Comic Con 2011: At the Showtime Preview Panel, Michael C. Hall and company talked up the 6^th season of Dexter; William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum and John Wells teased the second season of Shameless; Morena Baccarin and Howard Shore discussed their new show Homeland. For all this, plus new trailers for Dexter and Homeland, hit the jump.

Comic-Con has announced the schedule for Preview Night (Wednesday, July 20th) and the Thursday that officially opens the Con.  While Preview Night is usually a chance for attendees to roam the floor of the exhibitors and trample each other for swag, this year’s preview night will be hosting world premiere pilot screenings of Alcatraz, Person of Interest, The Secret Circle, and Supernatural: The Anime Series.  I don’t care about the last two, but since Alcatraz and Person of Interest both come form J.J. Abrams, I imagine they’ll be packed.

As for Thursday, Hall H belongs to (in chronological order): The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Drive, an unannounced line-up from 20th Century Fox (expect Rise of the Planet of the Apes), a sneak peek at Robert Rodriguez’ upcoming films (yawn), and a discussion between Guillermo del Toro and Jon Favreau.  I would stand in line all day just for Drive and the conversation between del Toro and Favreau.  Hit the jump for the full schedule.  Expect the schedule for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday over the next several days.

Showtime has announced which of its series will be making appearances at this year’s Comic-Con. The pay-channel’s panel will include the hit show Dexter and their new series Shameless, as well as a first look at their brand new drama series Homeland. The Dexter panel will include Michael C. Hall, C.S. Lee, David Zayas and season six guest star Colin Hanks. Appearing from Shameless are William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum and more, including executive producer John Wells. Homeland stars Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin.

Hit the jump to read the full press release. The Showtime panel will take place on Thursday, July 21^st. Expect many more Comic-Con announcements in the coming weeks, leading up to our full coverage from the convention starting July 20^th.

Apparently Showtime is pleased with both their hour long family drama/comedy Shameless (read my very positive review here) and the half-hour comedy Episodes enough to warrant another season for both of the freshman series. The cable network announced today each series has been given an order for another season. While the order for Shameless stands as 12 episodes, the count for Episodes has yet to be determined.

Showtime entertainment president David Nevins commented, “The viewer loyalty and critical acclaim that has met both [these shows] since their January debuts makes it clear that these two brash and sophisticated series are burgeoning hits. John Wells is carving out a tone that is truly unique in the television landscape [with Shameless] — equal parts drama and comedy. And Episodes marks the universally embraced and hilarious return to television of an inspired comedy triumvirate: Matt LeBlanc, and creators Jeffrey Klarik and David Crane. We are thrilled with the response to both series and eager to start planning for their second seasons.”

Adapted from the British series of the same name, Shameless is the latest drama from Showtime that is already off to a successful start. The show follows Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy), a booze-addled, working-class patriarch to a brood of six smart, spirited and independent kids who would be better off without his misguided idea of parenting. While Frank is off bar-crawling and carousing around Chicago, eldest daughter Fiona (Emmy Rossum) holds down the fort, taking care of the irreverent, endearing and resilient Gallagher clan, who are quite certainly a handful.

While at the Showtime portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, actress Emmy Rossum talked about what attracted her to this television series, what she loves most about her character Fiona, making sex scenes fun and not taking them too seriously, and how much she enjoys being able to do and say just about anything on this show. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

We’ve seen the comedic exploits of middle class families like The Connors on Roseanne and The Bundy’s on Married with Children, But if the network sitcoms made great strides in depicting the more realistic, down-home families of America then Shameless runs a full-speed marathon in its focus on a struggling lower-to-middle class family. The Gallagher clan certainly isn’t living in luxury, but they make no effort to apologize for the way they live, and aim to do whatever they can just to keep the status quo. Well, at least the six kids in the family struggle to keep the family afloat while the patriarch, a perpetually drunk deadbeat, does about everything he can to make that near impossible. That may sound like the depressing premise for an indie drama on a festival run, but in this case it’s just the beginning of one of the most promising family dramas on television. Find out why after the jump:

As another season of Dexter came to an end last night on Showtime, the cable network teased the beginning of an all new series. Immediately following the season finale of Dexter, the first 20 minutes of the pilot for Showtime’s new series Shameless premiered. If you don’t watch Dexter, or you just plain missed the sneak peek, don’t worry, because Showtime has released the entire lengthy tease of the new series online for your viewing pleasure. Adapted from a popular British show of the same name, Shameless chronicles the exploits of the Gallaghers, a family of degenerates, made up of William H. Macy, Joan Cusack and Emmy Rossum, who seem to be constantly breaking laws and moral codes just to get by. Check out the sneak peek after the jump!

In keeping with the tradition of mining our friends across the pond for new television material, the latest series snatched up from Channel 4 is Showtime’s Shameless. As we previously reported, the hourlong dramedy is headlined by the always great William H. Macy, and revolves around a working-class Chicago clan dealing with the recession.  Macy plays the alcoholic single-father dealing with a family of six, and is joined by Emmy Rossum (Phantom of the Opera) as the eldest daughter who is tasked with keeping her brothers and sisters in line.

Joan Cusack replaces Allison Janney, who filmed a guest spot in the pilot but could not continue with the rest of the show as her ABC series with Matthew Perry, Mr. Sunshine, was picked up to air as a midseason replacement this year.  The project is spearheaded by television uber-producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing) who also wrote the pilot.  Judging from the trailer, it actually looks pretty great. It almost seems like a darker, twisted version of Parenthood (the current Jason Katims iteration). To view the trailer, and for a bit more info on the series, hit the jump.

Though last weekend’s Emmys didn’t give much praise to 30 Rock, fans have plenty to be pleased with for this coming season of the NBC’s comedy series. On the red carpet before the Emmys, series star and writer Tina Fey revealed to EW that Jon Hamm will make an appearance on the previously announced live broadcast episode of season five.  Fey also threw out another season guest star: Paul Gamatti.  Appearing in the second episode of the season, he’ll play a grouchy, Staten Island native who works in a cavernous editing room.  The guest stars of 30 Rock have become one of my favorite bits on the series, and as long as they keep them coming like this, then we’ll all be happy.

After the jump check out casting news for Showtime’s United States of Tara and their new forthcoming series Shameless.

In news that further proves pay cable gets all the best movie stars, THR reports that Showtime has ordered 12 episodes of Shameless, an hourlong drama headlined by the indelible William H. Macy.  The series co-stars Emmy Rossum, whom I best remember as the lead in the 2004 Phantom of the Opera update: please let me know if I should update my cognitive database six years after the fact.  Promisingly, creator John Wells (ER) has alotted a recurring role for his former West Wing co-worker Allison Janney, who had a guest spot in the pilot.

The show is an adaptation of a British dramedy of the same name that revolves around the antics of a large single-parent family headed by an alcoholic (Macy).  More after the break: