PASADENA, Calif. — Endings and new beginnings mark AMC’s lineup for 2015, including the conclusion of “Mad Men” (beginning at 10 p.m. April 5) and the debut of the “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” (10 p.m. Feb. 8).
The core, original “Mad Men” cast met the press Saturday morning with series creator Matthew Weiner to not talk about the plot of the show’s last seven episodes — Mr. Weiner is notoriously secretive about plot — and laugh at what might come next.
“Better Call Pete,” Jon Hamm said, suggesting a “Mad Men” spinoff that is not happening. Mr. Hamm claims to have no future career plans.
“Car detailing. I’ve started a little job,” he joked.
Co-star Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete, chimed in that he has started a car detailing business, too.
“We’re not really working together,” he said. “He opened up shop right across the street.”
“We’ve all been, because of the show, sticklers to detail,” Mr. Hamm said, preparing to stick the landing for his joke. “Which is actually the name of Vinnie and I’s car detailing company: Stickler to Detail. … If it’s not obvious by that answer, I have nothing to do, literally.”
The “Breaking Bad” prequel, “Better Call Saul,” will contain some surprises for “Breaking Bad” fans, but in season one it won’t be the surprise cameo some fans may hope to see.
Series creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould confirmed that neither Walter White (Bryan Cranston) nor Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) will appear in the first season of “Saul.”
“We really want this to stand on its own,” Mr. Gould said. “We don’t want to mislead people. … But having said that, everything else is on the table.”
Indeed, in addition to the presence of “Bad” regulars Saul (Bob Odenkirk) and Mike (Jonathan Banks), attentive viewers will catch a glimpse of another “Bad” character in the series premiere. And producers don’t rule out seeing Walt down the road if it makes sense for the story. (They sounded less sure about Jesse because he might be in middle school or high school in 2002, when “Saul” is set.)
“We won’t say it’s never gonna happen,” Mr. Gilligan said. “But we won’t say it will happen.”
Pittsburgh native on ‘Eye Candy’
MTV’s latest scripted drama, “Eye Candy” (10 p.m. Monday), is basically the MTV version of a cross between CBS’s “Stalker” and the upcoming “CSI: Cyber” as 21-year-old hacker Lindy (Victoria Justice) suspects one of the suitors she meets through an online dating app is a serial killer. She teams up with a local police cyber unit to solve a series of murders in this dark 10-episode serialized drama. (Her backstory involves the unsolved abduction of her younger sister, and, yes, the show is as dreadful as it sounds.)
Lindy’s roommate, Sophia (Kiersey Clemons), is friends with gossip website blogger Connor, played by Pittsburgh native and 2014 Carnegie Mellon University drama school grad John Garet Stoker.
Although Mr. Stoker grew up in Princeton, N.J., he still has ties to Pittsburgh, including his uncle, Alco Parking owner Merrill Stabile.
While at CMU Mr. Stoker appeared in “The Crucible,” “As You Like It” and “Three Sisters,” among other stage shows. But “Eye Candy” marks his first time acting professionally on camera.
“It’s been a wild ride,” he said. “I graduated in May, moved out [to Los Angeles] in July, and then this was my fifth or sixth audition, and then they sent me back to the East Coast.”
“Eye Candy” filmed its first season in New York beginning in mid-September. He said CMU helped prepare him for acting in the show.
“My overall training, everything I am at this point as an actor, happened at Carnegie, but having said that, this is my first job in film or TV and being on set — in class we did cover some of that — was a sharp learning curve,” he said. “I will say the amount of work I did at Carnegie Mellon, the focus they rightfully demand of their students, has been invaluable for me. It’s been a great help in my stamina doing 14-hour days and only shooting two of those hours. The waiting and waiting is a huge part of this. I’m grateful and feel very well-equipped ultimately because of that training.”
HBO schedules ‘Game of Thrones’
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” returns at 9 p.m. April 12, followed by “Silicon Valley” at 10 and “Veep” at 10:30 p.m. the same night.
The premium cable network also announced air dates for an anticipated documentary on Scientology. “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” (March 16) profiles eight former Scientologists.
HBO will debut the documentary film “Citizenfour,” about Edward Snowden, at 9 p.m. Feb. 23. The first fully authorized documentary about Kurt Cobain, “Montage of Heck,” debuts May 4.
Comedian Tig Notaro will star in her first comedy special for the network, a stand-up performance in front of a live audience. No air date was announced.
Channel surfing
Netflix is making an eight-episode sequel series to the cult classic movie “Wet Hot American Summer” with the film’s cast reuniting. … “Green World Rising,” a series of 10-minute shorts on climate change supported by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, is airing on PCTV (Channel 21 on Comcast; Channel 47 on Verizon FiOS TV) at 9 p.m. Mondays this month. They’re also available at greenworldrising.org.
A portion of this column originally appeared online in the Tuned In Journal blog. Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen is attending the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Follow RobOwenTV at Twitter or Facebook. You can reach him at 412-263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com.
First Published: January 12, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
