If your heart has mended since having seen the WWII HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which first aired in 2001, and you have gotten through the pain and triumph of The Pacific, the follow-up series that took place in the Asia theater of war (and aired in 2010) then prepare for a new soul-crushing possibility: a third series that would follow the aerial battles in the Pacific.

The original installment seemed to act as a springboard for a huge number of actors who have continued rising in their fame (such as Michael Fassbender, Ron Livingston, Jamie Bamber, Tom Hardy, Colin Hanks and Simon Pegg), including Damian Lewis, whose heroic Major Dick Winters is miles away from his current role as the compromised former patriot Nicholas Brody on Showtime’s Homeland (Dick Winters would never be turned against America!)  For more on the upcoming project, hit the jump.

While at the HBO portion of the TCA Press Tour, President of Programming Michael Lombardo and co-President Richard Plepler took some time to talk about new and returning programming.  During the interview, they spoke about how long Game of Thrones and True Blood could run for, the status of the Entourage movie, their movie deal with Larry David and the affect that could have on future seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, their thoughts on the first season of The Newsroom, the possibility of a fourth season for Treme, and what viewers can expect from the Woody Harrelson/Matthew McConaughey series True Detective.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Prior to the HBO presentation at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, the network’s Co-President Richard Plepler and President of Programming Michael Lombardo took some time to discuss where they’re at with the development of some of their upcoming projects, what they’d like to improve on with their programming, their desire to keep Alan Ball around as showrunner on True Blood and, of course, lots of Game of Thrones talk. Here are the most interesting points:

• If they could do 12 episodes of Game of Thrones, they would, but they feel the quality of the series would suffer for it.
• They’re optimistic in being able to carry the Game of Thrones story through to the end, and completely believe in and trust the vision for the series.
• Alan Ball is definitely signed on as showrunner for Season 5 of True Blood, and they hope that he will stay for as long as it’s on the air.
• The new Michael Mann/David Milch series Luck, centered around a horse-racing track, will premiere in January 2012.
• Boardwalk Empire returns September 25th with 12 episodes and Bored to Death returns October 10th with 8 episodes.
• Even though Michael Lombardo is not a fan of the fantasy genre, and he hasn’t actually read George R.R. Martin’s books, he loves what David Benioff and Dan Weiss have done with Game of Thrones.

More info and the interview after the jump:

Since it was announced that Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone Company was working with HBO to develop American Gods as a six-season series of 10 to 12 episodes, possibly premiering in 2013, fans of the best-selling Neil Gaiman novel have been all abuzz.  So, when I had a few minutes to chat with HBO Co-President Richard Plepler and President of Programming Michael Lombardo, following the executive session for the network at the TCA Press Tour, of course I asked them to update the status of that development and confirm whether or not they were actually going ahead with what seems like such a huge commitment.  While they clearly haven’t made any promises, they both said that it is in the very early stages of development and that they haven’t even seen a script yet. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Lots of news came straight out of HBO’s panel for the Television Critics Association concerning current and upcoming series for the successful cable network. First up, THR says HBO’s official word has potentially bad news for fans of Vincent Chase and his Entourage with the series (HBO’s longest running series) looking to end once and for all in 2011. Once this season is finished the network is planning on one more short-order season ending with six final episodes next summer. However, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo says that may not be the absolute end for Entourage and definitely won’t be the end of their working relationship with creator Doug Ellin. More details after the jump including news on Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire.

Despite lackluster ratings, HBO has ordered a second season of The Ricky Gervais Show. Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming, told the BBC that it was renewing the show because it has “sparked a loyal and enthusiastic following that is growing steadily.”

The show adds animation to old audio from Gervais’ record-breaking podcasts.  Also appearing with Gervais are Stephen Merchant, Gervais’ longtime collaborator (The Office, Extras), and Karl Pilkington, whose nonsensical musings have caused Gervais to dub him “a global village idiot”.

Gervais and Merchant’s first film collaboration, Cemetery Junction, will be released in the UK on April 14th.