Jeff Garlin, who returns to TV on ABC’s The Goldbergs on Sept. 27 and HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm on Oct. 1, is getting a bit sick of Emmys advertising.

Speaking with reporters from the set of The Goldbergs in Los Angeles during the recent Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, Garlin lashed out against the billboards touting TV series all around the city.

Related: HBO, Netflix Diminate Emmy Nominations

“We’re the billboard capital of the United States of America,” he started. “At least half of them, I don’t know what they’re for. Is that a singer? Is that a band?” Garlin saved his sharpest contempt for the road signs looking to sway Emmys voters. He mentioned one for Amazon Studios’s Transparentthat said, “We are courageous.”

“A man becoming a woman in real life? Courageous,” Garlin bellowed. “Actors on a set getting a lot of money? There’s a craft services table! There’s nothing courageous about that. They get good salaries. It’s air-conditioned!” Transparent’sJeffrey Tambor is up for an outstanding actor prize this fall. He won last year. Judith Light and Kathryn Hahn are in the running for best supporting actress.

Garlin then shifted to Mozart in the Jungle, also an Amazon series. That billboard said, “We are iconic.”

“Bob Dylan — iconic. Mozart — iconic. Ella Fitzgerald — iconic,” howled Garlin. “A show that comes out on a place where you buy napkins? That’s not iconic.”

Amazon did not comment.

Mozart in the Jungle cleaned up at the 2016 Golden Globes awards, winning best musical or comedy, and with Gael Garcia Bernal taking home the best actor in a musical or comedy trophy.

Garlin suggested the folks at Amazon may not know what iconic means. “It’s a show most people don’t know!” he said of Mozart. “They’re buying a toaster!

Beverly Hills, Calif. — HBO programming president Casey Bloys was on the hot seat Wednesday at the network's TCA summer press tour session as TV critics peppered the executive with questions about the network’s controversial new series Confederate.

Complete coverage of the 2017 TCA Summer Press Tour.

The series, which will be produced by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and will depict what the nation would look like if the South had won the Civil War, drew initial backlash when ammounced, from critics concerned about how the issue of race, and slavery in particular, would be portrayed.

Related: HBO Greenlights ‘Confederate’ From ‘Game of Thrones’ Producers

Bloys said the network’s decision to announce the show via a press release without any context from the producers was “misguided” and should have been handled differently.

“If I had to do it over again I would have let the producers sit and talk about it,” Bloys said. “The key to all of this is the context and hearing from the creators. All we can do is ask people to judge the final product rather than what it could be or might be.”

MCN Flashback > TCA16: HBO's Casey Bloys Takes Heat During TCA Session

Bloys also said the long anticipated revival of Western-themed series Deadwood is coming closer to fruition, adding that he’s excited about the new script for the David Milch series, which ran on HBO from 2004-2008. “If we can do it for a budget that makes sense and we can get the cast together then we’re inclined to do it," Bloys said. 

He also said the network is close to greenlighting a third season of its anthology series True Detective, which will feature Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali. “I’m very impressed and excited about what I’ve read,” Bloys said of the script for True Detective.

Bloys also addressed the Game Of Thrones spinoffs, saying that none of the characters in the current Game Of Thrones series will appear in any of the series followups.   

Comedy Central’s new late-night talk series The Opposition With Jordan Klepper will premiere Sept. 25, Comedy Central president Kent Alterman announced during the network's Television Critics Association summer press tour session.

RELATED: Complete coverage of the 2017 TCA Summer Press Tour 

The series, which will follow The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, will feature the comedian as he satirizes the “hyperbolic, conspiracy-laden noise machine that is the alternative-media landscape on both the right and left,” the network said.

Comedy Central also announced that it has extended the first season of another late night series, The Jim Jefferies Show, by 10 additional episodes. The Jim Jefferies Show ranks as the top new comedy in 2017 among men 18-34 across all ad-supported cable networks in primetime, according to the network.

In other network news, Comedy Central has added an additional seven episodes to its series The President Show, extending the series to 22 episodes. The network will also develop a one-hour special featuring the sketch comedy quartet Goatface, which includes members Hasan Minhaj (The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Homecoming King), Asif Ali (Wrecked, New Girl), Fahim Anwar (Fahim Anwar: There’s No Business Like Show Business) and Aristotle Athiras (director, Fahim Anwar: There’s No Business Like Show Business).

Epix has renewed its documentary series America Divided for a second season, the network announced Tuesday during its Television Critics Association summer press tour session.

Related: Complete Coverage of the 2017 TCA Summer Press Tour

The eight-story first season, executive produced by Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes and Common, featured narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system. It also included celebrities such as America Ferrera, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Poehler, Peter Sarsgaard and Jesse Williams.

“Season two will bring more eye-opening stories to light,” said Epix president and CEO Mark Greenberg. “We look forward to working with that talented team on season two.”

Epix also announced premiere dates for the spohomore seasons of drama/thriller series Berlin Station (Oct. 15) and comedy series Graves (Oct. 22).

PASADENA, Calif. — The Television Critics Association press tour serves as a forum to discuss the best and brightest content on traditional television, but inevitably network executives also addressed the challenge of expanding distribution models as the industry continues to evolve.

With traditional cable networks expanding content distribution into TV Everywhere and stand-alone SVOD services as traditional cable bundles quickly shrink into smaller, “skinny” packages, executives speaking at the TCA Winter Tour (the cable portion kicked off late last week) said creating and distributing content poses greater challenges than in years past.

Get Complete Coverage of the 2017 TCA Winter Press Tour

Showtime Networks president and CEO David Nevins said that the success of its original programming has helped the network cut a swath through several distribution platforms, including the 2016 launch of the Showtime over-the-top service.

“The explosion of television choice has been, without a doubt, a great thing for Showtime,” Nevins said. “With our subscription model, our ever-increasing streaming audience and our strength of schedule, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of all the trends that are buffeting the media business right now.”

Related: Everything Is 'Magical' for Showtime's 'Twin Peaks'

FX Networks president and CEO John Landgraf said new digital competitors would add to an already crowded marketplace. Apple Music’s proposed content push is another potential entry that could continue to add to last year’s record 454 scripted series offered on broadcast, cable and streaming outlets, per Landgraf, who expects the number of scripted series to peak this year or next.

“There’s extraordinary amounts of resources and capital in the Silicon Valley, and they’re beginning to flow through Netflix and Amazon and now others into the programming business, and that is creating an acceleration at the moment of this increase in programming,” Landgraf said. “You know, we welcome them as competitors.”

Related: FX Signs Donald Glover to Deal With FX Productions

Overall, executives say quality content is more valued than ever, and viewers are the ultimate winners in today’s programming feeding frenzy.

“There’s a lot of good that comes from the fragmentation, and, you know, we see new and diverse voices and young, talented people who would never have gotten an opportunity; they’re getting opportunities,” Landgraf said. “And great television is coming from that.”

Pasadena -- IFC will end its long-running comedy series Portlandia after its eighth and final season, the network announced Saturday during its Television Critics Association tour presentation.

The Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel-created series will return for its eighth season in 2018. The series has been the network’s signature show since it launched in 2011.

The show is executive produced by Lorne Michaels and produced by Broadway Video. 

“There are very few shows that can be credited with both establishing and helping to define a television network, and that’s exactly what Portlandia has done for IFC,” said IFC president Jennifer Caserta in a statement. “It is a joy and a privilege to work with Fred, Carrie, Jon, Lorne and everyone at Broadway Video to create a show that was prescient in its satirization of modern culture while having a sensibility and state-of-mind that has only become more prevalent across its run.”

Pasadena -- TNT has ordered a second season of its drama series Good Behavior, the network said during its Television Critics Association Tour presentation Saturday.

The first season of Good Behavior averaged 4.4 million viewers across multiple platforms, according to Turner. In addition, on demand viewing accounted for 15% of its total audience.

The seductive thriller stars Michelle Dockery, Juan Diego Botto, Terry Kinney and Lusia Strus and is executively produced by Chad Hodge and Black Crouch.

"Fueled by unsinkable characters on a dangerous search for belonging, love and family, Good Behavior is addictive television," said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT. "Millions of viewers have fallen hard for this sexy, complicated couple, and in season two, Letty and Javier will give us plenty more to obsess about."

Pasadena -- TNT has tapped actress Dakota Fanning to star in its new drama series The Alienist, the network announced during its Television Critics Association press event Saturday.

Fanning (American Pastoral), plays a headstrong secretary at Police Headquarters in the series, which follows the investigation of several murders in 1896 New York City. Daniel Brühl (Rush, Inglorious Bastards, Captain America: Civil War), and Luke Evans (The Girl on The Train, The Hobbit trilogy) also stars in the series, which is set to premiere in late 2017.

The Alienist is a co-production of Paramount Television and Turner's Studio T, with Cary Fukunaga (True Detective), Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), Hossein Amini (Drive) Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin all serving as executive producers.

Pasadena -- HBO will rollout a lineup of diverse documentaries during the first six months of 2017, including a profile of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett.

Becoming Warren Buffett will debut Jan. 30 and portrays the improbable story of an ambitious, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska who became one of the richest, most respected men in the world, according to the network.

Other documentaries scheduled for the first half of 2017 include Unlocking The Cage (Feb. 20), which explores animal rights lawyer Steven Wise’s unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans; Solidarity: Inside Red Onion State Prison (Feb. 6), an exploration of the lives of inmates and corrections officers in one of America's most notorious “supermax” prisons; Cries From Syria (March 13), a searing look at the five-year conflict in Syria; Beware The Slenderman (Jan. 23), which explores how the dark corners of the Internet can influence society’s most impressionable young consumers of the media; and Mommy Dead And Dearest,  which profiles the story of Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy Rose Blanchard, touching on child abuse, mental illness and forbidden love.

On Feb. 13, Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) will spotlight the American rock band as they recount their experiences before and after the Nov. 2015 terrorist attack in Paris that claimed 89 lives at their Bataclan Theatre concert; and, on Feb. 27, Tickled follows journalist David Farrier, who stumbles upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled.

Pasadena -- TV Land has ordered anthology series Heathers to series, the network announced during its Television Critics Association presentation Friday.

The 10-episode series, based on the 1988 film of the same name, will debut this fall. Shannen Doherty, who starred in the movie, will guest star in the series in a pivotal, unnamed character role, according to the network.

"Our take on Heathers is a cinematic, surprising and twisted comedy that gives a wonderful nod to the film while also creating something entirely on its own,” said Keith Cox, president of development and production for TV Land in a statement.

Cox also announced that the network has greenlit a second season of Nobodies prior to the March 29 debut of the series. The Melissa McCarthy/Ben Falcone-produced series will premiere its second season in 2018, said the network.

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour.

The number of original scripted programming won’t reach its peak until 2017 or 2018, according to FX Networks president John Landgraf.

Landgraf, speaking during the network’s Television Critics Association Winter press tour executive session Thursday, said scripted television programing hasn’t peaked yet, despite 454 scripted programs currently on cable, broadcast and streaming services.

RELATED > TCA17: FX Signs Donald Glover to Deal With FX Productions

While admitting he was wrong in his original prediction regarding the peak of scripted fare, he nevertheless said that he was “going out on a limb” to predict that the number of scripted shows will begin to decline sometime in 2017 or 2018.

He added that the network had its best year in 2016 and has a strong lineup set for 2017, although two of the network’s biggest shows of last year – Atlanta and American Crime Story – won’t return until 2018.

He added Atlanta star and recent Golden Globe winner Donald Glover will be busy working on the next Star Wars film, delaying the show’s second season, while FX wants to take its time developing American Crime Story’s focus on Hurricane Katrina.

RELATED > TCA17: FX Scares Up Two More Seasons of ‘American Horror Story’

“We have high ambitions for this franchise,” Landgraf said. “It’s taken time to get material that we’ve happy with.”

FX has also made strides in diversifying its showrunners, according to Landgraf, with non-white males representing 52% of its original series producers in 2016.

“It’s a work in progress,” Landgraf said. “We’re going to keep going until everything about our channel is fair and better reflects the diversity of the country that we live in. “

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour

Fresh off of his recent Golden Globes win, FX has signed Atlanta actor/producer Donald Glover to an exclusive overall television production deal, the company said Thursday in advance of its TCA Winter Critics tour presentation 

Under the new deal, Glover -- who this past Sunday won the Golden Globes award for best actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Earnest “Earn” Marks on FX’s freshman series Atlanta, which also the Globes Award for best comedy series – will develop TV series for FX Networks as well as for other networks and streaming services, according to Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, presidents of original programming, FX Networks and FX Productions.

Glover will also remain producer and star of Altanta, which will return to FX for a second season in 2018.

“Donald is a remarkable artist, effortlessly shifting from actor to writer, producer, director and musician to create one amazing project after another,” Grad said in a statement. “Atlanta was just the beginning, the breakout comedy of the year and a series revered as much for its originality as its honest look at the experience of being aspiring, young and black in that legendary city. We’re proud to partner with Donald in an overall deal that will allow him to continue turning his creative vision into incredible television.”

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour.

FX will extend its anthology series American Horror Story for two additional seasons beyond its already scheduled seventh installment, the network announced during its Television Critics Association press tour presentation Thursday.

The network will add seasons eight and nine to the Ryan Murphy-produced American Horror Story franchise, which is slated to return for its  previously announced seventh campaign later this year, according to John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions.

The series has won 15 Emmy Awards during its first six season and currently represents 12 of FX’s top 15 most watched telecasts ever, according to the network.

“American Horror Story launched the modern limited series revolution and – as evidenced by the most recent installment ‘Roanoke’ - it remains as vital today as when Murder House stunned audiences six years ago,” said John Landgraf. “Each new chapter is a cultural event, beloved for every new twist in imagery, style, cast and plot. We are thrilled that Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and the entire creative team will continue to deliver the groundbreaking, celebrated American Horror Story for years to come.”

FX also announced premiere dates for several of its new and returning series, including the debut of freshman drama series FEUD: Bette and Joan (March 5), the fifth season return of The Americans (March 7) and the premiere of animated series Archer on FXX (April 5).

Freeform has given a second season to drama Beyond, as Tom Ascheim, network president, surprised the cast and executive producers with the announcement during their TCA Winter Press Tour panel in Pasadena, Calif.

Get complete coverage of the 2017 TCA Winter Press Tour.

Adam Nussdorf and Tim Kring are among the exec producers on the rookie drama, which launched Jan. 2. In a break from its norm, Freeform made the entire season available for binge watching.

Watch the Beyond season 1 trailer.

”Our goal for launching Beyond was to give the audience outstanding content in the way they want to watch it,” Ascheim said. “The response has far exceeded our greatest expectations, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and we can’t wait to bring more Beyond to its growing fan base.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour.

Pasadena, Calif. -- David Lynch made a surprise appearance at Showtime’s TCA press day, speaking about his remake of Twin Peaks, which comes out May 21. True to character, Lynch did not elaborate much, but did shed a hint of light about the considerable anticipation awaiting the series.

“This word 'expect' is a magical word,” he said. “People expect things and their expectations are met, hopefully, when they see the thing.”

Lynch and Mark Frost are behind the project, which will consist of 18 total episodes. Lynch said it was Frost who catalyzed the reboot.

Lynch seemed to take delight in terse answers that kept his interlocutors guessing. His cast members sung the cryptic director’s praises.“Every day is magical, hilarious," sSaid actress Laura Dern. "You’re seeing something you’ve never seen before. It’s the most freeing, wild, wonderful family ride you could ask for in your life.”

The Twin Peaks reboot will debut on May 21 with a two-hour episode, David Nevins, president and CEO of Showtime Networks, announced at the TCA session.

Nevins also said a season four of drama The Affair is in the works and set an April 19 premiere date for John Ridley’s limited series Guerrilla, starring Idris Elba.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

For independent and niche-targeted cable networks, it’s tough to stand out from peak television’s burgeoning crowd. Such programmers are counting on this week’s cable portion of the nearly three-week Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour to put themselves in the spotlight.

Durning the two-day cable schedule (Jan. 13-14), more than 30 cable networks and streaming services will present their new and current scripted and reality shows to the more than 200 TCA member writers gathered in Pasadena, Calif. The cable sessions are facilitated by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour.

The Winter TCA, which officially launched last Thursday (Jan. 5) with presentations from the broadcast networks, generated headlines this past November when NBC, ABC and CBS decided to eliminate the tour’s traditional executive panels. Those sessions allow reporters to ask executives about industry trends and upcoming show developments.

Premium programmer Starz, as well as streaming services Amazon and Netflix, decided to sit out the winter tour, leading some industry observers to question the event’s continued news value.

But Reelz, WGN America and other small players set to present this week say TCA is an invaluable forum to get the word out on their upcoming projects.

“TCA is critical because an independent network doesn’t have the reach and clout that the big conglomerates have for their broadcast and cable networks to speak to media of all shapes and sizes,” Reelz CEO Stan Hubbard said. The network will look to promote its upcoming miniseries The Kennedys — After Camelot, starring Katie Holmes and Matthew Perry.

“TCA provides to an opportunity for an independent network like Reelz to really put our best foot forward in a forum that would otherwise be difficult for us to duplicate,” he said.

The tour gives WGN America, which will promote its drama series Underground and Outsiders at TCA, a means to reach out to entertainment media alongside larger network and streaming service competitors.

“In a world of 400-plus scripted shows, not to mention the competition of all other forms of entertainment, TCA is an opportunity to take an audience that comprises the majority of the entertainment press and to capture their attention and imagination,” WGN America president and general manager Matt Cherniss said. “If your show and network can intrigue in an environment in which hundreds of shows, compressed in a few weeks, are attempting to set themselves apart from the crowd, then it’s a strong sign that the show can do the same for the audience as well.”

Even though it’s not scheduled to present a particular show, El Rey Network president and general manager Daniel Tibbets said the ability to talk to TV critics about the network’s development and future plans in an executive forum is important for the emerging network.

“TCA offers a great opportunity for me to have an actual conversation with critics from all over the country about our strategy, which is unique in this ever-shifting media landscape,” Tibbets said.

Even with opportunities to promote shows on digital platforms and through social media, Hubbard said there’s no substitute for talking and promoting television shows through forums that are TV-oriented.

“At the end of the day TV is TV,” Hubbard, who is also an investor in independent arts network Ovation TV, said. “YouTube is not TV, and TV is not YouTube.

“People still watch a lot of TV shows by sitting down and viewing it on a television set,” he said. “For a network like ours, it’s still about people watching television and that’s what advertisers still pay for, and that’s why TCA is so critical for us.”