hbo

Once upon a time, HBO’s Girls might have ended up a very different cultural phenomenon, between Amy Schumer testing for then-miniscule role as Shoshanna, and other near-misses. Now, ahead of the sixth and final season, Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke reveal that Jessa almost had to be abruptly written out.

Among the myriad reasons presented for Game of Thrones Season 7 shrinking to seven episodes over the usual ten, producers explained that the level of production could no longer accommodate so many episodes a year. Now, comments from star Iain Glen support that, noting that Season 7 will take just as long to film as full seasons.

Yesterday saw HBO announcing a tribute to the late Carrie Fisher via encore presentation of her adapted Wishful Drinking, and the network will waste little time paying tribute to her mother Debbie Reynolds as well. The official release of upcoming mother-daughter documentary Bright Lights has now been scheduled for early January as well.

The tragic passing of Carrie Fisher took an even more heartbreaking turn with the subsequent death of mother Debbie Reynolds, but the heartfelt work of either will at least receive an HBO spotlight in the future. The network will air an encore of Fisher’s adapted stage show Wishful Drinking on Sunday, while a future Fisher-Reynolds special remains on track for 2017.

The Leftovers may have gotten the shortest shrift of HBO’s 2017 preview trailer, but who wants to let the mystery be? Sneak a new peek at the final season’s April 2017 premiere with a brand-new photo, and teases from creator Damon Lindelof about the “end of the world” Kevin Garvey and his father will find in Australia.

Even for a case in which a 12-year-old girl gets stabbed nearly 20 times, it was particularly heinous: young Payton Leutner of Waukesha, Wisconsin was recovered bleeding out in the woods near a slumber party she had been attending in 2014. Her attackers were two of her good friends, fellow middle schoolers. What could have possessed a couple of innocent kids to suddenly turn psychopath without warning and leave their pal for dead in the middle of the night?

Murder, she wrote, but not in Westeros. Despite a widely-circulating Game of Thrones rumor suggesting the revered Angela Lansbury would appear in in Season 7 of the HBO fantasy drama, consider the cameo officially debunked.

Even at a reduced episode order, Game of Thrones Season 7 brings with it the likelihood of even more character connections than the prior year. We know travel times are no longer a concern, but a new Season 7 production report places a surprising figure within striking distance of King’s Landing.

Any and all of Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin’s books are essentially out the window by Season 7, but that shouldn’t stop rabid fans from casing every minor detail. To wit, the first Season 7 casting calls have gone out, so let’s speculate wildly about a priest! And a warrior! Oh, and there’s a guard! Maybe a lovely lady?

We’ve known for some time that True Detective Season 3 had largely taken a backseat to creator Nic Pizzolatto’s next HBO project, though few, if any details had emerged on that front. Now, it seems Pizzolatto’s propensity for bringing A-list stars to TV hasn’t cooled one bit, as Robert Downey Jr. may lead a new TV project, and one based on past Perry Mason plans at that.

Among the myriad HBO updates from the TCA press tour this weekend, Lena Dunham’s Girls garnered little spotlight for its sixth and final season, currently projected to air in 2017. Now, following her DNC appearance, Dunham teases a Florida shoot for Hannah’s final year.

John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight on HBO, recruited several big-name artists to take a stand against politicians using their music without their permission.