Elmore Leonard

What a great time to be a TV junkie. NBC’s “Community” is back in prime form with the return of Dan Harmon. HBO launches the incredible “True Detective” on Sunday and “Sherlock” returns stateside next weekend. There’s enough quality out there that FX’s “Justified” could get lost in the shuffle. Don’t let that happen.

CHICAGO – Elmore Leonard was so much a part of the entertainment landscape that many people don’t even realize the extent of his influence and reach on, of course, literature, but also film and television. The same man created the characters you love in “3:10 to Yuma,” “Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight,” and “Justified.”

CHICAGO – Crime novelist Marcus Sakey takes his witty voice as an author to another medium tonight with the debut of The Travel Channel’s “Hidden City.” The first episode focuses on three of the most notable stories of the past of our fair windy city and the series displays potential to become the next breakout cable hit a la the network’s “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain.

CHICAGO – We have every reason to believe that the second season of “Justified” will be even better than the first and that excellent outing landed on my top ten for 2010. In other words, one of the best shows on TV is back and looks likely that it could get even better.

CHICAGO – The first season of “Justified” was one of my favorites of 2010, but quality TV seasons don’t always translate to quality home releases. It seems as though studios are still unclear as to which shows to release standard-only and even when they do make the upgrade decision to HD it doesn’t always come with interesting special features.

CHICAGO – Well into his eighties, the great Elmore Leonard continues to churn out accomplished crime novels at a pace and skill level that shames men one-quarter his age. Time has not slowed one of the best crime writers of the last fifty years in any way and while his latest, “Djibouti,” may not stand as one of his best, it certainly does nothing to sully his amazing reputation.

CHICAGO – In this inaugural edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Book, we have 5 books up for grabs to the new 288-page book “Djibouti” from New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. Leonard is the creator of the character “Raylan Givens” on FX’s “Justified” TV show.

CHICAGO – In the hundreds of shows that I’ve reviewed in my decade covering television, I’ve rarely been as instantly blown away as I was by the premiere of “Justified,” a riveting, perfectly paced, expertly acted piece of drama that simply must be seen. The next two episodes are a slight step down but that doesn’t change the fact that this is the best new drama of 2009-2010.

CHICAGO – Timothy Olyphant, star of HBO’s “Deadwood” and FX’s “Damages,” and films including “Go,” “A Perfect Getaway,” “Hitman,” “Catch and Release,” and many more, returns to television early next year in FX’s latest original series, “Lawman,” from creator Graham Yost (“Boomtown”) and based on a character created by Elmore Leonard (“Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight”).

CHICAGO – How does a movie with Oscar-nominated leads, a prominent director, beloved source material, and an excellent supporting cast get delayed for so long that it inevitably gets quietly shuffled off to DVD? Well, if history tells us anything, having a complicated and troubled project in the Weinstein Company archives doesn’t help a movie like “Killshot,” an action thriller that has its flaws but none so big that it deserved such an unusual and lackluster fate.