Showtime sent out synopsis’ for first episodes back on all of their hit scripted programs today. Of course, our intrigue lies with what they have to reveal about the upcoming third season of Homeland premiering Sunday, September 29. The last run of the terror-heavy drama left the audience polarized so we will definitely have to see how they put the train back on the tracks. Two words: “Media Firestorm.”
Homeland Season 3 opens during the aftermath of the horrific terror attack that decimated the U.S. intelligence apparatus, and prompted a global manhunt for the world’s most wanted terrorist – Nick Brody (Damian Lewis). As Carrie (Claire Danes) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered professional and personal lives, they are swept up in the political and media firestorm surrounding the terror attack and the subsequent search for Brody’s whereabouts. The series also stars Morena Baccarin, Rupert Friend, Jackson Pace and Morgan Saylor. One of Showtime’s top-two rated series (along with DEXTER), Homeland tied for the most wins of any program this year at the Emmy Awards, honored with six wins including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor in a Drama Series. Additionally,Homeland has been awarded Golden Globe Awards, SAG, Peabody, Television Critics Association, AFI and Critics’ Choice Awards.
The Golden Globes were pretty predictable this year when it came to the awards that mattered. The usual suspects of Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain all took home awards as well as those behind Argo, Homeland, and Les Miserables. Here is the whole list for those of you who missed the event. One shocker you will notice for sure is Don Cheadle’s victory over Jim Parsons for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on House of Lies. It probably will not result in a huge ratings boost for the show’s second season, but who knows. We will be sure to keep an eye on it. 
Kind of a shocker today coming out from Showtime. The network is going to premiere the eighth and probably final season of Dexter three months earlier than originally anticipated so the high-rated drama can lead in a new show starring Liev Schreiber called Ray Donovan. Fans can now look forward to seeing the next new episode of the channel’s top program on June 30 as opposed to the usual late September return date.
No, shooting on season three of Homeland has not yet commenced, but Showtime is plenty proud to tout their runaway success anyway. The domestic terrorism drama will be back on the air next year and now a teaser gives the obvious some official degree of validation. Hit the jump for the view complete with a mash-up of season two footage that attempts to give context for where things are headed. 
A week after 
Just a heads up, Sunday night featured a changing of the guard of sorts over at Showtime. Homeland has officially become the network’s top-rated drama, usurping Dexter which has held the post for nearly seven seasons. The final line has Dexter up 1.1 to 1.0 in the 18-49 demo, but this is premium cable where there is no advertising so only viewership matters here. In that category, Homeland pushed to 2.2 million viewers (another series high) against Dexter’s 2.1 million. Both programs were not quite at their season finales just yet as two more outings remain until the close of their second and seventh seasons respectfully. 
Damian Lewis is making the rounds before the season’s conclusion of Homeland. The actor took to Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel yesterday to talk about his Emmy-winning role, so we cannot help but watch hoping for a shred of insight into the direction of this nonlinear story about a domestic terrorist who may or may not have become a double agent. We already saw 
Damian Lewis took to Ellen this week to chat about his hit drama Homeland. The actor naturally failed to provide specifics going forward with the show, but he did suggest a main character could be killed off fairly soon which is not a stretch by any means. Check out the interview to hear Lewis talk about how he used to think he was famous as well as the box full of global panties that showed up at his door thanks to his fan club. 
This past weekend’s edition of Homeland had a lot of talk about who Peter Quinn might actually be working for which turned out to be the infamous Dar Adal…whom we have never heard of until now. The episode gave audiences a first look at the figure thanks to a tail they put on the ‘analyst,’ leading us to now question who this guy actually is. Thankfully, the advance clips for next week’s episode give us a scene of him talking one-on-one with Saul Berenson where Carrie Mathison’s mentor tries to figure out why CIA Director David Estes would put one of Adal’s guys on an intelligence team. We found out yesterday it was because the game plan was to have Quinn kill off Nicolas Brody once he led the CIA to Abu Nazir. 
We knew that Saturday Night Live had a fondness for Homeland after their subtle jab at how white people missing the show might have been the worst thing about Hurricane Sandy, but this was completely unexpected. The sketch comedy series did a full-blown bit on last night’s program complete with Anne Hathaway as a crazy/unstable Carrie Mathison, a part played normally by the brilliant Claire Danes. Additional roles went to Bill Hader (Saul Berenson,) Kenan Thompson (David Estes,) Nasim Pedrad (Dana,) and Taran Killam (Nicholas Brody.)