now he can add another subscription cable series to his resume. There's something about a Stevenson signing on to the drama that's pretty poetic.

In Season 3 of Black Sails he will head to Nassau, only to find the place very much changed since the last time he visited. It seems as if Blackbeard will have a pretty big role, as Starz’s official release note the character will “disrupt cemented alliances and challenge new one.” I’d say it’s a lost opportunity if Blackbeard doesn’t make a big mark on the pirate drama, but Black Sails enjoys the unexpected, as we saw when Ned Low entered the plot during the show’s second season.

Season 2 of Black Sails is currently airing on the channel. This weekend’s penultimate episode was a violent affair, filled with plenty of twists and turns. It’s difficult to see how the show will be able to tie up loose ends during this week’s finale, but Starz could totally leave a few plot threads dangling, should the subscription cable network wish to. That’s because the network already renewed Black Sails for a third season, well ahead of the Season 2 premiere (which is similar to how the show handled it’s Season 2 renewal). The series is already in production for its third season, although that season will not hit the schedule until 2016.

In the meantime, along with the new image, Starz has released a behind-the-scenes teaser for Black Sails, which also features a look at the infamous Blackbeard.

Brief spoilers in this paragraph because I can’t help myself. I can’t wait for Season 3 of Black Sails, but more importantly, I can’t wait to see where Black Sails is going now that Captain Flint has been hardened by Amanda Barlow’s death. To find out where the series is going before Blackbeard enters the picture, tune in to Starz on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Spoilers for this Saturday’s Black Sails episode “XVII” are abundant throughout the next several paragraphs. Don’t delve in if you haven’t caught the episode, yet.

The violence on Black Sails often ebbs and flows; thus is the nature of a series that is halfway about piracy and halfway about politics in a world that is still untamed. Despite seeing some pretty brutal moments throughout the second season of Starz’s period drama, nothing quite prepared us for this weekend’s penultimate episode, which saw Miranda Barlow (Louise Barnes) murdered during a meeting that she expected to be her salvation.

Throughout Season 2, Miranda was the person really pushing to make Nassau a center of trade. But once she and Flint achieved their goal of setting up a meeting with Peter Ashe and dropping off his kidnapped daughter, everything unraveled quickly, as Peter explained that Flint would need to reveal his piracy but also his homosexual relationship in order to return to England. While this was happening, Miranda recognized a clock that had once belonged in her home and saw Ashe as her betrayer. She swiftly turned on Peter, endangering the meeting and delivering an impassioned speech that led to her death. Here’s a snippet.

It was a rare moment for Miranda, a woman who does not usually get angry or make impassioned speeches. In the past, she has been able to win Flint over to her way of thinking with a few choice words, but just before her death, a lot of feelings spilled out. She’s been holding back anger that her husband and Flint were chasing a dream so many years ago that changed their lives forever. She has not cherished her harder, rougher life on Nassau in the time since, and no wonder. To know that she had placed her last hope in a man who actually betrayed her must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, spilling out feelings that had festered for a long while. Still, it was an inopportune moment, and during her outburst, one of Peter’s supporters pulled a gun on her and shot her swiftly in the head. It was both disturbing and heartbreaking.

It’s not that death is uncommon on Black Sails. In fact, earlier this season we saw Ned Low get killed off, when early on it seemed as if he would be the big baddie of the season. Another harrowing moment occurred during Season 2 when Anne Bonny murdered a pirate and a prostitute. In fact, many pirates actually saw their throat cuts earlier in the penultimate Season 2 episode. But Miranda has always seemed like a safe character, someone who lives on the outskirts of the pirate community who has never seemed in any immediate danger. As such, watching a bullet go through her brain was very affecting.

There’s a lot at stake leading into the Season 2 finale. You can catch Black Sails’ Season 2 finale next Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Starz.

The television landscape offers numerous platforms for new dramas and comedies to thrive. There’s the old gold standard, network television shows, but also original cable programs, streaming originals, subscription cable programs and online series. Unfortunately, Netflix and streaming services are often tight-lipped about what gets watched and what doesn’t get watched, but there are plenty of great shows that get renewed due to acclaim rather than the numbers.

Regardless, across the various other platforms, there are underdogs with big budgets and underdogs with little budgets. There are little comedies that should have much larger audiences and tentpole dramas that haven’t managed to land a huge presence, yet, but are still responsible for bold speeches and raunchy comedy, not to mention investing audiences in relationships. They are the shows that keep us thinking late into the night and make us wish we had someone to chat with about them around the watercooler the next morning. Here’s to the 7 great shows not nearly enough people are watching. You can check out our picks, below.

Hannibal, NBC

NBC’s Hannibal is currently gearing up for its third season premiere. While the drama is probably one of the most-watched on this list, it has potentially been up for cancellation every season, thanks to airing on network television rather than on cable. This time around, NBC will air the series as part of its summer lineup, and we hope that will prove to be a good spot for the thrilling drama. Give Hannibal a watch; it may give you nightmares, but in this case, that’s a good thing.

Black Sails, STARZ

A lot of viewers watch subscription cable dramas On Demand so first day numbers are less important, but for whatever reasons Black Sails has been enchanting less viewers than Starz's new series Outlander and its popular former series Spartacus. While Black Sails can be a bit political and had a slow start in Season 1, now in its second season, the series is blossoming into a narrative about the history and future of the pirate colony in Nassau while still featuring plenty of hand-to-hand combat. While the drama has already earned a Season 3 renewal, I can only imagine there are more adventure-loving viewers that should really get into this TV series. Maybe they just need a Starz subscription…

Broad City, Comedy Central

Broad City follows Ilana and Abbi, two young adults living and working in New York City. These eccentric—read: weird—funnygirls bring out plenty of laughs from some basic life experiences, including dealing with job frustrations and your roommate's boyfriend constantly living in your house. Throw in Hannibal Buress as a dentist with a funny pasta blog and Broad City has found the recipe for success—at least in quality. Seriously, how are less than a million people tuning in for these weed-infused shenanigans each week?

The Americans, FX

A perennial favorite on lists of under-watched programs, The Americans earns more references of acclaim than most of the other shows on this list. It routinely makes critics Top 10 lists and has a loyal cult following. The key word there, however, is cult. Shows on FX have proven they can nab huge audiences, but unfortunately, The Americans didn’t start high and has only seen its ratings drop in its third season. It’s a shame, as the show gives us a reason to watch for the family dynamics, as well as the spy action. There’s a lot to like, and we’re a little sad it hasn’t found a larger audience.

Looking, HBO

HBO is oft-discussed as the gold standard for television. The subscription cable channel gets to produce shows that are both acclaimed and nab major eyeballs. At least, most of the time. Unfortunately for Looking, critics seems to like the show, but no one is watching it live. I mean, really, no one. The last Season 2 episode was one of the highest-rated of the season, and 303,000 people tuned in. Looking is special thanks to its subject matter and its characters, and it’s a shame there aren’t more people championing a show that’s emotionally real and often puts its characters into funny circumstances.

Halt and Catch Fire, AMC

Halt and Catch Fire is one of the rare cable dramas with lower ratings that still managed to nab a second season on the network. It’s a tough series to sell, following the rise of a computer start-up in Texas and the various problems the team encounters as they attempt to do the impossible: create a brand new computer brand. Regardless, Halt and Catch Fire had one of the most compelling pilots we’ve ever seen, not to mention an intense first season featuring incredible performances from Lee Pace (Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy) and Scoot McNairy (Argo). Maybe this time around, more people will be willing to plug in to the series. If not, it’ll stay on our under-watched programs list.

Bates Motel, A&E

It’s hard to be terrible with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as your source material, and while Bates Motel is a prequel to the famous movie, it still has a lot of over-the-top creepiness going for it. Like Hannibal, Bates Motel does higher numbers than a lot of the shows on this list, but when you consider the source material, it’s hard to see why more people aren’t interested in the Carlton Cuse-created horror series, especially now that young Norman Bates is going a bit further off of the edge. While horror is beginning to grow more popular on television right now, we can tell you for certain that this show is one that should leave you on the edge of your motel bed.

This poll is no longer available.

Photo Credit@HBO, A&E, AMC, STARZ, NBC, FX, and Comedy Central

While there was swashbuckling and undercutting speeches from the get-go, Black Sails spent a good chunk of its first season setting up for the future of the series, a future, which as it turns out, packs a lot more punch than its first 8 episodes. I was worried Season 2 might get off to a slow start, but director Steve Boyum’s premiere is quick out of the gate, thrusting straight into gory action and pirate plotting, as well as introducing a brand new villain. This isn’t the series we left behind last spring.

It is the same old Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), however, getting into trouble and figuring out what move to make next. The premiere picks up where we left off, with the Walrus in pretty bad shape and the crew stranded. Flint’s in need of a plan and some inspiration, and the slippery John Silver (Luke Arnold) might be his biggest asset. Then again, he also might be Flint’s biggest problem. Back in Naussau, Eleanor Guthrie is also dealing with a royal headache, but her problem comes in the form of brand new character Ned Low, played by Tadgh Murphy. We’ve seen a glimpse of the character in Starz’s early previews for the series, but he’s much more intimidating in the first two episodes, easily proving that Black Sails was missing such a virulent villain before his appearance.

As the writing staff has toyed with what friendships and relationships work and what don’t over the course of numerous episodes, they’ve found something delightful in fan favorite Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy) and Rackham (Toby Schmitz), who have plenty of opportunities to verbally spar with one another in the two episodes Starz made available prior to Saturday’s premiere. It took some time for Max and Rackham to gain so much screen time and so much authority on the show, but in this case the long game has paid off, and the brothel scenes are amongst the most engaging.

The show has always looked beautiful, of course. Set in and off of the port of Nassau in the Bahamas and filmed in Cape Town, South Africa (those tricky buggers!) the details are dense in the show. Period dramas have gotten better with costumes and details more recently, so Black Sails doesn’t stand out immediately among the pack; the details are not cartoon-y either (unlike a similar Disney franchise we will decline to mention). It is the fine points that transport viewers to a different time and place. They offer us an escape. They add to the value of a series. While there are other period dramas on numerous networks, there are none that look quite like Black Sails.

Fans are used to shows on Starz delving into the action immediately. Spartacus’ first season was more action-packed and gory than most shows are able to be during their runs. More recently, Outlander jumped into the time travel action nearly immediately. In the case of Black Sails, despite the big cannons, the swordplay and the giant Michael Bay notation attached to every poster and every preview early on, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine sought to build a complex world connecting historical names like Anne Bonny and fictional names like Billy Bones, all while creating a story of their own. Now the fruits of that labor have paid off. In Season 2, the foundations have already been built, and Black Sails is free to open its sails and traverse wherever it pleases. The drama is bolder and sharper than ever, and it’s become the crowd pleaser it has always meant to be.

Rating:

Black Sails is returning for a 10-episode second season. Additionally, Starz has already signed on for a third season of the drama, which is expected to hit the schedule in 2016. You can catch new episodes of the drama beginning on Saturday, January 24 at 9 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit @ Starz

January isn’t typically the biggest month for Blu-ray, DVD and streaming releases, but thanks to the glories of awards season and midseason premieres on television, there’s quite a bit of good stuff popping up over the next several weeks, ranging from Nightcrawler to the latest season of HBO’s Girls. If you want to know when your favorite movies are headed onto Blu-ray and DVD, as well as streaming services, this list is one to peruse. Check back each week for new reviews!

January 6

No Good Deed Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s latest thriller may use a lot of basic tricks to set the mood in No Good Deed, but nothing can compete with Idris Elba’s onscreen presence and Taraji P. Henson’s ability to look wide-eyed and kick ass at the same time. The movie is about a stranger, Colin (Elba) who invades a woman named Terry’s (Henson) home on a rainy night. While elements of the script could have been a little compelling, the movie looks great on Blu-ray, despite a nighttime setting and plenty of dark scenes. It’s a little light on the bonus features with three featurettes "Making A Thriller", "The Thrill Of A Good Fight," and "Good Samaritan," but you can purchase the set here.

Boyhood Blu-ray

Richard Linklater’s latest movie, Boyhood, has been praised for its core concept—following a young boy who grows into a young man over a period of more than a decade, a monumental achievement considering Linklater and leads Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette had no idea if the kid actors would pan out as they started to deal with much tougher material. But Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater crush it, giving us a movie that reminds viewers of and sometimes adequately reflects our childhoods. Boyhood had a small release and didn’t make it into a ton of theaters. That being said, IFC has put out a nice Blu-ray set that takes a fascinating look behind-the-scenes of the making of the movie. These aren’t always the best segments, but with a movie that took 12 years to make, you’ll learn how Linklater originally outlined the movie and how it changed as his cast changed and grew older. It’s pretty great. You can grab the set for a great sale price here.

Girls: The Complete Third Season DVD

The packaging for HBO Home Entertainment’s comedies has routinely never been as spectacular as their dramas, likely because the comedies are a less lucrative enterprise. Plus, since there are no CGi’d dragons, it doesn’t matter whether or not you watch the set in glorious HD picture. The DVD set for Girls: The Complete Third Season features Hannah (Lena Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) as they go on a brand new set of misadventures that end up landing them back at square one by the end of the season. Which should set things up pretty nicely during Season 4, which hits the TV schedule this weekend. You can catch up with Girls via HBO Go or order the set over at Amazon.

Other January 6 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Archer (Vice): The Complete Fifth Season

Black Sails: The Complete First Season

Horns

Looking: The Complete First Season

Left Behind

Get On Up

Dinosaur 13

January 6 Early Digital Releases

Lucy

No Good Deed

Laggies

The Newsroom, Season 3

The Scorpion King 4

Love Is Strange

January 13

Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fifth Season DVD

HBO graciously gave Boardwalk Empire a shortened fifth season during which the show was able to wrap up its storyline. In order to do that Terence Winter and the gang shot ahead to 1931. While the time hopping is chunky and the episode count is shorter (8 total) than fans would like, Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fifth Season capably wraps up HBO’s Chicago, New York and Atlantic City-based drama in a manner that finishes up the stories of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), Eli Thompson(Shea Whigham), Al Capone (Stephen Graham), Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) and the other colorful personalities on the show. With so many endings and some new beginnings, the show doesn’t hold back on either the violence or strategy that captivated audiences through the episodes that came before. HBO Home Entertainment’s set is slimmer than most HBO sets, and the big extra is "Scouting the Boardwalk," which looked at how the behind-the-scenes team made the 20th Century come to life on the small screen. HBO also tossed in a freebie: the first two episodes of the acclaimed Steven Soderbergh series The Knick.

Men, Women & Children Blu-ray

Director Jason Reitman’s latest film Men, Women and Children takes a look at technology and consumption and the myriad of ways that our relationships are affected by modern-day communications. The story follows an ensemble cast and hops perspectives frequently, with certain characters’ stories overlapping. Most compelling among these is Judy Greer’s Donna Clint, a mother who developed a risqué website to post her daughter, Hannah’s (Olivia Crocicchia), photos. Don and Helen Truby (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt) are busy learning to use the internet as a tool to meet other people, missing out on the fact that their son Chris (Travis Tope) has a porn issue. The stories themselves are well-layered and intriguing, but they are set to a narrator (Emma Thompson) who is obsessed with discussing things on a grand scale. For a movie that tries to be grandiose, Paramount Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray set scales down to just a few extras, including deleted scenes and two featurettes, "Virtual Intimacy" and "Seamless Interface." Men, Women & Children is worth a watch for its underlying statements about relationships, but it may be one to rent.

Gone Girl Blu-ray

Gone Girl is a slow, crazy burn. It’s a character study involving ridiculous people, and a carefully put together thriller that keeps audiences guessing. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a book adaptation in all the best ways. It takes the general outline and sticks to it, but it changes portions of the material that are clearly problems. It’s a master work by director David Fincher, and while it didn’t net as many Oscar nominations as some would have hoped, it did snag a nomination for lead actress Rosamund Pike who crushes it as Amy, the title character and protagonist of the fictional series of children’s books Amazing Amy. The Gone Girl set comes with a sample book from the series, as well as an army of special features. In all, it's the type of set you would expect from a movie that's so diligent, detail oriented and complicated.

January 13 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

The Twilight Saga: Extended Editions Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse Blu-ray

Jessabelle

The Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power

The Identical

The Two Faces Of January

Revenge of the Green Dragons

Love Is Strange

Rudderless DVD

Duck Dynasty: Before the Dynasty DVD

Middle of Nowhere DVD

Wetlands

January 13 Early Digital Releases

Ouija

Jessabelle

Bird People

January 20

Lucy Blu-ray

Lucy’s a fast-paced action movie with less-than-modest intentions. Director Luc Besson loosely ties in solid action with the idea that the brain can’t achieve more than 10% capacity. When a new drug enters Lucy’s (Scarlett Johansson) system, the young woman begins experiencing enhanced powers, including telekinesis and mind-reading. She may not have much time, but Besson’s sensory movie is sometimes nonsensical, but is more often fun and involving and is worth a first watch or a re-watch, depending on whether you caught the film during its initial release. Fans of Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s film should find a smartly packaged Blu-ray set.

Annabelle Blu-ray

Annabelle is the prequel to the hit horror flick The Conjuring. As such, there were high expectations going into the release of the Warner Bros. Film. Luckily, it has perhaps the world’s creepiest horror prop going into the movie it its title character, Annabelle, a possessed doll who causes trouble for young mother Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and bookstore owner Evelyn (Alfre Woodard) who unite causes to take down the evil in the doll. There’s nothing new about the setup or premise in the movie, but it certainly has its moments, and the doll itself should frighten sufficiently. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s set is a perfect companion to The Conjuring, although the extras on the set are nothing to write home about. Eight deleted scenes comprise a big chunk of the bonus features, and a few short featurettes are also included. It’s currently running as a bestseller on Amazon and you can nab the flick for a sale price.

The Boxtrolls Blu-ray

Laika has been putting together reasonably scary kids flicks like ParaNorman for the past several years. In 2014, the animation company embraced the weirdness even further with The Box Trolls, a family-friendly flick about an orphan named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) who meets a snob named Winnie (Elle Fanning) and collectively use their oddball skill sets to save a group trolls named the Boxtrolls from the villainous Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), who wants to exterminate them. The likable thing about the stop-motion animation that Laika produces is that there is a lot going on in both the forefront and background in every scene, which gives kids and parents a lot to look at. Additionally, there are off-color jokes for the adults and plenty of fun gags for the kids, throughout. (If your child doesn’t shout "jelly" in the car a few times on the way home, I’d be surprised.) Peppered with lovely featurettes that are more for the interested adults than the kiddos and feature commentary from Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacci, The Boxtrolls is a welcome addition to the Laika cannon, although I don’t know if I’ll dust this Universal Studios Home Entertainment set off and pop it in as often as I will ParaNorman.

Check out a sampling of the bonus features with this exclusive clip.

Other January 20 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Little House On The Prairie: Season 4 Blu-ray

The Zero Theorem Life’s A Breeze The Pirates

A Bet’s A Bet DVD

January 20 Early Digital Releases

Dear White People

Dracula Untold

The Best Of Me

January 27

Fury Blu-ray

There have been plenty of World War II movies, but David Ayer’s Fury is the first one that really puts us into the belly of the tank. It’s a movie that reminds me a bit of Norman Mailer’s classic novel The Naked and The Dead in that it is gutsy and filled with deeply detailed personalities that have been affected and change during the course of the war. Brad Pitt rocks a scar as Don "Wardaddy Collier," a soldier with a kind streak who bonds with newbie Norman "Machine" Ellison. The two are part of a tank crew that also includes Gordo (Michael Pena), Bible (Shia LeBouf), and Coon-Ass (Jon Bernthal). The movie is engaging but I wouldn’t call it entertaining, rather, Fury is an unsentimental, swaggering movie that doesn’t relent until the very end, after it’s given us every ounce of courage from the soldiers that populate the pages of its script. It’s an interesting movie, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray set is also worth a perusal, with a ton of deleted scenes (the press release says 50 minutes and it felt like an hour’s worth of extra content that adds to the story) and a "Directors Combat Journal" featurette, which looks at Director David Ayers experience with the complications of shooting tank warfare and more. You get a lot with the R-rated set, and you can get it for a reasonable price right now.

The Judge Blu-ray

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s release is a big one this week, thanks to Robert Duvall earning nods at this year’s awards ceremonies. David Dobkin’s thoughtful movie The Judge gets a lot of things right about living off a one-lane highway in Indiana. Characters get stuck behind the occasional tractor and stick close to home, thanks to enjoying the comfort of a close-knit community. The movie itself follows the troubled Hank Palmer, a high-end defense attorney with plenty of personal troubles, who heads home for the first time in years after his mother unexpectedly dies. While at home, he’s forced to confront the problems he has with the rest of his family, including brothers Glen and Dale (Vincent D’ and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Duvall). A murder case takes a backseat to the family dynamics, but overall The Judge is a pleasant movie to plow through. The Judge Blu-ray set has plenty of extras, but none are standouts. Check out the deleted scenes and the "Inside The Judge" feature.

Other January 27 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

PBS Masterpiece: Downton Abbey: Season 5

Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis

Open Windows

Mas Negro Que La Noche DVD

Big Driver DVD

January 27 Early Digital Releases

Nightcrawler

Kill The Messenger

The Remaining

Low Down

This poll is no longer available.

Black Sails has been a high profile project for Starz ever since it was initially announced. The period drama is preparing to set sail for Season 2, and this weekend the subscription cable network dropped some bombshell news, as well as the first trailer for Season 2. It’s pretty epic as far as trailers go, and you can check it out, below.

When last we left Captain Flint and the gang, they ended up just short of reaching their goal of plundering the Urca de Lima. Instead, they got into the fight, which will leave them stranded at the beginning of Season 2. We don’t get to see the semantics of the setup, but we do get to see Flint and John Silver scheming together. Far away, Eleanor is attempting to hold on to her livelihood, noting that she is in an enviable position and that many people in England would be interested in taking it from her. The clips coordinate with the plot description Starz released earlier this month.

We also get a first glimpse of Ned Low, who will be played by Tadgh Murphy. Not only does he seem vicious, he also seems to be in cahoots with Charles Vane, which could be a problem. Right now I’m more concerned with the man’s messed up eye.

The brand new trailer is great, but Starz has more news for fans. On Friday, the network announced that it has renewed Black Sails for a third season. It’s not shocking that Starz would want a third season of the drama, but the timing is definitely surprising. Two summers ago, Black Sails signed on for Season 2 before Season 1 even premiered. Now, the show is signing on for Season 3 before Season 2 actually premieres. It’s a move that is good for the creative team, as they can plot out cliffhangers at their leisure.

Starz didn’t release much information related to the Season 3 renewal. We do know that the show’s episode order has been upped in Season 2 from eight episodes to 10, so hopefully that will be the Season 3 trajectory, as well. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about Season 3 down the road, but for now we can focus on Season 2. As Flint notes in the trailer, “judgment” is coming, and it’s hitting the schedule on January 24, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET.

Starz is finally preparing to launch the second season of its hit Treasure Island prequel, Black Sails. On Monday, the subscription cable network released a brand new poster for the new season, which is halfway a horrible reminder of the dread pirates face on the high seas and halfway something that looks as if it was pulled from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a comparison Starz was probably hoping would not get made. Check it out, below.

As we’ve guessed for some time, Black Sails will be returning to the schedule at midseason. The poster notes a January 24, 2015 return date, which means Starz will air the series on Saturdays again during Season 2. The Michael Bay-produced drama did quite well for Starz, with the subscription cabler noting the show averaged 5.3 million total viewers an episode. Even without good numbers, Black Sails would still be hitting the schedule in 2015, as Starz actually went ahead and renewed the drama before Season 1 even premiered.

At the end of Season 1, Captain Flint and his crew were near achieving their goal of plundering the Urca de Lima for its riches. Instead, they ended up getting into a fight with some random boat crew without actually achieving their goal, although by the very end of the finale, they were closer than ever before. According to Starz, the series won’t do any time hopping heading into Season 2. Instead, the show will pick up right where it left off. Here’s the official Season 2 description for Flint and his crew.

Part of the charm of Black Sails is that it is partly set in the pirate port of Nassau, and follows a strong female lead as she holds down the fort and runs the day to day business on the island. Here’s what Eleanor Guthrie and her companions will be up to during Season 2.

I’m sure it will be a little while before Starz releases the actual trailer for Season 2, but for now that poster, the plot description and the earlier released teaser are plenty to mull over. Don’t forget to tune in when Black Sails returns to Starz on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 9 p.m. EST.

A little more than a week ahead of the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards are handed out, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards have taken place, offering justified praise to outstanding work (mainly) behind the scenes. The Creative Emmys also include some categories that aren't featured during Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast, including Outstanding Animated Series, Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress and Outstanding Host for a Reality Show.

Casting awards went to Orange is the New Black, True Detective and Fargo, while the prison-set dramedy also won for Outstanding Guest Actress (to Uzo Aduba, who plays Crazy Eyes). Orange is the New Black can also boast that it managed to get the phrase "Tit Punch" onto the Emmy ballot, and the Season 1 episode won for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy.

Among the other guest star winners were Joe Morton for Scandal, Allison Janney for Masters of Sex and Jimmy Fallon for Saturday Night Live.

Why Best Animated Program isn't included during the Primetime Emmy Award celebration, I don't know. I wish it was. That complaint aside, big congratulations to Bob's Burgers for winning its first Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. It was nominated twice before this year, and this is the first year it won.

Other highlights among the Creative Emmy winners include Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis winning Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program for the interview with President Barack Obama. And Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey winning for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.

You can view the full list of Creative Emmy winners below, courtesy of Emmys.com.

The Primetime Emmy Awards will air a week from today (Monday, August 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC). View the full list of nominees here.

"Men of these waters, they don't fear ships. They don't fear guns. They don't fear swords."

"Then what do they fear?"

Good question! We still have a while to wait for Black Sails to return, but Starz promoted the adventurous pirate series this weekend when they debuted Outlander. The teaser for Black Sails Season 2 reminds us that Black is Back in 2015. And we're teased with a bit of action, adventure, ships, swords and some sexy!

In addition to Captain James Flint (Toby Stephens) telling John Silver (Luke Arnold) that the men of the seas don't fear a whole lot, if anything, we we're also given a look at what's head for the pirate drama. That includes a smiling Charles Vane...

Some canon fire...

Kissies!

And punches!

Created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine, Black Sails is set up as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island and centers on Captain Flint and the relationship he develops with a young John Silver. Hannah New plays Eleanor Guthrie, Tom Hopper plays William "Bones" Manderly. And Zach McGowan plays Captain Charles Vane.

Starz was quick to give the series the green light for Season 2, renewing it long before the first season even debuted. Given that the first season debuted in January, we might expect Season 2 to comeback around the same time next year. In the meantime, those looking for a different kind of adventure -- one with fewer beaches anyway -- can check out Outlander on Starz on Saturday night.

Saturday is not typically a big night for television, but the subscription cable channel Starz has challenged this notion by airing its brand new production Black Sails on that very evening. It would be easy to see this as a dicey proposition, but the nice thing about subscription cable is that after a show’s initial airing, that program is readily available to the public, and in the case of Black Sails, a Saturday premiere date absolutely paid off, bringing in millions of viewers across multiple platforms over the weekend.

On Monday, the network announced that while only 850,000 viewers tuned in to watch the premiere of Black Sails during its initial airing, a whopping 3.5 million viewers tuned in over the weekend to feast their eyes on the new pirate-based drama. More importantly, 1.7 million total viewers caught the drama on Saturday night, making it Starz’s best premiere night ever, a fact that might make you nod appreciatively until you realize it’s biggest competition thus far has been The White Queen. Of the 3.5 million total eyeballs on the series premiere, 2.6 million total viewers watched the drama via a television platform. Another 900,000 viewers watched the premiere through other means.

That may not seem like a ton of eyeballs, but it’s a fine enough start for a program on a subscription cable station (don’t let those gargantuan Game of Thrones ratings fool you). While those numbers might not seem big enough to expect the series to return for a second season, Starz has already jumped the gun and commissioned a second season. It’s a move the network has made with other dramas, including Magic City, but I’m hoping this time around that Black Sails will have a more extended run on the network.

Starz is in dire need of a signature show right now, and Black Sails is a big, bold period drama assumedly put together to fill the niche left by Spartacus last spring. There’s not as much of a stylistic look to the new series, but hopefully that is just coming from less budget restraints. If there’s anything Black Sails has going for it that’s totally different than everything else on television, it is the incredible detail and depth to its pirate sets.

If you aren’t among the 3.5 million total viewers that caught Black Sails during its first week, you aren’t out of luck—even if you don’t subscribe to the subscription cable network. I know it often sucks to delve into a show that you can’t continue, but if you do want to give the drama a shot, you can catch the pilot episode for free over at Starz.com, and while you are there go ahead and check out that free episode of Party Down.

Black Sails isn’t the only drama headed to the network in 2014. Additionally, the subscription cable station has the time travel romance series Outlander in the works. In the meantime, you can catch new episodes of Black Sails on Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET.

Being a pirate is difficult, and not only because it’s a tough living against the grain of society. It’s a tough world to live in because it has been built on unstable footing, where each man and woman is out for his or herself, where allegiances are hard won, and where the tides of fortune can change rather quickly. Starz’s brand new drama, Black Sails quickly integrates its audience into this new world, and through some clever speeches and quick-witted character interactions, it’s an idea that should stick.

The pilot episode does a great job of showing the tenuousness of pirate life, introducing us to Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), the man who heads up a crew whose efforts used to be among the most fruitful in pirate free country, New Providence Island. Things haven’t been looking up for the crew for some time, and Flint’s team is running out of patience as they run out of cash. But amidst this plot there is plenty of gunfire and hand-to-hand combat, and even one frightened British military leader tied to a mast.

A show like Black Sails is testosterone-charged by nature, but there are a goodly amount of female characters for fans to root for. There’s the obligatory cross-dressing pirate based on real-life pirate Anne Bonny (Clara Paget), a fighter who hides her gender under a wide-brimmed hat and shows a preference for knives. There’s a slippery prostitute (Jessica Parker Kennedy) with a head for business and a penchant for kinky bedroom behavior. Rounding out the notable females is Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), the cheeky daughter of New Providence Island’s shadiest power broker. Each of the three women brings something different to the table and each provides a nice counterpoint to the unrefined and unwashed crew.

Throughout its development, the drama has been touted by Starz as a prequel of sorts to Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel Treasure Island, telling us how John Silver (Luke Arnold) met Captain Flint like twenty years before the big events in the novel. Silver hasn’t earned the “Long,” yet, and quite frankly, he’s more rascally than well-executed as a character throughout the first episode. He does manage to wreak a little havoc on Captain Flint’s plans, and hopefully moving forward he’ll grow past the one initial note. If not, developing a show around the classic novel will prove to be, at best, a marketing ploy.

The pilot for Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine’s boldfaced drama needs a lot of setup in order to delve into a story about treasure hunting and survival. In order to understand life on New Providence Island and the toughness of politics of pirate life, the writers give us a heavy dose of conversation in this first episode. It’s not uninteresting, but until the last few minutes, it’s also not as rough and tumble or goofy and comedic as fans of pirates might expect. Still, viewers should be in awe of the look of the show. Black Sails has all of the corsets, weapons and homes and taverns that a period drama should offer. It’s the ships that take the prize for the most impressive props, however. An early battle between two vessels features all of the creaks and groans of wood splitting wood, as well as plenty of explosions. The look is probably why Black Sails gained so much early traction, and it definitely delivers.

It’s far from perfect, but the setting is richly detailed and the characters make enough speeches, tell enough stories, and fight enough fights that Black Sails is a fine vehicle for Starz in lieu of Spartacus.

You’ll be seeing plenty more from the drama. Starz has already renewed Black Sails for a second season, and with a little luck, it will be the sort of show that grows a little each week. You’ll be able to find out soon enough. Black Sails premieres on the subscription cable network on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET. If you are thinking of giving the show a shot, you can check out the pilot for free right now.

Ahoy mate, today is Thursday, September 19. In case ye be forgetting, the day is also Talk Like A Pirate Day. I’ve never been particularly fond of pirate lingo, so I’ll go ahead and cut that stuff out right now, but if you are a fan of pirates and pirate talk, you should definitely make sure to catch the above teaser for Starz’s upcoming series Black Sails.

If there was any excuse for posting advertising for a pirate drama, Talk Like A Pirate Day would be it. The newest Black Sails clip takes us back to Talk Like a Pirate Day in 1715, a year in which pirates were apparently not as nuanced as they are today. The video mostly features a slew of dirty, uncouth men screaming, smirking, and cheering on ships. At the very end of the clip we get a moment with a pirate where he actually speaks some sort of proper English, asking “Beg Pardon?”

Black Sails is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel Treasure Island set a few decades before the big events in the book, back when pirates were largely unintelligable, apparently. It’s interesting that the series is trying to avoid “arrghs” and other slapstick vocabulary related to pirates. since Stevenson is largely the man who wrote many of the early pirate stereotypes we’ve come to know and love today (wooden peg legs and parrots, anyone?). Black Sails may be a prequel to the famous novel, but it seems as if the drama will be grittier and will simultaneously be more sexy.

In the wake of Spartacus, Starz is left without a drama that’s heavy on the action, and the subscription cable network has really been pushing Black Sails. The drama had a big presence at San Diego Comic-Con, putting up a large ship display, screening the pilot, and doing interviews. The screening went so well that Starz actually went ahead and greenlighted Black Sails for a second season, ahead of the show’s first season premiere.

The goofy, Talk Like A Pirate Day teaser doesn’t tell us much about the new series, but luckily, Starz has also put together a full trailer for the drama, which should go a little further to help viewers know whether or not this one will be worth a watch.

Black Sails is set to premiere on Starz sometime in January of 2014. We’ll let you know as soon as the subscription cable network announces an official premiere date. In the meantime, keep working on those deep-throated pirate noises.

Starz is busy gearing up for the premiere of the highly touted Black Sails, but in talking about an early Season 2 renewal with the premium cable channel's CEO Chris Albrecht, THR couldn’t help itself and got into a conversation about the Boss movie that has been in the works with Lionsgate. A film could have tied up the matter of Tom Kane’s degenerative neurological disorder in the series quite neatly; unfortunately Albrecht says that a movie is no longer in the cards for the subscription cable network.

Back in November of 2012, Boss was cancelled over at Starz after two seasons on the network. The show followed a corrupt Chicago Mayor named Kane (Kelsey Grammer), who spent his days making under the table deals and crushing those who opposed him, all while dealing with a degenerative disorder that would eventually take his life and that was already occasionally affecting his work. During the series, Kane also dealt with familial troubles. Those who watched the series seemed to be pretty invested in the drama, yet it never made a real mark in the network’s ratings compared to programs like Spartacus.

Finding a way to continue a niche television show with a devoted fanbase is frequently on the forefront of the creators' minds, whether they're thinking about moving to another network or trying for a theatrical run. The promise of a TV movie seems to be a subscription cable network favorite of sorts, with shows like Deadwood and Rome both promising fans movies that ultimately never came to fruition. Fans may often be stoked about movies of this ilk, but since high budgets or low ratings are usually reasons why shows get cancelled, it’s easy to see why a movie based on a suffering TV program might not get past the developmental stage.

Despite budget likely being a factor, Albrecht says that it was series creator Farhad Safinia who felt the show had run its course. After getting a little off track during Season 2, it would have been difficult to fill out the storyline the rest of the way.

There’s no doubt that Kelsey Grammer put in an impressive performance in the series. If you haven’t given the show a shot, you can see his unyielding and formidable presence in the original trailer for the series.

It’s unfortunate that we won’t be getting a movie; however, Starz has a bunch of new shows to try out including Black Sails and the The White Queen. Hopefully, one of those will become both a fan and ratings favorite that will be able to end on its own terms, so that we won’t have to rely on the promise of a potential movie later on.

Starz is a big fan of showing early confidence in its programming. Magic City was notably renewed for a second season just before its premiere aired and Da Vinci’s Demons earned a Season 2 renewal just after its premiere did well on the subscription cable network. This time around, Starz isn’t even bothering to wait until close to release time to announce a renewal. If you’ve been excited about the Michael Bay-produced Black Sails series, you should be pleased to learn that the show will be returning for Season 2.

Unless you were lucky enough to be one of the chosen Comic-Con panel viewers who got to see the show’s pilot in its entirety, audiences haven’t gotten to see much footage from the big(ish) budget event. A lot of times pirates on the big and small screen are a little campy, but the trailer for Black Sails offers a serious plotline with serious characters, living their lives after being branded as pirates on the high seas.

The eight-episode series isn’t set to launch on the network until January of 2014. Created by Jonathan Steinberg and Robert Levine, the series is a loose prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel, Treasure Island. The series will follow a pirate captain named Flint (Toby Stephens) who is joined by a young man named John Silver (Luke Arnold) in his crew. The swashbuckling first round of the new program will follow a pirate crew attempting to save a pirate haven named New Providence Island.

Since the show hasn’t aired, yet, it does stand to reason why Starz is so keen to sign on for a second season already. The answer lies within the fans response to the show’s Comic-Con presence, which offered the premiere, but also a giant version of the show’s ship and other unique details that gave the program some strong buzz. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht explained to THR that Comic-Con really does matter and it’s a good idea to invest in your favorite shows during the big San Diego event.

Starz needs an action-oriented adventure story in the schedule to replace the recently-finished Spartacus series, and hopefully Black Sails will be the right move for the network. Season 1 will hit the schedule in January of 2014.

Those who are able to get to the exclusive sneak preview of Starz's upcoming new series Black Sails are in for more than just a bit of pirate action. Starz announced this week that Emmy nominated Composer Bear McCreary will be delivering a special performance to kick off the screening on Thursday night. For those unaware, McCreary's composed the scores for some pretty fantastic shows - with noticeably great music, I might add - including but not limited to Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Human Target, Caprica, The Walking Dead and more recently, Defiance and Da Vinci's Demons. And coming up, he'll be composing the music for Starz's exciting-looking pirate series Black Sails, which is set to premiere January 2014.

Starz's Black Sails screening is set to take place Thursday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m. at the Reading Cinemas (701 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101). Fans are encouraged to RSVP to Starz.com/originals/blacksails/RSVP. During the event, attendees will get an exclusive sneak peek screening of the highly anticipated high-seas Starz Original drama from executive producer Michael Bay. Stars Zach McGowan, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Mark Ryan and Hakeem Kae-Kazim will be in attendance, along with the show's creators Jonathan Steinberg and Robert Levine, who will introduce the first episode. And, as we mentioned, Bear McCreary will get things started with a performance. That in itself seems like reason enough to check this out if you're going to be in San Diego during Comic-Con.

Set a couple of decades before the events of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island, Black Sails tells the story of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and John Silver (Luke Arnold), a fast-talking young addition who joins Flint's crew.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the previously released trailer for the series.

And if you're unfamiliar with Bear McCreary's music, here's the main theme for Da Vinci's Demons:

And here's the "Mercy of Living" track from The Walking Dead…

Last month, Starz gave us a look at their upcoming new series Black Sails with the pirate drama's first trailer, and today, not only do we get an excellent new poster, but also a premiere date. Well, a premiere month, anyway. It looks like Michael Bay's Black Sails will fill Spartacus' shoes (or sandals, technically) in debuting in January, which was typically when the gladiator series premiered. The final key art for the series shows us the shadowed face of a pirate - presumably Toby Stephens' Captain Flint - without eyes or a nose, giving him a decidedly skeletal look, which - added to the way he's got his arms crossed in front of him - depicts the familiar sight of a skull and crossbones. That's just classic pirate stuff right there.

Black Sails centers on Flint and his men in the period about two decades before the character appears in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The story follows Flint, who's known to be the most brilliant and feared pirate captain of his day, as he takes in young John Silver (Luke Arnold), who may sound more familiar by name with the eventual title of "Long" before it.

It's a great poster, not only because it gives off that great pirate vibe, but also because it hints at danger, which is traditionally what a skull and crossbones warns of. And danger usually translates to excitement for a drama series.

Black Sails is executive produced by Michael Bay, better known for his explosion-filled films like Transformers and Armageddon. Jericho's Jon Steinberg, however, is credited as the series' creator and showrunner. The series is currently filming in South Africa, and it looks like we'll find it airing on Starz come January.

Starz’s upcoming new high seas adventure has cast its leading man. British actor Toby Stephens, who most recently appeared in the BBC series Vexed, has been tapped for the role of Captain Flint. He’s the feared and infamous pirate in Black Sails, the new series taking place two decades before the story told in the classic book Treasure Island.

Captain Flint is in charge of the pirate ship Walrus, which docks at New Providence Island, the buccaneer’s haven where crime runs rampant and drinking, prostitution and, of course, piracy are the norm. The pirate’s way of life and the debauchery-filled port are both coming under threat, and the age of pirate supremacy seems to be coming to an end, but Captain Flint fights to keep his way of life intact. He and his crew are featured in Treasure Island, and this series will act as a prequel to the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, giving the pirates a backstory.

Deadline says the show is gearing up for production in Cape Town, South Africa. Producers are hoping it will launch in 2014, when Spartacus will have wrapped up its final season, meaning Black Sails may well get the time slot currently held by the gladiator drama. The project comes from Michael Bay and Neil Marshall (The Descent) is on board to direct the pilot.

It seems the high seas are hot right now. Syfy just picked up the British series Sinbad. Back in the spring, FX started working on an hourlong drama called Port Royal, and NBC gave a straight-to-series order to Crossbones, a series based on the book The Republic of Pirates.

Back in May we told you about Black Sails, a pirate series being exec produced for Starz by the one, the only Michael Bay. (We'll leave it to you whether being the one, the only Michael Bay is a good thing or a bad thing.) Black Sails isn't just any old pirate series, mind you; it's a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. Now Starz can add another big name to the project, announcing that director Neil Marshall (The Descent) will be helming the pilot episode.

In addition to films such as Dog Soldiers, Doomsday, and Centurion (he has a thing for the first few letters of the alphabet, doesn't he?), Deadline points out that Marshall recently directed an episode of HBO's Game of Thrones called "Blackwater." Apparently he's sticking with the nautical theme… The show was created by Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine, with Steinberg set to serve as showrunner.

While I haven't loved Marshall's last couple of films (especially Doomsday), he's still a talented director, and the experience on Centurion and Game of Thrones should serve him well on another period drama like Black Sails. With him at the helm of the pilot, he'll also have a chance to help define the show's look and feel.

Starz continues to line up interesting-sounding shows in their production timeline. Although their breakout hit Spartacus only has one season left, they've continued to keep the bar of quality high with Boss and Magic City. And with shows like Black Sails and a truly badass sounding science fiction drama from Spartacus' Steven S. DeKnight and Babylon 5's J. Michael Straczynski, Starz could give cable nets like HBO and AMC a run for their money.

Black Sails is expected to premiere on Starz sometime in 2014.

Michael Bay is often a man of action and adventure, but he is not often a man to bring his own brand of action to the TV realm. All that is changing, now Bay has signed on with Starz to produce his very first television series – a sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, game changing adventure novel Treasure Island.

Starz has already picked up the project – which is currently rolling with the title Black Sails - to series and has given the upcoming show an eight-episode order for its initial run. The first season’s plot will fall twenty years before the events in Treasure Island, when a young lad named John Silver joins the crew of one of the mightiest, most fearsome ships of the day, run by a survivalist captain known as Flint. Jericho’s Jon Steinberg created the show, and also will serve as an executive producer and showrunner.

Starz Chief Executive Officer, Chris Albrecht, is calling the upcoming drama, “Epic, larger-than-life storytelling,” which reads to mean “expensive”, so expect a lot of elaborate sets and over-the-top action scenes, all of which should really be no surprise coming from Bay. With the Transformers franchise director and producer at the helm as the executive producer, his producing buddies Brad Fuller and Andrew Form also nabbing producer credits, and Touch’s Robert Levine added as a co-executive producer, Black Sails sounds as if it is already ready to get the show on the road.

Production is expected to begin in Cape Town, South Africa later in 2012.