Channel Surfing: CBS Cans "Unit," "Eleventh," "Without a Trace," CW Orders "Melrose," "Vampire Diaries," "Beautiful Life," NBC Axes "Earl," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

CBS has opted to cancel dramas The Unit, Without a Trace, and Eleventh Hour and will renew dramas Cold Case and NUMB3RS and comedies The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried. (Hollywood Reporter)

CW has ordered three new drama series for next season, giving the greenlight to Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries, and The Beautiful Life, while Privileged, Reaper, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Game have all been officially cancelled. Meanwhile, the CW has announced that it will not go ahead with the planned spin-off of Gossip Girl but has indicated that drama Life Unexpected remains in contention for a midseason order. The network will unveil its schedule to advertisers tomorrow. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

After NBC's cancellation of comedy series My Name is Earl, producers on the 20th Century Fox Television-produced series are said to be shopping it elsewhere, including to FOX and ABC. Series co-star Ethan Suplee has started a Save Our Show campaign on Twitter and urges fans of Earl to spread the word. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC Entertainment Group president Steve McPherson has defended the network's decision to move dramedy Ugly Betty to Friday nights, saying that it's not a sign that Betty is on her way to the grave. "I love the show [and] America [Ferrera] is one of our biggest stars," said McPherson. "[But] you look at [Betty's declining ratings on] Thursday night and we think we have a big opportunity with Flash Forward. You have to make some bold moves sometimes. To me, I'd love to see [Betty] have a great run on Friday night the way Ghost Whisperer has [for CBS]." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Meanwhile, My Name is Earl creator Greg Garcia lashed out at NBC, which announced that it was not bringing Earl back next season. "It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic," said Garcia, who said he intends to shop the series to other networks. "They woke me up at 7:30 to let me know. I e-mailed Jeff Zucker [president and chief executive of NBC Universal] on Sunday, and I never got a response. But this is show business. The writing was on the wall. When you go to bed the night before the schedule is out, and no one has spoken to you, you know what’s happening. You get somewhat frustrated with how it’s being handled, but that’s the business we work in. I’ve never fooled myself that it’s a fair or friendly business." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Richard Coyle (Coupling) will be recast on CBS' new series Miami Trauma. (Futon Critic via Twitter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talked with Privileged creator Rina Mimoun about the CW's decision not to bring back the series for a second season. "It's truly heartbreaking," Mimoun told Ausiello via e-mail. "I'm so grateful to everyone out there who supported our little show and fell in love with Megan Smith. She was the most delightful character I've ever had the pleasure to write and watching JoAnna Garcia bring her to life every day was a gift I will never forget. I'm incredibly proud of the work we did and forever indebted to all the fans, critics and to Warner Bros. for being so wonderful and supportive. I will miss this more than you know." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A&E will launch Season Two of drama The Closer, starring Benjamin Bratt, on June 23rd. Guest stars for the upcoming series include Christine Lahti, Whoopi Goldberg, and Lori Petty. (via press release)

Nickelodeon has given a pilot order for a series based on DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens feature film. Also on tap for DreamWorks Animation: a Shrek Halloween special entitled Scared Shrekless and a Kung Fu Panda holiday special. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Cancels "Samantha Who," NBC Renews "Law & Order," CBS to Order at Least Seven Series, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

In a surprise twist, ABC has opted to cancel comedy series Samantha Who, after it was widely believed that the network would renew the Christina Applegate-led comedy. The reason behind the cancellation was budget-cutting by the network and the comedy series was unable to reduce its budget enough to make a third season financially viable for ABC. The network had attempted to transition Samantha to a multi-camera format from single-camera in efforts to cut as much as half a million dollars per episode. (Variety)

NBC has given out an eleventh hour renewal to long-running legal procedural Law & Order, bringing the series' total to twenty seasons, tying it with Gunsmoke for the longest running drama series on television. It's believed that the order is for sixteen episodes. NBC will unveil their fall schedule to advertisers later today. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS is set to unveil its fall schedule to advertisers on Wednesday but some details are leaking out about which series will land a place on the lineup. CBS is said to have given series orders to the untitled NCIS spin-off (referred to by some outlets as NCIS: Legend), The Good Wife, Three Rivers, Miami Trauma, and comedy Accidentally on Purpose. All series got the go-ahead to start staffing, along with dramas House Rules and U.S. Attorney, a likely sign that the latter series will also be ordered to series, possibly for midseason. CBS also ordered an unscripted series called Undercover Boss, which follows an executive who goes undercover as an entry-level drone at their own company. It's also believed that Old Christine will return, possibly paired with Accidentally on Purpose, as will comedies Gary Unmarried and Rules of Engagement. (Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

Meanwhile, the CW is set to announce the addition of Melrose Place and Kevin Williamson-executive produced supernatural drama Vampire Diaries when it unveils its schedule on Thursday. Privileged, however, which had been rumored to get a second season renewal, will not go ahead at the network. (Los Angeles Times)

Following FOX's announcement that it would renew Dollhouse for a second season, The Live Feed's James Hibberd chatted with series creator Joss Whedon about the news and asked whether fans would notice if the budget were cut. "My hope is “No.” In the fifth year of “Angel” we cut our budget significantly, yet we built a completely new set, we had an episode set on a submarine in the ‘40s," said Whedon. "Nobody felt like it was a cut back. Ultimately if the stories aren’t involving and somebody is going, [snobbish voice] “This doesn’t look as expensive as the last episode,” then the person has strange priorities." As for what to expect next season, Whedon offered a few thoughts. "The last few episodes we got to play "the man behind the curtain" a lot. We did less of, “And this week, she’s a neurosurgeon!” Which we’ll still do to an extent, it’s part of the fun. But we got into what makes the place tick, what makes it wrong. It was less, “Murder She Was Imprinted to Write.” The episodes were more satisfying and the network responded to that. And we also responded to their ideas about pacing and it being more of a thriller and a conspiracy so they were seeing what they were hoping for when we got the aspect we were looking for." (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Meanwhile, TV Guide.com's Matt Mitovich caught up with Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku to talk to her about the FOX series' renewal. "I was in Uganda the past two weeks. I landed Friday night about midnight, and when I touched down the first message was a text from Joss saying, "We're back on, kid! Get ready to raise hell!" [Laughs] It was a nice homecoming," said Dushku, who said that the reason the series returned for another season was down to the fans. "We are so grateful and just bowled over by the support and the love and the loyalty. We are so excited to do the second season because it took us until the last six or so episodes to hit our stride; now we get to really have some fun." (TVGuide.com)

Lifetime has ordered twelve episodes of comedy Sherri, starring The View's Sherri Shepherd as a woman who juggles being a single mother, a paralegal, and an actress. Series, from executive producers Sherri Shepherd, Terri Minksy, Nina Wass, and Gene Stein, does not yet have an air date. It also stars Tammy Townsend, Kali Rocha, Elizabeth Regan, and Kate Reinders. (Variety)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan checks in with Friday Night Lights star Zach Gilford about his recent appearance on the season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, what is in store for his character next season on Friday Night Lights, and what's next for the actor. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Cabler G4 will launch two new series in the next few months. First up is The International Sexy Ladies Show, which launches June 7th and features comedians--such as Doug Benson, Steve Byrne, John Caparule, Mitch Fatel, Joy Koy, Sherrod Small, and Alex Zane--as they offer humor-based commentary on clips from around the world featuring women "participating in unusual activities." Ten episodes of the series, from Colour TV, are on tap. In August, the cabler will launch 2 Months, $2 Million, a reality competition series where "four online players will hunker down in a Las Vegas mansion and, using their own money, try to accumulate a vast amount of cash by competing against anonymous players on the Internet." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Family Fires "Middleman," Jenna Elfman and Amy Smart Land Pilots, Sean Gets a Brother on "Nip/Tuck," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

ABC Family has canceled quirky dramedy The Middleman, with the cabler confirming that it has "decided not to renew the series for a second season." Fans looking for closure can keep their eyes open for a Season One DVD, slated to be released this summer, and a comic book written by creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach that will tell the story of the original season finale, which was scrapped for budgetary reasons. (New York Post)

Jason Clarke (Brotherhood) has been cast as the lead in CBS' untitled US attorney drama pilot from writer/executive producer Frank Military. Clarke will play "the powerful, charismatic section chief who oversees four lawyers and a handful of paralegals in their overlapping cases." Elsewhere, Jonathan Sadowski, Kevin Simpson, Noureen Dewulf, and Ricky Mabe been cast in FOX comedy pilot Two Dollar Beer and Nick Bishop, Kelli Giddish and Ravi Patel have all been cast in FOX's untitled reincarnation drama from writer/executive producer David Hudgins and Warner Bros Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jenna Elfman (Brothers & Sisters) will star in CBS comedy pilot Accidentally on Purpose, from CBS Paramount Network Television, BermanBraun, and writer Claudia Lonow. Elfman will play a movie critic who finds herself pregnant after a one-night-stand with a younger man and decides to raise the baby. (Variety)

Amy Smart (Smith) has been cast as the lead of ABC drama pilot See Cate Run (formerly known as I, Claudia), in which she'll play a prosecuting attorney who will one day be a serious contender for the US presidency. (Hollywood Reporter)

Following the success of Flashpoint, CBS has given a 13-episode order to Canadian drama The Bridge, which it will co-produce with CTV. Series, which stars Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Paul Popowich, Inga Cadranel, Frank Cassini, Theresa Joy, Ona Grauer, Michael Murphy, and Stuart Margolin, is based on the life of a former Toronto police union head who must "battle criminals and fight his own bosses in order to protect other officers." The Bridge will air next season on CBS and CTV. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch offers up five reasons why the CW should renew Privileged and keep on the schedule next season as the series is set to air its season finale on February 24th. Among the reasons: Joanna Garcia, The Gilmore Vibe, The Twins, Its Dark Side, and Underrated Actors. (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Bravo has announced the hosts and judges for its new sartorial competition series The Fashion Show, set to launch later this year. Isaac Mizrahi will host the series alongside Kelly Rowland and joining Mizrahi and Rowland as judges is frequent Project Runway guest judge Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week. The Fashion Show follows professional designers as they compete for an opportunity to have their designs sold for the mass market. (via press release)

Neil Hopkins (Lost) has been cast in FX drama series Nip/Tuck where he will play Sean's long-lost brother Brendan, a recovering meth addict who has been living on a nature preserve. "Sean thought his brother had died," a source told Michael Ausiello. "So he's definitely surprised to see him." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Robert De Niro and Van Morrison will be among the first guests for Jimmy Fallon's debut as the host of Late Night, beginning March 2nd. Also slated to appear in the first week of Fallon's run: Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Donald Trump, and Serena Williams. (Variety)

Fremantle has acquired a 75 percent stake in Thom Beers' Original Prods., which produces such reality hits as Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, among others. Beers will stay on as CEO and Philip Segal will remain president under the terms of the deal. (Hollywood Reporter)

AMPTP has offers a "last, best and final offer" to SAG that is said to contain a $250 million improvement over SAG's now-expired contract. SAG has 60 days to decide whether or not to accept the producers' offer, after which time AMPTP reserves the right to withdraw those terms. "The AMPTP made these enhancements in an effort to conclude the AMPTP's sixth major labor agreement in the past year," said the producers in a statement. "The terms in the offer are the best we can or will offer in light of the five other major industry labor deals negotiated over the past year and the extraordinary economic crisis gripping the world economy." (TV Week)

With the future of an AMPTP-SAG contract still up in the air, it's become clear that at least 50 of the planned 70+ pilots being produced this development season will be shot under AFTRA digital guidelines rather than SAG jurisdiction, a significant increase from the typically small number of pilots usually shot under the SAG rival. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stuart Murphy has been hired by British Sky Broadcasting as director of programs for Sky1. Most recently creative director at TwoFour, Murphy was previously a controller at BBC3, where he commissioned such hit comedies as Gavin & Stacey and Little Britain. He will replace outbound director of programs Richard Woolfe, who will be leaving Sky1 next month to oversee Five's programming. Murphy, who will oversee all three of Sky's general entertainment channels, is expected to begin his new post in May. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Reaper" To Return to Earth Early, "Torchwood" Sneak Peek on Thursday, CBS Eyes Pilots, "Greek," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

The CW has unveiled a scheduling shakeup that will feature the launch of Season Two of Reaper earlier than expected. Reaper will take over the Tuesdays at 8 pm timeslot--currently inhabited by 90210--on March 3rd and will air 13 episodes without interruption. 90210 will then move to 9 pm on Tuesdays, taking over Privileged's timeslot. So what happens to Privileged? That series will wrap its run February 14th, much earlier than originally planned after it aired fewer repeats. No decision has been made yet about a second season of Privileged. (Hollywood Reporter)

Torchwood fans should keep their eyes on the internet on Thursday as the 60-second trailer for the series' five-episode Season Three, entitled "Children of Earth," will be released... simultaneously around the world at 4 pm ET. Season Three is set to air later this year on BBC One and BBC America over five consecutive nights. (via press release)

Michael Ausiello has some dish on a certain Greek cast member who won't be returning for the just announced Season Three. Said actor may return as an occasional guest star but won't be featured as a series regular for the third season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS has handed out pilot orders to three projects: drama House Rules, from writer/executive producer Michael Seitzman, executive producers Mark Gordon and Deb Spera, and ABC Studios, about newly elected members of the House of Representatives in Washington; cast-contingent comedy The Fish Tank, from Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith (The King of Queens) and Sony Pictures Television, about a teenager who finds that he has his parents' house to himself five days a week; and relationship drama A Marriage, from thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick and Bedford Falls, about a "marriage that works." The latter project currently has no studio attachment. (Variety)

TNT has renewed action drama Leverage for a second season of 15 episodes. (Televisionary)

HBO has acquired rights to a nonfiction book by Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean about the financial crisis of 2008. Pay cabler plans to develop a series that will explore the causes of the financial meltdown and how Wall Street and Washington handled fallout from the recession. (Variety)

Yet another twist in the ongoing SAG negotiation drama. Set to begin talks with the AMPTP today, the guild has had to postpone talks due to a lawsuit from its own president Alan Rosenberg, who has launched an injunction against the talks and seeks to have ousted chief negotiator Doug Allen reinstated after he and the negotiating committee were replaced by a new task force. (Los Angeles Times)

CMT has ordered a second season of music competition series Can You Duet, with eight episodes expected to air in June. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Lawsuits Aplenty with "Gilmore Girls" and "Two and a Half Men," Cassidy No Longer "Privileged," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I'm still recovering from the, er, excesses of the past holiday week and still have a stack of screeners to get through before the New Year.

Paging GOB Bluth: Will Arnett is ready to reunite with his Arrested Development co-stars for the big screen debut of the Bluth clan as Ron Howard and Mitch Hurwitz rally the troops. "It’ll be fun to get back together with everybody and work on it,” says Arnett. “It’s been so long now, we almost have to do it. It’s like we have to finish the joke.” Arnett meanwhile offers his trademark comedic spin on the Arrested film in an amusing jab at the state of the economy. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Dexter's Lauren Velez will guest star in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's Ugly Betty this season; she'll play Elena, a nurse who becomes entangled in the lives of the Suarez clan. POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING: Details are sketchy but there is word that she is involved in a plot twist that could involve the death of a major character. Say your goodbyes to Ignacio now. (Hollywood Reporter)

Due to budgetary and creative reasons, Michael Cassidy will leave the CW's freshman drama Privileged after the series' fifteenth episode, in which Cassidy's character, Charlie, will return to college. "Charlie will be leaving town," creator Rina Mimoun told Michael Ausiello, "but not until some hot and heavy kissing goes down." Ratings on the series are up by double-digit gains after the netlet scheduled Privileged after Gossip Girl, but there's no guarantee of a Season Two. "Right now, I'm more concerned about Privileged returning for a second season than just Charlie," said Mimoun. "If everyone wants both, then I think we have a shot!" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The CW's Gilmore Girls is back in the news again but, sadly, not because of anything good: former executive producer Gavin Polone's company Hofflund/Polone has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television, claiming that Warners has "colluded to defraud the originator of hit Gilmore Girls television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script." The company claims that Warners has defrauded them by stating that Gilmore Girls ran at a deficit through all seven of its seasons; Hofflund/Polone was guaranteed a percentage of the "modified adjusted gross" in a 2000 agreement and a 2002 amendment. (Hollywood Reporter)

That lawsuit comes just a few days after Warner Bros. filed a lawsuit of their own: against CBS, the home of the Warners-produced comedy Two and a Half Men. The studio has filed a $49 million lawsuit against CBS, claiming that the network has refused to reimburse the studio for production costs ("deficit recoupment") for the first four seasons once the comedy became a ratings hit, under the guidelines of their license fee. (TV Guide)

And in other lawsuit news, a federal court has rejected Lifetime's bid for a change of venue to move its current legal battle over the future of Project Runway out of a New York state court. (Variety)

HBO's Flight of the Conchords sophomore season premiere racked up 250,000 streams in its first ten days on FunnyOrDie.com, in addition to thousands of streams on HBO.com. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times has named Battlestar Galactica's Tahmoh Penikett, who stars in FOX's upcoming midseason drama Dollhouse, as a face to watch. Penikett refuses to get stressed about fans' fears about Joss Whedon's upcoming series. "I don't like panicking," said Penikett. "I'm also old enough now where I try not to stress over things too much." (The Los Angeles Times)

BBC Three has commissioned six episodes of supernatural drama Being Human, which aired its pilot earlier this year on BBC Three as part of its pilot season. The series, which stars Russell Tovey (Doctor Who), Lenora Crichlow (Sugar Rush), and Aidan Turner (The Clinic) as three flatmates--a werewolf, ghost, and vampire respectively--who live together, was created by Toby Whithouse (Torchwood) and will air in 2009. (BBC)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Neve Campbell Gets Charitable with NBC's "Philanthropist," CBS Adds "Harper's Island," CW Announces "Reaper" Return Date, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Let's get to the headlines, shall we?

Neve Campbell (Party of Five) will return to network television with NBC's midseason drama The Philanthropist, starring James Purefoy and Jesse Martin, about a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth to help people in need. The former Scream queen will play the wife of Teddy Rist's business partner and BFF Phillip (Martin), who runs the men's philanthropic organization and finds herself drawn to Rist (Purefoy). (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC released some new footage from the Season Five premiere of Lost. (Televisionary)

Samantha Who? (and former Ugly Betty) writer Marco Pennette has three projects in development, including ABC drama pilot The Romeos, about four men in the 1960s who eventually become the country's biggest pop stars, which he'll write and executive produce with Brad Meltzer and Steve Cohen (Jack and Bobby), and ABC comedy Straight Up and Dirty, based on Stephanie Klein's autobiographical book about recovering after a traumatic divorce. (Variety)

ABC has announced launch dates for its midseason dramas Cupid, Castle, and The Unusuals. (Televisionary)

Little Britain USA will return for a second season on HBO and BBC. (BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat)

Horror-themed reality competition series 13: Fear Is Real, from executive producers Sam Raimi and Jay Bienstock, will air Wednesdays at 8 pm on the CW, beginning January 7th. Fear will take over the timeslot from America's Next Top Model while it is between cycles. In other CW programming news, Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will return with new episodes on January 5th and 90210 and Privileged will return on January 6th. And look for repeats of 90210 to take over Stylista's Wednesdays at 9 pm timeslot in January. (TV Week)

In other CW news, Season Two of dramedy Reaper will kick off on March 7th at 9 pm; the thirteen episodes filmed for the series' sophomore season will air uninterrupted this spring. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS is launching thriller series Harper's Island on April 9th, where it will air on Thursdays at 10 pm following the run of current timeslot holder Eleventh Hour. Harper's Island will air its serialized story over the course of thirteen episodes... which will run until July 2nd. The Eye will also return crime drama Flashpoint to the schedule on January 9th and will air on Fridays at 9 pm. (Variety)

Meanwhile, CBS will burn off back-to-back episodes of unscripted series Game Show in My Head--from executive producer Ashton Kutcher--on Saturday nights beginning January 3rd. (Variety, TV Week)

Craig T. Nelson (My Name is Earl) will appear in a three-episode story arc on CBS' CSI: NY, where he will play Manhattan publishing mogul Robert Parker, who happens to be a nemesis of Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise). (Hollywood Reporter)

Christine Ebersole will drop by ABC's Samantha Who?, where she'll play Amy, the "secret sister" of Samantha's mom Regina (Jean Smart)... who has used Sam's amnesia as a way to erase her sister from their family. She'll appear in the fourteenth episode of the current season. (TV Guide)

Disney Channel has ordered six additional episodes of Hannah Montana, bringing the Season Three total to 30 episodes. (Variety)

NBC will be airing two-hour editions of Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday nights beginning in February, with an announcement about the decision to come as early as this week. The decision would appear to be financial, as it would give the Peacock a way to cull some programming costs; NBC would then have five hours worth of unscripted series per week this spring with two-hour Biggest Loser: Couples on deck and Howie Do It to air on Fridays. “Donald has always felt the boardrooms were too short, and I think he’s right,” said executive producer Mark Burnett. “Right now, there’s really only about nine minutes of footage that we use and the boardroom (scenes) go on for hours sometimes. The problem has been trying to squeeze it all in. Every season we go through the struggle of cutting the show down." (TV Week)

Dick Clark Prods. is developing an unscripted series based on the popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" franchise of books. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has ordered eight episodes of unscripted series Tough Love, which follows a group of women, chosen to live together in a house and trained in the art of meeting Mr. Right via a "Tough Love Boot Camp." Project comes from Flower Films, High Noon Entertainment, and executive producers Nancy Juvoven and Drew Barrymore; Steve Ward will host the series. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Pushing Daisies" In Danger of Wilting Away, Mad Man Hamm Heads to "30 Rock," and More

Happy Halloween and welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I'm still catching up on television from this week, thanks to a busy social calendar and some LA-based preemptions of CW's Wednesday night series, so look for me to spend much time this weekend catching up.

I got many a worried email from readers last night about Kristin Dos Santos' report about the possibility that ABC had not extended Pushing Daisies beyond its initial 13-episode order. While ABC has yet to make a decision about the fate of the series, producers were told to change their original plan for the second season's thirteenth episode (intended as the first of a two-parter) and make said episode a stand-alone installment to "cover all bases," whether the episode be just the thirteenth episode... or Pushing Daisies' series finale. (And be sure to read this item about what you can do to help the Daisies cause.) (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Don Draper has found somewhere new to hang his hat. Jon Hamm (Mad Men) is said to be in advanced negotiations to appear in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Three of NBC's 30 Rock, where he'll play a potential love interest for our beloved Liz Lemon and possibly her neighbor. (Let's just hope he has better luck with her than Achmed.) (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has ordered a fifth season of American Dad and studio 20th Century Fox Television has signed new overall deals with executive producers Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman to keep them on as showrunners on Season Five. Barker and Weitzman, who were writing partners working out of the same deal, have separated their services and signed individual deals, freeing both up to pursue solo projects as well. (Variety)

While American Dad may be returning for the 2009-10 season, one FOX animated skein won't be. FOX has confirmed that it will not go ahead for an additional season of King of the Hill, currently airing its twelfth season. Episodes for Season Thirteen, however, don't launch until February and could, in fact, be held for next season if need be. (Variety)

Bradley Whitford (West Wing) and Romany Malco (Weeds) have joined the cast of NBC's buddy cop comedy pilot Off Duty from writer/executive producer Jason Mantzoukas. Project follows a veteran police detective (Whitford) who finds his life--both on and off duty--complicated by his new partner (Malco), a rising star in the force. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jane Lynch (Lovespring International) has joined the cast of FOX dramedy pilot Glee, where she will play the "antagonistic coach of the high school's cheerleading squad." The former Cindy Lightballoon will star in the project opposite Matthew Morrison, Jessalyn Gilsig, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Lea Michele. Should Glee be ordered to series, it could bow as early as this spring. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Mike Binder (The Mind of the Married Man) has sold comedy pilot script Two Dollar Beer to FOX and 20th Century Fox Television. Project will revolve around a group of twenty-somethings as they deal with the worsening economy in Detroit. Should the project be ordered to pilot, Binder is attached to direct. (Variety)

Emily Rose (Brothers and Sisters) will star in USA's medical drama pilot Operating Instructions as a top female truma surgeon who returns from Iraq to take a position at a military hospital; her attachmen lifts the casting contigency on the project. Elsewhere at USA, Willie Garson (Sex and the City) has joined the cast of drama pilot White Collar, opposite Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bravo has announced five unscripted projects in development: Fashionality, featuring Manhattan tastemakers in a roundtable discussion about pop culture and fashion from Embassy Row; Celebrity Sew-Off, in which celebs will design their own clothes in a sartorial competition from Lake Paradise Entertainment; Double Exposure, a docusoap following fashion photographer Markus Klinko from Juma Entertainment; Polo, a BTS-look at the lives of professional polo players from Granada America; and The Dubai Project, about the lavish lifestyles of American and Brit ex-pats from World of Wonder. (Variety)

Alison Pill has been cast as one of the leads of Season Two of HBO's In Treatment, where she will play April, a graduate student diagnoses with lymphoma. (Hollywood Reporter)

Dave Franco (Do Not Disturb, Greek) has signed on to appear in a multiple-episode arc of CW's Privileged, where he will play a love interest for Rose (Lucy Hale). His first episode is expected to air in early 2009. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: NBC Orders More "Knight Rider," Brody and Tudyk Find "Good Vibes" at FOX, "Fringe," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

NBC has given a full season pickup to Knight Rider, bringing this season's total to 22 episodes despite sagging ratings. And that's all I want to say on the subject. (E! Online)

CW has ordered a few additional scripts for freshman drama series Privileged, which has struggled to find ratings though has shown significant improvement in recent weeks (it's up 22 percent) despite softening numbers for its lead-in, 90210. Should the trend continue, it seems fairly certain that Privileged will get a full season order. (Hollywood Reporter)

One of my main suggestions for improving FOX's Fringe involved giving its supporting cast some real dimension, especially Jasika Nicole's Astrid Farnsworth. Nicole speaks with TV Guide and reveals in this interview that she doesn't know Astrid's backstory either, other than "Astrid majored in music" and is "really, really smart." Not quite the three-dimensional backstory I was hoping for... though look for Astrid to become slightly more integral to the plot in episode 107. (TV Guide)

While David Tennant hasn't walked away from Doctor Who, rumors continue to swirl about possible replacements. Yet another candidate has emerged as a potential new Doctor, should Tennant decide not to pilot the TARDIS again. Paterson Joseph (Peep Show) may be the first black actor to play the Doctor though no one from production have in fact confirmed that Joseph is being considered for the role. He most recently appeared on screen in BBC's Jekyll mini-series, which was written by Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's inbound executive producer/head writer. Coincidence? You decide. (Sci Fi Wire)

Ricky Gervais has indicated that his short-lived BBC/HBO series Extras might not be over yet and that he wants to produce "another Christmas special" of the series, despite protests from co-creator Steven Merchant. "I think it would be funny to see Andy trying to make it in Hollywood," said Gervais in an interview. "The problem is, I don't think Stephen Merchant wants to do it. But I reckon he will if I insist!" (Digital Spy)

Adam Brody (The O.C.), Josh Gad (Back to You), Debi Mazar (Entourage), Olivia Thirlby (Juno), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), and Jake Busey (Broken) have been cast in FOX's animated comedy pilot presentation Good Vibes. Project, from writer/director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), 20th Century Fox Television, and Good Humor TV, is under consideration for spring and centers on two high school surfers who live near the beach. Cast will table read the script in November. (Variety)

In other FOX news, the network has signed a talent holding deal with Broadway star Kathryn Hahn, who starred on NBC's Crossing Jordan for six seasons. Under the deal, the network will cast her in either a comedy or drama project, though look for the talented thespian to most likely turn up in a comedy or dramedy. (Hollywood Reporter)

And Vince Vaughn has signed a deal to develop and executive produce a single-camera comedy pilot about the lives of young men who are just out of college and discovering truths about the real world. Pilot will be written by Jim and Steve Armogida (Grounded for Life). (Variety)

Bridget Moynahan (Six Degrees) will star opposite Donnie Wahlberg in Bunker Hill, Jerry Bruckheimer's drama pilot for TNT about crime and corruption in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Boston. Wahlberg (Runaway) will play Mike Moriarty, a cop who grew up in Boston who returns to his home town to protect the streets of his beloved city but clashes with his sister-in-law Erin (Moynahan) who has a love/hate relationship with Mike since the death of her cop husband. (Hollywood Reporter)

More casting announcements: Kevin Sussman (Ugly Betty) has been cast as the lead in FOX's comedy pilot presentation Sincerely, Ted L. Nancy; his attachment has lifted the cast contingency on the project. Jessalyn Gilsig (Nip/Tuck) has signed on as a regular on FOX's dramedy pilot Glee from Ryan Murphy; she'll play Terri, the put-upon wife of Will (Matthew Morrison), a Spanish teacher who attempts to resurrect the high school's glee club. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Watching "Privileged" Feels Less of a Privilege and More of a, Well, Chore

Honesty upfront: I'm not in the target demo for the CW's newest drama offering Privileged, having both a Y chromosome and a few more years behind me than the net's typical viewer.

However, I sat down to view the series premiere--which launches tonight on the CW--with an unbiased opinion. I'll admit that it was difficult to do so. After all, I had seen the netlet's pilot presentation for Privileged last May, which featured a truncated storyline and some bizarro casting (Marsha Mason was since replaced by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Anne Archer) and I found it to be a mess of a pilot, save for the adorable JoAnna Garcia (The Captain) turning in a winsome performance as the adorably put-upon Megan Smith.

While Garcia is absolutely charming, I did find it somewhat difficult to accept Megan as a Yale graduate who escaped her Palm Beach roots to try to make it big as a Manhattan writer... only to end up right back where she started out. And that's no fault of Garcia but rather that of a seriously shaky script which skimps on things like characterization, motivation, and actual drama.

Smith gets fired from her magazine gig (she can't get into the club she's meant to be covering), accidentally dyes her hair the color of carrots, and has her apartment burn down all in the span of 24 hours. But rather than end up destitute on the streets of Gotham, her boss (Entourage's Debi Mazur) takes pity on Megan (why? we're not sure) and sets her up with her cosmetics empress friend Laurel Limoges (Archer) who is looking for a live-in tutor for her two wayward granddaughters Rose (Bionic Woman's Lucy Hale) and Sage (The Best Years' Ashley Newbrough), whose parents were killed several years earlier in a plane crash.

Based on a series of books from Alloy, Privileged (which had previously gone by the titles Surviving the Filthy Rich and Filthy Rich Girls) tries to be a blend of Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girl, attempting to meld together the heartfelt whimiscal quality of Gilmore Girls, complete with life lessons about the joys of teaching (and learning), standing up for oneself, etc.... with the sort of excess and debauchery categorized by Gossip Girl.

However, it fails at truly acheiving either. Instead, Privileged wears its heart on its sleeve, delivering a hell of a lot of cheesy dialogue and sappy sentiment that would have never made its way into a Gilmore script and its roman-a-clef look into the lifestyles of the rich and famous hardly compare to those of Gossip Girl's Upper East Side set. Sure, Laurel and the girls have money to burn but their sins are so utterly tame compared to that of van der Woodsens or Archibalds, that Privileged seems practically toothless in comparison.

Megan, of course, finds herself at odds with spoilt, manipulative Sage while acting as Rose's protector, even while avoiding her own flesh-and-blood sister Lily (Kristina Apgar), whom she left years earlier after their mother took off. (To be fair, she did leave for Yale but that seems to be a moot point as her sister harbors a grudge for leaving her with their "sad dad.") But she does have her best friend to turn to: Charlie Hogan, who's played by Hidden Palms' Michael Cassidy but without the savage charm he displayed on that series.

If this sounds at all cloying, it is. There's also a flamboyant personal chef who dreams of owning his own restaurant, a billionaire boy next door who has his eye on Megan, and a clunky plot device in the form of a written contract between Laurel and Megan in which Laurel promises not to fire Megan if she performs her job and all of her dreams will come true if she gets the girls into Duke. The contract manifests itself after a misunderstanding leads Laurel to fire Megan, after she wouldn't allow Sage and Rose's provocative photo shoot go forward. (I say provocative within the contexts of this series, which seems better suited for an 8 pm berth than the plum post-90210 timeslot.)

Had Privileged come along a few years ago, it may have found a home at the old WB but it seems jarringly out of place on the CW, a netlet that this season is categorized by the far more buzz-worthy dramas Gossip Girl and 90210... both of which far more convincingly (not to mention salaciously) deal with the affairs of the mega-wealthy. Here, Garcia and Archer do their best to elevate material that seems positively bargain basement in comparison.

Privileged launches tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on the CW.