Primetime Emmy® nominee and Daytime Emmy winner Heche and Emmy winner and Oscar® nominee Hirsch have joined the cast of Silent Witness, based on the book by Richard North Patterson. The movie stars Dermot Mulroney (Zodiak, Copycat) as prominent defense attorney Tony Lord, who returns to his hometown to defend the teacher, played by Michael Cudlitz (TNT’s Southland). Tony’s involvement re-opens the heartache from his own high school days, when he was a student falsely accused of murdering his first love. Heche will play Sue Robb, the wife of the accused, while Hirsch will play Tony’s longtime friend Saul Rubin, who helps him on the case.

Silent Witness is set to premiere Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). Lizzie Friedman and Greg Little, the team behind One Lucky Elephant, Whiz Kids and Sex and Death 101, serve as executive producers along with Howard Braunstein (The Informant!). Peter Markle (Bat*21, Flight 93) is set to direct from a script by Thomas Michael Donnelly (Our Fathers).

Emmy nominee Devane, Welliver and Mathew will join Catherine Bell (JAG, Army Wives) in Good Morning, Killer, which is being adapted by April Smith from her own novel. Devane will play Everett Morgan “Poppy” Gray, the grandfather of Bell’s FBI Special Agent Ana Gray, an undercover operative tracking down a serial kidnapper. Welliver will play FBI Special Agent Mike Donato, Ana Gray’s FBI partner. And Mathew will play FBI Special Agent Barbara Sullivan, Ana’s best friend at the bureau. Cole Hauser (Chase, K-Ville) co-stars in Good Morning, Killer as Detective Andrew Berringer.

Good Morning, Killer is slated to premiere Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). In addition to writing the screenplay, Smith is set executive-produce Good Morning, Killer with Frank von Zerneck (We Were the Mulvaneys, Miracle on Ice). Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher, The Ballad of Little Jo) will direct.

The TNT Mystery Movie Night will launch Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) with Scott Turow’s Innocent, starring Bill Pullman, Marcia Gay Harden, Alfred Molina, Richard Schiff, Tahmoh Penikett, Callard Harris and Mariana Klaveno. The showcase will also feature Kathy Najimy, Scottie Thompson and Jane Alexander in Deck the Halls, based on the book by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark; John Corbett, Julie Benz, Kelly Overton, Gary Cole and Haaz Sleiman in Ricochet, based on the bestseller by Sandra Brown; and Carla Gugino, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kevin Alejandro and Bridget Regan in Hide, based on a book by Lisa Gardner.

Southland Regular Cast

In a press release today, the TNT Network has announced its fall and winter television schedule, including the premiere date for Season 4 for the hit drama Southland.

The hit show will return to the air for it’s 4th season on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at its usual 10pm time slot.

Returning for the 4th season will be series regulars and fan favorites Michael Cudlitz, Ben McKenzie, Regina King and Shawn Hatosy. Also joining the cast this season will be Lucy Liu in a recurring role as an LAPD officer, although exact details on her role have not yet been released (the writers only returned to work a couple of weeks ago, so of course they are keeping details extremely close).

Southland has redefined the police drama genre with a raw, authentic look at the lives and work of detectives and beat cops. In its second season, Southland grew its audience by a sweeping 8%.

Southland, a production of TNT and John Wells Productions (ER, The West Wing, Shameless), is known for being the non-traditional police drama that brings to life the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as well as accurately depicting the LAPD and its technicalskills. In fact, it is frequently praised by current and past members of the LAPD for ts realistic depictions. Originally created for NBC, the show moved to TNT after it was cancelled by NBC following its extremely short spring season 1.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.  TNT is currently the largest advertiser supported basic cable network.

Note – while information for this article was obtained from an official TNT press release, the article itself was written and prepared by the SouthlandTvFans.com Editor. Any inaccuracies are the sole responsibility of SouthlandTvFans.com.

With the new season not currently schedule to start until January 2012, the earliest we probably would resume regular group chats would be some time at the end of December. Currently, it is not unusual for only 2-3 people to show up for the weekly chats, and even then the actual Southland discussions last about 5 minutes max, then the rest of the time is spent on personal discussions that could easily be done on personal Instant messaging or Facebook chat.

At our current rates, we are paying $15/month (thanks to paraChat giving us a DEEP discount) which would be $60-$75 between now and the end of the year. The problem is, I have received IN TOTAL only $117.00 ($111.42 after fees) in donations this year. So far this year, I have already paid $212.79 on the chat room and $578.23 total on the website, between the chat room, shipping for the charity auction and domain names. So, for 2011 alone, I am currently $466.81 in the hole, and that doesn’t count values brought forward from 2010.

Now, I love Southland, but we are NOT a 501(c)(3) non-profit or any other type of charity. I have to pay for this stuff out of pocket. If none of the users/fans consider it important enough to even contribute a measly $5 once in a while to help keep the site running, then I am not going to pay out of my pocket and take money from my family & my business to let people gossip and play around. It’s that simple.

Bottom line – if people want the site and the features it offers, then they need to put their money where their mouths are. Without the donations, and with everyone flocking here to Facebook instead of the website, I don’t see a need to continue the effort or the expenses.

Emmy®-nominated Actress Lucy Liu

Emmy®-nominated actress Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill: Volume 1) has been cast as a special guest-star on the upcoming fourth season of TNT’s critically acclaimed police drama Southland. The series – starring Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, Regina King and Ben McKenzie – is slated to launch its new season in January 2012 on TNT. Liu will appear throughout the season as a member of the LAPD.

A critical and commercial sensation in film, television and on stage, Liu recently reprised her role as Viper in the animated hit Kung Fu Panda 2, as well as completed shooting The Man with the Iron Fists, with Russell Crowe and RZA, slated for release later this year.  After recently earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for her performance in the Lifetime miniseries Marry Me and completed production on the films Detachment, Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You and East Fifth Bliss.

Liu’s extensive film credits include the blockbuster hit Charlie’s Angels, its sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Quentin Tarantino’s critically acclaimed Kill Bill: Volume 1, and Rob Marshall’s Oscar®-winning film Chicago, among many others.  On television, Liu co-starred in the hit series Ally McBeal, for which she earned both Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award® nominations. She has also guest-starred on such series as Sex and the City, Joey, Ugly Betty, Cashmere Mafia and Dirty Sexy Money, as well as lending her voice to animated hits like The Simpsons, Futurama and King of the Hill.

Liu made her Broadway debut last year in the Tony-winning play God of Carnage, with Jeff Daniels, Dylan Baker and Janet McTeer. In 2010, she made her feature directorial debut with Half the Sky, an adaptation of the bestseller. A consummate advocate for human rights, Liu also produced and narrated Redlight, a powerful documentary about sex trafficking that premiered at the 2009 Woodstock Film Festival and aired on Showtime.

TNT’s Southland takes viewers directly to the streets of LA to present an intensely personal, first-person look at cops and detectives on the beat. The extraordinary show has redefined the police drama genre with a raw, authentic look at the lives and work of detectives and beat cops. Shot on location in the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Southland captures a realistic, natural environment where similar situations can and often do occur in real life.

Southland comes to TNT from John Wells Productions and Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing), in association with Warner Bros. Television. Created by Emmy® winner Ann Biderman (NYPD Blue, Public Enemies), the series is executive-produced by Emmy® winners Christopher Chulack (ER, Third Watch) and Wells. Chulack is also a primary director of the series. Andrew Stearn (Shameless, The West Wing) is co-executive producer.

About TNT
TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Seen in 100.5 million households, the network is home to such original series as The Closer, starring Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle; Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Hawthorne, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; and Southland, from Emmy-winning producer John Wells (ER). TNT also presents such powerful dramas as The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and, starting next year, Castle; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Release Date: August 1, 2011

Charity Auction

We conducted our second round of the Charity Auction and the results were, well, less than overwhelming. While two people did take advantage of the “Buy It Now” feature that we added this time around to outright purchase a a couple of the autographed photos, the general response and interest in event was lackluster at best.

The good news is, we raised a total of over $700 for AmeriCares. $700 for AmeriCares equals to over $30,000 in aid delivered on the ground in Northern Japan, so I’m thrilled about that. Major thanks should be given to those who participated in the auction and supported this wonderful cause. Overall, however, I am seriously disappointed in the lack of support from our community. Not just the lack of bids – I understand financial hardship – but also in the lack of helping to promote the auction, failure to help by Retweeting the item posting tweets, or anything else to help promote it to the public in general. How much would that have cost fora a show we all supposedly loe so much, from people who spend so much time talking about it online, who also spent so much time tweeting & Facebooking about the tragedy in Japan?

So, needless to say, our days of philanthropy are over. The remaining cast members who promised to send autographed photos to auction off never ended up delivering anyway, so I’ve got nothing left to auction. Plus, the whole deal of mailing off the items & handling the inevitable issues of complaints about shipping, nondelivery, customs, etc. was just too much work. My hat’s off to anyone who does this on a regular basis for a living – I sure as heck couldn’t do it every day.

If anyone still wants to support the AmeriCares Pacific Earthquake & Tsunami Fund, they are always accepting donations! The work is far from over and won’t be for a long time to come. Please click on the AmeriCares logo on the right and you will be taken to the correct page on their site to make a donation specifically for that fund (as opposed to their general fund, or one of their other projects, like their Tornado relief funds).

Live Chats

Thanks to a great deal from our chat service provider, who gave us an amazing discounted price on the chat room, the live chats will continue for the foreseeable future. For the moment, I have enough money left in the donation fund to keep the website domain names registered and keep the chat rooms running for a few months at least. As long as the money is there to pay for it, the service will stay up for those that want to participate.

Season 2 DVD & Web Store

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that Season 2 of SouthLAnd is now available on DVD now in a 2 disc uncensored pack. The bad news for many is that it’s only available online from the WB Shop.

To make things easier, and help support the website at the same time, I have setup an affiliate agreement with the WB Shop and we’re offering the Season 2 DVD right there from the site. You will see the picture & link on every page over on the right side, plus you can visit the store linked from the very top of every page.

If you are planning on buying it soon, please considering clicking through one of our links to do so. The purchase is exactly the same as if you went directly to WB’s site, you’ll get it in the same amount of time, but if you do then we will get a small percentage of the sale of the DVDs, plus a percentage of anything else you buy at the WB Shop during the same trip.

Our store also has a number of other great Southland-related items, all of which we get a percentage of if you buy them after clicking on our links. These include things like Southland on iTunes an Amazon.com, as well as various movies starring the cast of Southland.

Website Hiatus

Due to a number of pressing personal & business issues, I will not be around very much to do, well, pretty much anything for the website for the next couple of months. As there is not really anything going on with SouthLAnd right now, that’s pretty much a perfect time. Other fans are doing a great job of keeping track of the stars and their activities in their hiatus from the show. You can stay updated on that stuff best by joining the SouthlandFans group on Facebook, where fans post on a regular basis. You can also find links to the Fan Pages for many of the cast there, too.

Hopefully everyone will have a safe and enjoyable summer, without too much harrassment from Mother Nature. We should resume normal activities here in the late fall, when TNT resumes filming of the show for Season 4.

Until then, behave yourselves – Southland Style!

For this round, we have 4 photos that were a great hit in the first round. Sorry folks, no jackets – that ship has sailed!

Starting bid for all pics in this auction is $50, but if you act fast and really, really want any of the pictures you can take advantage of the eBay “Buy It Now” feature and snap up any of them for just $60 to avoid getting into a bidding war. Act fast, though, because that option is ONLY there until the first person makes a bid of any amount. Once a bid is placed, “Buy It Now” is off the table.

Remember – this is all for the benefit of the AmeriCares Pacific Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fund. They can take each dollar and multiply it up to 35 times for the delivery of aid directly where it is needed, so every dollar helps. In the first round we raised $588.83. If all pictures sell, we can raise at least another $200 – but let’s shoot for the sky!

So get your behinds over to eBay and start bidding/buying! We’ve even made it easier with a nice short link: http://sfc.me/auction

Happy Bidding!

Photos available for purchase:

The end results of the 1st round of the auction is that we managed to raise a grand total of $588.83 for Japan! While that might not seem like much at first glance, keep in mind that AmeriCares, through its amazing work, can multiple donations by as much as 35 times, converting that to a whopping $20,609.05 worth of aid delivered to the region. Wow!!!

The work is not complete yet, though!

We still have a few pictures left from Michael McGrady and Michael Cudlitz which were not put up for auction the first time. So… Round 2!!!

This time, I’m going to do things a little bit differently. First, I’m going to raise the initial prices of the pictures to be more in keeping with the final bids on the same pictures in Round 1. Only fair, right? Next, instead of a straight, regular auction I’m going to offer the eBay “Buy It Now” option. Don’t feel like waiting the full 10 days for the auction to end? No problem! Be the first to encounter the item before bidding starts and be willing to pay the “Buy It Now” price – it’s yours!! Also, since eBay (in their infinite wisdom) will not allow us to do “auction style” listings with multiple quantity items, with or without “Buy It Now” turned on, for those pictures that I have more than one of, we will have to do additional rounds. Perhaps, if there is enough interest (or not? who knows!) we will simply average the bids for those pictures and place them up for sale first-come-first-serve after this round is over. We shall see.

So head on over to eBay and check out the new items – then bid or buy to support AmeriCares and the Pacific Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fund! Wouldn’t be amazing if we could raise at least $1000 total through our Southland Fans?!?!

Don’t forget – even if you can’t, or don’t want to, buy any of the pictures up for auction you can still support the relief fund. Even the smallest of donations makes a huge difference in the hands of AmeriCares! Just click on the AmeriCares logo over on the right side of the page.

Don’t let that distract us from celebrating the birthday from an incredibly beautiful, talented and wonderful actress we have grown to love to hate from Southland: Ms. Emily Bergl!!

Even her toughest critics must admit, Emily has nailed it in her role on Southland as the oft-despised Tami Bryant, wife of Detective Sammy Bryant. Face it, for a woman as incredibly talented as Emily is, it takes amazing acting chops to come across on screen as clueless, naive and despicable as Tammi does – making her one of Southland’s characters that we all love to hate. That character is one that is undeniably indispensable, however, because it is her actions that lead to some of the best character development and actions on the part of Sammy throughout the first three seasons of the show.

Emily’s skills are not just limited to Southland, though. Many may recognize her from her first major role as the fiesty Rachel Lang opposite Jason London in The Rage: Carrie 2, more recently as Beth Young on the ever popular Desperate Houswives, or from her stint as Annie O’Donnell on the series Men In Trees, as well as numerous other roles in her television & big screen career spanning spanning more than a decade. She has also done a number of productions on the stage.

If you have been truly lucky, however, you have been privileged to see Emily perform in person in her cabaret show Kidding On the Square. In this show, Emily truly comes alive showcasing her true talent as a gifted singer featuring songs from the 920′s through current day (Madonna anyone?), with a style and flair that’s all her own. I personally have been privileged to see her perform twice in the LA area and will happily return to see here again whenever possible, even for the same show.

So please join us in wishing Emily a warn and heartfelt Happy (Belated!) Birthday here, even if you already did so on Twitter or Facebook! Love or Hate Tammi Bryant, Emily Bergl is someone worthy of your love and respect for her incredible talent. Let’s show here now!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Photo credit: TNT/Doug Hyun

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Your character Nate may be dead on Southland, but you will forever live on in our hearts and minds as one of our favorites for all time. From every dramatic moment on screen, the amazing relationship with Sammy, the complicated ones with your daughter to the incredibly tender (and steamy!) scenes with your wife. With every scene you  brought a depth to the character of Nate Moretta that made us all love him, and you, so much that it is no wonder that your character’s death was one of, if not the, most talked about events of Season 3. You will be missed!

Most of all, we are eternally grateful to you for taking so much time from your extremely busy schedule to chat with us the Thursday after your big episode, answering questions for so many people. Your (and Shawn’s, Micahel Cudlitz’s, Michael McGrady’s & C. Thomas Howell’s) willingness to come chat with the fans one-on-one is just another indication of how different, and special, Southland and its cast really is. The show itself is great, but you actors make it truly special.

While we may not get to see you on Southland again, you have definitely earned fans for life. We all look forward to seeing your return to True Blood as Jesus this summer and seeing The Legend of Hell’s Gate when it is released.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Ese!

The first round of the auction has launched with 7 items total, including 3 sizes of the Southland jackets and 4 different autographed photos signed by Michael Cudlitz and Michael McGrady.

For information about the auction, why we are doing it, how it’s being conducted, etc., please take a gander at our full Charity Auction page here on the site. You can also jump directly to our eBay Auction page to view the listings and, hopefully, place a bid on one or more of the items. Remember – this is for charity, to benefit the relief efforts in the Sendai region of northern Japan, with 100% of the final sale price of all items going directly to AmeriCares!

Place your bids, everyone! The first round of the auction ends shortly after 11pm Pacific time on April 7th.

Here are the items currently available for bidding – good luck to everyone!

	Michael Cudlitz Action Photo from Southland  Southland and TNT Logo on Photo Autographed by Michael Cudlitz in permanent marker Starting bid: $25 For details and to place a bid click here
	Michael Cudlitz Promotional Photo from Southland  Southland and TNT Logo on Photo Autographed by Michael Cudlitz in permanent marker Starting bid: $25 For details and to place a bid click here
	Southland Cast Photo from Season 3, with Michael Cudlitz, Ben McKenzie, Regina King and Shawn Hatosy  Southland and TNT Logo on Photo Autographed by Michael Cudlitz ONLY in permanent marker Starting bid: $25 For details and to place a bid click here
	Michael McGrady Publicity Photo  Autographed by Michael McGrady in permanent marker Starting bid: $25 For details and to place a bid click here
	Southland & TNT Logo Promotional Jacket  Jackets produced and provided by TNT for Season 3 promotional purposes and much coveted during our weekly chats. Jackets are men’s Nike® Dri Fit® construction, super light weight pull over style with 1/2 zipper and gray shoulder piping. The Dri Fit material makes them perfect for every day wear, keeping you warm in chill breezes or cold weather but comfortable enough that you don’t need to take them off when it gets warmer. Starting bid (each): $75 Sizes and links: X-Large Large Medium