Hugh Bonneville: Ovation Premieres Ben Hur Easter Weekend Miniseries Event Sunday, March 31 At 8 pm ET Ovation Also To Air Special, The Making Of Ben Hur, Across All Content Platforms Including SD and HD Channels, OvationTV.com, YouTube, VOD & TVE

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of its ratings success with original series Song by Song, Ovation, the only network dedicated to the arts, will launch an Easter weekend event with the premiere of its four-hour miniseries BEN HUR, Sunday, March 31 at 8:00 pm ET.


Based on the Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ, the miniseries stars Joseph Morgan (The Vampire Diaries) as Judah Ben Hur and Emily VanCamp (Revenge) as Esther. BEN HUR's multi-talented cast also includes Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Kristin Kreuk (Beauty and the Beast), Stephen Campbell Moore (Titanic mini-series), Simon Andreu (The Cold Light of Day), James Faulkner ( Bridget Jones ' Diary), Alex Kingston (ER), Ray Winstone (Great Expectations) and Ben Cross (William & Kate).

Written by Alan Sharp and directed by Steve Shill , the miniseries follows Judah Ben Hur , a wealthy Jewish prince betrayed by his childhood friend, Messala.  Eventually enslaved, Ben Hur becomes a hero and receives new wealth and power when he saves the life of a Roman leader. His ultimate quest is to deliver vengeance upon Messala for the destruction of the Ben Hur family.

Ovation will also feature The Making of Ben Hur special across all of its content platforms, including SD and HD channels, OvationTV.com, Ovation's 'YouTube channel, VOD and TV Everywhere.

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Downton Tragedy: Will Dan Stevens Be George Clooney or David Caruso? (SHOWBIZ 411)

02/18/13 2:32amRoger Friedman

WITH SPOILERS: By now, most fans of “Downton Abbey” in the US know what the Brits learned on Christmas Day: Matthew Crawley is most sincerely dead. After seeing his newborn son, Matthew died in automobile accident, on camera, blood pouring out of his head. Series creator Julian Fellowes and the producers took out their most decided unhappiness about actor Dan Stevens leaving them after three seasons. Stevens as much as told us this at the Broadway premiere of “The Heiress” when his rude publicist almost tackled me to get him away.

Stevens had been giving interviews saying he’d brought his family to America and was looking forward to sticking around. He’s walked away from the best show on television on two continents and massive popularity. So what now? Will he follow in the footsteps of George Clooney and make a successful transition to movies? Or will Stevens become the British equivalent of David Caruso, who spurned “NYPD Blue” years ago for a movie career that fizzled immediately? It’s hard to say. Remember Clooney stuck with “ER” for several years before making that full time jump. It was Caruso who left “NYPD Blue” right away.

Stevens might very well have stuck it out for two more seasons of “Downton.” After all, the show only produces a handful of episodes per season–it’s not like he was required to make 22 episodes. And he squandered the good will of fans he was courting for future work.

Mary (Michelle Dockery) won’t be alone for along. Fellowes is already casting for a new love interest, not a husband, but an intermediary fellow. And it wouldn’ surprise anyone if the fifth season endgame brings Mary together with her brother-in-law, Tom Branson, the former chauffeur.

READ MORE: http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/02/18/downton-tragedy-will-dan-stevens-be-george-clooney-or-david-caruso