As every Sunday, we’d once again like to remind you to tune into the week’s new episode of Big Love, the critically acclaimed HBO polygamist drama series starring Chloë Sevigny opposite Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin. Episode 4.05 “Sins of the Father” airs tonight at 9 PM on HBO. Below is the trailer for the episode that we forgot to post earlier this week:

Exciting (if not entirely unexpected) news, you guys! Reuters and several other news sources report HBO has renewed Big Love for a fifth season!

According to the source, the critically acclaimed polygamist drama series has been up in the ratings this season, even holding its own against live Grammy Award and NFC Championships telecasts. The website furthermore asserts that, with the exception of Amanda Seyfried, the “core cast” will be returning for the upcoming season. This is great news! More from Reuters.com:

HBO still has lots of love for the Mormon drama Big Love. Four episodes into the series’ fourth season, the cable network has ordered a fifth.

Love, which centers on Utah native Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) as he balances the needs of his three wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin) and their broods, drew 1.7 million viewers for its season premiere last month. That was up 49% from Season 3’s opener. Despite facing the NFC Championship and the Grammys the past two Sundays, the series is tracking 13% higher than last season.

Love, whose current story line centers on Henrickson running for office, will be getting “deeper and darker” in the second half of the season, according to creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. With four eventful seasons, the fifth cycle will take a breather, “settling into the stortytelling,” Olsen said.

Added Scheffer, “We want to take the temperature of the marriages.” With the exception of the departing Amanda Seyfried, the series’ core cast will come back for Season 5, with Olsen and Scheffer also mulling a possible return for new additions Zeljko Ivanek and Sissy Spacek.

Love earned its first best series Emmy nomination last year.

As many of you will know, Chloë Sevigny received her first ever Golden Globe this year for Best Supporting Actress (Television) for her portrayal of second wife Nicolette “Nicki” Grant on the show. Co-star Bill Paxton has also received numerous award nominations throughout the span of the show for his role as Bill Henrickson, including a 2010 Golden Globe Lead Actor nom. Congratulations on landing another season, Big Love team!

“No, mama, you do not have to be a lamb for slaughter, you can choose your own path.”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Grant

As always, we hope you were able to tune in last Sunday to the season’s fourth episode of Big Love, the critically acclaimed HBO polygamist drama series starring Chloë Sevigny in her Golden Globe-winning role of Nicolette “Nicki” Grant opposite Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin. Here’s our recap of last Sunday’s episode, 4.04 “The Mighty and Strong” (under the cut), please mouseover to read:

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As on every Sunday, we’d just like to remind you that Chloë Sevigny will once again appear as Nicolette “Nicki” Grant in today’s new episode of Big Love, the critically acclaimed HBO polygamist drama series also starring Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin. Episode 4.04 “The Mighty and Strong” airs tonight @ 9 PM on HBO. Be sure to tune in!

I promised earlier this week that we’d catch up with those Big Love clips, and that’s exactly what we’ve done today. Today, the media archive has been updated with 33 site-exclusive video clips of Chloë Sevigny’s portrayal of Nicolette “Nicki” Grant in the Season 4 opening of Big Love. The series’ fourth season has really been all around excellent so far, so we really hope you’ve been tuning in. But, in case you haven’t, these are a great way to catch up with Chloë’s Golden Globe-winning performance. Enjoy, and don’t forget to watch next Sunday’s episode, 4.04 “The Mighty and Strong”!

All clips are in .MOV format, which is playable in e.g. VLC and QuickTime. Please remember you must be a registered and logged in media archive user to access our collection of video clips; unlogged users will not be able to view said material. Registration at our media archive is free and only takes a moment. Thank you.

New Media Albums:

• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Episode 4.01 Video Clips
• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Episode 4.02 Video Clips
• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Episode 4.03 Video Clips
• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Season 4 Opening Credits

More Big Love updates today. Beginning with today’s least pleasant news, according to TV Guide Online, actress Amanda Seyfried will be leaving the Big Love cast soon in order to better focus on a career in film. Seyfried, who portrays Bill and Barb’s eldest daughter Sarah on the show, has been onboard since Season 1. According to the source, her departure at the end of Season 4 has been confirmed. We’re, of course, very sad to see her go. More information is available at TVGuideMagazine.com.

In a later report, TV Guide brings up the possibility of former child star Macaulay Culkin, best known for the 90’s Home Alone films, joining the cast next season (though please bear in mind a 5th season remains to be confirmed by the HBO). According to the source, Culkin has been spotted visiting the set of the show and he also shares the same agent with actress Sissy Spacek, who currently has a regular guest role on Big Love as lobbyist Marilyn Densham:

Mac, who (believe it or not) turns the big 3-0 this summer, was recently spotted on the Big Love set, where he visited with pal Chloë Sevigny (Nicki) and cocreator Will Scheffer. “We’re interested in him,” Scheffer says. “He watches the show and we can see him fitting into either the compound or the Mormon world.”

Turns out Macaulay shares the same agent with Sissy Spacek, who’s on the series this season as a powerful lobbyist and may return for Season 5. So who would Mac play? With plans to “expand our show’s youth franchise” in 2011 (pending a renewal from HBO), Scheffer says Macaulay would be “an interesting person to add to that mix.” Star Bill Paxton’s suggestion: “He’d make a great young evangelist.” Amen!

Finally, as usual, here is the trailer for next Sunday’s Big Love episode, 4.04 “The Mighty and Strong”, courtesy of HBO:

“That is not true! I’m trying to do everything that I can so you won’t become like me! I don’t want you to be afraid of yourself, to be afraid of the world!”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Grant

As always, we hope you were able to tune in last Sunday to the newest episode of Big Love, the critically acclaimed HBO polygamist drama series starring Chloë Sevigny in her Golden Globe-winning role of Nicolette “Nicki” Grant opposite Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin. Here’s our coverage of last Sunday’s episode, 4.03 “Strange Bedfellows”; the recap is another long one and therefore hidden under the cut. Please mouseover to read:

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Just a friendly reminder today to catch Chloë Sevigny in her Golden Globe-winning role as Nicolette “Nicki” Grant on Big Love, the critically acclaimed polygamist drama series also starring Bill Paxton, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Amanda Seyfried. Episode 4.03 “Strange Bedfellows”, guest starring Sissy Spacek, airs today @ 9 PM on HBO. Be sure to tune in, and/or check back with us for coverage again next week!

Anyone who’s been visiting the Big Love official site @ HBO.com since last weekend will have noticed the site has received a complete overhaul. The new website has a brand new, sleek look and updated content. Have a look for yourself!

Alternatively, you can check out the below trailer for next Sunday’s episode, 4.03 “Strange Bedfellows”, guest starring Sissy Spacek. The new episode airs January 24 @ 9 PM on HBO.

“How dare you suggest that I’m being impertinent?”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Grant

With all the recent Golden Globes excitement, we were unfortunately unable to make time for a second Big Love Season 4 recap until now. However, despite the Golden Globes live telecast, we hope you were also able to tune in last Sunday to the second Big Love episode of the season, 4.02 “The Greater Good”, in which Chloë Sevigny as usual appeared as second wife Nicolette “Nicki” Grant. As always, here’s our recap of the episode (under the cut this time, as it’s a bit a lot longer than usual), please mouseover to read:

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