A couple of highly promising casting decisions have been made regarding two exciting upcoming pilots.  First up, Liv Tyler has signed on to co-star in Damon Lindelof’s HBO potential series The Leftovers.  Based on the book of the same name by Tom Perotta, the story takes place after the Rapture, centering on the people in a small town that didn’t make the cut.  Justin Theroux is already set as the show’s lead, but Deadline reports that Tyler will be co-starring as Meg, a young woman on the verge of getting married who becomes a target for recruitment by members of an enigmatic cult.  Peter Berg is directing the pilot and Christopher Eccleston, Ann Dowd, Amanda Warren, and Carrie Coon are also set to star.

Hit the jump for news concerning a Hellboy alum joining Guillermo del Toro’s potential new series The Strain.

The first television outing for Skyfall duo Sam Mendes and John Logan has roped in even more prestige talent.  The Impossible director Juan Antonio Bayona has been tapped to direct the first two episodes of the new Showtime series Penny Dreadful, which was created, written, and executive produced by Skyfall scribe John Logan and has Sam Mendes onboard as an executive producer.  The incredibly promising “psychosexual horror series” takes place in Victorian London and weaves together the classic origin stories of horror icons like Dr. Frankenstein and his creature, Dorian Grey, and several characters from the novel Dracula.  Hit the jump for more. 

Showtime has made the first episode of the new drama series Ray Donovan available online in its entirety, for zero monies.  The show stars Liev Schreiber as a “fixer” for the rich and famous in Los Angeles whose life is complicated when his powerful father—whom he may or may not have framed—is unexpectedly released from prison.  The series’ extended trailer looked quite promising, and the show should make a strong summer companion series for Dexter, which returns for its final season later this month as well.

Hit the jump to watch the entire first episode of Ray Donovan, which is unfortunately only available for viewers in the US, and look out for Allison’s review on the site later this month.  The series premieres on Showtime Sunday, June 30th at 9pm ET/PT.

On Season 3 of the AMC drama series The Killing, actress Bex Taylor-Klaus plays Bullet, a tough, scrappy street kid who is the self-appointed protector of all other street girls.  With a gruesome string of murders having been uncovered, it puts all of the street kids at risk, and Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) on a case that is sure to lead them down a dark path.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, Bex Taylor-Klaus talked about how she came to be a part of the show this season, the moment when she found out she got the unique role, why she immediately identified with the character, what it’s been like to work with Joel Kinnaman, how Bullet’s look came about, her favorite episodes, and what first interested her in acting.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Originally launched in 2009, Disney’s official fan club has a new look and a ton of new content available for both new and old fans alike.  The behind-the-scenes team at D23 has spent the better part of the past year prepping a revamped website that brings archival memorabilia, interviews with Disney legends, exclusive merchandise and more to its members.  For the first time ever, D23 is offering a free level of membership so all fans of the Mouse House can get in on the fun.  In addition to being able to access the all-new content, members will be able to purchase discounted tickets for the upcoming D23 Expo, which runs from August 9th to 11th this year in Anaheim.  Hit the jump for much more on D23′s new look and how you can sign up!

It’s officially official: the Boy Meets World gang is coming back to television.  The Disney Channel announced today that the sequel series Girl Meets World has been picked up to series, bringing Ben Savage and Danielle Fischel’s Cory and Topanga back to the small screen for the first time since the Boy Meets World series finale in 2000.  Executive produced by BMW creator Michael Jacobs, Girl Meets World follows the exploits of Cory and Topanga’s tween daughter Riley, played by Rowan Blanchard.  Other Boy Meets World regulars are expected to pop up on the new show every now and then, with William Daniels’ Mr. Feeny confirmed to be appearing in the pilot.

While we’ll have to wait until 2014 to see the show, Disney has released a couple of first-look images that give us a look at the Girl Meets World cast.  Hit the jump to check them out.

This season of Mad Men has, week to week, been a question of “what will this episode bring?”  After last week’s infuriating offering, there wasn’t a lot of excitement for the fallout this time around.  Yet, the show surprised us with one of the best episodes this season.  It was tight, it was surprising, it was self-reflexive and was deeply referential to past seasons of the show and past relationships.  Mad Men has been exceptionally uneven this year from week to week, but “The Quality of Mercy” was a reminder of how good it can be.  Hit the jump to find out if there’s a hooker who will accept travelers checks.

Carrie Preston is certainly on a hot streak with her career.  With memorable and much loved roles on True Blood, as sassy waitress Arlene Fowler, The Good Wife, as the quirky Elsbeth Tascioni, and Person of Interest, as Finch’s love, she’s proven to be as gifted at humor as she is drama.  And when you add in her feature film work and the projects she’s working to produce and direct, it doesn’t seem as though she’ll be slowing down, anytime soon.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, Carrie Preston spoke about what a treat it’s been for her to create such different characters on three shows at once, what it’s been like to be a part of True Blood, how refreshing it’s been to shake things up with a new showrunner, whether Arlene might ever catch a break in Bon Temps, how surprised she was at how well-received her character on The Good Wife has been, that she’d love to continue to work on that show, what it’s been like to work with her husband, actor Michael Emerson, on Person of Interest, and when she might direct next.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Developed by Jeff Davis, the hit MTV drama series Teen Wolf has returned for a super-sized, 24-episode third season.  Picking up four months after the events that nearly ended Jackson’s (Colton Haynes) life and resurrected Peter Hale (Ian Bohen), Season 3 finds teen werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his friends Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden) and Allison (Crystal Reed) beginning their junior year of high school while having to deal with a new threat has arrived in Beacon Hills – a deadly pack of Alpha werewolves intent on bringing Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) into their fold.

With the filming relocated to Los Angeles, Collider was invited to check out the set and chat with the cast for a series of exclusive interviews. While hanging out on a break from shooting, actor Charlie Carver (who plays one of the twin Alphas this season) talked about how he came to the show, wanting to do a different kind of role after Desperate Housewives was done, how much he enjoys the action stuff and the prosthetics, how nice it is to join a show that’s already a proven success, and what it’s been like to work with his twin brother, Max.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Viewers who did not properly acquaint themselves with True Blood‘s fifth season finale will pay the price to kick off the sixth, which starts with a fury of blood, chaos and death.  By the end of the hour though, “Who Are You, Really?” settled down and created some decent possibilities moving forward for its main characters, and ones that — hopefully — stay closer to home and life in Bon Temps than the realm of the Vampire Authority.  Late in the episode, Eric says to Sookie that she will always be “the girl in the white dress who walked into my bar.”  Sookie expresses that she does genuinely want to go back to being that girl, which would be a refreshing change of pace for viewers, too.  Hit the jump for why “I hate the beach. Fish piss and sand in your cooch.”

Was there really a chance of writing about something other than Man of Steel in this week’s opening paragraph? Well, maybe. I did really enjoy This Is the End. But, alas, this week is about Supes’ return to the big screen. I watched the film (in 2D) for the first time last night and, as far as superhero movies go, it elicited an emotional response from me that few in the genre have. Sure, there were times where the grand scale of destruction left me cold and the product placement took me out of the moment (if only to admire some beautiful appliances meeting their untimely demise). Nevertheless, the themes of love, sacrifice, acceptance, and trust were beautifully woven into the film’s text in such a way that it made me do something I’ve only done one other time (while reading Grant Morrison‘s excellent All-Star Superman run): become emotionally invested in the Man of Steel.

While this is undoubtedly Kal-El’s weekend, in addition to Man of Steel interviews and more, this week’s Top 5 also includes the first teaser trailer and poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, This Is the End interviews with Seth Rogen and more, the new Elysium trailer, and a recap of E3 2013 from the convention floor. Learn more about all of the above via a link and brief recap after the jump.

Hannibal may be the smartest, most reflective series on TV right now.  And I say this as a Mad Men fan (that show has it’s own problems).  Hannibal is not without its flaws — it suffered from a few episodes early on that relied too much on Cases of the Week or plots that didn’t seem to connect much beyond a cursory fact being revealed (like with Jack Crawford’s wife, we learned Hannibal can sniff out cancer).  But even then, nothing was ever totally extraneous.  It all fed into the main drama between Will and Hannibal, which all lead up to and was explored with incredible intelligence in “Releves.”  This penultimate episode also included a shocking ending that still made perfect sense.  Hit the jump for why “you look pretty,” oh so prettyyyy …

HBO has released character posters for the upcoming season of The Newsroom.  As we previously reported, season two will focus on the 2012 Presidential campaign, but EW reports that the season will begin on August 23, 2011 (the day Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli compound was captured by rebel forces) and also cover major events including “the Tea Party/American Taliban, the general election including the primaries and conventions, Trayvon Martin, the Affordable Care Act, and drones,” because Aaron Sorkin wants to throw in his two cents but use a TV series instead of a blog.  The new posters cleverly play up Sorkin’s impeccable one-liners, but also use the very serious reporters staring pensively.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The Newsroom returns July 14th.

Though the pilot for the potential FX drama series Tyrant was dealt a blow when Ang Lee backed out of the director’s chair over understandable concerns that he was too exhausted following the production, release, and awards run of Life of Pi, another exciting filmmaker has stepped in as his replacement.  THR reports that David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter films to great success, has stepped in to direct the pilot for Tyrant.  Developed by Homeland showrunner/executive producer Howard Gordon, Tyrant centers on an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation.

The move comes as Yates has had some trouble firming up his post-Potter project.  He initially flirted with the low-key drama Your Voice In My Head before ultimately leaving that project, and most recently Yates has been developing a Tarzan reboot at Warner Bros. starring Alexander Skarsgard.  WB recently put the brakes on Tarzan due to budget concerns and it’s unknown when/if the project might get going again, but Tyrant makes for an exciting directorial choice for Yates in the meantime.

This week on The Collision, we’re joined by our TV Editor Allison Keene to talk about Game of Thrones.  Now that the third season has finished, we look back on the show so far, how it compares to the books, the future of the series going forward in relation to the written and unwritten novels, and more.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“The Art of Marketing Hollywood Movies”), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.