Channel Surfing: Kara DioGuardi Leaves Idol, Treadstone Heads to CBS, Ashmore Twins Land Fringe, Glee, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. With the holiday weekend having just wrapped, no one was breaking too much news. Which isn't to say that there are no key television-based headlines, because, well, there are. Let's get to it.

It's official: Kara DioGuardi will not be returning to FOX's American Idol this season. The singer-songwriter joined the judges table two years ago and FOX has now confirmed the long-gestating rumors that DioGuardi would not be returning for another season of the musical competition series. "I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave IDOL," said DioGuardi in an official statement. "I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol - it has truly been an amazing experience. I am grateful to FOX, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, as well as the cast, crew and contestants, for all they have given to me. I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!" Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller had this to say about DioGuardi's departure: "Kara is one of the world's best songwriters. She has been passionate and committed to Idol over the last two seasons. I will miss having her on the show, but I look forward to working with her in music for many years to come." (via press release)

Variety's Michael Schneider is reporting that the new Idol panelists, including a replacement for DioGuardi could be announced next week, with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler still expected to join the judging team for the next cycle of American Idol. (Variety)

Has CSI creator Anthony Zuiker found his next smash hit? Zuiker has landed a script order for Treadstone, a series take on the black ops division of the CIA from Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels, at CBS. Project, from CBS Television Studios and Dare to Pass, will be written by John Glenn (Eagle Eye), who will executive produce with Zuiker. (Deadline)

Shawn and Aaron Ashmore--the twin actors known for their roles in the X-Men film franchise, Smallville, and Veronica Mars--are set to appear in Season Three of FOX's Fringe this fall. The duo are set to guest star in an episode slated to air in November and have turned down other invitations to play opposite each other in the past. "It's usually because the stuff that comes along is kind of hokey," Shawn Ashmore told Chicago Now. "But I think the quality of Fringe is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We're going to have some fun." No word immediately on just who or what they'll be playing but it's safe to say that twins will play into the equation in some capacity. (via Digital Spy)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an exclusive first look at John Stamos' Dr. Carl Howell on Season Two of FOX's Glee. "Just when Will thinks he'll win Emma because he can sing and dance, we find out Carl used to be in an '80s boy band," Stamos told Keck. "I discover Will's chewing his teeth, so the other day I had, like, four fingers in Matthew Morrison's mouth." And Carl will also play a key role in causing those Brittany Spears hallucinations this fall in the Spears tribute episode... and will appear in the Rocky Horror Picture Show-inspired Halloween episode as well. (TV Guide Magazine)

NBC is teaming up with DreamWorks Animated for half-hour holiday specials Scared Shrekless and Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special. The first will air on October 28th as a Halloween tie-in while Panda will air on November 24th. Both will be paired with repeats of last year's DreamWorks Animated specials based around Monsters Vs. Aliens and Madagascar. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bill Lawrence is keeping it in the family: Ken Jenkins (Scrubs) is set to guest star on ABC's Cougar Town, where he will play the father of Courteney Cox's Jules, according to Entertainment Weekly. No airdate has been set for Jenkins' appearance, though it's thought likely that he'll turn up this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Office isn't going anywhere, executive producer Paul Lieberstein told E! Online's Megan Masters on Friday... and indicated that there could be an Office movie. [Editor: for the love of all things holy, no.] "There's been no talk at any point of The Office ending," Lieberstein told Masters. "Maybe when the series is done we'd do an Office movie. I'd be up for that... But they're all such big movie stars now, I don't know if we could afford them on set." Lieberstein also advised fans to stick with the series even after Steve Carell leaves at the end of this upcoming season. "This will definitely change the dynamic [of the show]," said Lieberstein. "And we can't just replace Steve because I think that would lead to failure. We have to do something different. This show is really about office life, which so many people live. And changing it up a little will be welcome to the fans. Steve feels he's played almost everything he can with Michael Scott. There isn't a lot of new territory for him to discover. And if he's feeling that, fans must be, at a certain level, feeling that too—it's an opportunity to reinvent The Office." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) has been cast in a recurring role on HBO's Big Love), where he will play the son of a fundamentalist polygamists. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Futon Critic is reporting that Syfy will air Felicia Day's telepic Red: Werewolf Hunter on Saturday, October 30th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

Elsewhere at the cabler, Syfy is developing conspiracy-based reality series UFO: Unbelievably Freakin' Obvious that will feature Billy Ray Cyrus and his son Trace as they "travel cross-country and offer a skeptical solution to many of the theories," according to Variety's Stuart Levine. "The existence of paranormal phenomena is something I've always wanted to explore further," Cyrus told Variety. "Getting the opportunity to take this adventure with my son, who has always had a keen interest in this area, is a dream come true. I hope this series can shine a light on some of the activities we have questioned, and the mysteries that have long inspired us." (Variety)

MTV has given a put pilot order to an untitled scripted comedy from comedian Bo Burnham which will revolve around "a kid fresh out of high school who's pursing the new American dream of being a celebrity without having any talent," according to Burnham, who will write and executive produce the pilot, alongside Dan Lagana and Luke Liacos. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Alan Cumming Upped to Regular on "Good Wife," "Scrubs" Dead, Jane Lynch Talks "Glee," More "Ricky Gervais Show," "Big Love," and More

Welcome your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Alan Cumming has been promoted to series regular on Season Two of CBS' The Good Wife. Cumming, who joined the cast of the legal drama last month, will reprise his role as Eli Gold (described as "a sharp-tongued reputation rehabilitator working with Chris Noth’s disgraced politician") as a series regular next season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Looks like Scrubs is done. At least according to former series star Zach Braff, who posted a message on Facebook indicating that the ABC medical comedy series would not be resuscitated next season. "Many of you have asked, so here it is," wrote Braff. "It appears that New Scrubs, Scrubs 2.0, Scrubs with new kids, Scrubbier, Scrubs without JD is no more. It was worth a try, but alas... it didn't work." ABC refused to comment on the possible cancellation, though series creator Bill Lawrence told E! Online's Megan Masters that Scrubs "hasn't been canceled [but], we're all just assuming it's over." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams interviews Jane Lynch about what's coming up on FOX's musical-comedy series Glee. "She's just always trying to hurt somebody," Lynch said of Sue Sylvester. "She always has a moment of "I will get that glee club." It's more of the same, but I think she's a little more desperate. Mercedes [Amber Riley] and Kurt [Chris Colfer] defect and come over to the cheerios; they stay on glee, but I give them solos, so they prefer me. I'm trying to break it up anyway I can." (TVGuide.com)

Could it be that Karl Pilkington's round head has bowled over executives at HBO? The pay cabler has ordered a second season of animated comedy The Ricky Gervais Show, set to air next year. "With this second series we would have already done as many episodes as The Office and Extras put together," said Gervais. "This can run and run as long as Karl remains a global village idiot." UK residents, take note: Channel 4 will launch the series on April 23rd. (Hollywood Reporter, BBC News)

The Onion's A.V. Club has a new interview with Big Love's Chloe Sevigny, where she slams the HBO drama series' latest season. "It was awful this season, as far as I’m concerned," Sevigny told A.V. Club. "I’m not allowed to say that! [Gasps.] It was very telenovela. I feel like it kind of got away from itself. The whole political campaign seemed to me very far-fetched. I mean, I love the show, I love my character, I love the writing, but I felt like they were really pushing it this last season. And with nine episodes, I think they were just squishing too much in. HBO only gave us nine Sundays, because they have so much other original programming—especially with The Pacific—and they only have a certain amount of Sundays per year, so we only got nine Sundays. I think that they had more story than episodes. I think that’s what happened." (The Onion's A.V. Club)

Kevin Kline will star in an untitled HBO drama pilot about a disgraced doctor who emerges from prison after serving a fifteen-year sentence for murdering his mistress and attempts to get his life back on track. Project will be written by David Auburn, who will executive produce with Klein, Gavin Polone, and Judy Hofflund. (Variety)

Pilot casting update: Jennifer Beals (Lie to Me) will star opposite Jason Clarke in Shawn Ryan's FOX cop drama pilot Ride-along, where she will play Teresa Colvin, Chicago's first female police chief; John Larroquette (Boston Legal) will star opposite Jason Isaacs in FOX legal drama pilot Pleading Guilty, will play a managing partner at the firm where Isaac's Mack--a former cop turned lawyer--works; and Keith David (Death at a Furneral) will star opposite David Lyons in Tom Wheeler's NBC vigilante drama pilot The Cape, where he will play a criminal mastermind who becomes the mentor to Lyon's Vince. (Hollywood Reporter)

IFC has announced that it has ordered ten half-hour episodes of Onion News Network, which it will launch in early 2011, as well as comedy-mystery series Death Comes to Town, featuring the Kids in the Hall comedy troupe. Network also announced that it had acquired the five-episode British zombie horror-comedy Dead Set, written by Charlie Brooker, that will launch in October and will launch its co-produced comedy The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, which stars Will Arnett and David Cross, this fall. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Judy Greer (Archer) will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS' The Big Bang Theory, where she will play a famous physicist who spends the night at Sheldon's apartment. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's Fake Empire has its first employee as Warner Bros. Television executive Leonard Goldstein has been hired as the head of television for the new WBTV-based shingle. Goldstein will remain with the studio until the end of pilot season, at which time he'll move to Fake Empire full-time. "He's one of the few people who can give me bad news or big notes, and I still like him," Schwartz told Variety. "I floated the idea (of partnering) a few years ago, but it's all about timing. He knew what Stephanie and I had planned, and the timing was finally right." (Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

NBC is said to be developing a flash mob reality competition series with 3 Ball Entertainment, who are themselves in talks with Paula Abdul and Kenny Ortega. But don't assume this is a standard flash mob show. "This is way beyond that," a source told The Wrap's Josef Adalian. "This is enormous dance performance, far beyond what you'd expect to be able to do on television." (The Wrap's TVMoJoe, Variety)

ABC has ordered roughly seven or eight episodes of reality medical series Boston Med, which will feature the staffers and patients of three different hospitals in Boston. Series, which features the first televised face transplants, will air this summer and is expected to be given Grey's Anatomy's Thursdays at 9 pm ET/PT timeslot. (Variety)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Vampire Diaries fans will be able to get a teaser for future plotlines by making a phone call to a mysterious number, the same number that will appear on screen this week on Thursday evening's episode. (TV Guide Magazine)

FOX has confirmed that comedy series 'Til Death will not be returning for a fifth season. (Variety)

RDF USA has restructured its West Coast office under inbound chief creative officer Natalka Znak, with development and current programming duties being split among executives. Claire O'Donohoe will serve as EVP of current while Mike Duffy will handle development as EVP, with both reporting into Znak. (Variety)

In other executive news, Gordon Ramsay has opened a Santa Monica office for his One Potato Two Potato production company, which will be headed up by Adelina Ramage Rooney. The company's first US project will be FOX's upcoming Master Chef, which it co-produces with Reveille and Shine. (Variety)

Finally, Sue Norton has been hired as SVP of television for Lonely Planet at BBC Worldwide Prods. She's been tasked with broadening the presence of Lonely Planet on television and digital platforms. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Clyde Phillips Leaves "Dexter," "True Blood" Casting Roundup, Julian Fellowes Mines "Vanderbilts" for Showtime, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Just a day after the record-breaking season finale of Showtime's Dexter, executive producer/showrunner Clyde Phillips announced yesterday that he is leaving the series. He'll be replaced at the helm by Chip Johannessen (24). According to the Hollywood Reporter, Phillips made the "hugely difficult decision" to leave in order "to spend more time with his family in Connecticut." "Clyde Phillips has made an enormous contribution to the phenomenal success of Dexter for the past four years, but we know he needs to spend more time with his family on the East Coast than he spends with the Dexter family in L.A.," said Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt. "We reluctantly say good-bye to him at a turning point in the series, but fellow Dexter executive producers Sara Colleton and John Goldwyn have chosen a great successor -- Chip Johannessen, who has been a key producer of '24' for the past two years. We're confident that he will bring intelligence, emotion and great storytelling to the next chapter of Dexter." (Hollywood Reporter)

Time for a True Blood casting roundup after the HBO vampire drama landed three actors. First up: J. Smith-Cameron (Law & Order) will recur as Melinda, the "dirt-poor, hungover, and trashy-looking" estranged mother of Sam Trammell's shapeshifter Sam. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Alfre Woodard (Three Rivers), meanwhile, will guest star on True Blood as the mother of short-order cook Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), according to the Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. (Hollywood Reporter)

SPOILER! Finally, James Frain (The Tudors) has been cast in True Blood, where he will recur next season as Franklin Mott, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Franklin is described as "tall, dark, and handsome vampire who seems to have an 'immediate and torrid' connection to Tara." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) has signed on to write the pilot script for Showtime's period drama The Vanderbilts, which will follow the saga of the wealthy railroad and shipping family. [Editor: I'm hugely familiar with the story of the Vanderbilts, so rest assured, there's plenty of drama for Fellowes to mine.] Project, from CBS Television Studios and Simon West Productions, is executive produced by Bob Balaban and Rob Paris. Project shouldn't be confused with Joel Silver's HBO Vanderbilts project, which is in development at the rival pay cabler. (Variety)

While the full schedule has yet to be announced, The 2010 William S. Paley Television Festival will include sessions on FOX's Glee and CW's Vampire Diaries. Plus, the festival this year will move from the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight to the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, which will accommodate approximately 1000 more seats. The festival is slated to run between February 26th and March 14th. (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Mickey O'Connor talks to Scrubs executive producer Bill Lawrence about the series, which underwent a huge overhaul and cast change when it relaunched earlier this month. "I've been doing this a long time and we knew there's no possible way to please everyone," Lawrence told O'Connor. "Look, if I had done a brand-new show, you would read 9,000 things about how the new characters all suck. Even though when Scrubs premiered eight years ago, I read 9,000 things in the first two episodes about how these characters suck. With new characters, it takes three, four, five, six episodes to figure out who they are. And then the other hand, we got these people to make transitions to people hopefully you'll still like. You'll also read stuff, "why can't it just be about Zach, where's Carla and the Janitor" and I'm, like, well, that show's over." (TVGuide.com)

Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) and Angelina Burnett will write the pilot script for FOX legal dramedy The Real Amanda Strauss, about a woman who works in the district attorney’s office and secretly comes from a family of con artists. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Furst Films, will be executive produced by Sean and Bryan Furst, along with Burnett and Kouri, who may direct should the project get ordered to pilot. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson will reprise his role as Betty's orthodontist Dr. Farkus on ABC's Ugly Betty later this season. Ferguson will appear in the January 6th episode of Ugly Betty but whether he'll be removing Betty's braces is another question. It’s a really fun scene between the two of them," executive producer Silvio Horta told Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has announced their midseason schedule, including launch dates for Parenthood and The Marriage Ref. Parenthood will launch on Monday, March 1st at 9 pm ET/PT while The Marriage Ref will join the schedule on Sunday, March 14th at 8 pm ET/PT. (Televisionary)

VH1 has ordered eight one-hour episodes of a Tough Love spinoff entitled Tough Love: Couples, in which Steve Ward and his mother JoAnn will "take five couples on the verge of becoming engaged and puts their relationships to the test." Series will launch in second quarter 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Deadwood" Vet Gets "Lost," Syfy Expands "Warehouse," Shelley Long Gets "Modern Family," "Party Down," and More

Welcome to your (very early) Thursday morning television briefing.

John Hawkes (Deadwood) has been cast in Season Six of ABC's Lost, where he will play Lennon, described by The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva as "the scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position." Just what that means remains to be seen... (Hollywood Reporter)

Syfy has ordered a second season of sci-fi dramedy Warehouse 13, with thirteen episodes currently on order for next year. However, Syfy was quick to point out that that number could increase in later seasons. "We took a look at doing 20 episodes, but for logistic and financial reasons," Syfy's Dave Howe told Variety, "it didn't make sense to do that right now, but I wouldn't rule it out." (Variety)

Holy comedy casting news! The Wrap's Joe Adalian is reporting that comedy legend Shelley Long has been cast in ABC's Modern Family, where she will play the ex-wife of aged newlywed Jay (Ed O'Neill). Modern Family, created by Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, is already one of the most buzzed about new fall series. Long's casting comes on the heels of the recent announcement that Elizabeth Banks will guest star on the 20th Century Fox Television-produced comedy. (The Wrap)

Starz has quietly announced via Twitter that Season Two of comedy Party Down will launch in April. (Twitter)

Cabler FX has handed out series orders to two half-hour comedies: The League and Louie. The League, about a group of suburban male friends who participate in the same fantasy football league, received a six-episode order. Louie, about a single dad who attempts to raise his two daughters in New York, is a vignette-style comedy series starring Louis CK and was picked up for thirteen episodes. Both projects hail from FX Prods. and pilots for the two series were shot quietly under the radar. It's believed that The League may be paired this fall with the new season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and share its timeslot with the already ordered comedy Archer. Louie is expected to be held under 2010. (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin is reporting that, despite reports to the contrary, Paula Abdul is definitely not in talks with FOX or American Idol producers about returning to the series. Abdul's manager David Sonenberg told LA Times' Show Tracker exclusively that there have been "no discussions whatsoever about Idol" and that Abdul's plans for the future do not involve the FOX musical competition series and the former host is fielding multiple offers. "She loves Idol," Sonneberg told Martin about his client. "She feels she was a large part of the reason it is what it is. I can tell you her focus right now is speaking to all the other networks. The only one we haven’t talked to, because of recent events, is FOX. But perhaps we would be speaking to FOX about shows in the near future." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Nick Zano (The Final Destination) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's upcoming comedy series Cougar Town, where he will play Courteney Cox's first boyfriend. Elsewhere, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious) has been cast in CW's modeling drama The Beautiful Life. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jenna Dewan (Step Up) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's Melrose Place next season. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, she'll play "a young movie studio exec who takes a liking to wannabe Tarantino, Jonah (Michael Rady)" and is slated to appear in at least two episodes. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lifetime has ordered a second season of dramedy series Drop Dead Diva, with thirteen episodes on tap for 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other Diva-related news, Devon Gummersall (My So-Called Life) will guest star on the October 11th season finale of Drop Dead Diva, where he will play "a man from Jane's past whose unexpected arrival throws Jane for a loop." (USA Today's Pop Candy)

Michael Mosley (The Proposal) and Kerry Bishe (Virtuality) have been cast as series regulars on ABC's Scrubs next season opposite Dave Franco. Mosley will play Drew, an older medical student who is attempting to complete his training after a meltdown ten years earlier at Harvard Medical School. Bishe will play first-year med student Lucy who hails from a family of fishermen. (Hollywood Reporter)

20th Century Fox Television has signed an exclusive deal with (500) Days of Summer director Mark Webb to direct a pilot in the upcoming development season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Patton Oswalt Lands on "Caprica," NBC to Attend "Midnight, Mass," January Jones Talks "Mad" Betty Draper, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Patton Oswalt (United States of Tara) has been cast in a recurring role on Syfy's upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica, where he will play Baxter Sarno, the comedian talk show host of a Caprican-based television series on which Eric Stoltz's Daniel Greystone and Paula Malcomson's Amanda Greystone appear. Oswalt is no stranger to genre-based series; he did a memorable guest turn on FOX's Dollhouse last season in the game-changing episode "Man on the Street" (pictured here). Caprica is slated to launch in January 2010 on Syfy. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has ordered a pilot script for Midnight, Mass, a series adaptation of DC Comics/Vertigo title about Adam and Julia Kadmons, a married couple who travel the world solving mysteries and tackling bizarre supernatural crimes. Pilot script will be written by Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who will executive produce along with Pushing Daisies producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. Project hails from Warner Bros. Television and Jinks/Cohen. Berg and Harberts, meanwhile, are showrunners on NBC's upcoming medical drama Mercy. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin has a new video interview with Mad Men star January Jones, in which the actor--who plays the frustrated Betty Draper on the AMC drama series--reveals that Betty's affair at the end of Season Two has been deeply divisive among the audience, with many male viewers feeling betrayed by her one-night stand with the handsome stranger (Ryan McPartlin) while women felt that Betty was "finally getting hers." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Looks like Paula Abdul won't be turning up on Ugly Betty, after all. The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin is reporting that talks between Abdul and the network have "fallen apart" and she "will not be guest starring on Ugly Betty." Abdul, as previously reported last week, had been in talks to guest star on Betty as a Mode magazine temp who develops a friendship with Amanda (Becki Newton). (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

ABC has announced the sixteen new celebrities participating in Season Nine of Dancing with the Stars, which include: Aaron Carter, Olympian Natalie Coughlin, actor/martial artist Mark Dacascos, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Macy Gray, actor/songwriter Ashley Hamilton, Melissa Joan Hart, Kathy Ireland, former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irwin, actress Joanna Krupa, mixed martial arts icon Chuck Liddell, Debi Mazar, Mya, Kelly Osbourne, Donny Osmond, and pro snowboarder Louie Vito. (via press release)

Jay Leno has revealed that his first guest on his new 10 pm nightly talk show The Jay Leno Show will be Jerry Seinfeld, who is expected to "do standup on Leno and possibly race cars in the NBC parking lot -- a bit the show will probably go to often," writes Variety's Stuart Levine. (Variety)

Dave Franco (Superbad) has been cast in ABC's Scrubs as a series regular next season. Franco will play Cole, "a charming, conservative, confidently stupid and incredibly entitled medical student whose family donated a wing to the school. With his arrogance and erroneous medical decisions he becomes an enormous irritant to Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley)," according to the Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. Scrubs is seeing the focus shift from Sacred Heart Hospital to a medical school next season; Franco will be among the new cast members helping to carry this new direction. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has optioned two volumes of Andrew Loog Oldham's biography "Stoned" and "2Stones," about his experiences as the producer and manager of the Rolling Stones. Pay cabler is developing a comedy series that will be loosely based on Oldham's life set in 1960s London. Wesley Strick will write the pilot script and will executive produce with Oldham and Lou Adler. (Variety)

UK audiences will finally get to see HBO's psychotherapy drama In Treatment: digital channel Sky Arts has acquired rights to the 43-episode series and plans to air episodes weeknights at 10 pm beginning in October. Sky Arts will also air an omnibus edition of In Treatment on Sunday evenings as well. (Broadcast)

Former NBC drama executive Lauren Stein has been hired at Peter Chernin's nascent production shingle, where she will oversee television drama development, a move that reunites her with her former boss at NBC, Katherine Pope. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Zuniga Returns to "Melrose Place," Pileggi and Plimpton on Call for "Grey's," Eliza Coupe "Scrubs" In as Regular, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Daphne Zuniga (One Tree Hill) will reprise her role as photographer Jo Reynolds in the CW's relaunch of soap Melrose Place in at least two episodes. Zuniga will join several other cast members from the original Melrose Place on the CW series this fall, including Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett, and Laura Leighton. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Martha Plimpton (ER) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc next season on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, where she will play the mother of a young patient at Seattle Grace. Her first appearance is set for the sixth season premiere, slated to air September 24th. In other Grey's casting news, Mitch Pileggi (Stargate: Atlantis) will reprise his role as Larry Jennings, the chairman of Seattle Grace's board of directors, in the sixth season premiere. (Hollywood Reporter, TVGuide.com)

Eliza Coupe has been upgraded to series regular on Scrubs next season, which sees the series reboot after the departure of several regulars from the cast. Coupe will reprise her role as hyper-insensitive intern Denise on the ABC Studios-produced series, alongside returning regulars Donald Faison and John C. McGinley. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has handed out a script order with a sizable penalty to family comedy Nathan vs. Nature, about a heart surgeon who tracks down his birth parents and discovers that, after giving him up for adoption, the couple had three more children that they kept and forms a bond with his newly discovered slacker siblings. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, is written and executive produced by David Guarascio and Moses Port (Just Shoot Me). (Variety)

FX has ordered semi-improvised half-hour comedy pilot The League, about a married man debating fatherhood and his fellow members of a fantasy football league in suburban Chicago, from Curb Your Enthusiasm executive producer Jeff Schaffer and wife Jackie Marcus Schaffer. Project stars Mark Duplass (Humpday), Nick Kroll (I Love You Man), Steve Rannazzisi (Paul Blart: Mall Cop),Katie Aselton (The Puffy Chair), Nadine Velazquez (My Name is Earl), Paul Scheer (Human Giant), Jon Lajoie, and Alina Foley. Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) will guest star. (Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

TBS has ordered ten episodes of new comedy series Are We There Yet?, based on the 2005 feature film of the same name about a single man who starts dating a woman with two kids. Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) will star. Ali LeRoi (Everybody Hates Chris) will write and executive produce the series, which has an option for ninety additional episodes. Series, from Debmar-Mercury and Cube Vision and executive producers Joe Roth, Ice Cube, and Matt Alvarez, is expected to debut in June 2010. (Variety)

Keegan Michael Key (MADtv) has been cast as a series regular for the second season of CBS' comedy Gary Unmarried, where he will play Clean, a high school friend of Gary (Jay Mohr) whose minor-league baseball career was cut short by a knee injury. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC Studios has signed a first-look deal with Jennifer Garner's Vandalia Films, which intends to develop female-driven projects for the studio. Shingle is run by Garner and Juliana Janes and the company has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. for features. (Variety)

Despite the recent death of Billy Mays, Discovery Channel has ordered a second season of unscripted series Pitchmen. The cabler is said to be developing the format of the second season with Anthony Sullivan, Billy Mays III, and Thom Beers of Original Productions. No air date was announced. (via press release)

Disney Channel has found its lead for its newest comedy: 16-year-old Bridgit Mendler (Jonas), who will play the lead in Good Luck Charlie, about a girl and her brother Casey (Jason Dolley) who must care for their baby sister Charlie after their parents both go back to work full-time. Series is expected to launch early next year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Russell Brand will host MTV's 2009 Video Music Awards for MTV, following his hosting duties last year at the VMAs. (Broadcasting & Cable)

In other awards news, Kathy Griffin will host the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 12th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Mary-Louise Parker to Keep Puffing on "Weeds," "Scrubs" Back to School, Meg Ryan to Guest Star on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I'm back from vacation so there's loads of television-related headlines to catch up on. Buckle your seatbelts; it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker has put those rumors that she's leaving the Showtime comedy series to bed, stating that she's sticking around for quite some time. "Sometimes when I think about the show ending I get sad. I just can't imagine what it's going to be like," Parker told E! Online's Watch with Kristin. "We for sure have one more year, so I don't have to be sad yet. I can smile a little bit longer. I would stay on, but at a certain point it would get a little bit tired. It'd be like, we don't need to see Nancy and Andy running around in their 60s. I think it will depend on how this season goes, as to whether or not it will have a little velocity for staying around a little longer." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

When Scrubs returns for a ninth season this fall, there will be more change than just some of the regular cast, with the focus of the series shifting from Sacred Heart Hospital to the classroom. "It'll be a lot like Paper Chase as a comedy," series creator Bill Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "It's going to be a different show. It'll still be life-and-death stakes, but if the show is just Scrubs again in the hospital with a different person's voiceover, it would be a disaster and people would be mad." But there will be some familiar faces, with Donald Faison and John C. McGinley on board as series regulars and Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, and Ken Jenkins slated to make guest appearances when the medical students are working at Sacred Heart. "Med students in their first three years have to spend anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of their time at a hospital," said Lawrence. "And that's when you'll see some of the [original cast members]. Continuity-wise, Sacred Heart will still exist with those people still working there." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

I'll have what she's having: Meg Ryan will guest star on an upcoming episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. The former When Harry Met Sally star will appear early on in the series' seventh season, which returns to HBO in September. The season will also feature an ongoing storyline that will reunite Larry David with his Seinfeld cast. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Confirmed: T.R. Knight won't be returning to ABC's Grey's Anatomy this fall following his request to be let out of his multi-year contract. "Leaving Grey's Anatomy was not an easy decision for me to make," said Knight in a statement. "I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play this character and will miss my fellow cast and crew very much." Series creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes, meanwhile, wished Knight "the best in his future endeavors" and said of the actor: ""He is an incredibly talented actor and a person whose strength of character is admired by all of us." (Variety)

Katherine Heigl, meanwhile, WILL be back next season on Grey's Anatomy, reprising her role as Izzie Stevens, despite a cliffhanger ending that made it seem as though Heigl was off the series for good. Sources close to the production have indicated that Heigl's option has been picked up and she will continue as a regular on the ABC medical drama series. (Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly)

Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously) has joined the cast of CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles as a series regular; she'll play "an efficient and hard-nosed former film industry technician who now oversees the 'backroom' support staff -- the folks tasked with providing everything from micro surveillance cameras to cars for the team," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Clayne Crawford (Jericho) has joined the cast of Day Eight of FOX's 24, where he will play "a bad boy from Dana Walsh's (Katee Sackhoff) past." (Hollywood Reporter)

Showtime has renewed comedy series Tracey Ullman's State of the Union for a third season, with seven new installments set to debut in 2010. (Variety)

Battlestar Galactica's Rick Worthy is reportedly in talks to join the cast of NBC's Heroes, entering its fourth season this fall. If a deal is reached, Worthy will allegedly be playing a Los Angeles cop and the new partner for Greg Grunberg's Matt Parkman. (Digital Spy)

Musical chairs: The Primetime Emmy Awards telecast is back on September 20th, its original ceremony date. The move comes after CBS and the TV Academy moved the telecast to September 13th in order to avoid starting late due to NFL double-header overrun... but failed to take into account that the date clashed with MTV's Video Music Awards. So it's back to September 20th, after all. (Variety's Emmy Central)

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane will recur on ABC's Flash Forward this fall, as will ER's Alex Kingston. MacFarlane plays an FBI agent in the David S. Goyer and Marc Guggenheim-overseen drama series. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Reville has signed a talent holding deal with actor Bobb'e J. Thompson (30 Rock, Role Models) under which the company will develop a sitcom for the 13-year-old actor. (Variety)

The CW will begin rolling out its fall premieres on September 8th, which will see the second season premiere of 90210 and the series premiere of Melrose Place. Gossip Girl, meanwhile, will swap timeslots with One Tree Hill next season, with the former moving to the 9 pm timeslot; both series will launch their new seasons on September 14th. America's Next Top Model kicks off on September 9th, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural on September 10th, Beautiful Life on September 16th, and Smallville on September 25th. (Hollywood Reporter)

TLC has given a series order to Stager Invasion, which depicts professional stager Lisa Lynch giving frustrated home sellers tips on how to get their houses sold in difficult times. The twelve-episode series will launch June 30th at 8 pm ET/PT. (Variety)

Travel Channel has ordered reality competition series The Streets of America: The Search for America's Worst Driver, in which awful drivers are placed in a series of challenges in order to determine which is really the worst driver. Series, based on an international format and from A. Smith and Co. and Mentorn, will launch in the first quarter of 2010. (Variety)

USA Network has hired Spike executive Bill McGoldrick as SVP of original scripted programming; it's a return for McGoldrick who previously worked at USA. He will report to Jeff Wachtel. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Buffy" Feature Sans Whedon, Tennant to Appear on "Sarah Jane Adventures," Sarah Chalke Uncertain about "Scrubs" Return, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Could Buffy be heading back to the big screen... sans Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, or any of the supporting talents that made the franchise a success? Sadly, yes, in what appears to be shaping up as one of the worst ideas of the year. Executive producers Fran and Kaz Kuzui, along with Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Doug Davison are said to be developing a reboot of the Buffy franchise. (Fran Rubel Kuzui directed the original Buffy feature.) However, said project would not involve characters like Willow, Xander, Angel, or Spike (or, indeed any of the above elements) and would instead focus on a new slayer and would kick off a new franchise. The producers are currently meeting with writers and have not reached out to Joss Whedon about any involvement with the project. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Tennant will star opposite Elisabeth Sladen in two upcoming episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures's third season. Reprising his role as the Doctor, Tennant will not just cameo but will play a leading role in a two-part episode when the series returns for its third season in September. "Viewers thought they may have to wait until November for the next full episode of Doctor Who, but this is an extra special treat," said executive producer Russell T. Davies. "And it's not just a cameo from David – this is a full-on appearance for The Doctor as he and Sarah Jane face their biggest threat ever." (BBC)

Sarah Chalke still hasn't made up her mind about whether she will reprise her role as Elliot on Season Nine of Scrubs, recently ordered by ABC. "I actually don't know yet what I'm going to do, but I will very soon. You guys will be the first to know. Regardless, I'm excited that the show got picked up again and it's going to go another year," Chalke, who stars in Lifetime's upcoming mini-series Maneater, told E! Online. ""I think the setup on Maneater kinds of lends itself to [an ongoing series] because you've got the close group of girlfriends, sort of a Sex and the City." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment have partnered to develop an unscripted series based on Twitter. Details are scarce but the project--to be executive produced by Amy Ephron, Kevin Foxe, Steve Latham, Mark Koops, Howard Owens, Jon Liebman, and Lee Kernis--is described as "putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format." (Variety)

Now that the dust has cleared after the network upfronts, it's clear who the real winner is this development season: studio Warner Bros. Television, who managed to sell a new series or have one renewed on every single broadcast network. Besides for NBC's Chuck, which got an eleventh hour renewal, the studio is behind such series as ABC’s Eastwick, Hank, The Forgotten, The Middle and V, Miami Trauma, Cold Case, and There Goes the Neighborhood at CBS, FOX’s Human Target and Past Life, and The CW’s Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life and Parental Discretion Advised, which will be co-produced with CBS Television Studios. "This season, it’s been very challenging," said WBTV President Peter Roth about the struggles the studio faced this year. "One network has five fewer hours of shelf space. The changing economic environment challenged every company. We are facing, most especially, the imperative to put on undeniable, can’t-miss, have-to-watch TV. It’s been a challenging year, perhaps more so than other years. I feel satisfied at least in terms of having been given our opportunities, a chance to get on the air with product I really believe in. The real test will be how many of these can be true long-term hits." (Broadcasting & Cable)

Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed takes a look at some of the timeslot competition this fall, rating such competitors as ABC's Desperate Housewives and CBS' Three Rivers, Fringe against Grey's Anatomy and CSI, Southland against Medium, Dollhouse, and Ugly Betty, and Flash Forward vs. Survivor, Bones, and NBC's comedies. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Season Two of Merlin, which is set to air on BBC One this fall, will feature guest stars such as Mackenzie Crook (The Office), Sarah Parish (Mistresses), Adrian Lester (Hustle), Charles Dance (Bleak House), and Santiago Cabrera (Heroes). The series, which will air its first season Stateside on NBC this summer, stars Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Anthony Head, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, and John Hurt. (BBC)

Former USA executive Lindsay Sloane has been named FOX's co-head of drama programming, where she will oversee the department with Terence Carter and report to Matt Cherniss. Sloane replaces Rachel Bendavid, who is leaving the network. "We've established the ideal team to lead the next generation of drama development at FOX," said Matt Cherniss, who called Sloane a "gifted scripted series development executive." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Chuck" Trio to Return for Season Three, Acevedo Let Go From FOX's "Fringe," Diamantopoulos Counts Down for "24," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Wondering just what Season Three of NBC's Chuck will be like? For one thing the series' core trio isn't going anywhere. "Yes. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey are in all episodes," said Chuck co-creator/executive producer Josh Schwartz. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello catches up with Schwartz to find out about Season Three, budget cuts, Subway, returning supporting cast members ("We have plans for Anna to return"), and about being off the air for ten months. "It was really a tough choice that the network faced: Put us on Friday or [hold us until] midseason," said Schwartz. "I really believe Chuck is the little show that could. Our fans are clearly passionate, clearly loyal, and hopefully all we'll do is get them more and more [excited] for our return. And we'll come up with fun ways of stoking the fans throughout the fall. We also have something very, very fun planned for Comic-Con this year." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

One cast member who won't be returning for Season Two of FOX drama Fringe is Kirk Acevedo, who played FBI Agent Charlie Francis. Acevedo announced that he had been let go from the drama (due to budgetary cuts) via his Facebook profile status update, writing, "WELL BOYS AND GIRLS THEY DONE DID YER BOY WRONG! THEY FIRED ME OFF OF FRINGE, AND IVE NEVER BEEN FIRED IN MY LIFE!!!!" Series writer/producer Brad Caleb Kane confirmed the news via Twitter, saying: "They fired Kirk Acevedo? WTF?" Meanwhile, blog Oh No They Didn't has information on a casting call for Season Two of Fringe: "MID TO LATE TWENTIES. FBI AGENT SHE IS ATTRACTIVE, BRASH, OUTSPOKEN,QUICK-WITTED AND CAPABLE. CATHERINE HAS A STRONG PERSONAL CENTER THAT COMES FROM A DEEP CORE BELIEF IN THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE. (RECURRING WITH POSSIBLE OPTION FOR SR) PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES"

Chris Diamantopoulos (The Starter Wife) has been cast as a series regular on Day Eight of FOX's 24. He'll play Rob Weiss, the "argumentative and tough new Chief of Staff to President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones)," replacing Ethan Kanin (Bob Gunton), President Taylor's current Chief of Staff on 24. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sarah Chalke likely won't be returning to Scrubs full-time next season. "I would've had Sarah in a heartbeat," Scrubs creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "I think she's got enough going on in her career [right now]. I'd say it's 50-50 she's in some episodes. I know she'll at least be in one or two." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Producers of Bravo's reality hit The Real Housewives of New York City are reportedly negotiating deals with six replacements who could become the stars of the series' third season, should the network not be able to reach an agreement with the series' current stars, who are allegedly asking for additional compensation for their participation on Housewives. It is still possible, however, that all six women from the first two seasons could return for Season Three. (New York Post)

TNT unveiled a slew of series in development at yesterday's upfront presentation, including an untitled alien invasion drama pilot from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Robert Rodat about a group of everyday men and women who battle the invading aliens, legal drama Class Action from executive producers Steven Bochco and Stephen Godchaux about an unlucky attorney who fights the good fight for the disenfranchised, drama Zapata, Texas from executive producer Kyra Sedgwick and executive producer/director Kevin Bacon about the new sheriff of a small Texas border town, an untitled family drama from Roseanne creator Matt Williams about a middle American family, an untitled period noir drama from writer Daniel Pyne about a private detective in 1954 Los Angeles, Pastor Jazz, starring Charles S. Dutton as a minister who uses music to touch the hearts of his congregation, Macalister, about a professor at a school for boys that serves the wealthy and privileged, and Proof, about an eccentric neuroscientist who uses his expertise to help law enforcement solve tough cases. (Variety)

The New York Times' Bill Carter takes a look at why several networks are extending the life of canceled series by picking them up from their rivals, such as CBS' decision to pick up Medium after NBC passed on the series. Carter points to a worrying trend that has networks making programming decisions based on syndication money or DVD sales for their studio side. "The conflict over Medium was emblematic of what transpired at every network this week, when money and ownership were major factors in scheduling decisions," writes Carter. "CBS had no trouble committing to ordering a full season of Medium, which NBC had resisted, because as owner of the show it will benefit financially from the future sale of the episodes of the show produced for the coming season." (New York Times)

MTV will launch Season Twenty-Two of The Real World, set in Cancun, on June 24th. (Variety)

Wondering what Georgina's statement at the end of the season finale of Gossip Girl meant now that actress Michelle Trachtenberg's new medical series Mercy was picked up by NBC? Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello says that Gossip Girl producers "thought ahead and made sure Trachtenberg negotiated a three-episode Gossip Girl 'out' in her Mercy contract. You didn't really think the Georgina-Blair roommate thing would last longer than that, did you?" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

National Geographic will launch Hooked as an ongoing series beginning June 29th. Series, hosted by Zeb Hogan, explores how various cultures "approach fishing (and underwater conservation) while highlighting the most dramatic catches." Cabler will also return series World's Toughest Fixes on June 4th and Locked Up Abroad on July 15th. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABC will unveil its full schedule to advertisers on Tuesday.

Channel Surfing: Shonda Rhimes Talks "Grey's" Twists, FOX Delves into "Past Life," CW Staffing on "Melrose Place" and "Vampire Diaries," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Still reeling from last night's season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy? Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive interview with series creator Shonda Rhimes about some of the shocking plot twists in last night's season ender. Responding to rumors about whether Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight wanted off of Grey's Anatomy and how this impacted their characters' fates, Rhimes said simply, "I don't think there are any coincidences. I think Katherine's stated publicly that she's happy to stay. I think that there have been lots of rumors about TR, but TR's never said anything. Take from it what you will." Rhimes also discusses the fates of Izzie and George, Mer and Der's wedding day, Jessica Capshaw, and a host of other Grey's related issues. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has given a series order to supernatural drama Past Life (formerly known as The Reincarnationist), about a psychologist and a former NYPD homicide detective who assist people in solving "their past-life traumas and present-day crimes." Project, from Warner Bros. Television, is written and executive produced by David Hudgins. Cast includes Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop, Richard Schiff, and Ravi Patel. (Variety)

The CW has reportedly locked Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries into its fall schedule. Both series were given the go-ahead yesterday to bring staffing, which points rather strongly to both projects getting ordered to series. Meanwhile, Beautiful Life, Life Unexpected, and Privileged continue to battle it out for the last remaining slot on the schedule and the Gossip Girl spin-off is said to still be in contention for a midseason bow. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC is said to be considering making some rather big changes to bubble comedy Samantha Who? and is reportedly even debating whether to change the series' format into a traditional multi-camera comedy, albeit it one that follows a similar format to 20th Century Fox Television's How I Met Your Mother, which shoots over four days on a soundstage with multiple cameras but without a live audience. The network still has seven unaired episodes of Samantha Who?, which would mean that it's unlikely ABC would renew it for a full 22-episode order. (Variety)

Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke have signed on to appear in six episodes of Scrubs, should ABC opt to renew the series for a ninth season. Additionally, John C. McGinley, Donald Faison, and Neil Flynn are set to return full-time for a potential ninth season if their pilots aren't ordered to series. The short-term return of Braff and Chalke would help the series set up new storylines for the younger doctors. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Meanwhile, ABC is said to be high on Patricia Heaton comedy vehicle The Middle, along with Bill Lawrence's Cougar Town (starring Courteney Cox), and The Law. Network was said to be less than pleased with the pilots for Romantically Challenged and Awesome Hank yet may still order one or both of them to series. On the drama front, The Forgotten has the best chances of landing on the schedule but the net is also considering such projects as V, Inside the Box, Eastwick, and Happy Town. (Variety)

Janeane Garofalo will not be returning for Day Eight of FOX's 24 next season. "I think the secret of this show is knowing when characters have had their story," executive producer Howard Gordon told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "And to transpose everybody [from D.C. to New York] starts feeling very coincidental. Even getting Chloe there ... you have to explain how she got from Washington to New York and what happened. You can't do that for everybody." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has renewed Last Call with Carson Daly for the 2009-10 season, a move which solidifies NBC's latenight strategy. Series, entering its ninth season, will return with a significantly lower budget next season. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Pushing Daisies' Anna Friel is set to star as Holly Golightly opposite Joseph Cross (Milk) in an upcoming stage adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's, set to preview beginning September 9th for a September 29th launch at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. (Variety)

Hilarie Burton has told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello about her departure--which she says was "not a rash decision"--from CW's One Tree Hill at the end of the current season, which wraps on Monday evening. "There really wasn't a lot of turmoil," said Burton about her departure. "It was a fabulous six-year run, which is how long my contract was for, and I feel really lucky to have been a part of the show. So when I hear that there's turmoil or negotiations based on money it kind of hurts my feelings, because it's not what's been going on at all. I think my fan base in particular knows that money isn't necessarily a big motivator for me, that's why I work in the world of independent film... I've known for a little while. For me, it was definitely an emotional decision. And a professional decision as well. I got really, really lucky. One Tree Hill was my very first television audition; it was a fairytale. I feel really lucky to have that level of success right out of the gate." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Confirming a rumor swirling several weeks ago, Warner Bros has acquired screen rights to ITV series Primeval, which airs in the US on BBC America and Sci Fi, with the aim to adapt it into a feature film, set in the US, under the aegis of Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster. "There is a solid mythology to the series, but the movie has the dinosaur element of Jurassic Park and the time travel element of Lost, and it just feels like the kind of big movie that Warner Bros. does well," said Foster. (Variety)

UK network Sky1 has scored the world premiere of two Prison Break episodes that are being billed as a special event movie entitled Prison Break: The Final Break. The network will air the two-hour movie on Wednesday, May 27th at 10 pm, a week after airing the fourth season finale which marks the end of the series. (Digital Spy)

Comedy Central has ordered seven episodes of animated comedy Ugly Americans, about an alternate universe where mythological creatures live among everyday people. Project, from writer David Stern (The Simpsons), will feature the voice talents of Matt Oberg, Randy Pearlstein, Mike Britt, Kurt Metzger, Rebekka Johnson, and Pete Holmes. The cabler also announced several projects in development, including: Judah Friedlander and Jordan Rubin's animated comedy Gypsy Cab, about a taxi driver in Manhattan who looks to pick up celebrity fares; single-cam workplace comedy The Sklar Brothers Sports Comedy Show; Midwest Teen Sex Show; The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down; procedural cop comedy The Fuzz, where police are played by humans and puppets; buddy comedy Workaholics; Ghost/Aliens; and several others. (Variety)

Cabler The N (which will be rebranded as TeenNick this fall) has ordered thirteen episodes of half-hour dramedy Gigantic, described as a "a coming-of-age story set in the world of the Hollywood elite packed with parties and privilege" which will feature "testimonials by real-life Hollywood teenagers as well as celebrity cameos." Project, from Reveille, is executive produced by Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Survivor executive producer Tom Shelly has signed an overall deal with Endemol USA, under which he will serve as executive producer on ABC's upcoming reality series Dating in the Dark as well as develop format ideas. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Starz to "Party Down" for Season Two, FOX Orders "Human Target" and "Sons of Tucson," "Torchwood" Ignites in July, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Good news: pay cabler Starz has renewed comedy series Party Down, from creators Rob Thomas, John Enbom, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd, for a second season. The entire cast of Season One of Party Down will return for a sophomore season, though Jane Lynch's commitment to FOX's upcoming series Glee could create complications for her return and the actress is the only cast member who isn't already signed on for a second season. Party Down will return to production this summer for a Season Two launch date sometime in 2010. Also returning: directors Fred Savage and Bryan Gordon, who will direct episodes of the series, along with Ken Marino, who is locked to helm an installment as well. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin, Variety)

FOX has reportedly ordered pilots Human Target, from Warner Bros Television, and comedy Sons of Tucson, from 20th Century Fox Television, to series. FOX had no comment on the news, which is hardly surprising as the network will unveil its schedule to advertisers on Monday. Human Target stars Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley; it revolves around a man hired to pose as people whose lives are in danger, becoming in effect a human target. (Series is based on a DC Comics/Vertigo title.) Sons of Tucson, starring Tyler Labine and Natalie Morales, follows a hustler who is hired to pose as the father of three kids whose real father is in jail for white collar crimes. Series was created by Tommy Dewey and Greg Bratman. (Variety)

BBC America has announced that Torchwood's third season, comprised of five episodes, will air this July, following a similar air pattern as BBC One in the UK and will air day-and-date with the UK airings. (You can take a look at the trailer for season three, Torchwood: Children of Earth, here.) (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

FOX has renewed drama Lie to Me for a second season of thirteen episodes and has hired The Shield creator Shawn Ryan to come aboard as showrunner on the 20th Century Fox Television-produced series. The hiring doesn't mean curtains for Ryan's other series, CBS' The Unit, however; should that series be picked up for another season, Ryan will juggle duties on both of the 20th-produced series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, Dollhouse is said to still be alive at FOX, with Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva reporting that "cult favorite Dollhouse is still alive, with the final decision hinging on the low-rated series' economics." (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC's Scrubs is said to be inching its way to a ninth season renewal following reports that offers have gone out to the series' cast, with many of them--including Zach Braff--expected to return for a ninth season, even if only for a handful of episodes. (Variety)

The New York Post is reporting that Desperate Housewives' Lily Tomlin and Kathryn Joosten, who play Roberta and Karen McClusky on the ABC drama, are in talks to reprise their roles in an untitled spin-off focusing on their characters. (New York Post)

Showtime has confirmed that Alanis Morissette will will appear in at least seven episodes of Season Five of Weeds, which launches Monday, June 8th. Morisette will guest star in the series as no-nonsense clinic OB/GYN Dr. Audra Kitson, who treats Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) for her pregnancy. (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton will not be returning to One Tree Hill for the series' seventh season, launching on the CW this fall. Their final appearances on the series will air this Monday on the season finale. The reason behind their departure? Failed contract negotiations, according to Ausiello, who says that two new characters will be introduced next season to fill the void left behind by Murray and Burton and Austin Nichols will be bumped to series regular. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A&E announced a slew of scripted development at their upfront yesterday, including the The Quickening from writer Jennifer Salt (Nip/Tuck) about a bi-polar LAPD cop who goes off of her medication; Night Falls, about a Manhattan cop with a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality disorder, from writer Daniel Connolly and executive producer Brian Robbins; an untitled Matthew Carnahan cop drama which splits its focus on the criminals and the FBI team assigned to track them down; and James Ellroy-scripted drama The Lead Sheet, a period drama set in the 1970s as the LAPD looks to capture the elusive Hillside Strangler. Two of those projects will get pilot greenlights in the next few weeks, joining Jerry Bruckheimer's Cooler Kings. (Variety)

Nikki Finke is reporting that ABC pilots Limelight and No Heroics are dead, while Romantically Challenged "came in better than expected but star Alysso Milano was worse than expected." At CBS, Miami Trauma and Three Rivers are both fighting for a slot on the schedule. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Universal Media Studios have signed an overall deal with former Scrubs writers Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman, who co-created comedy pilot Nobody's Watching with Bill Lawrence. Under the terms of the deal, they will come aboard upcoming NBC comedy series Community as executive producers, working alongside creator Dan Harmon on the series, and will develop new projects for the studio hopefully in the 2010-2011 season. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other deal-related news, CBS Television Studios has signed a two-year overall deal with writer Ken Sanzel, under which he will remain showrunner on CBS drama NUMB3RS, should the series be renewed for a fifth season. Failing a renewal, Sanzel will be shifted over to another CBS Television Studios series. (Variety)

Discovery has announced another HD nature documentary series entitled Wild Planet: North America, on which the cabler will team with former BBC Natural History Unit head Keith Scholey as part of the first of a batch of documentary series that will catalogue the planet's natural beauty continent by continent. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC is developing a US adaptation of Dutch reality series Find My Family with RDF USA and executive producer Tom Forman (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) in which everyday people, desperate to track down a long-lost friend or relative, get reunited with their missing individual. Project, which just recently wrapped production on a pilot, will be hosted by Tim Green and Lisa Joyner. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: 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: Rosenbaum and D'Agosto Experience Sibling Rivalry, ABC Announces Season Finale Sched, Moore Talks End of "Battlestar," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Former Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum and Heroes' Nick D'Agosto will star in NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, where they'll play brothers in the Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount project; D'Agosto will play the family's youngest sibling who brings his girlfriend home to meet his family while Rosenbaum will play the middle sibling, a married man freaking out over his adopted baby.

Elsewhere, Noah Gray-Cabey (Heroes), Oded Fehr (Sleeper Cell), Kyle Riabko (Instant Star), and Jessy Schram (Life) will star in ABC musical drama pilot Limelight, about the teachers and students of a performing arts institute; Sam Neill (The Tudors) has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot Happy Town; and Rochelle Aytes (Drive) will star opposite Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) in ABC's untitled Jerry Bruckheimer drama pilot, about a team of amateur detectives, where she will play a police officer who slips cases to Penry Jones' team. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has announced that they are developing A Ribbon of Dreams, about the history of the Hollywood film industry, with writer/director/executive producer David Chase, creator of The Sopranos. (Televisionary)

Henry Rollins will guest star in a six-episode story arc on Season Two of FX drama Sons of Anarchy, where he will play a new antagonist for the fictional town of Charming, California. (Televisionary)

ABC has announced season finale dates for most of its series, with Scrubs to air an hour-long finale on May 6th (likely the series' last) and According to Jim on May 5th. Meanwhile, Lost will wrap up its fifth season on May 14th with a two-hour season finale; Grey's Anatomy will air a two-hour season finale on May 14th; Desperate Housewives will air a two-hour installment on May 17th; Brothers & Sisters will wrap on May 10th; Private Practice is set to end its season on April 30th; In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will both air season finales on April 30th. Ugly Betty is set to return to the schedule on May 7th and end its season on May 21st. Freshman series Better Off Ted will wrap on April 29th, Castle on May 11th, and Cupid on May 12th, while midseason offerings Surviving Suburbia and The Unusuals haven't had end dates announced yet. On the reality side, Dancing with the Stars will wrap with a two-hour finale on May 19th, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on May 17th, Wife Swap and Supernanny on May 1st, and America's Funniest Home Videos will end its season with a two-hour episode on May 15th. (Variety)

SCI FI Wire spoke to Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D. Moore about the upcoming series finale, slated to air on Friday. "I was ready to let it go creatively," said Moore of the decision to end the series after the fourth season. "I knew that the show had entered the endgame, and I knew that we were in the third act. It was time to wrap up the story. I wasn't emotionally ready to let it go, and I'm still not. It was a very important experience for me. I love it. I loved working on it. I loved the people I got to know. I loved the end product. I liked watching the show. I was a fan of the show. So it's hard to know that there's not more Galactica coming. But as a producer and as a writer, I'm very happy that we got to end it on our own terms." (SCI FI Wire)

Runaway production is once again on the forefront of everyone's minds. This year, at least 20 of the 39 hour-long broadcast network pilots slated to shoot this season will be produced outside of California, due to stringent new rules governing incentives for new television series in the State of California, which limit tax credits to basic cable series with less than $1 million in episodic budgets. (Variety)

Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live) will host the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, which will air life from the Gibson Ampitheatre in Universal City on May 31st. It marks his first time hosting the awards ceremony. (Hollywood Reporter)

Oxygen is said to be close to ordering reality series The Naughty Kitchen, featuring Dallas chef Blythe Beck and her employees at her restaurant, from Code Entertainment and Authentic Pictures. Also in development at Oxygen: The Girls, about three wannabe singers in Nashville, and Hogs and Heifers, about the workers and patrons of the eponymous bar. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Orders "V" Remake, "House" May Resurrect Amber, Martha Jones Back to "Who," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

ABC has ordered a pilot for a modern day remake of seminal 1980s mini-series V, to be written/executive produced by Scott Peters (The 4400). Updated V, from Warner Bros. Television, will focus on a female Homeland Security agent. Elsewhere, NBC has removed the contingency from period comedy pilot Lost in the '80s, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount, which will be directed by P.J. Hogan (Shopaholic). (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Doctor Who co-star Freema Agyeman will reportedly reprise her role as Martha Jones in one of the four Doctor Who specials planned for 2009, despite some rumors of bad blood between her and outbound head writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies, said to originate when she accepted a role on ITV's Law & Order: London rather than star in a new season of Torchwood. “Freema’s on board," said an unnamd source. "It’s early days so it’s unclear what exactly Martha will be up to in the new show. Whatever happens it’s good news for Freema and shows that whatever friction there was between her and Who bosses has gone.” (The Sun)

It's looking increasingly likely that 24's Day Eight will be the last for Kiefer Sutherland. "Whether Season Eight is the end or not, I don't know," said Sutherland. "I love making the show, so I'm leaving my options open. And in all fairness, I think the audience will dictate that more than anybody." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has shifted a comedy block of Samantha Who? and new series In the Motherhood to Thursday nights at 8 pm, a timeslot traditionally held by Ugly Betty, which will go on hiatus until the two series wrap their runs. Additionally, Scrubs will be paired on Wednesdays with new comedy Better Off Ted in an 8 pm timeslot. But don't count Betty out just yet; ABC said that the struggling series would have been airing repeats during that time anyway. (Variety)

Amy Poehler's untitled NBC sitcom, from executive producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, now has a title: Public Service. Series is set to launch on April 9th at 8:30 pm ET/PT. (New York Times)

More info about Scott Bakula's multiple-episode story arc on Chuck from NBC: "In the storyline, Chuck made a promise to his sister, Ellie that he was going to find their dad in time for her wedding. But when he does find him, Chuck discovers that his dad is not necessarily a guy who wants to be found. He's living in a trailer, he's disheveled, he's paranoid and he's claiming constantly that Ted Roark (guest star Chevy Chase) -- who he used to work with -- stole all his ideas from him. In addition, Ted Roark has now become a super-successful software billionaire while Chuck's dad has become an eccentric, living in the shadows." (press release)

Jon Hamm is set to appear in three episodes of 30 Rock starting next week but you can get a sneak peek at footage of him as Dr. Drew Baird on the NBC comedy right now. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Among the teams racing for the million-dollar prize on the next season of CBS' The Amazing Race: screenwriter Mike White (best known for Freaks & Geeks, Pasadena, and Chuck & Buck, among many others) and his father, a gay-rights activist and former speechwriter for Pat Robertson and Billy Graham, and a 22-year-old deaf student and his mother. (Associated Press)

Producers of FOX's House are said to be in talks with Anne Dudek about reprising her role as Amber, Wilson's, er, dead girlfriend, later this season. Just don't look for her to return as a ghost like Grey's Anatomy's Denny. "If we could figure out a way to bring her back that is not a ghost sex plot," said executive producer Katie Jacobs, "we'd be thrilled to do it and have her back." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Doug Allen has been fired as national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG in a move that also replaced the SAG negotiating committee, which is being viewed as a sign that the guild may soon sign a feature-primetime deal. "I'm sure it was a difficult decision to replace SAG's negotiators, but if the other entertainment unions can make a deal their members can live with, SAG can too," said Sally Field, who has audibly opposed Allen this past year, "and now I feel certain that will happen, quickly and productively." (Variety)

MTV has renewed The City and Daddy's Girls for second seasons as well as handed out a twenty-episode order for Teen Cribs and another batch of 28 episodes for series Made. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Lost" Clues, Barrowman Pens "Torchwood" Comic, Detmer Heads to "Private Practice," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I'm off in a bit to FOX's panel for the Television Critics Association, but here are a few headlines first.

Torchwood's John Barrowman will collaborate with artist Tommy Lee Edwards on an original comic strip entitled "Captain Jack and the Selkie," which will run in the fourteen issue of the bi-monthly Torchwood magazine. The strip will feature a story in which Jack faces" a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one... To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible." (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Doc Jensen offers some clues to understanding Season Five of Lost, which premieres Wednesday, January 21st, and recommends five previous episodes for essential viewing before the season premiere, including "There's No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3)," "Flashes Before Your Eyes," "The Constant," and "Cabin Fever." (Having seen the first two episodes myself, I have to agree.) FYI, you can catch that first recommendation tomorrow night on ABC. (Entertainment Weekly)

Following last week's pick ups for The Line and Time Heals, TNT has ordered ten episodes of drama Men of a Certain Age, which stars Ray Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula as three 40-something friends who try to come to terms with middle-age. Project, from executive producers Romano, Mike Royce, Rory Rosegarten, and Cary Hoffman, will be produced by TNT Original Prods. (Variety)

E! Online's Kristin dos Santos claims that two cast members will be leaving ABC's Ugly Betty at the end of the season, one of whom will be Ashley Jensen, who has asked to be released from her contract on the series. Jensen is not expected to be back as a series regular when Ugly Betty returns for a fourth season this fall. As for the second characters, allegedly it's a newer actor that only recently joined the series. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Amanda Detmer (What About Brian) will join the cast of ABC's Private Practice in a four-episode story arc slated to air in March. Detmer will play one of Addison's patients but their relationship shifts from professional to personal when they form a friendship. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In other Grey's Anatomy-related news, Melissa George will leave the series; her final day of shooting on Shonda Rhimes' drama is today. According to the actress, who played the self-mutilating and sexually ambiguous Sadie this season, she is leaving the series on good terms in order to "do something else." However, Michael Ausiello has also learned that the desire for George to exit were mutual, despite her initial deal which had her appearing in 8-11 episodes with an option to become a series regular. "She was very difficult to root for," said one source. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner says that the fate of his Golden Globe-winning drama series is "unknowable" due to prolonged contract renegotiations between him, studio Lionsgate Television, and cabler AMC. "I don't know anything about next season," Weiner told Kristin dos Santos, "I don't even know if it's happening." That doesn't sound promising, but AMC is optimistic that Weiner will return for Season Three and it will launch said season this summer. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TV Guide talks to Scrubs star Donald Faison about the series' move from NBC to ABC, working with Glynn Turman and Courteney Cox, and playing Turk. (TV Guide)

Michael Ausiello talks with House executive producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore about the Thirteen controversy, Chase and Cameron, and House and Cuddy's relationship. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

SAG national executive director Doug Allen is on the way out as the guild's chief negotiator, a move which seems to decrease the likelihood of a SAG strike. (Hollywood Reporter)

Animal Planet announced three new series for 2009: Animal Armageddon, River Monsters, and Beverly Hills Groomer. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Brothers & Sisters" Thins Out Cast, Bill Lawrence Talks "Scrubs" Future, Kingston Scrubs in for "ER," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Only a few major headlines this morning, though I am still literally shaking after watching the first two episodes of Season Five of Lost yesterday afternoon. (Nearly 24 hours later and I still can't get it out of my head, but that's hardly surprising.)

The Walker clan is getting thinned out a little bit. According to Michael Ausiello, Brothers & Sisters' Balthazar Getty was told last week that his option as a full-time series regular was not being picked up for next season. However, Getty is said to be in talks with producers to remain on the series, perhaps in a recurring role. Decision to reduce Getty's role is due to both budgetary and storyline reasons, though some insiders have pointed to Getty's "difficult" behavior of late. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Bill Lawrence--the creator of Scrubs, which moves from NBC to ABC on January 6th--talks to the New York Times about writing the ending for the medical comedy. Only that ending is now in question as ABC debates whether or not to continue the series without Lawrence or series lead Zach Braff... or the same title. In a possible move that could signal the future of the series, Lawrence is bringing in a new batch of interns for Season Eight, who will star in a series of webisodes alongside the linear series. (New York Times)

Alex Kingston will return to NBC's ER for the series' January 15th episode, where her character Dr. Elizabeth Corday--last seen on the series five years ago--runs into Parminder Nagra's Neela at an attending interview. ER's series finale is slated to air March 12th. (TV Guide)

Michael Pitt (Funny Games) will star opposite Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald in Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter's HBO drama pilot Boardwalk Empire, about the origins of Atlantic City. (Hollywood Reporter)

The graphic content of Season Three of BBC's Torchwood--airing over five consecutive nights this spring--will be toned down so as to avoid being heavily edited for US broadcast, according to series star John Barrowman. "We're not swearing or doing anything close to the bone because it's been a huge success in the US and the networks won't accept it with all that stuff in it," said Barrowman."We're doing everything so it doesn't have to be heavily edited for the US... I'll still be getting naked and it will still be saucy - but it's done with taste." (Digital Spy)

"What NBC does best these days is turn its failures into The New Broadcast TV Paradigm." So says The Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes, who takes a look at the declining fortunes of NBC, struggling to tie with FOX for last place among the broadcast networks. "In just a few short years, NBC, once the best brand in broadcast TV, has become virtually irrelevant," writes de Moraes. "This season has been a particularly lousy one for the network, leading even former journalist-disciples of the network to pen pieces about its 'sad' descent and its 'lack of quality inventory.'" (The Washington Post)

USA Today talks to Brody Jenner and Whitney Port, the stars of MTV's upcoming reality series Bromance and The City respectively. Says Jenner about his upcoming series which looks to pair the former Hills star with a new male friend, "I've always been a person that's totally comfortable with my sexuality and showing my affections with my guy friends." (USA Today)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Aaron Bids Bye-Bye on "Gossip Girl," Cavanagh Returns to "Scrubs," HBO Gets "Hung," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Those of us who loathed John Patrick Amedori's Aaron Rose on the CW's Gossip Girl have reason to celebrate today. The CW has confirmed that the December 8th episode that saw Serena heading off to Buenos Aires with Aaron will be the character's last appearance on the series. Whew. So what went wrong? "It was the facial hair," says Show Tracker's Enid Portuguez. I have to agree but I'd also add greasy hair and personality bypass. (Los Angeles Times)

Tom Cavanagh has confirmed that he will return to ABC's Scrubs this season as Dan, the screw-up brother of J.D. (Zach Braff), in an episode filmed in September that also sees the return of previous guest stars Amy Smart and Nicole Sullivan. Scrubs launches its final season on January 6th on ABC. (TV Guide)

Matt Lanter (Heroes) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's 90210, where he will play bad boy Liam, a potential love interest for AnnaLynne McCord's Naomi. Lanter's first episode is slated to air in February. (People)

HBO has ordered ten episodes of Thomas Jane-led dark comedy Hung, about a well-endowed high school basketball coach who puts his gifts to use as a gigolo. Series, created by Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches) and Colette Burson and directed by Alexander Payne (Election), is being eyed for a possible June launch. In addition to Jane, Hung also stars Jane Adams, Sianoa Smit-McPhee and Charlie Saxton. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has handed out a pilot order for An American Family, a mockumentary-style single-camera comedy about three families living in the same suburban neighborhood, a traditional one with a a working dad, a stay-at-home mom, and three kids; another with a 60-year-old man who becomes a stepfather after marrying a much younger Colombian single mother; and a gay couple who have adopted a Vietnamese baby. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, is written and executive produced by Steven Levitan and Christoper Lloyd, who recently created FOX's short-lived comedy Back to You. (Hollywood Reporter)

Party Down, the new Starz comedy series from Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas , has announced its cast, which includes Ken Marino (Veronica Mars), Adam Scott (Tell Me You Love Me), Jane Lynch (Role Models), Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks), Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars), and Lizzy Caplan (True Blood). Series, about a Los Angeles catering team comprised of Hollywood wannabes each hoping for their big break, will launch in March as a companion to comedy Head Cases. (via press release)

James Badge Dale (The Pacific) has been cast as the lead in AMC's untitled Jason Horwitch political thriller pilot opposite Miranda Richardson, Christopher Evan Welch, and Lauren Hodges. Dale will play Will Travers, a gifted analyst at a national think tank who discovers that his employers are not quite who they claim to be. Pilot, from Warner Horizon, will be directed by Allen Coulter (Damages). (Hollywood Reporter)

Sci Fi Channel has signed a new deal with Ghost Hunters creator Craig Piligian, under which the cabler will order six episodes of a college edition of the series (tentatively known as Ghost Hunters: New Generation), a sixth season of Ghost Hunters, a second season of Ghost Hunters International, and an undetermined new series to launch in 2010 that is separate from this franchise.

Comedy Central has ordered six episodes of scripted dating comedy Secret Girlfriend, based on a series of Web shorts on Fremantle's Atomicwedgietv.com. Series, from executive producer/showrunner Eric Weinberg, will be recast for linear television and is likely to launch in late 2009. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Bryan Fuller Heads to Universal, More Hamm for "30 Rock," Stoltz Stalks Halls of Seattle Grace, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I'm still behind on telly so I haven't seen the latest episode of Dirty Sexy Money yet...

That sound you hear? It would be the final nail in the coffin for Pushing Daisies... Daisies creator Bryan Fuller has signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, under which he will rejoin the staff of NBC's Heroes and develop new series projects for the studio. Fuller, who is completing post-production on WBTV's Daisies, will rejoin Heroes starting with episode 320 though it is unknown what his official position will be, other than that he will be working closely alongside showrunner/executive producer Tim Kring. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other Pushing Daisies news, Kristin Chenoweth has joined the cast of FOX's animated midseason comedy Sit Down, Shut Up, where she will replace Maria Bamford as Florida high school science teacher Miracle Grohe, opposite Arrested Development's Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Henry Winkler, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson, Tom Kenny, Cheri Oteri, and Nick Kroll. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

More info on Mad Men's John Hamm joining the cast of NBC's 3o Rock, first reported back in October, has emerged. Hamm will play a new love interest for Tina Fey's Liz Lemon, a doctor who lives in her NYC apartment, and could return for future installments. "I just finished a couple of episodes," said Hamm, "and I'll go back in the new year and do another one of those, and then we'll see what happens." (Associated Press)

Eric Stoltz, who will star in Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica, will guest star in a three-episode story arc of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, where he will play a serial killer "in need of immediate medical attention" whose story "takes a surprising turn around the second episode [and] will raise a myriad of thorny ethical questions for McDreamy and Co." Also cast in a multiple-episode story arc: Jessica Capshaw (The Practice) who will scrub in as pediatric surgeon Arizona Roberts. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has unveiled their midseason schedule, which includes a super-sized episode of The Office in the post-Super Bowl timeslot, a reduced episode count for Knight Rider, and that 3-D episode of Chuck. (Televisionary)

Showtime has renewed comedy series Californication for a third season of twelve episodes, which will debut later in 2009. The series, currently down 16 percent from its freshman season, will begin production on Season Three this spring. (Variety)

Fred Thompson will guest star on a February sweeps episode of ABC's Life on Mars, where he will play the NYPD chief of detectives. Producers are also said to be casting the role of the daughter of Gene Hunt, described as "mid-30s, beautiful, confident, and be willing to work long hours alongside Harvey Keitel." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Courteney Cox guest stars in the January 6th launch of Scrubs on ABC, where she will play the uber-friendly new chief of medicine. (TV Week)

Bravo has ordered a second season of unscripted series The Rachel Zoe Project and is expected to launch Season Two in mid-2009. (Los Angeles Times)

Miranda Richardson, Christopher Evan Welch (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and Lauren Hodges (My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) will star in AMC's untitled political thriller pilot about an analyst at a national think tank who discovers that his employers aren't what they appear to be and uncovers evidence of a secret society that influences world political events. Project, from Warner Horizon, comes from writer/executive producer Jason Horwitch (Medical Investigation), director Allen Coulter (Damages), and executive producer Josh Maurer. Richardson will play the widow of a billionaire who leaves her a cryptic message when he dies mysteriously; Welch will play an arrogant analyst at the think tank and Hodges will play the youngest analyst on the team. (Hollywood Reporter)

Laura Breckenridge (Related) will appear in at least three episodes of the CW's Gossip Girl as Rachel Carr, a new (and very young) English teacher at Constance Billard, who finds herself mistaken for a student and quickly finds herself sparring with Blair. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC has commissioned an eighth season of Spooks (a.k.a. MI-5), to air in 2009. (BBC)

An Echolls Family Christmas, anyone? TV Land has ordered a pilot presentation for an untitled reality series that will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of acting couple Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin (who appeared together as a married couple on Veronica Mars) and their two daughters. Project, executive produced by Jason Carbone, could air as early as 2009 if ordered to series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.