TNT Announces Series Renewals and the Last Season of 'Falling Skies'

Courtesy TNT

It looks like "Falling Skies" is coming back for its fifth season but it will be its last. The TNT drama was renewed along with "The Last Ship," which premiered on June 22.  The announcement came today via a press release that revealed that the network "...has ordered 13 episodes of "The Last Ship," an increase over its first-season order of 10 episodes. The network is also ordering 15 episodes for season four of "Major Crimes." And "Falling Skies" will mark its fifth and final season with 10 episodes."

Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) was quoted as saying, "TNT's refreshed and recharged drama brand is soaring this summer, and that is due in large part to these three enormously popular dramas. 'The Last Ship' has become this summer's top drama among key adult demos with its epic scale and visceral storytelling. 'Major Crimes' continues to be one of the most enduring and popular crime-drama franchises on television. And 'Falling Skies' has begun an ambitious and thrilling story arc this summer as it sets the stage for next year's climactic final season."

Have you been watching "The Last Ship?" Let us know if you're happy about the series getting a second season. Of course we want to hear what you think about TNT announcing the fifth and final season of "Falling Skies." "The Last Ship" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET with "Falling Skies" following at 10 p.m.

Below are the series' descriptions:

'Falling Skies' Official Season Four Press Release

Courtesy TNT

TNT has released its official press release for the fourth season of "Falling Skies." Below is not only the release (via Spoiler TV) in its entirety plus the "Killing Moon" teaser and the first season four trailer, "Requiem." The season premiere is Sunday, June 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

Noah Wyle Stars in Top 10 Drama from Amblin Television And Executive Producer Steven Spielberg

The nightmare is just beginning for the humans battling an occupying alien force in the fourth season of TNT's hit series Falling Skies. Noah Wyle stars in the epic drama, which is produced by Amblin Television and executive producer Steven Spielberg. Also starring are Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Colin Cunningham, Drew Roy, Connor Jessup, Maxim Knight, Sarah Carter, Seychelle Gabriel, Mpho Koaho and Doug Jones. Scarlett Byrne (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) is set to join the cast as a regular this season, while Oscar® winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Mimic) and Treva Etienne (Terminator Salvation, Pirates of the Caribbean) are slated to guest-star along with returning guest-star Robert Sean Leonard (House, Dead Poets Society).

TNT Unleashes Epic 'Falling Skies' Season Four Trailer

Courtesy TNT

TNT released a brand new trailer for "Falling Skies" on Monday and it promises "A Great Battle is Coming." With over two minutes of exciting footage including a mysterious "Hello Father" directed at Tom Mason at the end, this trailer is guaranteed to get fans of the series pumped for its fourth season's premiere on June 22 at 10 p.m.

The "Falling Skies" panel at WonderCon in Anaheim this past weekend yielded some quotes about what's in store for key characters this season. Doug Jones ("Cochise") revealed, "Everyone goes a little crazy this year," and Moon Bloodgood ("Anne Glass") told the audience, "I get to be this warrior and get enraged and kill, and that's more fun to play."

Check out the epic trailer and let us know what you're most looking forward to in season four.



-Larissa Mrykalo

TNT's Summer Programs 'Falling Skies,' 'Legends' and 'The Last Ship' Coming to WonderCon Anaheim

Photos Courtesy TNT

Get ready Anaheim! TNT is bringing three of its action-packed summer series to WonderCon Anaheim on Saturday, April 19.

"Falling Skies" is returning to WonderCon for the second time, and the panel is set to include Moon Bloodgood ("Terminator Salvation"), Sarah Carter ("Final Destination 2"), Seychelle Gabriel ("The Last Airbender"), Doug Jones ("Pan's Labyrinth") and the show's executive producer/director Greg Beeman (Smallville, Heroes). The season premiere of "Falling Skies" is Sunday, June 22, at 10 p.m. ET.

The panel for TNT's upcoming new series "Legends" will include such huge names as Sean Bean
("Game of Thrones," "The Lord of the Rings"), Ali Larter ("Heroes"), Morris Chestnut ("American Horror Story," "Nurse Jackie") and Tina Majorino ("Grey's Anatomy," "True Blood"), along with executive producer/showrunner David Wilcox ("Fringe"). "Legends" premieres on Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 9 p.m. ET.

TNT's new action-adventure series from executive producer Michael Bay, "The Last Ship," will conclude the day with stars Adam Baldwin ("Firefly") and Travis Van Winkle ("Heart of Dixie"), along with showrunners Hank Steinberg (creator of "Without a Trace," "The Nine") and Steven Kane ("The Closer"). "The Last Ship" premieres Sunday, June 22, at 9 p.m. ET.

-Larissa Mrykalo

TNT Reveals Premiere Dates and Trailers For 'Falling Skies,' 'The Last Ship' and 'Legends'

On Thursday, we reported on today's three SXSW panels featuring the TNT shows "Falling Skies," "Legends" and "The Last Ship" and now prior to the panels, the release dates and first look trailers have been revealed.

From Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), "For the past three summers, TNT has had great creative and commercial success with 'Falling Skies,' which has inspired us to continue to program for fans of sci-fi and action. This year, we're going to launch 'The Last Ship' and 'Legends,' two expertly crafted shows that bring the storytelling scope and thrill-ride excitement of our favorite summer movies to series television. With their great writing, expansive casts and outstanding production quality, these are really fun, smart and addictive shows."

The press release provided the news that "The Last Ship" will kick off TNT's summer action series  on Sunday, June 22, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). Executive produced by Michael Bay ("Transformers"), the new series is about a Navy vessel that may be humanity's last hope in the wake of a worldwide catastrophe and stars Eric Dane ("Grey's Anatomy") and Rhona Mitra ("Strike Back").

The fourth season premiere of "Falling Skies," from Amblin Television and executive producer Steven Spielberg, will follow "The Last Ship" at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

TNT's new drama, "Legends" premieres in August, and comes from Homeland executive producers Howard Gordon and Alexander Cary and Fringe co-executive producer David Wilcox. It is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, August 20, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) and stars Sean Bean ("Game of Thrones") as a deep-undercover FBI agent who may be losing his grip on reality.

The release provided detailed descriptions and trailers for the three shows:

TNT and TBS Bring 'Falling Skies,' 'The Last Ship,' 'Legends' and 'The Pete Holmes Show' to SXSW

SXSW will be featuring panels from TNT and TBS favs this Monday, March 10. A press release reveals that the networks are bringing with them stars and producers of such series as TNT's "Falling Skies" and new dramas "The Last Ship" and "Legends," and TBS's late-night series "The Pete Holmes Show." 

From the release:
On Monday, March 10, the networks will stage two panels during the annual music, film and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, Texas. That night, TNT will hold a special First Look Watch Party for "The Last Ship," giving SXSW attendees the opportunity to catch the entire first episode of the action-packed series from executive producer Michael Bay ("Transformers"). Eric Dane ("Grey's Anatomy"), Rhona Mitra ("Strike Back") and Adam Baldwin ("Chuck," "Firefly") are scheduled to appear at the Watch Party.

TBS begins the panel presentations with "The Pete Holmes Show Makes It Weird" at 3:30 p.m. where host Pete Holmes will be joined by producers Nick Bernstein and Oren Brimer and head writer Karen Kilgariff for a panel discussion on what it takes to create a late-night series. Following at 5 p.m., TNT will present "The New Golden Age of Drama on TV," a discussion about the resurgence in quality television dramas, with executive producers behind the network's hit series Falling Skies and the upcoming series "The Last Ship" and "Legends." Both panels will feature extensive video clips from the shows.

Below are the details on TBS and TNT's Monday events during SXSW.

Season Four 'Falling Skies' Sneak Peek Shown at NYCC Panel

If you couldn't make it to New York Comic Con but are a huge fan of TNT's "Falling Skies," you'll be pleased that the sneak peek of Season Four shown at their panel, is available.

The two-minute preview just hit their social media feeds including Twitter and Facebook, so be sure to follow them for up-to-date NYCC news and hints about the next season. The preview video is full of action and foreboding and we're warned to "Fight for Earth but fear the skies."

Check it out and let us know what you think...



-Larissa Mrykalo

'Falling Skies' Behind The Scenes Production Video

It has only been slightly more than a month since "Falling Skies" wrapped its third season with the 2nd Mass back in a place of uncertainty. And if you're a fan, it may feel like a long nine months or so before the show returns. Thankfully, the fine people at TNT have provided us with this look at the start of production on Season Four of "Falling Skies." It isn't a new episode, but it will do for now.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Brazil'

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

At last, the season finale is here. We've been promised answers, but which ones? And how many new questions do you think we'll end up with?

We rejoin the 2nd Mass and friends en route to the big attack. Pope and Weaver are on a train headed to Chicago having a nice conversation about pizza to pass the time. Oh, and they have Lourdes with them. She is looking very zombieish, reduced to growling and grunts.

It is not long before they run into some mechs. The rest of the 2nd Mass are on a tanker floating down the river to Boston with the Volm weapon. Dr. Kadar is 94% sure he can get the thing to work. After a slight delay, it fires and does manage to collapse the tower. This brings the grid down and signals the approaching Volm ship to come for a visit, which it does.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Journey to Xibalba'

Courtesy TNT

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

After last week's weird hallucination interrogation episode, Tom is making his way back to Charleston. The Mason boys have already made it back, much to Maggie's joy.

During Tom's brief absence, Weaver and Pope have found common ground in their mutual distrust of Marina, the new President. Oh, and during Karen's interrogation of Tom, she claims that Anne and Lexi are dead. And that nifty Espheni defense grid is finally up. You know the one that will have that cute side effect of killing everyone? I guess now we will get to find out just how good that Volm weapon works.

And I'll save you the trouble of googling Xibalba. It's the name a tribe of Mayans gave to the underworld, and translates into "place of fear." So, I imagine things are going to get more difficult for our little group of survivors.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Strange Brew'

Courtesy TNT

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

When we left the intrepid Mason family last week, they were in quite the pickle. Tom went back to the hillbilly house to warn the Picketts that the skitters were coming. It was a trap of course, and he was captured. The boys were left watching more skitter patrols roaming the area on their way back to Charleston.

This week we get to see a window into the Tom Mason's less than exciting life back before the invasion. Tom wakes in his old house next to his old wife in his old job. He believes that all of the events of the last couple of years were just a dream. As he drives to his professor job he sees a bum that looks like Weaver holding a “The End Is Nigh” sign. But a kindly police officer that looks a lot like Karen leads him away.

As he gets to the university, guess who has a neighboring office? Give up? It's Pope! He's appears to be having an illicit relationship with a student that looks like Lourdes. Well, that does sound like Pope doesn't it?

'Falling Skies' recap: 'The Pickett Line'

BY MELISSA HARKNESS


Last week left us with Tom Mason and the boys heading off to find Anne and Alexis. Ben takes this momentary solitude to question his father on their future. Tom seems to think that they won't be returning to Charleston; a half-alien baby won't really be welcome.

While Ben agrees, he seems perturbed by this decision. I think he's missing Deni, don't you? Tom finally assures him that they'll worry about it after they find Anne and Lexi. Unfortunately the rebel skitters that were to meet them have been attacked by the Espheni. A survivor shows up and warns them before he dies. So the Mason's mount up and ride off, only to get ambushed again. This time it's by humans. Looks like a hillbilly holdup. Some masked men take their horses and all of their gear and leave them on the road.

Things aren't going so awesome in Charleston either. Pope's new success as a businessman has made him a bunch of useless money. He figures they need to find another community to trade with, like the real President's people. Just as he sits down to contemplate this, some soldiers show up to tow his bus away.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Be Silent and Come Out'

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

Last week left Tom injured and reliant on Pope to get him back to Charleston. In his absence, Marina took it upon herself to enlist Dr. Kadar's aid in figuring out what the Volm's big weapon actually does. She didn't like the answer. Hal 2.0 managed to maintain his secret identity throughout the search for Anne and Lexi. Tom woke in the hospital only to learn that Anne and his half alien daughter were missing.

Ben and his rebel Skitter contacts have found that Anne and Lexi are being held by Karen, but they don't know where. Tom immediately tries to run off in search of them, but Weaver convinces him to give the rebels 24 hours to locate the captives. Hal is not very happy with this decision and continues to try and goad his father into running off into the badlands.

'Falling Skies' renewed for Season Four

In a press release issued today, TNT has ordered a fourth season of Falling Skies. The alien apocalypse show, which we recap here, is produced by DreamWorks Television and executive producer Steven Spielberg and starring Noah Wyle.

Currently airing Sundays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), the show is averaging 5.8 million viewers and ranks as basic cable's number one scripted series with adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 for the summer-to-date.

TNT plans to launch the 10-episode fourth season in summer 2014.

-Aaron Sagers

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Search and Recover'

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

When we left Charleston last week, our friends in the 2nd Mass were quite the scattered bunch. Anne confirmed that Lexi is in fact part alien and tried to flee the city with her. Hal showed his inner alien by intercepting her with a skitter and its harnessed kid. Meanwhile, Tom, Bressler and Pope were shot out of the air by an Espheni assault on the President's hideout and crashed in the forest.

Tom wakes from the plane crash to find Bressler died a hero's death saving them. He carries Pope from the wreckage and hides in the woods. It doesn't take long before an Espheni ship comes to search the area. This is one instance where Pope's criminal past comes in handy as he advises Tom on the best way to hide from the “authorities”. During all the bickering, we learn that they are some 400 miles north of Charleston at this point. Tom wonders how the spy could have known where they were since they didn't even know where they were going until they were airborne.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'At All Costs'

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

The good folk of Charleston are still fighting off the attacking Espheni from the last episode. Tom takes this opportunity to convince the captured sniper, Lt. Fisher, that the Volm are fighting the Espheni too. This tactic works, and she contacts President Hathaway and sets up a meeting between he and Tom.

Unfortunately this means that Tom has to leave just as Hal is trying to make his grand confession. It also means that Tom isn't around when Anne decides to take a DNA sample of little Lexi and find out what is going on with the creepy baby. But before they can leave, Tom and Weaver have to convince Pope to let them use a plane that he has been fixing up. It's apparently an antique, but it's the only one they have. Eventually, Tom, the alien Cochise, Pope, and General Bressler fly off to meet the President.

'Falling Skies' recap: 'Badlands'

Pope confronts Tom and Weaver. Courtesy TNT

BY MELISSA HARKNESS

After destroying the nuclear power plant in the season premiere, the 2nd Mass has been stationed in the badlands at the perimeter of Charleston -- watching for the Espheni.

But when the attack comes, it's not aliens; it's humans. A group of human snipers have hidden themselves in the abandoned buildings and are firing on the 2nd Mass. Weaver and Tom rush to the front line to see for themselves. They manage to capture one of the snipers after Weaver bazookas a building. Turns out it's a woman in military fatigues.

'Falling Skies' returns with strong numbers

Just as the number of aliens increases in the world of TNT’s series Falling Skies, so does the number of viewers watching the drama unfold.

According to a TNT press release, the show that ranked as basic cable’s number one summer drama with adults 25-54 last year, "launched its third season Sunday night with more than 4.2 million viewers and growth among young adults." The network reports Sunday's two-hour premiere drew more than 2.1 million adults 25-54 and 1.9 million adults 18-49 -- up slightly over last year’s season premiere.

Finally, TNT said Falling Skies garnered significant growth among the younger set, boosting its delivery of adults 18-34 (772,000) by +24% over last year’s season premiere.

-Aaron Sagers

'Falling Skies' Season 3 premiere recap: 'On Thin Ice,' 'Collateral Damage'

Doug Jones is...Cochise!

BY MELISSA HARKNESS


"On Thin Ice"

We start up this season of Falling Skies seven months after last season's end. The 2nd Mass attacks an alien mining operation and liberates a pack of harnessed children. One of the kids is Diego, the missing boyfriend of Weaver's daughter, Jeanne. Things go horribly wrong though, almost like the aliens were expecting them. Ben and Denny (also a de-harnessed kid) call in the reinforcements. Interestingly enough, the rebel skitters have taken to painting themselves up with stylish warpaint. They arrive with Tom and his new alien friend and the battle is won.

The Volm, the new alien race that showed up at the end of last season, have brought their technology with them, allowing the Resistance to remove the harnesses from the kids. Dr. Glass, who is quite pregnant now, performs the procedure on Diego. Cochise is the Volm liaison with the Human Resistance.

'Falling Skies' takes over Facebook with awesome video teases

Social media is a great source for many things. You can discover breaking news, learn that your friend from high school you haven’t talked to in five years is pregnant, and even get to know your enemies better. Especially if your enemy is a Skitter.

One of our favorite features of social media is being able to discover news about our favorite TV shows, movies and games, and the Falling Skies Facebook page is a great example.

With the countdown to the June 9 season premiere of the TNT alien drama, their Facebook page has really upped their game and is keeping fans in the loop with news and all the latest promos. Their promise that “Earth. Will. Rise.” is not a light one.

One of our favorite posts is the video “Know Your Enemy: Skitters”



Seriously, we need to take Green Day’s advice and know your enemy! The six-legged, nocturnal creature that communicates with harnessed children, is possibly controlled by the overlords. The sing-songy warning “Keep the kids locked up safe folks. You never know what to expect when the Skitters are around!” is obviously terrifying but you’ll probably snicker a bit.

They also offer us “Rules for Saving Your Human Ass” ...