Channel Surfing: CBS Breaks Up with "Ex List," New "Daisies" for ABC This Week, Katee Sackhoff, "90210," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Hope you weren't too attached to CBS' The Ex List. The Eye has pulled the low-performing drama off of its schedule, effective immediately, and will fill the Friday night timeslot with repeats of NCIS for now. Decision comes on the heels of yet another batch of low ratings for the drama (5.3 million viewers and 1.5/5) and the departure of showrunner Diane Ruggiero. No word on whether production will continue (series is currently shooting its eleventh episode) or whether CBS will air the produced episodes later down the line. My thought is that they won't be going to prom any time soon. (Variety)

Barack Obama's presidential campaign has decided not to enlist a full broadcast regime on Wednesday night, opting not to purchase the 8 pm air time on ABC, which will instead air an original episode of Pushing Daisies instead. I'm hoping that the fact that Daisies is one of the few series that will air original episodes in that timeslot (other than the CW's Top Model) will mean some more eyeballs tuning in. Fingers crossed. (Variety)

Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), recently cast as the lead in NBC's procedural crime drama Lost and Found, will appear in an upcoming episode of NBC's Law & Order, which returns to the lineup on November 5th. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Writer/director Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door) has set up two projects at the networks: ABC comedy My Mom is Hot, about a man whose newly divorced mother reenters the dating scene, from writer Duncan Birmingham (Greenfield will direct and executive produce with his mom, Beth Greenfield), and FOX comedy Broke Friends, about a naive Midwestern kid who moves to New York, where he moves in with two con men. The latter project comes from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia writers Sonny Lee and Patrick Walsh; Greenfield will again direct and executive produce. (Congrats, Sonny!) (Variety)

Megan Dodds (Spooks, a.k.a. MI-5) has signed a talent holding deal with 20th Century Fox, under which she will star in an upcoming one-hour series. Dodds recently starred in the courtroom dramedy pilot Courtroom K for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jennifer Lopez's Nuyorican Prods. have signed a first-look deal with Universal Media Studios, under which they will create a variety of TV projects for the studio. Company had previous sold a TV version of film Maid in Manhattan to ABC and Amigas to Disney Channel. (Variety)

Comedy Central has ordered an 11-minute pilot presentation for Secret Girlfriend, based on Fremantle's web series of the same name, about a twenty-something guy and his friends "'living the dream' in the pursuit of sex, beer and more sex.” (Broadcasting and Cable)

UK residents will be able to catch the antics of a new generation of Beverly Hills denizens next year: Channel 4 has outbit rival networks ITV, Five, and Living to acquire 90210, which it will air on C4 and E4 early next year. (Variety)

ABC Family has given a pilot order to drama Perfect 10, from writer/executive producer Holly Sorenson, about a group of teen gymnasts training for a shot at the Olympics. (TV Week)

Nina Lederman has been hired by Lifetime as SVP, series programming and development; she was previously the president of Joe Roth TV. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Gets "V," "Torchwood" Details, Renewals for "Burn Notice" and "Psych," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Details are slowly emerging about the next season of British import Torchwood. Producers have cast four actors for the series' condensed third season, entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth. Lucy Cohu (Meadowlands) will play Alice, "a woman keeping many secrets from the past," according to producer Peter Bennett. Susan Brown (The Riff Raff Element) will play Bridget Spears, "a character vitally connected to the government, which plays an important part in this story." Cush Jumbo will play Lois Habiba, a secretary who "hacks into some vital information," and Rik Makarem will play Doctor Rupesh Patanjali, a "junior doctor at St Helen's hospital who gets drawn into Torchwood's investigations." I can't wait! (Digital Spy)

ABC is developing an adaptation of classic 1980s mini-series V, about reptilian aliens who enslave Earth, with The 4400 co-creator/executive producer Scott Peters. The new version of V will focus on Erica Evans, a Homeland Security agent with a troubled son who attaches himself onto the aliens upon their arrival, which causes some problems at home. Warner Bros. is being the adaptation, which was sold as a spec script to ABC. Original V creator Kenneth Johnson recently tried to revive the franchise with V: The Second Generation but he will not be involved in the latest incarnation. (Variety)

USA has renewed dramas Burn Notice and Psych, with each earning 16 episode orders for 2009. The orders bring Burn Notice to its third season and Psych to its fourth. The second halves of their current seasons are slated to air in January with the following seasons set to bow next summer. No decision has yet been made about the fate of Monk. (Hollywood Reporter)

Pushing Daisies was only slightly down this week (5.6 million viewers; 2.0/6 in adults 18-49) versus its premiere last week (6.3 million viewers; 2.0/6) but Private Practice dropped 21 percent in the key demo week-to-week and Dirty Sexy Money dropped 17 percent as well. At least Daisies fans seem to be sticking around. Now if only we could get those numbers to just... go up. (Variety)

Eric Winter (Brothers & Sisters), Michael Weaver (Notes from the Underbelly), Brian Van Holt (Threshold), Reid Scott (My Boys), Kevin Sorbo (Andromeda), and James Tupper (Men in Trees) are among the upcoming guest stars on CBS' The Ex List, according to series star Elizabeth Reaser. (TV Guide)

The CW has ordered a pilot for Operation Fabulous, a Top Model spinoff to star Jay Manuel and J. Alexander that will be executive produced by Tyra Banks and Ken Mok. Project will follow the Jays as they travel the country giving women makeovers, selecting five women in each town and giving them head-to-toe fashion overhauls in order to boost their confidence. (Hollywood Reporter)

Mark Burnett Prods. has teamed up with Ralph Edwards Prods. to produce a new version of This Is Your Life, in which guests are surprised with a retelling of their life stories including appearances by important people in their past. Series began as a radio show in 1948. (Variety)

ABC has renewed reality competition series I Survived a Japanese Game Show, with 10 episodes to likely air next summer. (Variety)

Rock of Love 2 runner-up Daisy De La Hoya is getting her own series on VH1. The cabler has already set up a website to cast potential suitors for the Rock of Love castoff whose series is set to debut in spring 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: McGowan Takes Over for Sackhoff, "Heroes," Bruce Campbell, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Kristen Bell's mentally unstable character Elle Bishop will get her backstory spelled out this season on Heroes. Bell has hinted that Elle may have some previous connections to some of the characters and these may be disclosed during the drama's third season, which kicks off on September 22nd. (Sci Fi Wire)

Rose McGowan (Charmed) will replace Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) on an upcoming four episode stint on FX's Nip/Tuck. Sackhoff was due to play Theodora "Teddy" Lowe, a doctor and potential love interest for Sean (Dylan Walsh) but likely had to back out of the role after being cast as the lead in Dick Wolf's NBC drama pilot Lost and Found. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In other Nip/Tuck news, production begins today on the sixth and final season of the FX drama and the stars' representatives are still said to be "deep in salary renegotiations," with Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh seeking to double their salaries and other cast members looking for substantial raises. While McMahon failed to show up for wardrobe last week, all cast members are expected to return to work today. (Hollywood Reporter)

Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) has quit her post as showrunner on CBS' upcoming romantic dramedy The Ex List, a move that was said to take both studio 20th Century Fox Television and CBS by surprise. (She'll be replaced by executive producer Rick Eid.) The reason behind her departure? Allegedly, Ruggiero wanted to place her own spin on the series, which is based on an Israeli format; the network, meanwhile, wanted a faithful adaptation. Ruggiero's departure won't affect production. (Variety)

Want to know what's going on with Burn Notice's Bruce Campbell? Look no further than this recent interview in which the former Evil Dead star talks about his Ashland, Oregon lavender farm, his next film (My Name is Bruce), and why he avoided taking regular television work. (New York Times)

FOX is developing an untitled medical drama from writer/executive producer Ian Biederman (Shark) about a female heart surgeon who suffers from schizophrenia. Project comes from 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine TV. (Variety)

Sundance Channel is launching Sundance Selectcs, a pay-per-view service that will showcase independent films that didn't have theatrical releases. Service, launching January 1st, will offer approximately 50 titles per year, a third of which will be non-fiction films. (Los Angeles Times)

Trey Farley (Bend It Like Beckham) will host Sci Fi's upcoming six episode reality competition series Chase (formerly known as Cash or Capture), a "real-life video game tag competition played out in real time throughout Los Angeles landmark locations." Series launches November 11th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Gossip Girl (CW); Batman Begins (ABC; 8-11 pm); Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)

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

10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); Dateline (NBC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

If you haven't read my review of the first three episodes of Gossip Girl's sophomore season, shame on you. Season Two continues tonight with "The Dark Night," in which Serena and Dan find themselves trapped in an elevator during a citywide blackout; Blair questions the lack of passion in her relationship with Marcus; Jenny is caught critiquing one of Eleanor Waldorf's designs.

10 pm: Weeds on Showtime.

On tonight's season finale ("If You Work for a Living, Why Do You Kill Yourself Working?"), Nancy is brought into the DEA for questioning but finds it difficult to explain Esteban; Celia travels into Mexico.