Good news for those of you with a rubber fetish! FX has just awarded AMERICAN HORROR STORY — the highest performing freshman drama in the network’s history — with a 13-episode second season.

“It’s one thing to have the ambition and guts to reinvent a genre in a way that makes it captivatingly fresh for a broad audience — it’s something else entirely to have the craft to back that ambition up,” said FX Network President John Landgraf in a statement. “Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have hit the trifecta with NIP/TUCK, GLEE and now AMERICAN HORROR STORY, which will be scaring FX’s viewers to death for many years to come.”

In related AMERICAN HORROR STORY news, Canadian TV Addicts will finally get the opportunity to discover what our neighbors to the south have been buzzing about these past few weeks courtesy of today’s launch of FX Canada. The new digital specialty channel from Rogers that promises to deliver critically-acclaimed dramas and hit comedy including WILFRED, LOUIE, THE LEAGUE, LIGHTS OUT, TERRIERS, SONS OF ANARCHY and of course AMERICAN HORROR STORY. The complete schedule of which is available at fxcanada.com.

The TV Addict (Second from the right) with WILFRED stars Fiona Gubelmann and Jason Gann at the recent FX Canada Launch Party

What’s that you say? You weren’t among the lucky few who were invited by FX to attend an exclusive pilot screening of Ryan Murphy’s latest opus, AMERICAN HORROR STORY tonight? Well, never fear, theTVaddict.com is here… with the next best thing: A first look at what you missed! Or to be more specific, a handful of haunting promotional photos of the Harmon family (No relation to COMMUNITY creator Dan Harmon!), who in an attempt to rebuild their life after a miscarriage and an affair, move from Boston to a haunted San Francisco home. More first look photos of which can be found after the jump.

Connie Britton as Vivien Harmon

Dylan McDermott as Ben Harmon

Evan Peters as Tate

Denis O’Hare as Burnt Man

Jessica Lange as Constance

AMERICAN HORROR STORY premieres October 5th at 10PM on FX

Good News: NBC is auctioning off official FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS props including Tim Riggins’ hoodie and Lyla Garrity’s coat. Bad News: Taylor Kitsch and Minka Kelly not included. [Source]

Good News: FX has announced summer premiere dates for the final season of RESCUE ME, the second season of Louis C.K’s LOUIE and Elijah Wood’s highly anticipated WILFRED. Bad News: We don’t get FX as part of our cable package. [Source]

For those who have been watching FX’s electrifying series JUSTIFIED, the transformation of bad-boy Boyd Crowder over the past season and a half has been riveting.  Played by the equally fascinating Walton Goggins, the dichotomy of such a strong actor immersed in such a complex, yet compelling character has enthralled viewers.  Essentially, the show has grasped a rattlesnake by the tail and is allowing us to see how it plays out.
 
Make no bones about it, any way you look at it, Boyd Crowder is a cold-blooded killer.  When we were first introduced to Boyd in the pilot episode, he blew up a church and ended up shot after squaring off with U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.  Boyd and Raylan, having grown up together, are like opposite sides to the same coin — best friends who chose different sides of the law and yet whose fates are inexplicably tied together.  Throughout the first season, it became less clear whether Raylan or Boyd were really all that different; particularly as they both believed fervently that their viewpoint was the right one and would do anything to back it up.  Raylan just happens to have the law on his side having the protection of the U.S. Marshal service to back him up.
 
So as Raylan continues to walk the path of righteous justice, behind the power of the badge, Boyd has embarked on a thornier and murkier path.
 

Painted as a free-spirited, sociopathic killer within the first few minutes of the series, ever since that point Boyd has had to claw his way back to some semblance of humanity.  Yet where Boyd stands now, he appears to be a white knight hiding under a black hat.  Is there a heart of gold and a good man cloaked beneath his misdeeds and dark past?
 
In season one, after being shot by his best friend, Boyd’s recovery was not only a physical one, but a spiritual one as well.  Lying in that prison hospital bed, Boyd saw the light.  It may not be the true “light” of spiritual salvation, but he embraced it for a time.  He understood from the depths of his soul that some changes needed to be made and he consciously chose to alter his life-path.  Yet it felt contrived and disingenuous to hear him proclaim his sudden fervor for Christian doctrine and espousing the virtues of a godly life.  Yet, in spite of it all, Boyd genuinely seemed to endeavor to make a dramatic change in his life.
 
But, like any man who strays too far from his known roots, it is hard for anyone to fully believe that a man can change.  Boyd’s father, Bo Crowder, certainly never believed that his son had turned his back on his wayward and criminal ways.  In his dying breath, Bo never doubted that his son was a killer – it was only too heartbreaking that Bo’s belief was proved true.  Boyd intended to kill his father to make him pay for killing Boyd’s congregation and to save his, Raylan and Ava Crowder’s lives in a nasty stand-off at the end of the first season.  Like the series title, the killing would have been justified. Forced to nearly kill his own father to save his own life and the lives of others, Boyd had no choice but to shed his new religious skin.
 
Then as the second season opened, Boyd seemed a bit lost – caught between two worlds.  In one world, Boyd is the thief, killer and criminal to the core; in another, Boyd is a man forgiven of his transgressions and preaching the gospel to followers who share his belief of redemption – no matter how grievous the sin.  But because, in season one, Bo Crowder killed all of Boyd’s faithful followers, and, with nowhere to turn, this season, Boyd turned to one of his kin also torn in the direction her life has gone:  Ava Crowder, Boyd’s sister-in-law who had married Boyd’s brother, Bowman, only to kill him at the dinner table one night in order to escape a life of relentless beatings.  Like Boyd, Ava is caught up in a world where violence is the norm; one must fight or forever be a victim.  But neither Boyd, nor Ava is willing to be the victim.  They are fighters and they do not hesitate to kill when necessary.
 
It made sense, in an odd sort of way, that Boyd would turn to Ava and that she would take him in.  Yet, when Raylan found Boyd had taken up residence in Ava’s house – albeit in a spare room – we were equally shocked.  After all, Boyd was the one who had tried to kill Ava in retaliation for her killing his brother.  But it showed how far Boyd had come.  He is not the reckless, devil-may-care man who would shoot-first and ask-questions-later guy that Raylan was forced to shoot in the first season.  Boyd’s dark journey has brought him to the point where even Ava can see that he is not the same man – or better yet, he is the same man with a better heart. 
 
Boyd appears intent on being a better man; whether for himself, or perhaps to win an unattainable woman, Boyd is determined to stick to the path where he can live on the right side of the law.  With such strong incentives keeping him on the straight-and-narrow, it was therefore shocking; yet not entirely surprising that Boyd was willing to do anything to protect his new life.  He had warned Kyle Easterly and his cronies about the instability of the battery used in their heist, yet their intent to kill Boyd back-fired as they only triggered their own death.  Thus, later when Ava confronted Boyd about involving her in the heist deaths by leaving the note instructing her to call a number at a specific time, making Ave an unknowing alibi, she wanted to know why Boyd had done it.  Normally, this situation would enrage the average person and they would not agree to protect Boyd.  But Ava understood that Boyd was only protecting himself, and perhaps her – she gets why Boyd opted for frontier-justice in lieu of asking for Raylan’s help.  It is a matter of pride.  The need to stand up for oneself.
 
In addition, Kyle’s gang is not the sort of people that would forget Boyd’s betrayal and they would seek retribution; and for some kinds of evil, you can only kill it.  In the JUSTIFIED world, killing is how you deal with evil – and a philosophy Raylan and Ava both innately understand.  For Raylan never hesitates to shoot and kill.  He may have to withstand an I.A. investigation because of it, but he does not hesitate to put a mad-dog down.  Nor did Ava when she shot her husband rather than just leave him.  And nor did Boyd when confronted with a gang of criminals intent on raining down havoc and hell on all who stand in their path.
 
Boyd knows from a lifetime of bad pursuits the temptation of evil.  He fights it every day in order to be worthy of Raylan’s friendship and Ava’s love.  The struggle and sacrifice he makes is noble, and we cheer his effort.  Boyd may not yet be a butterfly, but his fight within the cocoon to transform is admirable – and captivating.

JUSTIFIED airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on FX.

Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer to The TV Addict. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower). Tiffany also writes as a columnist for NiceGirlsTV.

“There is no box,” is not just an FX Network motto, it’s a way of life.

Or at least that was our takeaway from today’s chain of events surrounding the unfortunate cancellation of TERRIERS.

After-all, as any seasoned television critic or fan can attest, there is a good way and a bad way to cancel a beloved series. And while it’s never a a fun part of our job to report that a handful of hard working and incredibly talented writers, actors and crew members just lost their jobs, one would be hard-pressed to find fault in the manner in which the FX Network as a whole conducted itself.

Suffice to say, if TERRIERS were on any other network, we would not be talking about its cancellation mere days after the season finale aired. Rather, a Network Executive not wishing to deal with the inevitable blowback and negative press would more than likely choose to bury their head in the sand in the hopes that critics and fans would get the message when [insert your favorite show here] is conspicuously left off next season’s Fall schedule.

Luckily for us, FX President John Landgraf is not any other Network Executive. He’s a stand up guy who earlier today did something almost unheard of in Hollywood: He took accountability. Organizing a conference call with reporters in which he transparently and honestly discussed the reasons behind the network’s decision to cancel the critically acclaimed series, and in the process, honored everyone involved in the series whether they were in front of, behind the camera, or simply watched the series from home.

Evidently, there is a reason TERRIERS Executive Producer Shawn Ryan took to his twitter account to tweet “Don’t Blame FX They’re still 1st class,” effectively defending the Network that just put him out of a job.

Memo to ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and the CW, take note.

HELLCATS
Airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on The CW
After losing her scholarship to budget cuts, Marti (Alyson Michalka) is forced to join her university’s competitive cheerleading program, the Hellcats, to pay her way to law school. She makes quick frenemies with Hellcat captain Savannah (Ashley Tisdale) and ice queen Alice (Heather Hemmens), and makes cute with a scruffy townie (Matt Barr). Affixed with every sports movie cliche and horrendous flipping cheerleader scene transitions, it does offer smarter-than-expected acidic one-liners, and though it dutifully provides dueling perspectives of the “cheerleaders are athletes” debate, both are helmed superfluously. Grade: C

TERRIERS
Airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on FX
Had I only seen the pilot for Terriers, the new buddy cop comedy from Ted Griffin and THE SHIELD creator Shawn Ryan, I would have had a hard time recommending it. After viewing four more episodes and spending more time with the kinetic chemistry of the P.I. duo (played by Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James) and easing into a twisty mystery at the center, there’s reason enough to see this shaggy hour of dogged investigators. It presents itself as an off-brand FX series in a surprisingly good sense: not quite as hard-edged and as quick to go for pulp, it breathes easier under the tint of the California sun. That said, it doesn’t command as much as attention or outright enthusiasm to itself as its network brethren might. Grade: B-

THE LEAGUE
Returns Sept. 16 at 10:30 p.m. EST on FX
I’m about as convinced that fantasy football is fun as Paris Hilton is convinced that cocaine is gum, but I’ve found myself warming to this glorified frat of man-children in their second season of fictionalized sports and general buffoonery. Starring a crop of comedians (Paul Scheer and Nick Kroll) and slacker-types (Mark Duplass), it constructs a semi-scripted (so only sometimes funny) purview of male camaraderie around a fantasy football league. Grade: B

Aleks Chan is a contributing writer to The TV Addict. He has seen every episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER four times, has once referred to his DVR as his “best friend,” and has only seen the pilot episode of THE SOPRANOS — and has no intention to apologize for it. He lives in Austin, Texas. His name is pronounced like Alex.
Email him at alekschan.thetvaddict@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@alekstvaddict), or his own blog, Screen Reader.

Timothy Olyphant could melt your television set with his charisma alone. In JUSTIFIED, FX’s smart, brisk, and terrifically acted new drama, he plays U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, one of the smoothest, laconic operators on TV. Sporting a Stetson, cowboy boots, and hip holster, he’s like a character from GUNSMOKE drizzled with a quiet, undeniable machismo. Down to his gait, Olyphant exudes charm in this role, enough to render a scattergun-wielding neo-Nazi a whimpering puppy of a man with the threat of his fast trigger finger. Givens is a man who lives by his own idea of justice and morality: he often gives his targets a time period to turn themselves in before he comes gunning for them. When he fires the first shot (and you’ll learn how fast of a draw he is), he’ll simply state: “It was justified.” 

But after shooting a con in the audience of a Miami hotel and creating a massive media headache for his superiors, Givens is banished to his home state of Kentucky, where he comes to find that his childhood friend Boyd Crowder (THE SHIELD’s always excellent Walton Goggins) has become a local terrorist: leading a band of white supremacists, they’re rob banks and blow up churches. There’s a great scene in the pilot where Givens visits Boyd’s victory den (a strange pastiche of Confederate flags, swastikas, and a set of pews) and Boyd explains how the Bible justifies his behavior, thereby presenting a dueling perspective of ethics – just how different are Ray and Boyd when it comes to rationalizing their law-skirting ways?  

There’s something almost exotic about Harlan, Kentucky, Givens’ hometown, a coal-mining town packed with classic imagery of the religious South: driving to see the abused-turn-murderous wife with a neo-Nazi brother-in-law, our first glimpse of Harlan is of a rickety old shack bearing “Jesus Saves” across the side. It’s reminiscent of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT’s Dillon, Texas, where escaping was to not only evolve as a person, but to be free and survive, something Givens did and is now reminded of. 

Being back home also puts him within reach of his ex-wife Winona (DIRTY SEXY MONEY’s Natalie Zea), a court reporter who left him for another man, and his old crush Ava (Joelle Carter), who married Boyd’s abusive brother, and seems to have become a degree of certifiable in the process. (An overly vapid Southern belle is a hallmark of laziness, but Carter does a fine job of balancing this with a warm, inviting grace, never allowing us to completely dismiss Ava for a second.) 

Based on an Elmore Leonard character (most notably from his novella Fire in the Hole) and as conceived by Graham Yost, a former writer for BOOMTOWN and who also helmed both BAND OF BROTHERS and its follow-up THE PACIFIC, JUSTIFIED is a mixture of genres, geography, and tones: modern Western, Southern gothic, domestic drama, and a pulsating crime procedural. These undulate throughout the show, anchored by Leonard’s (who also serves as an executive producer) very wry, very welcome sense of humor. 

Givens’ job has him following old cases around Kentucky and the country, introducing a case of the week setup not necessarily implied. In lesser hands, this could spell trouble if handled incorrectly, but by threading more of Givens’ personal back story into each episode, we get the benefit of both the serial and the procedural. What’s more refreshing is that even the guest characters are richly drawn: Episode 2 features an escaped prisoner looking for his hidden spoils who struggles more with his ex-wife moving on than the for his stolen money. There’s a tender moment of regret and understanding towards the end of the episode that took me by surprise. What Givens lacks in outward emotion the show makes heartily makes up for. 

One last, slobbery heaping of praise for Tim Olyphant, whose subtle, unassuming performance is a collective of complexities – he takes all the details of the character and makes it all seem so effortless and so natural to come by. And in a way, this speaks of JUSTIFIED’S talent as well: I usually harp on shows that invest too much into one performance, but this is a rare case where both appear to be in sync. Grade: A- 

JUSTIFIED premieres tonight (Tuesday March 16) at 10PM on FX.

After 18 months of strike-ridden delay, RESCUE ME, FX’s smart and funny series following a ragtag team of New York firefighters, is finally back after a doozy of a fourth season – one that I feared may have spelled the end for Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary, who just might have the most multi-facetious sneer on television) and the men of 62 Truck. But as they say: time can heal even the deepest wounds.

Focus has been diverted away from the eternally melodramatic Gavin family and back to the firehouse, where a French journalist (Karina Lombard of THE 4400) is interviewing the team for her book about the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, thereby bringing RESCUE ME’s emotional core back to the foreground, hearkening back to where the show started creatively: ripping open old wounds of tragedy while juxtaposing those moments with those of inspired humor. RESCUE ME is once again the show that can make you laugh, cry, and twist your stomach into knots all at the same time.

And what a relief it is to see the cast again – Lou! Mike! Crazy Sheila! — as if they were old friends, having never left: Tommy is continuing to dance along the line of sobriety and alcoholism as he deals with another one of his ex-wife Janet’s (the stunning Andrea Roth) boyfriends, this one a loudmouth who’s particularly good in the sack, played by Michael J. Fox with a winning sense of glee.

The supporting cast – one of the best on television – has extended their debauchery to a bar Mike (Michael Lombardi) invests in with his mother’s inheritance money along with Sean (Steven Pasquale) and Franco (Daniel Sunjata). They open it to attract women, but go about it the wrong way: mainly, they attempt to stylize the place by painting everything – everything – black.

But what threads this team together is the shared experience of running into the the Twin Towers confused, scared, and determined to save everyone they could. They all have their own quiet, personal moments: Callie Thorne’s Sheila has always been an off-the-wall loony, but this season she has one of the most poignant moments of the show; Franco is the black sheep, speaking out against the attacks as an inside job; one character develops cancer from helping clean up Ground Zero.

What has always been a potential problem for RESCUE ME has been that it can edge towards the threshold of exploiting tragedy for entertainment – but Leary along with fellow exec producer Peter Tolan have always proven themselves to have a handle on when to explore and when to venerate: seven of the first nine episodes are written by them, with both delicacy and a sharp-tongue.

In a cable oddity, RESCUE ME was picked up for 22 episodes this season (to air uninterrupted starting tonight) in addition to 18 more next season, to air in 2010. Catch it while it’s hot.

RESCUE ME returns tonight at 10 p.m. est on FX

Photo Credit: Craig Blankenhorn / FX

Hey gang, did you miss me? It’s been a long time since I’ve done the Tuesday column thing and for that I absolutely apologize and promise we’re all back on track! This week, I want to spend some time with you all, with the hopes that by the end of the next few paragraphs or so, you’re as pumped about Season 3 of 30 DAYS as I am.

First things first, I think Morgan Spurlock is a genius. He isn’t preachy. He doesn’t force you to care, but somehow, after spending an hour with him or one of his weekly participants, you start thinking about changing things in your life. What he tries to do is show another side of things, the part of life you wouldn’t normally get to see and it’s some of the best television I’ve ever watched.

I was lucky enough to view all 6 episodes of the new season, starting June 3 at 10PM on FX, and, to be honest, my only complaint is that I wish there was more. Everything we love about seasons past is there – the raw emotion, the intriguing stories. This season, I feel like Morgan and Co. stepped it up a notch.

The first episode of the season deals with Morgan living with a coal mining family in his home state of West Virginia. I learned so much more about the lifestyle than I ever thought I would be interested in learning. Did you know that you can make over $100K a year by running a coal mine? I didn’t, and now I want to move down to WV and see what I can help with! I found myself caring about the families, especially Dale and Sandy, who Morgan bunked with for 30 DAYS. I worried about Morgan’s wife, and what would happen if these 30 DAYS were going to be his last because of a mine collapse. I was intrigued by the financial aspect of coal mining that Morgan got from the suits involved in the trade. So much great stuff in one hour, by the end, I found myself moved to tears.

Episode 2 continues the trend, with a great story of former Broncos Cornerback Ray Crockett living his 30 DAYS in a wheelchair. It was really great to see how he was visibly affected by what he was going through. His family was incredibly supportive, and it looks like he made some great friends along the way. Cut to me, once again at the end, in tears. I just like when people learn a lesson or realize something without being force fed the way to do it.

I want you guys to tune in and pay attention to the show for yourself, but here is a sneak peek into the rest of the season:

Morgan himself has said that he thinks Episode 3 (“Animal Rights,” the episode where hunter George Snedeker finds himself living with a vegan campaign coordinator for PETA in LA) is “maybe the best hour of television [he has] ever seen in [his] life.” That’s a rather glowing review from the creator, but he’s not really exaggerating. The episode ranks extremely high on my list of favorite hours of TV, too.

Episode 4 deals with a hot issue right now, the argument for and the argument against “Same Sex Parenting.” Whereas Episode 3 is outwardly the “best hour of television” of the season, Episode 4 packs a punch. Kati lives with Dan and Thomas and their four adopted sons in Michigan. It’s a difficult story to tell, because there are people on both sides of this argument, but I think anyone with a thought on the matter could appreciate this episode.

“Gun Nation” features a woman steadfastly against guns learning to shoot after getting her gun license. It could have been just another episode detailing the gun/no gun argument, but, of course, it goes in a great direction that’s so much deeper than that.

Morgan is back in the season finale, living his 30 DAYS on an Indian Reservation – and it’s another hit. He’s a naturally funny guy, and it’s so intriguing to see him out of his element. I don’t know if could do what he does and be so gracious and understanding about it all.

It sounds like I’m just blowing smoke, but I honestly love this show and hope you’re all excited to watch Morgan and Co. help us see the other side of the coin. Let us know what you think after you’ve tuned in!

FX continues to crank out the good shows as they get set to roll out seven new episodes of THE RICHES, starting with the Season 2 premiere, Tuesday, March 18.

If you didn’t watch Season 1 or need more enticement to watch Season 2, here are some reasons to tune into the premiere:

Eddie Izzard – the man of the house, Wayne Malloy (Doug Rich). He is ridiculously intelligent, terribly loyal, and constantly trying to get out of a bad situation that only gets worse as it goes. He is funny, yet painfully good at playing a father saddened by the need to fix things for his family. And he can give a monologue that makes you want to rise up with fists.

Minnie Driver – the matriarch, Dahlia Malloy (Cherien Rich). I was not convinced she had it in her until I started watching this show. She is powerful, and devastating and inspiring, all rolled into one. Watching the now-clean Dahlia try to keep her family together is really interesting. In Season 1, it was all about the family staying together once Mama got out of jail. In Season 2, it’s about getting the family back together after everything that they went through.

The kids – Cael, Di Di, and Sam (Noel Fisher, Shannon Marie Woodward, and Aidan Mitchell) are really great in their own ways. Cael is rebellious and thrilled to be back on the road, living the traveler life he feels meant to live. Di Di is pretty much the exact opposite, angry to leave the Buffer life she started to love. And then there’s little Sam, confused about just about everything in life.

Singalongs and drunken “Hunsbergers” – Janis Joplin as done by the Malloys (without Wayne but with some friends) is really worth watching the premiere, even if it’s only for a minute. Also making the premiere worth watching is Logan’s pop from GILMORE GIRLS (Gregg Henry) who is so good as “Doug’s” boss. He shows up at the Rich household and causes more problems for Wayne (as if that could be possible).

They need viewers – THE RICHES is too good to be getting the low ratings it has been getting. I thought that Season 1 got better and better with each episode, and the storylines, acting, etc, are often times brilliant. Season 2 is no different, and they just keep stepping it up!

Do yourself a favor and tune in. This season is darker in tone, but still filled with the idea that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, family is what matters above everything else.