(S03) Wasn't that a stark contrast from the first two episodes. As viewers, we were just as out of sorts watching that arrival in Melbourne, Australia as the marines themselves were. After two weeks of near non-stop warfare and bloodshed, the marines got a chance to get some much needed R & R, as well as the attention of some very appreciative Aussie young women.

The more relaxed pace of the episode allowed us to get to know some of our principal cast members more intimately. Particularly Robert Leckie and John Basilone, who had very different experiences in Melbourne. Basilone was the decorated war hero, given the highest honor he could possibly achieve, while Leckie found something even sweeter: a woman.

Historians like to say that each new war usually finds its generals trying to re-fight the previous war. So it is with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who are ready to fight World War II one more time in 'The Pacific,' a 10-hour miniseries debuting March 14 on HBO.

The team that brought you 'Saving Private Ryan' on the big screen in 1998 and miniseries 'Band of Brothers' to HBO in 2001 has returned with a lavish, detailed, docudrama companion piece to 'Brothers' that promises to do for the fight against Japan what 'Ryan' and 'Brothers' did for the war in Europe: make it come alive for those of us too young to remember.

And they've spared no expense in doing so. According to the Hollywood Reporter, costs for 'The Pacific' have been estimated as high as $200 million, making it the most expensive single event in TV history. Then again, it costs a lot of money to manufacture 3,000 uniforms on 1940s-vintage sewing machines so that they'll have the right texture, or to paint 80 tons of white sand black to replicate the volcanic beachscape of Iwo Jima. That's the level of detail and authenticity the filmmakers were going for in trying to restage the Pacific war.

Read on for more of what to expect from Hanks and Spielberg's latest historical epic.

Ricky's leaving, Bill's staying, and a bunch of other things are happening at HBO in regards to comedy (and drama). Here's what's what:

The new drama series, Tell Me You Love Me, kicks off September 9 at 9:00 p.m. It delves into the lives of three couples who all go to the same therapist. There's a couple in their 40s who no longer have sex, a couple in their 30s struggling to have their first child, and a couple in their 20s struggling to remain faithful to one another. So, there's a lot of struggling, in case I didn't use that word enough. The cast includes Jane Alexander, Michelle Borth, Tim DeKay, Aislinn Paul, Adam Scott, Kate Towne, Sonya Walger and Ally Walker.

Described as a kind of companion piece to their 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's new HBO series, The Pacific, will begin filming this summer.

The Pacific focuses on three marines stationed in the Pacific: Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The miniseries is based on the books With the Old Breed and Helmet for My Pillow, written by Sledge and Leckie, respectively. Hugh Ambrose, the brother of the late Band of Brothers author Stephen E. Ambrose, is also serving as a consultant on the new miniseries, and, along with Hanks and Spielberg, interviewed the men on which this new miniseries, a fictionalized account of their time as soldiers, is based.