Channel Surfing: Showtime Renews Secret Diary, Details on HBO's Blogger Drama Tilda, Parks and Recreation, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that Showtime has renewed Billie Piper-led dark comedy Secret Diary of a Call Girl for a fourth season, which would be the series' last. The series, which airs on ITV2 in the UK, is expected to return in early 2011 and the final season would likely focus on the relationship between Piper's Belle/Hannah and her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

UPDATE: According to Showtime's press release, "Season Four, which will be comprised of eight, half-hour episodes, will follow Belle (Piper), an internationally successful author, torn between her career and her feelings for her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). Additionally, Season Four will feature a storyline where the high-end London call girl visits New York City."

The Wrap's Hunter Walker has details on HBO's latest pilot, Tilda, the Diane Keaton-led comedy which may or may not be based on the life of notorious Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke. Walker cites one unnamed source, an executive, who describes the plot of the Bill Condon-scripted project as "a broken woman, alone in her apartment," while another maintains that the titular character doesn't have much of a resemblance to Finke. "A lawyer for the network said HBO's official stance on the show is that the Tilda character is a compilation of many Hollywood media personalities, rather than a straight-up caricature of Finke," writes Walker. "Right. And that guy Ari Gold on Entourage is a "compilation" of Hollywood agents." [Editor: I still need to read the pilot script, which is sitting on my hard drive here.] (The Wrap's The Box)

Missing NBC's Parks and Recreation and crushed that it won't be back on the air until midseason? You're not the only one. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello recently visited the set of the NBC comedy series to talk about what's coming up for Season Three, their Emmy chances, and that decision to hold back the series rather than return it this fall. All this, delivered via three video interviews with the cast of the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC Family is developing espionage drama Shadows, about a secret Harvard-based program that recruits and trains young spies. Project, created by Jesse Peyronel and Rene Rigal, will follow the students and faculty of this shadowy program. Executive producers include Mal Young, George Tillman Jr., Matthew Pritzker, and Robert Teitel. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Raising the Bar) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Showtime's Weeds, where he will play Jack, described as a "rough-around-the-edges local bar owner who serves Nancy more than just a drink (wink, wink)." Season Six of Weeds kicks off on August 16th on Showtime. Elsewhere at the pay cabler, Tommy Lee has signed on for a guest appearance on Californication, where he will play himself. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TVGuide.com's Michael Logan has details on James Franco's return to ABC daytime soap General Hospital, where his character, Franco (described as a "serial killer and performance artist") will launch an exhibition in an effort to win over Steve Burton's mobster Jason Morgan. The name of his new exhibit is 'Francophrenia: Dissolving the Boundary Between Illusion and Reality' — as, yes, that's Francophrenia as in schizophrenia," General Hospital head writer Bob Guza told Logan. "Franco will create this elaborate dog and pony show for Jason, and Jason's non-reaction to it will make Franco pull the ultimate trigger." (TVGuide.com)

Victor Nelli (Ugly Betty) has come aboard NBC's fall comedy Outsourced as a director and executive producer. (Variety)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an interview with Gabrielle Union, in which she discusses FlashForward (including what was really meant to happen to Zoey and John Cho's Demetri Noh) and her upcoming role on the untitled Army Wives spinoff, where she will play "asexual" Atlanta cop Gina Holt. "All the butts I wanted to kick on FlashForward and all of the bad guys I wanted to bring to justice, I'll now get to do as this new character — but with a sense of humor," Union told Keck. "Gina views these Army wives as extra-terrestrials. She has no concept of breast-feeding, sore nipples or child care." (TV Guide Magazine)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Sean Hayes' Hazy Mills shingle has signed a two-year overall deal with NBC Universal, under which the company will develop projects for both broadcast and cable. "Hazy Mills already has a project in development at USA Network with writer Jeff Rake about a performer who enters into the world or organized crime," writes Andreeva. (Deadline)

Joe Earley has been promoted to President, Marketing & Communications for Fox Broadcasting Company, where he will continue to be oversee all FOX marketing functions, as well as entertainment publicity, corporate communications and talent relations, creative services, and internal corporate marketing, promotion and special projects. "Joe is the best marketing executive in the industry and richly deserves this promotion," said Peter Rice, Chairman of Entertainment for Fox Networks Group, in a statement. "His groundbreaking campaign for GLEE demonstrates Joe’s formidable combination of strategic, creative and leadership skills. We are all thrilled he will be here with us at FOX for many more years." [Editor: congratulations, Joe!] (via press release)

Elsewhere, CW publicity chief Paul McGuire has been named SVP of worldwide corporate communications at Warner Bros. Entertainment, where he will replace Scott Rowe (who himself is moving up to the top seat at the Warner Bros. Television Group). He'll report to Susan Fleishman and "will continue to serve as an adviser to the CW's communications team, working closely with his longtime lieutenants, such as Paul Hewitt and Pamela Morrison," according to Variety's Michael Schneider. (Variety)

The seventh season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef was 27 percent off from its 2009 season opener, luring 1.8 million viewers overall. [Editor: I would agree with The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd: the brand has definitely been diluted by the addition of spinoffs to the mix... and I don't think Bravo did the series any favors by rushing the flagship back on the air the week after Top Chef Masters wrapped.] (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Stay tuned.

The Daily Beast: "TV's Winners and Losers"

Where did the broadcasters go wrong this season, and what did they do right? Good question.

Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest piece, "TV's Winners and Losers," as I break down the network's performance in the 2009-10 season and (via a nifty gallery) take a look at the season's winners--including Modern Family, Chuck, Vampire Diaries, Fringe, Bones, Parenthood, NCIS (and NCIS: Los Angeles), The Good Wife, and others--and the losers (such as FlashForward, Heroes, Melrose Place and medical dramas in general, as well as the draws.

Where did your favorite series end up on the list? And what's your take on the 2009-10 season? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Channel Surfing: Chuck Renewed, ABC Keeps V But Not FlashForward, NBC's Law & Order Conundrum, Lost, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Good news for Chuck fans: Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chuck has been renewed for a fourth season of thirteen episodes, though NBC declined to comment on the report. While I had hoped for a full-season order, any Chuck is better than no Chuck, right? (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Good news as well for fans of the Visitors: ABC has reportedly given a thirteen-episode renewal to freshman sci-fi drama V. "V was likely a no-brainer, as ABC wants to bring back at least one frosh drama, and the alien thriller is showing signs of life," writes Variety's Michael Schneider. "Its fellow frosh sci-fi drama, FlashForward, is not." (Variety)

Yep, it's not looking good for FlashForward, which Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting has already been cancelled, along with Better Off Ted, Scrubs, and Romantically Challenged. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

After a day of back-and-forth about the fate of Law & Order, NBC is reportedly in talks to renew the legal procedural for a record-breaking 21st season. "The network has long intended to bring back the Dick Wolf-produced drama for one final season, allowing the show to top Gunsmoke as the longest-running drama in TV history," writes The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. "But NBC's testy relationship with Wolf came to head Thursday when the producer rejected the network's offer to continue the show at a reduced license fee. Wolf's office told producers and some cast members that the drama had been canceled, triggering online reports that the show was finished." Apparently, those reports were premature, though it's possible that the eleventh hour talks could result in no deal, at which time Wolf could shop the series to cablers. TNT, meanwhile, denied reports that they are in talks with Wolf. (Hollywood Reporter)

The New York Times' Lorne Manley has a brand-new Q&A with Lost showrunner/executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse just ahead of the series finale of Lost, airing Sunday, May 23rd. "If there’s one word that we keep coming back to, it’s redemption," said Lindelof. "It is that idea of everybody has something to be redeemed for and the idea that that redemption doesn’t necessarily come from anywhere else other than internally. But in order to redeem yourself, you can only do it through a community. So the redemption theme started to kind of connect into 'live together, die alone,' which is that these people were all lone wolves who were complete strangers on an aircraft, even the ones who were flying together like Sun and Jin. Then let’s bring them together and through their experiences together allow themselves to be redeemed. When the show is firing on all pistons, that’s the kind of storytelling that we’re doing. I think we’ve always said that the characters of Lost are deeply flawed, but when you look at their flashback stories, they’re all victims. Kate was a victim before she killed her stepfather. Sawyer’s parents killed themselves as he was hiding under the bed. Jack’s dad was a drunk who berated him as a child. Sayid was manipulated by the American government into torturing somebody else. John Locke had his kidney stolen. This idea of saying this bad thing happened to me and I’m a victim and it created some bad behavior and now I’m going to take responsibility for that and allow myself to be redeemed by community with other people, that seems to be the theme that we keep coming back to." (The New York Times)

ABC has picked up six new series for the 2010-11 season: comedies Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, and Better Together and dramas My Generation (formerly known as Generation Y), The Whole Truth, and Detroit 187. Variety's Michael Schneider is also reporting that Wright vs. Wrong could still be in contention. (Variety)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that NBC drama pilot Rockford Files is now dead, despite it being a major frontrunner just a few weeks ago. [Editor: I can't say that I'm surprised as I wasn't all that chuffed with the script or the casting of Dermot Mulroney.] (Deadline)

CBS has ordered a pilot for Chuck Lorre's comedy Mike & Molly and is said to be high on Bleep My Dad Says, Team Spitz, Livin' On a Prayer, Hawaii Five-O, Defenders, Chaos, and the untitled John Wells/Hannah Shakespeare medical drama. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is also reporting that CBS is in talks to renew Ghost Whisperer and Old Christine but that, if talks go South, ABC would step in to pick them up should CBS pass. (Deadline)

Over at NBC, it's looking certain that Kindreds, Garza, and The Cape will all receive series orders before Sunday afternoon rolls around. Sadly, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer is said to be dead at NBC. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed, Deadline)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a new two-year overall deal with Damages creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Glenn Kessler. There is still no word on the fate of Damages, which wrapped its third season last month. "We originally planned out five or six seasons between Patty (Close) and Ellen (Rose Byrne), about the relationship between mentor and protege," Kessler told Variety. (Variety)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that producers of 20th Century Fox Television-produced drama pilot Breakout Kings, which FOX passed on after it renewed Lie to Me and Human Target, are shopping the project and have been talking to USA, A&E, and Spike. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that TNT has picked up legal dramedy Franklin and Bash, which was originally developed at sister cabler TBS. Series, from creators Kevin Falls and Bill Chais, stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

TBS, meanwhile, has ordered eight episodes of hour-long period comedy Glory Daze, which stars Kelly Blatz, Callard Harris, Matt Bush, Drew Seeley, Hartley Sawyer, Julianna Guill, and Tim Meadows. Series revolves around a group of college friends in 1980s Wisconsin. Glory Daze was created by Walt Becker and Michael LeSieur; it will likely premiere later this year. (Deadline, Variety)

Universal Media Studios has signed a two-year production deal with Todd Holland and Karey Burke's new shingle, which remains as yet unnamed. "Together we really make one perfect creative person," Holland told Variety. "She has all the skills I don't have: all the network experience, the general awareness of the writer community and the memory of so much TV development. I'm always thinking like a director -- 'What are we doing right now?'" (Variety)

Stay tuned.

"FlashForward" Returns: Who's In?

I'll admit, this was meant to be an advance review of tonight's two-hour spring premiere of ABC's FlashForward, but I couldn't get ABC's Medianet video player to stop skipping and eventually gave up altogether.

That's perhaps symbolic of my frustration in general with ABC's creatively uneven sci-fi series, which returns tonight after a lengthy hiatus with the promise of answers, answers, and more answers.

While I applaud the producers for seeing the value in providing solutions to the many mysteries that the early episodes produced, my main issue with the series is that I just don't care at all for these characters, their situations, or what they saw in their flash-forwards. Which is a major problem for a series that spends a great deal of its time having the character talk endlessly about fate, free will, and conscious choice.

All of which makes me wonder if I'll bother tuning in to the twelve remaining episodes this season. FlashForward has already fallen off my must-see priority list for Thursday nights, which meant that I was getting around to these episodes whenever I had free time.

But I am wondering: with FlashForward set to return tonight, which among you is looking forward to its return and which of you has already given up on the series? Are you willing to give it another chance? Or did you know you'd stop watching based on your own flash-forward last fall? Discuss, along with reasons why.

FlashForward returns tonight with a two-hour episode from 8-10 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Channel Surfing: "Parks" and Procreation for Poehler, Diane Farr to "Desperate Housewives," "FlashForward," Gordon Finds "Prisoners of War," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

The mystery behind Parks and Recreation's early renewal, said to be due to a production-related issue, has been revealed: star Amy Poehler is pregnant again and the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy will film its third season early in order to accommodate Poehler's pregnancy. "We'll continue production of Season Three as soon as production of season two concludes," an NBC spokesperson told E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos. "And we'll be back next season with new episodes." Which means: Season Three will launch this fall and the cast and crew will likely take a hiatus later than usual... and it means that Poehler's Leslie Knope will not be pregnant on the series. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Diane Farr (Rescue Me) has been cast in an upcoming episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives "as a character who interacts with the ladies of Wisteria Lane." Farr's episode is slated to air in late April but her details about her character, who will be the focal point of this episode, are being kept under wraps. Keck cites an unnamed source who indicated that Farr's character "is part of a special episode (involving) things that happen in the suburbs... evil kind of things." Read into that however you will. (TV Guide Magazine)

E! Online's Jenna Mullins has a look at what to expect from the return of ABC sci-fi drama FlashForward, which returns tonight with twelve new episodes, and she gets the cast to tease some details about upcoming storylines, which involve answers. "How and why did this happen? Who's the dude in the stadium? Is John Cho gonna live? And who's that shirtless dude on the couch?" teased Jack Davenport. "All of those things will obviously be answered. They have to be or people would be pissed. I would be!" (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

24 executive producer Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (also of 24) have teamed up with Gideon Raff developing a US adaptation for Israeli drama series Prisoners of War for 20th Century Fox Television; no network is currently attached to the project. According to Variety's Michael Schneider, the US version will "center on two soldiers who were captured soon after the war on terror began in the wake of 9/11; they're finally released a decade later from their captors. But a third POW died -- and his demise becomes a mystery. The show will also center on suspicions that one of the returning soldiers may have turned rogue -- and could be a terrorist threat himself." Gordon and Gansa will executive produce with Raff (who created the original) and Avi Nir of Israeli television network Keshet. (Variety)

NBC, Donald Trump, and Mark Burnett are resurrecting the original Apprentice format, bringing The Apprentice back to the airwaves, albeit with a slight twist. This iteration, set to air during the 2010-11 season, will feature 14 candidates who have all been affected by the economic turndown in the country. They'll range in ages and could be those who lost their jobs, those who are working jobs that they hate, and recent college graduates who are unable to land their first job... and the eliminated candidates will all receive some form of career coaching from Trump himself. "I am very excited to return to the original premise of The Apprentice," said Trump in a statement. "We've got to do something about the economy and this is a terrific way to provide jobs as well as business lessons along the way. NBC, Mark Burnett and I hope this economic downturn can begin a turnaround, and we'll do our best with The Apprentice to see that it starts happening. I'm proud to be putting people back to work, and to positively changing the psychology of America." (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that The Wire's Robert Wisdom--most recently seen on Supernatural--as been cast in at least six episodes of Burn Notice next season. He'll play Vaughn, described as "a veteran spy handler who works for the group that burned Michael" and who possesses "an impressive combination of high-end book smarts and real-world experience; he’s smart, world-weary, and ruthless." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jason Clarke (Brotherhood) has been cast as the lead in Shawn Ryan's FOX cop drama pilot Ride-Along. Clarke will play Detective Jarek Wysocki, described as "one of the city's toughest cops... a local legend and outsized character with a wicked sense of humor who struggles to clean up the town's violence and corruption." Move marks the second casting of a Brotherhood lead this pilot season; Jason Isaacs will star in FOX drama pilot Pleading Guilty. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other pilot casting news, Josh Cooke (Big Day) has been cast as the male lead in ABC's untitled Shanna Goldberg-Meehan comedy pilot, where hew will play Ben, half of an unmarried couple whose seemingly perfect life together is thrown into chaos when Maddie (Jennifer Finnigan) discovers that her younger sister (Joanna Garcia) is pregnant and engaged. Elsewhere, Skyler Stone (Con) has been cast in Greg Garcia's FOX comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, which is in the process of recasting several roles. Stone will play Mike, the messy cousin of Jimmy (Lucas Neff); role was played by Kate Micucci in the original pilot, though it was initially written for a man. (Hollywood Reporter)

Congratulations to FX, which saw huge opening numbers for its scripted drama series Justified, which launched with 4.1 million viewers, the highest-rated FX premiere since The Shield in 2002. (Variety)

Showtime has unveiled its summer schedule, which includes programming on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday evenings. Penn & Teller: Bullshit! returns on Thursday, June 10th at 10 pm ET/PT, where it will lead into new comedy series The Green Room with Paul Provenza. The pay cabler's new reality series The Real L Word will launch on Sunday, June 20th at 10 pm ET//PT. And Monday, August 16th sees the return of Weeds at 10 pm ET/PT and the launch of the Laura Linney-led comedy series The Big C at 10:30 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

CBS has ordered a pilot for culinary competition series Beat the Chefs from RelativityReal and executive producer Tom Forman (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). Format will feature amateur chefs and their friends and families competing against professional chefs as they each attempt to make their version of a particular dish, which will then be judged by a panel of judges for a cash prize. (Hollywood Reporter)

Private Practice's Amy Brenneman is slated to return to the ABC drama series on April 1st, after she missed filming three episodes due to a "planned surgery to fix a chronic health issue," according to Brenneman's rep Stephen Huvane. She's already back at work, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, and the last episode to be shot sans Brenneman's Violet will air next week. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove has signed a new deal with Nickelodeon that's said to be in the low- to mid-seven-figure range under which she will film an additional 26 episodes of the comedy series, which was renewed late last year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Glau to Don "Cape," "Parks and Rec" to Lose an Actor, "Doctor Who" Companion, USA Orders "Facing Kate," Callis to "Eureka," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

It was only a matter of time before someone snapped up River Tam. Former Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star Summer Glau, who most recently appeared in a multiple-episode story arc on Dollhouse this season, has landed one of the leads in NBC's vigilante drama pilot The Cape. Project, from writer Tom Wheeler and directed by Simon West, revolves around a a disgraced former cop (David Lyons), framed for a crime he didn't commit, who becomes a costumed vigilante in order to clear his name. Glau will star opposite Lyons, James Frain, and Dorian Missick, and will play Orwell, described as "a cute and intrepid investigative blogger who fearlessly goes after corrupt cops and costumed bad guys" and who "gets physical and is quite capable of kicking ass." If that isn't a part made for Glau, I don't know what is. (Hollywood Reporter)

Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin talks to Parks and Recreation co-creator Mike Schur about Paul Schneider's planned departure from the NBC comedy, set to return for a third season this fall. "It was a combination of us always knowing that the character would always leave some day, the timing of this movie, and then sort of feeling like, well, the way the character's gone...we were all on the same page here and we decided to write the character out," Schur told Martin. "But the goal and the aim is to have him come back as soon as his schedule permits and as soon as the arcs we're writing call for it. We very much want him back and he has told us he very much wants to come back in the future. It really is one of those mutually beneficial situations. And we're hoping we can have him back in Season Three." And the door will definitely be open for Schneider to return as Mark Brendanawicz and possibly recur in Season Three. "He's going to remain in the world of the show in a way that not only allows but hopefully demands that he'll reenter it," said Schur. "He's not going to be killed in some weird accident." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

The Observer's Euan Ferguson has an interview with Doctor Who's Karen Gillan, who plays Amy Pond, the latest traveling companion to the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). "To be honest, I wasn't really a huge follower of Doctor Who before I got this part," Gillan told Ferguson. "But having read the first episode I was utterly smitten, and with the character. Amy's a sassy lady, funny and passionate, and her relationship with the doctor has a really interesting dynamic... She has a love for him, a really deep love for him. But not romantic." (The Guardian)

USA has given a series order to legal drama Facing Kate, which stars Sarah Shahi. The cabler ordered eleven episodes (plus the 90-minute pilot) for the series, which hails from Universal Cable Prods. and was created by Michael Sardo, who will executive produce with Steve Stark. Series, which follows Shahi's Kate Reed as she leaves behind litigation for mediation, also stars Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams, and Baron Vaughn. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Battlestar Galactica star James Callis--who will next be seen later this season on ABC's FlashForward, has joined the cast of Syfy's Eureka, which returns for its fourth season this summer. Callis will play Dr. Grant, a former resident of Eureka who is a romantic interest for Salli Richardson-Whitfield's Allison Blake. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting, citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with the situation, that 20th Century Fox Television, the studio behind FOX's 24, is in talks with NBC about picking up the serialized action drama should FOX opt to make Day Eight Jack Bauer's last. "A move to NBC — while still considered somewhat of a long shot given the hefty price tag — would likely delay 20th’s plans to launch a Jack Bauer film franchise," writes Ausiello. "From a production standpoint, 24 execs have long maintained that it would ne next to impossible to make a movie while the series was still on the air. Reps for 20th and NBC declined to comment." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO's upcoming miniseries Mildred Pierce just gets better and better. The Todd Haynes-directed adaptation of James M. Cain's novel, which stars Kate Winslet as the the titular character, has cast Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker), Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood), and Melissa Leo (Treme). [Editor: Also cast: James LeGros and Brian F. O'Byrne.] (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Kate Stanhope is reporting that it's looking likely that HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm will return for an eighth season. "I'm leaning towards it, so I would say there's a good chance," said series creator/star Larry David, though an eight season is "not definite yet, but we're working on it." (TVGuide.com)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has an extensive recap of the Glee panel at the Paley Festival this weekend, which teased Lady Gaga, more romance, new characters, more Kristin Chenoweth, and more. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Zap2It's Marisa Roffman is reporting that Annabeth Gish (The X-Files) has signed on to appear on ABC's FlashForward, where she will appear as a guest-star during the back half of the sci-fi drama's first season. (Zap2It's KorbiTV)

Pilot casting roundup: Mary Steenburgen will star in ABC comedy pilot Southern Discomfort, where she will play the matriarch of a family whose grown children move back in with her and her husband; Carly Pope (Day One) and David Ramsey (Dexter) will star opposite Jimmy Smits in NBC's untitled John Eisendrath drama pilot (a.k.a. Rough Justice); Ian Reed Kessler (Sons of Tucson) has snagged one of the leads in NBC comedy pilot Friends with Benefits; Kerri Kenney (Reno 911) has come on board FOX comedy pilot Tax Man; Xander Berkeley (24) has joined the cast of CW drama pilot Nikita; and Odette Yustman (October Road) will play the female lead on FOX's untitled Adam Goldberg comedy pilot; and Lindsey Broad ('Til Death) has been cast as one of the leads in ABC comedy pilot Who Gets the Parents. (Hollywood Reporter)

Chris Parnell (Archer) and Horatio Sanz (In the Motherhood) will star opposite Jon Heder in Comedy Central's untitled multi-camera comedy about a man (Heder) who continues to chase his dreams despite failing miserably at everything he tries. Sanz will play one of his friends, an ex-convict, while Parnell will play a down-on-his-luck teacher. (Variety)

Colme Feore (24) is said to be in talks to star opposite Jeremy Irons in Showtime's upcoming period drama series The Borgias, where he would play Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, described as "Borgia's nemesis... who vigorously opposes Borgia's election as Pope Alexander VI and continues to tangle with him." (Hollywood Reporter)

Betty White is set to guest star in the season finale of ABC family comedy The Middle, where she will play "a school librarian who confronts Brick (Atticus Shaffer) over his failure to return numerous overdue books." (via press release)

Season Four of Showtime's period drama The Tudors, the series' last outing, is will premiere Sunday, April 11th at 9 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

Marsha Thomason (Lost) will return to USA's dramedy White Collar as a series regular, after she appeared in the pilot episode and the season finale. Move comes as Natalie Morales, who has recurred throughout the series' first season, will depart the Fox Television Studios-produced series. Elsewhere, Billy Brown (Star Trek) has joined the cast of FX's upcoming drama series Lights Out, where he will play Raymond "Death Row" Reynolds, described as "the current heavyweight champion and longtime rival of Leary (Holt McCallany)." And Gregg Henry (The Riches) has been promoted to series regular on HBO's comedy Hung, which returns later this year for a second season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bobby Flay will serve as one of the judges/mentors on NBC's upcoming culinary competition series America's Next Great Restaurant (formerly known as United Plates of America), where he will search for a winning chef or businessman to launch a restaurant with. Casting is currently underway to select the participants on the series, which hails from executive producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz. (Variety)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a new two-year overall deal with Privileged creator Rina Mimoun, under which she will develop new series projects for the studio and work on current series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Dustin Hoffman Gambles on "Luck" for HBO, Julie Benz Suits Up for Superhero Pilot, "Modern Family" Vacation, "FlashForward," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey) will star in HBO's David Milch and Michael Mann-executive produced drama pilot Luck, which is set in the world of horseracing. Hoffman, will play the lead, Chester "Ace" Bernstein, described as "a man in his late 60s just released from four years in prison who's autodidactic, intelligent, and deeply involved in gambling." Hoffman is the latest cast addition to the high-profile drama pilot, following the attachments of Dennis Farina and John Ortiz last week. Project, being eyed for a potential January launch on the pay cabler, is written by David Milch and will be directed by Michael Mann, both of whom executive produce alongside Carolyn Strauss. (Variety)

Dexter's Julie Benz has signed on to star opposite Michael Chiklis in ABC superhero drama pilot No Ordinary Family, about a family that find themselves developing new abilities. In the project, written by Greg Berlanti and Jon Harmon Feldman and directed by David Semel, Benz will play Stephanie, the wife of Chiklis' police artist, described as "a gifted scientist who develops a power for superspeed." Also cast: Christina Chang (24), who will play a police officer who works at the same precinct as Jim (Chiklis). The casting follows that for Autumn Reeser and Romany Malco. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has details on Modern Family's upcoming Hawaiian vacation storyline, which finds the Pritchett clan heading to Maui to celebrate Jay's birthday. [Editor: I don't want to be spoiled about the episode, but if you're not that spoiler-averse, click through to read Keck's interviews with the cast about the episode.] (TV Guide Magazine)

Will ABC order another season of the ratings-starved sci-fi drama FlashForward, which dropped 43 percent of its viewers during its ten-episode run in the fall? According to Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice, the network's decision may come down to the fact that the series does do well overseas, particularly in the UK, Spain, and Italy. "ABC may not make a decision on FlashForward and V, which returns March 30, until right before its upfront presentation in New York this May," writes Rice. "Several ABC dramas, in fact, have yet to receive pickups for another season, though Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Brothers and Sisters are slam dunks. Comedies like Cougar Town, The Middle and Modern Family have already been picked up, while shows like Ugly Betty have already been cancelled. Long shots include Better Off Ted, The Deep End, Scrubs and The Forgotten." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Former American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee (who'll be seen next on Community) has been cast as one of the leads in NBC comedy pilot The Pink House, where she will play Emily, described as "a down-to-earth Midwest girl new to Manhattan Beach who lives in an apartment behind the guy's house and works as a pharmaceutical rep." Project revolves around two twenty-something Midwestern best friends who move to California and rent a house on the beach. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other pilot casting news, Jaime King (Gary Unmarried) and Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) have joined the cast of Noah Hawley's ABC drama pilot Generation Y, Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) has ben cast in NBC comedy pilot Friends With Benefits, Alexandra Breckenridge (The Ex List) will co-star in FOX comedy pilot Traffic Light, Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) and Bryce Johnson (Popular) have been added to the cast of FOX drama pilot Midland, and Peggy Lipton (Twin Peaks) and Escher Holloway (Choose Connor) have been cast in Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas' ABC dramedy pilot Cutthroat. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has a first look at Robert Englund's guest starring turn in the April 15th episode of FOX's Bones, where he will play Ray Buxley, the creepy janitor at Brennan's former high school. "He befriended Bones back when she was a wallflower in high school, and is still carrying a torch for her," Englund told Keck. "He doesn’t like Booth at all!" (TV Guide Magazine)

Elsewhere, The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a first-look video clip from this Friday's episode of Syfy's Caprica featuring James Marsters (Buffy, Torchwood) as Barnabas Greeley. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

David Morrissey (Doctor Who, State of Play), Natascha McElhone (Californication), Eddie Marsan (The 39 Steps), and Aidan Gillen (The Wire) have been cast in Sky1's six-part drama series thorne, based on the novels of Mark Billingham. Production is slated to begin today on thorne: sleepyhead, the first of six planned films that will air this autumn. Telepic will be directed by Stephen Hopkins (24) and is written by Silent Witness' Jim Keeble and Dudi Appleton. (The satellite network has already commissioned the second, thorne: scaredy cat.) Morrissey will play DI Tom Thorne on the hunt for an elusive serial killer who has murdered three women and left a fourth with a condition called "locked in syndrome," where she is aware of everything around her but unable to move or speak. Morrissey, Marsan, and Gillen are set to reprise their roles in the second thorne film. (via press release)

ABC has unveiled the newest competitors for Dancing with the Stars, which launches Monday, March 22nd. Competing this season: Buzz Aldrin, Pamela Anderson, Erin Andrews, Shannen Doherty, Kate Gosselin, Evan Lysacek, Niecy Nash, Chad Ochocinco, Jake Pavelka, Nicole Scherzinger, and Aiden Turner. (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Julianne Moore is will reprise her role as twin Frannie and Sabrina Hughes on CBS' As the World Turns, which is ending its 54-year run in September. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Starz has acquired event mini-series The Pillars of the Earth, based on Ken Follett's novel about the construction of a 12th century cathedral in England that's beset by war, religious strife, and power grabs. Project, produced by German company Tandem Communications, will air on the pay cabler in July and will launch with a two-hour premiere, followed by six hourly installments. (Variety)

ABC has announced the new Bachelorette and, like many viewers surmised, has selected Ali Fedotowsky, who left this season's Bachelor in order to return to the work. "I am so excited!" Fedotowsky told host Chris Harrison. "I am so thrilled and honored and grateful, I just can't believe it! I'm just really grateful. I'm shaking so bad." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Could Cablevision subscribers in New York be cut off from the Academy Awards? Looks like it, thanks to a retransmission feud that turned ugly between Disney and Cablevision. "With the help of our viewers, we’ve built ABC7 into the most watched station in the country, and have been trying for two years to get Cablevision to acknowledge the station’s value to their business," said Rebecca S. Campbell, President & General Manager, WABC-TV, in a statement. "Despite our best efforts, it has now become clear that Cablevision has no intention of coming to a fair agreement. We can no longer sit back and allow Cablevision to use our shows for free while they continue to charge their customers for them. We’ve worked too hard and invested too many millions of dollars in programming and community outreach, to be taken advantage of any longer – especially since our viewers can watch their favorite ABC7 shows free, over-the-air, or by switching to one of Cablevision’s competitors." (via press release)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams is reporting that Matt Frewer (Eureka) has been cast on the CW's Supernatural, where he will play Pestilence, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. "Our first brush with him in Episode 520 seems relatively innocuous and then unfolds into something more substantial," Supernatural executive producer Sera Gamble told Abrams. "Put it to you this way: Horsemen on our show tend to think several moves ahead." (TVGuide.com)

TV Land has ordered ten episodes of comedy Hot in Cleveland, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, and Jane Leeves as three women traveling to Paris who end up living together in Cleveland. (Betty White, meanwhile, will appear in the pilot episode.) Project, created by Suzanne Martin, will launch in June. (Variety)

E! has ordered a second season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians spin-off Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, with ten episodes on tap for this summer. (Hollywood Reporter)

TLC has opted not to renew its deal for the Miss America Pageant, leaving the event without a broadcast home. "We are happy that TLC was part of the modernization and revitalization of the Miss America pageant," said TLC management in a statement. "This year we delivered record ratings, besting any of its prior performances on cable. However, our three-year deal has concluded, and we have chosen not to renew. We wish the Miss America Organization well." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Grace Park Heads to "Hawaii Five-O," James Callis Has "FlashForward," Dermot Mulroney Lands "Rockford Files," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Former Battlestar Galactica star Grace Park--most recently seen opposite Benjamin Bratt in A&E drama The Cleaner--is the latest to come aboard CBS' remake of cop drama series Hawaii Five-O, starring Alex O'Loughlin and Daniel Dae Kim. Park will play Kona Kalakaua, who is the niece of Hawaii State Police detective Chin Ho Kelly (Kim) and is described as " beautiful and smart champion surfer who is about to graduate from the police academy when McGarrett (O'Loughlin) recruits her to join his team." Meanwhile, Park's former Cylon co-star Tricia Helfer has joined the cast of TNT's Dark Blue, which returns later this year for its second season, as a series regular. (Hollywood Reporter)

SCIFI Wire is reporting that James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) has signed on for a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's FlashForward, where he will play a mysterious character whom producers are keeping under wraps. "I don't actually want to tell you anything about the character, because he's a really exciting, unusual character," executive producer/showrunner Jessica Borsiczky. "So I think it's going to be fun for the audience. He's going to be involved with Olivia's trajectory ... some of Olivia's journey." (SCIFI Wire)

NBC has landed its lead for its remake of The Rockford Files. Dermot Mulroney (Flash of Genius) has joined the cast of the David Shore-executive produced drama pilot, where he will play private investigator Jim Rockford, a role played in the original series by James Garner. Project, from Universal Media Studios and Carousel Television, is written by Shore, who will executive produce alongside Steve Carell. (Variety)

[Editor: Additionally, if you're looking for information about the current Paley Festival, you can check out my recap on Friday's Modern Family panel here and Saturday's Lost panel here.]

Jordana Spiro (My Boys) will star opposite Becki Newton in NBC dramedy pilot Love Bites, from writer/executive producer Cindy Chupack, Universal Media Studios and Working Title Television. Spiro will play Frannie, described as "a sarcastic career bridesmaid who is sick of being single." Her best friend is the virginal Annie, played by Newton. They are the only two series regulars as the series will be a loosely connected anthology of modern romance. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Janeane Garofalo has been cast in Hannah Shakespeare and John Wells' untitled CBS medical drama opposite Amy Smart and Rachelle Lefevre. Project, written by Shakespeare, follows a mobile medical team that travels the country and helps the less fortunate. Garofalo will play chief nurse/operations manager Angel, described as "the backbone of the organization, she can tell you who’s where, what’s where, and everything in between. Angel never loses her cool and is always compassionate toward those who need help." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In other pilot-casting news, Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck) has been cast in Michael Dinner's CBS drama pilot ATF, where he will play an ATF agent who chases down dangerous criminals and raises his estranged teenage daughter. His former co-star, Joely Richardson, meanwhile has landed the lead in Jerry Bruckheimer's ABC legal drama pilot The Whole Truth, where she will play Kathryn Pearle, a successful Manhattan prosecutor.

Elsewhere, David Walton (100 Questions) has been cast in NBC comedy pilot Perfect Couples, Eric Close (Without a Trace) has joined the cast of CBS drama pilot Chaos, Nicole Sullivan (Rita Rocks) has been cast in CBS comedy pilot Shit My Dad Says, Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) has landed a role in CBS comedy pilot Team Spitz, Jacob Vargas (Moonlight) has been cast in CBS drama pilot The Odds, Joel David Moore (Avatar) has joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot Nathan vs. Nurture; and Amber Tamblyn (The Unusuals), Kenneth Mitchell (Ghost Whisperer), Sam Witwer (Smallville), and David Giuntoli (The Deep End) have landed the leads in CBS drama pilot Quinn-Tuplets. (Hollywood Reporter)

Anne Son (ER) has been cast in ABC drama pilot Generation Y, according to series creator Noah Hawley. (Twitter)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a two-year overall deal with director/executive producer Danny Cannon (Dark Blue, The Forgotten), under which Cannon will continue to work with Jerry Bruckheimer Prods. as well as develop new material for the network. He'll next direct the pilot for the CW action drama Nikita. (Variety)

ABC has ordered a one-hour recap special for drama FlashForward, which it will air on Tuesday, March 16th at 10 pm ET/PT (it will pre-empt The Forgotten), two days prior to the return of the sci-fi series. The special, entitled FlashForward: What Did You See?, will recap the first ten episodes of the ABC Studios-produced drama. (Futon Critic)

NBC has renewed its musical competition series The Sing Off for a second season. No premiere date has been given. (Hollywood Reporter)

TVGuide.com's Adam Bryant has an interview with Rules of Engagement star Patrick Warburton, in which he says that he feels like the Sony Pictures Television-produced comedy has been discounted over the years and should get the chance to launch in the fall with most other network series. "This show grew," said Warburton about the upcoming season. "All of a sudden, it just got really fun. The scripts were great and ... the cast has a lot of chemistry. It's what half-hour TV is supposed to be: It's got some laughs and it's entertaining, and I think it's relatable." (TVGuide.com)

Craig Robinson (The Office) will host the upcoming return of NBC's Last Comic Standing, which returns to the schedule this summer for a seventh season. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC One has commissioned one-off drama Atlantis, starring Reece Ritchie (The Lovely Bones) and Stephanie Leonida (MirrorMask), which will recount the legend of Atlantis and the civilization's destruction, which many believe was based around the real-life eruption of a volcano in the Aegean Sea which flooded Crete, created massive tsunamis, and destroyed the island of Thera. (BBC)

Vivica A. Fox will join Carrie Ann Inaba and Chris Harrison as part of TV Guide Network's red carpet coverage of the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7th. (TVGuide.com)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Kate Winslet is HBO's "Mildred Pierce," Series on the Bubble, Marsha Thomason Returns to "White Collar," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

HBO has officially announced that Academy Award winner Kate Winslet (The Reader) has come aboard the pay cabler's five-hour miniseries Mildred Pierce. Based on the novel by James M. Cain (which was the basis for the 1945 melodrama starring Joan Crawford and Eve Arden), Mildred Pierce will star Winslet as the titular character, a self-made millionaire who struggles to earn her daughter's love. Project will be directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), who will write the script with Jon Raymond. Production on the five-hour miniseries, to be executive produced by Haynes, Christine Vachon, and John Wells, is set to being in New York in April. (Variety)

The Wrap's Josef Adalian breaks down the current crop of series that are said to be on the bubble for renewal next season, including Chuck, Fringe, V, FlashForward, and Community and names the five series he feels are worth saving. "Being on the bubble is incredibly stressful," Chuck co-creator Josh Schwartz told Adalian. "You are living and dying every week. Those moments before the ratings load onto your iPhone your hands are clammy, your vision blurry, your stomach doing flips. And then, since you're on the bubble, inevitably the rating is exactly low enough to guarantee you remain on the bubble, yet not so low as to ensure you are canceled. So that feeling persists for the entire week until the next ratings come in. Rinse and repeat." (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd also offers a look at this season's endangered series and ranks their shots at coming back in the fall. For example: V has a 60 percent shot at returning, while FlashForward gets a 40 percent chance... and Melrose Place gets a five percent chance of another go-around. Ouch. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Marsha Thomason (Lost) will be returning for Season Two of USA's White Collar as a series regular. Thomason had appeared in the pilot episode as junior FBI Agent Diana Lancing. She's set to turn up first in the season finale on March 9th and then will return as a full-fledged cast regular for Season Two. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS has ordered a pilot presentation for an untitled comedy from executive producers Larry Charles and Ant Hines (Borat). Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount, will star Paul Kaye as a father who reenters the life of his estranged daughter, who is now famous. Hines, who wrote the pilot script, will executive produce with Charles, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, and Mitch Hurwitz. (Variety)

Pilot casting update: Jimmy Wolk (Solving Charlie) has been cast as the lead in FOX drama pilot Midland, where he will play a polygamist living a double life in the oil industry; Laz Alonso (Avatar) will star FOX drama pilot Breakout Kings, about a team of ex-cons and federal agents who track down escaped felons; Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) has joined the cast of NBC's drama pilot Chase, Kathryn Hahn (Crossing Jordan) has been added to FOX comedy pilot Most Likely to Succeed, Erinn Hayes (Worst Week) will star in NBC comedy pilot This Little Piggy, Utkarsh Ambudkar has joined the cast of FOX comedy pilot Nevermind Nirvana; and Damon Wayans Jr. boarded ABC comedy pilot Happy Endings. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Heidi Klum and Paulina Porizvoka will guest star on ABC's Desperate Housewives this season and will be playing themselves in an episode slated to air in May. "In the episode Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker), who is a former model, and Angie (Drea de Matteo) run into the Project Runway host and former America's Next Top Model judge in New York City," writes Dos Santos. "The storyline will take place in NYC, but the episode will be shot here in Los Angeles." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe) are said to be developing a new animated Transformers series for The Hub, the new joint venture channel owned by Hasbro and Discovery Communications. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Kathy Najimy has been cast to guest star on ABC's Ugly Betty, where she will play the orthodontist removing Betty's braces. "Najimy will also play a pivotal role in the episode’s It’s a Wonderful Life-esque fantasy subplot," writes Ausiello. "Per an Ugly insider, her character will serve as the guardian angel who shows Betty what life would have been like had she been blessed with perfect choppers." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TLC has ordered six episodes of reality series Cupcake Sisters, which will follow two sisters and business partners who run a cupcake shop in Georgetown. Project, from Big Fish Entertainment, will launch in July. (Variety)

Former MTV executive Maira Suro has been hired by Universal Cable Prods. as SVP, development and current programming. The division has also promoted Christina Sanagustin to SVP, development and current programming, Tom Lieber to director of current and development, and Korin Huggins to current and development manager. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Alex O'Loughlin Heads to "Hawaii Five-O," New Showrunners for "FlashForward," Molly Shannon Finds "Glee," "FNL" to End, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

It's official: former Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin, last seen in CBS' short-lived medical drama Three Rivers, has signed on to play Detective Steve McGarrett in CBS' remake of cop drama Hawaii Five-O, ending weeks of speculation. This is the third go-around for CBS and O'Loughlin, who will star opposite Lost's Daniel Dae Kim in the project, overseen by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Peter Lenkov. (The Wrap)

It might be a case of third time's the charm for ABC as well. The network announced a new set of showrunners for struggling freshman drama FlashForward, which had its episodic order cut down to 22 episodes. (At one time, the series was meant to air 25 episodes this season.) Co-creator Jessika Borsiczky, Lisa Zwerling (ER), and Tim Lea (Past Life) have replaced David S. Goyer as showrunners on the ABC Studios-produced series. (Goyer himself replaced Marc Guggenheim at the reins last October.) (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former SNL star Molly Shannon (she of the short-lived NBC comedy Kath & Kim) is joining the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring capacity. Shannon, whose first episode is slated to air in May, will play Brenda Castle, described as "the busty 45-year-old new astronomy teacher and badminton coach at McKinley High School who is both an alcoholic and a pill-popper," and who becomes the nemesis of Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ausiello is also reporting that the fifth season of Friday Night Lights will be the series' last, citing multiple sources. "Although an NBC rep insists no official decision on FNL’s future has been made," writes Ausiello, "I’m told the network has informed the show’s cast that they’re free to pursue other work after production on season 5 wraps in June." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS) has landed the lead role in FOX's untitled IRS comedy from executive producer Ron Howard, writer Brent Forrester, Imagine Television, and 20th Century Fox Television. Krumholtz will play "an IRS agent who attempts to find nobility in his work." (Variety)

In other pilot casting news, Freddy Rodriguez (Ugly Betty) has been cast as the lead on CBS drama pilot Chaos; David Strathairn (Temple Grandin) has been added to the cast of ABC drama pilot Matadors; Cole Hauser (K-Ville) will star in NBC drama pilot Chase; Ashley Austin Morris has joined the cast of CBS comedy pilot True Love; Keir O'Donnell (Paul Blart: Mall Cop) and Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield) were cast in ABC dramedy pilot Generation Y; Natasha Leggero (He's Just Not That Into You), Cedric Yarbrough and Dave Holmes have joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot The Strip; Ashley Williams (Dollhouse) and Shanley Caswell have been added to NBC's untitled Adam Carolla comedy pilot; and Sean Wing has been cast in ABC drama pilot The Whole Truth. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has given a second season order to reality series Shaq Vs., starring Shaquille O'Neal. (Variety)

Andrea Bowen (Desperate Housewives) will star opposite Greg Evigan (My Two Dads) in Hallmark Movie Channel telepic After the Fall. Also cast: Alicia Ziegler, Fiona Dourif, and Rick Malambri. (Hollywood Reporter)

Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous talkshow is staying put at NBC's O&O stations through the 2013-14 season, following the conclusion of a new deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Daniel Dae Kim Finds "Hawaii Five-0," David Goyer Leaves "FlashForward," Zach Gilford Lands "Matadors," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Daniel Dae Kim won't be leaving the island. Or, Hawaii, rather. The Lost star has landed a lead role in CBS drama pilot Hawaii Five-0, where he will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly. Kim's co-star, however, is still unknown. Reports have indicated that former Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin had been offered the role of Detective Steve McGarrett, but no deal has been reached yet for him to star in the remake project, which hails from executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Peter Lenkov. (Hollywood Reporter)

FlashForward co-creator David S. Goyer is leaving the ABC drama series, where he has served as showrunner since taking the creative reins from Mark Guggenheim in October. No replacement has been named for Goyer on the series, which still has roughly five more episodes to produce for this season's 23-episode order. Goyer, meanwhile, will segue back into film but will retain his executive producer credit on FlashForward. "As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions," said Goyer in a statement. "I'm proud of the show and excited about the relaunch. It's in great hands." [Editor: just whose hands remain unknown at press time.] FlashForward returns with new episodes on March 18th. (Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Friday Night Lights star Zach Gilford has been cast in ABC drama pilot Matadors, citing unnamed sources. Gilford will play Alex Galloway, half of a star-crossed pair of lovers whose families work respectively in the Chicago D.A.'s office and in a high-powered law firm and often find each other on opposing sides of the courtroom. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Michael Chiklis (The Shield) has been cast in ABC drama pilot No Ordinary Family, where he will also serve as co-executive producer following the closing of a development deal at the studio. Chiklis will play the patriach of a family that discovers they have super-powers. Dave Semel will direct and executive produce the ABC Studios-produced pilot alongside Greg Berlanti and Jon Harmon Feldman. (Variety)

In other pilot casting news: Jason Ritter (The Dry Land) has been cast as the lead in NBC drama pilot The Event; Todd Williams (In Plain Sight) has joined the cast of FOX drama pilot Ridealong, where he will play a beat cop who is addicted to the adrenaline rush his job provides; and Aisha Hinds (True Blood) has been cast in ABC drama pilot 187 Detroit as an "overworked and underpaid lieutenant." (Hollywood Reporter)

Confirmed: Neil Gaiman is set to write an episode of Doctor Who to air in 2011 as part of the series's sixth season. (Televisionary)

Henry Winkler will recur on the second season of USA's dramedy Royal Pains, where he will play Eddie Larson, the absentee father of Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo's Hank and Evan, who heads out to the Hamptons to make up for lost time. Season Two of Royal Pains, which was increased to 18 installments, is set to air this summer. (Variety, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Sheryl Crow will appear in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's Cougar Town, where she will play a new girlfriend for Josh Hopkins' Grayson. Her first appearance is set for March. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace) has been cast in Shonda Rhimes' ABC drama pilot Off the Map. He'll play a former plastic surgeon who takes a job at a remote tropical clinic overseen by Martin Henderson's character. (Hollywood Reporter)

Could this be the final season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for Christopher Meloni? According to remarks the actor made to Courier & Mail, it seems as though Meloni could be leaving the series to focus on theatre and film projects. "I think 12 years is enough, a good number," he said. "The writers will have fertile ground to figure out how to arc [Elliot Stabler] out to another place—whether it's this world or the next." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

A&E has passed on drama pilot The Quickening, which starred Radha Mitchell as a bi-polar police detective. Move leaves drama Sugarloaf as the only pilot currently in contention for a series order at the cabler. A decision about whether it will go ahead will be made before the end of the month. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has details about Andy and Erin's upcoming courtship on NBC's The Office. "It’s been a slow process of Andy gaining the courage to ask her out, but he finally does," showrunner Paul Lieberstein told Ausiello. "The wrinkle in their first date is she gets sick [with the flu], but they attempt to push on anyway." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Mathew Horne (Gavin and Stacey), Marc Warren (Hustle), Mark Gatiss (The League Of Gentlemen), and Douglas Booth will star in BBC Two drama Worried About The Boy, about "a young Boy George and his journey to become a star on the Eighties fashion and pop music scene." Project is written by Tony Basgallop (Hotel Babylon) and directed by Julian Jarrold (Brideshead Revisited). (BBC)

Elsewhere, ITV1 has commissioned three-part drama series Kidnap and Ransom, which will star Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead) as international K&R negotiator Dominic King. Project, from Projector Pictures and executive producer Patrick Harbinson (24), will also star Helen Baxendale, John Hannah, Natasha Little, Emma Fielding, and Amara Karan. (Broadcast)

TVGuide.com's Adam Bryant has an interview with Castle star Stana Katic about the recent storyline involving the murder of Kate Beckett's murder. "It was really a smart way to drop more information but not fully resolving it," Katic told Bryant. "I think it is going to be a driving force as we continue to move on. They'll definitely be dealing with it — probably not in the next couple of episodes. But I'm sure before the season's end, we'll get another big bombshell regarding that story line." (TVGuide.com)

Warner Bros. Television Worldwide Publicity SVP Sharan Magnuson will exit her position due to medical issues. "(Sharan's) leadership, talents and relationships working with creative talent, executives and the press are matched only by her character, selflessness and extraordinary work ethic," said Warner Bros. TV president Peter Roth. "She will be sorely missed by us all." (Variety)

TV Guide Network president Ryan O'Hara is leaving the cable network, effective immediately. He's reportedly set to take a new position at the company's New York office beginning next week. (Hollywood Reporter)

Nickelodeon has promoted Roland Poindexter to SVP of animation, current series. He'll report to Brown Johnson. The cabler also promoted Rich Magallanes to VP of animation, current series and will oversee Nickelodeon's diversity fellowship program. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

2010 William S. Paley Television Festival Lineup Announced

The Paley Center for Media has announced the lineup for the the 27th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival (known affectionately to its attendees as PaleyFest).

Critical darling Modern Family will kick off the festival on February 26th. Other series getting individual sessions include ABC's Lost, CW's The Vampire Diaries, FOX's Glee, NBC's Community, ABC's Cougar Town ABC's FlashForward, TNT's Men of a Certain Age, CBS' NCIS, Showtime's Dexter, AMC's Breaking Bad, and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, the latter of which will be the festival's final offering this year.

Additionally, keep your eyes peeled for Seth MacFarlane and Friends, an evening celebrating McFarlane's animated comedies Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show.

The day-by-day breakdown of the festival can be found below. (All panels begin at 7 pm.)

Feb. 26th: Modern Family
Feb. 27th : Lost
March 1st: NCIS
March 3rd: Community
March 4th: Dexter
March 5th: Cougar Town
March 6th: The Vampire Diaries
March 9th: Seth MacFarlane and Friends
March 10th: Breaking Bad
March 11th: FlashForward
March 12th: Men of a Certain Age
March 13th: Glee
March 14th: Curb Your Enthusiasm

The 27th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival runs from February 26th to March 14th at the festival's new location, The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 22nd for members and January 24th for the general public.

Individual tickets will go on sale to Paley Center Members on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. PT. Individual tickets will become available to the general public beginning the following Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. PT. For Paley Center Members, ticket prices are $60/$35/$25/$15 per event. For the general public, tickets are $75/$45/$35/$25 per event. All PaleyFest2010 tickets are available only via TicketWeb at www.ticketweb.com or call TicketWeb toll-free at (866) 468-3399 (service charges apply).

Channel Surfing: "Lost" Here to Stay?, NBC Unveils New Strategy, "Day One" Cut Down to Backdoor Pilot, "The Borgias," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Variety's Michael Schneider takes a look at how ABC executives are attempting to stake out a strategy for the future of Lost, which will wrap up its run in May... but might be sticking around via ancillary products and potential sequels. "We've been talking about this for a couple of years now," ABC marketing exec VP Mike Benson told Schneider. "We want to keep it alive but make sure we maintain the integrity of the franchise. We're not about milking this thing for all that it is right now; it's important to see this live for years to come... What Lost becomes after it ends its run is up in the air. It really depends on who comes in to interpret it next." But whatever that future might hold, whether it be novels and comicbooks or indeed a spinoff series down the line, it won't involve current Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who will end their oversight on the franchise once the series wraps this spring. "Damon and Carlton laid such groundwork, it's going to be a challenge for us, and we have to rise to the occasion," said ABC marketing EVP Marla Provencio. "We have to find different, creative and innovative ways to keep the fans happy and to keep the franchise healthy." (Variety)

[Editor: in other Lost news, Obama's State of the Union Address will NOT delay ABC's intended February 2nd launch date for Season Six of Lost. It's back on track.]

Speaking yesterday at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, NBC's Jeff Gaspin announced that The Jay Leno Show would no longer hold its weeknights at 10 pm timeslot after February 12th and unveiled potential plans to shift Jay Leno to 11:35 pm, move Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show to 12:05 am, and Jimmy Fallon to 1:05 am. Additionally, Angela Bromstad gave critics a peek at the Peacock's current development slate, which includes J.J. Abrams' espionage drama Undercovers (which he'll direct), David Tennant-led legal dramedy Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, remakes of Prime Suspect and The Rockford Files, David E. Kelley-created legal drama Kindreds, thriller The Event, Jerry Bruckheimer action-procedural drama Chase, and the untitled Adam Carolla comedy. Plus, loads more info from the press tour, to boot. (Televisionary)

In other NBC-related news, the sci-fi drama series Day One, which had been cut back to four hours late last year, has had its order sliced in half again. Rather than air a four-hour mini-series as indicated by the network back in September, Day One will now air as just a two-hour backdoor pilot, with no further episodes to be shot beyond the pilot. "The pilot will still air after the Winter Olympics as was the plan for the Day One mini," writes Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva, "and NBC still keeps the door open to picking up more episodes for next season should the pilot does well." (Hollywood Reporter)

Showtime has ordered thirteen episodes of historical drama The Borgias, which will revolve around the infamous 15th century Italian crime family and will star Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia. Project, which is being viewed for a 2011 launch, is written by Michael Hirst (The Tudors), who will executive produce with Neil Jordan; the latter will direct the first two episodes. "I can guarantee you've never seen a family quite like this before," said Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt, "and nor could you make up the outrageous twists and turns of their epic saga." (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin and Joe Flint are reporting that FOX will announce a US version of Simon Cowell's UK talent competition series The X Factor will premiere in 2011. Cowell would serve as host and executive producer of the US format. "News could be made official as early as this week, people familiar with the situation said," wrote Martin and Flint. "As a result, the acid-tongued star judge of American Idol" is unlikely to stay on Fox's long-running juggernaut full time beyond the ninth season, which premieres Tuesday." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

The Wrap's Joe Adalian is reporting that David Nutter (The Mentalist) is in advanced talks to sign on to direct Jerry Bruckheimer's NBC action procedural pilot Chase, from Warner Bros. Television. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Kathy Bates is heading to NBC's The Office, according to E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos, who got the scoop from Office executive producer Greg Daniels. She'll play the CEO of the company that buys the struggling Dunder Mifflin. "She's a larger than life character," said Daniels of Bates' character. "She has two giant Great Danes that accompany her to the office, and she's very funny. Fantastic actress. We're very excited to have an Academy Award [winning] person on the show." Meanwhile, SPOILER! Dos Santos also gets the scoop on Pam's upcoming labor pains. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Bravo reality series Flipping Out has been renewed for a fourth season. Also returning: The Rachel Zoe Project, picked up for a third season, and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List for a sixth. The news was announced at yesterday's Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, where Bravo's Frances Berwick also announced series orders for two reality projects: Thintervention, starring Work Out's Jackie Warner, and Bethany's Getting Married?, featuring Real Housewives of New York City's Bethany Frankel. In other news, Gail Simmons will host Top Chef spinoff Top Chef: Just Desserts and Top Chef: Masters will return for a second season on April 7th. The network will also launch 9 by Design," which follows husband-wife design team Robert and Cortney Novogratz and their seven children, on April 5th and Double Exposure, which follows photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani and stylist G.K. Reid, in April. (via press release)

FlashForward executive producer David S. Goyer remains optimistic about a second season renewal, despite flagging ratings for the first half of the freshman season. He also teased details about what Season Two might be about in a recent interview. "You're going to start meeting some of the faces of the enemy, starting with episode 11," said Goyer. "We'll meet a bunch of them in the second half of the season. One of the other interesting things is we'll start to let you in on who the people that engineered the blackout are and why. There are a couple more that are coming and assuming we go into season two, one of those guys will be a series regular in season two." (via Digital Spy)

Series order! ABC has given a greenlight to Scoundrels, ordering eight episodes of a US remake of Kiwi drama series Outrageous Fortune, from ABC Studios and writers Richard Levine and Lyn Greene, who will executive produce alongside John Barnett, Francie Calfo, Michael Larkin, and Michael Goldstein. Series, which revolves around a family of criminals who are forced to go straight by the family matriarch after their father lands in prison, was previously adapted for US television by Rob Thomas in 2008 and a pilot was shot with Catherine O'Hara starring. (Hollywood Reporter)

Syfy will air mini-series Riverworld and The Phantom later this year, according to The Futon Critic's Brian Ford Sullivan. Elsewhere at the cabler, Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke have been hired to write the network's thirteen-episode supernatural thriller Haven, which is based on the Stephen King's "The Colorado Kid." That project, as well as the US adaptation of British supernatural drama Being Human, could launch as early as this summer. (Futon Critic)

FOX has ordered a pilot presentation for an untitled sketch comedy project to star Dana Carvey, who will develop and executive produce the project with Spike Feresten which will feature a "strong online component." (Variety)

Maz Jobrani (Better Off Ted), Marjan Neshat (Mercy), and Harach Titzian (24) have been cast in ABC single-camera comedy pilot Funny in Farsi, which will be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. (Hollywood Reporter)

Oxygen announced its development slate yesterday at the TCA Winter Press Tour, unveiling several new series--including Fashion Drop, Hair Battle Spectacular, House of Glam, Russell Simmons Project, When Charlie Met Sarah, and Jersey Couture--as well as returning series The Bad Girls Club, Dance Your Ass Off, and Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, set to return for its fifth season in the spring. Former Spice Girl Mel B., meanwhile, will take over hosting duties for Season Two of Dance Your Ass Off. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

The Daily Beast: "TV Report Card"

With the holiday break just around the corner, it's the perfect time to take note of what's worked so far this television season and what hasn't.

Over at The Daily Beast, I have a new article entitled "TV Report Card," in which I take a look at the 30 new (and somewhat newish) series that have premiered so far during the 2009-10 season, breaking them down into winners, losers, and draws as I investigate just why and how they work (or don't).

Everything from Modern Family and NCIS: Los Angeles to Castle, Sons of Anarchy, V, and FlashForward (and even bottom of the barrel entries Hank and Brothers) get discussed in-depth.

What's clicked for you this season? What series didn't disappear fast enough? And which are you still on the fence about? Head over to the comments section to share your thoughts about the season so far.

Channel Surfing: Jerry O'Connell in, Sendhil Ramamurthy Out at "Rex," No "Who" Movie, "FlashForward," "Big Love" for Alby," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Heroes' Sendhil Ramamurthy has departed NBC's David Tennant-led legal dramedy pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, allegedly due to scheduling conflicts. (The project was in second position to his role on Heroes.) Ramamurthy's role, that of a good-natured lawyer who falls in love with the fiancee (Abigail Spencer) of his best friend Rex (Tennant), has now been recast with Jerry O'Connell (Carpoolers) coming on board the project. Also cast: Lindsay Kraft (Southland) and Cleo King (The Hangover); Kraft will play Rex's assistant, an aspiring singer/songwriter while King will play a private school bus driver coached to represent herself by Rex in the pilot. Project, from Universal Media Studios, also stars Jeffrey Tambor and Jane Curtin (Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, David Tennant has dispelled rumors that there are any plans for a Doctor Who feature film. "I don't think there is a Doctor Who movie," Tennant told Radio Times. "It's not like I'm hell-bent on breaking into movies but it's a nice notion." (via Digital Spy)

Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen talks to FlashForward creator/executive producer David S. Goyer about the series' three-month hiatus and its overall creative direction. "I know we’re all as writers breathing a sigh of relief," said Goyer when asked about the series' thirteen-week scheduling for the second half of the season. "We feel like we have all the chess pieces on the board and now we can just knock the dominoes over and watch them fall in interesting ways. I kind of feel like we did when we got into working on The Dark Knight after finishing Batman Begins: we got done with the origin story, we don’t have to do that anymore, we can now hit the ground running." [Editor: sadly, Jensen didn't ask Goyer about how the revised scheduling will affect the date-specific narrative.] (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that there are major plans afoot this season for Matt Ross' Alby on HBO's drama series Big Love, which returns for its fourth season on January 8th. "There’s a provocative nature to what we’re doing," co-creator/executive producer Mark V. Olsen tells Ausiello. "It’s more than just the Mormon culture. We’re highlighting certain aspects of the church’s relationship with its gay members that I think, as the story unfolds, is going to cause no [small] amount of controversy." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Cynthia Cidre (Cane) will write the pilot for TNT's revival of nighttime soap Dallas, which is being produced by Warner Horizon. Storyline for the resurrected series are being kept firmly under wraps by the network, although several actors from the original series, including Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, and Linda Grey, were reportedly approached by producers about reprising their roles. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS has given a script order plus penalty to a series adaptation of James Patterson's upcoming novel "Private." Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television, revolves around a former CIA agent/Marine who takes over his father's private investigation firm. Jason Cahill will write and executive produce, alongside Brian Grazer and David Nevins. (Variety)

Seven less questions? NBC has cut down the episodic order for midseason comedy series 100 Questions from thirteen installments to just six. The reason behind the reduction, according to NBC, is due to the fact that both Parks and Recreation and Community garnered full season pickups and that the Olympics will clear the network's schedule for two weeks as well. (Parenthood, however, will keep to its thirteen-episode order.) (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times' Maria-Elena Fernandez has a great interview with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara. (You can literally hear her voice as you read the piece, intonation and all.) (Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker)

Pilot casting alert! Laura Leighton (Melrose Place) and Alexis Denisof (Dollhouse) will star opposite Lucy Hale and Troian Bellisario in ABC Family drama pilot Pretty Little Liars. Also cast: Ashley Benson, newcomer Shay Mitchell, Jean Louisa Kelly and Nia Peeples. Elsewhere at the cabler, Tracey Fairway and Nick Robinson will star opposite Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence in an untitled multi-camera comedy and Vanessa Marano and Chloe Bridges will star with Scott Cohen and Stephanie Childers Michael Jacobs' untitled single-camera comedy. (Hollywood Reporter)

Producer Kenn Viselman, the man responsible for who importing the Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine to American television, has formed production company Kenn Viselman Presents, which will focus on development feature films and television programs aimed at the family market. (Variety)

Former FOX Entertainment chairman Peter Ligouri has been hired by Discovery Communications as the company's chief operating officer, where part of his overall responsibility will be overseeing the launch of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, scheduled to debut in 2011. Liguori, who will report to David Zaslav, is expected to begin in his new position in January. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Late Show with David Letterman co-head writers (and brothers) Eric Stangel and Justin Stangel have been promoted to executive producers. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Benches "FlashForward" Until March, "V" Return Set, Whedon on "Dollhouse," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Looks like FlashForward won't be back in January, after all. ABC has announced its intentions to delay the return of FlashForward until March 4th, according to The Wrap's Josef Adalian. "Insiders said the network wants to run the remaining episodes without repeats," wrote Adalian. "Avoiding the Olympics onslaught in February is also part of the equation." However one issue that could become a narrative speed bump is the fact that it's still unclear how the revised scheduling will affect the series' key April 29th episode. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

ABC has revealed that sci-fi drama V, which aired four episodes last month, will return for the run of its back nine episodes beginning March 30th, when it will move into the Tuesdays at 10 pm ET/PT timeslot currently occupied by The Forgotten. The news means a sci-fi two-hour block of programming for ABC as V will air directly after Lost on Tuesdays. (HitFix)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a phenomenal interview with Joss Whedon about the end of Dollhouse, what's next for Joss, Dr. Horrible, and his views of cable network programming and development. "The problems that the show encountered weren’t standalone versus mythology [episodes]," Whedon told Ryan about Dollhouse. "Basically, the show didn’t really get off the ground because the network pretty much wanted to back away from the concept five minutes after they bought it. And then ultimately, the show itself is also kind of odd and difficult to market. I actually think they did a good job, but it’s just not a slam-dunk concept." It's a must read for fans of Whedon's work... or indeed fans of television, full stop. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

FOX has given a script order to supernatural drama Howl, described as "an epic family saga about warring families of werewolves in a small Alaskan town." Project, from DreamWorks Television, is written by Joshua Miller and M.A. Fortin and will be executive produced by Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Private Practice star (and former Veronica Mars co-star) Chris Lowell about last night's explosive episode of Private Practice. "What's so nice about this episode, in terms of that specifically, is that it's finally when you see a darker side of Dell," Lowell told Abrams. "Up until now, he's always been searching for the good, and the right, and the positive and he just got freaking ugly. He just wanted her to die. It was horrible. Some of the stuff I got to say was crazy. It was a lot of fun. You would've expected to see some mercy, but a wall went up with Dell." (TVGuide.com)

Trace Adkins, Joey Lauren Adams, Boyd Holbrook, and Claire van der Boom have joined the cast of Epix's Nashville drama pilot Tough Trade, from Lionsgate Television and executive producers Jenji Kohan and Chris Offutt. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK's Channel 4 has closed a deal for the UK rights to HBO's upcoming animated comedy The Ricky Gervais Show, which it will launch in March, just a few weeks after HBO's February 19th premiere. Series features the voices of Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington as they discuss a number of topics (it's based on their series of podcasts). "Channel 4, like HBO in the US, is the perfect home for this show, as they acquire innovative, cutting edge programmes such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Sopranos," said Gervais. "Like The Sopranos, C4 made me an offer I couldn’t refuse." (Broadcast)

Mark Burnett will executive produce Season Five of HGTV reality competition series HGTV Design Star. "We expect (Burnett and his team) will infuse 'HGTV Design Star' with fresh perspectives and innovative ideas," said Freddy James, HGTV SVP of programming development and production. (Variety)

Country music group Rascal Flatts will appear in an upcoming episode of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation set to air next year. The episode, according to executive producer Carol Mendelson, is "a riff off [the group's] hit album, tour and song… [they'll] be playing themselves. One of the guys — and tear out my fingernails, but I won’t say who — will become the victim of a crime. The other two ‘Rascals’ will be suspects... thus, jeopardizing the future of the band." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Former Twenty Twenty executive Jamie Isaacs has been hired by reality production company Studio Lambert (CBS' upcoming Undercover Boss), where he will develop new unscripted formats and move the shingle into other areas of production. He'll report to Stephen Lambert. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: USA Renews "Psych," ABC Halts Production on "FlashForward," Drea de Matteo Not Fired from "Housewives," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

USA has renewed dramedy Psych for a fifth season, set air in summer 2010. The series, which is set to become USA's longest running original drama series in production, will air the second half of its fourth season beginning in January. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that ABC has temporarily halted production on drama series FlashForward, which again hit a new series low last week and has seen some behind-the-scenes drama with the departure of showrunner Marc Guggenheim. The production shutdown will last six days. "They started production early so that they could have the luxury to do this," an ABC spokesperson tells Ausiello. "They want to maintain the high quality of the show, and this gives the writers the opportunity to do so." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

No truth to rumors that Drea de Matteo is going to be written out of ABC's Desperate Housewives, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "Per my source, the terms of de Matteo’s Housewives contract — which calls for her to appear in 20 of this season’s 23 episodes — remain unchanged," writes Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

James Remar (Dexter) has been cast in a recurring role on the CW's supernatural drama Vampire Diaries, where he will play Stefan and Damon's father, described as "an aristocrat from the Civil War era." He's currently slated to appear in at least one episode. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams has an interview with V star Laura Vandervoort, who plays the blond Visitor named Lisa. Vandervoort says that she doesn't want Lisa and Logan Huffman's Tyler to have an alien-human baby, however. "No. Even though I'd love to eat anything I want and have a belly for a season, I don't want them to head in that direction just because their relationship is really pure and innocent," she told Abrams. "I think if that did happen, it would be because Anna had told her to do that, to make that mixed race. I kind of want things to go slow for them, and I want it to be a Romeo & Juliet situation in that they have to be together, but they can't. Erica [Elizabeth Mitchell] is an FBI agent and my mother is the leader of the Visitors. That's two different families being torn apart." (TVGuide.com)

Cougar Town is set to resume production next week following the unexpected production shutdown (due to Courteney Cox's recent undisclosed family issue) and a planned hiatus this week. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

FX has signed a deal with Summit Entertainment for the basic cable rights to the Twilight franchise feature films beginning with Twilight in late 2011 and New Moon a year later. Deal also gives the cabler the rights to air The Hurt Locker, Knowing, and Push. (Variety)

TV Guide Network will air the FremantleMedia-produced special I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story on December 13th, the same day that it will air in the UK on ITV1. (Hollywood Reporter)

TruTV has ordered a second season of docuseries All Worked Up, with thirteen new episodes on tap for the spring. Series, from RDF USA, had launched with six episodes on October 19th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Nick Lachey will host NBC a capella musical competition series The Sing-Off, which launches on December 14th. (Variety)

Endemol has acquired three British production companies from IMG Worlwide, securing a deal worth approximately $50 million for Tiger Aspect, Darlow Smithson, and Tigress. Despite the change in hands, all three companies will "retain creative freedom" under Endemol UK. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Blackout: Why "FlashForward" is Still Frustrating Me

Oh, FlashForward, I really do want to love you. But I keep finding that I just can't.

Last night's episode of FlashForward ("Gimme Some Truth") was the worst yet and underlined once again the problems that I have with the series, which seems to be coasting by on some lazy plotting, wooden acting, and an odd mix of tones that's ultimately frustrating. Despite its promising concept and a pilot episode that had one of the best cliffhanger endings in recent memory, subsequent episodes of FlashForward have been alternately dull and unintentionally hysterical. (What it needs to be is better.)

There are moments of cleverness, such as last week's Bjork-laden opening sequence but for the most part, FlashForward continues to chug along at an almost glacial pace, introducing new mysteries that aren't all that compelling and forcing many of the characters into situations that are just completely unbelievable. (Last night's example: having Aaron at Olivia's house just so she could overhear a conversation in which Aaron tells Mark to go to an AA meeting while he's in Washington.)

Last night's installment was almost sleep-inducing. At this point in the series, I should care for these characters but "Gimme Some Truth" did nothing to make them more three-dimensional or sympathetic. Part of the problem is that much of their dialogue is of groan-inducing variety (case in point: Demetri's "There's still time, my friend. There's still time") that doesn't work on the page, much less on screen.

Additionally, Joseph Fiennes still hasn't won me over as as FlashForward's leading man. His Mark Benford is so icy and dull that it's hard to root for him. I keep half wishing he would take a drink just so that he'd warm up slightly. Placing him in jeopardy in the opening moments of the episode didn't add any tension to the mix, as I knew we'd flip back to that point later. So the "flashback" to roughly 36 hours later wasn't surprising or compelling in the least; the writers would have been better off having the ambush (which, by the way, no one else seemed to be anywhere near) come off as a shock when it unfolded in linear time.

Likewise, it was blatantly obvious as soon as we saw Janis in her karate class that we were about to meet her love interest. (I actually called it out loud, turning to my wife and saying, "Love interest in 3... 2... 1...") I understand, given her jarring flashforward, that Janis would be questioning how she got pregnant but the sudden intimacy between her and Navi Rawat's Maya was off-putting. Sure, you might wonder about the person you're on your first date with but I found it hard to swallow that she would actually bring up her thoughts and feelings about a future relationship with this person on a first date. It should have been a signal for Maya to run but because she saw she was wearing a wedding band in her flashforward, she's all for taking a leap of faith as well.

Janis is one of the few interesting elements of the series and I hate to see her getting caught up in a surface-level romantic subplot already, particularly one that doesn't really make much sense. So in the next six months, her relationship advances to the point where she gets pregnant (artificially inseminated?) and gets married to someone she's only just met? Huh? Really?

The most shocking moment of the entire forty-odd minutes was the attack on Janis simply because we hadn't seen that play out in the opening. Her stunning moves, learned clearly from the karate class, saved her life, though still resulted in her taking a bullet, after which she felled her attacker and then fell to the ground on a deserted street and began bleeding out as a bejeweled alarm clock rotated in the puddle of blood forming around her, telling her to wake up.

Are we to believe that the attack leads Janis to believe that life is too short and she needs to start living now? Perhaps. But it's a tiny footnote in the grand scheme of things on FlashForward, which is kicking up all sorts of global mysteries, tension-ridden Congressional hearings, personal revelations, and relationship crises (Olivia getting the mysterious text). Which could be a heady mix of compelling elements if they were being handled organically, which they're not.

As it is, FlashForward is teetering on the edge of falling off my watch list. If the writers can't plot some tighter episodes, improve their dialogue crafting, and make these characters more three-dimensional, it doesn't take a flashforward to see that I won't be sticking around for much longer.

Next week on FlashForward ("Scary Monsters and Super Creeps"), Mark, Demetri and Wedeck investigate the links between all the attacks involving themselves; Demetri and Gough find a clue that was missing from Mark's flashforward; Lloyd is heartbroken when his son goes missing from the hospital.

Channel Surfing: "Castle" Gets Full Season, Showrunner Marc Guggenheim Departs "FlashForward," Jason Momoa Ascends to HBO's "Thrones," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Good news for Castle fans: ABC has picked up the Nathan Fillion procedural drama series for a full season of 22 episodes after the series has performed well in its Monday night timeslot against tough competition from CBS. The news comes on the heels of ABC picking up first year series Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Middle, and FlashForward for full seasons, leaving only Hank, Eastwick, and The Forgotten the only new series that haven't received back nine pickups. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

I wonder if he saw this in his flashforward... Co-showrunner/executive producer Marc Guggenheim has stepped down from his position on the ABC sci-fi drama series FlashForward, leaving sole showrunning duties to co-creator David Goyer. "Because of Goyer's limited hands-on TV series experience, Eli Stone co-creator Guggenheim was brought in after the FlashForward pilot to help with the launch of the mystery drama based on Robert Sawyer's novel," writes the Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. "After learning the ropes in a co-showrunner capacity on the original 12-episode order of FlashForward alongside Guggenheim, Goyer will fly solo for the series' back-nine order." (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Stargate Atlantis star Jason Momoa has been cast in HBO's fantasy pilot Game of Thrones, based on the George R. R. Martin novel series "A Song of Fire and Ice." Momoa will play "horse lord Khal Drogo," according to the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan. Also confirmed: The Prisoner's Jamie Campbell-Bower as Waymar Royce, Joseph Mawle as Benjen Stark, Richard Ridings as Gared, Ron Donachie and Ser Rodrik Cassel, Donald Sumpter and Maester Luwin, and Ian McNeice as Ilyrio Mopatis. Filming on the pilot has just gotten underway this week in Northern Ireland. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Judy Greer (Miss Guided) has attached herself to a comedy project based on Elaine Szewcyzk's novel "I'm With Stupid." Project, which has a script order at ABC, will star Greer as Kas Sienkiewicz, "a Manhattanite who has a fling with a park ranger while on safari in South Africa. She returns home -- and the ranger tracks her down in New York." Szewcyzk will write and co-executive produce the ABC Studios-produced project, with Allan Loeb, Steve Pearl, and Richard Lewis attached as executive producers. Elsewhere, the network gave out a script order plus penalty to comedy We Are Here, about four friends who met at the University of Texas but all still live in Austin and deal with adulthood in different ways. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, is written by Hilary Winston (Community), who will executive produce with Anthony and Joe Russo. (Variety)

NBC is developing an untitled sitcom from writer/star Paul Rust (I Love You, Beth Cooper) that is based on his experiences working at Wal-Mart after college in his small Iowa hometown. Project, from Conaco Prods and Universal Media Studios, will be written by Rust, who is attached to star as himself in a fictional version of his own experiences. (Variety)

ABC has given a script order plus penalty to single-camera comedy Boyfred, about six twenty-somethings who keep in touch via a Web site created by the titular Fred, a web designer whose girlfriend has gone overseas. Project, based on a $6000 presentation, is written by Alan Schmuckler, Michael Mahler, Blake Silver, and Jarrod Zimmerman and is executive produced by Thomas Schlamme. The Sony Pictures Television-produced project is said to be music-intensive, with several tunes written by Schmuckler and Mahler. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comedy Central has acquired off-network rights to FX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which the cabler will begin airing next summer. FX has already committed to a sixth and seventh season of Sunny, bringing the eventual total to 84 episodes. Deal marks the first time that a basic cable channel has purchased off-network rights to another basic channel's property. (Variety)

HBO has given a script order for an untitled drama to star Stanley Tucci as a "brilliant, one-time powerful politician struggling to rebuild his career and relationships with his family and friends after being brought down by a scandal." Project, from Lionsgate and Olive Prods., the shingle set up by Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, and Wren Arthur, will be written by Stu Zicherman (Six Degrees). Elsewhere, the shingle has received a script order for animated family comedy Good and Evel at TBS; that project, written by Daria co-creator Glenn Eichler, "revolves around twin brothers Jack Good and Bo Evel [who were] stolen by gypsy cab drivers at birth and taught how to behave and drive badly; Bo is a career petty criminal, and Jack bends over backward to mend his brother's ways and help his dysfunctional family." (Hollywood Reporter)

The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that GSN has given a series order to docusoap Carnie Wilson: Unstapled, which will follow Wilson's life as a "gameshow host, media personality, and wife/mother." Series, produced by World of Wonder, is slated to premiere January 14th. The move comes as GSN looks to broaden the scope of their lineup. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Nat Geo will unveil its first global tagline, "Live Curious," on November 15th across all of its channels in 165 countries and 34 languages. The cabler also announced a seven-hour mini-series Great Migrations, which will explore animal migrations around the planet "using advanced camera technology." (Hollywood Reporter)

George Stephanopoulous is said to be in discussions to replace Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America when Sawyer leaves to anchor World News, according to Broadcasting & Cable's Marisa Gurthrie, citing multiple sources within ABC News. (Broadcasting & Cable)

iCarly co-stars Jerry Trainor and Jennette McCurdy have been cast in Disney Channel telepic Best Player, where they will play "two online game addicts who encounter each other on and off the computer." Project, slated for a 2010 premiere, is written by Rich Amburg and Justin Ware and will be directed by Damon Santostefano. (Variety)

Scott Sternberg Prods. and Weinberger Media will produce reality series Legal Ease, in which lawyers from Manhattan law firm Tacopina Siefel & Turano will give advice to ordinary people. It's still unknown whether the series will be pitched to cable networks or is intended for first-run syndication. (Hollywood Reporter)

Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic will produce the 82nd Academy Awards, replacing Bill Condon and Laurence Mark. The awards show is slated to air March 7th on ABC. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Sonya Walger Talks "FlashForward," "Big Love," FOX Scales Back "Past Life," Showtime Gets "Shameless," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams has an interview with FlashForward and Lost star Sonya Walger, in which Walger talks about her time on Lost and teases some details about what is coming up for Olivia on FlashForward. "She's going to be forced quite soon to deal with whether or not you can change the future," said Walger. "She keeps being reminded — evidence keeps being presented all around her — that you can't change it. Every time she thinks she's seen the last of Lloyd and that she's managed to avoid it, he keeps coming back." (TVGuide.com)

Mark your calendars: HBO has set a return date for drama series Big Love, which will launch its fourth season on January 10th. (Variety)

In a twist that surprised no one, FOX has reduced its episode order for Warner Bros. Television-produced drama procedural Past Life to seven installments (including the pilot). The series, which follows an investigative team that solves crimes by using past-life regression, is currently slated to air on Tuesday evenings starting in midseason. (Hollywood Reporter)

But it's not all bad news for Warners as Showtime has given a pilot order to a US adaptation of Paul Abbott's British drama series Shameless, which will star William H. Macy, from Warner Bros. Television and John Well Prods. According to Variety's Cynthia Littleton, the US Shameless will be "set in present-day Chicago among a blue-collar family where an 18-year-old daughter is tasked with keeping her five younger siblings in line" and must contend with her alcoholic father (Macy). Production on the pilot is set to begin in December. (Variety)

ABC has given a thirteen-episode contingent commitment to crime drama The Gates, about a "big-city cop who becomes chief of police in a seemingly sleepy planned community only to discover there's much more to the residents than meets the eye." Project, from writer/executive producers Richard Hatem and Grant Scharbo and executive producer Gina Matthews, will be produced by Fox Television Studios under its international co-production model. The studio will need to secure international financing in order to have the contingency lifted off the project; production is currently set to begin in mid-2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

The CW announced their development slate for the 2010-2011 season, which includes Rob Thomas' Plymouth Rock, about a group of young astronauts who must travel to a distant planet in order to colonize and "save the human race." Other projects in development include Spy School for Girls, from writer/executive producer Mark Schwahn, about female spy trainees; Nashville--from Brad Paisley, Mark Schwahn and writers Matthew Bomer (yes, that Matthew Bomer) and Neal Dodson--about a female singer and a male songwriter looking to make it big in the country music capital; Confessions of a Backup Dancer, about a woman who lands a job as a backup dancer to major music star, from Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, and writer/executive producer Ilene Chaiken; The March Sisters, an update of "Little Women" about a group of working-class sisters who are looking to strike it rich in Manhattan, from writer/executive producer Jill Gordon; family soap Bitches in Britches, about the equestrian set from Lionsgate and Ish Entertainment; and an untitled drama about the life of socialite Sloan Barnett, who worked in the Early Case Assessment Bureau in Manhattan, from writer Julie Martin and Tribeca Entertainment's Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. (Variety)

FOX appears to be keeping Dollhouse on the air through November sweeps. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Fox Cable Networks will shut down Fox Reality next year, according to The Wrap's Josef Adalian, with a view to likely launch a new cable venture with an outside party. The cable network will end its operations on March 31st. "With the changing cable landscape, we've made a strategic decision to shift some resources and refocus on emerging channels," said a Fox Cable Networks spokesman. "However, Fox Reality Channel will remain on on our lineup for at least the next several months." (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

FOX has given a pilot presentation to an untitled animated comedy from writer/executive producers Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogel, and Jarrad Paul about a seven-year-old wealthy scion who acts like an adult and is thrown out of his comfort zone when he's forced to attend a public school. Hill will lend his voice to the project, which hails from 20th Century Fox Television and Chernin Entertainment. FOX is also developing a script for dysfunctional family comedy The Bradleys, based on Peter Bagge's graphic novel series, from 20th Century Fox Television and write/executive producers Peter Bagge and Matthew Lawton. (Variety)

Starz has cast Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad), Ivan Sergei (Charmed), Ving Rhames (Surrogates), Rachel Hunter, Robyn Cohen (Starved), James Martinez (Brother to Brother) and Seth Numrich (How to Kill a Mockingbird) in ten-episode ensemble dramedy series Gravity, about a group of suicide survivors who receive treatment together in an outpatient program. Project, formerly known as Failure to Fly, was created by Eric Schaeffer and Jill Franklyn, the former of which will also co-star. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jorja Fox's five-episode story arc on CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been extended indefinitely. "We will be seeing a lot more of Jorja," executive producer Carol Mendelsohn told Ausiello. "The season is about bringing the [CSI] family back together again, so [this] was just a natural. Jorja has been the glue that has really helped to reform the bond of our team." The exact number of episodes that Fox will appear in this season has yet to be determined but Mendelsohn also said that there are no plans for William Petersen to reprise his role as Grissom, despite Fox's Sara returning to the series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has ordered the back nine episodes of Season Two of animated comedy series The Cleveland Show, just weeks after launching the first season of the Family Guy spin-off. The order will keep Cleveland on the air through the entirety of the 2010-11 season and brings the episodic order to 44 episodes. (Variety)

Bravo will use a new Kathy Griffin stand-up comedy special, entitled Kathy Griffin: Balls of Steel, as the lead-in for Season Two of reality series Tabatha's Salon Takeover on November 3rd. (The Wrap's TV MoJoe)

Stay tuned.