Q: "Unable to check for downloads. Network connection was lost".

Worked for me too. I got iTunes to remove the three bogus downloads queued up and I no longer get the error messages.

how did you get itunes to remove this bogus que?

I figured out the answer to this problem, and I posted it here:

https://www.quora.com/Ive-bought-a-movie-on-iTunes-but-it-wont-download-and-when -I-check-for-available-downloads-I-get-the-following-error-Unable-to-check-for-a vailable-downloads-The-network-connection-was-lost-What-do-I-do

I too had this problem. After reading several comments and solutions, I remember someone mentioning unchecking "always check for downloads". That solved my problem.

Checkbox can be found at iTunes->Preferences->Store