HBO isn't wasting a single moment in 2013. Next weekend, Lena Dunham's smash hit "Girls" returns for season two, with season one not even a full year in the rearview. And while the world breathlessly awaits "Game Of Thrones" this spring and "Boardwalk Empire" this fall, there will be plenty of programming to keep you occupied.
Bummed you missed the U.K. miniseries "Parade's End" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall that aired overseas last fall (maybe you caught some of our reviews)? Well, settle in because HBO is going to get you over the winter hump by airing it in February. The miniseries is an adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s four novels which chronicle the life of Christopher Tietjens (Cumberbatch), a government statistician from a wealthy family who is serving in the British Army during World War I. While Christopher is at war, the novel also follows his wife Sylvia (Hall) – a socialite who seems intent on ruining her husband – and the suffragette Valentine (Clemens) with whom Cumberbatch is having an affair. Scandal! The series will air over three consecutive nights starting on February 26th at 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, Christopher Guest ("Waiting For Guffman," "Best In Show," "Spinal Tap," — you should know who he is) is back and his new show "Family Tree" will drop this spring (date pending). Chris O'Dowd, Fred Willard, Michael McKean and Ed Begley Jr. feature in the documentary-style show (obviously) centering on the newly single and unemployed, 30-year-old Tom Chadwick, who has a rather unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box of belongings from a great aunt he never met, Tom starts investigating his lineage and uncovers a whole world of unusual stories and characters, acquiring a growing sense of who he and his real family are. And trivia: the first four episodes take place in London.
Also coming in the spring is "Vice," an investigative reporting program from the people behind the magazine with Bill Maher producing and CNN's Fareed Zakaria consulting. That should be pretty fascinating.