'Episodes' Preview Teases Pucks Problems And A New Boss For Carol

When a show goes more than a year between seasons, we begin to wonder if that series is still on or if it was cancelled. This seems especially true for cable television, which is where it tends to happen more often than with network TV. Such is the case for Episodes, which believe it or not, isn’t cancelled. The Showtime comedy hasn’t really settled on what time of year it wants to air, which does create a little confusion and some oversized gaps between seasons. It debuted in winter of 2011 and returned in the summer of 2012 for Season 2. Season 3 takes the TV-focused series back to winter, as the show is set to return this January.

As the behind-the-scenes preview indicates at the end, Episodes is back for Season 3 on January 12, the same day House of Lies is back for Season 3 and Shameless returns for Season 4. The Episodes video reminds us of where things left off at the end of Season 2, including that Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) appear to be in a better place in their relationship, and Merc (John Pankow) was fired and dumped pretty much all at once. It looks like part of Season 3 will involve Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins) dealing with her new boss Castor Soto, played by Chris Diamantopoulos. If you thought he looked familiar, you may have recognized the actor from The Office (he played Brian, the boom guy) or Arrested Development’s recent fourth season, in which he played Marky Bark. It looks like Soto’s trying to get Carol to stop being such a people pleaser. Good luck with that.

And then there’s Matt LeBlanc, reprising his role as Matt LeBlanc. It looks like his role in Pucks! might be getting diminished as the kids in the series are emerging as the true stars. That’s probably not good for Matt. But it may be just as well as LeBlanc says the comedy’s ratings are in the toilet this year.

In addition to the above preview for Episodes, Showtime also released this video for Shameless, which focuses on Fiona and her temper. If this doesn’t get you excited for January, I’m not sure what will…

And in case you’re wondering, Californication will return for Season 7, but that’s not happening until April (by which point we might be wondering if it’s still on anymore). On the bright side, we have some great guest stars to look forward to in Season 7, including Mary Lynn Rajskub, Heather Graham, Michael Imperioli and the return of Rob Lowe.