Matt's Self-help guide to Wednesday TV: FX's Horror Story, HBO's Tribute to George Harrison plus much more

Dylan McDermott There's Room As Being A HAUNTED HOME: To hell with Casper. The ghosts are decidedly unfriendly nowadays. Not content to go to "Boo!" inside the evening, the malevolent spirits that haunt FX's terminally twisted American Horror Story (10/9c) use a inclination to acquire beneath the skin, playing sexually charged and violent mind games utilizing their sufferers.But wait, how frightening is haunted-house slip show? Would depend on regardless if you are in the "less is a lot moreInch or "more is a lot moreInch school of terror. Horror Story errs across the side of overkill, telling us in the perilously little distinction between what's frightening and basically plain silly. From Ryan Murphy (Glee) within the garishly medieval psychosexual Puppy puppy nip/Tuck mode of wretched excess, that is so overstuffed and disjointed within the reckless piling on of nasty shocks-for-shock's-sake, it frequently feels as if it were edited getting a Cuisinart on "chain saw" setting.Still, I defy explore to acquire goose bumps whenever a character descends into the Cellar Where Disgusting Evil Hides, beginning while using classic prologue - occur 1978, the season Halloween opened up, which is definitely purposely - through which two repulsive twins are attracted for his or her disaster while slightly neighbor girl with Lower syndrome chants, "You're destined to be sorry.InchWant more fall TV news? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!Following most likely probably the most chilling and unnervingly grotesque title sequences in recent memory - it's much more provocative in comparison to show's peculiar poster having its rubber-suited ghoul hiding around the half-naked lady - we cut to the present day. A hazardously couple (Dylan McDermott, who's irritatingly stiff, and Connie Britton, who's simply uncomfortable) transfer to some '20s-era L.A. mansion they are purchasing for just about any steal - first danger signal - utilizing their snotty teenage daughter (the unbearably smug Taissa Farmiga). Very rapidly, it's apparent they've signed a lease around the perverse madhouse that's happy to rub salt deep for their psychic wounds. They're destined to be sorry.Will the viewer be sorry? Once again, it's determined by an individual's tolerance for indulgent and borderline-incoherent mayhem. You will discover periodic shivery pleasures, including an inspired recurring hallucination together with a creepy old housekeeper (Six Foot Under's Frances Conroy) who most males frequently see just like a sexy maid (Alexandra Breckenridge). To ensure that his or her blithely nosy Southern belle from the neighbor, Jessica Lange steals this surreal freak show with comical verve, purring and hissing in the delirious display of mock piety laced with menacing vulgarity. She's sufficient induce to stay updated. Still, the mess of yank Horror Story is berserk with a fault, although it has an unnerving originality compelling us to check out ultimately cringe, or even smirk.Enter in the own risk.NIGHT'S TOP PICK: Inside the tradition of Martin Scorsese's acclaimed biographical portrait of Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, Cinemax presents Scorsese's two-evening tribute for the so-referred to as "quiet Beatle" inside the completely observed George Harrison: Dwelling within the fabric World (9/8c concludes Thursday). The documentary charts Harrison's musical and spiritual journey with films, a treasure chest of photographs, and interviews with pals and co-employees including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Phil Spector, Yoko Ono, George Martin, Eric Clapton and Tom Petty. Our in-house music guru Ernest Hudak declares this documentary being "splendid."Ideal For Fun: In the special Wednesday episode, Fox's rambunctious Raising Hope (9:30/8:30c) sends your family to Las vegas for your wedding of Virginia's nose-in-the-air cousin Delilah, carried out for the hilt by Amy Sedaris, who's an all-natural fit relating to this garish yet endearing sitcom. Delilah has spent her whole existence upstaging Virginia, who declares, "It's like she's authors or something like that like this,Inch which is especially humbled when recalling her own rash wedding to Burt when she was pregnant with Jimmy. The episode evolves with a sweet finish, developing a enjoyable contrast with Tuesday night's "Wedding" episode of latest Girl.KIDS TODAY! Can South Park be 15 years of age? Fortunately, the 4th-graders remain resolutely immature. The show's designers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are warmer than in the past, getting recently been profiled with an hour while their Tony-winning musical It of Mormon is Broadway's hardest ticket. (If you fail to enter, accept the hilariously profane original cast album.) Since the year of South Park begins (Comedy Central, 10/9c), Cartman slaughters another sacred cow while he convinces themselves he's Asperger's syndrome. Dvr alert: To celebrate the 15-year milestone, Comedy Central will air a behind-the-moments documentary, 6 Days to Air: Your building of South Park, on Sunday (10/9c), which I'll discuss inside a couple of days.Just what else is on? ... Some selected highlights: Fox's The X Factor (8/7c) moves into its boot-camping phase getting a 90-minute episode. Might this put a begin working the show's ratings? ... Gloria is doggone wanting to find Stella after losing the polarizing pooch on ABC's Modern Family (9/8c). ... Next! Emily sets her sights on taking lower the DA who wrongly billed her father. This is why they think of it as Revenge (ABC, 10/9c). ... On BBC America's gripping Luther (10/9c), the embattled detective is searching for his loyal partner Ripley, who's been kidnapped and influences sadistic clutches in the masked serial killer. But Luther's encounter while using thugs who wish him to return teenage prostitute Jenny proves a similarly painful distraction.Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Fall TV Recognition Contest: Did American Horror Story Scare You or Scare You Off?

Alexandra Breckenridge, American Horror Story Glee bosses Ryan Murphy and Kaira Falchuk are employed to making audiences cheer, but Wednesday evening they did their utmost to be cringe while using premiere of FX's American Horror Story. You need to know very well what you considered this show - which that you simply consider every new series this season. Election: Which fall premieres won you over? Which flopped? Did American Horror Story offer the willies? Are you able to trust that crazy maid? Will Jessica Lange's good neighbor act make you stay coming back? Election now! You should also encourage your pals together with other fans to election. Return to determine which TVGuide.com clients consider your chosen - and least favorite - new shows for fall as well as the final rankings for your debuts. Fall TV: Have the lowdown relating to this season's must-see new shows When is it possible to election next? This is a handy calendar that may help you keep track.

Leftfield hires, promotes execs

Reality shingle Leftfield Pictures is shuffling its exec ranks. Tonko Soljan, who joined the company last year as a line producer, has been upped to exec in charge of production. His duties will be geared more toward the company's corporate and financial operations. In other promotions, Courtney Montgomery is Leftfield's new head of production and will oversee staffing. She was formerly a producer on ABC's "Wife Swap," and created VH1's "Bridal Bootcamp." Both Soljan and Montgomery report to g.m. Chris Valentini. Among those arriving at Leftfield are Brooke Meredith, who is the shingle's senior director of development, responsible for new formats and character-based series. From MTV is Shawn Witt, who will serve as an exec producer. He was formerly an EP on the cabler's series "Total Request Live," "Pranked" and "Parental Control." Also coming aboard is development producer Julie Louis, responsible for a handful of Leftfield's pitch reels and pilots.Leftfield, owned by Brent Montgomery, produces a handful of shows, including History hits "Pawn Stars" and "American Restoration." Upcoming from Leftfield are new Bravo series "Fashion Hunters" and "Monster In-Laws" for A&E. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

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Following up on Butch Cassidy

Mateo Gil, Sam Shepard and Magnolia's Eamonn Bowles bring back Butch. "I don't have a career, I have a life," Sam Shepard declared Thursday at the Manhattan Cinema 2 preem of "Blackthorn," wherein the scribe-thesp brings Butch Cassidy back to life. "I'm a writer primarily and then everything else is around that." Does he ever write something and then play it onstage? "I have and it's a huge mistake and I will never do it again," Shepard said, laughing. Magnolia Pictures' "Blackthorn" is set in Bolivia decades after Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's supposed demise, and tells what happens when the aged bandit decides to go back home. "It's just an excuse to talk about some old heroes and old values that we wanted to do," helmer Mateo Gil said at the Desmond's after-party. The potency of the subject was reinforced, Gil said, when his Bolivian producer got a call while they were filming there. "This guy said, 'I'm a grandson of the Sundance Kid. He survived and lived in Bolivia for many years and I'm his grandson.' We don't know if it's true or not." But it would make a good "Blackthorn" sequel. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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From Up on Poppy Hill (Kokurikozaka kara)

A Studio Ghibli production. Produced by Toshio Suzuki. Executive producer, Koji Hoshino. Directed by Goro Miyazaki. Screenplay, Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa, based on the original graphic novel by Chizuru Takahashi, Tetsuro Sayama.Voices: Masami Nagasawa, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita, Yuriko Ishida, Rumi Hiiragi, Jun Fubuki, Takashi Naito, Shunsuke Kazama, Nao Omori, Teruyuki Kagawa.Suggesting all that is lost when people rush to replace the old ways with shiny new alternatives, Studio Ghibli's gorgeously hand-drawn period romance "From Up on Poppy Hill" tells the story of how a young couple intervene in the demolition of a classic building on their school campus. Though relatively successful in its native Japan, this dramatic, somewhat grown-up entry reps a startling break from the fantastical tales for which the toon studio is known -- to the extent that the classically animated tale could have been told via live-action -- which should put a serious pinch on its export prospects. For director Goro Miyazaki, son of celebrated Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki (who co-wrote the screenplay), "Poppy Hill" feels like an about-face after the disappointing debut of "Tales From Earthsea." Where that film lost its way along a sprawling, ambitious sci-fi plot, this one feels small enough to cup in one's hands. Adapted from a vintage manga series by Tetsuro Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi, pic reps a safe, sentimental choice as follow-ups go, trading on the fact that Japanese auds would appreciate a nostalgic, lovingly rendered glimpse of themselves circa 1963, just as the country was reinventing itself for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A wide-eyed example of the postwar generation, Umi lives with her grandmother on a scenic hill above Yokohama, where she keeps the memory of her war-hero father alive by raising flags for the passing ships each morning. Unknown to her, a boy from Umi's school passes below daily and notices the signal, harboring a secret crush on his shy classmate. But dating is more complicated than the two teens imagine, especially after the boy, Shun, recognizes a photograph of Umi's father in her house -- it matches the only relic he has of his own dad, suggesting the budding sweethearts may in fact be related. When the details of Shun's family history come to light, they reveal the painful traces World War II left on ordinary citizens, a recurring motif in a tale whose central theme concerns the tension between Japan's past and future. At times, the pic's focus feels disappointingly simplistic, as Umi rallies her classmates to save an old French-style mansion the students use as a clubhouse. But the efforts of the young characters' Latin Quarter Anti-Demolition League represents something larger than the fate of the building itself, though the point may well be lost on foreign auds. Breathtaking in their own right, "Poppy Hill's" beautiful vistas and bustling cityscapes reflect the effects of modernization on Japan itself, especially during the students' trip into Tokyo to plead their case directly to the school board's chairman. Whereas Hayao Miyazaki looked upon the country's boat- and pollution-clogged harbors with grim reproach in "Ponyo," father and son alike see them as a symbol of national pride and progress in this context. And yet, "Poppy Hill" argues the need to maintain one's ties to the past, even for a nation shamed, demoralized and eager to erase its recent history. Certainly the young characters cannot move forward without untangling the specifics of their own family histories. The same principle applies to the country as a whole, and it seems somehow fitting that the increasingly antiquated medium of hard-drawn animation would serve to make the point here. The jury's still out on whether Goro Miyazaki can sustain his father's legacy as storyteller, though with its beautiful visuals and songs, "Poppy Hill" finds a deserving, if modest, place among its Studio Ghibli peers.Camera (color), Atsushi Okui; music, Satoshi Takebe; character designer, Katsuya Kondo; sound design, Koji Kasamatsu. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema), Sept. 8, 2011. Running time: 91 MIN. Contact Peter Debruge at peter.debruge@variety.com

E.R. Doc: Jackson Physician Never Pointed out Propofol

First Released: October 3, 2011 4:07 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images Caption Dr. Conrad Murray Pleads Not Liable To Involuntary Wrongful death La, Calif. -- An er physician told jurors Monday that Michael Jacksons physician never pointed out he had because of the singer the effective anesthetic propofol, but acknowledged the disclosure most likely wouldnt have saved the King of Pop. Dr. Richelle Cooper recounted her conversations with Dr. Conrad Murray at the time Jackson died, telling jurors he informed her he had only because of the singer the sedative lorazepam. She stated under defense questioning which had Murray pointed out the anesthetic, it most likely wouldnt have permitted doctors in order to save Jacksons existence while he was scientifically dead when he showed up in the hospital. Cooper started again testifying Monday as Murrays involuntary wrongful death trial started its second week. Murray, 58, has pleaded not liable and the defense lawyers claim Jackson gave themself a fatal dose of sedative drugs and propofol, that is normally given in hospital configurations. Government bodies say Murray given the fatal dose and behaved recklessly by supplying Jackson the drug like a sleep aid. Cooper claimed she never requested Murray to sign a dying certificate because, when he was introduced to Taxation UCLA Clinic, Jackson grew to become her patient. Mr. Jackson was my patient and that i didnt genuinely have a reason why he was dead, she stated. Cooper has formerly claimed she gave paramedics permission to pronounce Jackson dead, but that Murray wanted resuscitation efforts to carry on in the hospital. She's stated a lot more than an hour or so of resuscitation efforts in the hospital didn't do anything to enhance his condition. Cooper also told jurors about trying to speak with Jacksons children after he was pronounced dead in the hospital at 2:26 p.m. on June 25, 2009. These were crying, Cooper stated. These were fairly hysterical. Cooper may be the twelfth witness prosecutors have known as to date within the trial, that is likely to last five days. The doctors phone records really are a central area of the prosecution situation. Prosecutors plan to show records of Murrays telephone calls and emails in the hrs before Jacksons dying to exhibit the singer had other activities on his mind getting his $150,000 per month deal for everyone as Jacksons personal physician approved, running his medical practices and fielding calls from mistresses. Throughout an initial hearing, prosecutors demonstrated that Murray was involved in three telephone calls within the hour before he emerged from Jacksons bed room and anxiously told a chef to find help. Among Murrays former patients, Vegas salesperson Robert Russell, detailed among individuals requires jurors a week ago. Russell recognized Murray in testimony, crediting the physician with saving his existence, but stated he'd grown distant after going to dedicate yourself Jackson. Russell stated he known as the doctors office seeking solutions about his care at the time Jackson died. Murray came back the content at 11:49 a.m., roughly fifteen minutes before telling Jacksons chef to call security and asking to speak with Jacksons oldest boy, Prince. Prosecutors on Monday started to create Murrays phone records in to the trial, getting an AT&T representative detail his records for jurors. Later within the situation, prosecutors will further detail calls and messages Murray fielded on that day, including one the doctor apparently designed to his girlfriend because he rode at the back of the ambulance in order to a healthcare facility. The precise order of witnesses is unclear. The judge managing the situation enforced a gag order a week ago barring each side or their spokespeople from speaking concerning the situation outdoors of court. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Starz renews 'Boss' before bow

Starz has given a second season renewal to its Kelsey Grammer starrer "Boss," a month before its first season bows on the pay cabler. Series stars Kelsey Grammer as a powerful Chicago mayor who's hiding a deteriorating mental condition. Drama hails from Grammer's Grammnet Prods. and Lionsgate TV. Farhad Safinia ("Apocalypto") is creator and exec producer; Gus Van Sant helmed the pilot episode, marking his TV directorial debut, and also exec produces with Grammer, Lyn Greene, Richard Levine, Brian Sher and Stella Bulochnikov. "Boss" is set to bow Oct. 21 for an eight episode run. The second season order is 10 segs, with production targeted to start early next year. Series marks the most high-profile original scripted series to come from Starz since Chris Albrecht took over the pay cabler in January 2010. The early renewal is unusual though not unprecedented especially for pay cable. Grammer has been generating strong early buzz for his perf in the series, which likely encouraged Starz to make a statement with the early pickup. "The first time we read Farhad's script, we knew we had to make 'Boss,' " said Albrecht. "With each episode, the story grew richer, and the cast continued to turn in breakthrough performances. Led by Kelsey and Farhad, this creative team is giving us dramatic storytelling at its very best. For our viewers, we felt it important to start working on the next season as soon as possible." Lionsgate TV topper Kevin Beggs said it was "gratifying" to get such an "early vote of confidence" from Starz. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

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