This Just In: 'The Newsroom' Is a Hit

Today in Hollywood news: Some good news for Aaron Sorkin's oft-maligned drama, TNT sets up a big deal, and True Blood really is immortal.

HBO's talky/preachy Aaron Sorkin drama The Newsroom had its second season premiere last night, and the ratings were good. The show earned higher numbers than last year's series premiere, with 2.2 million people tuning in for the initial broadcast. So it's still not a huge hit, but it's doing fine. I bet it will get a third season, even though it's probably pretty costly to produce. It's prestige-y, and HBO likes prestige. We'll find out this week if it will have any sort of presence at the Emmys this year (Jeff Daniels probably will, but not the show itself? That seems to be the thinking right now), which could be something of a deciding factor. The point is, last year's season doesn't seem to have scared many people off. The premiere was down a little from the season finale, but that's not with DVR and On Demand factored in. So. People like The Newsroom. Or really enjoy hating it. Whatever the case, I'm sure HBO is happy. [Deadline]

Hold onto your butts, I have some huge news for you. TNT has announced that Rizzoli & Isles, its crime show starring Sarah Palin fan Angie Harmon and Pacey's sister, has found a syndication deal. Which means pretty soon you'll be flipping through those random channels that you normally never watch and then BLAMMO there will be Rizzoli and her friend Isles, Rizzoliing and Islesing around. Are you ready for that world? Well you're gonna have to be, because it's coming. It's gonna be on all kinds of networks, in 170 different markets. There is going to be Rizzoli & Isles everywhere. More Rizzoli & Isles than anyone will know what to do with. An embarrassment of Rizzoli & Isles. Can a day when we are flooded with Franklin & Bash be far behind? [Deadline]

Back at HBO, True Blood has been renewed for a seventh season. Yes, even more True Blood. You thought they maybe had trotted out every possible plot and character they could over these six insanely crowded, cluttered seasons? Well you were wrong. There is going to be more. More faeries, more werewolves who are really just shifters who only turn into wolves, more whatever the hell is going on with Andy and Arlene and whoever the heck else. Just a whole lot more of that. Of Sookie Stackhouse making her weird grimace and people pretending that Bill Compton knows how to act and that the whole Eric thing hasn't gotten completely stale. Y'know, True Blood stuff. A whole 'nother season. Aren't you excited? [The Hollywood Reporter]

And now back to basic cable. Academy Award-winner Mira Sorvino, who, again, won an Oscar, is joining the cast of USA's Psych for a multi-episode stint. Yes, Mira Sorvino, who much like Maggie Smith and Juliette Binoche has won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, is doing a guest-star thing on Psych. But wait, there's more! Who will she be playing? Here are the details, from Deadline:

the Santa Barbara Police Department’s newest head detective, Betsy Brannigan — an incredibly sweet, adorably reserved and yet certified badass. Brannigan’s record for taking down ruthless criminals is rivaled only by her skills in sparkly craft making, and her seemingly bubbly demeanor can turn on a dime once she straps in the dual-wielded Colt .45s. She’s a scrapbooking, cat loving, crime-fighting machine.

So there you have it. Eat your heart out, Judi Dench. (And, to be fair, Anjelica Huston who was on Smash and Kim Basinger who was in Cellular.) [Deadline]

Oscar-winning director, but not actor, Kevin Costner is in talks to star in a movie produced by Guillermo del Toro. It's a thriller called Midnight Delivery and it's Kevin Costner, playing me, trying not to fall asleep on his couch before the Seamless order gets there. Well, technically it's about a man "who attempts to save his estranged daughter from a Colombian gang by trafficking cocaine to London on a midnight flight," but it's an allegory for the Seamless thing, I swear. Anyway, good for Kevin Costner! Look at him having a career rebound. And he owes it all to the Hatfields and the McCoys. Thank god they killed each other all them years ago. Where would Kevin Costner be without that? [The Hollywood Reporter]

Apparently there are some characters who are going to show up in X-Men: Days of Future Past as a surprise, and Vulture wants to ruin two of those surprises. I'm not about to do that, so if you want to find out who two of the secret characters are, you can click this link and spoil yourself silly. [Vulture]