NBC Picks Up Chuck for 24-Episode Full Season (And, yes, Picks Up Chase Too)

No couch-lock here: NBC has picked up action-comedy Chuck for a full season.

Yes, it's official: the Peacock has indicated that Chuck's current fourth season will get its back nine episodes plus an additional two, bringing this season's total to 24 installments. The series had initially been renewed this season for just 13 episodes.

The news comes significantly earlier than last season, when the show's writers had completed a 13-episode arc (it launched in January rather than September) before receiving word of a back-nine pickup, leading to a mini-season in which Chuck and Sarah became a full-blown couple.

“Chase has introduced an appealing new star to television audiences in Kelli Giddish and we think it has potential to grow,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement. “We also are glad that Chuck will be with us for a full season delivering its loyal, passionate audience.” [Editor: Bromstad seems to have forgotten about Past Life, clearly.]

In other news, NBC also picked up a full season of Jerry Bruckheimer's procedural drama Chase and ordered four additional scripts for J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims' espionage dramedy Undercovers.

So, Chuck fans: are you excited about the full season? And that the writers will be able to plan accordingly this time? Head to the comments section to discuss.

The full press release from NBC can be found below.

NBC ORDERS FULL-SEASON PICKUPS FOR NEW DRAMA ‘CHASE’ AND FOR RETURNING ‘CHUCK’
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – October 19, 2010 – NBC has given full-season pickups to the new high-octane drama “Chase” and the returning action-comedy “Chuck” for 2010-11. The announcement was made by Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

“‘Chase’ has introduced an appealing new star to television audiences in Kelli Giddish and we think it has potential to grow,” said Bromstad. “We also are glad that ‘Chuck’ will be with us for a full season delivering its loyal, passionate audience.”

“Chase” is averaging a 2.0 rating, 5 share in adults 18-49 and 6.5 million viewers overall in “most current” averages through its first five telecasts this fall. "Chase" has captured an 18 percent improvement in the time period versus year-ago "most current" results for NBC in 18-49 rating (with a 2.0 rating vs. a 1.7) and a 23 percent gain in total viewers (6.5 million vs. 5.3 million). "Chase" is heavily time-shifted, adding 21 percent to its "live plus same day" 18-49 rating when Nielsen issued "live plus seven day" results for the opening two weeks of the season (to a 2.66 rating from a 2.19).

Through October 18, “Chuck” has averaged a 2.2 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers overall in "most current" averages from Nielsen Media Research. “Chuck” is heavily time-shifted, adding 29 percent to its "live plus same day" 18-49 rating when Nielsen issued "live plus seven day" results for the opening two weeks of the season (to a 2.56 rating from a 1.99).”

“Chase” (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) -- from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“CSI” franchise, “The Amazing Race,” “Pirates of the Caribbean”) and executive producer Jennifer Johnson ("Cold Case," "Reunion," "Lost") -- is a lightning-fast drama that showcases an elite team of U.S. Marshals that hunts down America's most dangerous fugitives. Kelli Giddish (“Past Life”) stars as U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down violent criminals on the run. Also starring are Cole Hauser (“K-Ville”), Amaury Nolasco (“Prison Break”) and Rose Rollins (“The L Word”). Jesse Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives”) also stars.

“Chase” is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. Television. Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman (“CSI” franchise, “The Amazing Race,” "Cold Case”) and Johnson are as executive producers, while KristieAnne Reed is the co-executive producer.

“Chuck” (Mondays, 8-9 p.m. ET) stars Zachary Levi ("Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel") as Chuck Bartowksi, a regular guy who also happens to be the government’s most vital secret agent. The cast also includes Adam Baldwin ("My Bodyguard") as Colonel John Casey and Yvonne Strahovski (the upcoming "The Killer Elite") as partner Sarah Walker. Also starring are: Joshua Gomez ("Without a Trace"), Sarah Lancaster ("What About Brian?"), Ryan McPartlin ("Living with Fran"), Mark Christopher Lawrence ("The Pursuit of Happyness"), Vik Sahay ("Time Bomb"), Scott Krinsky ("The O.C.") and Bonita Friedericy ("The West Wing").

"Chuck" is co-created by Josh Schwartz ("The O.C.," "Gossip Girl") and Chris Fedak, and is executive-produced by Schwartz, McG ("Charlie's Angels," "Terminator Salvation"), Fedak, Robert Duncan McNeill, and Nicholas Wootton. "Chuck" is produced by Fake Empire, Wonderland Sound and Vision, in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Channel Surfing: Incredible Hulk to Smash ABC, Wentworth Miller Spies Spartacus, HBO Eyes Tea Leoni, Weeds' Shane, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Hulk smash... TV? The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd and Brys Kit are reporting that ABC and Marvel are developing a television series based on comic "The Incredible Hulk," which was previously a 1978-82 television series that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Hulk is one of two projects, along with Cloak and Dagger (which is said to be in development at ABC Family), that Marvel Studios has in development, though the company is also said to be looking at other properties to develop as series, including Heroes for Hire, The Eternals, Agents of Atlas, Alter Ego, Moon Knight, The Hood, Ka-Zar, Daughters of the Dragon, and The Punisher, the latter of which is said to also be high on Marvel's radar, possibly as a cable series. [Editor: The story, however, fails to discern between several properties, which it has erroneously merged into single entities.] (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former Prison Break star Wentworth Miller is rumored to be interested in replacing Andy Whitfield as the lead in Starz's gladiator drama Spartacus. Whitfield has dropped out of the project due to the recurrence of his cancer and the need for medical treatment. "But is Miller right for the part?" asks Ausiello. "Since his Fox series wrapped, he’s been largely out of the limelight. And when he has been spotted, he hasn’t quite been the picture of buffness that the sand-and-sandals epic demands. Of course, that’s nothing a month or two with a personal trainer couldn’t fix." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO is weighing a pilot order for fashion-based comedy Spring/Fall, which would star Tea Leoni (who will also executive produce) as "half of a dysfunctional partnership between two women with different approaches to career, family, and friendship," set against the New York fashion world. Project, written by Kate Robin, would be executive produced by Leoni, Robin, Jimmy Miller, and RJ Cutler (The September Issue). (Deadline)

TVGuide.com's Mickey O'Connor has an interview with Weeds star Alexander Gould, who plays teenager/murderer/croquet star Shane Botwin. "He was as normal as could be, given the circumstances," said Gould when asked about initially playing Shane at the start of the first season. "When he learned about his mother's operation, he became sort of like the family's moral compass. I remember early on I had to say the F-word and I was really hesitant about it. Over time, Shane just got more confident and odd. I felt like Shane really was just [slowly] going crazy. He put that craziness away and it manifested itself in a funny way. He always seemed a little out of it." (TVGuide.com)

SPOILER!Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello as a first look at an upcoming scene from NBC's The Event featuring some, uh, surprising transformations for the survivors of Avias Air Flight 514. “They’re [undergoing] a transformation that could eventually lead to death,” creator Nick Wauters told Ausiello. Wauters also indicated that Thomas will “use them as leverage to try and get the president to free his people.” (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Don't expect remakes of The Rockford Files or Prime Suspect to turn up on NBC this midseason, according to Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice. [Editor: I wasn't as it's widely known that both in deep development.] Both projects are back in development following a disastrous pilot for Rockford and the lack of a lead for Prime Suspect, both of which will now be overseen by Peter Berg. Should Rockford move ahead, look for someone to replace Dermot Mulroney as Jim Rockford. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Casting roundup: John Heard and Evan Handler have joined the cast of Curtis Hanson's HBO telepic Too Big to Fail, while Kathy Baker has joined the cast of Lifetime pilot Against the Wall, where she will play the mother of Rachael Carpani's Abby. (Deadline)

ABC ordered four more scripts for family drama No Ordinary Family, while the CW ordered two more scripts for Life Unexpected, while ABC also gave additional script orders to Brothers and Sisters and Off the Map as well. Brothers and Sisters received an order for four additional scripts, while Map got one more. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin, Variety)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Secret Millionaire is going to get the plum Sunday at 8 pm timeslot currently occupied by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for a six-episode run starting March 6th. "That is the Sunday after the Academy Awards, with ABC planning to heavily promote Secret Millionaire during the awards broadcast," writes Andreeva. "For ABC, which has no football, the Oscars are the most-watched telecast of the year and the biggest possible promotional platform for its shows. Additionally, ABC has asked Secret Millionaire producer Zodiak USA to begin casting on a new cycle, an indication that the network is looking to order more episodes beyond the original 6." (Deadline)

Danny Cohen is the new controller at BBC One, making the move from BBC Three effective immediately. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Emerson/O'Quinn Pilot Targets NBC, Teri Hatcher to Smallville, Goodfellas TV Project, The Good Wife, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

It's official: that Michael Emerson/Terry O'Quinn hit man drama pilot from executive producer J.J. Abrams and writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Alias, Happy Town) is heading to NBC after the Peacock landed the rights to the pilot from studio Warner Bros. Television. The untitled project--which had a working title of Odd Jobs--stars former Lost adversaries Emerson and O'Quinn. Which means that your Dharma-branded fantasies of seeing John Locke and Benjamin Linus on television again might not be coming true exactly, but you may get to see these two in action side-by-side again. (Vulture)

[Editor: Meanwhile, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva has some further details about Abrams' and Elizabeth Sarnoff's Alcatraz, which landed at FOX earlier this week with a pilot order. According to unnamed sources, the project is described as "a show about mysteries, secrets and the most infamous prison of all time: Alcatraz."]

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher will fly over to the CW's Smallville (which kicks off its tenth and final season tomorrow night), where she will guest star in an upcoming episode as--wait for it--the mother of Erica Durance's Lois Lane. Hatcher, who played Lois on ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman for four seasons way back when, will appear as Ella in the season's eighth episode. But don't necessarily think that she'll appear on-screen opposite Durance, given that Lois' mother is believed to be dead at this point. "In episode 8, titled 'Abandoned,' Lois discovers old videotapes of her mother," writes Ausiello. "I think you can figure the rest out for yourself. Am I right?" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Mike Fleming is reporting that several studios are in the running to land a television pilot project based on Martin Scorsese's 1990 feature film Goodfellas, which was written by Nicholas Pileggi. Pileggi is said to be on board to write the pilot and Warner Bros. Television is believed to be the top studio in the running to produce the project, given that the feature film arm released the original film. Fleming indicates that Irwin Winkler would likely be the executive producer on the project. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove will guest star on CBS' The Good Wife in a November episode where she will play Sloan, described as "a troubled pop star who is arrested on a DUI charge" and with whom "Alicia finds herself bonding with the misunderstood tabloid magnet." Cosgrove will appear in the November 16th episode. “We’re big iCarly fans, so we really couldn’t think of anyone better for this role than Miranda Cosgrove,” executive producer Robert King told Ausiello. “We were thrilled when she agreed to do it. It’ll be fun to see her handle both the comedy and drama in the role, and we can’t wait to see how she’ll play across from Julianna.” (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX is getting into business again with Fringe co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who were behind this season's Hawaii Five-0 resurrection and also landed a series commitment from the network for Locke & Key. FOX has given a pilot order to drama pilot Exit Strategy, from writer David Guggenheim, which is described by Deadline's Nellie Andreeva as "as a high octane procedural set in the world of CIA agents who are sent in to 'fix' operations gone bad." (Deadline)

FOX has also given a script order to drama The Detail, from writer/executive producer Jason Smilovic, executive producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and director Michael Dinner, from Sony Pictures Television. According to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva, "it is described as Ocean’s Eleven meets Revenge of the Nerds" and "centers on a private detective, who, after being released from jail for a crime he didn’t commit, assembles a group of rejects, each with a unique talent, to form a detective agency and bring down his old business partner who framed him." (Deadline)

Elsewhere, ABC Studios signed a format deal with Mediaset for a US remake of a drama format entitled Anti-Mafia Squad, with Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo attached as executive producers. Project is being regarded as a possible summer series for ABC, though no networks have been pitched on the idea yet. Cougar Town star Courteney Cox has been given a script order for 911 Operators, a drama pilot that she'll executive produce with husband David Arquette, which focuses on, well, 911 operators. (Variety)

Showtime has officially announced launch dates for Shameless, Episodes, and the return of Californication on Sunday, January 9th. The two new series were slated to begin the following day and air on Mondays. But Showtime has apparently changed its mind and scheduled all three series together in a single two-hour block on Sundays. Californication will kick off the night at 9 pm ET/PT, followed by Episodes, while the US adaptation of British drama Shameless will close out the night at 10 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

In other Showtime news, Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage) will guest star in three episodes of the pay cabler's upcoming period drama The Borgias, where she will play Sancia, a Neapolitan princess who marries the Pope's youngest son but has her eye on his brother. Series is set to launch in Spring 2011. (via press release)

Fancast's Matt Mitovich is reporting that Serina Swan (Smallville) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Supernatural, in which she will play "a news reporter chronicling an unsettling series of suicides." She's set to appear in the fourth episode fo the sixth season, which kicks off tomorrow night. (Fancast)

Wolfgang Petersen and Ron Shelton are said to be developing period racing drama Kings of Speed for pay cabler Starz, which is being viewed as a possible ten-hour limited series focusing on the international automobile racing circuit of the 1950s and 19960s, Enzo Ferrari, and "the underground car culture of Southern California." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Breaking Bad Won't Return Until July 2011, Nigel Lythgoe Closes Idol Deal, Zombies Vs. Vampires at NBC, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Could it be almost a year before Breaking Bad heads back to AMC? According to a Deadline interview with series lead Bryan Cranston, Season Four of Breaking Bad may not launch until July 2011, over a year after the end of last season. "I think what AMC is thinking here is there will be less competition for us -- particularly from the broadcast networks -- if we launch our season during the summer than if we come back again like we did this time in March," said Cranston. However, AMC and Sony Pictures Television will produce 3-4 minute mini-episodes of Breaking Bad that will run on AMC's website during the break. "The idea is to keep people aware and interested in the show during the long time away,” Cranston told Deadline. “But I, for one, am eager to make these little interstitials important. I don’t want them to be simply filler or recap, but something that actually moves the storyline forward. If we’re going to do it, it ought to be a real part of the larger show." (Deadline)

Well, at least FOX confirmed something: former American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe will return to the musical competition series, where he will serve alongside Simon Fuller Cecile Frot-Coutaz, and Ken Warwick for Season Ten of Idol, which launches in January. "Since we launched the original Pop Idol in England, I’ve remained close with Simon Fuller," said Lythgoe in a statement. "Working as executive producer on American Idol for its first seven years not only was an inspirational journey into the heart of American pop culture, it opened my eyes to the untapped potential of the incredibly dynamic young people in this world. I have been able to continue discovering raw talent on So You Think You Can Dance, which I co-created with Simon. American Idol became a juggernaut of epic proportions, but to me it was always like home. I am elated and honored to be rejoining childhood friend and fellow executive producer Ken Warwick, and look forward to creating more magic." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Variety's Michael Schneider has a Q&A with Lythgoe about his return to American Idol in which they discuss his return to the series and his criticisms of the musical competition series. "I think some of my concerns were that over the last couple of years we've lost sight of the fact that the most important people in the production are the young artists," Lythgoe told Schneider. "And it's revolved around the judges, it's revolved around Kara coming in to make four judges, which often left them no time for them to talk at any great length. Certainly there are times I watched the show where Simon didn't even get a chance to say anything. Then it was about Paula leaving. Then it was all about Ellen joining. And somewhere in all of that muddle of judges the show was losing sight of the actual contestants. And I think we were also losing chemistry between the judges. And I will go back now and hopefully point out now that it isn't about stars, or what people did in the past of might do in the future that makes a good judge. It's about chemistry and it's about a team." (Variety's On the Air)

Could NBC be taking a page from AMC's playbook and going after the zombie-loving crowd? Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that NBC has signed a script deal for Austin Winsberg's spec script Zombies Vs. Vampires, described as a "fun buddy cop procedural" with supernatural overtones. Project, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Wonderland, is executive produced by McG, Peter Johnson, and Winsberg. "It is set in a world where zombies are a part of society, controllable with medication," writes Andreeva. "The show's two leads (one secretly a vampire) are cops assigned to a squad specifically formed to deal with 'zombie crime.'" (Deadline)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has a series of video interviews with Chuck's Zachary Levi and the rest of the cast in which they tease details about Season Four, including the return of Nicole Ritchie, the casting of Linda Hamilton, Chuck and Sarah's relationship, and much more. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

AMC is said to be thisclose to handing out a series order to crime drama The Killing, based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen. (The US version is written by Veena Sud and directed by Patty Jenkins.) Project, from Fox Television Studios, stars Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes, Brent Sexton, Kristin Lehman, Eric Ladin, Jamie Anne Allman, and Joel Kinnaman. [Editor: I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this pans out as I loved the pilot script and would watch Enos in anything.] (Deadline)

MAJOR SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has details on just who Timothy Olyphant (FX's Justified) will be playing on NBC's The Office when he drops by Scranton next year. Ausiello reports that Olyphant will be playing "a rival paper salesman with a deep, dark secret: He used to date Pam!" Watch out, Jim... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Variety's Michael Schneider is reporting that former United States of Tara showrunner Jill Soloway has signed on to executive produce Zooey Deschanel's HBO comedy I'm With the Band, as well as Season Two of How to Make It in America. (Variety)

Russell Brand will play himself on the upcoming season of The Simpsons, reports TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck. Brand's episode, entitled "Angry Dad -- The Movie," is slated to air in early 2011 and will see him join Halle Berry and Ricky Gervais in the installment, which will feature "Bart and Homer [heading] to Los Angeles after they're nominated for an Academy Award for their animated short based on Bart's cartoon webseries, Angry Dad." (TV Guide Magazine)

NBC has pulled its self-help reality series Breakthrough with Tony Robbins from the schedule, effective immediately. The network will slate repeats of Minute to Win It in the timeslot. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Warner Bros. Television International has signed a package deal with UK's Five, under which the channel will receive exclusive terrestrial and digital right to Season Three of The Mentalist, while Five USA gets rights to Dark Blue and Blade, and Fiver gets Human Target. (Variety)

In other news, the studio is also set to acquire indie production company Shed Media (the makers of Supernanny and The Choir), in a deal said to be worth nearly £100 million. (Broadcast)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: HBO's Miraculous Year Lands Lee Pace, Team Darlton Talk Lost, Friday Night Lights, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, HBO's drama pilot Miraculous Year, from executive producer Kathryn Bigelow just got even more miraculous. The project, which is described as "an examination of a New York family as seen through the eyes of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer," just signed a slew of stars to round out its cast, including former Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace, Linus Roache (Law & Order), and Stark Sands (Generation Kill)... who will join the already high-wattage cast of Eddie Redmayne, Hope Davis, Frank Langella, and Patti LuPone. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Megan Masters spoke to former Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the ABC drama's Emmy nominations now that the series has wrapped up its six-season run... and why they chose to break their radio silence. "Every year after the finale we've always gone into radio silence just because we're pretty sick of ourselves, so we can't even imagine what everybody else thinks of us," said Lindelof. "And we've always broken our radio silence at Comic-Con, and this year we're obviously not going to Comic-Con because it's about promoting something to come. The idea of looking back on the show is not something we were particularly interested in, looking back at ourselves. But around a week ago, Carlton and I had both been on vacation and received an email from someone at ABC asking [if we would] be willing to do some press. And that was our first contact with each other where it was like, alright, of course. If the show gets recognized, it feels totally appropriate for us to express out feelings about how awesome that is. There's no reason to not talk about Lost ever again, it's just not in our DNA. Had the show not been nominated for anything, I'm sure Carlton and I would have emerged at some appropriate time over the summer to talk about—" "To begin begging for work at Starbucks," Cuse cut him off, laughing. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Elsewhere, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva also caught up with Team Darlton to discuss the 12 Emmy nominations that Lost racked up yesterday and on the divisive series finale. "I do feel we spent so much time talking about how we were gonna end the show (we started getting questions about that right after the pilot) so the fact that we ended it on our own terms makes us feel absolutely no regrets," said Lindelof. "We acknowledge that it was always a polarizing show that created many theories and made fans passionate about it. It wouldn’t be Lost if everyone loved the finale, but we’re pretty pleased." (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello caught up with Friday Night Lights's Connie Britton, who received an Emmy nomination alongside her co-star Kyle Chandler yesterday and who thought that "there must be some mistake." (Aw.) Asked whether she had received an interesting phone calls after the nomination, Britton replied, "I just had a really fun phone call with our executive producer Sarah Aubrey. She works with Peter Berg and has been involved with Friday Night Lights since the movie, and is arguably one of the most passionate people ever about this show. She was like, 'I was doing Pilates and I just unabashedly started jumping up and down!' It’s just exciting. We’re about to wrap the show—we’re two weeks away from wrapping the show—and it’s been really melancholy. I’m just feeling it. I’m feeling it approaching—the end is near. So this just feels like such an unexpected surprise and present." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Remember the rumor floating about the other day that the star of Vicky Cristina Barcelona would be dropping by Glee as a rock star who befriends Artie? Apparently, there's no truth to that story whatsoever, according to Los Angeles Times's Maria Elena Fernandez. A 20th Century Fox Television spokesperson has denied reports that Javier Bardem--and Snoop Dogg--would be appearing on FOX's Glee next season. (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

With Steve Carell set to leave NBC's The Office at the end of next season, one of the show's producers has her sights on his replacement. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to co-executive producer Mindy Kaling about her pick to take over as the boss in Scranton. "I’d love to see Rainn Wilson in that position,” said Kaling. “Dwight has become so nuanced — you actually care about him now. I think if [we did a good job laying the groundwork] this coming season, he would be a fantastic boss... But that’s my dream. It certainly hasn’t been approved by people that are more powerful than me and who make those kinds of decisions." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has announced premiere dates for all of its new and returning fall series (except, that is, for Body of Proof and Secret Millionaire):

September 20th:
Dancing with the Stars
Castle

September 21st:
Detroit 1-8-7

September 22nd:
The Middle
Better With You (formerly known as Better Together)
Modern Family
Cougar Town
The Whole Truth

September 23rd:
My Generation
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice

September 24th:
20/20

September 26th:
America's Funniest Home Videos
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Desperate Housewives
Brothers & Sisters

September 28th:
No Ordinary Family
Dancing with the Stars Results Show

You'll notice that while ABC did change the the title of one of its series, that series isn't Cougar Town, which will keep its title going into its sophomore season after all. (via press release)

Comedy Central has ordered a script for multi-camera comedy Brothers From Another Mother, which will feature comedians Ralphie May and Lavell Crawford as long-time friends who discover that, despite their racial differences, they are actually brothers when their father dies and leaves them his barbeque business. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lewis fans, take heart: ITV has ordered a fifth season of Lewis, comprised of four episodes. (Broadcast)

File under litigious: Hayden Christensen is using USA, claiming that the network stole his idea about a concierge doctor who makes house calls to his wealthy patients and turned it into its dramedy series Royal Pains, now in its second season. Christesen and his brother Tove filed the lawsuit in New York District Court. "The brothers allegedly brought the idea for a concierge doctor show titled Housecall to USA and met with Alex Pepiol, who at the time was manager of original scripted series programing at the network," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Eriq Gardner. "They say they also sent him materials including a treatment, character biographies and show ideas." (Hollywood Reporter)

Season Four of reality series LA Ink will kick off on TLC on Wednesday, August 11th at 10 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: White Collar Nabs Hilarie Burton, Natasha Henstridge Gets Drop Dead Role, Jim Parsons on Big Bang Move, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Fancast's Matt Mitovich is reporting that former One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton has signed on to appear in a six-episode story arc on Season Two of USA's White Collar, where she'll play Sarah Ellis, a new love interest for Matthew Bomer's Neal Caffrey, who is described as "an insurance investigator-slash-white collar bounty hunter who has a bit of a score to settle with Neal." Bomer's Neal will quickly find himself enmeshed in a game of cat and mouse with Sarah. Season Two of White Collar is set to launch Tuesday, July 13th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Fancast)

Former Eli Stone star Natasha Henstridge is heading back to the courtroom, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, who reports that Henstridge has signed on to a multiple-episode story arc on Season Two of Lifetime's legal dramedy Drop Dead Diva, which returns June 6th. She'll play the "heretofore-unseen partner at Harrison & Parker," according to Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Megan Masters talks to The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons about the CBS comedy's move to Thursdays next season and Sheldon's new love interest, played by Mayim Bialik. "I am optimistically excited about it," said Parsons about Big Bang Theory's new scheduling. "We all know the world of television is unpredictable...but I do feel hopeful about it. It will be very exciting to be a part of a new night of comedy, a new section of comedy, whatever it turns into. My initial reaction was slight disbelief because I didn't see it coming, but as the day wore on I felt like this could be good. It will certainly keep things exciting and interesting. CBS has always been with us. From really very early on they've done these moves like this that made you realize that they have a lot of faith in the show." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

SPOILER! (If you haven't seen last night's 24 series finale) Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice has an interview with 24 executive producer Howard Gordon about the series finale, which aired last night. "Yes, that was very much designed from the beginning," said Gordon when asked if he knew early on that the season would end with Jack going off the rails. "How it would end, however, was something that was really unknown. I saw a little bit further ahead than I generally do, and we wanted to knit Jack and Renee together, only to take them apart, and for that to have a really profound effect on Jack. That’s about as far as we knew in the broad strokes. How that was going to happen, and how it would impact Allison Taylor and Chloe — those were late-to-the-party additions that I think helped bolster that initial idea." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has the skinny on the fake spoiler that Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse attempted to put out into the ether, one that the series ending with a wedding between Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim). "But this wedding, unlike the Kwons' first one (with special guest Jacob), was actually a red herring planted by producers to throw off any spoiler hounds trying to sniff around finale storylines," writes Dos Santos. "According to reliable sources close to the show, a fake call sheet was sent out to the entire cast and extended crew detailing a Jin and Sun wedding scene for the finale. The 'spoiler' never leaked." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that ABC has put five drama scripts into development for spring, hoping land two pilot orders from the pack of new projects. These include the Sony Pictures Television-produced reboot of Charlie's Angels, from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Department Zero, and three projects from ABC Studios: Ghostworld, from Ian Sanders and Kim Moses (Ghost Whisperer), Behind the Blue, from executive producer Taye Diggs, and medical drama Island of Women, from Matthew Gross. These are on top of the six more scripts ordered for Rand Ravich's quirky bounty hunter drama Edgar Floats. (Deadline)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks to Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford about the fact that Crawford's Nate Archibald desperately needs a new love interest on the CW drama series... and that it likely won't be Taylor Momsen's Jenny. "I always thought [Nate and Jenny] was a little weird," Crawford admitted. "There's the age gap, she's still in high school..." Meanwhile, Crawford indicated to Dos Santos that the shocking season finale might point to a darker Nate next season. "That may be where they're going," Crawford said. "It'd be fun to play. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one getting shot next year." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

SPOILER! Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Gossip Girl producers are casting the role of Eva, described as " an utterly gorgeous female in her 20s or 30s who boasts a warm heart and an authentic French accent." Eva will be the new love interest for Chuck, natch, as shooting gets underway in New York and Paris in July. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jace Alexander (Burn Notice) will direct the Syfy action-adventure drama pilot Three Inches, which is said to focus on "an underachiever who develops a unique 'super' power after being struck by lightning — the ability to move any object by 3 inches using his mind – and is soon recruited by a covert team of superheroes." (Deadline)

Meanwhile, Nellie Andreeva also reports that Ken Sanzel (NUMB3RS) is in the process of closing a deal to come aboard new CBS drama series Blue Bloods as showrunner. (Deadline)

Overall deal roundup: Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Greg Malins, newly installed as executive producer/co-showrunner on ABC comedy Better Together, has signed a two-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television... and Zach Reiter (CSI: NY) has signed a two-year overall deal with CBS Studios, which will keep him aboard the crime procedural and develop new projects for the studio. (Deadline)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: CBS Mulling "Criminal Minds" Spin-off, John Simm Talks "Doctor Who" Send-Off for Tennant, Kevin Zegers Hears "Gossip" Call, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

CBS is said to be developing a potential spin-off from its crime drama series Criminal Minds that will be created by showrunner/executive producer Ed Bernero and executive producer Chris Mundy, the latter of which will write the script for the potential spin-off which will air as an episode of Criminal Minds later this season. No concrete details are available but the series is thought to revolve around a new team of FBI agents, rather than focusing on any of the existing Criminal Minds characters. (Hollywood Reporter)

John Simm (Life on Mars), who returns to Doctor Who to reprise his role as The Master this winter, has said that David Tennant's swan song on the British sci-fi series is a "brilliant send-off" for Tennant and the Tenth Doctor. "It'll be a brilliant send-off for Mr Tennant," said Simm. "Last time I did it it was such fun to do. It was wonderful to be asked back and to be in the very, very last one. To go head-to-head with him was a really honour. It was lovely to be asked. It was a great, great experience. We had such fun doing it. Hopefully it'll come across." (BBC News)

Kevin Zegers (The Jane Austen Book Club) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's Gossip Girl as the potential love interest for Taylor Momsen's Jenny. Zegers will play Damien, "an international bad boy who somehow gets tied up with the likes of little Jenny Humphrey—-who is, in fact, the new Queen Bee." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) will write the pilot script for an untitled FOX supernatural dramedy, said to be in the style of Shaun of the Dead, about "a group of dysfunctional siblings who are forced to live together in the family's haunted house after their father dies." Project, from executive producers Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Ruggiero and studio 20th Century Fox Television, has received a script order from the network. (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth who guest stars on tonight's episode of FOX's Glee as April Rhodes, a former classmate of Will's who has a certain thing for younger men. "This part is like nothing I've had the chance to do on TV," said Chenoweth of April. "She's very happy when drinking to ease her pain. I also sing in three very different styles, which is always fun and challenging." (TVGuide.com)

FOX has given a pilot presentation order to an untitled animated project from Robot Chicken creators Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Tom Root that will revolve around various characters at home and at high school and will feature traditional, rather than stop-motion, animation. Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that the two-hour pilot for Syfy's Caprica, which launches in January, is hitting the film festival circuit, with airings planned for the San Diego Film Festival as well as the Woodstock Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival in October. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

TLC will relaunch its brand-defining reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight as just... Kate Plus Eight. The newly retitled series will be relaunched on November 2nd and will focus on Kate Gosselin as the single mother of eight children. But don't count Jon Gosselin out just yet; he's set to continue to make appearances on the series, albeit "on a less regular basis." The cabler is also said to be developing a new series for Kate Gosselin for 2010. (Variety)

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Drop Dead Diva) have received script commitments for two projects at FOX and NBC. The FOX project, a legal drama entitled Laney Sparrow, will be written by Dana Calvo (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) and hail from 20th Century Fox Television. The NBC project, dramedy Inside Mary Baxter, is set in a women's prison; that script will be written by Maria Maggenti (Without a Trace), who will executive produce with Zadan and Meron. (Hollywood Reporter)

Billie Piper (Doctor Who), Theo James (Untitled Woody Allen Film), Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval), Sue Johnston (Waking the Dead), and Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) have been cast in BBC One drama Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, based on Mellor's stageplay about a young mother who calls in love with a Polish neighbor and its dangerous consequences over a thirty-year period. Project, from Rollem Productions, will air next year. (BBC)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a two-year overall deal with Cold Case executive producer Greg Plageman, under which he will continue to oversee the CBS drama series with Jennifer Johnson and develop new projects for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will get a chance to watch Warner Bros. Television's new sci-fi series V (which is airing Stateside on ABC), following a deal between the studio and NBC Universal Global Networks that will see the Scott Peters-executive produced series air on the UK's Sci Fi, as well as the midseason drama series Human Target. (Broadcast)

History Channel has ordered several new reality series, including Extreme Trucking, a spin-off of its Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, Madhouse, and Sliced. (Hollywood Reporter)

Camryn Manheim (The Practice) has been cast in Lifetime telepic Pregnancy Pact, opposite Thora Birch and Nancy Travis. She'll play a local nurse who alerts the school to the rising rate of teen pregnancies. Telepic is slated to air in early 2010. (Variety)

Jason Priestley will star in Canadian pay TV comedy Meet Phil Fitz, about a "morally bankrupt" used car salesman who "walks a fine line of acceptable behavior on the lot." Project, from writer/executive producer Sheri Elwood (Defying Gravity). E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film and Television, and Big Motion Pictures, will air on Movie Central and the Movie Network in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Parenthood" Pushed to Midseason, Michelle Forbes Talks "True Blood," Two More Move to Wisteria Lane, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Following an announcement that actress Maura Tierney would require an eight-week medical evaluation for an undisclosed condition, NBC has pushed the start of its drama Parenthood, which was slated to debut on September 23rd, to midseason. The Peacock will instead push up the launch of its midseason medical drama Mercy to the fall, although it is still unclear whether Mercy will inherit Parenthood's Wednesdays at 8 pm timeslot. The production shutdown on Parenthood, meanwhile, will give writers additional time to complete scripts. (Hollywood Reporter)

UPDATE: "In an effort to guard my privacy, it seems that the wording of NBC's press release has unfortunately caused some confusion and undue alarm about my health," said Maura Tierney in an official statement. "I have discovered a tumor in my breast which requires surgery. I will not know either my exact diagnosis or course of treatment until that surgery is performed. My doctors have all assured me this is a very treatable condition. I'm very optimistic as to the outcome and want to thank everyone who has sent positive thoughts and support. I look forward to going back to work soon." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TVGuide.com talks with True Blood's Michelle Forbes about Maryann, the shaking, the pig, and Maryann's interest in Tara. Of the latter, Forbes said, "Tara is just the one of the moment, the conduit into this town. Before her, it was Eggs. Before Eggs, it was someone else. After Tara, it will be someone else. The goal is much larger. Tara is just the most vulnerable and the most susceptible right now." As for the vibrations, Forbes says they "are very integral to who she is. She thrives off the energy of the people around her. When they are in a place of ecstasy, that feeds her. Her appetite is fed off the appetite of others." Hmmm... (TVGuide.com)

Jeffrey Nordling (24) and Beau Mirchoff (The Grudge 3) have been cast in Season Six of ABC's Desperate Housewives as series regulars. Nordling will play a landscape designer who relocates from New York to Wisteria Lane with his wife (Drea de Matteo) and their "tightly wound, sexy and intense son (Mirchoff)." (Hollywood Reporter)

Showtime is said to be developing drama series Revelation, from Dirty Sexy Money creator Craig Wright and executive producer David Janollari. Project, from CBS TV Studios, follows the lives of an "unconventional minister who moves to a Texas church with his two teens after his wife suddenly dies." (Variety)

Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) has joined the cast of CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine in a recurring role. He'll play a therapist and a potential love interest for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Christine Campbell. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sci Fi UK has picked up first run rights to Syfy's newest drama series Warehouse 13, securing both standard definition and HD rights to the series from NBC Universal International Television Distribution. The channel plans to launch the series this autumn. "There was a tremendous buzz ahead of its launch in the US and the first night ratings are testament to what a fantastic show it is," said NBCU Global Network's head of channels. "The special effects and exciting plot twists make it a real gem for our autumn schedule."(Broadcast)

Not unsurprisingly, ShineReveille has acquired worldwide distribution rights to NBC's documentary series The Wanted, which features terrorism experts attempting to track down terrorism suspects around the world. ShineReveille intents to shop the series to outlets around the globe. (Variety)

The New York Times' Bill Carter takes a look at the ratings success that is HBO's True Blood, which has come at a time when the pay cabler desperately needed a hit series following the end of such network-defining series such as The Sopranos and Sex and the City. (New York Times)

TNT has moved its reality series Wedding Day once more, after slotting it in a Tuesday evening timeslot for its series premiere and then shifting it to Thursdays. Wedding Day will now air Saturday mornings at 9 am ET/PT. In other scheduling news, Bravo has announced that it will air yet another Real Housewives special on Thursday, July 23rd, this time for The Real Housewives of Atlanta featuring "lost footage," that will lead into the season finale of The Fashion Show and will air a week ahead of the second season premiere of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. (Futon Critic)

PBS will begin stripping its new reinvention of classic kids' series The Electric Company across weekdays on September 7th. It had previously aired the series in a weekly format, so far airing sixteen of the thirty-five installments it shot in 2008. (Variety)

Lastly, a look at the trailer for ABC's drama acquisition Defying Gravity, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed:



Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Miracle Laurie to Return for "Dollhouse" Season Two, Syfy Hunts for Next Big Space Opera, Terry Kinney Lured by "Mentalist," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon will write and direct the second season opener of the FOX drama. Meanwhile, Miracle Laurie--who played November/Mellie in Season One of Dollhouse WILL be returning for the sophomore season... in some form, anyway. "All I know for sure is that I'm coming back next season," Laurie told the Baltimore Sun. "I don't actually know in what form I'll be back. The writers are kind of teasing me…everybody knows but me." (Baltimore Sun, Twitter)

io9 speaks to Syfy vice president of original programming Mark Stern about the channel's rebrand and its promise to find the next big space opera along the lines of Battlestar Galatica or Firefly. "The next thing that I really want to do is find the next great space opera; it's been a long time," said Stern. "And we have Stargate, but that's really not that show. And Caprica isn't really that show. So where's the next Star Trek or Farscape? Let's find one of those... We don't want to do something that is the same old. You don't want it to feel recycled. So that's the challenge of doing that. I'm a huge fan of Firefly, and shows that take that idea and take that part of the genre and reinvent it in a whole new way. I'd love to find our version of, not specifically Firefly, but similar to what Joss [Whedon] tried to do with that in terms of, "lets recast the Western in space." Love that idea, and I love that show. What's another way to approach that?" (io9)

The Unusuals' Terry Kinney has been cast in Season Two of CBS' The Mentalist, where he will recur as Sam Bosco, "a by-the-book California Bureau of Investigations agent who heads up the division overseeing the Red John case." According to Entertainment Weekly's Micheal Ausiello, Bosco is an ex-lover of Lisbon (Robin Tunney) as well as her mentor and "[t]he two share a deep, dark secret!" (Entertainment Weekly's Micheal Ausiello)

In other Dollhouse-related news, The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan reports that the missing thirteen episode of Dollhouse's first season, entitled "Epitaph One," will be available for download on iTunes beginning August 11th. The episode will NOT be available via Hulu. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

CSI creator Anthony Zuiker's Dare to Pass shingle has signed a new two-year first-look deal with CBS Television Studios, under which he will develop scripted and unscripted series. "Making a one-off TV show is not going to sustain a real business anymore," said Zuiker. "It starts with a great TV show, but then becomes a 24/7 experience. It's Web, mobile, gaming. From device to device to device." (Variety)

FOX has given a script commitment with a penalty to an untitled dramedy project, from Greg Malins (How I Met Your Mother) and mystery novelist Harlan Coben, about a psychotic former private investigator with a lack of inhibitions (the result of a bullet wound to his frontal lobe) who teaches a university criminology class in Los Angeles and solves crimes with his graduate students. Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television, where Malins has an overall deal. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bravo has announced an August 26th start date for Top Chef: Las Vegas and unveiled the seventeen contestants competing for the title next season as well as the guest judges, who include such notables as Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Tyler Florence, Penn & Teller, and Nigella Lawson. (Televisionary)

Eric McCormack (Trust Me) will guest star in an upcoming episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He'll appear in next season's second episode as a handsome sugar daddy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

More off-net sales for NBC comedy 30 Rock following a deal between NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution and FOX and Tribune station groups on an all-barter basis, with the series launching in fall of 2011. 30 Rock will be "double-run six days a week in access and late-fringe time periods," with NBC Universal getting three minutes of ad time and local stations getting four minutes. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Lifetime has unveiled the identities of the contestants for Season Six of Project Runway, which makes its long-delayed debut on the cabler on August 20th following a protracted legal battle with rival cabler Bravo. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lifetime has acquired rerun rights to CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine after it closed a deal with studio Warner Bros. Television for roughly $350,000 per episode for the series as well as a barter agreement that will see the cabler hand over 90 seconds of advertiser time. Series will debut on Lifetime in fall 2010. (Variety)

BBC America has announced the US premiere date for Season Three of teen drama Skins, which will kick off on Thursday, August 6th at 9 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

NBC opted to shift its newest reality series The Great American Road Trip to Mondays at 8 pm, less than 24 hours after it launched the series. Repeats of America's Got Talent will take over the Tuesdays at 8 pm timeslot. (Futon Critic)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Jane Lynch Sticks with "Glee" Over "Party Down," Brian K. Vaughan Leaves "Lost," HBO to Develop "Middlesex," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Confirmed: Jane Lynch will NOT be reprising her role as ditzy actress Constance Carmell in the second season of Starz's comedy series Party Down due to her involvement on FOX's Glee, where she plays cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. Cabler Starz was said to have hoped that Lynch's schedule could have accommodated both series but they were unable to make that happen. "It looks like I can't do the second season," said Lynch of "blessed event" Party Down. "So I'm not happy about that all ... but I'm in Glee, so I'm thrilled about that." No word yet on what Party Down producers will do now that Lynch is unavailable; Jennifer Coolidge appeared in two episodes of Season One as Constance's roommate Bobbie St. Brown, likely due to scheduling conflicts. (Variety)

"Y: The Last Man" creator Brian K. Vaughan won't be returning to the writing staff for the sixth and final season of ABC's Lost.
"Unfortunately he has left for greener pastures," executive producer/showrunner Damon Lindelof told fans during a Q&A session last week. What those greener pastures are remain unknown at this time, although three of his comic book properties--including "Y," "Runaways," and "Ex Machina" are in development for feature film adaptation. During his tenture on Lost, Vaughan wrote seven episodes, including last season's "Dead Is Dead," "Namaste," and "The Little Prince." (MTV's Splash Page)

HBO is developing a drama series adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitzer Prize-winning 2002 novel "Middlesex." The pay cabler has optioned the rights to the novel, which "follows the life of Calliope Stephanides and the epic family history that may hold the answer to her complicated sexual identity." Playwright Donald Margulies will adapt the novel into a one-hour Middlesex pilot script and will executive produce along with Rita Wilson. (Broadcasting & Cable)

It's official: Christian Slater has joined the cast of ABC fall drama series The Forgotten. Slater replaces Spooks' Rupert Penry-Jones as lead character Alex Donovan, a former cop whose daughter went missing and who now works for amateur detective group The Forgotten Network, who focus on murder cases involving unidentified victims. (via press release)

Speaking of ABC, the network has begun to launch its programming on Hulu, now that the deal has been closed between Walt Disney Co. and the other equity partners in Hulu. Grey's Anatomy is now available for streaming on the site, to be followed by Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, and Superstars. (Variety)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin has several sneak peeks at How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris' turn as guest judge on tomorrow night's episode of Bravo's Top Chef Masters, shot at Hollywood's famed Magic Castle (where I was a guest about two weeks ago). (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett and Sony Pictures Television are developing half-hour animated comedy Dumb Bunny and Jackass, about the lives of "the most popular cartoon duo in history after their fall from stardom." Project, based on characters created by Bill Kopp, will feature Garrett's voice. (Hollywood Reporter)

Torchwood: Children of Earth kicked off last night in the United Kingdom, grabbing an average of 5.9 million viewers on BBC One (a 25.8 percent audience share), a number that increased in the final fifteen minutes to 6.1 million viewers. The numbers demonstrate the largest timeslot average for the year to date, especially impressive considering that Torchwood previously aired on BBC Three and BBC Two. The third season kicks off Stateside on July 20th on BBC America. (Broadcast)

Also, from the other side of the pond: David Suchet (Poirot), Charles Dance (Bleak House), and Richard Coyle (Coupling) will star in Going Postal, Sky1's latest Terry Pratchett adaptation which is expected to air next Easter. "The fantasy tale of revenge and romance follows the adventures of arch-swindler Moist Von Lipwig," writes Hollywood Reporter's Mimi Turner, "and his love affair with the beautiful and vengeful Adore Belle Dearheart, whose family he has unwittingly ruined." (Hollywood Reporter)

The CW has announced that it will burn off remaining episodes of its short-lived drama series Easy Money this summer beginning Sunday, July 26th, following the burn-off run of fellow MRC-produced drama Valentine. Both series had been canceled by the CW in November. (Futon Critic)

Kathy Griffin will host Comedy Central's upcoming Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers, slated to air on August 9th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Hollywood Reporter)

Finally, the Hollywood Reporter talks to Jason Schwartzman about his new HBO comedy series Bored to Death:



Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: FOX Orders Six Scripts for "Bones," Rob Thomas Not Optimistic About "Veronica Mars" Movie, "Scrubs" Return Possible, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

FOX inched its way closer to renewing drama Bones yesterday, ordering six scripts for the Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz-led series. While it's not a firm renewal yet for Bones, the script order does point favorably towards FOX picking up the series, which has improved the network's Thursday night timeslot by 43 percent since the series relocated there in January and has bested ABC's Ugly Betty and NBC's My Name is Earl. (TV Week)

Some bad news for Veronica Mars fans: don't hold your breath waiting for the feature film spin-off of the much missed sleuthing series. Creator Rob Thomas told The New York Post that a greenlight isn't looking likely, though he'll "drop whatever" he's doing in order to make it happen should it materialize. "While the pitch [to producer Joel Silver] went well and I don't think the movie's dead, right now it's looking depressing," said Thomas. "I think honestly if we would have had the pitch ready a year earlier, it would be a go project. The hope that we would get a quick greenlight didn't materialize. This is the least optimistic I've felt in a while." Fans curious to know some details about the potential Veronica Mars can take heart, however: "If we were going to do a movie, I would want to put Wallace and Logan and Mac and Weevil in it," said Thomas. "We would have picked up just prior to Veronica's graduation, it would have been the college years." (New York Post's Popwrap)

Former Monk co-star Bitty Schram has signed a deal that will have her reprise her role as Sharona in an upcoming episode on the eighth and final season of USA's Monk, according to Michael Ausiello. "We couldn't think of a better way to help wrap up the series than with the return of Bitty's character," said series star Tony Shalhoub. "Bringing some closure to Sharona is long overdue." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Could ABC renew Scrubs after all? It's looking possible, according to Zap2it's Korbi Ghosh, who has heard from several sources at the network that Steve McPherson indicated to series creator Bill Lawrence that he would be "happy to bring the show back for season nine. The only requirement? Zach Braff would have to do a handful of episodes. Seems the eight-year-old show is reeling in a nice young, male demo that doesn't normally watch ABC and that makes McPherson smiley." (Zap2it's Korbi TV)

Scott Caan (Ocean's Thirteen) has landed the lead role in FOX comedy pilot Cop House (also cast: Curtiss I'Cook); Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl) has joined the cast of NBC drama pilot Mercy; Josh Charles (In Treatment) will star in CBS drama pilot The Good Wife; Tom Riley (Lost in Austen) has joined the cast of ABC comedy pilot No Heroics; and Catherine Dent (The Shield) has joined the ensemble cast of NBC drama pilot Day One. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere, Colin Egglesfield (All My Children) and Stephanie Jacobsen (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) have been cast in CW's revival of Melrose Place. Egglesfield will Auggie, a sous chef who dreams of owning his own restaurant and is an avid surfer, while Jacobsen will play Lauren, a UCLA med student who is living a double life as a high-end call girl. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO hasn't quite greenlit film The Special Relationship, about the unusual and sometimes fractuous relationship between President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair but the pieces are coming into place on the Peter Morgan-scripted drama. Dennis Quaid has signed on to star as President Clinton, with Michael Sheen once again reprising his role British Prime Minister Tony Blair (which he's played twice now in The Queen and The Deal), and Julianne Moore playing First Lady Hillary Clinton. Peter Morgan, who wrote the screenplay, is expected to direct what will likely be a co-production between HBO and BBC. (Variety)

ABC has stopped soliciting viewers for ideas for its new comedy series In the Motherhood, which launches tonight, after the WGA had an issue with the network's call for ideas, which are "not permissible" under the terms of the guild's deal with ABC. (Editor's note: I'm quoted in the article!) (New York Times)

USA is said to be extremely close to giving drama White Collar, starring Matthew Bomer, Tim DeKay, Tiffani Thiessen, Marsha Thomason, and Willie Garson, a series order. Move would mark the second pickup for USA this year, following the eleven-episode order for Royal Pains. (Hollywood Reporter)

George Lopez will host an untitled nightly talk show for TBS beginning in November. The hour-long series, which will feature celebrity guests and musical performances, will run Mondays through Thursdays and the cabler has ordered 34 episodes for the Warner Horizon and Telepictures-produced series. (Variety)

TLC has given a series order to docusoap Cake Boss that follows the Valastro family as they run Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, which has designed cakes for celebrities such as Britney Spears and television series like The Sopranos. The cabler will air the pilot episode on April 19th, with the series set to debut in early June. (Hollywood Reporter)

Hallmark Channel has announced an aggressive slate of 35 original made-for-television movies for the 2009-10 season, all of which will debut in the Saturday 9-11 pm timeslot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Picks Up Tab for "Private Practice," Showtime Keeps "Dexter" Killing, Bomer and DeKay Try On "White Collar," Tony Hale, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I'm still on cloud nine after last night's perfect combination of sweet and tart on BBC America's Gavin & Stacey. Could that series be any funnier or any more genuinely emotional? It's well lush.

Looks like Kate Walsh won't be returning to Seattle Grace any time soon. ABC has picked up Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice for a full season of 22 episodes. Series, which had its freshman season truncated due to the writers strike, has averaged 3.2/8 in adults 18-49 and 8.3 million viewers across two original episodes this fall. (Variety)

Showtime wants more Dexter: the pay cabler announced that it had renewed the serial killer drama for two additional seasons (that would be Season Four and Season Five) of twelve episodes each. Production on Season Four will begin in Los Angeles next spring. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS has ordered two additional scripts for freshman comedy Worst Week, which--after premiering to some dismal numbers--has remained steady in the ratings with a 3.2/7 among adults 18-49 and 9.9 million viewers overall. (Yep, Worst Week is doing better than Private Practice, folks.) (TV Week)

Tim DeKay (Carnivale, Tell Me You Love Me) has been cast as the lead of USA's 90-minute drama pilot White Collar, opposite Matthew Bomer. DeKay's attachment lifts the cast contingency on the project, which will be directed by Bronwen Hughes (Burn Notice) and comes from Fox TV Studios and writer/executive producer Jeff Eastin. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other casting news, Gina Torres (Standoff, Dirty Sexy Money), Brett Davern (American Summer), Scott Cohen (The Return of Jezebel James), Sammi Hanratty (American Girl), and Jen Drohan have been cast in Lifetime's drama pilot The Amazing Mrs. Novak. (Hollywood Reporter)

Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Chuck) and newcomer Ben Koldyke (Thirteen Days) have been cast in FOX comedy pilot Boldly Going Nowhere, from the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia boys. Koldyke will play a rogue spaceship captain in this high-concept comedy that looks at the lives of the ship's crewmembers between intergalactic missions. Hale will play the ship's put-upon robot. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS Paramount has signed a first-look deal with comedy troupe Second City Entertainment; under the deal, the studio will have a crack at the troupe's performer/writers who will workshop potential projects for pilot consideration. (Variety)

Rosie O'Donnell will star in and executive produce telepic America for Lifetime, about a 16-year-old boy who struggles within the foster care system. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Star Trek," Will Arnett, "The Mentalist," David E. Kelley Briefs NBC, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

While not totally TV-related, you can see a sneak peek of the cover of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (which hits newsstands tomorrow) to the right, depicting Heroes' Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine as Spock and Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. The issue also features an in-depth interview with Abrams, in which he talks about Star Trek, his YouTube-fueled feud with William Shatner, and also features quotes from Leonard Nimoy and Quinto about the new film.

Are you GOB Bluth? FOX is said to be in final negotiations for a talent/development deal with Will Arnett (Arrested Development); under the deal, FOX would develop a comedy vehicle for Arnett or cast him in a pre-existing project at the network. Arnett, who is currently recurring as Devon Banks on NBC's 30 Rock, also stars (or his voice does, anyway) in FOX's upcoming animated comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up. (TV Week)

Not such good news, however, for another Arrested Development alum. Jessica Walter has been downgraded from series regular to recurring status on CW's 90210, where she plays boozy faded actress Tabitha. The rationale is said to be budget-related, though Jessica Lowndes (who plays irritatingly shrill Adrianna) has been promoted to regular. As much as I love Walter, I have to say that her talents are being tragically wasted here and I hated the way that the writers trotted her out to utter a few humorless lines every couple of episodes. Let's hope she finds some more challenging material quickly. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS has handed out a full season order to Warner Bros. Television's drama The Mentalist, this season's top new drama in viewers and adults 25-54. Series, which stars Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman, and Amanda Righetti, has averaged 16.14 million viewers so far. (Futon Critic)

NBC has issued a series order for a new untitled legal drama from David E. Kelley and Warner Bros. Television (Kelley moved to a new deal at Warners earlier this year), the first scripted deal that Kelley has struck at NBC since LA Law in the 1980s. Series will be "set in a Chicago law firm and revolves around an aging partner and his daughter who works with him as well as a host of eccentric characters around them." Should the pilot not go to series, NBC is on the hook with what's said to be a multi-million dollar penalty. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

In other Peacock news, NBC has ordered three additional scripts for midseason drama Medium, which is slated to return to the lineup this winter. However, insiders have indicated that Medium may return as soon as this fall. (Hollywood Reporter)

James Strong will direct the Doctor Who Easter Special, slated to air in the UK in 2009. The Easter Special was co-written by Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts. Strong has previously helmed several episodes of Doctor Who, including "The Impossible Planet," "Daleks In Manhattan," "Voyage Of The Damned," and "Partners In Crime." (Digital Spy)

Jason Priestley will guest star on an upcoming episode of My Name Is Earl, where he'll play a character named... Brandon, "Earl's better-looking and more successful cousin, whom we first meet in a flashback to Earl and Joy's first wedding anniversary. On that memorable day, viewers will learn, Earl discovered that prior to his marriage, Joy had a steamy affair with his cousin." (TV Guide)

In other casting news, Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin will guest star on CW's Gossip Girl, where she won't play herself but rather created specifically for her by the series' writers. Liukin wasn't sure whether her character would be appearing in just one episode or in several. (Reuters)
Desperate Housewives' Gale Harold is in critical condition following a motorcycle accident yesterday but is expected to recover. Harold plays Susan's boyfriend Jackson on the current season of Desperate Housewives. Executive producer Marc Cherry acknowledged that some rewrites would have to be done in light of Harold's accident. (New York Times)

Spike has renewed reality series DEA and ordered two new series: nine-episode Deadliest Warrior, which features computer-rendered bouts between historical fighters from Morningstar Entertainment, and ten one-hour episodes of Surviving Disaster, in which former Navy SEAL Cade Coutley offers viewers tips on how to survive various disasters such as earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and plane crashes, from Wall to Wall Media. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: NBC Looks for Gold with "Jason" But "My Own Worst Enemy" Launch Less than Golden, "Battlestar Galactica," More "Eli Stone," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Wondering where the frak BSG is? Battlestar Galactica will return with the back half of Season Four, the series' final installment, on January 16th at 10 pm. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has given a put pilot commitment to Jason and the Argonauts, a green-screen drama based on the Greek myth about the quest for the golden fleece from writer/executive producers Josh and Jonas Pate (Surface) and Media Rights Capital. (NBC previously aired a mini based on the myth in 2000.) I'm not quite sure that they should have done so until after they see the numbers from the premiere of Crusoe later this week but there you go. The Peacock landed the project after a fierce bidding war, apparently with FOX. (In other news, MRC received an order for seven additional scripts for its animated ABC comedy The Goode Family and three additional scripts for Lifetime comedy Rita Rocks.) (Variety)

In other NBC news, My Own Worst Enemy didn't exactly take the ratings by storm. The Christian Slater-led drama opened in fifth place among the seven new dramas that launched on the broadcast networks this fall with a 3.0/8 in adults 18-49 and 7.27 million viewers overall, enough to put it in third place in the key demo behind football and CSI: Miami. The series premiere held onto 70 percent of the Heroes audience, the same retention figure as cancelled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (Variety)

ABC has ordered four additional scripts of sophomore drama Eli Stone, which launched its second season last night. The order suggests that studio ABC Studios is happy with the creative direction of the drama. (Hollywood Reporter)

Amy Sedaris (The Closer) has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television to create, write, and star in an untitled single-camera comedy series project from Worldwide Pants. She'll co-write the script with writing partner Paul Dinello, who will direct should the project get ordered to pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek will guest star in a November episode of the CW's One Tree Hill. In a weird twist of fate, One Tree Hill films on the very same lot where Dawson's Creek was filmed. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

ABC has given a put pilot commitment to single-camera comedy Made Over from writer/executive producer Caroline Williams (The Office, Miss/Guided) and Warner Bros. Television. Project follows a shallow LA-based comestics executive who "has a crisis of conscience and quits her job," in order to start a consulting firm with a younger woman with very different values than her own. (Hollywood Reporter)

D.L. Hughley will host a CNN series. Yes, you read that correctly. (Variety)

Holy Vicky Pollard! Little Britain co-creator/co-star Matt Lucas has joined the cast of Comedy Central's scripted period fantasy comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Firea, which stars Sean Maguire. Also joining the cast: India de Beaufort, Steve Speirs, Kevin Hart, John Rhys-Davies, James Murray, and Marques Ray. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS has signed a deal with Tribeca Prods. to develop three pilots with a guarantee that one of the projects will be ordered to pilot. Under the guidance of Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca is developing its first project an untitled NYC-based one-hour drama to be written by William Monahan (The Departed). Details are sketchy at best but is said to play to Monahan's strengths. (Variety)

Amy Pietz (Aliens in America) will star in Lifetime drama pilot The Amazing Mrs. Novak, based on the UK series The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, about a supermarket manager (Pietz) who unexpectedly becomes governor of New Jersey. Also cast: Tom Verica and Kristen Dattilo. Project comes from Warner Horizon and Kudos Prods. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO Films president Colin Callender has left HBO after 21 years at the pay cabler; he'll launch his own entertainment and content company next year. (Variety)

Anna Paquin (True Blood) has been cast as the lead in CBS' telepic The Irene Sendler Story, from Hallmark Hall of Fame. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Salma Hayek Heads to "30 Rock," More "Knight Rider"

Yet another guest star for 30 Rock.

Salma Hayek (Ugly Betty) has signed on to guest on the upcoming season of NBC's 30 Rock, where she will recur in several episodes as Elisa, a new love interest for Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).

"Salma is truly a gifted talent and an incredible force in our industry," said Teri Weinberg, Executive Vice President, NBC Entertainment in a statement. "I've had the privilege of working with her and I can't wait to see what comedic sparks fly with our brilliant 30 Rock cast."

"I have been a fan of Tina's talent, both as an actress and a writer, since working with her years ago on SNL," said Hayek in a statement. "I am so excited to be part of such an intelligent, funny show, as well as working with the brilliant Alec Baldwin and the rest of the cast of 30 Rock," said Hayek.

30 Rock kicks off its third season on October 30th at 9:30 pm on NBC.

In other NBC-related news, the Peacock has ordered four additional scripts for freshman drama series Knight Rider.

Scarily, it's looking very likely that we'll be stuck with Knight Rider through the entire 2008-09 season. The series hasn't done particularly well in the ratings but has shown growth and stability with young men. Somewhere, Devon Miles in rolling over in his grave...

Channel Surfing: FOX to Remake "Absolutely Fabulous," Renewals for "Sons of Anarchy" and "Entourage," Three Set for "Washingtoniennes," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I hope you all watched the second episode of Chuck last night; we need to try to get those numbers up ASAP!

Don't break open the Bolly just yet. FOX has ordered a script for an American remake of hit British series Absolutely Fabulous from executive producers Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development), Eric and Kim Tannenbaum, and writer/executive producer Christine Zander (Saturday Night Live). Project, from Sony Pictures TV, Tantamount, and BBC Worldwide America, is the latest attempt to remake Jennifer Saunder's AbFab. (Previous attempts have included a Roseanne Barr adaptation with Carrie Fisher, CBS' Cybill and High Society, both of which were thinly veiled attempts to cash in on AbFab.) This version will shift the action to Los Angeles, where two boozy over-the-hill BFFs attempt to stay hip while earning a disapproving eye from Edina's straitlaced teenaged daugher Saffron. I would have thought that, post-Arrested Development, Hurwitz was the prime person to guide this project but, after the disaster that was The Thick of It (and the disaster-in-the-making of Sit Down, Shut Up), I have significant worries about anyone tampering with this brilliant format. After all, remember what FOX did with Spaced... (Variety)

Meanwhile, Summer Heights High creator Chris Lilley is developing a new comedy series with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that is thought to possibly revolve around cop-turned-motivational speaker Phil Olivetti or spoiled Summer Heights High student Ja'mie King. But don't look for Summer Heights High to turn up in a US format reversioning. Lilley reveals that he had turned down "lots of money" to remake Summer Heights High for the US market. "They wanted me to do it again in an American accent - all these terrible ideas," said Lilley in an interview. "I wouldn't let it happen. I spent so long working on the characters, I hate the thought of someone else playing them." (Digital Spy)

FX has renewed its freshman drama Sons of Anarchy for a second season; series has been a consistent ratings hit for the cabler, averaging an audience of 5.4 million total viewers and 3.5 million adults 18 to 49 in its five outings to date. “I think the underlying themes of family and the common man's fight against oppressive corporate greed has grabbed people's attention," said creator Kurt Sutter in a statement. "It's relatable, it's very timely and it's why the audience is coming back week after week. I love the action and the dark places the show goes, but ultimately it's the bigger, more poignant themes that inspire me.”

In other series renewal news, HBO has quietly renewed Entourage for a sixth season. Production will start on the sixth season early next year for a summer launch. (Variety)

CBS has ordered six additional scripts for freshman procedural drama series The Mentalist, starring Simon Baker. A full season pickup could come as early as this week. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Rachael Taylor (Transformers), Amanda Walsh (Sons & Daughters), and Bitsie Tulloch (quarterlife) have been cast as the leads of HBO's comedy pilot The Washingoniennes, from executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker and writers/executive producers Susaanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz. Series, based on a semi-autobiographical book by Jessica Cutler, will follow the exploits of three 28-year-old women working on Capitol Hill. Also cast: David Furr. (Hollywood Reporter)

Put this in the unsurprising category: CW's latest experiment in selling off its real estate on Sunday nights to Media Rights Capital has proven a resounding failure, generating only meager numbers for the lineup, which included In Harm's Way, Valentine, and Easy Money. Each only received a 1 share in adults 18-49 and 18-34. Ouch. But each of the hour-longs did improve on their audience in their respective second half-hours. All series are secured for 13-episode runs this fall. (Variety)

The premiere episode of NBC's Kath & Kim can be found online at Yahoo! TV, though I don't know why anyone would want to watch this sad, painfully unfunny half-hour. (Yahoo!)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Grey's Anatomy," "Partridge Family" Redux, Tom Wolfe, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

USA Today's Robert Bianco reviews tonight's season premiere of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, saying that the two-hour launch "completes the task begun last spring, clearing away dead plots and setting this massively entertaining series back on track." And fans will be happy to know that it seems like--for now anyway--Mer and Der and united. Time will tell... (USA Today)

Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that the end of last season was about the end of the fairy tale but that this season "was all about what happens after the 'happily ever after,' for all our characters. For some, it's about jumping off into something new. It feels like a very fresh start for everybody." And for Katherine Heigl getting a fresh start away from Grey's, don't count her out just yet. "We have every intention of seeing Katherine for the entire season," said Rhimes. (Associated Press)

Reveille, Geffen Records, and Sony Pictures Television have teamed up to develop a modern and tongue-in-cheek version of 1970s series The Partridge Family, which is currently being pitched to networks, with a sale expected soon. Jeff Rake (Cashmere Mafia) is on board to write the project; he'll also executive produce with Jimmy Iovine and Ron Fair. I'm sure that they are attempting to reinvent the family musical series for a new generation but I can't help but I can count on one hand the number of "reimagined" series that have been successful and wish that producers and execs alike would try to be a little more original these days. (Variety)

HBO has optioned Tom Wolfe's 2004 novel "I Am Charlotte Simmons," about the clash of sex and class at a fictional Ivy League university campus as seen through the eyes of a poor but brilliant freshman from the South on a full scholarship, as a series, which Tina Brown and Bill Haber will executive produce. No writer is attached to adapt Wolfe's novel and the project is said to be in the early stages of development. (Variety)

Please for the love of all things funny, tell me that Betty and Daniel won't really be romantically involved this year on ABC's Ugly Betty. I think that might just put me over the edge. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello TV)

CBS Paramount has optioned mystery novel "Hounding the Pavement," the first in a series of books from Judi McCoy to be published in March. Novel follows an NYC dogwalker who tries to unravel the mystery of who murdered her client by talking and listening to the dogs. Hy Conrad (Monk) will adapt the novel, with Jeffrey Kramer of Juniper Place Prods executive producing. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Survivor: Gabon--Earth's Last Eden (CBS; 8-10 pm); My Name is Earl/My Name is Earl (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Kitchen Nightmares (FOX)

9 pm: The Office (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC; 9-11 pm); Kitchen Nightmares (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); ER (NBC)

What I'll Be Watching:

8-10 pm: Kitchen Nightmares.

Missing the softer side of Gordon Ramsay? Tune in to the US version of his reality series in which he pull back struggling restaurants from the brink of closure. On tonight's first episode, Gordon tries to save Italian restaurant Trabiano's--in debt for $500,000--from closure despite its cocky chef who used his girlfriend's family to finance his restaurant; then it's another new episode in which Gordon tries to save NYC seafood restaurant Black Pearl, whose owner might just be the rudest person Gordon has encountered on either side of the Atlantic.

8 pm: Ugly Betty.

On the season premiere of Ugly Betty ("The Manhattan Project"), Betty makes a decision about what to do with her life; Ignacio takes a job at a fast food restaurant; Wilhelmina manipulates Daniel into making some major changes.

9 pm: The Office.

On the one-hour fifth season premiere of The Office ("Weight Loss"), a new company-wide weight loss initiative causes the Scranton branch to become obsessed with their weight; Michael and Holly get closer; Jim misses Pam (who is studying art in Manhattan); Dwight, Angela, and Andy see to some unfinished business.

10 pm: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX.

Televisionary favorite It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues tonight with two brand-new back-to-back episodes. Up first is "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model Contest," in which Frank and Mac invest in a billboard and then create a competition to find Paddy's next top model while Dee and Charlie try to create a new YouTube sensation. Then it's "Mac's Banging the Waitress" in which Charlie asks Mac to beat up the new boyfriend of his beloved waitress and Dennis tries to convince Charlie that they are best friends.

Channel Surfing: CW to Stay in "90210," HBO Renews "Entourage," Producers of "Do Not Disturb" Ask for Second Chance, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I caught up on television-watching last night and finally got to watch Sunday's episode of Skins (Tony really is a manipulative sociopath, isn't he?) and watched some Season Two episodes of 30 Rock but, sigh, will have to wait to watch last night's Gossip Girl until tonight.

Netlet the CW has given a full season order to freshman drama 90210, with 22 episodes slated to air this season. “The successful addition of 90210 has taken The CW another step forward in building a cohesive schedule that defines this network as a destination for young women with shows that get our audience talking—and watching,” said president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff. "We're very excited about the chance to watch this ensemble of newcomers and familiar faces coalesce and grow together as we move forward." (Hmmm, methinks Ostroff may have just saved her job with this one.) (Variety)

In other 90210-related news, the drama has booked former Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Rebecca Rand Kirschner as an executive producer; she'll be overseeing the writers' room while Gabe Sachs (whom I met on Saturday and was absolutely charming) and Jeff Judah will be overseeing the day-to-day showrunning. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC ordered an additional eight scripts to its upcoming animated series The Goode Family--about a family of hapless do-gooders--from King of the Hill creator Mike Judge...

... and Vince and the boys will live to see another day as HBO has renewed Entourage for a sixth season of Hollywood-based debauchery. (Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily)

The producers of FOX's multi-camera comedy Do Not Disturb have apologized "for being the perpetrators of such bad television" and have asked critics for another chance, after the network decided not to air the original pilot and instead launched the series with a subsequent episode that "created much confusion" and didn't reflect well on the overall quality of the series. Having seen both the truly awful original pilot episode, the dull-as-hotel-dishwater "Work Sex" episode, and a third equally boring episode, I can say that the sub-par quality of any of those individual episodes hangs like a dark cloud over all of them. Thanks, but no thanks. (Variety)

Tom Everett Scott (Cashmere Mafia), Regina King (24), and Arija Bareikis (Crossing Jordan) have been cast in NBC drama pilot LAPD, from Warner Bros. Television and executive producer John Wells. Scott will play Russell, a cop and father who is married to a blogger who writes about her marriage to a cop; King will play his partner Lydia. Bareikis will play a patrol cop who shares a fondness for surfing with her son. (Hollywood Reporter)

Canucks can finally get HBO... sort of. HBO is launching a pay channel in Canada as a joint venture between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment, which already air HBO content on the Movie Network and Movie Central. Due to laws which restrict foreign companies from owning or operating channels within Canada, HBO won't actually own HBO Canada but the two companies will expand their programming commitment to HBO from 100 hours per year to 300 hours. (Variety)

Kanye West has shot a half-hour pilot for Comedy Central entitled Alligator Boots that's described as "hip-hop meets the Muppets." West would produce and perform music with rapper Rhymefest; he also appears as the host of the pilot, which is under consideration for 2009. West, Rhymefest and Daniel Kellison serve as executive producers on the project, from Jackhole Prods. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lipstick Jungle didn't exactly make a splash across the pond: only 200,000 tuned in to watch Living's latest US acquisition when it launched last night. Ouch. (Digital Spy)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Biggest Loser: Families (NBC; 8-10 pm); 90210 (CW); Opportunity Knocks (ABC); House (FOX)

9 pm: The Mentalist (CBS); Privileged (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC; 9-11 pm); Fringe (FOX)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: 90210.

I'm beyond bored with this tired and underwhelming series but there's nothing else on at 8 pm these days. Sigh. On tonight's episode ("Wide Awake and Dreaming"), Ty announces his plans for an after party after the opening night of Annie's musical; Naomi can't come to terms with her parents' divorce; Brenda, Kelly, and Ryan confront Adrianna about her substance abuse; Dixon offers to help Silver backstage at the musical.

8:40-9:20 pm: Gavin & Stacey on BBC America.

If my gushing review of this bittersweet (yes, it's literally bitter AND sweet) comedy wasn't enough, why not tune in yourself to see just how wonderful the brainchild of writer/co-stars Ruth Jones and James Corden really is? On tonight's episode, Gavin and Stacey attend their respective stag and hen parties.

9 pm: Fringe.

On tonight's episode ("The Ghost Network"), the team investigates the death of bus commuters, whose bodies are frozen like insects in amber, and encounters a man who may have a psychic connection to The Pattern. Plus, Walter requests a piano for the lab. Yes, a piano.

Channel Surfing: Fichter and Stringfield Are "Night and Day," CBS Renews "Flashpoint," Emmys, Muppets, "Doctor Who," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

I had a wonderful if busy weekend which--not atypically--revolved around television. The wife and I attended Saturday's BAFTA/LA TV Tea Party and shared more than a few Pimm's Cups with Flight of the Conchords, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, 90210 executive producer Gabe Sachs, The Office's Kate Flannery, Leslie David Baker, and Creed Bratton, Mad Men's Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton, and Michael Gladis, The Riches' Noel Fisher, 30 Rock's Scott Adsit, Battlestar Galactica babe Tricia Helfer, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Thomas Dekker, Jeff Garlin, and many, many others. (Fun, to say the least.)

Reaction to this year's Emmy Awards--the 60th installment--wasn't quite what producers likely intended, with many critics--myself included--lashing out at the format, the hosts, and the distinct lack of scripted funnies. (Televisionary)

FOX has given a script order to workplace comedy The Station, about the employees of a covert CIA office in South America, from writer Kevin Napier, Fox Television Studios, and Red Hour Films' Ben Stiller, Jeremy Kramer, and Stuart Cornfeld. (Variety)

In other FOX news, the network has given a series order to Sam Baum's procedural drama Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth, Brendan Hines, Monica Raymund, and Kelli Williams. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television, is about the fractious partnership between a former police officer who is a "human lie detector" (an expert in reading facial and body language that gives away deception) and a female clinical psychologist as they solve Washington-based crimes. I'm usually not a fan of procedurals but I found this to be a really compelling, interesting twist on a familiar crime-solving formula and a cracking script.

William Fichtner (Prison Break) and Sherry Stringfield (ER) have been cast in TNT drama pilot Night and Day from writers/executive producers Joel Surnow (24) and Todd Robinson. Project follows Dan Hollister (Fichtner), a middle-aged agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who works for a special intervention task force as he finds himself drifting towards retirement age and dealing with upstarts half his age. Stringfield will play his wife Elizabeth, a stay-at-home mom. Night and Day will be in second position to Prison Break for Fichtner, whose deal expires at the end of the current season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Uma Thurman, Jesse L. Martin, and Jane Krakowski have signed on to appear in NBC holiday special Letters to Santa—A Muppets Christmas, which is slated to air December 17th. Previously announced participants include Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Giffiths, Tony Sirico, and Steve Schirripa. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

CBS has renewed cop drama Flashpoint, which it co-produces with Canadian network CTV, for a second season; series hit a season high on Thursday night and gained 18 percent in the key demo over the last two weeks. No decision whether the 13 episodes will air during midseason or summer; production on Season Two begins in early 2009. (Variety)

In the resolution to one of the worst kept secrets in the entertainment industry, BBC drama czar Jane Tranter will move to Los Angeles to take a position as EVP of programming and production at BBC Worldwide, working alongside Paul Telegdy to oversee the company's North American production activities in LA and New York beginning January 1st. (Televisionary)

MTV has ordered Sex... With Mom and Dad, a sex-themed series for teenagers and their parents, featuring Dr. Drew Pinsky, who will help teens and/or their parents deal with issues related to sex, dating, and relationships. Series launches September 29th at 9 pm. (Hollywood Reporter)

Kathy Griffin has signed on for a fifth season of her Bravo reality series My Life on the D-List, following unsubstantiated rumors that the series would defect--like Project Runway--to cable rival Lifetime. (Variety)

Outbound Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies has said that he would consider returning to the franchise if a feature film is greenlit. "I'd be very interested in going back for it," said Davies, who said the project will happen one day. "I think it could be lovely and could work as an idea. They did one in the 1960s and that worked and it didn't affect the TV series at all." (Digital Spy)

Sorry, GE, Rupert Murdoch has said that he's not interested in acquiring NBC or even smaller parcels of it though he does admire USA for being a "mature channel" that "makes a lot of money." (Hollywood Reporter)

Jennie Garth might not be appearing in any additional segments of 90210 after her original six episode commitment. "Nothing's confirmed at this point," said Garth. "It's still totally up in the air." Hmmm... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Stargate Atlantis" to End, Joel Silver Setting Up at HBO, "90210" Marathon, and More

Good morning one and all and welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Yes, the weekend is just within our grasp.)

Stargate Atlantis will wrap its run on Sci Fi when the fifth season concludes in January, but the cabler has ordered an untitled two-hour telepic that will air sometime in 2009, following the series finale. An official press release from Sci Fi is said to be forthcoming. (Multichannel News)

Joel Silver is back in television news headlines again (he's said to be in discussions with creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell about a possible feature version of Veronica Mars): he's optioned Arthur T. Vanderbilt II's 1989 family history "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt," about the famous clan's 20th century saga as they deal with "declining fortune, extravagances and social-climbing instincts." Silver plans to adapt the book into a possible series for pay cabler HBO; he and Jane Semel would executive produce the one-hour drama, with Jim Solomon (The Practice) writing and executive producing. (Variety)

ABC Studios has bought an autobiographical script from Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith (Legally Blonde, House Bunny) which it will develop with McCullah Lutz and Smith on board to write and executive produce, should the project get ordered to pilot. Deal came after a recent Los Angeles Times article detailed their work method, which can involve champagne and therapy, and pilot will revolve around their friendship, partnership, and adventures in Hollywood. (Hollywood Reporter)

Newsarama has sat down with Battlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick for a chat about what's to come for BSG and spin-off Caprica. And, yes, there will be more Battlestar webisodes. (Newsarama)

And, speaking of interviews, Joss talks Dollhouse, why the dolls' sleeping units shouldn't resemble coffins, and more. (Philadelphia Daily News)

Sophina Brown (Shark) has been cast as a series regular in CBS' crime procedural NUMB3RS, where she will play Nikki Betancourt, a street-savvy ex-LAPD officer with a law degree to boot who joins the team as their newest agent. (TV Guide)

And Battlestar Galactica's Mark Sheppard (whom you might also remember from Firefly) has confirmed that he will appear in several episodes of Dollhouse in early 2009. (SyFy Portal)

Cabler SOAPnet will be airing a 24-hour marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 starting at Midnight, Monday, September 1st, featuring 24 pivotal episodes of the series--including the pilot--in advance of the CW's launch of 90210 the following evening.

Lifetime has ordered six episodes of docuseries Blonde Charity Mafia, about three twenty-something socialities in Washington D.C. who are frequent faces on the fundraiser circuit. Series, produced by PB&J Television, is set to start production next month but the cabler has not issued an air date yet. (Variety)

Eddie Cibrian (Ugly Betty) has been cast in a three-episode arc on USA's The Starter Wife. Cibrian will play a detective investigating Molly (Debra Messing). No word on what this means about his role as Coach Diaz on Betty, though Cibrian was only secured to appear in four episodes this season... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Finally, the New York Times has a fascinating article about diversity casting in television and how the Disney Channel and ABC (both owned by Disney) seem to be at the forefront of this trend. (New York Times)

Stay tuned.