Channel Surfing: "True Blood" Finds Its Debbie Pelt, Emily Rose Heads to Syfy's "Haven," "Ugly Betty," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Brit Morgan (The Middleman) has been cast in Season Three of HBO's True Blood, where she has landed the pivotal role of Debbie Pelt, the "psycho ex-girlfriend of werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello)." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

SPOILER! In other True Blood-related news, TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that an upcoming storyline will involve an Eric flashback to the year 900 A.D., where viewers will meet Eric's father, a Swedish Viking king named Ulfrick. Casting is currently underway for the role. (TV Guide Magazine)

Emily Rose (John From Cincinnati) has been cast as the lead in Syfy's supernatural series Haven, which is based on Stephen King's novella "The Colorado Kid." Rose will play FBI Agent Audrey Parker, who is sent to the titular Maine community in order to investigate a murder and finds herself caught up in a series of supernatural events. Project, from E1 Entertainment and Universal Networks International, is executive produced by Scott Shepard, Lloyd Segan, Shawn Piller, John Morayniss, and Noreen Halpern, along with writers Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Ugly Betty creator/executive producer Silvio Horta about the upcoming end of the ABC dramedy series. "The braces are coming off," Horta told Ausiello about an upcoming March episode in which Betty is sent on a metaphysical journey about what her life might have been like. "There’s a big fantasy element to it. We’ll ask the question, 'What if Betty had perfect teeth?'" Also coming up on the series: a new job opportunity for Betty, a wedding, the return of Wilhelmina's first love, and much more. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO is developing comedy series Tilda, about a "powerful female online showbiz journalist with a no-holds-barred style." [Editor: Hmmm, sound like anyone we know?] Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) and Cynthia Mort (Tell Me You Love Me) are attached to write and executive produce the project, with Condon also attached to direct, should it be ordered the pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Broadcasting & Cable's Melissa Grego is reporting that NBC is considering airing the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards telecast live across the country on August 29th. The move to end the tape-delay comes on the heels of NBC's decision last month to air the Golden Globes live in all timezones across the country. "According to sources, NBC is in the process of discussing a similar live Emmys scenario with affiliates," writes Grego. "Spokespeople for NBC and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which administers the top TV awards, declined to comment." (Broadcasting & Cable)

Syfy has acquired the basic cable rights to BBC's Merlin, the first season of which NBC aired last summer. Syfy will debut the fantasy series in April and will air the first two seasons of the series. "A viewer favorite after only one season, Merlin will be a strong addition to our schedule this spring," said Thomas Vitale, EVP of programming. "We expect its enthralling imaginative vision, engaging young talent, and rich production values to resonate with our audience." BBC, meanwhile, will launch the third season of Merlin in September in the UK. (Hollywood Reporter)

Pilot casting alert! Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) will star opposite Danny Wallace in ABC comedy pilot Awkward Situations for Men, where she will play Meg, the wife of British television personality Danny Wallace who moves to the US and who takes a job at a smoothie job with a boss (Matt Letscher) whom she shares a romantic past. Bret Harrison (Reaper) has landed the lead role in FOX's untitled Adam Goldberg single-camera comedy, where he will play a member of a team who crack computer security systems. Michael Kelly (The Sopranos) has been added to the cast of CBS' currently untitled Criminal Minds spinoff; he'll play a former gang member who joins a team of profilers. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Michelle Trachtenberg will return to Gossip Girl for the current season's final episode, while Gossip Girl's Connor Paolo is set to make a guest appearance on Trachtenberg's NBC medical drama Mercy. "I'm sure Georgina will be seeking vengeance," Trachtenberg told Dos Santos. "They haven't written it yet, but she was tricked and sent away, after all. And that li'l lady certainly doesn't like to be tricked." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC has given a pilot order to single-camera comedy pilot Wright vs. Wrong about a female Republican political commentator. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount, is written by Stephanie Weir (MadTV), who will executive produce alongside Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, and Mitch Hurwitz. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC America announced that it will premiere the second season of comedy The Inbetweeners on Wednesday, February 24th at 9:30 pm ET/PT, a week after the first season wraps its run. (via press release)

Fox Television Studios has signed a two-year first-look deal with documentary filmmaker RJ Cutler (The September Issue) under which he will develop scripted projects for broadcast and cable, a first for the director who has seen success on the small screen with such unscripted projects as 30 Days and American High. (Variety)

VH1 has ordered an untitled dramedy telepic about two twenty-something African-American women in Atlanta, one a wannabe fashion mogul, the other a former dancer. Project, from writer Stacy Littlejohn, is executive produced by Queen Latifah, Sha-Kim Compere, Maggie Malina, and Jeff Olde. The cabler is treating the telepic as a backdoor pilot; should it be successful, it could be ordered to series. (Variety)

Nickelodeon is developing an untitled comedy, from executive producers Joe Simpson and Tommy Lynch and writer Emily Cutler, that will be loosely based on Simpson's life, revolving around a psychologist raising two daughters in Texas. (Hollywood Reporter)

Telemundo executive Enrique Guillen has been moved to NBC, where he will take over as VP of alternative programming and production. NBC also promoted Nicole Silveira to manager of alternative series and specials. Both report to Paul Telegdy. (Variety)

Michael Grindon, Sony Pictures Television's head of international television, will leave the studio in March after a 24-year tenure. Move comes after much of his oversight was taken over by Steve Mosko in a corporate restructuring. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Talk Back: BBC America's "The Inbetweeners"

I've been raving about British comedy The Inbetweeners, created by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, for almost a year. (You can read my review of the first three episodes here and my review of the first two seasons here.)

I spent last night at a little gathering in West Hollywood hosted by Iain Morris and his lovely fiancee (congratulations, you two!) for The Inbetweeners' US launch on BBC America last night. Despite having seen the first two episodes about three times already, my wife and I--and the entire party--were rolling on the floor with hysterics as Iain gleefully shouted out the bleeped-out words that had been censored from the American broadcast. (And, believe me, there were many.)

Now that the first two episodes have finally aired Stateside as of last night, I'm curious to know what you thought of the series. Did you find it painfully funny? Did you laugh and cringe in equal measure? Did you feel relieved that you're no longer in your teens? What did you think of the cast and their chemistry? Did you scream at the telly when Simon (Joe Bird) threw up on Carly D'Amato's little brother? (Did you wonder why BBC America haphazardly censored some expressions and not others and wish, as I did, that they just let it air as is?)

And, most importantly, will you tune in again for the next episode?

Talk back here.

This Wednesday on an all-new episode of The Inbetweeners ("Thorpe Park"), the boys take Simon's new car for a spin during an ill-fated trip to Thorpe Park.

Tune-in Reminder: BBC America's "The Inbetweeners," Season Three of FX's "Damages," and Showtime's "La La Land"

Wondering what to watch tonight? Chuck, of course, but there's also three premieres tonight that you need to be aware of and should definitely tune in for... and none of them actually conflict with NBC's Chuck. (Always a perk.)

At 9 pm ET/PT, it's the US premiere of Iain Morris and Damon Beesley's British comedy The Inbetweeners on BBC America. But this isn't a comedy of social conventions but rather a raucous and touching British sitcom that's almost the anti-Skins in a way. Laugh and cringe in equal measure as four sex-starved social outcasts attempt to fit in, find love, and lose it, not always in that order. (You can read my review of the first three episodes of The Inbetweeners here and my review of the first two seasons here.)

Season Three of FX's gripping legal thriller Damages begins tonight at 10 pm ET/PT and gets off to a rollicking start by offering a riveting case, new mysteries, and old rivalries. You do not want to miss this season. You can read my review of the first two episodes of Season Three here.

At 11 pm, be sure to switch over to Showtime for the premiere of hysterical Borat-style comedy La La Land, in which British comedian Marc Wootton plays three men--an aspiring actor, a documentary filmmaker and a psychic--who arrive in Hollywood with dreams of making it big. You can read my advance review of Season One of La La Land here.

BBC America Announces January Plans: "The Inbetweeners," "Last Restaurant Standing," "Demons," "Top Gear"

BBC America has today announced their scheduling plans for January 2010, unveiling new programming additions and the return of several series to the lineup. (Sadly, still no mention of Season Two of Ashes to Ashes, however.)

The digital cabler has announced launch dates for comedy The Inbetweeners, drama Demons, and unscripted competition series Last Restaurant Standing, as well as the launch of Season Thirteen of Top Gear.

Having seen the first two seasons of comedy The Inbetweeners, from creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, I can tell you that you'll likely be bowled over as much as I was by this raucous teen comedy when it finally premieres Stateside on Monday, January 25th at 9 pm ET/PT. Two back-to-back episodes will air in its initial outing before it relocates to its regular timeslot on Wednesday evenings. (You can read my advance review of the first two seasons of The Inbetweeners here.)

Culinary competition series (and Televisionary obsession) Last Restaurant Standing returns with its third season on Tuesday, January 5th at 9 pm ET/PT as restaurateur Raymond Blanc puts a new batch of couples through their paces with the opportunity to partner with him on a new restaurant.

Missing Life on Mars' and Ashes to Ashes' Philip Glenister? You're in luck as he stars in supernatural drama Demons, which launches Saturday, January 2nd at 10 pm ET/PT. Here's how BBC America describes the series: "The battle against the dark underworld of half-lives, monsters and in-humans lie deep beneath the streets of modern-day London in the U.S. premiere of Demons. This contemporary spin on the character of Van Helsing features Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke) as an average teenager, but with the arrival of his dead father’s best friend Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes), Luke’s life is about to be flipped upside down. Galvin is a straight-talking, headstrong American who has come to tell Luke his secret destiny - he’s the real-life great-great grandson of Abraham Van Helsing, the vampire hunter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Luke’s destined to inherit the family mantle as a warrior in the coldest of cold wars against the supernatural entities behind every myth and legend from vampires to werewolves and all things that go bump in the night."

The full press release from BBC America, with full series descriptions and TX info, can be found below.

RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH U.S. PREMIERES OF TOP GEAR, THE INBETWEENERS, LAST RESTAURANT STANDING AND FRIDAY NIGHT WITH JONATHAN ROSS

TOP GEAR SEASON 13 – U.S. PREMIERE
Top Gear skids, roars and explodes its way back to BBC AMERICA with a new season of man versus machine experiments, exhaustive road tests of the latest cars, weekly power tests featuring the world’s most exotic super-cars and a surprise revelation. Their adventures this season include testing the new Lambo Murcielago, a terrifying French ice race, filming their own Volkswagen commercial and in a television first, the mysterious Stig reveals his true identity. All the Top Gear faves are back including Star in a Reasonably Priced Car featuring celebrities such as Jay Leno, actress Sienna Miller, Stephen Fry and Olympic Gold sprinter Usain Bolt.
Top Gear premieres Monday, January 25, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

THE INBETWEENERS – U.S. PREMIERE
Written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris (Peep Show, Flight of the Conchords) and named the best new sitcom of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards, The Inbetweeners offers a painfully funny take on the squirming humiliations of teenage life. It begins with the new kid in town, Will (Simon Bird), who has unwillingly had to move, change schools and, as a result, make new friends. He soon meets Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison), who are neither that cool nor that credible. The four friends get drunk too quickly, ride roller coasters and crush on the girl next door. Simon’s the first to throw Will a line—reluctantly agreeing to show him around school. He then meets Jay, who’s constantly lying about his sexual conquests and daring feats, and Neil, who’s really just out to lunch and often the butt of cruel jokes. The four of them will together try to make it through the trials of growing up in middle-class suburbia.
The Inbetweeners premieres with back to back episodes Monday, January 25, 9:00p.m. ET/PT. All future episodes premiere on Wednesdays, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT

DEMONS – U.S. PREMIERE
The battle against the dark underworld of half-lives, monsters and in-humans lie deep beneath the streets of modern-day London in the U.S. premiere of Demons. This contemporary spin on the character of Van Helsing features Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke) as an average teenager, but with the arrival of his dead father’s best friend Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes), Luke’s life is about to be flipped upside down. Galvin is a straight-talking, headstrong American who has come to tell Luke his secret destiny - he’s the real-life great-great grandson of Abraham Van Helsing, the vampire hunter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Luke’s destined to inherit the family mantle as a warrior in the coldest of cold wars against the supernatural entities behind every myth and legend from vampires to werewolves and all things that go bump in the night.
Demons premieres Saturday, January 2, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

LAST RESTAURANT STANDING SEASON 3 – U.S. PREMIERE
World-renowned chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc with his industry experts Sarah Willingham and David Moore return to BBC AMERICA with another season of Last Restaurant Standing in which nine couples battle it out for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open a restaurant with him. But in the current economic climate, Blanc is searching for a couple who proves they can tough it out in the harsh realities of working in the restaurant trade. The couple must have strong ideas, impeccable cooking skills and strong partnerships to win the ultimate prize. From their first meeting with Blanc the couples are in at the deep end facing a series of increasingly tough challenges like pitching their restaurant ideas, running a famous UK chain restaurant, making dishes to sell at a farmer’s market and even serving afternoon tea for 100 guests, to test the creativity and practical skills they need to get keys to their own restaurants. But getting the keys is only a start. Tough times on the high street means Raymond Blanc is not in the market for dreamers, and the pressure is on to show him they have what it takes to survive.
Last Restaurant Standing premieres Tuesday, January 5, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

FRIDAY NIGHT WITH JONATHAN ROSS – U.S. PREMIERE
Friday night’s are back with a new season of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Jonathan Ross, one of the BBC’s best known personalities, continues blending humor and pop culture every week with America and Britain’s brightest A-list celebrities and musical performances. Last season, Jonathan welcomed Ricky Gervais, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Gerard Butler, Shakira and Jay Z as well as musical legends Barry Manilow and Barbara Streisand and this season continues the excitement with exclusive interviews and guest musical performances.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross premieres Friday, January 22, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

MOVIES
THE BIRDS – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE
Alfred Hitchcock's most popular film, The Birds, is a powerful, terrifying study of paranoia and hysteria in the wake of unexplained chaos. A beautiful, strong-willed socialite (Tippi Hedren) travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a guy (Rod Taylor) she’s only just met. Once there, however, bizarre things start happening and the birds start behaving strangely.
The Birds premieres Sunday, January 3, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

PYSCHO – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE
Nominated for four Academy Awards, Psycho, made people think twice before stepping into the shower and Psycho remains one of the most shocking and frightening movies of all time. Anthony Perkins delivers a chilling performance as the nervous but amiable proprietor of the Bates Motel whose trouble with his mother and obsession with a beautiful guest leads to murder. Janet Leigh earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role as the ill-fated traveler.
Psycho premieres Sunday, January 10, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

VERTIGO – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE
Silver screen legend James Stewart with Barbara Bel Geddes team with the Master of Suspense to play a detective who falls in love with a tortured, beautiful woman (Kim Novak) he is hired to follow. The detective lapses into obsession and desperation against the backdrop of a haunting San Francisco.
Vertigo premieres Sunday, January 17, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

REAR WINDOW – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE
Academy Award winning screen legends James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in the story about an injured photojournalist confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment with nothing to do but look out on his unsuspecting neighbors through the film's titular portal. It's all harmless voyeuristic fun until during one hot, restless night he thinks he witnesses a man murder his wife. Grace Kelly plays the fashionista girlfriend who helps him solve the crime.
Rear Window premieres Sunday, January 24, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

STUNTS
KITCHEN NIGHTMARES SUNDAY
Gordon Ramsay heats up the kitchen both sides of the pond by helping struggling ventures all on the brink of collapse. Kitchen Nightmares Sunday features the newest shows with five back-to-back episodes.
Kitchen Nightmares Sunday airs Sunday, January 3, starting at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT

DEMONIC SUNDAY
Catch up on the first three episodes of Demons as Luke (Christian Cooke) and Rupert (Philip Glenister, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes) battle good and evil with monsters, vampires and all creatures that go bump in the night.
Demonic Sunday airs Sunday, January 17, starting at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING TOP GEAR MARATHON
Gear up for a new season of Top Gear and relive the adventures and laugh-out-loud moments
from seasons past. Top Gear Marathon is just in time for the new season of Top Gear which
premieres the very next night.
Top Gear Marathon airs Sunday, January 24, starting at 1:00 p.m. ET/ 10:00 a.m. PT

ALFRED HITCHCOCK MOVIE MARATHON
Enjoy a Sunday marathon of Alfred Hitchcock’s most thrilling and terrifying films, including Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds, starting first thing Sunday morning and continuing deep into the night.
Alfred Hithcock Movie Marathon airs all day Sunday, January 31

BBC WORLD NEWS AMERICA - NEW YEAR’S DAY SCHEDULE
Please note that BBC World News and BBC World News America will not air Friday, January 1.

ONGOING PREMIERES
Other series that continue to premiere new episodes in January include:
Tuesdays: Britain’s Missing Top Model
Wednesdays: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares
Fridays: Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Saturdays: The Graham Norton Show

BBC AMERICA brings audiences a new generation of award-winning television featuring news with a uniquely global perspective, provocative dramas, razor-sharp comedies, life-changing makeovers and a whole new world of nonfiction. BBC AMERICA pushes the boundaries to deliver high quality, highly addictive and eminently watchable programming to viewers who demand more. BBC AMERICA is distributed by Discovery Networks. It is available on digital cable and satellite TV in more than 65 million homes.

Channel Surfing: NBC Chases Bruckheimer Fugitive Drama, "Chuck" Writer/Producer Guns for Western at FOX, "Inbetweeners" Heads for Big Screen, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

NBC has given a put pilot order to an untitled drama that follows the employees of a unit whose task is to apprehend fugitives. Project, from Warner Bros. Television and Bruckheimer Television, will be written/executive produced by Jennifer Johnson (Cold Case) and executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman. Deal marks first sale for Bruckheimer at NBC since 2005's E-Ring. (Variety)

FOX has given a script commitment with a penalty to an untitled western from Chuck writer/executive producer Scott Rosenbaum and executive producers McG and Peter Johnson. Project, from Warner Bros. Television and Wonderland Sound and Vision, is said to have a sci-fi twist that is a tip of the hat to Planet of the Apes and will focus on a "a gunslinger caught between worlds," according to Rosenbaum. "What I'm really interested in is the revamping of the Western genre where you still have all of the iconic Western themes and iconic Western tropes," he told Hollywood Reporter, "but the idea is that it will feel incredibly contemporary and will introduce the Western to a whole new generation." (Hollywood Reporter)

The Inbetweeners creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley are working on a script for a feature film version of their E4 comedy after receiving a commission from Film 4. Feature would likely revolve around an overseas vacation taken by the four friends who are set to return with a third season of Inbetweeners next year. "We always try to make the show as real as we can, and we think the boys of that age tend to go on holiday abroad - we think a film could do justice to that," Morris told The Sun. "Most films I understand never get made, but that’s what we’re doing." The series will air Stateside later this year on BBC America. (Broadcast)

Gavin Rossdale (How to Rob a Bank) has been cast as a guest star in an upcoming episode of Criminal Minds slated to air in November. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, Rossdale will play a Goth rock star who could also be a vicious serial killer. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Peter Gallagher (The OC) has been cast in USA's espionage drama pilot Covert Affairs where he will co-star as CIA director Arthur Campbell, described as "a regal man and former Naval officer who loves a good fight, great scotch and a filthy joke." (Hollywood Reporter)

Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez has a fantastic profile of one of the breakout stars of FOX's Glee, Chris Colfer. (Los Angeles Times's Show Tracker)

Former Brat Packer Judd Nelson will guest star on USA's Psych this winter, where he will play "a CDC researcher who specializes in a made-up Ebola-like ailment called Thornburg’s disease," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HDNet will offer a sneak preview of Charlize Theron's upcoming feature film The Burning Plain ahead of its theatrical release on September 16th at 8 pm ET/PT. (via Twitter)

TV Guide Network has acquired exclusive cable rights to the entire run of MTV's Punk'd, which contains 100 half-hour episodes. The cabler will air the series back-to-back as a one hour strip beginning later this month. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Follies of Youth: An Advance Review of Seasons One and Two of "The Inbetweeners"

Back in April, I had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes of British teen comedy series The Inbetweeners, created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, and instantly fell in love with the series' quirky charms.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to watch the entire first and second seasons of this side-splitting teen series, which will air Stateside later this year on BBC America. Thanks to some Region 2 DVDs picked up in London, I was able to blaze through the painfully hilarious twelve episodes that exist thus far. (It's worth noting that digital channel E4 recently announced that it had commissioned a third season.)

Over the course of twelve half-hour episodes, Morris and Beesley manage to paint a painfully precise picture of a group of four teenage social rejects teetering on the edge of adulthood. They might not be the most popular kids (far from it) or the basest of pariahs, but they're miserably average in every respect, belonging to a group hovering somewhere in the middle of the teenage social hierarchy. Along the way, they get into all manner of mischief that's as shockingly absurd as it is terrifyingly realistic.

The result is akin to a more comedic take on the mordantly excessive youths of Skins. While Skins excels at exposing the dark angst of teenagers' inner lives, The Inbetweeners relishes in the squirm-inducing uncomfortableness and awkwardness of teens who are having far less sex than their Bristol-based counterparts.

Bringing their remarkably maladjusted characters to life are Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckey, and Blake Harrison, who together ooze the sort of easy camaraderie that American producers would desperately love to harness. It's apparent from watching this talented quartet that their friendship isn't limited to their on-screen antics and that bond is clearly reflected in the rapport they share in scenes together.

It's no easy feat to bear witness to (or, hell, participate in) some of the most embarrassing aspects of male teenagerdom but this group manages to pull off some of rather deft comedy that leaves the audience groaning, gasping, and recalling their own experiences in equal measure.

Though hopefully those experiences don't extend to some of the more absurd and mortifying incidents that these four are involved in. Which over the course of the two seasons extends to such topics as sex, self-love, drinking, test anxiety, driving mishaps, flirting, raging hormones, public nudity, vomiting, bullying, overbearing parents, exchange students, and wig theft. (Yes, you read that last bit correctly.)

But the real charm of The Inbetweeners is that beneath its tart exterior lies a genuine nugget of sweetness. Despite the off-color antics of its group of guys, The Inbetweeners remains one of the most nuanced and realistic portraits of the highs and lows of male friendship on the small screen.

Ultimately, in the hands of Morris and Beesley and ably aided by the delightful cast, The Inbetweeners becomes a comedy that's both painfully hysterical and hilariously cathartic in equal measure. It will make you wistful for your own teen years while making you feel especially lucky that you've left them behind for good.

BBC America will air the first two seasons of The Inbetweeners this autumn.

Channel Surfing: Grant Show Open to "Melrose" Return, Ehle Plays "Game of Thrones," Third Season of "Inbetweeners" on Tap, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Grant Show, set to star on CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose this fall, has said that he's open to appearing on the CW's revival of Melrose Place. "We've been talking, but nothing solid," Show says. "I'm not opposed to it... They haven't come up with the writing for me yet. I'm not sure they're even going to need me this year — maybe next year." Should Show close a deal to return to the series, he'll join original stars Josie Bissett, Thomas Calabro, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga as those who have turned up on Melrose 2.0. (TVGuide.com)

Jennifer Ehle (Possession) has joined the cast for the HBO fantasy drama pilot Game of Thrones, where she will play Catelyn Stark, the wife of Sean Bean's Ned Stark. Ehle's character was originally promised to Ned's older brother who was killed before they could marry; she then "fulfilled her duty by marrying Ned and securing the alliance between their two houses." Ehle joins a cast that includes Bean, Mark Addy, Peter Dinklage, Jack Gleeson, Kit Harrington, and Harry Lloyd. In other casting news, Swoosie Kurtz (Pushing Daisies) has joined the cast of Lifetime's comedy series Rita Rocks in a recurring capacity, where she will play the mother of Nicole Sullivan's character, and Brenda Vaccaro (Nip/Tuck) has will star in HBO Film's Jack Kevorkian biopic You Don't Know Jack, directed by Barry Levinson. (Hollywood Reporter)

E4 has announced that it has recommissioned comedy series The Inbetweeners for a third season. The Bwark-produced comedy created by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, stars Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, and Joe Thomas. It has already aired two seasons on Channel 4 digital sibling E4 and is set to air Stateside this fall on BBC America. According to E4 head Angela Jain, The Inbetweeners had "some of the most beautifully crafted puerile and funny jokes ever seen on British television but also moments of crushing heartbreak, which are all testament to the brilliance of the writing and acting." [Editor: I totally agree! Congrats, Iain and Damon!] (Broadcast)

FOX has announced that American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi will be returning to the reality competition series next season following the conclusion of her contract negotiation. "Kara's spitfire personality and sharp musical sensibility infused American Idol with a new energy last year," said FOX president of alternative Mike Darnell. "She clearly has a keen eye for talent -- spotting Adam Lambert's superstar quality early on last season -- and her performance on the Season Eight finale was one of the most memorable in recent Idol history." (Hollywood Reporter)

Slight changes afoot at Bravo, which announced that it had changed timeslots and launch dates for its returning programs Flipping Out and The Rachel Zoe Project. Flipping Out will now air Tuesdays at 10 pm ET/PT beginning August 18th, while The Rachel Zoe Project will air Mondays at 10 pm ET/PT beginning August 24th. (Futon Critic)

As expected, Greg Meidel has been named president of Twentieth TV, following Bob Cook's decision to leave the position. Meidel, who will continue to oversee MyNetworkTV, will assume oversight of Twentieth TV's programming and distribution. (Variety)

At yesterday's TCA session for CBS, entertainment topper Nina Tassler hit back at outbound NBC Entertainment chairman Ben Silverman. Asked to comment about his departure from NBC, Tassler declined to comment, saying rather cheekily, "I’m really just a D-girl," referring sarcastically to an off-hand remark Silverman made of her early on during his tenture at NBC. Touché! (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

TruTV has ordered seven episodes of unscripted series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, in which the former Minnesota governor will "investigate controversial plots and schemes that have been circulating in the news for many years and have piqued the public's interest." Project, from A. Smith and Co., will launch later this year. (Variety)

Bashar Rahal (War, Inc.) has been cast a multiple-episode story arc in Day Eight of 24, where he will play a general from the Islamic Republic of Kamistan who is enmeshed in a conspiracy involving President Hassan (Anil Kapoor). (Hollywood Reporter)

E! has ordered eight episodes of unscripted half-hour spoof series Reality Hell, in which actors attempt to persuade a person that he or she is appearing on a new reality series. Series, which launches August 16th, is executive produced by Peter M. Cohen. (Variety)

WE has ordered six episodes of two new series, a one-hour unscripted series Girl Meets Gown, in which brides look for their dream wedding dress; and Jilted, in which "women give their boyfriends ultimatums." Both will launch next year. The cabler also renewed The Locator, Little Miss Perfect, and High School Confidential, all of which will return to the schedule in 2010. (Variety)

More than 100 showrunners and executive producers have formally signed a protest against the changes planned for the Emmy telecast by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which seeks to exclude several categories from the live telecast next month. "We, the undersigned showrunners and executive producers of television's current line-up of programs, oppose the Academy of Television Arts and Science's decision to remove writing awards from the live telecast," said the protesters in a prepared statement. "This decision conveys a fundamental understatement of the importance of writers in the creation of television programming and a symbolic attack on the primacy of writing in our industry. We implore ATAS to restore these awards to their rightful place in the live telecast of the 2009 Emmy Awards." (via press release)

Meanwhile, the Emmy telecast producer Don Mischer said at a TCA panel yesterday that the TV Academy could become irrelevant, unless they make certain changes. "We are trying to keep the Emmys alive as a major television event," said Mischer. "It may come to that... The writing is on the wall, and every other award show knows it." Among the changes necessary for the awards show to stay alive, Misher said, was presenting series that mainstream viewers can recognize and not featuring narrow series that have niche appeal. We're going to have to connect the show to the big picture of television," said Mischer. "Its high points and memorable moments... We want to maintain a major profile. This is broadcasting, not netcasting." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Social Suicide: An Advance Review of BBC America's "The Inbetweeners"

Imagine if you will the cult British teen series Skins with less melodrama, more acne, and a hell of a lot more laughs and you might come close to describing BBC America's latest comedy import The Inbetweeners, which airs in the UK on E4.

Created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, The Inbetweeners tells the story of four sixth form college students--nerdy Will (Simon Bird), lovelorn Simon (Joe Thomas), sex-obsessed Jay (James Buckey), and gawky Neil (Blake Harrison)--as they attempt to navigate the perilous mine field that his high school, laced as it is with the lure of girls, cheap booze, and mischief.

Thanks to the good folks at BBC America, I had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes of The Inbetweeners' two-season run (so far, anyway), which the digital cabler plans to air back-to-back beginning later this year. As a former teenage boy myself (fortunately since recovered), I found this series boisterous and painfully funny, often at the same time. But one needn't has to be a teenager to enjoy this series which takes a look back at the awkward, illogical, and frustrating time in everyone's lives.

The Inbetweeners begins with the arrival of Will McKenzie (Simon Bird), whose parents have split, arriving at the local comprehensive school after his mother is unable to continue paying his fees at a posh private school. There Will immediately falls in with the losers, thanks to his suit and tie, his "actual briefcase," uptight hairstyle, and his general lack of social skills.

But Will is looking to be upwardly mobile, at least to move beyond the four-eyed geeks and into the painfully average crowd populated by Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas), Jay Cartwright (James Buckley), and Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison)... all of whom immediately shun him, knowing that even being seen with a kid with a "Hello, My Name is Will!" badge is pure and utter social suicide on the first day of term. And so an unwitting friendship is formed between the three friends and Will, who manages to wear the trio down far enough that they will at least tolerate his presence... which immediately leads them into all sorts of trouble. (The second episode, in which the gang play hooky from school is especially painful to watch, especially when Will launches into a tirade against Neil's sexually ambiguous father.)

Complicating things is the fact that none of these lads have an actual girlfriend, though all they talk about--in graphic and hilarious detail--is sex itself, though none of them will admit that they are virgins. Jay in particular refuses to acknowledge his inexperience, talking about his alleged sexual adventures as part of the, ahem, caravan club, while Simon waxes romantic for his true love, the beautiful and unattainable Carli (Emily Head), who is Simon's first love and a family friend since they were both eight. (Unfortunately for Simon, she has an older boyfriend with a car, a situation not helped when he drunkenly spray paints "I love Carli D'Amato on her driveway.)

The dialogue on The Inbetweeners is raw, realistic, and beyond risque, unlike anything on US television today, save maybe on pay cable. It's also completely over the top hilarious and I wonder just how much of the individual episodes airing on BBC America will be comprised of bleeped out swear words. Sexual situations and nudity also play a large role, as you would expect from such a hormonally-charged series and I can't help but hope that BBC America leaves some of this intact. Besides for the fact that it's handled in a hilarious fashion, it also creates a truthful and naturalistic portrayal of teen life in Britain today.

Assisting the creators in this end are the talented actors here, all of whom embody their roles with a vividness that makes it hard to separate the actors from the roles they're playing. All four of the leads seem like such genuine artifacts and that's shocking to learn that all four of the actors aren't actually teens themselves but in their twenties. Simon Bird's Will is so deliciously awkward, so unaware of his social ineptness, that it's hard not to root for him even as he tosses out bon mots without realizing just how hard they'll explode on contact. Joe Thomas' Simon tries to go through life without being ostracized by his peers but his romantic feelings for Carli place him in trouble time and time again (look for his, uh, new nickname in the first episode after an encounter with Carli leaves him aroused) and his efforts to land a girl by getting car backfire with hilarious results. James Buckley's Jay is a whirling dervish of unfulfilled sexuality, his hormones crackling in the air like roman candles. Blake Harrison's Neil is the sloth-like member of the group, his affable nature shining out just as much as his inherent slowness. All of them seem completely and at times shockingly real.

Any teen series worth its salt (or at least lager) has to have a fantastic soundtrack of the latest hot bands and The Inbetweeners features music from such acts as The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Cure, and Feist, among others in its few episodes alone.

All in all, The Inbetweeners is the perfect antidote to nostalgia for your teen years, reminding you just how lucky you are to have outgrown that traumatic time in your life, even as you roar with laughter at just how much things never really change.

The Inbetweeners will launch on BBC America later this year.

BBC America Acquires Comedies "The Inbetweeners" and "Katy Brand's Big Ass Show"

BBC America has today announced the acquisition of two comedies series, The Inbetweeners and Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show.

Both series, which are each comprised of twelve episodes, are slated to launch later this year on the digital cabler. The Inbetweeners originally aired on E4 and Channel 4, while sketch comedy Katy Brand's Big Ass Show aired on ITV2 in the UK.

Music fans should especially take note of The Inbetweeners, which features music from such acts as The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Cure, and Feist, among others in its first season.

The official descriptions for the two series from BBC America can be found below.

THE INBETWEENERS - U.S. PREMIERE
Written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris - who were involved with Peep Show, The 11 O’Clock Show and The Flight of the Conchords - The Inbetweeners offers a painfully funny take on the squirming humiliations of teenage life. Will’s parents have just divorced and he has unwillingly had to move and change schools, forcing him to make an all new set of friends. His newly found peers, Simon, Jay and Neil are neither that cool or that credible. Marooned in middle-class suburbia, The Inbetweeners follows the four friends as they try to navigate the minefield of futile crushes, sibling brawls, getting drunk too quickly, riding roller coasters and fancying the girl next door.

KATY BRAND’S BIG ASS SHOW - U.S. PREMIERE
Sketch comedy, Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show is a whimsical universe of original characters and crazy celebrities with big egos and even bigger flaws. Full to the brim of pop star skits on everyone from Lily Allen to Usher, spoofs of well known celebrities Kate Moss and Kate Winslet, as well as original creations, Katy’s stars are exactly as she sees them in her own warped head. Katy has created an alternative world of celebrities; a warm and accessible world, in which their best and worst characteristics are amplified for comic effect.

Stay tuned.