Miniseries

Keep your eyes on Tom Hardy. Before the Brit starred in films like "Inception" or this year's "Warrior," he scorched the small screen as thuggish Freddie Jackson in the 2009 British miniseries "The Take" ( 8 p.m. Friday, Encore; 3.5 stars ). His unblinking, brutish presence has turned a rather traditional and ultra-violent crime drama into something exceedingly watchable and suspenseful. Encore is presenting the miniseries as an original for the network, premiering each of the four parts at 8 p.m. Dec. 2, 9, 16 and 23. As the story opens, thuggish Freddie is picked up...

Keep your eyes on Tom Hardy. Before the Brit starred in films like "Inception" or this year's "Warrior," he scorched the small screen as thuggish Freddie Jackson in the 2009 British miniseries "The Take" ( 8 p.m. Friday, Encore; 3.5 stars ). His unblinking, brutish presence has turned a rather traditional and ultra-violent crime drama into something exceedingly watchable and suspenseful. Encore is presenting the miniseries as an original for the network, premiering each of the four parts at 8 p.m. Dec. 2, 9, 16 and 23. As the story opens, thuggish Freddie is picked up...

In Sundance Channel's intriguing miniseries "Restless," Charlotte Rampling stars as a former British spy in World War II who has been living under an assumed name for 30 years. When Sally Gilmartin tells her daughter, Ruth (Michelle Dockery), about her past and that her real name is Eva Delectorskaya, it sets off doubts in Ruth's mind that she knows her mother at all. And, as you can see in this clip from Part 2 of the miniseries, Sally begins to run her daughter as if she were a spy in order to secure the safety of both women.

The broadcast networks were shut out of the best TV drama category when nominations for the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced Thursday morning. FX's "American Horror Story" is the only non-pay-cable series to make the cut, joining Starz's "Boss," HBO's "Game of Thrones," Showtime's "Homeland" and HBO's "Boardwalk Empire. " The broadcast networks did better in the comedies, where ABC's "Modern Family" and Fox's "Glee" and "New Girl" joined HBO's "Enlightened" and Showtime's "Episodes.

To anyone who follows the yearly awards-show banter, it's no surprise that the Golden Globe TV nominations announced Thursday would leave many viewers scratching their heads. You never know what you'll get from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the Golden Globes--except snubs and surprises. The group isn't really qualified to name the year's best in anything, except it's obvious bedazzlement by glitz, glamor and big-name celebrity. Anyway, on with the snubs list.

"American Horror Story" returns in October with a tweak to the title. It will be called "American Horror Story: Asylum," FX and producer Ryan Murphy announced Wednesday. That's a fitting title since the series will be set in an insane asylum run by Jessica Lange's character, who will not be creepy Constance Langdon, the woman she played to perfection in the show's first season. The new season is set in 1964 and stars Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, James Cromwell and Joseph Fiennes.

History channel has a hit on its hands. More than 13.9 million viewers tuned into the first night of the network's first scripted miniseries, "Hatfields & McCoys. " And it premiered on the Memorial Day holiday no less. According to the network, the premiere installment of the three-parter made history, becoming the No. 1 non-sports telecast in ad supported cable TV history. More than 13.9 million total viewers watched, with 5.8 million adults ages 25-54 and 4.8 million adults ages 18-49.

The Screen Actors Guild announced its nominees for the 18th annual SAG Awards this morning, and to say there were some surprises would be an understatement. I was happy to see Patrick J. Adams from USA's “Suits” earn a berth in the best dramatic TV actor category - although it is a bit puzzling when you consider all the other possible nominees. I love Adams on “Suits,” and I applaud the guild for giving a young actor encouragement, but I'd give that spot to anyone from this list first: Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins from...

**1/2 (out of four) If you get excited at the use of phrases like “graphical user interface,” “Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview” will likely feel like a fantastic slab of previously unseen geek porn. For others, this 70-minute interview with the late billionaire, conducted in 1995 so a small snippet could be used for a PBS miniseries entitled “Triumph of the Nerds,” will combine a significant amount of subjectively dull computer speak with anecdotes and philosophies that...

** (out of four) In spy movies, the organization sometimes seems to exist only to police itself and its inevitable traitors. So when the operation doesn't appear to accomplish anything else except cleaning up its own mess, it suggests that shutting down the whole thing would at least keep the Secrets Revealed Monitor out of the red. As usual, the intelligence officers in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” are often in the dark, trying to...

CBS is giving viewers a peek "Under the Dome," releasing a first-look trailer of it summer mini-series that includes some behind-the-scenes tidbits and commentary from cast, crew and Stephen King. This 13-part adaptation of King's novel tells the story of a small New England town that gets cut off from the rest of the world when a transparent dome forms around it. The residents of Chester's Mill try to figure out how it got there and how to get rid of it as well as how to survive with dwindling resources.