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That John Silver is a cheeky schemer, isn’t he? At this point in “Black Sails,” we can’t say for certain whether he’ll be a worthwhile addition to Captain Flynt’s crew, but at the very least Silver (Luke Arnold) has made sure that he’s more valuable to Flynt (Toby Stephens) alive than dead. In this exclusive photo of a scene from Saturday’s episode of “Black Sails,” Silver seems to be assisting Flynt plan his mission to find and pillage the Urca d’Lima…but who knows?

What do you think is happening around that table? Weigh in with your comments, and check out a new episode of “Black Sails” 9pm Saturday on Starz.

A day after NBC axed “The Michael J. Fox Show,” arguably the most high profile comedy to join its schedule last fall, Amazon has released its next round of pilots.

One might ask what one event has to do with the other. In concrete terms, the answer is nothing. Taking in the larger industry landscape, however, Amazon’s practice of allowing users to determine which of these two dramas, three comedies and five children’s shows will go on to become series could markedly change the way the industry does business. After all, if a pilot launches and nobody cares to see more of it, does it really need to happen?

The counterargument is that a pilot represents a concept’s potential. There are no guarantees that a great pilot will become a tremendous series, and there are many much-loved and critically-acclaimed series that launched out of middling or even terrible pilots. If this system were adopted throughout the industry, the good but not great “Michael J. Fox Show” might never have gone to series. Then again, nor would we have gotten to experience “Seinfeld” in its fully realized glory.

Keep that in mind as you take in and give feedback on Amazon’s new comedies “Mozart in the  Jungle,” “The Rebels” and “Transparent,” and its dramas “The After” and “Bosch.” Here are the series descriptions as well as one viewer’s first impressions.

Mind you, my take on these pilots is just that – one person’s take. Ultimately Amazon’s users will decide which of these pilots will become full-fledged series, not critics. Watch all of them  and share your thoughts with Amazon Prime – and, as always, feel free to leave your thoughts in our comments section, too.

“Transparent”

Official description: “An LA family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone’s secrets to spill out. “ Created by Jill Soloway, a producer on “Six Feet Under”  and “United States of Tara”; stars Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker and Jeffrey Tambor.

IMDbTV’s take:  A successful pilot steadily builds from its opening scenes to the climactic finish and makes the viewer want to see more episodes. Rarer are those with characters that get their hooks into our emotions by simultaneously frustrating and surprising us, leaving us impatient to experience the next chapter. “Transparent” is that second kind of pilot – a thought-provoking glimpse at sex and identity as filtered through the prism of a family dramedy. Fans of “Six Feet Under” will recognize a similar dramatic cadence at work in Soloway’s vision of this close-knit brood of individuals, whose profound secrets keep them mired in a stifling state of existential inertia.

Landecker plays Sarah, a rich, bored housewife who gets a chance to reclaim a part of her wilder youth, while Duplass’s Josh is a self-involved music producer who bounces between sex partners but cannot grasp the concept intimacy. Hoffmann’s Ali, the youngest daughter, lives off of the good graces and cash of her father Mort, but struggles to find a direction in the world, while Tambor’s Mort can’t bring himself to reveal an important revelation to his children.

Mort’s struggle illustrates the concept driving “Transparent”: all of us try hide aspects ourselves that we would rather not show to anyone else, but often those closest to us end up looking right at them, whether we like it or not.  If “Transparent” has the chance to build from this auspicious beginning, it may grow into the kind of must-watch online series that inspires enthusiastic discussion and devoted fans  –  which is precisely what every TV content producer wants and needs.

“Mozart in the Jungle”

Official description: “Sex, drugs — and classical music — see what happens behind the curtains at the symphony.” Created by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Alex Timbers , based on a memoir by Blair Tindall. Stars Saffron Burrows, Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters, Gael García Bernal, and Lola Kirke.

IMDbTV’s take:  If you’re surprised at the decadent, bohemian partying that goes on offstage in the world of New York’s classical music scene… well, clearly you weren’t paying attention to that last part of Michelle Flaherty’s tales about what happens at band camp in American Pie.  Mind you, “Mozart” is a lot classier than that theatrical romp, with higher dramatic stakes at play and more honest emotion. It’s interesting to see Bernal flirt with comedy in his role as the hot shot young conductor to McDowell’s elder statesman whose star is fading, but it’s the interplay between Burrows’ libidinous cellist Cynthia and Kirke’s Hailey, a talented oboist looking for a shot at a symphony chair, that creates some of the pilot’s best chemistry. Having said that, it’s not quite clear how much of a comedy “Mozart” actually is, and let’s just say some of the dialogue should have been rehearsed a bit more before having the actors commit it to the screen.

“The Rebels”

Official description: Julie is in over her head when her husband suddenly dies, leaving her as sole owner of The LA Rebels, a pro-football team. Created by Jeremy Garelick and  Jon Weinbach. Stars Natalie Zea, Hayes MacArthur, Affion Crockett and Billy Dee Williams.

IMDbTV’s take:  The first test of any comedy is whether it actually makes you laugh, and this one passes. Nevertheless, if the pilot is any indication, “The Rebels” has a long way to go before it can play in the same league as, say, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” or “House of Lies”.  And that’s OK. There’s something to be said for taking advantage of the freedom available online to push even the broadest comedy into bizarre places. This one has Billy Dee Williams as the team’s coach, extolling the virtues of the spray feature on the general manager’s toilet; a monkey in a diaper firing a gun at a party after snorting cocaine; and dialogue unafraid to play with unnecessary roughness for the sake of entertainment.  Plus, everybody loves a good underdog story.  This one might just move down the field.

“The After”

Official description: “Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation.” Created by Chris Carter. Stars Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Louise Monot, Jamie Kennedy, Adrian Pasdar, Jaina Lee Ortiz, and Sharon Lawrence.

IMDbTV’s take: During the decade-plus since 9/11, there have been a number of TV series about unexplained disasters threatening to bring humankind to the brink of extinction. Some of these are manmade, some come from alien invasion, and some come from…the beyond. Carter’s feels a lot like a hodgepodge of any of these shows minus the zombies, which is a little disappointing coming from the guy who gave us “The X-Files” and “Millennium”. Also, any genre fan who looks closely at the details within shows like these should strap in for a bumpy ride, because this story is chock full of potholes and loose ends.  That said, “The After” could prove to be catnip for genre fans looking for a fun distraction on a weekend afternoon, and when it finally does unveil the weirdness – yes, there is weirdness at play, but it doesn’t really pop up until minute 50 of a 54 minute episode – one could be coaxed into hanging around to see where this show is headed.

“Bosch”

Official description: Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling book series, Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective works to solve the murder of a 13-year-old boy while standing trial in federal court for the murder of a serial killer. Written by Michael Connelly  and Eric Overmyer . Stars Titus Welliver, Lance Reddick and Jamie Hector.

IMDbTV’s take:  This viewer loves Titus Welliver. I really do. If only I loved him in this. It appears that Welliver sought to give us a hard-boiled character in Bosch, a detective with a crusader’s soul and a haunted past. Instead, the character just seems emotionally stagnant and flat, as if Bosch is wallowing through his personal tribulations and his other story arc, the murder case. But then, the script doesn’t seem to venture down any paths that many other detective shows haven’t already trodden time and again.

The police procedural is a tried and true genre for a reason: audiences love being led through good mysteries solved by a great, if compellingly flawed, detective. Given the chance, “Bosch” could grow into a series that gives us plenty of the former, and Welliver undoubtedly has the chops to mold Harry Bosch into a compelling character. Regrettably, those assertions are being made based on faith as opposed to much concrete evidence displayed in the pilot.

Every year, everyone makes a very big fuss over the fall TV season. Understandable, given the tradition surrounding it. Before cable grew into the gigantic, content producing Cthulu-esque beast that it is these days — ever expanding, never resting! — broadcast networks rolled out season premieres of their returning series and debuted new entries to their schedules during the week following the Emmys. Midseason, for what it was worth, was the dumping ground for any series that couldn’t quite find a place in the fall. With the exception of the odd success story such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” broadcast midseason shows came and went.

Cut to the present day, and midseason is just as active as fall — moreso, in fact, on cable. Take a peek at our list of midseason premieres, for example. It’s a partial list, and it’s nearly 100 titles strong. Suffice it to say, viewers have a lot of television to choose over in the coming months, whether we’re talking about new shows or returning ones. The returning series are much easier for viewers to juggle, of course; you’re already invested in your favorites. But what about the new shows?

At the recent Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, reporters, editors and critics who cover the medium were able to preview a number of new comedies and dramas due to premiere over the next few months. Among these upcoming series debuts are a few destined to have a place on several “Best of 2014″ lists at year’s end. Others will become guilty pleasures, while some may go as quickly and quietly as they arrive.

To help IMDb users navigate the midseason landscape, I’ve created a list of a few stand-outs among the new shows presented at the Winter TCAs. While I can’t guarantee all (or any) of them will earn huge ratings or critical acclaim, I am intrigued enough by what I’ve seen of these series to put them on my Watchlist for at least a few episodes.

The list is arranged chronologically in the order of each series’ premiere date. However, for the sake of further narrowing down the field, here are the five that I am most eagerly anticipating.

Fargo. One can be forgiven for wondering how, exactly, a series version of Fargo was going to work. But then, a person might recall that the joy of that movie wasn’t simply in solving the crime but in getting to know the characters and the specific flavors and cadence of the place.

This is where the first hour of “Fargo” the television drama excels. Yes, there are terrible crimes committed, but the characters are brilliantly brought to life by some very famous actors, some of whom are barely recognizable in their roles. However, the two highest profile actors in the bunch, Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman, far and away steal the show. Expect to see this series to get plenty of notice during the run-up to the Emmys and the Golden Globes.

Series Premiere: 10pm Tuesday, April 15, on FX.

Penny Dreadful. Series creator John Logan says he was fascinated by the idea of taking classic Universal horror monsters of the ’40s — the Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dracula — and creating a mythology where they could exist on the same stage and taken seriously. In doing so, he also seeks to create a visually sensual, erotically-charged experience. Done correctly, this show could be anything but dreadful. We’ll just have to find out. The series stars Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, and Josh Hartnett.

Series Premiere: 10pm Sunday, May 11, on Showtime.

The Red Road. In the course of exploring a profound culture clash that exists within a small town, we’re treated to deeply moving performances by Martin Henderson, playing the conflicted sheriff, and Julianne Nicholson as his wife. But Jason Momoa‘s enigmatic, sinister portrayal of Phillip Kopus challenges the viewer’s perception of who is truly the antagonist. Within just the first couple of episodes, Momoa’s Kopus seems unnerving, dangerous and tragic all at once. It’s unclear whether he’ll ultimately gain any empathy from viewers, but he certainly makes us curious to see where this story will go.

Series Premiere: 9pm Thursday, February 27, on Sundance Channel.

Vicious. While film stars crossing over to work on TV series is still somewhat novel to American audiences, it seems to be more fluid over in Europe. That said, it’s fairly surprising to see classical actors Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen headlining a sitcom created by Gary Janetti, a writer best known for his work on “Will & Grace” and for writing several memorable Stewie-centric episodes of “Family Guy“. Accordingly, “Vicious” is very broad, British farce that in the hands of lesser actors probably wouldn’t work. But Jacobi and McKellen are clearly having the time of their lives here, helped along by some wonderfully quotable dialogue.

Series Premiere: 10:30pm Sunday, July 6 on PBS.

Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey Science is not exactly top-of-mind with the American public these days, sadly, but watching this series’ attempt to change that is thrilling. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a gregarious host, dazzling the viewer with the wonders of the universe as beautiful graphics illustrate his narration. Though some may cringe at the idea that Seth MacFarlane is producing this update of “Cosmos,” his animated contributions to each episode augment the sense of childlike wonder within the subjects Tyson tackles. While history tells us “Cosmos” probably won’t survive for long in Fox’s Sunday primetime line-up, we’ll happily watch for as long as it lasts.

Series Premiere: 9pm Sunday, March 9, on Fox.

Read about the rest of the series featured on our New Shows We Can’t Wait to Watch by clicking here.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood of Pasadena, California, where PBS has kicked off three days of presentations at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour. That’s a good thing, because outside of the Langham Huntington Hotel, where the TCA Tour has been underway since January 9, a crowd of “Sherlock” fans have gathered in the hopes of glimpsing the great detective himself — or rather, his alter-ego Benedict Cumberbatch.

“It’s kind of extraordinary and a little unnerving,” Cumberbatch admitted to critics when asked what he thought about the assembly his presence inspired. “…They are so supportive, loyal and, by and large, intelligent.” For the most part, Cumberbatch added, his fans in America and the U.K. respect his privacy. He still takes public transportation, for example. Then again, there are the occasional times that his stardom gets in the way of enjoying simple things. He shared the tale of a restaurant server who recognized him and made a simple dinner order of a chicken dish take half a hour to complete.

Cumberbatch’s live appearance at Press Tour comes a day after “Sherlock’s” premiere on PBS after a nearly two -year hiatus from American television. Although it did not return to “Downton Abbey” numbers, the season three premiere attracted an average of 4 million viewers, according to numbers provided by “Masterpiece” series executive producer Rebecca Eaton. (“Downton”, meanwhile, was up from its premiere, garnering 8.4 million viewers for last night’s airing of the second episode.)

The successes of “Sherlock” and “Downton” with American audiences have obviously proven very beneficial to PBS but, between those titles and the addition of the Jeremy Piven-led series “Mr Selfridge” to the schedule, the “Masterpiece” franchise is in better financial shape than it’s been in a long time. Prior to the “Masterpiece” panels for “Mr Selfridge” and “Sherlock”, Eaton shared that the series’ underwriting slots are sold out through 2014 thanks to Viking Cruises and Ralph Lauren.

That’s a remarkable turn of events from just a few years ago, when Masterpiece’s continued existence was hanging by a tether following the departure of its previous and sole underwriter ExxonMobil, which withdrew its support of the series in 2004. (Viking Cruises eventually stepped in as an underwriter in 2011.)

While Masterpiece has benefited from the rising fortunes of the PBS schedule’s crown jewels, “Sherlock’s” star also has gained a great deal of prominence from occupying the role, as have the series’ executive producers Steven Moffat and his wife Sue Vertue. The producers told critics that the BBC’s head of drama will keep picking it up as long as they want to keep making it, and Moffat joked that they’ll keep on wanting to make more “Sherlock” episodes until Cumberbatch “gets too famous or precious.” The team is currently working on diaries for the fourth and fifth seasons.

“Why is it always me?” Cumberbatch shot back in jest. Well, probably because he was the half of the “Sherlock” duo who was in the room. Martin Freeman, the Watson to Cumberbatch’s Holmes, is currently in Calgary shooting “Fargo” for FX.

In his absence, however, Cumberbatch spoke highly of his co-star and the unique onscreen chemistry that they share. “There’s something that just happens. When Martin walked into the room, I raised my game… Chemistry is what happens when you’re learning from the people around you.”

New season three episodes of “Sherlock” are currently airing on PBS member stations around the U.S. on Sundays at 9:58pm ET/PT. Check your local listings.

Deep into his first press conference with the Television Critics Association’s,  some asked the host of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” how we would differentiate himself from Jimmy Kimmel, his timeslot competitor on ABC.

“We’re in New York?…um…Last names?” Jimmy Fallon gently deadpanned. He was being humble.

When Fallon takes over “The Tonight Show” franchise at 11:35pm ET/PT February 17 on NBC, he won’t just be returning the show to New York City. The new host will mark the beginning of his era with a pair of high-powered guests: Will Smith and musical guest U2. Fallon also mentioned that the first three weeks of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” are already booked.

Compare this to the earliest days of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” when that show’s host was so desperate to book guests that he joked about it on the air as he was bidding the audience good night.  Mind you, that was 11 years ago, and Kimmel was entering the late night fray facing a number of deficits, including stepping into a slot controversially vacated when ABC fired Bill Maher and being the guy best known as Adam Carolla’s partner on Comedy Central’s “The Man Show.”

Kimmel provides far more potent competition these days, but Fallon will take the NBC late night reins in a position of strength in comparison to ABC’s Jimmy. “The Tonight Show” remains in first position in late night, and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” regularly tops its CBS competition by a sizable margin. Those who aren’t regular late night viewers have still seen Fallon appear on awards shows and are probably familiar with him from his “Saturday Night Live” days.

It must also be added that Fallon’s affable demeanor and hip but friendly sense of humor makes him perfectly appealing to America’s middle, those viewers who make or break a late night host’s tenure. Indeed, he can purposefully do away with the “with” in the “Tonight Show” title, pointing out that it is now “Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and not sound full of himself.

“Starring,” Fallon said, just sounds more exciting. Fallon then shared that the “Tonight Show” hosts previous to Jay Leno, including Johnny Carson and Jack Paar, included “Starring” in the title. But for some reason Leno decided to make it “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno“.

Fallon also comes across as a man who is in awe of his success. Asked if he always wanted to host “The Tonight Show,” Fallon told critics, “This wasn’t my dream job because I didn’t know this was a job I could dream about.”

He’ll do just fine. So will Seth Meyers, who takes over Fallon’s “Late Night” slot on February 24. However, it appear he’s having a slightly tougher time finding guests, although he did confirm that Amy Poehler would be joining him for his maiden voyage as nightly talk show host.

“Five weeks out, we’re still putting together the first week,” Meyers admitted to reporters.

Earlier in the day, NBC’s Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt announced the order of limited series “Emerald City,” a 10-episode modern take on L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. In addition to reintroducing familiar characters and adding new ones, other changes including aging up Dorothy Gale – she’ll be twenty years old. Greenblatt described it as “a big, unfolding mystery.”

NBC also is presenting an American version of “The Slap” as an eight-hour miniseries written by Jon Robin Baitz, which explores the family split that results from a child being slapped by a family member at a barbecue. The original aired in Australia and starred Jonathan LaPaglia and Sophie Okonedo.

NBC also confirmed several pilot pickups, including Katherine Heigl’s “State of Affairs”, in which she plays a special CIA adviser to the President of the United States. Heigl also co-executive produces along with Joe Carnahan, who currently works on “The Blacklist”.

The network also granted a pilot commitment to  a comedy executive produced by Poehler, who signed a three-year overall producing deal with NBC. The comedy, currently known by the working title “Old Soul,”  stars Natasha Lyonne as a young woman working as a senior citizens aide while trying to find herself.

Additionally, the network has committed to a second live broadcast of a Broadway musical – this time it’s “Peter Pan” — on December 4, 2014. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron return to produce with cast announcements still to come.

The creation of art is usually a solitary process that, save for a lucky few, does not result in fame or financial gain. The devoted artist would likely respond to that point by saying that money and wide recognition is beside the point; the reward is in the act, the finished product and the effect it has on those who experience it. Thus a solitary process transforms into a communal act, as the artist presents while the audience receives and enjoys.

But what if the audience were inspired by a concept and could add to the product, creating something entirely new with people they’ve never met from around the planet? This is the idea at the heart of “HitRECord on TV,” the unique variety series produced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and making its TV premiere 10pm ET/7pm PT on Pivot.

“‘HitRECord’ is a way that I can really work on a variety of eclectic things,” Gordon-Levitt recently explained during an appearance at the Television Critics Assocation’s Winter Press Tour. “That diversity really makes me happy, and I think it’s conducive to our process, where we have, you know, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world contributing to our collaborations. We’re going to get a diverse range of material, and a variety show is a perfect way to fit all of that into a television show.”

Gordon-Levitt went on to explain that “HitRECord” is open source rather than “user generated.” That is to say, the contributions are molded and curated to ideas and themes that he selects.

“What this is, is a production company,” he said. “I direct it, and instead of just hiring a set full of people that happens on a traditional movie set, we open those doors up using the Internet, and anybody can come to our site and contribute to these collaborations that I’m directing. So, yeah, it’s not exactly democratic. We call it more of a benevolent dictatorship.”

Pivot clearly has faith in Gordon-Levitt’s process: “HitRECord” has already been picked up for a second season, joining the ranks of cable series that get renewed before their first episodes aired.

For the record, the series premiere is titled “RE: The Number One” — not only to mark its significance as the show’s opener, but as a statement of purpose. Using a combination of short films, animation, musical performances and conversation, host Joseph Gordon-Levitt and contributors from around the world illustrate the various meaning of “one”. There are tales about first times, segments inspired by solitude and a rousing vaudevillian dance number kicked off by Gordon-Levitt and Tony Danza who are joined onstage by audience members serving as their back-up dancers.

The premiere episode of “HitRECord” played at Sundance on Friday and is currently available to be viewed online.

Sex and violence are part of any action script, and Cinemax’s “Banshee” serves of heaping helpings of both. Not without purpose, however, and not in a way that shows its female characters getting shortchanged. As the series star Ivana Milicevic says in our latest What to Watch webisode, “The women of ‘Banshee’ are all pretty formidable, and they give as good as the guys give—and they also get as good.”

This idea comes together brilliantly in tonight’s new episode “The Thunder Man,” in which each of the show’s leading ladies gets the chance to show viewers why they are not to be underestimated. I’m not just talking about the crowning sequence of the episode which, without giving too much away, serves as a hat tip to Russ Meyer’s craziest wild action scenes. Instead, the marvelous feat of “The Thunder Man” is in the way that each woman’s part in the hour reveals the fortitude and fury of four very different survivors.

Out of the four characters, we know the least about Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable), sister to the Kinaho Tribe’s chief Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar), who has already proven that she would rather solve problems with force as opposed to negotiation. But tonight’s episode grants us a glimpse at the relationship that inspired Siobhan Kelly (Trieste Kelly Dunn) to become a sheriff’s deputy, while Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons) continues her quest to bury her Amish past by making the wrong choices.

Indeed, it is Rebecca’s character, a newly shunned ex-Amish woman, that some people cite the most when they want to portray “Banshee” as peddling reductive female character tropes in action movies and TV shows. This writer is a huge fan of the show, and even I find her character to be frustratingly shallow in comparison to the depth with which others in series are rendered. However, if you’re a viewer who chooses to have faith in where the story is going, one sees the purpose in her naïve, careless approach to sexuality as a stepping stone on her decent into the ruthless realm inhabited by her crime lord of an uncle, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen).

But the primary draw for many “Banshee” viewers is the evolution of the tortured relationship between Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) and Carrie Hopewell/Ana (Milicevic). Milicevic’s character is rather unique among television action heroines in that she is forced to call upon her physical prowess after successfully taking on the role of mother, wife and an upstanding figure in the local community.  As season two begins, Carrie Hopewell’s secret has been revealed and the calm, straight life she’s built for herself has been wrecked.

When I spoke to Milicevic during last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, she talked about how much she enjoyed the fact that Carrie is a woman who, even at her most lethal, is driven by love — which is part of what makes the character more multidimensional than many women of action. “It’s strange, yes, but that’s really what it is – love for her family, love for her men, love for her father and running away from him.”

This becomes a problem in this second season, as Carrie finds her love falling on unyielding soil with her husband and children – and, increasingly, with Hood. So what happens now that Carrie Hopewell has to confront her past life as Anastasia, master thief, skilled markswoman and the daughter of an unforgiving, murderous crime lord?

“If last year started I started off on the side of the spectrum as Carrie, where I’m holding on to this new ideal life… and then by the end of the season it swung to (being) Ana, I would say that this season is about the integration of Carrie and Ana,” she explained. “It seems to me that (Carrie) wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone who doesn’t accept both sides of her anymore.”

Before we can see the calm middle ground of that integration, however, Ms. Hopewell’s going to be calling on a lot more of the skills that made Ana so dangerous. To see what I mean, watch tonight’s new episode of “Banshee” at 10pm on Cinemax. Click here to see photos from “The Thunder Man,” and find out more about the series by viewing IMDb’s What to Watch episode.

If ABC’s journey were rendered in comic book form, this would be the part of the story where we’d see several frames of the once mighty network bruised, battered and weakened by its foes. Currently in fourth place among the major broadcasters, down 4% from last season according to the latest season-to-date ratings from Nielsen, its underperforming line-up needs all the help it can get.

Thus it was with great excitement that ABC’s entertainment president Paul Lee teased that Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander), an Asgardian ally from Thor’s universe, will appear in episode 15 of Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”,  one of several midseason boosts the network is hoping will bring in more viewers.

“We’re thrilled to have Lady Sif coming on to ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’,” Lee told those covering the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, currently underway in Pasadena, California.  “I’ve read the script on it and I think it’s going to be great.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D.” may be the poster child for ABC’s challenges in the 2013-2014 season: Heralded as one of the most highly anticipated new series leading up to its fall debut, it has struggled creatively as its audience eroded. The most recent new episode, which aired Tuesday, attracted only 6.37 million viewers. To put that in perspective, it’s direct timeslot competitor “NCIS” raked in 19.72 viewers — more than three times the audience. Lee admits that “S.H.I.E.L.D.” took some time to find its “sea legs” but he’s excited about where the story is going in the final nine episodes of the season.

News of Alexander’s guest star appearance comes a few days after the announcement of Bill Paxton’s four-episode guest arc on the series as the cybernetically-enhanced agent John Garrett.

Additionally, Lee also teased that the Wicked Witch of the West will play a significant role in the final nine episodes of “Once Upon a Time“. He also voiced regret that he launched the low-rated “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” in the fall as opposed to sticking what was reportedly his original plan to air it during the original show’s midseason hiatus.

In scheduling news, ABC moved up the premiere of “Mind Games“, starring Steve Zahn and Christian Slater, to 10pm Tuesday, February 25, to replace the low-rated and critically-panned “Killer Women“. (TV Editor’s note: Having seen “Mind Games”, this move is not likely to significantly improve ABC’s fortunes this timeslot.)  New series “Black Box” premieres at 10pm Thursday, April 24.  These midseason premieres will be joined on ABC’s schedule by the previously announced newcomers “Mixology“, premiering 9:30pm Wednesday, February 26, and “Resurrection“, making its series debut at 9pm Sunday, March 9.

ABC also announced that it is producing another holiday special under the Toy Story banner, “Toy Story That Time Forgot”.

April is shaping up to be a busy month for cable viewers: Showtime has given “Nurse Jackie” and the final season of “Californication” an April 13 premiere date, with “Jackie” taking the 9pm and “Californication” at 9:30.

The premium cable channel has reserved the night’s 10pm timeslot for its documentary series “Years of Living Dangerously,” a series of reports on the effects of climate change featuring celebrities and journalists serving as correspondents. Among those participating in the series are Jessica Alba, America Ferrera, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Thomas Friedman, Michael C. Hall, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ian Somerhalder and Lesley Stahl.

This means Showtime’s series will join the midseason schedule at the same time as new seasons of “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” as well as the series premiere of “Silicon Valley” on HBO (April 6); the series premiere of “Turn” (April 6) and the return of “Mad Men” (April 13) to AMC; the series premiere of “Fargo” on FX (April 15); the kick-off of “Orphan Black‘s” second season on BBC America (April 19); and others.

Meanwhile, the premium cable channel’s highly anticipated horror anthology series “Penny Dreadful” will make its debut at 10pm Sunday, May 11.

Showtime network president David Nevins announced the dates to kick off a morning of presentations at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, currently underway in Pasadena, California.

During the press conference, Nevins also revealed how the game changing events of “Homeland’s” finale would affect the series going forward. Nevins says that with the Brody storyline having come to a close, the series will refocus on Claire Danes‘s’ character Carrie Mathison as a field operative, while Mandy Patinkin‘s Saul Berenson, Carrie’s mentor, remains  in a central role.

The CW is creating a “Veronica Mars” spinoff. Wait, wait, wait… before you get too excited, know that it will be a digital series for its online network Seed. Given that the deal closed shortly before The CW’s panels on Wednesday afternoon, the network had no additional information, and it is unclear whether the first webisode will be released prior to the upcoming film’s launch.

Network president Mark Pedowitz told critics that he spoke with series creator Rob Thomas Tuesday night, and while Thomas is excited to do the spinoff, he’s also very busy. (See: upcoming film launch.)  Pedowitz says he responded that The CW will take the webisodes whenever Thomas was ready.

The network also is getting in on the event series (read: miniseries) bandwagon by adding the four-hour miniseries “Labyrinth“, starring John Hurt, Sebastian Stan, Jessica Brown-Findlay & Tom Felton, to its programming bench.

Mind you, this is not as ambitious as CBS’s previously announced summer premieres of new series “Extant” or a second season of “Under the Dome“. The CW typically acquires series to air in midseason or on its summer schedule. “Labyrinth’s” CW premiere has yet to be announced, but the 2012 international production has already run in markets around the world beginning with its earliest debuts in having taken place in South Africa, Portugal and Canada.

Also, film fans, be advised that this series has nothing to do with the cult classic Labyrinth starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly, or Pan’s Labyrinth.

Here is “Labyrinth’s” plot description, taken directly from the press release:

“In Carcassonne, France, in the year 1209, 17-year-old Alaïs (Jessica Brown-Findlay, “Downton Abbey,” “Misfits”), is given a mysterious book by her father; a book which he claims contains the secret of the true Grail.  Although Alaïs cannot understand the book’s strange words and labyrinth symbols, her father instructs her to protect the book no matter what happens to him.  Alaïs realizes that her destiny lies in keeping the secret of the labyrinth safe.  Eight centuries later, at an archeological dig in the French Pyrenees, a young volunteer named Alice Tanner (Vanessa Kirby, “The Hour,” “Great Expectations”) discovers two skeletons in a forgotten cave.  Puzzled by the labyrinth symbol carved into the rock, she realizes she’s disturbed something that was meant to remain hidden.  Somehow, a link to a horrific past – Alice’s own past – has been revealed. ”

In other CW news, The CW is also adding two new unscripted series, the half-hour reality competition series “Barber Battle” hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, and “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” an American version of the illusionist duo’s one-hour competition that aired in the U.K.