Channel Surfing: ABC to Air "V" in Pod Form, CW Kills "Beautiful Life," Marc Cherry Talks "Desperate" Reveal, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

ABC has confirmed that it has now altered its launch plan for sci-fi drama series V, which is set to premiere November 3rd. The network has decided to air just the first four installments of the Warner Bros. Television-produced series and then place V on hiatus until after the Winter Olympics. The news comes as a surprise as the series, which is written and executive produced by The 4400's Scott Peters, has enjoyed extremely positive buzz from critics and from Comic-Con audiences who screened the pilot episode earlier this summer. However, both Warner Bros. Television and ABC were quick to point out that the episodic order for V hadn't been shortened; series is still set to air 13 installments. (Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker)

The first official cancellation of the fall season is here: The Beautiful Life, we hardly knew ye. The CW has confirmed that it has axed The Beautiful Life after just two episodes, which plunged to just 1 million viewers in its second outing. Series, which was executive produced by Ashton Kutcher, had been filming its seventh episode when the crew received word to shut down on Friday. The series has been pulled from the schedule and its timeslot will be filled by repeats of Melrose Place beginning this Wednesday. (Hollywood Reporter)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry about the resolution to last May's wedding cliffhanger, which was revealed in the opening minutes of the series' sixth season premiere, which aired last night on ABC. Cherry says his decision about which woman Mike would marry "plays better for this season's mystery" and gives the jilted woman a hell of a storyline as well. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A&E has canceled drama series The Cleaner after two seasons. The series, which starred Benjamin Bratt as a professional interventionist, wrapped its second season earlier this month. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan talks with new Lie to Me showrunner Shawn Ryan about what's coming up on the second season of the procedural drama series, which kicks off tonight on FOX. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Crista Flanagan (Mad Men) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's new comedy series Hank, where she will play Dawn, the wife of David Koechner's Grady. She replaces Melissa McCarthy (Samantha Who?), who dropped out of the series in order to take a role in romantic comedy feature film Life as We Know It. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The CW has ordered eight episodes of an untitled reality series that will follow the life of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer, whom some may recall appeared on-screen on the CW's Gossip Girl. Project, from executive producer Andrew Glassman, will follow "Mortimer, currently embroiled in a high-profile divorce, as she hits the New York scene." (Variety)

Production has begun on the third and final season of Life on Mars sequel series Ashes to Ashes, which will air on BBC One in early 2010. "Everyone has their own theory about who Gene Hunt is, and why Alex Drake and Sam Tyler ended up in his world," said executive producer Jane Featherstone. "Alex's journey is nearing its end and Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have planned a fabulous finale. We're now at the point where we can finally reveal some of the answers and we can't wait to hear what the fans think about it all." (BBC)

As if he weren't animated enough already. Gordon Ramsay is the basis for a new stop-motion animated series entitled Gordon Ramsay, At Your Service from Canadian production company Cuppa Coffee, which will be pitched next week at Mipcom in Cannes. Project, which is currently seeking a writer, will focus on the hot-tempered celebrity chef and television personality. (Broadcast)

TBS has canceled comedy series The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons. (C21)

Charlie Cox (Stardust), Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money), and Gillian Anderson (Bleak House) have been cast opposite William Hurt and Ethan Hawke in TeleMunchen's big-budget Moby Dick telepic. Cox will play Ishmael; Sutherland will play Father Mapple; Anderson will play Elizabeth, the wife of Captain Ahab (Hurt). (Variety)

Annie Potts, Kim Zimmer, Drew Seeley will star in Hallmark Channel telepic Freshman Father, about a Harvard student who finds himself in a shotgun wedding and must juggle school and parenthood. Project, slated to air in 2010, is written by Bill Wells and directed by Michael Scott. (via press release)

BermanBrauun has hired former Fox Television Studios executive Jerry Longarzo as the head of business affairs. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Helen Hunt Could Replace Maura Tierney, Denis O'Hare Crowned King on "Blood," "Gravity" Still Floating at ABC, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Following the departure of Maura Tierney from the cast of NBC's Parenthood, producers have reportedly approached Helen Hunt about replacing Tierney on the Jason Katims-executive produced drama series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hunt "is said to be considering the offer, which would mark her return to series television and to NBC, where she starred on the comedy Mad About You for seven years before segueing into features." (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Denis O'Hare (Brothers & Sisters) has been cast as a series regular next season on HBO's True Blood, where he will play the Vampire King of Mississippi. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

(For more on Season Three of True Blood, you can read my exclusive one-on-one interview with Alan Ball here.)

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Futon Critic is reporting that ABC has not yet canceled its sci-fi romantic drama Defying Gravity, produced by Fox Television Studios, though it's not clear if or when ABC will air the remaining installments. "Nicole Marostica, the show's publicist for the network, has confirmed the Alphabet hasn't pulled the plug on the show and is still mulling scheduling options going forward," wrote Futon Critic staffers. (Futon Critic)

HBO is developing two historical mini-series, including Ida Tarbell, a biopic focusing on the early 20th century female investigative journalist Ida Tarbell, who exposed the Standard Oil monopoly. Mini will be produced by Harpo Films, with Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte to executive produce and Mimosa Jones to write the script. The pay cabler is also developing The Black Panthers with Carl Franklin attached to write and direct the project. (Variety)

Eric Balfour (24) has joined the cast of the CW's The Beautiful Life in a multiple-episode story arc, where he will play Eric "a charming rival to Claudia (Elle Macpherson) at a competing modeling agency." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO will make the pilot of its new comedy series Bored to Death available ahead of its September 20th broadcast on a number of platforms, including HBO On Demand, iTunes, Comcast's Fancast.com, and Amazon.com. "We are very pleased with the excitement Bored to Death has generated and to capitalize on that buzz, we are looking forward to giving audiences a chance to preview the series prior to its network debut" Zach Enterlin, VP of advertising and promotion at HBO, told Broadcasting & Cable. "We feel that teaming up with our key online partners and affiliates through HBO On-Demand is a great way for us to allow viewers to discover this hilarious new show." (Broadcasting & Cable)

The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva investigates whether the multi-camera comedy format is poised to make a comeback next season, with most of the comedy pilots ordered being multi-camera rather than single-camera. (Hollywood Reporter)

TLC has ordered six episodes of reality series Wedded to Perfection, which follow husband and wife wedding planners Jung Lee and Josh Brooks. Series, which originally ran as a special in May, will launch on October 2nd. (Variety)

Former JAG star David James Elliott has been cast in Hallmark Channel telepic Man of the House, about an advertising executive who loses his wife and his job and becomes a full-time parent to his two kids. Telepic, from Larry Levinson Prods., will air in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Alchemy TV co-founder Simon Vaughan has started a new shingle, Lookout Point, whose goal is to co-produce and finance international drama both on the series and longform sides, but Vaughan has indicated that the company won't distribute the product. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Sex and Murder" in the "Dollhouse," Same-Sex Snog for "Gossip Girl," Quinn Finds "Beautiful Life," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday television briefing.

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin has a look at what lies ahead for FOX's Dollhouse as she catches up with the Joss Whedon-created series' stars to get some dirt on what's going on inside the Dollhouse next season. "They have a connection," said Tahmoh Penikett of Echo and Paul Ballard next season. "It's not a physical attraction, but I hope it's something that we explore a lot more this season. You're not quite sure what it is. There's a past, there's a history, there's an understanding between them that's very different. I think the audience is really going to like it and be really curious about where we're going in the first few episodes." As for that other would-be couple, Sierra and Victor, Enver Gjokah said, "Sierra and Victor are definitely still involved. They're going to explore that relationship more. They explore the Sierra-and-Victor love as dolls, but then also they're going to go into the backstory of both of them." Lots more detail in the piece, which also hints at just what Season Two is about ("sex and murder"). (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Ed Westwick's Chuck Bass will lock lips this season on Gossip Girl with another man, namely Neal Bledsoe's Josh Ellis, NYU's head of freshman affairs. So what spurs the kissing exactly? "Since Josh is tasked with selecting an incoming student for the honor of delivering the freshman speech, he’s, shall we say, a person of interest to Blair," writes Ausiello. "In fact, she’s so determined to snag the slot that she goes so far as to pimp out her boyfriend to the gay guy in charge." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ed Quinn (True Blood, Eureka) has been cast in the CW's upcoming fall drama series The Beautiful Life, where he will play the husband of Elle Macpherson's Claudia Foster, a former supermodel who now runs an elite modeling agency. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Beau Bridges (Stargate SG-1) will guest star in an episode of TNT's The Closer next season, where he will play George Andrews, the former partner of G.W. Bailey's Provenza, who "returns to help close a case that has been turned over on appeal." (TVGuide.com)

Paula Abdul will host VH1's VH1 Divas, which returns to the network on September 17th and features performances from Leona Lewis, Adele, Jordin Sparks, Miley Cyrus, and Kelly Clarkson. (Variety)

Zap2It's KorbiTV has a first look at ABC's new promo for Season Six of drama series Grey's Anatomy. (Zap2It)

ABC has given a pilot script order with a penalty to an untitled multi-camera comedy from writer/executive producer Garland Testa (King of the Hill). Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, revolves around a young couple with children who try to balance the adult responsibilities of parenthood with their own youth. (Hollywood Reporter)

Kids cabler Nickelodeon has ordered two live-action comedy series, Victorious and an untitled Scott Fellows project, that will be co-produced with Sony Music and will feature original songs. Twenty episodes apiece were ordered for both series, with the untitled Scott Fellows project, about a boy band that wins a reality television competition, set to launch this fall and Victorious, about a girl who enrolls at a performing arts high school, on tap for January 2010. (Variety)

A&E is moving forward with Jackson family docuseries Jackson Family Dynasty, which will follow Michael Jackson's brothers dealing with their grief over his death and their own issues. A&E plans to launch the series, from executive producer Jodi Gomes, later this year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sky1 has acquired UK rights to ABC comedy Modern Family, which will launch on the pay satcaster in October. (Broadcast)

Rumors are swirling that Hulu might be close to a deal with ITV in the United Kingdom, under which the terrestrial channel would retain a sizable stake, said to be around 25 percent, in the UK version of the online streaming media player. (Variety)

Broadcasting & Cable's Claire Atkinson is reporting that top executives Maria Grasso and Nina Wass have now left OWN in order to pursue other opportunities; the network, owned by Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, has yet to launch. Move comes after the network hired former NBC executive Jamila Hunter as head of programming. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Former ABC executive Jocelyn Diaz has been hired by HBO as the head of drama development and production at HBO Entertainment. Elsewhere at the pay cabler, Casey Bloys has been promoted to SVP of comedy, where he will oversee development and production on HBO's comedy series, including Hung and Bored to Death. (Variety)

The Real Housewives are coming to daytime. NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has signed a deal with NBC's owned TV stations for a one-hour daily syndicated strip of The Real Housewives that will launch in Fall 2010. Terms were based on an all-barter basis for the more than 100 episodes of the series. (Broadcasting & Cable)

FremantleMedia Enterprises has acquired international rights to Australian teen drama Slide, which will launch with an online prequel before debuting a linear series on pay television channel Foxtel in April. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Deadwood" Vet Gets "Lost," Syfy Expands "Warehouse," Shelley Long Gets "Modern Family," "Party Down," and More

Welcome to your (very early) Thursday morning television briefing.

John Hawkes (Deadwood) has been cast in Season Six of ABC's Lost, where he will play Lennon, described by The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva as "the scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position." Just what that means remains to be seen... (Hollywood Reporter)

Syfy has ordered a second season of sci-fi dramedy Warehouse 13, with thirteen episodes currently on order for next year. However, Syfy was quick to point out that that number could increase in later seasons. "We took a look at doing 20 episodes, but for logistic and financial reasons," Syfy's Dave Howe told Variety, "it didn't make sense to do that right now, but I wouldn't rule it out." (Variety)

Holy comedy casting news! The Wrap's Joe Adalian is reporting that comedy legend Shelley Long has been cast in ABC's Modern Family, where she will play the ex-wife of aged newlywed Jay (Ed O'Neill). Modern Family, created by Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, is already one of the most buzzed about new fall series. Long's casting comes on the heels of the recent announcement that Elizabeth Banks will guest star on the 20th Century Fox Television-produced comedy. (The Wrap)

Starz has quietly announced via Twitter that Season Two of comedy Party Down will launch in April. (Twitter)

Cabler FX has handed out series orders to two half-hour comedies: The League and Louie. The League, about a group of suburban male friends who participate in the same fantasy football league, received a six-episode order. Louie, about a single dad who attempts to raise his two daughters in New York, is a vignette-style comedy series starring Louis CK and was picked up for thirteen episodes. Both projects hail from FX Prods. and pilots for the two series were shot quietly under the radar. It's believed that The League may be paired this fall with the new season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and share its timeslot with the already ordered comedy Archer. Louie is expected to be held under 2010. (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin is reporting that, despite reports to the contrary, Paula Abdul is definitely not in talks with FOX or American Idol producers about returning to the series. Abdul's manager David Sonenberg told LA Times' Show Tracker exclusively that there have been "no discussions whatsoever about Idol" and that Abdul's plans for the future do not involve the FOX musical competition series and the former host is fielding multiple offers. "She loves Idol," Sonneberg told Martin about his client. "She feels she was a large part of the reason it is what it is. I can tell you her focus right now is speaking to all the other networks. The only one we haven’t talked to, because of recent events, is FOX. But perhaps we would be speaking to FOX about shows in the near future." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Nick Zano (The Final Destination) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's upcoming comedy series Cougar Town, where he will play Courteney Cox's first boyfriend. Elsewhere, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious) has been cast in CW's modeling drama The Beautiful Life. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jenna Dewan (Step Up) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's Melrose Place next season. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, she'll play "a young movie studio exec who takes a liking to wannabe Tarantino, Jonah (Michael Rady)" and is slated to appear in at least two episodes. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lifetime has ordered a second season of dramedy series Drop Dead Diva, with thirteen episodes on tap for 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other Diva-related news, Devon Gummersall (My So-Called Life) will guest star on the October 11th season finale of Drop Dead Diva, where he will play "a man from Jane's past whose unexpected arrival throws Jane for a loop." (USA Today's Pop Candy)

Michael Mosley (The Proposal) and Kerry Bishe (Virtuality) have been cast as series regulars on ABC's Scrubs next season opposite Dave Franco. Mosley will play Drew, an older medical student who is attempting to complete his training after a meltdown ten years earlier at Harvard Medical School. Bishe will play first-year med student Lucy who hails from a family of fishermen. (Hollywood Reporter)

20th Century Fox Television has signed an exclusive deal with (500) Days of Summer director Mark Webb to direct a pilot in the upcoming development season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Richardson to Reign on "Tudors," Ty Pennington on "Great British Adventure" for ABC, Jamie-Lynn Sigler Gets "Ugly," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Nip/Tuck's Joely Richardson has been cast in the fourth and final season of Showtime's The Tudors, where she would play King Henry VIII's final wife, Katherine Parr. The Tudors is set to return in Spring 2010 and Showtime would not comment on the casting. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In a first, British channel UKTV has sold lifestyle special Ty's Great British Adventure to ABC. Special, which will air Sunday, August 2nd at 8 pm on ABC, features Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's Ty Pennington transforming the rundown Cornish beach down of Portreath, including commissioning a children's park, a sports shop, and walking routes, along with other improvements. (Broadcast)

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos) has joined the cast of ABC's Ugly Betty, where she will recur as Natalie, Daniel Meade's new assistant who is described as "sexy, spiritual, [and] funny," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Sigler's first appearance is set for the second episode of Season Three, which kicks off October 9th on ABC. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has ordered a third season of unscripted series Wipeout, which it will air next summer. The exact episodic order was unclear but producers say that they will be constructing a whole new course for Season Three. "We're planning a completely new course next year that's nothing like anybody has ever seen," executive producer Matt Kunitz told the Hollywood Reporter. "What keeps this show running is keeping the show's course fresh." (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin has an interview with Nurse Jackie's Peter Facinelli, in which the actor talks about Dr. Fitch Cooper's sexual Tourette's and what's coming up on the fantastically addictive Showtime series. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Also on E! Online, the Watch with Kristin crew has a new interview with Leverage's Christian Kane, in which he talks about his hair, Eliot's love life (and anger management issues), and why Kane does his own stunt work on the series. "It's gonna be fun over the course of this season" for both Eliot Parker, said Kane. "These two people don't have hearts, but Nate [Timothy Hutton] has given them a heartbeat again. It's a little uncomfortable for both of them because they are starting to care about people. But Eliot in a sense is still going to be the James Bond of the show...It's not so much about love, as it is about beautiful women." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Actress Mischa Barton is said to be "seeking treatment but making improvements," according to her spokesman Craig Schneider. It's still unclear what Barton's future will be with the CW's new fall drama series The Beautiful Life, but Schneider says that the actress plans to return to work. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! has renewed docusoap Kendra for a second season of twelve episodes (plus a one-hour special), set to launch in 2010. (Variety)

TV Guide Network has acquired off-network rights to ABC dramedy Ugly Betty, which it will strip weekdays beginning Fall 2010. Deal covers all existing and future episodes of the series and the cabler will repurpose episodes from series' upcoming fourth season, which it will begin airing this fall, airing new episodes within two weeks of their broadcast on ABC. (Episodes will also be available on Hulu and ABC.com after transmission on ABC.) (Hollywood Reporter)

Spike has renewed Deadliest Warrior for a second season of thirteen episodes, slated to air next spring. Cabler is also said to be discussing commissioning a stand-alone special that would air before the launch of Season Two that would pit champions from the first season against one another. (Variety)

Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Noel Fisher (The Riches) and Linda Emond (Julie & Julia) have been cast in CBS' holiday telepic A Dog Named Christmas, based on Greg Kincaid's novel. Project will be written by Jenny Wingfield and directed by Peter Werner. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Pilot Inspektor: An Advance Review of CW's "The Beautiful Life"

Imagine a series that features some very beautiful people indulging in some very dubious behavior in Manhattan. Picturing Gossip Girl? Guess again.

The Beautiful Life, launching this fall on the CW, does approximate the decadence and excess of that other drama series but it takes place in the demimonde of the modeling world rather than in the privileged corridors of power on the Upper East Side... and it does so with a flair and distinctive filmic style all its own, creating a darkly frothy series about the downside of famous faces and fast-made fortunes.

Written by Adam Giaudrone (Swingtown) and executive produced by Mike Kelley (Swingtown), Carol Barbee (Jericho), and Ashton Kutcher, The Beautiful Life follows the personal and professional lives of some of New York's modeling elite as they head out to go-sees, walk the runway, issue catty remarks, and crowd together (among other things) in an underlighted New York apartment building with a picturesque view of the Brooklyn bridge.

I had an opportunity to watch the pilot presentation for The Beautiful Life and was struck by how much more gritty and compelling it was than I had anticipated. It also balances a soapy plot about superhot models with a cutting look at what really goes on behind the catwalk. It certainly doesn't hurt to have Zak Posen himself turn up playing himself to lend the proceedings some authenticity.

As for the models, they are motley bunch of bristly personalities, jaded egos, and killer cheekbones. For the most part, anyway. There's newly crowned It Girl Raina (Last House on the Left's Sara Paxton) who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she gets to wear Posen's showstopper of a dress in his fashion show, ripping the coveted slot away from scandal-laden supermodel Sonja (The OC's Mischa Barton), who's been out of commission in Rio the last six months. (Was it drugs? A vacation? Rehab? I'm not telling.) Despite Sonja's protestations and the jealousy of fellow up-and-comer Marissa Delfina (Secret Diary of a Call Girl's Ashley Madekwe), Raina does make it out there in that dress... and suddenly becomes the talk of the fashion business after wowing the crowds.

Meanwhile, Iowa farm boy Chris Andrews (The Line's Benjamin Hollingsworth), in New York on a family vacation (which his farmer dad says he'll be paying off "for the next three harvests") gets discovered by lecherous agent Simon (Dusan Dukic), who has more on his mind than just modeling when it comes to Chris. Not surprisingly, Chris and Raina get thrown together on several separate occasions and their shared good nature and affability make them fast friends, though there are definite sparks between them, even as Raina conceals some secret from her past.

Yet not is all right in model world. Sonja is determined to claw her way back to the top if she has to, especially as the head of Covet Modeling Agency, Claudia Foster (Friends' Elle Macpherson), seems to regard her as little more than a has-been. But a Versace campaign beckons... that is, if the job doesn't go to Raina. Meanwhile, the rest of the models, including Egan (As the World Turns' Jordan Woolley), Issac (High School Musical's Corbin Bleu), and Kai (Twelve's Nico Tortorella) make life as difficult as possible for newcomer Chris, who winds up making his feelings towards Simon clear enough at the agency's anniversary party.

While there's a certain shakiness to the start (not helped at all by the fact that some of the exposition--especially that surrounding farm boy Chris and his family--is laughably over the top), the pilot presentation quickly finds its feet even as it dazzles with an elegant grittiness that's miles away from the glossiness of Gossip Girl. (Special kudos go out to director Christian Duguay for the backstage scenes at the fashion show, Chris' photo shoot, and Raina's runway moment.)

Anchoring the cast is the remarkable Paxton, who manages to charm with little more than a smile and a tilt of the head. That she manages to come off as sunny and optimistic (though devious in her own way) without seeming Pollyanna-ish is no small feat. And the always delightful Ashley Madekwe (so memorable as Bambi on Secret Diary of a Call Girl's second season) brings an energy and edge to her role as Raina's frenemy Marissa, a girl prone to offering "advice" just cutting enough to make you take a misstep in your Jimmy Choos. I'm hoping that subsequent episodes will give Benjamin Hollingsworth's Chris more to do than glower and reluctantly take his clothes off but here he's affable enough that you buy his fish-out-of-water spiel. (I'm less than sold on Misha Barton, who seems to be channeling a slightly older yet just as spoiled Marissa Cooper here.)

Ultimately, The Beautiful Life is a surprising treat: a rare combination of grittiness and glamour filled with heaps of potential. It's a slick and stylish production that doesn't forget our obsession with pretty faces... or the pettiness that often lurks behind such glittering facades.





The Beautiful Life will air Wednesdays at 9 pm ET/PT this fall on the CW.