HBO’s True Detective is one of the best things happening right now; not just in TV, but across any medium.  The ambitious anthology series follows two detectives played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as they recount, in frame story, a case they worked in the 1990s.  All eight episodes of the first season were written by Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre, Jane Eyre), bringing a fantastic consistency and cohesiveness to each episode.  The performances by McConaughey and Harrelson are absolutely phenomenal, the storytelling is unendingly compelling and thought-provoking, and Fukunaga’s direction is inspired.

This past Sunday’s episode “Who Goes There” concluded with a six-minute long intricate, intense tracking shot that showcases the very best of what True Detective has to offer, and the shot is now available online to watch in all its glory.  It’s a jaw-dropping piece of work that speaks volumes about the talent involved in this show.  Watch the shot after the jump, and if you haven’t seen True Detective yet, I highly suggest rectifying that immediately.

Comics legend Stan Lee recently turned 91 but he’s set to tackle TV across mediums this year.  We already know that he’ll appear on an upcoming episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but now we have a look at Lee in animated form for his appearance on a new episode of The Simpsons.  While this will mark Lee’s second time on the show, it will be the first animated adventure for long-time author Harlan Ellison, who will also be playing himself.  The episode, titled “Married to the Blob”, airs on Fox this Sunday at 8pm.  Hit the jump to watch the behind-the-scenes featurette.

ABC has released the first clip from next week’s episode of the new drama series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Developed by Joss Whedon, the show premiered last week to impressive ratings, scoring the best debut of a new drama in all of television since 2009’s V.  In this new clip, we see “hacker” Skye (Chloe Bennet) officially joining the S.H.I.E.L.D. team as Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson debates the decision with his cohorts.  Our recapper was quite taken with the premiere episode, but personally I found it to be wholly underwhelming.  The production value is surprisingly cheap and the plot development felt more like an episode of NCIS than a comic book series.  That being said, pilots aren’t always a great judge of a show’s quality, so I’m hoping that the character development improves in subsequent episodes.

Hit the jump to watch the clip and sound off in the comments with your first impressions of the show.  Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on ABC Tuesday nights at 8/7c.

Last night during Low Winter Sun, AMC released a short clip from the upcoming season of The Walking Dead.  I ceased watching this show a long time ago, but if you’re still on board, perhaps you’ll find this an exciting 45 seconds, especially if you’re a fan of Michonne (Danai Gurira).

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The Walking Dead returns on Sunday, October 13th.

Four clips have been released for the fourth season of Arrested Development.  Earlier this week, I posted six questions about the upcoming season, and these clips provide some answers.  First, the language will still be bleeped, which is a nice touch (although we don’t know if it will be bleeped throughout the season; it’s just bleeped in this instance).  Also, there’s a throwback to the confusion regarding bees and beads.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  Arrested Development: Season 4 premieres on May 26th.

The first clip from the new batch of Arrested Development episodes has landed online, and it appears that the relationship between Tony Hale’s Buster and Jessica Walter’s Lucille hasn’t changed a bit.  The clip provides a tiny hint as to what Lucille has been up to since the events of the season three finale, but mainly it just showcases the series’ wonderful sense of humor that’s been sorely missing from our lives for far too long.  Additionally, Netflix has released a new batch of character posters for the new episodes that features the entire cast along with some rather familiar taglines.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and posters, and if you missed the EW covers and new images from yesterday, click here.  Netflix will release all 15 new episodes of Arrested Development at once on May 26th.

It’s officially official, folks: Dexter has run its course.  While producers of the wildly popular Showtime series had previously stated that they began season seven with the intention that the show would come to an end at the conclusion of season eight, the network had yet to publicly confirm an end date.  Now Showtime has confirmed that the upcoming eighth season of Dexter will in fact be its last.  The Michael C. Hall-fronted series continues to be a ratings draw for the pay cable network, but its quality has been a bit of a roller coaster over the past few seasons.

The first teaser trailer for season eight hinted at the titular character hitting a breaking point this year, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of endgame the producers have in mind given the events that transpired last season.  Yvonne Strahovski, who appeared in a multi-episode arc last year, is confirmed to be returning for this final season, so might Dex get a semi-happy ending after all?  We’ll find out for sure this summer when season eight of Dexter premieres on Sunday, June 30th.  Hit the jump to watch a sneak peek clip from the final season.

My most-anticipated new show of the 2011-2012 television season is Awake.  Jason Isaacs stars as a cop who’s in a car accident with his family, and now he’s living in two realities: one where his son (Dylan Minnette) survived and one where his wife (Laura Allen) survived.  The question is which one is the dream and which one is reality?  It’s a terrific premise that could easily run out of steam in a short amount of time, but it’s more original than almost any other new show on network TV.  Hopefully, they find a way to build on the premise rather than use it as a hook and nothing more.

The first seven minutes have gone online, and after watching them, I’m still jazzed for this show.  I like the way it’s shot and the pacing, and (less surprising) Isaacs is great. If you’ve seen the extended trailer, there’s not a tone of new stuff, but now you can see it in context.  Hit the jump to check out the first seven minutes of Awake.  The series premieres on Thursday, March 1st at 10/9c on NBC.

Last month, we showed you a clip from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant‘s new TV series Life’s Too Short starring Warwick Davis (Harry Potter).  The clip had Johnny Depp lampooning himself by going after Gervais’ hosting of the Golden Globes.  It was pretty funny and it was good to know that someone was looking out for Tim Allen.  This new clip absolutely blows it away.  In the latest clip, Liam Neeson comes in to talk with Gervais and Merchant about expanding into comedy.  Neeson, Gervais, and Merchant use Neeson’s dramatic gravitas to brilliant effect and show that improv, Oscar-nominees, and contracting AIDS from an African prostitute is an odd but hilarious mixture.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Life’s Too Short began airing yesterday on BBC Two and will air in the US on HBO next year.

This weekend, New York Comic-Con attendees got a first look at the trailer for the upcoming animated feature Justice League: Doom as well as the opening scene from Green Lantern: The Animated Series.  I like that Doom is bringing back almost all the voice actors from Justice League, but the trailer is mostly just action scenes and corny one-liners.  Also, I didn’t realize the new Legion of Doom is six people, which is kind of dinky when compared to the twenty or thirty featured in Justice League Unlimited.  Green Lantern looks more interesting since right from the get-go we’re introduced to members of the Red Lantern Corps.  It may be a bit confusing to those who don’t know the character beyond this summer’s disappointing blockbuster, but I assume there will be some kind of exposition in the hour-long premiere.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the opening scene.  Justice League Doom is due out on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD in early 2012.  Green Lantern: The Animated Series premieres November 11th at 7/6c on Cartoon Network.

Personally, I’m one of those who wasn’t all that disappointed when NBC decided not to pick up David E. Kelley’s new pilot for Wonder Woman, especially after seeing that ridiculous suit that Adrianne Palicki was supposed to wear as the superhero (even after the changes to the wardrobe). However, for those desperate to see anything from the now archived pilot for the series, we have literally just a few seconds of Palicki looking somewhat intimidating, but mostly just kind of sexy, from the one and only episode shot for the potential series. It’s nothing to get too excited about, but if you really must see Wonder Woman in motion, here’s your chance.  Hit the jump to check out the incredibly brief clip.

If you can’t wait a few more hours to see the exciting conclusion to the second season of NBC’s fantastic comedy series Community, then you are in luck. To whet your appetite we have a clip from the end of the two-part A Fistful of Paintballs season finale and this time Jeff (Joel McHale) and Troy (Donald Glover) are arguing about their master plan to survive. Tonight all hell breaks loose as series creator Dan Harmon says, “the Western motif falls away and an out-and-out war happens. There’s a kind of an epic, wartime, band-of-rebels-against-a-larger-force Star Wars feel to the second one.” Check out the clip fro the final episode of the second season of Community after the jump.

Earlier this month, Adam brought you his thoughts on the Falling Skies footage that debuted at WonderCon. Today, you can check out some of the eerie footage for yourself in the form of a five-minute sneak peek. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Falling Skies stars Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy, Will Patton, and Maxin Knight as a group of survivors following a deadly alien invasion. The series premieres on TNT on Sunday, June 19th at 9/8c. Hit the jump to check out the footage.

Though I’ve had several married friends of mine rant and rave about how great NBC’s relationship comedy series Perfect Couples was, their viewership must not have been enough. TV Line just broke the news followed by an NBC press release that Perfect Couples has been canceled and will be replaced by the delayed premiere of The Paul Reiser Show on Thursday April 14th at 9:30/8:30c.

In the new series, comedian Paul Reiser plays himself and “It’s been a few years since his hit TV series went off the air. Since then, he’s been enjoying the quiet life at home with his lovely wife, Claire (Amy Landecker from A Serious Man), and kids and generally minding his own business, writing and producing television but enjoying life out of the spotlight. Getting him into trouble — and into adventures — are a group of new “friends,” most of which he didn’t choose since they’re the husbands of his wife’s friends and the dads of his kids’ classmates.” You can see a couple preview clips and the entire press release for the new series after the jump.

We just got our first look at the forthcoming stop-motion animated episode of NBC’s fantastic comedy series Community, but what’s stop-motion animation without seeing our characters in action? I love the comedic universe that creator Dan Harmon has crafted which allows for some pretty nonsensical plotlines, but with some of the most witty, hilarious and stellar writing behind any comedy series on air right now. Therefore, it’s no surprise that this Christmas episode which throws back to the classic stop-motion Christmas specials from Rankin/Bass (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town) seems to hit all the right sweet spots. After the jump you’ll find a very short but sweet first look at this special episode of Community (which airs December 9th), along with some words from Dan Harmon about crafting the episode itself.