HBO will bring back its Emmy-winning comedy series Barry for a fourth season, the network said Thursday.

The series, which is currently airing new, third-season episodes on HBO, will return for a fourth season with series star Bill Hader directing all eight episodes. The series will continue to follow the exploits of a contract killer looking to make a career change to become an actor.

Along with Hader, the series also stars Emmy winning actor Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan and Sarah Burns.

Barry is executive produced by Hader, Alex Berg, Aida Rodgers and Liz Sarnoff.

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“Bill, Alec and the entire cast and crew delivered an exquisite third season of Barry, it’s a masterful blend of laughs and suspense,” Amy Gravitt, executive VP, HBO Programming in a statement. “I’m so happy to announce that we are picking up the fourth season.” ■

Season three of Barry arrives on HBO Sunday, April 24. Bill Hader plays Barry, who looks to put his hitman days behind him, and focus on his acting. 

Hader and Alec Berg created the show.

Barry was up for the best comedy Emmy in seasons one and two. Berg is pleased to see critics, and a wide audience, digging the dark comedy. “Bill and I make the show we want to make,” he said. “We push it out there and hope people find it and see in it what we see in it.”

He added, “We’re incredibly pleased people seem to get what we are going for.”

Hader, who sat for the B+C/Multichannel News podcast Series Business, said he essentially has no idea if people dig the show. “Unless someone comes up to me and says something, I never know if people are into it or not,” he said, adding that he avoids social media. 

That mindset is a result of Hader’s time on Saturday Night Live, where “one week they loved you and the next week they hated you.”

He added, “You just kinda go, I can’t deal with this.”

Berg said Barry works because it keeps the audience guessing. “The show is always very surprising,” he said. “It goes extremely dark in places, and right when it gets its darkest, something really funny happens. “We catch people leaning the wrong way.”

Berg likens that aspect of the show to Space Mountain at Disneyland, where the coaster makes a bunch of right turns in a row, then veers left. “It’s part of what we enjoy doing with the show,” he said. “People enjoy being fooled.”

So is Barry truly a comedy, or a drama with some funny bits? “I don’t know what it is,” said Berg. “It is the show.”

Hader said, “I think it’s a comedy by virtue that it’s 30 minutes, but I don’t see it necessarily as a drama either. It’s just a story with bits of everything in it.” 

Berg spoke of “finding the emotion in every scene,” and cutting comedic bits that just don’t move the story or accurately reflect the characters. “We care about the truth of these characters,” he said. 

Hader makes it all work with a deft performance. Berg noted how Barry’s criminal ventures are high stakes but low drama, while his acting pursuits are low stakes and high drama. “Bill is incredibly good at playing both those realities,” he said. “When he’s acting, he becomes eager and wide-eyed and naive and excited. When he murders, he becomes an automaton.”

Hader, Berg said, “is one of the most effortlessly talented people I’ve ever worked with.”

Barry was shut down a couple of weeks before shooting the new season, thanks to COVID. The writers and producers rewrote season three and even scripted season four. “We have a much better sense of where we’re going and what we need in season three,” said Berg. “I’m very, very hesitant to say COVID was a good thing, but it was a silver lining to the cloud.”

Hitman Barry is in a dark place in season three, according to Hader. “The noose is tightening around him,” he said. “We’ve never kind of seen him in this vulnerable place, really.”

Berg’s credits include Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. An ‘Alec Berg’ character occasionally popped up on Seinfeld. He mentioned something Seinfeld said, about how trying to make a successful show will probably result in failure, while trying to make a good show will yield better results. 

“Bill and I said, let’s make something we think is really good, and hopefully other people agree,” he said. “If they don’t, at least we are able to go home and have this thing we are proud of.” ■

Senior content producer Michael Malone chats with Bill Hader about the third season of Barry and how his time on Saturday Night Live has influenced his work. Barry returns to HBO April 24.

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AMC launches the final season of a classic drama series while Showtime debuts a new version of a sci-fi classic as part of the lineup of new shows premiering this week. 

AMC's Emmy Award-winning series Better Call Saul will debut its sixth and final season April 18. Bob Odenkirk returns as criminal lawyer Saul Goodman for the 13-episode final season of the Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould-created series, which is a spinoff of AMC's Breaking Bad.

Other high-profile series returning to the small screen this week are FX's Mayans M.C. (April 19), HBO Max's The Flight Attendant (April 21) and HBO's Barry (April 24).

Show premieres this week include Showtime's April 24 debut of The Man Who Fell to Earth, a reimagining of the 1976 sci-fi movie starring David Bowie. The 10-episode series stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomi Harris.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of April 18 to April 24 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 20 – Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain (documentary) – Showtime

April 20 – Russian Doll (returning series) – Netflix

April 20 – So Dumb Its Criminal Hosted by Snoop Dogg (reality) – Peacock

April 21 – Captive Audience (reality) – Hulu

April 22 – They Call Me Magic (documentary) – Apple TV Plus

April 22 – A Very British Scandal (drama) – Prime Video

April 24 – The Baby (drama) – HBO

April 24 – Billy The Kid (drama) – Epix

April 24 – Gaslit (drama) – Starz

HBO’s Emmy-winning dramedy Barry returns for its third season on April 24, part of a number of announcements made by the premium service during its Television Critics Association Winter press tour session Tuesday.

The eight-episode, third season of the series, which stars Bill Hader, returns with lead character Barry Berkman -- played by Hader -- attempting to untangle himself from the world of contract killing and to fully immerse himself in acting, but finding that getting out is messy, according to HBO.

The first two seasons of Barry received a total of 30 Emmy nominations and six Emmys. Also starring in the series is Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg and Anthony Carrigan. Barry is executive produced by Hader, Alec Berg, Aida Rodgers and Liz Sarnof.

--HBO also announced a spring launch of The Time Traveler’s Wife, a six-episode series that tells the story of a married couple dealing with the effects of time travel, according to the network.  The series stars Rose Leslie, Theo James, Desmin Borges, and Natasha Lopez.

--HBO will shine a light on the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force in a new six-episode limited series We Own This City, premiering April 25. The series, executive produced by The Wire’s George Pelecanos and David Simon and based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, chronicles the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work, said the network. 

--In May the network will debut a new documentary series, George Carlin’s American Dream, which chronicles the life and work of legendary comedian George Carlin told through never-before-seen archival material and interviews with comedians such as Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Stephen Colbert.■
 

HBO drew a record 19.3 million for last night’s Game of Thrones final episode across its various platforms, besting last week’s audience numbers.

The final episode of GoT’s eighth and final season topped the 18.4 million viewers that tuned into the series' May 12 episode, the prior record, said network officials. The episode also was also the most watched single linear telecast ever for the network, drawing 13.6 million viewers and beating out 13.4 million viewers that watched the 2002 season four premiere of The Sopranos, said HBO.

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Overall, season eight of Game of Thrones averaged 44.2 million viewers per episode in gross audience, an increase of more than 10 million viewers when compared to season seven, according to HBO.

HBO’s Emmy-winning series Barry benefited from the big Game of Thrones audience, reaching a series high 2.7 million for its season finale, up 253% compared to last season’s finale of 774,000. The series is currently averaging 4.8 million viewers in gross audiences, up from last year’s 4.4 million, according to HBO. 

The Peabody Board of Jurors today named nine entertainment shows and one children's program released during 2018 as award winners, and said Sesame Street would be honored for 50 years of entertaining and educating kids. They will be celebrated as part of the May 18 awards ceremony, as will documentaries that were named earlier. 

Rita Moreno will receive the Peabody Career Achievement Award, and winners in News/Radio & Podcast/Web/Public Service programming will be announced on April 23, completing the Peabody 30. 

The programs announced as Peabody Award winners Thursday are:

Steven Universe from Cartoon Network Studios (Cartoon Network). "On its surface, Rebecca Sugar’s animated series develops a complex mythology centering around the Crystal Gems—“polymorphic sentient rocks” who protect young Steven and his human friends from cosmic threats. But in this earnest fantasy epic and superhero saga, empathy is perhaps the most important superpower, something our real-world human society needs now more than ever."

Barry from HBO Entertainment in association with Alec Berg and Hanarply (HBO). "Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader has built a dark comedy off the unlikely premise of a hitman who really wants to be an actor and earnestly pursues his dream under the guidance of his has-been acting teacher played by Henry Winkler. Even as one of the quirkiest and entertaining series on TV, “Barry” asks serious questions about emotional connection, the nature of violence, and the cost of doing whatever it takes to keep a secret."

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette from Netflix (Netflix). "Comedian Hannah Gadsby makes a major statement about the social costs of laughing at someone, and about what it means to be the brunt of a joke. She brilliantly finds the tragedy in comedy, in the process breaking apart and reconstructing the standup comedy special format. Throughout, she delivers the thunderous message of the destructive power of heteronormativity, toxic masculinity and male sexual violence, and how easily society tolerates each."

Killing Eve, by Sid Gentle Films Ltd. for BBC America (BBC America). "The tense cat-and-mouse spy thriller—serving as a vehicle for amazing performances by Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer—is also a masterful, playful recalibration of the genre, creating room not just for two women at the helm, but also for women’s interests and circumstances in almost every inch of the plot. Like its psychopathic assassin, Villanelle, it is equal parts terrifying, hilarious, slick, playful, and surprisingly soulful."

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, by Netflix (Netflix). "Hasan Minhaj has created the perfect model for engaging his fellow millennials in contemporary politics and public life. With his trademark high-octane energy, the first Indian-American and Muslim late-night host brings a welcome voice to political entertainment television. He’s also bold and fearless, taking on the ruthless Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman just weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi."

Pose, Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions (FX Networks). "Set in 1980s New York, Pose follows the ongoing rivalry between the established House of Abundance and the upstart House of Evangelista in an honest telling of trans and gay people of color at a critical time in history. Presided over by Billy Porter’s Pray Tell, the competition and its delicious melodrama serves as backdrop for the burgeoning LGBTQ community and family, doing important representational work and storytelling both on and off the ballroom floor."

Random Acts of Flyness, HBO Entertainment in association with A24 and MVMT (HBO). "Breaking the mold of what we think television is and can be, Random Acts of Flyness ponders what it means to be young and black in America and produces a layered, complex experience of wonder, joy, and insight. The series brilliantly assembles black sonic, visual, and literary worlds into a 21st century cut ‘n’ mix of black aesthetic of absurdity, critique, affirmation, and fun. Most importantly, it does so without a preoccupation with white gaze or desire, centering blackness as a complex, productive historical fact and contemporary lived experience rather than a phobic-obsessed reaction to whiteness."

The Americans, Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions (FX Networks). "If a great drama series is judged—at least, in part—by the way its story ends, then The Americans can easily be counted among the best TV shows in history. Over six seasons, the 1980s-set thriller centered on two Soviet spies deeply undercover as middle-class American parents in a Virginia suburb. In 2018, creators brought the acclaimed story to a masterful conclusion, forcing spies Elizabeth and Philip Jennings to make impossible choices as their carefully constructed lives imploded on multiple fronts."

The End of the F***ing World, Clerkenwell Films/Dominic Buchanan Productions for Channel 4 Television and Netflix (Netflix). "Teenage angst collides with dark British humor in this series about a self-identified psychopath and a wily high school rebel who seek adventure outside their boring suburban town. Based on a graphic novel by Charles Forsman, the British-American co-production features deeply funny and moving performances by Jessica Lawther and Alex Barden that capture the confusion of adolescence with intelligence and depth. A wonderfully unorthodox coming-of-age story for 21st century realists and hopeless romantics alike."

The Good Place, Universal Television, Fremulon and 3 Arts Entertainment (NBC). "A Peabody nominee last year, Michael Schur’s fantasy-comedy about the afterlife keeps refusing to follow the formulas of broadcast network sitcoms, constantly renegotiating its format as our favorite contemporary morality play. The energies of Kristin Bell, Ted Danson, Jameela Jamil, and D’Arcy Carden, in particular, keep the show moving with virtuosity in every unexpected laboratory from the Good Place to the Bad Place, the afterlife to the Medium Place, and of course, to Earth."

Of HBO and PBS trailblazing children's show Sesame Street, the Peabody Award organization said: "Conceived by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, Sesame Street premiered in 1969 with wide-eyed optimism and determination to make a difference. Structured on the belief that a children’s TV show could help close an achievement gap in preparation for school, while also teaching about the values of diversity, mutual respect, and empathy, it remains one of the 1960s greatest offerings. Its central messages are about appreciating locality, accepting and valuing difference, and learning how to be a massive bird’s friend when you’re a green trash monster. And yet it teaches these lessons, day in and day out, alongside functional lessons about basic math, spelling, logic, patterns, and a love of music, art, and dance. Sesame Street is also honored for its advocacy role in reminding citizens and politicians why public broadcasting is necessary and valuable, challenging us to make a difference and to be good, caring people while we do so."

Pictured: Bill Hader and Henry Winkler in HBO's Barry.

HBO’s Game of Thrones season eight premiere drew a record 17.4 million viewers in its Sunday debut, according to network officials.

The combined linear, HBO Go and HBO Now audience for the first of the series’ final six episodes beat out the 16.9 million viewers watched by the show's season seven finale to become the most watched episode in the show’s history, according to HBO.

The HBO Now streaming service also saw a jump of approximately 50% in viewing when compared to last season’s finale and nearly doubled (97%) when compared to the seventh season premiere, according to the network. Overall the streaming service reported its largest night of streaming activity ever, said HBO.

RELATED: 'GoT' and Masters Viewers Faced Usual Live Stream Challenges Sunday 

Other HBO shows benefited from the record Thrones ratings debut. The second season premiere of dramedy Barry at 10 pm drew 1.8 million viewers and 2.2 million viewers for the night — more than quadrupling its previous week's audience that did not benefit from the Game of Thrones lead-in. Sunday's episode of Veep at 10:30 drew 1 million viewers and 1.5 million viewers including repeats, its largest audience since June 2016, according to network officials.

Also, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver was watched by 1.7 million viewers for the night and 1.3 million viewers at 11:00 p.m., its most-watched telecast since August 2017, according to the network. 

The last season debut of HBO’s Emmy award-winning series Veep headlines a busy week of show premieres.

The sixth and final season of the multi-Emmy winning series Veep, which stars Julia Louise Dreyfus as politician Selina Meyer, debuts March 31 with seven episodes, according to HBO.

New series premiering this week include Fx’s vampire-themed mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows (March 27) and Prime Video’s Hanna (March 29).

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several other shows debuting this week on cable networks and streaming services:

March 25 -- Knightfall (drama series) -- History

March 25 -- One Nation Under Stress (documentary) -- HBO

March 25 -- Jesus: His Life (documentary series) -- History

March 27 -- Happy (comedy series) -- Syfy

March 28 -- Tacoma FD (comedy) -- truTV

March 29 -- Osmosis (sci-fi/drama) -- Netflix

March 31 -- Barry (comedy) -- HBO

HBO Friday released the official video trailer for its comedy series Barry, which returns for its sophomore season March 31.

The series, which stars Emmy Award winners Bill Hader and Henry Winkler, follows the exploits of a depressed hitman who turns to acting as a refuge from his tumultuous and dangerous career. 

Barry won 2018 Emmy Awards for best actor in a comedy series (Hader) and best supporting actor in a comedy series (Winkler).  

Veteran actor Henry Winkler was the surprise Emmy winner in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in A Comedy Series category, the first award presented during NBC’s Emmy Awards telecast.

Winkler, who portrayed Gene Cousineau in HBO’s freshman series Barry, upset last year’s winner Alec Baldwin, who portrayed President Donald Trump on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Also nominated in the category was Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, Basket’s Louie Anderson, Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Tony Shalhoub and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Titus Burgess.

The Emmy win is the first for Winkler, who had been nominated previously for his role as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on ABC's 1970's sitcom Happy Days.

Alex Bornstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) took home the Emmy for the Outstanding Supporting actress In a Comedy Series, besting Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live), Betty Gilpin (GLOW), Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live); and Megan Mullally (Will & Grace)