Channel Surfing: Whedon Talks "Dollhouse" Season Two, "My Name is Earl" Officially Dead, Middleton Talks "Sarah Connor," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Wondering what Joss Whedon has in store for Season Two of Dollhouse, which returns to FOX this fall? Entertainment Weekly's Mandi Bierly caught up with the Dollhouse creator to find out what to expect. "About two hours after starting to talk to the writers about story, I was back with such a vengeance, and so energized and so pumped because we really understand the show now," said Whedon. "We understand what works, and what didn't work so well or what we weren't so thrilled about. We don't have the onus of trying to be a big hit sitting on our shoulders. We can just be ourselves. And so the stories we're breaking are pure, and exciting, and everybody's on-board in the room, and it's never flowed better." Look for Echo to use that final word of Season One as a springboard for her second season mission. ""Echo wants to find not just Caroline, but what's going on behind everything," said Whedon. "She doesn't have all of the skills. [Laughs] But she does have this weird super power of becoming a different person all the time, so she might start using that more specifically to find out who Caroline was and what happened to her and why this place exists." (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

My Name is Earl has officially been killed, following talks between studio 20th Century Fox Television and cabler TBS about picking up new installments of the comedy series. The studio released a statement yesterday that talks between the two sides had broken off after they were unable to reach an agreement. "While we had hoped to find a way to produce additional episodes for TBS, in the final analysis we simply could not make the economics work without seriously undermining the artistic integrity of the series," said the studio in a statement. "As none of us, [creator Greg Garcia] included, want the show to go out on anything but a high note, we regret that we must put to rest any speculation that Earl will continue." (Variety)

SCI FI Wire catches up with James Middleton, the executive producer of FOX's canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to find out what would have happened in the series' third season, had it continued. "By jumping into this future, [John] has erased his existence in a certain way, and we see that. We see that nobody recognizes him," said Middleton. "We would have to have explored that if we did get a third season. If we had gotten a third season, I should say, we definitely would have explored what it all meant, but I think there's a great moment where we see Allison [Summer Glau], and John's look to her is very meaningful. I think that also would have been a great thing in terms of dramatic potential. Like I said, the show has ended, and it would all be speculation, and I really don't want to raise anybody's expectations." (SCI FI Wire)

Eric Roberts has joined the cast of Starz drama Crash, where he will play "an entrepreneur hoping to bring a professional football team to L.A." Other new cast members for Season Two, which launches on September 18th, include Dana Ashbrook (yes, Twin Peaks' Bobby Briggs himself!), Linda Park, Jake McLaughlin, Tess Harper, and Julie Warner. (Variety)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that Comic-Con's Dollhouse panel next month will be two-hours long and will feature a screening of the unaired thirteenth episode, entitled "Epitaph One" and a discussion with Joss Whedon and series star Eliza Dushku. The two-hour session, according to a 20th Century Fox Television source, will take place on Friday, July 24th. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Meanwhile, Ryan is also reporting that there won't be a Heroes panel this year at Comic-Con. "According to a representative from Universal Media Studios, which makes the show," writes Ryan, "Heroes will "have a presence" at Comic-Con in various ways, but that presence will not involve the typical panel discussion that is a staple of Comic-Con." What that presence is remains to be seen but Ryan implies that it will involve a Season Four sneak peek in some form. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Stephanie March will be staying put on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and will appear in at least ten episodes next season. "The show is expected to introduce one or possibly two new characters to fill the ADA void when Cabot isn't around," writes Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS Television Studios has signed a two-year overall deal with CSI: NY executive producer Peter Lenkov. Under the terms of the deal, Lenkov will remain on board CSI: NY next season, where he teases fans will see ""Much more character. The mystery and the science are important, but people are just as important." (Hollywood Reporter)

Discovery has given a ten-episode series order to Garage Wars, in which mechanics will be pitted against each other to determine the best garage in America; two teams will be given a box with the same parts and must build the best vehicle from them in just four days. Series, from A. Smith and Co., is currently on the lookout for two car experts to serve as hosts. (Variety)

Outbound News Corp. president/COO Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope are said to have already begun taking meetings at the town's top talent agencies and inviting them to begin pitching projects. The duo are launching a new production company as part of Chenin's exit from News Corp that is said to operate under a similar deal as David E. Kelley's former arrangement. (Hollywood Reporter)

Chuck's Sarah Lancaster will guest star in an upcoming episode of TNT's medical drama Hawthorne, where she will play the girlfriend of a horrific motorcycle accident victim (My Boys' Reid Scott). (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Reveille has picked up US remake rights for Icelandic workplace comedy The Nightshift, about three graveyard shift workers at a gas station who try to remain motivated after dealings with eccentric customers. "The Nightshift is that rare international format that has American sensibility, and we're eager to tackle another workplace comedy after the success of The Office," said Reveille's managing director Howard Owens. "The show has a smart, ironic point of view, which we know will translate well in the U.S." (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Westfeldt and Boyd Clock in for "24," Grillo-Marxuach Bound for "Day One," "Doctor Who" Feature in Development, "Buffy," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Jennifer Westfeldt (Grey's Anatomy) and John Boyd (The Notorious Bettie Page) have been cast in Day Eight of FOX drama series 24. Westfeldt will recur as journalist Meredith Reed, an ambitious writer who has ties to Middle East leader Arman Hashemi (Anil Kapoor), who arrives in the U.S. on a peacemaking mission. Boyd, meanwhile, will be a series regular and will play CTU analyst Jonah Schwartz. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Middleman creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach has joined the writing staff of NBC's upcoming sci-fi series Day One, where he will serve as writer/co-executive producer. Also joining the writing staff, according to series creator Jesse Alexander (who broke the news via Twitter): Kings' Erik Oleson, and Angela Kang. (io9)

BBC Films has confirmed that a big screen version of Doctor Who is being developed and that development of a script is currently underway. It's unclear whether inbound showrunner Steven Moffat or executive producer Russell T. Davies will write the feature film or if David Tennant or his replacement, Matt Smith, would play the Doctor. (Digital Spy)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has contacted Joss Whedon for a reaction to the news that director/producer Fran Rubel Kuzui is planning a feature film reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss' noncommittal reply? "I hope it's cool," wrote Whedon via email. Ahem. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO will launch comedy series Hung, starring Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, and Anne Heche, on June 28th at 10 pm ET/PT, following an episode of True Blood. The first episode of Hung runs a lengthy 45 minutes while the subsequent installments will each run 30 minutes. (Variety)

The Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed has a hysterical cartoon jokingly depicting FOX executives deciding the fate of on-the-bubble sci-fi series Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles at gunpoint. (The Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

BBC America will launch supernatural drama Being Human, about a werewolf, vampire, and ghost who live together, on Saturday, July 25th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Televisionary)

Bravo is developing reality spinoff The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C. and is said to be looking for "personalities who are among Washington, D.C.'s influential players, cultural connoisseurs, fashion sophisticates and philanthropic leaders -- the people who rub elbows with the most prominent people in the country," according to Bravo EVP/general manager Frances Berwick. Series, to be developed by Half Yard Productions, is expected to launch sometime in 2010. (via press release)

Al Pacino will star in an untitled HBO telepic about Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Set in the early 1990s, the film will follow Kevorkian (Pacino) as he creates the first assisted suicide machine and the resulting media frenzy. Project, written by Adam Mazer and based on Harry Wilie and Neal Nicol's biography "Between the Dying and the Dead," will be directed by Barry Levinson. (Variety)

ABC is following through on its plans to merge ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios into a single unit under president Steve McPherson. While the network is said to still be finalizing its "development chain of command," it's widely thought that Suzanne Patmore-Gibbs--who currently serves as EVP of drama development--would be promoted to become McPherson's second-in-command, leaving Channing Dungey to take over as the network's head of drama and Josh Barry to replace Dungey on the studio side. (Hollywood Reporter)

Carol Kane will reprise her Homicide: Life on the Street role as Gwen Munch, the ex-wife of Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) in the June 2nd season finale of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The episode will also feature Nick Stahl (Carnivale), who will play Peter Harrison, an artist turned killer who has set his sights on one of the SVU team after he succumbs to mental illness and Kane's Gwen will have to help her ex-husband track him down. (via press release)

RelativityReal, the reality/alternative arm of Relativity Media, has signed a three-year overall deal with Wilmer Valderrama, under which he will create, develop, and executive produce series for both broadcast and cable networks. Valderrama is currently developing a half-hour telenovela Brooklyn Sound at MTV. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Dancing with the Upfronts: ABC Dumps "The Unusuals," FOX Officially Axes "Sarah Connor," CBS Renews "Cold Case"

While I am still over the moon about NBC's decision to renew Chuck for a third season this fall, this weekend didn't bring good news for fans of several series.

ABC has confirmed that it will not be renewing freshman drama series The Unusuals for a second season. The Sony Pictures Television-produced series, created by Noah Hawley, had struggled in the ratings this season, launching in the post-Lost berth on Wednesdays at 10 pm (traditionally a show killer). ABC attempted to test The Unusuals in an alternate timeslot, airing one episode in a Tuesday slot at 10 pm but the series, about the cops in Manhattan's quirky 2nd Precinct, never quite gelled with audiences.

Which is a shame as the series offered a fantastic character study each week, some bizarro crimes, and one of the best ensembles on television today, with all of the actors--including Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy Renner, Adam Goldberg, Harold Perrineau, Kai Lennox, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Joshua Close, and Terry Kinney--turning in memorable and fully realized performances. The Unusuals is slated to wrap its first season run with a handful of unaired episodes beginning May 27th.

Meanwhile, FOX has finally confirmed what many have known for some time now: it has terminated Sarah Connor Chronicles. The series, from Warner Bros. Television, will not be returning for a third season, despite an outpouring of fan support for another go-around.

While it seemed like on-the-bubble Privileged, which wrapped its freshman season earlier this year, could be returning for a second season on the CW, it's now thought to be extremely unlikely that Privileged will return.

CBS reached a deal with studio Warner Bros. Television to renew cop procedural Cold Case for a seventh season this fall. However, it's thought very unlikely that fellow procedural Without a Trace will return.

And should NBC not be decide in the eleventh hour to renew supernatural drama Medium, CBS has reached a deal with sister studio CBS Television Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Network Television) to pick up the Patricia Arquette-led drama, much like ABC picked up Scrubs after NBC passed on continuing the series.

Meanwhile, ABC has a deal in place to pick up The New Adventures of Old Christine, should CBS not renew, but it's thought that Old Christine will get a spot on CBS' fall schedule, after all.

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: FOX Terminates "Sarah Connor," Amanda Tapping Reprises "Stargate" Role, "24" Moves to Manhattan, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that FOX will not be renewing sophomore drama series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a third season. While the network has declined to comment on a cancellation, saying that they won't be announcing their fall schedule until May 18th, Ausiello has several unnamed insiders stating that the series is dead. "It's done," said one source. "Everyone has pretty much known for a couple of weeks." Ausiello was told by one network insider, "Consider it canceled." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

As previously reported, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and Gary Jones will reprise their roles from various Stargate franchise series in Sci Fi's upcoming series SGU: Stargate Universe. Also joining them in providing a guest starring role on the first season of the spin-off series is Amanda Tapping, who will reprise her role as astrophysicist Samantha Carter. Also on board for SGU are Christopher McDonald (The House Bunny) who will play Senator Alan Armstrong, the head of the International Oversight Committee and father of Chloe (Elyse Levesque); singer Janelle Monae will play herself and perform two songs; and Carlo Rota (24) will play Carl Strom, the head of the International Oversight Advisory. (Hollywood Reporter)

24's Day Eight will relocate its plot to New York City, after six seasons in Los Angeles and one based in Washington D.C. Day Eight also sees the return of CTU to the mix, with Mary Lynn Rajskub returning as Chloe and three new characters, as yet uncast, including CTU head Brian Hastings. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO is developing comedy pilot Women's Studies, about a famous author who, after a turn as a feminist "it" girl, becomes a professor at a small liberal arts college. Project, which will be written by Theresa Rebeck (NYPD Blue), is being viewed as a potential vehicle for actress Julie White, who will co-write the story with Rebeck and Ben Karlin (The Daily Show). (Hollywood Reporter)

Nicolette Sheridan has lashed out at Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry following the demise of her character, Edie Blitt. "I think that whoever Edie represented in Marc’s life was somebody he didn’t like," Sheridan told TV Guide magazine. "And he had a very difficult time distinguishing between fact and fiction." To his defense, Cherry says that the decision to kill off Edie was story-based as well as financial. "There has been tremendous pressure put on me to find ways to cut costs," said Cherry. "The network is saying to all the shows: 'The company is really hurting financially. You must find a way to produce these shows more cheaply.'" (TV Guide)

Bravo is developing two scripted original series, a first for the network, entitled Blueprint and 30 Under 30. Blueprint, from writer Laurence Andries (Six Feet Under) and Alloy Entertainment, is a serialized dramedy that follows the lives of two best friends--one straight, the other gay--who run an architecture and interior design firm in Manhattan. 30 Under 30, from executive producers Jonathan Prince (American Dreams) and Alana Sanko, follows twenty-something power players in Manhattan, including a gossip blogger, a real estate agent, and an artist. The cabler also unveiled a slew of new reality projects, including American Artist, Design Sixx, Kell on Earth, Launch My Line, and The Fashion Show. (Hollywood Reporter)

A&E has yet to renew drama series The Beast, which stars Patrick Swayze and Travis Fimmel, for a second season. While the cabler is waiting to see how the final two segments of the freshman season perform, A&E president Bob DeBitetto said much of the decision rests on Swayze's shoulders and if he is willing to reprise his role for another season. "As has been the case from day one, it is all about Patrick — in a lot of ways," said DeBitetto. "It is about his condition, and when and whether he would be up for another grueling production schedule." (USA Today)

BBC One has cast Leonora Crichlow (Being Human), Dervla Kirwan (Doctor Who), and Michael Landes (Love Soup) in new six-part romantic comedy series Material Girl, about "a young fashion designer battling an evil ex-boss, a sexy but devilish business partner and snobby fashionistas to get her break in work and love." Series, produced by Carnival Film and Television, is set to air on BBC One later this year. (BBC)

TBS has ordered ten episodes of animated comedy Neighbors From Hell, about a family from Hell who moves into a suburban neighborhood in order to prevent people from spending eternity among fire and brimstone. Project, written by Pam Brady (South Park) and executive produced by Brady, Mireille Soria, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television and DreamWorks Animation. (Variety)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a blind script deal with Nick Bakay (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), under which he will develop and write a comedy pilot script that will be produced through Happy Madison. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times' Scott Collins wonders if things have finally turned around for NBC, which last week saw successful launches for new series Parks and Recreation and John Wells' Southland. Collins says that the network has remained flat in terms of audience retention year to year (while other nets have all decreased) and the audience for NBC has gotten younger: to a median age of 47.2 this year. (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will participate on NBC's upcoming reality competition series I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, though the network was waiting for the judge overseeing Blagojevich's case to loosen travel restrictions as the series will be shot in Costa Rica. (TV Week)

Jailed former NFL player Michael Vicks, serving time for dogfighting conspiracy, is said to be in talks with producers for a reality series that would follow him after his release from prison in July and show him "make amends for his past." As for where such a series could end up, the article points to several unnamed insiders who point towards A&E and Spike as logical first pitches. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

FOX Gets Retro with "Dollgrind" Ad

I have to say that I am loving FOX's new Grindhouse-inspired Dollgrind campaign for its Friday night "dames of deception" two-hour block of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, which launch on February 13th.

If you've missed the fantastically retro ad campaign, which harks back to 1970s exploitation-style flicks and features Terminator's Summer Glau and Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku, fret not, as you can watch the teaser trailer in full after the jump.



What do you think? Does the ad make you want to tune in to the two-hour block? Did you find it clever or funny? Did you laugh at the horribly dubbed Spanish bit? Discuss.

Channel Surfing: Season Five of "Lost" to Air Uninterrupted, "One Tree Hill" Creator to Pen "Melrose Place" Pilot, "NCIS" Spin-off Details, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I'm still in shock after last night's jaw-dropping episode of Skins on BBC America; fortunately, I've already got the season finale in my possession. Otherwise, I think I would explode from anticipation.

Lost fans can look forward to watching Season Five of the ABC hit without interruption, according to sources. However, the network has expressed some interest in stretching out the fifth season with one or two weeks off, in order to have the finale air closer to the end of May sweeps, so don't count this a done deal quite yet. (TV Guide)

It looks like One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn will write the script for the CW's update of Melrose Place, after all. That is, one a deal closes. Schwahn is currently under a deal at Warners, which produces One Tree Hill, and although he recently signed a deal with CBS Paramount Network Television, that deal does not start until June. Additionally, his current Warners deal calls for him to serve as an executive producer/showrunner on One Tree Hill, should the series be renewed for a seventh season. It's thought that Schwahn will write the script but not remain with Melrose Place past the pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has ordered an untitled legal drama from Dave Hemingson. However, it's not quite the same pilot project that Hemingson shot earlier this year with 20th Century Fox Television about a law school grad (Matt Long) from a working class background who joins an LA law firm. ABC is said to be have liked the writing, the setting, and some of the cast (including Long) but wanted a project that was more dramatic than the untitled legal dramedy that Hemingson had created. While ABC had passed on the Hemingson project's previous incarnation in August, two other pilots are still said to be in contention for series orders, including Damon Wayans comedy Never Better and Warner Bros. fantasy Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide talks to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Summer Glau about tonight's "midseason finale," in which some big surprises emerge, including a shocker about one character. Glau admits that she is hoping for a fight scene with Shirley Manson's character and says she has hopes that fans will follow them once the series moves to Fridays. (TV Guide)

Robert Carlyle (24: Redemption) has been cast as the lead in Sci Fi's new series Stargate Universe from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper. The former Trainspotting star will play Dr. David Rush, the leader of a group of civilians "left to fend for themselves when forced through a Stargate after their hidden base comes under attack" who "emerge aboard an ancient ship missing in the far reaches of space." Rush works to unlock the ship's many mysteries and get the team home but he may have other motives as well. Sci Fi is expected to order 20 episodes of Stargate Universe. (Hollywood Reporter)

Michael Ausiello has scoop on character breakdowns for CBS' untitled NCIS spin-off series, which will shoot its pilot in late February. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC One has ordered a second season of fantasy drama Merlin. Season Two will begin filming in 2009 on location in Wales and France. Other 2009 drama commissions for BBC One include new seasons of Spooks (a.k.a. MI-5), Ashes to Ashes, and Waking the Dead, along with new series Hope Springs and All the Small Things. (BBC)

Danny Comden (I'm With Her) will write and star in Temps, a multi-camera ABC comedy pilot from ABC studios that tracks the staff at a temp agency as they go out on various short-term jobs. Comden will play a 10-year temping veteran at the agency. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC Universal has renewed daytime syndicated talkshow The Martha Stewart Show for a fifth season. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: FOX Issues Reprieve for "Sarah Connor," "Lost" Movie Unlikely, "Chuck," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Quite a lot of good telly on last night, including new episodes of Skins, Mad Men, Amazing Race, and Little Britain USA, not to mention another installment of Masterpiece Contemporary's The Last Enemy. Whew.

FOX has issued a reprieve for ratings-starved sci-fi action drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The series has been given a full season order for its second season, which averaged a 2.3/6 in adults 18-49 in its last original airing. Many insiders had pegged the series as a goner, proving that there's obviously still some life in the Terminator franchise yet. (Variety)

Zeljko Ivanek (Damages) has been cast in Season Three of Heroes, where he'll appear in a multiple-episode story arc playing a character known as the Hunter in Volume Four of the series, which is subtitled "Fugitives" and is set to kick off in January or February of 2009. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin says that Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski is "TV's most underrated actress [or] she's definitely in the top five." Do we think that the Aussie native who plays Chuck's CIA handler Sarah Walker is unduely underrated? Or do we instead think of her as one of telly's greatest secrets? (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

In its second outing, ABC's Life on Mars lost about 30 percent of its premiere numbers and finished behind CBS' Eleventh Hour in the 10 pm timeslot on Thursday. The second episode of Life on Mars managed to grab only a 2.5/7 in adults 18-49 and 8.22 million viewers overall (vs. its original 3.7/10 and 11.33 million viewers) and only retained 42 percent of its lead-in from Grey's Anatomy. One doesn't need to be a time-traveling detective to see that this is not good. (Variety)

J.J. Abrams teases MTV with the possibility of a feature film version of ABC's Lost but admits that it's probably unlikely that the castaways will grace the silver screen. "There’s a chance," said Abrams in an interview, "but my gut is it would never happen.” (I have to say that, as much as I love Lost with a fiery passion, I hope it stays on television where it belongs.) (MTV)

Hope Davis (Six Degrees) and John Mahoney (Frasier) have been cast in Season Two of HBO's drama In Treatment. Davis will play high-powered, childless malpractice lawyer Mira while Mahoney will play Bill, a super-confident CEO who feels that his life has slipped away. Elsewhere, Jeffrey Nordling (24) has signed on to star opposite Jada Pinkett Smith in TNT's drama pilot Time Heals; he'll play Tom Wakefield, the hospital's director of medicine. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS Paramount Network Television has signed a talent holding deal with Rob Riggle (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), under which he will create and star in a half-hour comedy on CBS. (Variety)

Jeff Probst, Mark Burnett, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition executive producer Denise Cramsey have sold a pilot to CBS called Live Like You're Dying, which will feature a person with a terminal illness who will receive a chance to go "on the last adventure of their life,” which will include reunions with lost friends or estranged family members and living out their personal dreams. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

In other CBS news, the network's interactive division is launching a new online feature that is has dubbed "social viewing rooms," which combines the social networking aspects of a chat room with video streaming, allowing fans to interact whilst watching the network's online content. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Robin Takes Flight at CW, "Partridge" Lands at NBC, Norman Lear, "Sarah Connor" Woes, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I suffered through some sweltering heat here in Los Angeles last night and watched the latest lackluster episode of 90210 and a fantastically taut episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit).

CW has given a put pilot commitment to drama The Graysons, based on the pre-Boy Wonder life of Batman sidekick Robin before he dons the mask and cape (a la Smallville). Drama, from Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and Chuck/Supernatural executive producer McG, will follow Dick "DJ" Grayson in a new take on the iconic character. (In the original comics, Robin was the orphaned son of a high-flying trapeze artist family who was taken in by Bruce Wayne and trained to be Batman's sidekick.) Series is viewed as a potential replacement for Smallville, should this be final season, or as a companion piece if Smallville is renewed. Studio Warner Bros. Television also hopes to use this development to prove that the netlet isn't in any serious jeopardy. But they're really going to call Robin "DJ"? Ick. (Variety)

Could Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles be canceled in an effort to save the ratings of FOX's Prison Break? That's what one network source has said as the axe could come swinging down on ratings-starved Terminator as early as this week. "All I can say is that production will likely stop," said the unnamed source, "and I would think that Fox might try to air some of the episodes already in the can. But I don't know. They don't want to lose Prison Break, so there could be some schedule shuffling in the future."(SyFy Portal)

Television icon Norman Lear is developing Everybody Hurts, a drama series following a pro-wrestling business in 1970s New York, at HBO. Project is written by Aaron Blitzstein (The Riches) and will be executive produced by Lear and Lara Bergthold. (Hollywood Reporter)

The revamped single-camera comedy pilot The Partridge Family has landed at NBC. This version, from Reveille, Geffen Records, and Sony Pictures Television, will have a struggling single mom "pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow." Pilot will be written by Jeff Rake, who also serves as executive producer. (Hollywood Reporter)

Rake has also teamed with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz on an untitled action dramedy pilot about ""a Pentagon-based inventor who decided he couldn't live another day standing on the sidelines while Rome burns and accordingly set out [to] put his inventions to very real use, behind the back of friends, family and the entire U.S. government," according to Rake. Arrested Development pilot helmers Anthony and Joe Russo are attached to direct the project, which has been set up at FOX. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS and CBS Paramount Network Television have signed a talent deal with Cole Hauser (K-Ville), who recently starred in drama pilot The Tower for the network and studio. (I actually quite liked the journalism drama pilot, which also starred Rosamund Pike, Marcia Gay Harden, Denis O'Hare, and CCH Pounder.) (Variety)

Fred Willard will guest star in two episodes of CBS' comedy series Worst Week. The former Back to You star and Connie Ray (Thank You for Smoking) will play the parents of hapless Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) in two installments set to air later this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Cory Monteith (Kaya) has joined the cast of FOX's Ryan Murphy pilot Glee, opposite Jayma Mays and Matthew Morrison. He'll play Finn, a football player who is coerced into joining the high school glee club by its new advisor. (Hollywood Reporter)

Valerie Bertinelli just got some company on her untitled TBS comedy: Nadia Dajani (Emily's Reasons Why Not), Kevin G. Schmidt (Cheaper by the Dozen), and Dean Collins (The War at Home) have joined the cast of Dave Caplan's comedy pilot about a woman whose husband leaves her to deal with their kids, his struggling lumber business, and life in general on her own. Already cast: Juliette Goglia and Anjelah Johnson. (Hollywood Reporter)

Vanessa Marcil (Las Vegas) will serve as the host for Lifetime's upcoming reality competition series Blush: The Search for the Next Makeup Artist alongside judges Hal Rubenstein and Joanna Schlip and mentor Charlie Green. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Gossip Girl" Scores, Davies Names Possible Next "Doctor," DeKay Falls for "Old Christine," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I was absolutely riveted by last night's episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit) and not so riveted by another dull installment of 90210. Meh.

The CW's buzz-worthy Gossip Girl scored the highest numbers ever in the life of the series, drawing in 3.7 million viewers on Monday, an increase of nearly 500,000 from the week prior and 300,000 above Gossip Girl's second season premiere on September 1st. Those numbers are even more palatable for the netlet when you realize that it's a full one million viewers more than tuned in to the third episode of the first season. Not doing quite as well? FOX's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which lost 800,000 viewers from last week's season premiere to sink to a low of 5.5 million, off 36 percent from its Season One average. Ouch. (Entertainment Weekly)

More talk from NBC chiefs about the quality work co-chairman Ben Silverman is doing (in between "[partying] into the night") as the network gears up to launch their new season on Monday. One choice quote: ""He is not bound by the old rules of doing business, and that scares a lot of people in Hollywood," said Jeff Zucker. That's putting it mildly. (Los Angeles Times)

HBO has cast Zach Galifianakis (Tru Calling) in Jonathan Ames' drama pilot Bored to Death, opposite Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson; he'll play Ray, a struggling comic book artist who is the best friend of would-be hero Jonathan (Schwartzman), an alcoholic writer who tries to reinvent himself as a private detective. (Hollywood Reporter)

Russell T. Davies has praised British actor Russell Tovey (Gavin & Stacey, History Boys) and suggested that he would be a good replacement for David Tennant when he decides to leave Doctor Who. Tovey is himself no stranger to Doctor Who, having appeared as Midshipman Frame in the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned." Davies also revealed that he tried to secure J.K. Rowling to guest star in a Christmas special but was vetoed by Tennant, who thought the casting idea "sounds like a spoof." (BBC News)

Worst. Title. Ever. FOX is said to be developing drama Georgia and the Seven Associates, a contemporary take on the Snow White fable from writers David Weissman and David Diamond (Old Dogs), director Ken Kwapis (The Office), and executive producers Chris Brancato and Bert Salke. Plot would follow Georgia Burnett, a young lawyer who finds herself exiled from a top law firm run by her evil step-mother and must team up with seven quirky lawyers (each of whom manifests a personality based on one of the fable's dwarves) at a storefront legal firm. Project is said to be described as "The Devil Wears Prada meets Taxi." I kid you not. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS' comedy Old Christine has locked Tim DeKay (Tell Me You Love Me, Carnivale) for a three-episode stint this season; he'll play a new love interest for Christine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). The duo are no strangers: DeKay memorably played Elaine's boyfriend Kevin (a.k.a. "Bizarro Jerry") in two 1996 episodes ("The Bizarro Jerry" and "The Soul Mate") of Seinfeld. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Saturday Night Live attempts to be as "fair and evenhanded as possible" in their skewering of political figures and included Amy Poehler's portrayal of Hillary Rodham Clinton in order to not make their Sarah Palin sketch seem like an attack. (New York Times)

Lori Petty (Masters of Horror) will guest star in several episodes of House this season, playing a patient with Huntington's Disease. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TNT has renewed Saving Grace and Raising the Bar, ordering 15 episodes of both to air in 2009. (Televisionary)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: New Adventures of Old Christine/New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); America's Got Talent (NBC; 8-10 pm); America's Next Top Model (CW); Wife Swap (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); 90210 (CW); 20/20 (ABC); 'Til Death/Do Not Disturb (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC); Primetime (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: America's Next Top Model.

On tonight's episode ("You're Beautiful, Now Change"), the girls get their makeovers and go to Malibu for a swimsuit photo shoot with model/designer Susan Holmes.

9 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.

Season Five (the final season on Bravo) of Project Runway continues tonight. On tonight's episode ("Transformation"), the designers work with college-aged women who are about to enter the workforce and are tasked with creating sophisticated looks for their clients; Cynthia Rowley drops by as this week's guest judge, and Kenley creates yet-another 1950s-influenced dress.

Channel Surfing: "Doctor Who" Feature Possible, J.J. Abrams Talks "Fringe," Rainn Wilson, and More

Good morning and welcome to your Monday television briefing.

Steven Moffat, who has taken over the reins at Doctor Who from Russell T. Davies, has said that he wouldn't rule out a feature film spin-off of Doctor Who so long as it didn't interfere with production on the series itself. "It would be good to see it in the cinema so long as it was great and fantastic," said Moffat, speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. "But a film is on [for] 90 minutes and that is not as important as the series. But so long as it doesn't get in the way of the show we could do it. If it got in the way of the show that would be appalling." The series itself has already had two feature spin-offs in the 1960s: Doctor Who and the Daleks and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, both of which starred Peter Cushing as the Doctor. (The Guardian's Organ Grinder)

There's a fantastic interview with J.J. Abrams about his new FOX drama Fringe and about the differences in telling stories with self-contained episodic storylines like Fringe and the Byzantine plots of series like Lost and Alias. "I just got tired of hearing people say to me, over and over, ‘Yeah, I was watching it, but I missed one, I got really confused, and I stopped watching it,’” Abrams said in a recent phone interview. He goes on to discuss just went wrong with Alias. And no it wasn't the giant orange floating ball that was supposedly Rambaldi's endgame. (New York Times)

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times has interviewed Shawn Ryan about the end of The Shield, which kicks off its seventh and final season next month. Ryan, of course, was on the picket line when the series finale of the series he created (which launched FX as a destination for quality drama) was shot, as was the pilot for the doomed FOX supernatural series The Oaks (which never made it to air), which Ryan was on board to produce. He talks about his decision to view pencils down as a refusal to perform editing duties as well as writing services, the end of The Shield, and the strike itself. (Los Angeles Times)

If that weren't enough interviews for you, here's one with The Office's Rainn Wilson about his role in the feature film The Rocker and, of course, Dwight Schrute. (New York Daily News)

James Cromwell (24) has been cast in NBC's new drama series My Own Worst Enemy, where he'll be playing the enigmatic head of a covert government agency that is tinkering with Christian Slater's dual-identity husband/superspy Henry/Edward. Does he play the head of Janus (i.e., Mavis' mysterious employer)? Only time will tell. Cromwell joins a cast that includes Christian Slater, Madchen Amick (herself turning up in several episodes of Gossip Girl next season), Saffron Burrows, Mike O'Malley, and Alfre Woodard. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX will be streaming the series opener of Fringe and the season premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles online... if you're a college student, that is. Users who log onto Fox.com from college-based .edu domains will be able to watch a simul-stream of the opener of Fringe and Sarah Connor at the same time as they launch on-air, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, cast interviews, and music videos. It's a novel concept, but why wouldn't students just, er, watch the episodes on the linear channel? (Variety)

In other fall launch news, FOX and CBS will respectively not air the original pilots for comedy Do Not Disturb and drama Eleventh Hour until later in the season. Instead, the networks will air subsequent episodes when they launch Do Not Disturb on September 10th and Eleventh Hour on October 9th. Having already seen both of these pilot episodes, I can honestly say that the networks are making the right decision as both were just awful. (Futon Critic)

Lifetime has given a six-episode order to reality competition series Blush: The Search for America's Greatest Makeup Artist, to launch in November as a potential companion for its poached Project Runway. Series, produced by IMG, will follow eight makeup artists as they live together in LA and compete for a one-year contract with Max Factor, $1,000 in cash, and the opportunity to style a magazine cover shoot. (Variety)

Paris Barclay (ER) has been promoted to executive producer on HBO's In Treatment; he'll direct at least ten episodes of the therapy drama next season. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has announced the cast for the latest iteration of reality competition series Dancing With the Stars, which kicks off on September 22nd. Susan Lucci, Toni Braxton, Lance Bass, Cloris Leachman, Kim Kardashian, Ted McGinley, Brooke Burke, NFL champ Warren Sapp, Olympic athletes Misty May-Treanor and Maurice Greene, chef Rocco DiSpirito, Cody Linley (Hannah Montana) and comedian Jeffrey Ross will compete for the top spot. (Variety)

Songwriter Kara DioGuardi will join American Idol as a new judge for Season Eight, alongside Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Gossip Girl (CW); High School Musical: Get in the Picture (ABC); Prison Break (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); America's Toughest Jobs (NBC); One Tree Hill (CW); Samantha Who?/Samantha Who? (ABC); Prison Break (FOX)

10 pm: CBS News: Democratic National Convention (CBS); Dateline (NBC); Vote 08 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

Looking to relive the freshman season of the teen soap? On tonight's first season finale ("Much 'I Do' About Nothing"), Blair comes to Serena's defense and faces off with Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg); Lily prepares for her wedding but can't stop thinking about Rufus; and Serena finally tells Dan what's really going on with her.

10 pm: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on Travel Channel.

This week on No Reservations, Tony travels to Egypt, one of the oldest civilizations on Earth and spends some time with locals in order to get an understanding for what it means to be Egyptian.

10 pm: Weeds on Showtime.

On this week's episode of Weeds ("Head Cheese"), Nancy deals with the aftermath of Shane's exploits and another confrontation with Guillermo; Celia tries to find a new rehab facility; Doug and Maria's relationship hits the skids and they turn to Andy for help; Silas' new business is growing too fast.

Entertainment Weekly Visionaries: "Lost," "Chuck," "Pushing Daisies," and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Showrunners Speak

It was absolutely remarkable to see Chuck's Josh Schwartz, Lost's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Pushing Daisies' Bryan Fuller, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Josh Friedman together on one panel. I thought the stage might collapse under the weight of their collective genius.

The panel, part of Entertainment Weekly's Visionaries series, was moderated by the magazine's in-house Lost guru Jeff Jensen, who did an absolutely brilliant job of asking insightful, intelligent questions and keeping the action moving. I go to a lot of these industry panels and typically the moderators are loathsomely awful, so it was a refreshing change of pace to have Jensen take the reins on this discussion and steer it in the right direction.

This being a panel consisting of showrunners on some of my favorite series on the air today, I was glad to see that Jensen didn't let them off the hook with questions designed to help promote their respective series. Instead, he started out with a doozy, asking them about how the writers strike of last winter has helped (or hindered) them approach next season.

For Pushing Daisies' Bryan Fuller, he spent a period of time wondering when the series would return to the airwaves but was happy that ABC opted not to bring back Daisies until the fall. "They didn't want to throw us under the American Idol bus," said Fuller. But the network did believe enough in the series to relaunch it again this fall and is putting as much investment into Daisies as though it were a new series.

So what can we expect when Pushing Daisies returns this fall? For one thing, the action picks up ten months later with our beloved characters trying to keep some newly discovered secrets in check, but some of them (ahem, Olive) are beginning to "burst under the strain." And look for a new character in the form of a pig (named Pigby, no less) who will turn up at a nunnery. (Only on Pushing Daisies would this make sense.) But don't expect a "Previously On..." that when Daisies returns this fall; instead, the first three minutes of Season Two will work as a primer to get viewers up to date.

Fuller said that he is a "very sensitive soul" and couldn't do a series like CSI, which he described as "negative headspace." Instead, he wanted to cram a series full with as many things that make him happy, and "shoehorn" in everything from dogs to monkeys and pie. As for pie? "Cake is a gamble," said Fuller. "Pie is always moist." (I have to say that I agree with Fuller's theory.)

As for the why Fuller seems to have a preoccupation with death, he said that, growing up, he went to a lot of funerals and never felt as though death were a bad thing. "Death is just the punctuation of everything that has come before," offered Fuller. He wanted to do something bright and boldly colored and pitched the network a series with a "fairy tale aesthetic." The candy-colored palette of Pushing Daisies "really was a choice for tone."

Josh Schwartz, meanwhile, revealed that Chuck's sophomore season will begin with a shot of Chuck (Zachary Levi) dangling off of a building and will explain what sequence of events lead him to end up in that precarious position. And unlike Pushing Daisies, Josh Friedman said that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will start "two seconds" after the events of the season finale and will start right in the middle of that explosion.

As for Team Darlton, Cuse and Lindelof said that we can expect to finally see the backstories for those freighter folk, which was intended to be a part of the fabric of last season, turn up in Season Five. Those stories will be told "in a different way... maybe not better but definitely different."

Jeremy Bentham was always intended to be in that coffin at the end of Season Four. The Lost writers have a list of philosophers' names that they can use at any time on Lost and knew that they wanted to use it for the man in the coffin, plus it didn't hurt that Bentham was a contemporary of John Locke and had designed the Panopticon, a prison facility where the prisoners could be watched at all times without realizing it. If that's not the perfect metaphor for the island on Lost, I don't know what is...

They are definitely aware of the paradox that Claire didn't make it off the island with Aaron, as predicted by Desmond's vision, if Charlie died at the end of Season Three. "It is an assumption," said Lindelof, " that one idea usurped the other. We are aware of the paradox." Or as Cuse offered, "It is explanable... But you will see Claire, though maybe not for a bit."

What departed character do Cuse and Lindelof miss the most? "Mr. Eko." (Figures.) They explained that actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje wasn't happy living in Hawaii. (Schwartz joked that the character he missed most was "Mischa Barton." Ouch.)

Team Darlton went on later to say that "there is no paradox" on the show and "no alternate futures." They are "not postulating that future events can be changed." So there. And they aren't making things up as they go along or planning out every single detail. "Up until the end of Season Three, we were doing pretty much both," said Lindelof. "We have 34 hours left, Season Five and Season Six. If we didn't have an end plan, we would crash and burn."

Cuse likened the situation to taking a road trip to New York; they know where they are going but they are making unexpected pitstops and detours along the way as you can't map out every single turn on a journey ahead of time, even if you know where you want to end up. "We knew that hatch was going to blow up at the end of Season Two but the specifics were more organic," said Lindelof.

On the subject of additional content created for multiple platforms like web and mobile, Cuse said that the biggest change in the entertainment industry is that series are now treated like brands and networks always want to expand their brands. New Media offers opportunities to do things that they couldn't do in other media, like focus on ancillary characters or play around with the mythology of the series--like the connections between Alvar Hanso, the Dharma Initiative, and Charles Widmore--in way that they couldn't do on-screen but can via their alternate reality games (like Find815.com). Lindelof said that the networks often hope that these can help break through to the masses but the honest truth is that they're really for the "diehard fans" of the series.

Chuck will launch a series of webisodes this season based around the employees of the Buy More, which is allowing Schwartz to "extend the experience of the show" and give viewers additional content between weekly installments and the opportunity to "hang with characters" that always aren't the main focus of the series. Pushing Daisies' Fuller was investigating doing a series of webisodes around the aforementioned Pigby character but met with "resistence" from the studio due to contract issues with the writers and actors.

Given the recent launch of Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, it was only natural that Jensen would ask the showrunners if they are fans of Whedon's experimental, self-financed project. Schwartz said that it "opens the door to a whole new way of storytelling." Lindelof says that while they were on the picket line during the strike, they all talked about projects they were going to do while they were off from work but Joss actually created something brilliant seven months later and brought it to the fans himself. "It's just amazing," said Lindelof.

As for what series other than their own that these guys are watching, the answers were surprising. "Lost," said Schwartz. Cuse joked that he loves Gossip Girl. Lindelof said he loves "Chuck and Terminator. And Dexter." Fuller admitted his favorite series was Project Runway.

FOX Tells "Sarah Connor" to Come with Them if She Wants to Live

To echo that long-famous quotable, Sarah Connor will be back next season.

FOX yesterday handed the freshman sci-fi drama a second season pickup, with thirteen episodes currently slated to air this fall.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was considered a dead cert for a renewal (along with Kelsey Grammer-Patricia Heaton comedy Back to You) at the network, especially as it was the only one of FOX's crop of new series to make any impact creatively or ratings-wise this season.

The drama could also get a back nine order relatively quickly, especially since the McG-helmed Terminator film (starring Christian Bale) will be released theatrically in May. Look for major synergy going on between the TV series and the aforementioned film as FOX continues to mine this franchise for all its worth.

But while The Sarah Connor Chronicles will return this fall rather than mid-season 2009, don't look for it to remain in the Mondays at 9 pm timeslot it occupied earlier this year; Sarah Connor would bound to face tough competition from fellow timeslot opponent Heroes and FOX will definitely be moving it out of the line of fire.

I could see the network launching a night of sci-fi themed programing (as FOX seems to be developing sci-fi like crazy these days), pairing it perhaps with J.J. Abrams' Fringe (also a Warner Bros. Television-produced series) for a two-hour block of adult escapism.

Where would you program The Sarah Connor Chronicles and what would you pair it with? Should FOX reclaim Sunday nights as a home for sci-fi as it so memorably did when The X-Files aired that night of the week? Discuss.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Most Outrageous Moments/Saturday Night Live (NBC; 8:30-10 pm); Beauty and the Geek (CW); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); American Idol (FOX)

9 pm: Big Brother 9 (CBS); Reaper (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC); Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

10 pm: Shark (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Boston Legal (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America.

On the twelfth episode of this addictive British import, two couples enter Raymond's latest challenge: to create a singles' night at their respective restaurants and help their customers find love and have a fun, romantic time in the process. But in order to do so they have to fill their restaurant with suitable suitors for the twenty young execs that Raymond has lined up for them, a task easier said than done.

10 pm: The Riches on FX.

On tonight's installment ("Dead Calm"), Wayne realizes that he might not be able to regain Dahlia's trust when she learns how much he lied to her about what really happened to Pete; Cael and Rosaleen grow closer at the Travelers' camp; Nina throws a party for Jim; and Wayne tries to keep Dale from involving the Travelers in his master plan.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles": Fight the Future

The true test of any new television series, I find, isn't the pilot itself (which typically has a much bigger budget and purview than the rest of the series), but the second episode. So I was intrigued to see what the sophomore episode of FOX's new midseason drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles would look like.

Full disclosure: I am not a huge Terminator fan. I loved the original but it's been more years since I can recall that I've seen T2... and I've never watched any of the subsequent sequels. So while I'm coming to this series with some backstory, it's not of the intricate, obsessive kind that may help inform some of the storytelling here.

I do have to say that there are elements of this series that I do like and others that... just plain don't work for me. In its favor: the choreographed fight scenes, Lena Headey's intensity (dialed down just the right amount in the second episode), Summer Glau (channeling River Tam somewhat here; more on that in a bit). There are some neat elements, like Sarah and Cameron's flight from the Terminator unit in last night's episode that just rocked, such as when Sarah went into a controlled dive on a motorcycle, leapt off, and said motorcycle knocked over the Terminator unit. Or how Sarah callously pushed Cameron's deactivated body out of the window and onto the roof of a car.

So what doesn't work for me? First, it's Thomas Dekker, who plays John Connor with a sort of whiny insouciance, greasy hair and all. I just don't buy him as the future hero of mankind and, while it's evident that the character has a lot of growing up to do, I just find him not all that sympathetic. Second, if I found myself suddenly several years in the future, I probably would react to my new circumstances with a modicum of curiosity, while Sarah and John barely bat an eyelash about their new surroundings. Yes, John heads to the mall to surf the internet, but where is the culture shock, the curiosity, the eerie realization that there is no going back? Hmmm.

I do like the cancer storyline for Sarah. It adds a layer of immediacy to the story that it desperately needs. Yes, they are on the run and are unsure of who to trust, but the characters seem--in this early stage, anyway--largely reactive rather than proactive. With the threat of a very real death hanging over mama bear Sarah's head, it does mean that she will have to become much more active, if she and John are to accomplish their goals before her, er, termination. Additionally, the series relies a little too heavily on Cameron's constant exposition to lead the characters (and the audience) from one plot point to the next.

As for Cameron, as much as I love Summer Glau, there is something slightly off about her performance here. While she nails the fight scenes with aplomb (recalling that bar room brawl in Firefly/Serenity) and her "soft" teenage girl is convincingly, well, soft (especially to hormonal John), I'm not totally sold on the unintentional humor that her fish-out-of-water robot needs to exude. The scene in which she's run over by a car and then tells the freaked out passengers to "remain clam" needed a little more oomph.

And that's perhaps my problem with the series itself. While it's a intriguing concept, I don't feel fully connected to these characters or their plight, not enough to feel compelled to tune in each week. However, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles may be one of the few new series to actually benefit from the current writers strike. It's clear that that viewing public does have a taste for original fare, even of the scripted kind, and Terminator, while only nine episodes, is fulfilling that need.

Bottom line: while I am not as sucked in as I should be to this story (especially given that there are only seven episodes left at this point), I'll give Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles another shot next week. But I'm curious: what do you think of this new series? What works for you and what doesn't? And who wants to force John Connor to wash his hair?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs Monday evenings at 9 pm on FOX.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Biggest Loser (NBC; 8-10 pm); Reaper (CW); Just for Laughs/Just for Laughs (ABC); American Idol (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: Comanche Moon (CBS; 9-11 pm); One Tree Hill (CW); According to Jim/Carpoolers (ABC)

10 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Boston Legal (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Life on Mars on BBC America.

Season Two of the brilliant UK import Life on Mars continues tonight with a brand-new episode. On tonight's installment, a drunken Gene Hunt turns up at Sam's flat in the middle of the night to make a shocking confession...

Skull and Bones: New Eps of "Bones" in April; Sneak Peek of "Sarah Connor"

Bad news for fans of FOX's forensic drama Bones.

No, before the letter-writing campaigns begin (complete with massive mountains of Paul Smith striped socks being sent to FOX executives, no doubt), the series hasn't been canceled... but fans of the drama, currently in its third season, will have to wait quite a while for new episodes.

FOX has once again tweaked its midseason schedule and announced that, in addition to a berth on Friday evenings, Bones will pop up on the Monday night lineup at 8 pm, beginning in April.

While the above is hardly reason for concern, it's the fact that FOX is pushing the remaining four produced episodes of Bones, which were meant to air during February sweeps, to April 28th.

Which means that anyone waiting for another fix of Brennan and Booth is going to have to cool their heels for quite some time. It also means that FOX is dead serious about digging their heels in for the long term, preparing for the eventuality that the strike will not end in time to get the 2007-08 season back on track...

In other FOX programming news, Terminator fans can get a sneak peek at the pilot for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, starring Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Richard T Jones over at Yahoo, beginning tonight at 9 pm PT/midnight ET.

Personally, I was let down by the pilot when I saw it in early May, so I am curious to see if there have been any significant changes since then... But I will admit that I am curious to see how they manage to replace Owain Yeoman (The Nine) with Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men) after the pilot episode...

FOX Reconfigures Midseason Slate Amid Extended Strike

Well, that's one less unscripted series to worry about clogging up air time this spring.

FOX has pulled reality series When Women Rule the World off its schedule, benching the series until this summer, a move which has freed up real estate on its now 24-free Monday night lineup.

According to Variety, the decision to cut When Women Rule the World "could have come down to a sales issue. On the surface, When Women Rule the World -- which follows a group of women who control a group of men -- does not sound like something advertisers would be keen on.

New midseason dramas Canterbury's Law--starring Julianna Margulies as a hard-edged attorney who takes whatever is necessary to win a case (though one to whom Damages' Patty Hewes wouldn't likely give a second thought)--and New Amsterdam, about an immortal detective (no, not Angel... or Moonlight) will now launch on Monday nights.

Both series will launch after Prison Break and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles wrap their shortened runs on Monday evenings, behind repeats of House.

Also on tap: midseason series The Return of Jezebel James, Unhitched, and Thursday night installments of American Idol, along with reality series Moment of Truth.

While I am not particularly keen on any of FOX's midseason entries, I'm at least glad that some of them are scripted series that were held over until now, rather than ghastly strike-replacement programming like When Women Rule the World.

Casting Couch: "Sarah Connor Chronicles" To Get New Villain?

Hmmm, could heroine Sarah Connor be getting a new villain already?

That's the way it appears, anyway, thanks to a new casting notice that's gone out today concerning the midseason drama The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The FOX actioner, a weekly TV spin-off of the Terminator franchise, has secured the talents of Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood) as a character named Cromartie, a substitute teacher at the high school where John Connor attends.

And, oh yeah, SPOILER ALERT time: the "mysterious" Cromartie is a Terminator unit send back in time to kill Sarah (Lena Headey) and John Connor (Thomas Dekker). Dillahunt is no stranger to playing a time-displaced villain; after all, he played the Machiavellian Matthew Ross on The 4400 for 11 episodes.

What's the problem? Well, in the pilot that had been shot for Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cromartie was played by The Nine's Owain Yeoman and I actually thought he did an admirable job, considering the pilot itself was rather dicey.

So, is Yeoman off The Sarah Connor Chronicles? It would appear so, but no mention was given in Hollywood Reporter that Dillahunt would be replacing him in the role. Curious.

Dillahunt can be seen right now on the big screen in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and will appear in a multiple-episode storyline on FX's Damages.

FOX Orders Seven Series, Including "Jezebel James," While CBS Begins Staffing Two

With NBC and ABC announcing multiple series orders for their pilots, FOX had to get in the game as well, quietly ordering three dramas and three comedies to series yesterday.

I'm thrilled to report that one of my favorite comedy pilot scripts, Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Return of Jezebel James, has received a series order for fall. The series, which stars Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as estranged sisters who reunite when the older, more responsible one (Posey) asks the her flaky irresponsible sib (Ambrose) to carry her baby. It also stars Gilmore Girls' Scott Cohen (remember Max Medina?) and features the series' trademark snap, crackle, and pop witty banter that made Sherman-Palladino a favorite in the Televisionary household.

What else was ordered? The Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton-led Back to You (a.k.a. Action News), which had already received a 13-episode order from FOX earlier this year, was on the shortlist, along with The Rules of Starting Over, starring Craig Bierko and Rashida Jones (sorry, members of Team Karen) as 30-somethings who are forced to re-enter the treacherous waters of dating past 30. Both come from 20th Century Fox Television; Back to You will reportedly be paired with 'Til Death, which has gotten a second season renewal.

On the drama side, the kick-ass Sarah Connor Chronicles, starring Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, and Summer Glau, got a series order; series takes place between the second and third installments in the Terminator feature film franchise as Sarah Connor tries to protect her son John, who might be destined to be humanity's last hope in the war against the machines. One problem: there are others who are just as interested in John's survival... and death as she is. Project comes from Warner Bros. Television. I can't wait to see this pilot next week. Fingers crossed that it's as good as the script I read.

Also ordered: K-Ville, Canterbury's Law, and New Amsterdam, three of my least favorite dramas this development season. K-Ville's been getting some decent buzz in the last few days, but I just couldn't warm up to this story of post-Katrina New Orleans cops, nor to the dopiness of New Amsterdam's plot about an man, cursed with immortality, who works as a cop in New York City, hoping to find his one true love so he can be freed from his prison of eternal life. (Me, I'd rather watch repeats of Angel.) And Canterbury's Law, starring Juliana Margulies, just struck me as yet another yawn-inducing legal drama.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that Victor Fresco's comedy pilot, Deeply Irresponsible, gets a green light as well. And I'm intrigued enough by David Eick and John McNamara's Them to want to see more...

* * *

Meanwhile, over at CBS, things are looking extremely well for drama pilots Cane (formerly known as Los Duques), that stars--among a cast of dozens--Jimmy Smits and Rome's Polly Walker as members of warring clans in the sugarcane/rum industry, and Swingtown (starring Grant Show and Jack Davenport). Both shows were reportedly given the go-ahead to start staffing, meaning that an official series order will be forthcoming. Interesting...

FOX announces its official fall schedule on Thursday, May 17th and CBS will make its upfront announcements on Wednesday, May 16th. Stay tuned.

Casting Couch: "Sarah Connor" Gets Her Terminators in Glau and Yeoman

In pilot casting news, FOX's The Sarah Connor Chronicles, starring Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker, has firmed up the rest of its cast.

Some of you may recall that, back in December, I alluded to the casting of "certain actress who has herself appeared on two cult genre television series." I can finally reveal who I was speaking of, as it was officially announced that Summer Glau (Firefly, The 4400) has been cast as the second female lead in the pilot: a young female Terminator assigned to protect Thomas Dekker's John Connor. (I can't tell you how hard it was to keep that news a secret.)

Also cast: Owain Yeoman (The Nine, Kitchen Confidential) who will play another Terminator, Cromartie, who appears in the pilot and is not quite as helpful as Glau's character. In fact, he'll be pursuing the Connors as the story begins.

Having read the script, I can say that it is a kick-ass action/adventure series but with some grounding in the real world as well. And, oh, despite the shifting timeframe, it does take place in the current day.

Casting Couch: Hero Thomas Dekker to "Chronicle" John Connor

Cast the cheerleader's friend, save the world.

Looks like Heroes' Claire may just need a new confidant. Actor Thomas Dekker, who plays Zach on Heroes, has just been cast as 15-year-old John Connor in FOX's pilot for The Sarah Connor Chronicles, from Warner Bros. Television.

Dekker joins the previously cast Lena Headey, who will portray John's kick-ass momma Sarah Connor in the pilot, which follows the adventures of the single mom and her saviour-to-humanity-to-be after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. (For the uninitiated, their roles were originally played by Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton.)

Rumor has it that the troika of warriors that comprise a new take on the, heh, nuclear family in the pilot has been fully cast: by a certain actress who has herself appeared on two cult genre television series. Let the guessing begin.

Casting Couch: Lena Headey To Take On "Sarah Connor"

Buh bye, Linda Hamilton. And hello, Lena Headey.

Lena Headey has landed the sought-after role of Sarah Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, FOX's pilot based on the Terminator franchise. Series would focus on Sarah and her teenage son John as they battle villains from the future in contemporary Los Angeles. Action is said to be set between T2 and T3 installments. Project comes from Warner Bros. Television. Josh Friedman (The War of the Worlds) has written the pilot script and David Nutter (Supernatural) will direct the pilot for 2007-2008 consideration.

The Bermudan-born Headey is herself no stranger to playing action roles. Last season, she starred in the botched pilot Ultra for CBS, in which she played a female superhero with a number of abilities. She's also appeared in many features, including The Brothers Grimm, Ripley's Game, and Gossip.

Does anyone else find it strange that the two actresses who have now played Sarah Connor share the same initials? Coincidence? Or a message from the future?