Damages Television Program

Glenn Close wasn't too pleased to find out at the end of the first season of "Damages" that Patty Hewes, the scheming attorney she plays on the FX thriller, was the one responsible for the attempted killing of her protege Ellen Parsons. "I was upset!" exclaimed Close, curled up on her dressing room couch at a Brooklyn sound stage. It was a drizzly winter afternoon, and the actress had just finished shooting a scene for the show's second season, which premieres Wednesday.

Glenn Close wasn't too pleased to find out at the end of the first season of "Damages" that Patty Hewes, the scheming attorney she plays on the FX thriller, was the one responsible for the attempted killing of her protege Ellen Parsons. "I was upset!" exclaimed Close, curled up on her dressing room couch at a Brooklyn sound stage. It was a drizzly winter afternoon, and the actress had just finished shooting a scene for the show's second season, which premieres Wednesday.

"Damages" has gotten a reprieve. Despite the legal thriller's middling ratings, FX announced Monday that it has ordered an additional two 13-episode seasons of the Glenn Close drama. Network executives agonized over whether to renew the series, which drew plaudits from critics and attracted a loyal fan base. But the show's first-run episodes attracted just 2.5 million viewers, including 1.1 million in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic, making the prospects shaky for it to continue.

Oh, "Damages" fans, where do we begin? There were so many tantalizing tidbits from Tuesday's panel with the producers and cast of the critically acclaimed FX series, which returns for its second season in January. In no particular order of importance: Arthur Frobisher is back -- and alive? There were conflicting reports on his status. FX President John Landgraf said Ted Danson's character -- who was shot in last season's finale -- will return for several more episodes. "He's not terribly healthy at the moment, but, as you now know, he did survive," Landgraf said.

MOVE over, Meryl. For a minute we all thought you were the perfect evil boss in "The Devil Wears Prada," but now we know we were wrong. In FX's new drama "Damages," Glenn Close takes such adjectives as "ruthless," "ambitious" and "obsessive" to Shakespearean heights. And she does it all looking like socialite Slim Keith or Lauren Bacall. Of course, it helps a bit that she's playing a lawyer.

Oh, "Damages" fans, where do we begin? There were so many tantalizing tidbits from Tuesday's panel with the producers and cast of the critically acclaimed FX series, which returns for its second season in January. In no particular order of importance: Arthur Frobisher is back -- and alive? There were conflicting reports on his status. FX President John Landgraf said Ted Danson's character -- who was shot in last season's finale -- will return for several more episodes. "He's not terribly healthy at the moment, but, as you now know, he did survive," Landgraf said.

I didn't expect to get my heart broken quite so soon in this job. This summer, two great shows appeared as if from a planet more advanced than ours -- AMC's "Mad Men" and FX's "Damages." But while "Mad Men" has, justifiably, grabbed magazine covers and top 10 lists, "Damages" has gone begging. Indeed, FX has not committed to renewing the show and I don't quite know how to come to terms with this. Glenn Close, people. As Patty Hewes, the toughest lawyer you'll ever hate to want on your side.

WHEN Glenn Close started production this spring on "Damages," the new FX legal thriller in which she plays a wily, high-priced litigator, the veteran performer felt an unfamiliar bout of anxiety. "I found it very, very difficult, because there was no end," Close said of diving into the television series. "In theater or movies, there's a beginning, a middle and an end. And you own your character; you do your research, within the universe of that.

NEW YORK -- "Damages" fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show's third-to-last episode airs (at 10 tonight). But even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can't yet say as much about the fate of the series.

Oscar winner William Hurt will join the cast of FX's "Damages" when the series returns early next year for its second season. Hurt will play a new client of attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Specifics were not disclosed, but insiders hinted that Hurt's character will have both a professional and personal history with Hewes. The actor, who won the 1985 Academy Award for best actor for "Kiss of the Spider Woman," has appeared in television movies and in guest shots, but his "Damages" stint will mark his first regular role on a TV series.

Oscar winner William Hurt will join the cast of FX's "Damages" when the series returns early next year for its second season. Hurt will play a new client of attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Specifics were not disclosed, but insiders hinted that Hurt's character will have both a professional and personal history with Hewes. The actor, who won the 1985 Academy Award for best actor for "Kiss of the Spider Woman," has appeared in television movies and in guest shots, but his "Damages" stint will mark his first regular role on a TV series.

"Damages" has gotten a reprieve. Despite the legal thriller's middling ratings, FX announced Monday that it has ordered an additional two 13-episode seasons of the Glenn Close drama. Network executives agonized over whether to renew the series, which drew plaudits from critics and attracted a loyal fan base. But the show's first-run episodes attracted just 2.5 million viewers, including 1.1 million in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic, making the prospects shaky for it to continue.

I didn't expect to get my heart broken quite so soon in this job. This summer, two great shows appeared as if from a planet more advanced than ours -- AMC's "Mad Men" and FX's "Damages." But while "Mad Men" has, justifiably, grabbed magazine covers and top 10 lists, "Damages" has gone begging. Indeed, FX has not committed to renewing the show and I don't quite know how to come to terms with this. Glenn Close, people. As Patty Hewes, the toughest lawyer you'll ever hate to want on your side.

NEW YORK -- "Damages" fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show's third-to-last episode airs (at 10 tonight). But even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can't yet say as much about the fate of the series.

MOVE over, Meryl. For a minute we all thought you were the perfect evil boss in "The Devil Wears Prada," but now we know we were wrong. In FX's new drama "Damages," Glenn Close takes such adjectives as "ruthless," "ambitious" and "obsessive" to Shakespearean heights. And she does it all looking like socialite Slim Keith or Lauren Bacall. Of course, it helps a bit that she's playing a lawyer.

WHEN Glenn Close started production this spring on "Damages," the new FX legal thriller in which she plays a wily, high-priced litigator, the veteran performer felt an unfamiliar bout of anxiety. "I found it very, very difficult, because there was no end," Close said of diving into the television series. "In theater or movies, there's a beginning, a middle and an end. And you own your character; you do your research, within the universe of that.