History’s 's 10-hour event series Texas Rising drew 4.1 million total viewers and 1.1 million adults 25-54 for its two-hour opener last night. That is a solid Live+same day performance in this day and age, though it fell short of the previous History miniseries from the same producers that launched on Memorial Day…

With a Memorial Day debut on History Channel, Texas Rising has ambitious aims. But sad to say, the 10-hour multi-week miniseries just doesn't hit the target. Brought to the small screen by some of the team behind the blockbuster The Hatfields And McCoys series, the Roland Joffe-directed tale of Lone Star warfare and…

For several international television markets now, the search has been on for the next big unscripted primetime show. That's still the case, but the drumbeat has softened as significant competition is heating up in the drama space. Sales execs and buyers I've spoken to have a hard time pinpointing what the exact story…

Michelle Gomez will return as Missy (aka The Master) in the season premiere of Doctor Who this fall. She joins Peter Capaldi for his second season as the Doctor and Jenna Coleman as companion Clara Oswald. Gomez, whose character is the first feminine form that the Doctor’s longtime nemesis has taken, is a fellow Time…

EXCLUSIVE: French actor Olivier Martinez has signed on as a client with Paradigm. The Paris-born thesp who has a César Award under his belt (for 1993’s Un, deux, trois, soleil) most recently appeared last season on ABC’s Revenge as French billionaire media mogul Pascal LeMarchal. He’ll next be seen in History…

History’s eight-hour 2015 tentpole series Texas Rising was modestly described this morning by its EP Leslie Greif as a “saga about a period of nine months when people of all ethnicities were trying to find a little place of freedom, called Texas.” Kicking off a Q&A for that series, what he described as "another major…

With a similar 19th century setting, the same production company (Thinkfactory Media) and the same star (Bill Paxton) History’s miniseries Texas Rising clearly was groomed as a follow-up to the network’s hugely successful Hatfields & McCoys. Now the network continues to use the Hatfields & McCoys template in its…

Jonathan Keltz has been promoted to regular for Season 2 of the CW period drama Reign. Keltz recurred throughout the first season as Leith, the kitchen love interest to lady-in-waiting Greer. Keltz, repped by Stone Manners Salners, Wright Entertainment, and Characters Talent Agency, most recently appeared on Necessary…

History has added cast to its drama series Vikings and miniseries Texas Rising. Ben Robson (Dracula: The Dark Prince) has landed a series regular role in Season 3 of Vikings. It centers on Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), a restless young warrior and family man who longs to find and conquer new lands across the sea and claim…

Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises) is set as the male lead opposite Mena Suvari in Amazon Studios’ drama pilot Hysteria, from Shaun Cassidy, Alcon Entertainment and Universal TV. It centers on Dr. Logan Harlow (Suvari), an exceptionally bright but socially awkward neurologist/psychiatrist at the University of Texas…

Stephen Monroe Taylor has been cast in History's miniseries Texas Rising (working title) from A+E Studios and ITV Studios America. Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys) is exec producing the project, which will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. Taylor, repped by House…

Jeremy Davies (Justified) and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) have been cast in History's miniseries Texas Rising (working title) from A+E Studios and ITV Studios America. Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys) is exec producing the project, which will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary…