Screen Actors Guild Award nominees are announced

Right behind Smith was Bryan Cranston with three nods, including actor and ensemble noms for “Breaking Bad,” and one as a member of the cast of the feature film “Argo.”

The SAG Awards air Jan. 27 on TBS and TNT.

‘Hell’s’ show runner

AMC has finally found its “Hell on Wheels” show runner, and the mid-19th-century drama about building the country’s first transcontinental railroad will get a third-season order, after all.

Throw your mind back to late October, back when AMC announced that it had picked up “Hell on Wheels” for a third, 10-episode season.

The network may have omitted mention of the show’s creators/exec producers, Joe and Tony Gayton, whose contracts were not renewed (although they would continue to get “consultant” credit). But, as they say in the biz, you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs. And, anyway, show exec producer/show runner John Shiban, who’d been with “HoW” since its start, was on board to keep the show humming along.

Until, that is, three days later, when Shiban announced that he would not return to the show.

Terse statements issued all around, with AMC insisting that Shiban had informed the network and show producers that he was “fully on board” when the network informed him about their intent to pick up the show for a third season.

Shiban admitted he’d been “thrilled” with the pickup but had “since made the difficult decision that the time has come for me to leave.” AMC also said, “like all of our shows, network pickups are always conditioned on an approved show runner,” as if it meant it to sting.

And there we were, until Wednesday, when AMC announced that John Wirth (“V,” “Fallen Skies,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) had been crowned “Hell” show runner and that the 10-episode third season order had been un-derailed.

Many nice things were said about Wirth on Wednesday. AMC said it was “pleased to have such an accomplished show runner”; one of the production companies behind the show went even further, describing Wirth as “an incredible talent who will drive our roaring series.” And they all lived happily ever after.

Or did they?