Lemurs and Lovers: An Advance Review of Season Two of ABC's "Better Off Ted"

I have to give ABC credit: they've definitely gone the distance in investing in comedy this season.

Besides for their Wednesday comedy programming block (which houses the extraordinary Modern Family), ABC has also carved out a small niche on Tuesday evenings, which tonight sees the second season return of workplace comedy Better Off Ted.

I'm extremely pleased that ABC saw fit to renew Better Off Ted, especially after it burned off many of its freshman season episodes over the summer. And while I'd love it if it could somehow shift over to Wednesdays, I'm happy to have Ted, created by Victor Fresco, back where it belongs: on the airwaves.

Season Two of Better Off Ted continues the winning formula of the first season, offering its audience a deliciously acidic take on the workplace comedy. Better Off Ted isn't just a standard-issue workplace comedy but rather subverts the form, setting its characters in a duplicitous and often dangerous multi-national corporation whose purpose seems to be nothing short of world domination.

Tonight's episode ("Love Blurts") finds said corporation, the perfectly named Veridian Dynamics, setting up its employees based on DNA matches. But lest you think that Veridian has somehow turned benevolent and wants to find love for its worker bees, think again: the entire thing is a plot devised to save the company billions of dollars in insurance money for less than perfectly genetically-matched children. (Ouch.)

Starcrossed lovers Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) and Linda Zwordling (Andrea Anders) don't get matched up and make a pact to not date their Veridian-suggested matches... That is, until Ted falls for his perfect match and Linda decides to give it a go with hers (guest star Taye Diggs). But all is not happy in love land: Ted accidentally blurts something out following sex with his date and Linda learns that hers has a rather, um, unnatural predilection.

Elsewhere, Veronica (Portia de Rossi) demands sperm from Lem (Malcolm Barrett) after they're matched by Veridian and the company tells poor Phil (Jonathan Slavin) to have a vasectomy. (Again: ouch.) The latter spurs a hilarious subplot where Phil attempts to gain his medical file from Veridian.

While a low-key start to the season, tonight's episode is outshown by next week's fantastic installment ("The Lawyer, the Lemur and the Little Listener"), which finds Linda striking gold with her children's book about a familiar-looking lemur, Veronica and Ted realizing that Ted's daughter Rose (Isabella Acres) is a goldmine of intelligence about the company, and Lem learning that dating a Veridian lawyer comes with a hefty price.

There's a nice manic quality to the second installment that's more in keeping with with the loopy energy of the first season but the series wisely doesn't toy with its perfectly formed characters. Harrington's Ted is affable, Anders' Linda sour-sweet, Slavin's Phil hilariously pathetic, Barrett's Lem cowardly yet cerebral, and de Rossi's Veronica magnificently heartless. There's a lovely chemistry here among these oddballs and one of the single-camera series' main strengths is that it allows the characters to play it entirely straight even as chaos reigns around them.

All in all, the first two episodes of Season Two of Better Off Ted prove that this little gem of a comedy series hasn't lost its deft touch or its comedic footing in its sophomore outing. My only complaint: that more people aren't watching. Surely, Veridian Dynamics must have something they can do about that...

Season Two of Better Off Ted launches tonight at 9:30 pm ET/PT on ABC.

TV on DVD: "Better Off Ted: Season One"

Every now and then a comedy series comes along that's so wickedly inspired and so incisive that it's a shame that so few viewers are actually tuning in.

This past season, that series was ABC's little gem of a single-camera comedy, Better Off Ted. Created by Victor Fresco (who also gave birth to the way undervalued comedy Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Better Off Ted is an wittily acidic workplace comedy revolving around shady multinational corporation Veridian Dynamics and its employees.

Specifically, we're taken inside the head of the company's self-appointed moral compass Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington), a single dad who is the head of Veridian's R&D department and who (sometimes) draws the line at creating products that are outright designed to make people's lives worse. Sometimes, anyway. Ted has a crush on his researcher Linda (Andrea Anders) but he used up his "office affair" on their terrifyingly icy boss Veronica (Portia de Rossi). Ted oversees a team of crack scientists including Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Lem Hewitt), who are the best of the best.

But it's not all weaponized pumpkins. Better Off Ted is at its heart an exploration of workplace mores. Particularly, how the employees manage to keep their sanity and humanity while working at a company that produces seemingly everything under the sun. The series deftly satirizes Veridian's slew of products via integrated (and hysterical) commercials with a revolving door of punny taglines.

Fox Home Entertainment today releases the first season of Better Off Ted on DVD. The two-disc release contains all thirteen hilarious installments from Ted's first season but, unfortunately, little else. There are no extras, no featurettes. For a series as smart, innovative, and unique as Better Off Ted, I had hoped that the studio would have offered something more than a bare-bones DVD release.

I would have loved to have gone behind the scenes of Ted and gotten some information about the genesis of the idea from Fresco or seen de Rossi slipping out of character on a gag reel. Alas, we'll have to make do with the episodes themselves, which are slick and acerbic, just the way I like my comedy.

Ultimately, Better Off Ted is a sharp parody of corporate culture and of consumerism. It's the perfect addition to your DVD library... and just in time for the launch of Season Two next week on ABC.

Better Off Ted: Season One is available today for purchase on DVD for a suggested retail price of $29.98.

Channel Surfing: NBC Ups "Chuck" and Dumps "Trauma," "Lost," Syfy Orders US "Being Human," "Better Off Ted" in December, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Good news for Chuck fans: NBC has opted to order six additional episodes of Chuck, bringing the episodic total for Season Three to 19 installments. (Huzzah!) While NBC has yet to announce an official launch date for Chuck's third season, the order of the additional episodes points to a potential January launch for the Warner Bros. Television-produced series, as does NBC's decision to cancel low-rated medical drama Trauma, which failed to garner a back nine pickup. Given the Peacock's cancellation of both Trauma and Southland, it now seems more likely that Chuck will return to the schedule before March. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe, Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin gets Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof to answer a few choice questions about Season Six of Lost while at a signing for the hardcover collection of Lindelof's Wolverine Vs. Hulk. Asked about whether fan questions have helped the writers frame a storyline, Lindelof said, "The fact of the matter is no question is ever asked of us that we're not asking ourselves. So by the time someone asks me if Libby's ever coming back to the show for the 14th time, I'm like, 'Trust me. I wish we could figure out a way to make that work.' Like, I wish I could talk to the actress and get down on my hands and knees and beg her to come back, but the reality is, you know, there are certain questions that every time you're asked it's a pain for you because you're basically like, 'I know man. You're absolutely right.'" (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Syfy has given a thirteen-episode order to an American remake of British supernatural dramedy series Being Human. Project, from RDF USA, will focus on the lives of three twenty-somethings--a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost--who live together. No writer is attached to the remake and the hunt is on for a scribe to adapt the British series for an American audience. "We've always been keen on vampires and werewolves, and we loved the originality of Being Human, the fact that the fantastical creatures in it are very young, accessible and charming," said Syfy president Dave Howe, who added that the US version won't "slavishly replicate the British version." Meanwhile, the British version of Being Human is slated to launch its eight-episode second season on BBC One next year. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has announced return dates for comedies Better Off Ted and Scrubs. The latter will return to the lineup on Tuesday, December 1st, when it will relaunch itself with a largely new cast. Scrubs will launch initially with back-to-back episodes on December 1st but will then move to its regular timeslot of 9 pm ET/PT the following week, when it will be joined by Better Off Ted at 9:30 pm ET/PT. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Desperate Housewives creator Mark Cherry has signed a two-year deal extension with ABC Studios that could keep the soap on the air through the 2012-2013 season. Under the terms of the deal, Cherry will remain on board Desperate Housewives as executive producer, though it should be noted that the main cast has only signed on through the series' seventh season, slated for the 2010-2011 season. Bob Daily has also signed a two-year extension with the studio, keeping him on board through those potential eighth and ninth seasons. Cherry, meanwhile, is currently developing new projects for the studio, including a multi-camera comedy about two brothers--one gay, the other straight--neither of whom knows anything about women despite the fact that they share a gynecology practice. Jeffrey Bowen and Hunter Bell will pen the script. There's also the drama that Cherry is writing with Alexandra Cunningham. (Variety)

Oliver Platt (Bored to Death) has been cast opposite Laura Linney in Showtime's dark comedy pilot The C Word; he'll play Paul, the husband to Linney's Cathy, a woman who is forced to come to terms with her cancer diagnosis. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has given a script order to an untitled drama about a crime-solving magician whose career is in shambles after he develops stage fright and agoraphobia but who finds a new purpose when a "an elite law enforcement agency recruits him to take an unusual approach to cracking tough cases." Project, from Universal Media Studios, is written by Dan Fesman, who will executive produce with David Percelay and Jon Amiel, who is attached to direct should the project go to pilot. (Variety)

BBC One has ordered six one-hour installments of The Accused, said to be the "spiritual successor" to Jimmy McGovern's The Street. Project, from McGovern's RSJ Productions, will follow a different lead character each week who has been accused of a crime and will focus on the unraveling of their lives as their individual trials get under way and a verdict on guilt or innocence creeps in. (Broadcast)

VH1 has given a series order to Dad Camp, which gives first-time fathers a crash course in parenting responsibilities. Project, from 3 Ball Prods., will be executive produced by J.D. Roth, Jeff Olde, Adam Greener, Todd Nelson, Matt Assmus, Jill Holmes, Sean Boyle, and Csherian Coleman. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Doves, Bio-Luminescence, and Fire Squirrels: Love in the Air on the Season Finale of ABC's "Better Off Ted"

I'm going to miss Better Off Ted.

Despite this being the second "season finale" for the comedy series' first season in the last few months, I'm sad that we'll have to be without the gang at Veridian Dynamics for the next few months... until the Victor Fresco-created series returns with its second season in November.

Last night's back-to-back episodes of Better Off Ted made the separation even more painful. Despite the lack of Will Arnett as lousy magician GOB Bluth (we had to do with a better looking clone named Mordor), I thought that the two episodes were pitch perfect.

Besides for the gorgeousness of Jaberwocky's bio-luminescent roof garden (and its fire squirrel), the episodes featured Ted and Veronica giving one of the most hilarious presentations ever created (complete with flash pots) and introduced a new love interest for Ted in the form of Rachelle Lefevre's Rebecca.

I've been a fan of Lefevre's since I first saw her way back when in Canadian feature film Hatley High and I thought she made a nice foil for Ted (Jay Harrington) here. Unlike the slighlty manic Linda (Andrea Anders), veterinarian Rebecca offered Ted a quirky but less high-strung lover, even if it's clear that he's meant to be with Linda in the end. There was some nice chemistry between Lefevre and Harrington that I hope carries into the second season but, as we all know from her recent scheduling conflict-related dismissal from Twilight: Eclipse, Lefevre is a very busy actress. Fingers crossed that she returns.

Linda, of course, realized that she did love Ted and broke up with her boyfriend rather than move in him... just in time to learn that Ted wanted to continue seeing Rebecca. Ouch.

Meanwhile, I loved that we learned--via Veridian's new privacy-busting facial-recognition search engine--that Veronica (Portia de Rossi) is a weekend magician's assistant for the bare-chested magician Mordor (The Ex List's Mark Deklin), whom she has fallen head over heels in love. Yes, the storyline would have been all the more funny if Will Arnett's GOB Bluth hadn't have already pulled it off so magnificently on Arrested Development... or if Arnett had reprised his role as GOB on Better Off Ted, which is after all produced by 20th Century Fox Television, the same studio behind Arrested Development.

Still, I enjoyed the hell out of these two episodes between the secret roof garden, the efforts by Lem (Malcolm Barrett) and Phil (Jonathan Slavin) to be more aggressive, the inside joke of Slavin playing a character named Byron (which he did on Fresco's Andy Richter Controls the Universe), the location of the blindfolded dove, the Pendragons-style metamorphosis of Mordor and Veronica, the maniacal squeals of glee from Dr. Bamba (Maz Jobrani), and, well, every second of last night's one-two punch.

All in all, Better Off Ted has proven itself a delightfully offbeat comedy that's already a must-see series in my household. The wait for new installments in November just got a hell of a lot more difficult. Now where did that fire squirrel get to?

Better Off Ted returns for its second season in November.

Brain Toilet: An Advance Review of the Return of ABC's "Better Off Ted"

I can't tell you how incredibly excited I am about the return of ABC's fantastic comedy series Better Off Ted this summer.

It's especially true this summer when the season seems to be positively overflowing with network castoffs as the broadcasters burn off remaining unaired installments of their sadly canceled series. (Just take a look at Saturday nights to see what I mean.)

But despite its place on the schedule this summer, ABC's winsome Better Off Ted isn't canceled; in fact, it earned a slot on the network's midseason lineup thanks to some goodwill from Steve McPherson and the programmers at the Alphabet. But there's still a handful of unaired episodes from the series' first season, which means that Ted fans will be getting a fresh batch of Veridian goodness over the next few weeks.

Tonight's episode ("You Are the Boss of Me"), written by Dan O'Shannon, is a fantastic reminder of just how quirky and lovable this series is. I had the opportunity to watch it last week and I am still scratching my head as to why ABC didn't just air this hysterical installment during the regular season.

While I don't want to spoil any major plot points (though, granted, this is a comedy series so there aren't too many O'Henry-style surprise twists), I will say that "You Are the Boss of Me" is already one of my very favorite installments of the series to date. It also features some fantastic character development, especially regarding the relationships between our core cast, pushing them into unexpected and interesting territory as they cross the one boundary that shouldn't ever be crossed: that between boss and employee.

Ted is reeling from the unexpected return (off-screen, of course) of his ex-wife from Botswana and has sent daughter Rose to New York to spend some time with her. Lonely and stressed, he turns to Phil and Lem for companionship... only to learn that they have plans that don't include him or other bosses. Namely: Medieval Fight Club, an underground stress-relieving medieval tournament that's literally underground in the Veridian sub-basements.

Meanwhile, Linda's offer of a ride home to Veronica--whose driver has died that week--leads to an unexpected friendship between the two. Or at least as close to friendship as is possible with the icy Veronica, which means Veronica spilling her guts about her deepest, darkest deeds to an incredulous Linda. (One such secret involves feeding her sister in her sleep so she can never be thinner than Veronica.) Naturally, this leads to some, er, strain between Linda and Veronica, one with hysterical consequences.

While the Ted/Phil/Lem and Linda/Veronica storylines are separate, they dovetail nicely at the end of the episode and share similar themes about workplace boundaries. It's hard to come back from emotional intimacy with your boss once it's been established and you might wish to have never crossed that frontier in the first place, as both Linda and Phil and Lem discover to their chagrin.

It's episodes like this that demonstrate why Better Off Ted has such fun with the workplace comedy milieu. In establishing an absurd, off-kilter world where nearly anything is possible and setting it in the heart of a, well, heartless multi-national corporation, creator Victor Fresco has turned the workplace comedy on its head, creating almost an anti-Office, where the mundane experiences of worker drones are juxtaposed with cyborg creations, cow-less meat, and scream-inducing itchy chairs.

All in all, it might be summer time, but there's no better place to be Tuesday nights than back in this office.

Better Off Ted returns with new episodes beginning tonight at 9:30 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Channel Surfing: "Better Off Ted" Returns This Summer, Mykelti Williamson Clocks in at "24," Guest Stars Galore for "Warehouse 13," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

ABC is set to bring back Better Off Ted earlier than expected as the network has announced that it will air six unaired episodes from Ted's first season this summer before kicking off a second season of thirteen episodes in early 2010. Better Off Ted will return to ABC's schedule on June 23rd at 9 pm ET/PT, airing behind new reality competition series The Superstars. [Editor: that gleeful squealing sound you're hearing? It's me.] Meanwhile, ABC also announced that it had pulled comedy Surviving Suburbia from its lineup, instead airing back-to-back episodes of The Goode Family this week. (Variety)

Mykelti Williamson (Kidnapped) has joined the cast of Day Eight of FOX drama 24, where he will play the head of CTU New York, Brian Hastings, described as having "a razor-sharp intellect." Williamson, who will be a series regular next season, joins the recently announced Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Westfeldt, John Boyd, and Chris Diamantopoulos. Also joining the 24 cast next season: Lost's Doug Hutchison (a.k.a. Horace Goodspeed), who will play a European terrorist named Davros in a recurring role. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sci Fi has confirmed guest stars for the first season of its upcoming drama series Warehouse 13, launching July 7th. Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer will play FBI Agent Bonnie Belski who clashes with Myka (Joanne Kelly) and Pete (Eddie McClintock); Ivan Sergei (Crossing Jordan) will play an EMT named Ross when Myka and Pete investigate a case involving a local town expressing all of their subconscious desires; Stargate Atlantis' Joe Flanigan will play millionaire Jeff Weaver who is investigated by Myka and Pete when a sculpture he bid on at auction vanishes during a heist; Gossip Girl's James Naughton will play entrepreneur Gilbert Radburn who is investigated by Myka and Pete; Roger Rees (The West Wing) will play MacPherson, a former Warehouse colleague of Artie (Sam Rubinek) who has gone rogue and is now collecting dangerous objects for his own use; Eureka's Erica Cerra and Niall Matter will play Jillian and Gary Whitman, low-level Las Vegas thieves who discover a powerful artifact; Joe Morton (Eurkea) will play prison inmate John Hill, who has become a religious zealot; Battlestar Galactica's Michael Hogan will play Warren Bering, Myka's father, whose life is placed in danger when he receives a dangerous artifact in the mail, and Dollhouse's Mark Sheppard will play Mr. Valda, the "enigmatic representative of the Regents, the mysterious organization that controls Warehouse 13." (via press release)

David Tennant and Patrick Stewart will reunite for a television production of their recent Royal Shakespeare Company performance of "Hamlet," that will air on BBC Two later this year and in the US and Japan in 2010. (Variety)

Reports are swirling that couple Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag tried to quit NBC's reality competition series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! the very first day they arrived in Costa Rica and allegedly refused to eat the same meals that had been prepared for the rest of the cast and complained about the caliber of their competitors. They wanted to be treated like stars," according to an unnamed source. "[Spencer] literally thought he and Heidi were staying in a Four Seasons, working out and getting a tan." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

The Octomom, a.k.a. Nadya Suleman, has signed a deal for a reality television series with production company 3 Ball Prods. The series, which has yet to be sold to an American outlet, will document key moments in the lives of Suleman and her enormous brood and will be modeled after a Danish format that followed the lives of four children from birth to adulthood. (Hollywood Reporter)

DirecTV Group CEO Chase Carey is said to be in talks about replacing Peter Chernin as Rupert Murdoch's Number Two at News Corp. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Brillstein TV has hired former BermanBraum and Warner Bros. Television executive Rachel Kaplan as EVP, where she will work closely with Peter Traugott in developing scripted and unscripted projects for broadcast and cable. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Dancing with the Upfronts: ABC Orders Eight More New Series, Renews "Better Off Ted," "Castle," and "Scrubs"

A few days ahead of its upfront presentation to advertisers on Tuesday, ABC indicated several early pickups and renewals, creating a diverse slate of programming that includes six new dramas and two new comedies (in addition to several already previously announced) and a slew of surprising renewals.

ABC has gone ahead and reportedly handed out series orders to dramas The Forgotten, Happy Town, The Associates (which is also being referring to by some outlets as The Deep End), and Eastwick and comedies Cougar Town, Hank (a.k.a. Awesome Hank), and The Middle.

An updated version of sci-fi cult hit V, from The 4400 creator Scott Peters, is said to be on tap for midseason, though as of press time discussions are still ongoing between the network and studio Warner Bros. Television about the episodic order, with ABC said to have offered six episodes in a limited series format and the studio pushing for a larger episodic count.

The series pickups come on the heels of ABC's announcement last week that it had ordered ensemble sci-fi drama Flash Forward and comedy Modern Family to series.

Additionally, the Alphabet has announced renewals for freshman drama series Castle, starring Nathan Fillion, and comedies Scrubs and Better Off Ted, the latter of which made me jump with joy. (I had seriously considered a Ted a goner.)

Not such good news, however, for fans of ABC's freshman drama The Unusuals, which is not expected to return next season. (As I consider myself one of the series' few devoted viewers, it is bad news indeed.)

Scrubs is returning next season with Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, and Neil Flynn set to reprise their roles on the long-running comedy series. Zach Braff has signed on to appear in six episodes in order to help the series transition into a new storylines. However, one fly in the ointment: E! Online's Watch with Kristin is reporting that Sarah Chalke has yet to sign a similar deal and Judy Reyes is not yet under contract to return and "would more than likely be billed as a guest star." Additionally, series creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence is reportedly looking into altering the series' single-camera format as well, likely in order to reduce costs.

Castle and Better Off Ted, meanwhile, are both expected to return next season with thirteen episodes a piece. Given the number of comedies which were either ordered to series or renewed, it seems extremely likely that ABC will look to expand its comedy offerings to more than one evening next season. (Just don't expect any pickups for comedy pilots Canned, No Heroics, and Best Thing Ever, all of which are said to be out of the running completely.)

Looking for some more info on ABC's new series, expected to be announced on Tuesday? Look no further.

Flash Forward, from ABC Studios and creators Brannon Braga (24) and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight), follows a group of diverse strangers across the planet after a strange incident renders the entire planet's population unconscious for two minutes and seventeen seconds, during which they all glimpse into a period six months into their own future. A group of FBI agents attempts to construct a pattern of this occurence--codenamed The Mosaic--and find out its origins and just what these fragments are trying to tell them. Series stars Joseph Fiennes (Pretty/Handsome), John Cho (Star Trek), Jack Davenport (Swingtown), Sonya Walger (Lost), Zachary Knighton (Life on a Stick), Peyton List (Mad Men), Courtney B. Vance (ER), and Christine Woods (Welcome to the Captain). (For more on Flash Forward, you can read my advance review of the pilot script from December here.)

The Forgotten, from Warner Bros. Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Films & Television, stars Reiko Aylesworth (24), Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks), Rochelle Aytes (Drive), Michelle Borth (Tell Me You Love Me), Anthony Carrigan (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), and Bob Stephenson (Jericho) and revolves around a group of amateur crimefighters who belong to a group called the Identity Network that seeks to solve John Doe murder cases and bring their killers to justice.

Happy Town, from ABC Studios and executive producers Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg (all of whom worked on ABC's Life on Mars this season), focuses on a seemingly idyllic small town in Minnesota (nicknamed "Happy Town"), only just recoved after a slew of child abductions seven years earlier, is once again shaken to its core when another crime occurs. The series' ensemble cast includes Geoff Stults (October Road), Amy Acker (Dollhouse), John Patrick Amedori (Gossip Girl), Lauren German (Hostel: Part II), Sarah Gadon (Being Erica), Sam Neill (The Tudors), Dean Winters (Rescue Me), Robert Wisdom (The Wire), and Jay Paulson (October Road).

The Associates (a.k.a. The Deep End), from 20th Century Fox Television, was originally developed for this season and then retooled. Written and executive produced by David Hemingson (Kitchen Confidential), it follows a group of young associates and the well-dressed partners at a high-profile and cutthroat Los Angeles law firm both in and out of the office. It stars Tina Majorino (Big Love), Billy Zane (Samantha Who?), Ben Lawson (Neighbours), Matthew Long (Jack & Bobby), Clancy Brown (Carnivale), Norbert Leo Butz (Dan in Real Life), Leah Pipes (Life is Wild), and Sherri Saum (In Treatment).

Eastwick, from Warner Bros. Television, writer Maggie Friedman, and director David Nutter, is based on the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick and follows a group of very different women in small town New England who are blessed (or is it cursed?) with supernatural powers and whose lives become intimately entangled with a devilishly seductive mystery man. The series stars Rebecca Romjin (Ugly Betty), Jaime Ray Newman (Veronica Mars), Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle), Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect), Ashley Benson (Days of Our Lives), Veronica Cartwright (The Nine), Paul Gross (Slings and Arrows) and Johann Urb (Dirt).

V, from writer/executive producer Scott Peters (The 4400), is expected to bow midseason as a limited "event" series and is based on the cult 1980s series about an alien invasion by manipulative reptilian aliens (albeit disguised behind human-like flesh) known as The Visitors. The series stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Morena Baccarin (Firefly), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Morris Chestnut (The Perfect Holiday), Scott Wolf (The Nine), Alan Tudyk (Dollhouse), Lourdes Benedicto (Cashmere Mafia), and Logan Huffman (America).

Cougar Town, from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, stars Courteney Cox (Dirt) as a newly divorced 40-year-old Florida realtor who faces reentry to the dating scene after raising a 17-year-old son (Dan Byrd). Series, from ABC Studios, also stars Christa Miller (Scrubs), Ian Gomez (Felicity), Josh Hopkins (Swingtown), Busy Phillipps (ER), and Brian Van Holt (John From Cincinnati).

Hank (a.k.a. Awesome Hank), from Warner Bros. Television and writer/executive producer Tucker Cawley (Everybody Loves Raymond), revolves around a laid-off Wall Street executive (Kelsey Grammer) who is forced on hard times and must return to his hometown with his wife and kids and reconnect with his family. Series also stars David Koechner (American Dad), Melinda McGraw (Mad Men), Macey Cruthird (Hope & Faith), and Ryan Wynott (Tell Me You Love Me).

The Middle, also from Warner Bros. Television and creators Eileen Heisler and Deanne Heline (Lipstick Jungle), was originally developed for ABC several years ago as a Ricki Lake vehicle. This time around it stars Patricia Heaton (Back to You), Neil Flynn (Scrubs), Charlie McDermott (Frozen River), Atticus Shafer (The Unborn), and Eden Sher (Sons & Daughters) as the members of a typical middle-class American family living in the Mid-west.

Modern Family, from 20th Century Fox Television and creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd (Back to You), tracks the lives of three American families--one a traditional nuclear family, one a gay couple with an adopted Vietnamese baby, and the last an older man with a young Latina wife--as they are filmed by a Dutch documentary crew. Series stars Ed O'Neil (John from Cincinnati), Ty Burrell (Back to You), Sofia Vergara (Dirty Sexy Money), Julie Bowen (Boston Legal), Eric Stonestreet (This Might Hurt), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Do Not Disturb), Sarah Hyland (Lipstick Jungle), Nolan Gould (Eleventh Hour), and Ariel Winter (ER).

Earlier this year, ABC announced renewals for such series as Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, America's Funniest Home Videos, Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, and Wife Swap.

ABC will unveil its full schedule to advertisers on Tuesday.

Channel Surfing: "Harper's Island" to Graveyard on Saturdays, Abrams Confident About "Fringe" Renewal, "Privileged" Still Kicking, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

CBS has announced that it will move struggling freshman drama series Harper's Island to Saturday nights at 9 pm ET/PT, beginning May 2nd. What saved the series from outright cancellation are its strong DVR numbers and the fact that all thirteen episodes of Harper's Island's limited run were already in the can, making it much easier for the Eye to just burn off the episodes. "This move gives us an opportunity to improve the time period on Thursday while experimenting with more original programming on Saturday," said CBS senior exec VP Kelly Kahl of the network's decision. Harper's Island won't be alone on Saturday nights, which the networks have been increasingly using as a dumping ground for series with small but loyal viewers; Kings, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Dirty Sexy Money will all air episodes on Saturdays this summer. (Variety)

J.J. Abrams is confident that freshman drama series Fringe will return this fall. "It should be returning," Abrams told SCI FI Wire. "I'm really happy with so much of what we did this year. And I feel like we have barely gotten going. There's so much that we know we want to explore and knew we did from the beginning. A lot of it is yet to come." Apparently, one episode of the second season has already been shot, despite the network not having officially renewed the series. "I think that season two should be pretty great, pretty dynamic," said Abrams. "We have some cool ideas. I'm very excited about that. I'm proud of the group. My only regret is I wish we could have stayed shooting in New York. We had a terrific crew. That's the one thing I'd wish we'd be able to do differently. It's a show that's still, as it's going, evolving. Finding the balance between relatable characters and absolute science fiction takes a while, but I think we're getting there." (SCI FI Wire)

The curtain hasn't fallen on CW's Privileged just yet. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that a second season order is still possible, pointing toward the netlet's decision to air repeats of Privileged's first season on Friday nights at 8 pm ET/PT throughout the summer. "It's definitely a positive sign," one Privileged insider told Ausiello, though CW has yet to make a decision about the dramedy series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The writing is on the wall: FOX has opted to shift new comedy Sit Down, Shut Up to the less desirable timeslot of 7 pm ET/PT on Sundays. It had aired two installments in its post-Simpsons 8:30 pm slot; the network will now air episodes of King of the Hill after The Simpsons. It's thought extremely unlikely that the series, from Sony Pictures Television, will continue past this season. (Futon Critic)

Missi Pyle (Boston Legal) will replace Leslie Bibb in NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, following the latter's departure from the project in the wake of a creative overhaul. Pyle will play domestic goddess Vanessa, the eldest sibling. As Pyle already shot CBS comedy Big D, her participation here will be in second position to the CBS project. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC is said to be in talks with ABC Studios about continuing comedy series Scrubs next season. Should a deal be reached for Season Nine, the studio would have to accept a reduced license fee while creator Bill Lawrence would return as showrunner/executive producer and star Zach Braff is now "believed to be interested in returning for at least a portion of the episodes." Scrubs is said to be popular with advertisers due to its upscale viewers and ABC is said to need another half-hour on its lineup. Meanwhile, Variety is reporting that Better Off Ted "appears to be a real candidate for renewal as well, thanks to decent buzz -- and the fact that it's not produced by ABC Studios (as the network is looking to spread the financial risk beyond the Disney borders)." And Samantha Who? could also return next season. (Variety)

Lisa Rinna has changed her tune about wanting to join the cast of CW's revival of Melrose Place. "I don’t think I wanna go back anymore," Rinna told Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider. "Seriously, I watched some old tapes recently -- Harry [Hamlin, her husband] and I were going through stuff. It doesn’t feel right! It feels weird. I’ve changed my mind. You can’t go back!" (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

NCIS' still untitled spin-off starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J will be set in Los Angeles and will focus on the employees in the Office of Special Projects, "where they do a lot of undercover and surveillance work," said NCIS executive producer Shane Brennan. "There are no forensics or autopsies in it. There is no [lab tech] Abby character in it. It's not going to trample on our traditional NCIS show." (New York Post)

Spooks (which has aired Stateside under the name MI-5) is set to go into production on its eighth season, which will air this autumn on BBC One and will star Richard Armitage, Peter Firth, and Hermione Norris. (BBC)

Talent agencies William Morris and Endeavor formally approved a merger yesterday, laying the groundwork for the two firms to launch the joint WME Entertainment, which is expected to move into new offices that William Morris is building in Beverly Hills in 2010. Many agents are being courted by rival agencies. William Morris chairman Jim Wiatt will serve as the chairman of WME, with Endeavor's Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell sharing oversight with William Morris president Dave Wirtschafter and a nine-person board--five seats from WMA and four from Endeavor--will be formed as well. (Los Angeles Times)

Maureen FitzPatrick has been named SVP of comedy development at FremantleMedia North America, where she will oversee comedy development, sell and adapt British comedy series, and develop formats from the company's Atomic Wedgie online site. She was formerly SVP of digital content and development at the company's licensing arm. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Future Sailors: A Look at Comedies "The Mighty Boosh," "Party Down," and "Better Off Ted"

It's rare when a comedy series comes along and makes me fall under its spell. I'm typically pretty averse to the weak charms of most sitcoms and it takes quite a lot for me to invest my time in brand-new comedy series, given their relatively short shelf lives these days.

So imagine my surprise when I fell head over heels in love with not just one but three comedy series over the last few weeks. All three air on very different networks, ranging from broadcast to cable to premium, but all three have managed to win me over with their loopy, goofy charms.

I reviewed ABC's Better Off Ted a few weeks back, before it premiered, and reviewed the first few episodes of Party Down, airing on Starz, but I've been far too quiet about the strengths of both of these innovative series. Likewise, I'm currently obsessed with British import The Mighty Boosh, which launched its third season over on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.

Three very different series indeed. So what do they all have in common? For one, the very unique ability to make me laugh, no mean feat for this cynical and jaded viewer. Second, they each have a very specific comedic style, ranging from the twisted and surreal (The Mighty Boosh) to the satirical (Better Off Ted) to the jovially tongue-in-cheek (Party Down).

The Mighty Boosh is based on a radio series created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, who star in the series as aspiring musicians Howard Moon and Vince Noir. Over the course of the three surreal seasons of this indescribable comedy series, the duo seek to achieve their dreams of super-stardom while working at a series of unremarkable day jobs including a zoo (such as in Season One) and more recently (in Season Three) at the Nabootique, a second-hand goods store in London's Shoreditch, owned by the recreational drug-using freelance shaman Naboo (Michael Fielding).

Yes, this is that sort of series. The type of comedy where anything (and typically everything) does happen. In some series that sort of unexpectedness might mean an unpredictable plot twist or two. Here, it means the inclusion of some mightily wicked supernatural elements, such as talking animals (such as Naboo's familiar Bollo, a talking gorilla), wizards, ghosts, and the slightly demented man in the moon. When The Mighty Boosh (also the name of Barratt and Fielding's real-life comedy troupe) promises an adventure through time and space at the beginning of each episode, it really does deliver. Recent plots have involved Howard being shrunk with a blind jazz musician after Vince swallows part of a cursed jazz record and must battle a voodoo singer, an encounter with a green-faced Victorian ghoul obsessed with eels, and a face-off with a copycat band able to predict their every move before they make it. (No worries, they're quickly dispatched by an awesome crimping showdown.)

In fact, the only thing more erratic than the series' surreal sense of humor is the outrageous and unique attire worn by the series' style icon Vince Noir (Fielding), which can range from the dark and Gothic to what Howard describes as what a "futuristic prostitute" might wear.

Meanwhile, ABC's Better Off Ted, created by Victor Fresco, is a workplace comedy that's distinctly influenced by the off-kilter humor of Fresco's own Andy Richter Controls the Universe, the short-lived FOX series that played fast and loose with reality. (Puppy coat, anyone?) Better Off Ted is far more grounded but also offers a scathing indictment of today's corporate culture in the form of the terrifying (and terrifyingly funny) Veridian Dynamics, the sort of conglomerate that produces everything from cow-less beef to innovative weapon technology for the military.

It focuses on Ted (Jay Harrington), the affable head of Veridian's R&D department who must contend with his precious daughter Rose (Isabella Acres), an office crush on his researcher Linda (Andrea Anders), the quixotic nature of his best scientists Lem (Malcolm Barrett) and Phil (Jonathan Slavin, who starred in Andy Richter Controls the Universe), and his icy, no-nonsense boss Veronica (Portia de Rossi), with whom he used up his one office affair.

Along the way, everything from insipid company-wide memos to corporate racism is addressed with a keen eye and a surgeon's precision. While Veridian might be freezing its employees and weaponizing pumpkins, its actions aren't really all that alien to today's office drones, especially in our current economic climate. If today's floundering companies could cryogenically freeze their employees rather than pay them for vacation time, don't you think they would? Better Off Ted offers a gimlet eyed look at life in today's offices and labs, mining the absurd situations for humor just as NBC's The Office found comedy in the very mundanity of its character's 9-to-5 existence.

And then there's Starz's Party Down, from Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, John Enbom, Paul Rudd, and Dan Etheridge, which is virtually a Veronica Mars mini-reunion each week. The series stars Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Ryan Hansen, Lizzy Caplan, and Martin Starr as the members of a Los Angeles catering team all of whom aspire to be something very different than uniformed servers and bartenders.

Each hilarious episode finds the gang catering a different event for a different clientele, a format that works extremely well here. While the scenery changes each week, the characters have a chance to interact with one another and their relationships change and grow over the course of the season. Much like The Office, there's much humor to be mined in the very drudgery of their jobs and their fantasies of escaping their indentured servitude. Unlike The Office, Party Down has a biting dark side and, given that this is premium cable, features enough foul language and nudity to sate all but the most depraved viewers.

While their characters might be depressed, self-medicating, delusional losers, the crew at Party Down Catering is a hoot to watch as they find themselves often at odds with each other, the guests, and the world in general. This could be a slight comedy but the often scathing wit and merciless way that the writers thrust their characters into awkward and horrifying situations make this trainwreck comedy of the highest order. While each episode might end with them packing their bottles and chafing dishes away for the next event, one can't help but get sucked into their wonky world.

And, at the end of the day, that's what each of these three vastly different comedies have in common: the ability to transport the viewer into a reality that's not our own. One achieves this via a combination of the mystical, musical, and sartorial; another through the absurd behavior of the workers in a glass-and-steel structure; and the last by showing us what happens when a bunch of dreamers gets stuck in the muck of failure.

As for me, I just can't look away. And neither should you.

The Mighty Boosh can be found on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim at 1 am ET/PT on Mondays. Better Off Ted airs Wednesday evenings at 8:30 pm ET/PT on ABC. Party Down airs Fridays at 10:30 pm ET/PT on Starz.

High Risk Workplace: An Advance Review of ABC's "Better Off Ted"

Anyone who's ever worked for a soulless multi-national corporation can tell you that the company ethos is kill or be killed.

In some cases, like at Better Off Ted's Veridian Dynamics, that's quite literal: the company makes nuclear weapons (they also weaponize pumpkins), diet foods, and office chairs. They pretty much make everything we consume, making our lives better every day. (Or in the case of those aforementioned weapons, much, much worse.)

Created by Victor Fresco (Andy Richter Controls the Universe), ABC's smart and sophisticated comedy Better Off Ted, which premieres tomorrow, follows the employees of the insidious Veridian Dynamics, a company much like Fringe's Massive Dynamic... but much scarier. In clever company ads, the audience gets to see just what this company is all about, from its desire to reanimate the dead and copy them (so you'll never lose them again) to its corporate work ethic about workers being like family... and family should always spend time together on weekends and holidays. (Hell, their company daycare even puts the kids to work painting lines in the parking lot and "training the workers of tomorrow.")

Meet Ted (Private Practice's Jay Harrington): he's the head of research and development at Veridian, a stand-up single dad to precocious seven-year-old daughter Rose (Isabella Acres), and a man just slightly more sane than those in his charge, which includes bickering research scientists Phil (Andy Richter Controls the Universe's Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Side Order of Life's Malcolm Barrett) and rebellious office drone/aspiring children's novelist Linda (The Class' Andrea Anders), with whom Ted shares a sexual tension-laden chemistry. The only problem is that Ted already used up his one office romance with his icy boss Veronica (Arrested Development's Portia de Rossi).

In the two episodes screened for press, Ted has to deal with a host of problems besides for his attraction to Linda. For one, there are the constant demands placed on him by the unsympathetic Veronica, a boss so heartless and uncaring that she matter-of-factly tells Ted that the company wants to freeze Phil... just to see what would happen. (Lem is safe from freezing because, as Veronica puts it, Veridian was not going to freeze the black guy.) Phil, for his part, accepts his fate and winds up not being liquidated via the freezing process but, after thawing out, does make a painful and involuntary screeching noise. And yet Ted keeps him on because he's a stand-up guy... even if he does exist in a slightly morally grey zone where working on weaponizing pumpkins and development office chairs out of scratchy fabric (in order to promote worker productivity) is somehow okay.

And yet Ted is likable and charismatic. In the hands of another actor, this might not be the case but Harrington renders Ted as flawed but sane. (In the office kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man truly is king.) He's also a caring and compassionate father to young Rose, who is wise beyond her years and constantly trying to get her father to do the Right Thing. In the series' second episode, a childcare crisis forces Ted to bring Rose to work and she ends up bonding with Veronica of all people when Veronica discovers that Rose, as a child, has the power to get people to keep their emotions in check around her. In no time, Veronica transforms Rose into a tightly-bunned mini-Veronica who excels at firing people.

Not that the emotionless Veronica is at all softened by the time she spends with Rose: she first notices Rose's beautiful skin and expresses her wish that there was a way to peel it off of Rose's face and stick it to hers. Veronica is a truly a memorable character and an even more exaggerated portrait of selfish, emotionally stunted womanhood than the role de Rossi played on FOX's Arrested Development. She's conniving, impassive, and glacial. (Not to mention absolutely hysterical.) And I wouldn't have it any other way: de Rossi herself nearly steals the show with her fantastic performance as Veronica.

But Harrington and de Rossi are ably assisted by their supporting cast. Slavin and Barrett are both fantastic as Phil and Lem (the second episode has some hilarious Phil/Lem moments involved a round robin-style boss trade-off and a shared contamination suit) and Anders shines as the oft-put-off Linda, a woman tempted to do the exact opposite of every company-wide memo that goes out. (Throwing a gel-like substance that will be part of a diet foot line at her computer, she admits to Rose that she got the idea for throwing things at her computer monitor after a memo told her not to. And she hoards non-dairy creamer, just because.) There's an easy chemistry between her and Harrington yet Linda is a fully developed female character in her own right, more prone to snarky remarks and insubordination than hair-flipping and provocative flirting.

Ultimately, Better Off Ted is a smartly crafted comedy series that explores the dark side of corporate culture with a deft satirical precision and heavy helping of intelligent comedic timing. And, in these dark economic times, anything that gets us laughing at the ineptitude and arrogance of Big Business is a Good Thing. Just watch out for that pumpkin.

Better Off Ted launches tomorrow evening at 8:30 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Channel Surfing: Jennifer Esposito Gets "Burn Notice," Chevy Chase Finds "Community" Spirit at NBC, "Top Model" Riot, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Samantha Who?'s Jennifer Esposito has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on USA's Burn Notice, where she will play Michelle Paxon, "a Miami PD detective who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth about Michael." Esposito is expected to first turn up at the start of Season Three of Burn Notice, scheduled to debut in June. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Chevy Chase, who'll be seen later this season on NBC's Chuck, has been cast as one of the leads in NBC's comedy pilot Community, where he will play a community college student who has been married five times, opposite Joel McHale. Pilot will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development). (Hollywood Reporter)

Richard Dreyfuss (Tin Man) and Jason Biggs (The Pleasure of Your Company) will star in CBS comedy pilot Happiness Isn't Everything, about adult siblings and their parents who are "overinvolved" in each other's lives. Dreyfuss will play the family patriarch while Biggs will play one of the sons, along with Ben Schwartz. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and CBS Paramount Network Television, is executive produced by Mitch Hurwitz. (Hollywood Reporter)

Pilot casting news: Beau Garrett (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and Mike Vogel (Cloverfield) will star in ABC drama pilot Empire State; Sophie Winkleman (Peep Show) will play the titular character in NBC comedy pilot 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne; Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo) and Janet Varney (Chocolate News) will play the leads in ABC's untitled Jeff Strauss comedy pilot; Paul Campbell (Battlestar Galactica) has landed the lead role in ABC's US remake of comedy No Heroics; Warren Christie (October Road) and Denzel Whitaker (All That) have joined the cast of CBS drama pilot House Rules; Tim Peper (Carpoolers), Stephanie Lemelin (Cavemen), and Baron Vaughn (Teachers) will star in ABC comedy pilot Canned; Lindsey Broad (Ghost Whisperer) has snagged the female lead on NBC drama pilot State of Romance; Jaime Lee Kirchner (Just Legal) will star in NBC medical drama pilot Mercy; Rachel Nichols (Alias) and Laz Alonso (One on One) have joined the cast of CBS' untitled U.S. Attorney drama pilot; Archie Panjabi (Life on Mars) will co-star in CBS' drama pilot The Good Wife; and Larry Joe Campbell (According to Jim) has been added to ABC comedy pilot The Law. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former pro football player Michael Strahan has been cast in FOX comedy pilot Brothers, where he will play a retired NFL player who returns to his hometown and reconnects with his wheelchair-bound brother (Daryl "Chill" Mitchell), injured after a car accident. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount. is written by Don Reo and will be directed by Ted Wass. (Variety)

Spike has ordered twelve episodes of sports-themed comedy Blue Mountain State, about three freshmen who attend a football powerhouse state university and have to "adapt to college life while juggling football, women, classes and nonstop hazing." Series, from Lionsgate Television and Varsity Pictures, is set to launch this summer, along with Matt Walsh comedy Players, and stars Darin Brooks, Chris Romano, Sam Jones III, Ed Marinaro, Alan Ritchson, and Gabrielle Dennis. (Hollywood Reporter)

In a bizarre twist, auditions over the weekend for the next cycle of CW's America's Next Top Model turned into pandemonium, with six women receiving medical treatment and three people arrested on charges of inciting to riot and disorderly conduct. Reuters cited a report from a local radio station, which reported that "chaos erupted outside a midtown Manhattan hotel after a car belching smoke pulled up near the line of women late in the afternoon, leading to a cry of "fire" that sparked panic. Witnesses told the station the situation was compounded when a man leapt from a car and began grabbing women's purses." (Reuters)

NBC will once again meet with advertisers before the traditional upfront period at the end of May, scheduling meetings with advertisers on May 4th and 5th in New York, Chicago on May 7th, and Los Angeles on May 12th. The Peacock will not be offering another multi-media NBC Experience as it did in 2008 and is said to be looking at its plans for the actual upfront week, beginning May 18th. (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times looks at the current crop of midseason replacement series and stresses that, besides for highlights like FOX's Lie to Me, the networks have some major problems with this year's offerings both scripted (Castle, Dollhouse) and unscripted (Chopping Block, True Beauty). "Executives can talk all they want about time-shifting and competition and retention levels," writes Scott Collins, "but what the networks really need are hits." (Los Angeles Times)

Tandem Communications has teamed up with Stanley M. Brooks and Jim Head to produce two telepics based on novels of Patricia Cornwell's "At Risk" and "The Front" for Lifetime; move marks the first time that Cornwell's work will be adapted. Telepics will be written by John Pielmeier (Capture of the Green River Killer). (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times talks with Portia de Rossi, the star of ABC's new comedy series Better Off Ted, which launches on Wednesday, about Proposition 8, her new series, and those motherhood rumors. (Los Angeles Times)

Kimberley Nixon (Cranford) has denied reports that she will star in the fifth season of Doctor Who, saying that she hasn't even auditioned. "Absolutely nothing [is happening with Doctor Who]," Nixon told Metro. "They film in my home town so it would be good from a convenience point of view. I haven't heard anything - just what I've read in the papers. I haven't even auditioned." (Digital Spy)

Turner Classic Movies has ordered ten-hour documentary series Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, which will depict the lives of such early Hollywood figures as Darryl Zanuck, Carl Laemmle, Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner brothers. Series, written and produced by Jon Wilkman, is scheduled to air next year. (Variety)

Stay tuned.