Channel Surfing: Laura Vandervoort to Return to Smallville, Terra Nova Comic-Con Confusion, Nikki Finke on Tilda, Doctor Who and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

They have... returned? V star Laura Vandervoort will reprise her role as Kara on the CW's Smallville for the series' tenth and final season, reports Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. But don't get too excited, Supergirl fans: Vandervoort is only expected to appear in one installment of the Warner Bros. Television-produced superhero drama, scheduled to air in October. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Just what is going on with FOX's Terra Nova at Comic-Con? After the official San Diego Comic-Con 2010 schedule was announced over the last few days, 20th Century Fox Television opted to pull the panel for its upcoming prehistoric/time-travel drama starring Jason O'Mara from the convention. "Since production on the Jason O’Mara starrer isn’t expected to start until September, the producers don’t have any footage to show the fans in San Diego," writes Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice. "Plus, the writers don’t want to reveal too much about the high-concept series, which Fury promises will have an 'ongoing mythology.'" [Editor: I get that there is no footage but that was always going to be the case and no one expected a screening of the pilot or, indeed, anything.] “There are a lot of surprises, a lot of reveals that come out throughout the course of season,” Fury told Entertainment Weekly. “If we talk about the more interesting aspects of the show now, we’re afraid we’ll ruin the surprise for the audience. In this case, everything is moving along steadily, the script has been well-received. We just don’t have anything to wow anyone with. It’s still in the preliminary stage, It’s a huge undertaking." Complicating things further is the fact that the panel appears to be back on the schedule, leading several to wonder whether 20th balked at the bad publicity such a move would engender among the fanbase... or it's just an error on the Comic-Con lineup. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider, Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Deadline's Nikki Finke has offered her "first and last statement" about HBO's comedy pilot Tilda, which revolves around a Finke-like blogger who has Hollywood trembling. Writing on her own site, Finke attempted to set the record straight about her involvement with the Diane Keaton-led project, offering the following statement after closing an agreement between herself, MMC, and Watski Prods:

"I had no prior knowledge that this show was being created or put into development. I have never written about the show. I have never encouraged Deadline.com journalists to write about the show. I had no prior agreement with HBO or anyone regarding the show. I had no creative or consulting involvement with the show... I still have no creative or consulting involvement with the show nor wanted any. I still won't write about the show. And Deadline.com journalists can still write whatever they want about the show. As for all of you who've asked for a quote from me about Tilda, here it is: 'It should have been called Toldja!' (Deadline)

Doctor Who head writer/executive producer Steven Moffat has joined Twitter, where he has begun to tease details about the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special. "Oh, he's back behind the bow tie - and better than ever," wrote Moffat about Matt Smith returning to the set. (via Digital Spy)

Looks like Larry King's successor at CNN will be Piers Morgan, after all. The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd writes that Morgan is thisclose to a deal that would see him take over Larry King's timeslot on the 24-hour news cabler. "Sources caution that Morgan is still under contract and that CNN may be unable to directly negotiate with the TV personality directly," writes Hibberd. "But if a deal could be struck between CNN and NBC, that allows Morgan to take over the position. Sources say the proposed deal allows for Morgan to remain as a judge on [America's] Got Talent, with the CNN talk show in second position for his schedule." (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Josh Stewart (Dirt) has been cast in ABC's upcoming family superhero drama No Ordinary Family in a recurring capacity as the mentor for Michael Chiklis' character. Series launches September 28th. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC Two's reality series The Restaurant, which aired Stateside on BBC America as Last Restaurant Standing, will not be returning for a fourth season, according to the BBC. "The time is right for The Restaurant to close its doors after three successful series." Raymond Blanc is said to be in talks with Auntie about a new season of Kitchen Secrets and other potential projects. (BBC)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting several series are looking for new characters, including FOX's Glee, which is going to add a jock named Sam to the mix (who *could* be a potential love interest for Kurt), Starz's Torchwood is looking to add a series regular and two recurring characters, including the following: "Rex Matheson is a white, twenty-something CIA agent who sounds sort of like... [FX's] animated Archer spy: a fearless, cocky thrill seeker. Recurring characters include Esther Katusi, a newbie Watch Analyst in the CIA who is deeply (and secretly) in love with Rex. And Oswald Jones is the dangerous psychotic villain. He's a forty-something murderer and pedophile who gets sprung from the slammer into the spotlight." (TV Guide Magazine)

Fox Television Studios has signed a rare overall deal with White Collar creator Jeff Eastin which will keep him aboard White Collar and allow for future development of new projects for the studio. (Deal is similar to that held between FTVS and Burn Notice creator Matt Nix.) "Once the dust settles, I'll dig out the ideas book and see if something else lends itself to a TV show," Eastin told Variety. "It's about finding something else I'm passionate about. I appreciate Fox TV Studios for having faith in me to make a deal. Especially as they're few and far between these days." (Variety)

MTV is shoring up the writing staff for the upcoming US adaptation of UK teen drama Skins, hiring Mark Hammer, Matt Pelfrey, and Monica Padrick, who will join the writing staff of the series, expected to launch early next year. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC Studios has signed a one-year overall deal with Ghost Whisperer executive producers Kim Moses and Ian Sander. The duo currently have to supernatural-themed projects in development at ABC, including reality series Ghost Town and drama Ghost World, from writer Dana Stevens, about "a ghost on the other side who helps an ambitious young female homicide detective solve crimes in the hopes of uncovering clues to his own life and death and centers on the mysterious, intense and sometimes infuriating connection the two feel toward each other." (Deadline)

Maxine Peake (Criminal Justice), Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks), Natalie Dormer (The Tudors), Tom Hughes (Sex, Drugs And Rock And Roll) and Neil Stuke (Reggie Perrin) have been cast in legal drama series Silk, from writer Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice), which will revolve around "lives, loves and hard cases facing barristers on the front line of criminal law." (Silk, of course, referring to the robes worn by Queen's Counsel members, the highest-level barristers in the UK.) "Bafta-winning writer Peter Moffat marks his return to BBC One with a brilliant new legal drama series, which takes a modern look at the genre," said BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson. "Maxine Peake and Rupert Penry-Jones lead an incredible cast and star as ambitious barristers competing for much coveted Silk." (BBC)

VH1 has ordered eight episodes of an untitled docusoap that will follow Mario Lopez and his girlfriend Courtney Mazza as they await the birth of their child. Project, executive produced by Cris Abrego, Mark Schulman, Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, Kristen Kelly, and Lopez, is expected to launch this fall. (Hollywood Reporter)

Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has been cast as the lead of an upcoming Lifetime telepic Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story, in which she'll play a woman who underwent a daring rescue mission to locate and free her seven-year-old son Kobe, who was seized by her ex-husband during a custody battle and taken to South Korea. (Deadline)

From weird to weirder: former Monkees star Mickey Dolenz has signed on to star opposite Debbie Gibson and Tiffany in Syfy's upcoming telepic Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. [Editor: I did warn you it would be weird.] (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Dexter Lures Miller, Jordana Spiro Out at Love Bites, Greenblatt Exits Showtime, Gene Hunt, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Showtime's Dexter is on a casting role. Variety's Stuart Levine is reporting that Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) is the latest to board the serial killer drama, signing on to appear in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Five of Dexter. Miller will play "a mysterious man who ends up tangled in a storyline with Julia Stiles, who is beginning her first season on the skein." (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jordana Spiro has exited NBC's midseason romantic anthology series Love Bites. Spiro's participation in the series was always in second position to her role on TBS comedy My Boys, which returns for its fourth season next month. "Although the odds appear slim that TBS will renew the show for a fifth season (season 4 premieres July 25), it was a risk NBC apparently wasn’t willing to take," writes Ausiello. "It’s unclear if her role will be recast." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Elsewhere, E! Online's Jenna Mullins has an interview with Spiro about Season Four of My Boys. "PJ has to deal with moving on to the next level with her relationship. She and Bobby start living together," said Spiro. "When you start getting a little too comfortable with your significant other, the new video game becomes more exciting than the new piece of lingerie." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

In surprising news, Robert Greenblatt has stepped down from his role as Showtime Networks president after a seven-year run and will be succeeded by former Imagine TV partner David Nevins. "Though the executive shuffle came down just this week, sources portrayed Greenblatt's decision as a long time in the making," writes The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. "It's unclear if the network's corporate communications chief, Richard Licata, who's worked with Greenblatt for 16 years, will opt to continue at the network in the wake of the entertainment president's departure." (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

Could the Beeb be resurrecting Philip Glenister's Gene Hunt once more? According to The Daily Mirror, the BBC is contemplating whether to develop a new series that would be set in the present day and revolve around Glenister's fiery Gene Hunt character from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. No word on whether the rumors are in fact true or just that: rumors. [Editor: personally, I thought given the perfection of the ending of Ashes to Ashes, that Gene's storyline was nicely tied up. But...] (via Digital Spy)

Vulture's Emma Barker has a speed round with Party Down and Parks and Recreation star Adam Scott in which he discusses everything from prosthetic penises (cough, Tell Me You love Me, cough) to Matthew McConaughey-esque catch phrases, all in his inimitable style. (Vulture)

Digital Spy's Catriona Wightman is reporting that Doctor Who head writer/executive producer Steven Moffat has asked Russell T Davies to pen an upcoming episode of Doctor Who. But will it happen? "He's pretty adamant that he's not going to," said Moffat. "He did an awful lot of Doctor Who for an awful lot of years, and I think he's finding it in a way hard, because he's done a Doctor Who story in effect for Sarah Jane Adventures. So I think he probably wants to get away from it for a bit. I can understand that, because he did a hell of a lot. But I'd love to get him back, it would be just joyous to get him back because I miss him." (Digital Spy)

No surprise: Andy Richter will be making the move with Conan O'Brien to TBS this fall. "I'm doing the TBS Conan show because I went back to work for Conan on The Tonight Show," Richter told Variety's Michael Schneider. "But that story ended unnaturally... I didn't want them to end that story of me and Conan getting back together. I had come back to work with a friend." (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker about the departure of Elizabeth Perkins from the cast of the Showtime dark comedy series when it returns for its sixth season on August 16th. "It's really sad -- really said," Parker told Ausiello. "I just can’t think of a single negative thing to say about Elizabeth Perkins. I’m sure there are many because she’s a human being, but I worked with her for [five] years and she was a wonderful person in the morning and she was a wonderful person when you worked an 18-hour day." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) has teamed up with reality shingle 44 Blue to produce a new unscripted series that is set in Washington, D.C. and which will focus on "real-life aspiring politicos as they look to move up the ranks of power in the nation's capital." (Variety)

TLC has ordered eight episodes of an untitled reality competition series spinning off of its successful Cake Boss franchise in which ten aspiring cake makers will compete for an apprenticeship at Carlo's Bakery. Production on the series, from High Noon Entertainment, is slated to begin in September. (via press release)

VH1 has ordered a pilot for Office Bonus, in which "office workers battle for a $50,000 bonus" as they are locked in their workplace for 72 hours and must convince their co-workers to give them the cash bonus. Project, from 3 Ball, is executive produced by JD Roth, Todd Nelson, and Adam Greener. (Hollywood Reporter)

A&E has given an pilot order to unscripted series The Incurables, which will focus on British self-help guru Paul McKenna as he attempts to help people with severe psychological or physical problems. Project, from Ryan Seacrest Productions and McKenna Media, will be executive produced by Ryan Seacrest, McKenna, and Sam Mettler. (Variety)

TV Land is developing an untitled docusoap that will revolve around George Hamilton, his adult son Ashley, and his ten-year-old son George, as they move in together in Los Angeles. (Hollywood Reporter)

Turner Broadcasting has promoted two publicity executives, bumping Jeff Matteson to SVP/strategic communications officer and Misty Skedgell to SVP of corporate communications. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Allison Janney Heads to Lost, Damon Lindelof Speaks, Chuck Fans Plan Flash Mob, Veronica Mars Update, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

SPOILER! "Presence," huh? TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck attempts to get to the bottom of just who Allison Janney (The West Wing) will be playing on the May 11th episode of Lost by going right to the source: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who are being rather cagey about Janney's mystery role. "We were so happy that she was able to do this," said Cuse. "It was really hard for her because she was getting ready to shoot a pilot, but she squeezed us in. Then once we saw her in this part we were like, 'How could anyone else have done this but Allison Janney?'" Lindelof wasn't giving Keck anything either: "We’ve been talking about this character for awhile and how nervous we were that we wouldn’t find the right actress," he said. "When we first started talking about this character in the writers room we called her 'Allison Janney' under the assumption that we wouldn’t be able to get her." [Editor: so who is Janney playing? My first instinct said that she'd be playing the mother of the Man in Black (or Penny's never-before-seen mother), though whether that will turn out to be true remains to be seen. Regardless, the role calls for someone with "incredible presence" and Janney has that in spades.] (TV Guide Magazine)

Elsewhere, The Hollywood Reporter's Matt Belloni has a video interview with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof in which the two discuss the series finale, the flash-sideways, and the fact that Desmond wasn't in the series' final cast photo ("A cast photo that includes some characters but not others is beyond our area of involvement," he said). Most intriguing is the fact that producers had brand new sets built for the final moments of Lost's series ender. "We did not shoot the final scene of the series on the final day ... for reasons of maintaining the secrecy of the show, and we had to build some sets for the finale -- the construction of the new sets took awhile so that's the work that we did last," Lindelof said, who went on to say that there will be a definitive ending to the series, even if some questions are left for the viewers to answer on their own. "The Sopranos ending only worked on The Sopranos," said Lindelof. "The series finale has to fit the show. We're trying to end lost in a way that feels Lost-ian and fair and will generate a tremendous amount of theorizing. We're going to be as definitive as we can be and say this is our ending, but there's no way to end the show where the fans aren't going to say, 'What did they mean by this?' Which is why we're not going to explain it."(Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Chuck fans are headed to Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, and Philadelphia (and possibly other cities as well) to initiate flash mob publicity stunts in support of a Chuck renewal. The idea, the brainchild of chucktv.net, will have fans congregate wearing the series' trademark Buy More uniforms. "Chuck fans are the most loyal, dedicated, imaginative and passionate fans any show could ever hope for," Chuck co-creator Josh Schwartz told The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. "Every season they offer more proof they should be licensed and professional fans teaching other fans how it's done. This is yet another example of their awesomeness. We are, as always, grateful and inspired to deliver a show as good to them as they are to us." (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Breanne L. Heldman caught up with Kristen Bell to ask her about the status of the potential Veronica Mars feature film that's been rumored for quite some time (and which someone asked creator Rob Thomas about at last week's Party Down panel at the Paley Center). "I wish I had news," said Bell. "Still in the process of campaigning to tell Warner Bros. that people would actually see it. I think that as long as you guys keep asking those questions and I keep answering them, Warner Bros. will one day get the picture that everybody does want it and that it will make its money back. I think, truthfully, they're a company and they want to know that they'll make their return back. We just have to convince them that they will." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC Family has decided not to move forward with its comedy series 10 Things I Hate About You, which will wrap its second season in a few week. News of the cancellation was made originally by executive producer Carter Covington via Twitter."Sad news... ABC Family canceled the show," wrote Covington. "Thanks to our amazing fans. You are the reason I do this." (Variety)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has a first look at Rob Lowe on NBC's Parks and Recreation, where he is set to join the comedy series next month along with Party Down's Adam Scott. According to co-creator/executive producer Mike Schur, Lowe's character, state auditor Chris Traeger, "very quickly falls into a romantic entanglement" with a resident of Pawnee. "I don’t want to spoil who it is because it’s kind of a surprise," said Schur. [Editor: having already seen a sizable chunk of Lowe and Scott's first Parks and Rec episode a few weeks back, I can honestly say that fans are in for a treat with these new characters.] (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Well, that makes one NCIS cast member who definitely will be returning next season: Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that David McCallum yesterday closed a deal to return to the CBS procedural drama next season. Negotiations continue for the three other actors--Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, and Sean Murray--whose deals have expired. (Deadline.com)

USA Today's Gary Strauss has a profile of Breaking Bad's Dean Norris, who plays DEA Agent Hank Schrader on the AMC drama series. In its third season, Norris' Hank has quickly psychologically unraveled. "For an actor, playing one character and transitioning to a completely different one is a dream come true," Norris told Strauss. "Part of me misses the old Hank. But nothing could be better than to set up a character, dismiss him and then bring a whole different side to him." (USA Today)

Warner Bros. Television is said to be about to close a multi-year overall deal with Sex and the City multi-hypenate Michael Patrick King that will have him launch his own shingle at the studio, according to Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva. (Deadline.com)

Futon Critic is reporting that NBC will keep struggling freshman medical drama Mercy in the 9 pm timeslot on Wednesdays for the remainder of its season. (Futon Critic)

VH1 has ordered eight episodes of The OCD Project, in which an anxiety expert will attempt to rehabilitate six individuals with several obsessive-compulsive issues who will live together in a house and participate in "exposure and response prevention" therapy. Project, launching May 27th at 10 pm ET/PT, is executive produced by JD Roth, Todd A. Nelson, Adam Greener, Matt Assmus, Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, and Noah Pollack. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

UK satellite network Sky1 has commissioned a musical competition series, Must Be the Music, in an effort to compete with ITV's X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. Rather than dangle a recording contract, the series will award the winner a cash prize and the opportunity to perform live in a music arena. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere in UK television news, Kevin Lygo will quit Channel 4, where he served as director of television and content, in order to head up ITV Studios as managing director. (Broadcast)

Disney Channel has ordered a telepic based on Mark Peter Hughes' novel "Lemonade Mouth," about five high school freshmen who meet in detention and launch a band centered around unusual musical instruments. Project will be written by April Blair and executive produced by Debra Martin Chase. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Matthew Weiner Wants Six Seasons of Mad Men, More Breaking Bad (?), Lost, Doctor Who, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Looks like we're at the halfway point for AMC's Mad Men, at least according to creator Matthew Weiner. Speaking at last week's National Association of Broadcasters, Weiner stated that he would like to wrap up the period drama after six seasons as he couldn't see the series, produced by Lionsgate Television, going past that point. [Editor: Personally, I think that this is a good thing as an end date would allow Weiner to not only go out on a high note but begin planning the back half of the series' run while knowing just when it will end, much like Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had requested an end date for Lost/] (The Weekly Blend via The Wrap's Weekly Blend)

Elsewhere at AMC, The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that Breaking Bad is likely to be back on the cabler for a fourth season, following news that executive producers were told that the series is ready for a renewal. However, there is currently no deal in place between studio Sony Pictures Television and AMC. While neither side would comment, Adalian writes that "all parties are hopeful [a deal] will happen." (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Looks like some lucky fans will be able to say goodbye to Lost in style, with ABC preparing several official Lost-related events next month in Los Angeles and New York. Carlton Cuse spilled the info on the May 13th Lost Live: The Final Celebration event at UCLA's Royce Hall last week on Twitter, which is believed to be a fundraiser that will feature an advance screening of the series' penultimate episode and a live orchestra performance, conducted by Michael Giacchino, of music from the series. ABC has yet to announce this or several other events that are being planned for Los Angeles and New York in May, including two overseen by Paul Scheer and Upright Citizens Brigade for May 22nd. (Variety)

TV Guide Magazine, meanwhile, has the "final Lost cast photo," which depicts the cast of Lost among the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 as the actors are asked where they would like to see their characters end up once Lost wraps its run next month. (via Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor will be appearing in two episodes of Doctor Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures, both of which will be written by former Doctor Who head writer/executive producer Russell T Davies. The move marks the first time that Davies will have written for Smith's Doctor. The two-parter, part of the series' fourth season which is set to air this fall on CBBC, finds the Doctor reunited with former companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning)--last seen in 1973--and Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) herself, as well. "It's a fantastic script and I can't wait to work with another Doctor and hope Matt has fun with us," said Sladen. "I've known Katy for ages and I am delighted to be working with her. I last met her in LA but this time we will be in Cardiff. LA was good but Cardiff is better."

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Aaron Ashmore (Smallville) has been cast in a recurring role on USA drama series In Plain Sight this season. Ashmore will play "the smart yet rough-around-the-edges long-lost half brother to Mary (Mary McCormack) and Brandi (Nichole Hiltz)" who looks to reconcile with his siblings. He's slated to first appear in the back half of Season Three. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that CBS is has shot a pilot presentation for a hidden camera comedy series WTF! (that would be, ahem, Wow That's Funny!) with Drew Carey. According to Hibberd, "the project combines a hidden-camera show with flash-mob tactics as the group pulls benevolent pranks on deserving citizens." Project is produced by Raquel Prods and RelativityReal, with Jay Blumenfeld, Tony Marsh, Charlie Todd, Drew Carey, and Tom Forman serving as executive producers. (Hollywood Reporter)

TVGuide.com's Adam Bryant talks to Stana Katic about tonight's episode of ABC's Castle, in which Katic's Kate Beckett gets a love interest, who just happens to be played by Battlestar Galactica's Michael Trucco. "It's really wonderful to have the opportunity to show a more sensual, romantic side to Beckett," Katic told Bryant. "I think it's great having someone like Tom Denning who is genuinely interested in Kate and is formidable enough to become a bit of a competitor for Castle... It forces Castle to have some introspection as to why he hasn't approached her yet in that way and what's going on with his relationships and past romantic experiences. He's had a number of girls swing in and swing out. So, this is an opportunity for us as an audience to delve deeper into something he may not realize he's missing." (TVGuide.com)

Casting tidbits: Henry Zebrowski (Michael & Michael Have Issues) has been cast in NBC comedy pilot Beach Lane. Elsewhere, James Carpinello (The Punisher) will recur on CBS drama series The Good Wife. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Land has ordered nine episodes of comedy Retired at 35, starring Johnathan McClain and George Segal. Series, from executive producers Chris Case, Michael Hanel, and Mindy Schultheis, will premiere in first quarter 2011. (Variety)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a blind pilot script deal with Canadian writer Rob Sheridan (Corner Gas), under which he will move to Los Angeles this summer to develop a half-hour comedy for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO Documentary Films has picked up US television rights to Alex Gibney's documentary My Trip to Al-Qaeda, which it will air this fall. (Variety)

Cybill Shepherd has been cast opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt in an untitled Lifetime original telepic, where she will play Hewitt's mother, a waxer at a women's beauty salon who discovers that her daughter has become a prostitute in order to pay her bills and keep her family in their home. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 is set to launch a staggering 44 series, each of which will fall into the cabler's newly devised programming hubs: music, celebrity and "real life stories." (Hollywood Reporter)

Marjorie Cohn has been promoted to president, original programming and development, of Nickelodeon/MTV Networks Kids and Family Group. She continues to report to Cyma Zarghami. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Michelle Forbes Gets Killing, Annie Wersching Talks 24 Consequences, Glee, Lost, Modern Family, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

From maenad to murder victim's parent: Former True Blood series regular Michelle Forbes has joined the cast of AMC drama pilot The Killing, along with Brent Sexton (In the Valley of Elah), Eric Ladin (Generation Kill), and Jamie Anne Allman (The Notebook). They join the previously announced Billy Campbell in the drama pilot, from Veena Sud and Mikkel Bondesen, which revolves around the police investigation into the murder of a young girl. Forbes and Sexton will play Mitch and Stanley, the girl's parents. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

If you haven't seen Monday's episode of 24, stop reading. TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams has an interview with 24's Annie Wersching, who discusses the aftermath of this week's surprising twist and what's next for her. "In not knowing each other for that long, they are very similar and understood each other in a lot of ways," said Wersching about the relationship between Renee and Jack Bauer. "No one truly understood what it is to exist as someone who has to do the things that Jack Bauer does. Renee is as close as he was going to get to finding someone that really got him, and vice versa... Poor Jack cannot get a break. As you can imagine, he wants to take care of every single person who was involved with this... I'm so sad that I died, but she's very much still there in these last episodes all the way up until the end. For the most part, he goes rogue and wants to do things that people don't want him to do. Of course, he's Jack Bauer, so he finds a way to do them." (TVGuide.com)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jessalyn Gilsig's Terri and Cory Monteith's Finn are getting a "major season-ending storyline" that won't involve them becoming enmeshed in a romantic relationship. (Whew.) "Finn gets a job at Sheets & Things," co-creator Ryan Murphy told Ausiello. "He is very down on himself, and Terri realizes that she was not very supportive of her husband and she sees a lot of him in Finn. She met Will at 16, so she sees a way to redemption…a way to redo that relationship in a positive way [by acting] almost as Finn’s guardian angel, his fairy godmother. She gives him proper moral advice." The storyline will continue into Glee's second season, which launches this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

SPOILER! E! Online's Megan Masters talks to Lost star Jorge Garcia about this week's Hurley-centric episode of the ABC drama series and about the explosive death of Zuleikha Robinson's Ilana. "Don't hold your breath about too much more information about Ilana," Garcia told Masters. "You will see her again, but there's a lot of stuff to get to in the next six hours, so..." [Editor: I figured that we'd at least see Ilana again before The End but assumed that we'd get at least some information about her backstory, either via flashback or the divergent reality.] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Fancast's Matt Webb Mitovich talks to Modern Family star Julie Bowen about iPads, Julianna and Clive, working with Sofia Vergara, and why she won't be returning to Lost for the final season. "I really wish that was true, but that’s just a rumor," said Bowen about filming Modern Family in Hawaii and sneaking off to shoot scenes for Lost. "I would have loved to have done more for Lost. I’m a huge fan of the show, I love doing the show..." (Fancast)

Boom: Michael Bay has teamed up with Magical Elves' Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth to develop reality series One Way Out, a reality-based action-adventure series that that "pits everyday people against one another in a competition that involves physical challenges as well as the PSYOPS of creating alliances and keeping their own 'secret pasts' hidden from other players," according to Variety's Cynthia Littleton. Project is being shopped to the networks this week. (Variety)

Former Scrubs star Sarah Chalke is in high demand this development season: after shooting ABC comedy pilot Freshman, Chalke has now been cast in a second pilot, CBS high-school comedy Team Spitz. Given her role in Freshman, Chalke's participation in Team Spitz, where she will guest star as a high school guidance counselor, is said to be in second position. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Cast change afoot at Josh Schwartz and Matt Miller's CBS comedy pilot Hitched, where Sara Fletcher (My Secret Girlfriend) has replaced Kristin Kreuk just before the table read for the pilot. "Kreuk starred on two drama series, including her star-making turn on Smallville, and she was wonderful in an arc on Schwartz's NBC dramedy Chuck this season but she has never done a half-hour sitcom and Hitched ultimately proved not a perfect fit for her," wrote Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva. (Deadline.com)

Tina Brown and Bill Haber have optioned Laura Lippman's novel "In a Strange City," which revolves around female investigative journalist Tess Monaghan (who becomes a gumshoe when her paper closes), with an eye to adapting the book as an ongoing television series. Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) has been brought on to adapt Lippman's novel and the trio plan to shop the project to broadcast and cable networks for next year's development cycle. (Variety)

Carla Gugino (Watchmen) and Addison Timlin (Cashmere Mafia) have signed on to appear in multiple-episode story arcs next season on Showtime's Californication), where Gugino will play a love interest for David Duchovny's Hank and Timlin will play an actress who stars "in a film within the show," according to Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva. (Deadline.com)

Comedy Central has ordered ten episodes of comedy The Onion Sports Network, will offer a satirical look at the work of sports. Project, executive produced by Julie Smith and Will Graham, will premiere in first quarter 2011. (Variety)

Production has been shut down on A&E's Steven Seagal: Lawman by the Jefferson Parish Police Department, following news that the series' star has been accused of sex trafficking. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Color me intrigued: UK's Channel 4 is developing a female-oriented comedy with the creators of comedies Peep Show and Two Pints of Lager and a Bag of Chips. (Broadcast)

MyNetwork has shored up its fall primetime schedule, which will include off-network acquisitions of such series as Burn Notice, Monk, and Without a Trace. Returning to the schedule are Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, and Don't Forget the Lyrics! (Broadcasting & Cable)

VH1 has ordered eight episodes of reality series Football Wives, which will follow the lives of NFL spouses. Project, from Shed Media, is set to launch at the end of 2010. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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.

Channel Surfing: Maria Bello Finds "Emergency Sex" for HBO, NBC Gets "The Cape" and "Outsourced," Leno on Oprah, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Maria Bello, Simon Beaufoy, and Russell Crowe have teamed up to develop HBO drama project Emergency Sex, based on Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson's nonfiction book "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth," about "the larger-than-life exploits of expatriate nongovernment-organization workers who find their sanity tested in the face of atrocities, loneliness and primal desires." Bello (A History of Violence) will star in the project, which is being adapted by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), who will executive produce with Bellow, Russell Crowe, and John Carrabino. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has handed out pilot orders to two projects, both hailing from Universal Media Studios. One-hour drama The Cape, from writer Thomas Wheeler (Empire) and BermanBraun, revolves around an ex-cop in Los Angeles who is framed and sets out to become a masked vigilante in order to clear his name and reunite with his son. NBC also picked up single-camera comedy Outsourced, based on the indie film about about a demoted middle manager who is sent to India to manage a call center. Robert Borden (The Drew Carey Show) will write the pilot script and Ken Kwapis (The Office) is still attached to direct and executive produce alongside Tom Gorai and David Skinner. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a fantastic feature on Jay Leno's appearance yesterday on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "How can you do the right thing and just have it go so wrong? 'Maybe I'm not doing the right thing,' I would think," Leno told Winfrey. "Maybe I'm doing something wrong. This many people are angry and upset over a television show. ...My show got canceled. They weren't happy with the other guy's show. They said, 'We want you to go back,' and I said, 'OK.' And this seemed to make a lot of people really upset. And I go, 'Well, who wouldn't take that job though? Who wouldn't do that?'" (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Score yet another job for Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother). The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that Harris will travel to London later this year to tape a pilot for a US adaptation of British game show The Cube for CBS. Once executives view the pilot, CBS will decide whether to order the project to series. News comes after FOX abandoned its plans to adapt the unscripted format for US broadcast audiences in December. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Leonard Roberts (Heroes) has been cast in the two-part episode of ABC's Castle that will feature Desperate Housewives' Dana Delany. Roberts will play Delany's federal agent partner on the two-parter, the first half of which is scheduled to air March 21st on a special night. In other Castle-related news, ABC ordered two additional episodes of the crime procedural, bumping its episodic total this season to 24 installments. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FX has ordered a pilot presentation for comedy Sweat Shop, about a pair of step-siblings who run a gym in a Scottsdale, Arizona strip mall. Project, from creator/star Pell James, director Jonas Pate, and fellow executive producers Thomas Moffett and Braxton Pope, hails from FX Prods. and Lionsgate Television. (Variety)

Pilot casting alert!Tony Hale (Chuck) Matt Letscher (Eli Stone) will star opposite Danny Wallace in ABC hybrid comedy pilot Awkward Situations for Men, about an Englishman who moves to the US with his wife and discovers that his "everyday behavior clashes with American values and gets him into trouble." Hale will play Will, Danny's first American friend, while Letscher will play the boss at a Jamba Juice-type eatery. Elsewhere, John Michael Hill has landed a role on ABC drama pilot 187 Detroit, where he'll play a rookie homicide cop whose wife is expecting a child. British actor Matt Ryan (The Tudors) is said to be in talks about joining the cast of CBS' untitled Criminal Minds spinoff. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other casting news, many actors of cancelled or on-the-bubble series are said to be in particular demand this pilot season. The cast of Ugly Betty--including Eric Mabius, Becki Newton, Vanessa Williams, Michael Urie, and Ana Ortiz--have been inundated with pilot offers. Additionally, the casts of Lost, Nip/Tuck, Better Off Ted, Scrubs, Dollhouse, 24, and Three Rivers are said to be in demand. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that an upcoming episode of ABC comedy Modern Family will focus on the real-life fears of the child actors that portray the extended Pritchett clan's kids. (TV Guide Magazine)

Variety's Stuart Levine is reporting that NBC will offer a two-hour episode of The Biggest Loser on Tuesday which will go head-to-head with the sixth season premiere of ABC's Lost. "Move pits one of NBC's highest-rated shows against a Lost premiere that has been anticipated for months," writes Levine. "By having the second half of Biggest Loser from 10-11 p.m., net is extending an olive branch to the affiliates who have taken a beating since The Jay Leno Show has been on the air and were instrumental in having scripted programming return at 10 o'clock." (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Smallville's Justin Hartley about a potential relationship between his Oliver and Allison Mack's Chloe. "Yeah, I think that's in the works," said Hartley about a Oliver-Chloe romance. "I don't know how long it will last or how far they're going to go with it because we haven't shot that much yet, but that's what's going on right now." But don't count out Cassidy Freeman's Tess, either. "She threw a knife at me the other day, so yeah, we're going to be working together," said Hartley. "I think I pissed her off again, so that's always fun. I don't know if they're going to be involved anymore. I would say no, but then at the same time who knows what Oliver's going to do? He's a dirty bird." (TVGuide.com)

SPOILER!Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has some details about what the series finale of ABC's Ugly Betty, slated to air in May, will contain. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

VH1 has ordered several series that represent an expansion of their brand. Net ordered eight episodes of reality makeover series Transform Me, in which four transgender women help a woman remake herself from her clothes to her outlook on life. Series, from Left/Right Inc., will launch on March 15th. VH1 ordered seven episodes of Famous Crime Scenes, which will delve into the well-publicized deaths of celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Selena beginning February 12th. The cabler also ordered a week-long strip of primetime specials entitled Undateable, which will explore what guys shouldn't do when dating, from the woman's perspective. It's set to air the week of April 19th. Finally, the cabler acquired MTV Canada reality series Peak Season: Vancouver, following the lives of Whistler ski resort bunnies and workers, which it will debut on February 14th. (Variety)

TBS has given a cast-contingent pilot order to one-hour comedy Glory Daze, about the the 1980s pledges at a Wisconsin college fraternity. Project, from executive producer Walt Becker (Wild Hogs), is written by Becker and Michael LeSieur (You, Me and Dupree); Becker is also attached to direct, should the project officially go ahead to pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Sex and Murder" in the "Dollhouse," Same-Sex Snog for "Gossip Girl," Quinn Finds "Beautiful Life," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday television briefing.

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin has a look at what lies ahead for FOX's Dollhouse as she catches up with the Joss Whedon-created series' stars to get some dirt on what's going on inside the Dollhouse next season. "They have a connection," said Tahmoh Penikett of Echo and Paul Ballard next season. "It's not a physical attraction, but I hope it's something that we explore a lot more this season. You're not quite sure what it is. There's a past, there's a history, there's an understanding between them that's very different. I think the audience is really going to like it and be really curious about where we're going in the first few episodes." As for that other would-be couple, Sierra and Victor, Enver Gjokah said, "Sierra and Victor are definitely still involved. They're going to explore that relationship more. They explore the Sierra-and-Victor love as dolls, but then also they're going to go into the backstory of both of them." Lots more detail in the piece, which also hints at just what Season Two is about ("sex and murder"). (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Ed Westwick's Chuck Bass will lock lips this season on Gossip Girl with another man, namely Neal Bledsoe's Josh Ellis, NYU's head of freshman affairs. So what spurs the kissing exactly? "Since Josh is tasked with selecting an incoming student for the honor of delivering the freshman speech, he’s, shall we say, a person of interest to Blair," writes Ausiello. "In fact, she’s so determined to snag the slot that she goes so far as to pimp out her boyfriend to the gay guy in charge." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ed Quinn (True Blood, Eureka) has been cast in the CW's upcoming fall drama series The Beautiful Life, where he will play the husband of Elle Macpherson's Claudia Foster, a former supermodel who now runs an elite modeling agency. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Beau Bridges (Stargate SG-1) will guest star in an episode of TNT's The Closer next season, where he will play George Andrews, the former partner of G.W. Bailey's Provenza, who "returns to help close a case that has been turned over on appeal." (TVGuide.com)

Paula Abdul will host VH1's VH1 Divas, which returns to the network on September 17th and features performances from Leona Lewis, Adele, Jordin Sparks, Miley Cyrus, and Kelly Clarkson. (Variety)

Zap2It's KorbiTV has a first look at ABC's new promo for Season Six of drama series Grey's Anatomy. (Zap2It)

ABC has given a pilot script order with a penalty to an untitled multi-camera comedy from writer/executive producer Garland Testa (King of the Hill). Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, revolves around a young couple with children who try to balance the adult responsibilities of parenthood with their own youth. (Hollywood Reporter)

Kids cabler Nickelodeon has ordered two live-action comedy series, Victorious and an untitled Scott Fellows project, that will be co-produced with Sony Music and will feature original songs. Twenty episodes apiece were ordered for both series, with the untitled Scott Fellows project, about a boy band that wins a reality television competition, set to launch this fall and Victorious, about a girl who enrolls at a performing arts high school, on tap for January 2010. (Variety)

A&E is moving forward with Jackson family docuseries Jackson Family Dynasty, which will follow Michael Jackson's brothers dealing with their grief over his death and their own issues. A&E plans to launch the series, from executive producer Jodi Gomes, later this year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sky1 has acquired UK rights to ABC comedy Modern Family, which will launch on the pay satcaster in October. (Broadcast)

Rumors are swirling that Hulu might be close to a deal with ITV in the United Kingdom, under which the terrestrial channel would retain a sizable stake, said to be around 25 percent, in the UK version of the online streaming media player. (Variety)

Broadcasting & Cable's Claire Atkinson is reporting that top executives Maria Grasso and Nina Wass have now left OWN in order to pursue other opportunities; the network, owned by Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, has yet to launch. Move comes after the network hired former NBC executive Jamila Hunter as head of programming. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Former ABC executive Jocelyn Diaz has been hired by HBO as the head of drama development and production at HBO Entertainment. Elsewhere at the pay cabler, Casey Bloys has been promoted to SVP of comedy, where he will oversee development and production on HBO's comedy series, including Hung and Bored to Death. (Variety)

The Real Housewives are coming to daytime. NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has signed a deal with NBC's owned TV stations for a one-hour daily syndicated strip of The Real Housewives that will launch in Fall 2010. Terms were based on an all-barter basis for the more than 100 episodes of the series. (Broadcasting & Cable)

FremantleMedia Enterprises has acquired international rights to Australian teen drama Slide, which will launch with an online prequel before debuting a linear series on pay television channel Foxtel in April. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: MTV Lights US "Skins," FX "Mad" for Cheadle Basketball Drama, HBO to Explore "Savage Love," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

MTV is developing a US adaptation of hit British teen drama series Skins, which airs on E4 and Channel 4 in the UK. Co-creator Bryan Elsley will executive produce the new version, which will be shot in Baltimore with unknown actors, with Company Pictures' Charlie Pattinson and George Faber. "It's been two years that I've been personally involved in trying to get this here to the network," MTV's SVP of series development Liz Gateley told Variety, "and I don't think I've ever had a negotiation drag out as long as this, but I knew it was something very special." Elsley will write the pilot script for the US version of Skins, which MTV has committed to filming. (Variety)

FX has ordered a pilot script for sports drama March to Madness, about a corrupt college basketball program that manages to reach the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament through some duplicitous means. Project, written/executive produced by Joel Silverman, will be directed by Pete Segal and executive produced by Don Cheadle, Dave Miller, and Micahel Ewing. (Variety)

HBO is said to have ordered a pilot presentation for a potential series based around Dan Savage's sex advice column "Savage Love," which appears in alternative weekly papers around the country. The pilot is slated to be taped later this week and the potential series would "focus on current events and cultural trends with sex as the filter," according to a press release. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will get the chance to watch short-lived serialized horror/thriller series Harper's Island, starring Christopher Gorham, Elaine Cassidy, and Katie Cassidy, on BBC Three and BBC HD beginning Sunday, September 6th. (BBC)

Grant Turck and Alfonso Arau have optioned Gary Jennings' 1980 historical novel "Aztec" and are said to be developing a mini-series take on the project, with John Milius (Rome) in talks to adapt and Arau to direct "at least two hours" of the mini-series, which has yet to be pitched to networks. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has now also cancelled I Love Money 3 after the body of murder suspect Ryan Jenkins was discovered in a Canadian motel over the weekend. The news comes on the heels of the cabler's cancellation of Megan Wants a Millionaire, which also featured Jenkins as a contestant. (Variety)

RDF USA and Artificial Life are said to be developing an interactive animated series, entitled Sleuths, in which viewers can utilize customized avatars that will appear in the episode's broadcast and answer quiz questions; those answering correctly will have their avatar move onto the next round and ultimately "the top five avatars will appear onscreen standing with the show's characters." (Hollywood Reporter)

Former E! and Versus executive Gavin Harvey has been named EVP/general manager of music cable channel Fuse. (Variety)

CMT has ordered a second season of musical competition series The Singing Bee, with 20 episodes on tap for January 2010. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Sanada Gets "Lost," Jayma Mays Returns to "Heroes," NBC Crowns "Rex," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada (Rush Hour 3) has joined the cast of ABC's Lost in a recurring role for its sixth and final season. Details of Sanada's character are being kept firmly under wraps as is the number of episodes that he'll ultimately appear in. Sanada's casting comes on the heels of the announcement that Deadwood's John Hawkes had signed on to the drama series as Lennon, the spokesperson and translator for a foreign conglomerate. Could these two roles be connected in any way, given Sanada's Japanese background? Hmmm.... (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jayma Mays (Glee) will return to NBC's Heroes, where she will reprise her role as Hiro's former love interest Charlie in one episode of the superpowered drama series. But didn't Charlie die? Yep. "As the dying time-traveler zips back and forth through the ages to accomplish his bucket list," writes Ausiello, "well, isn’t it safe to assume that saving his almost-sweetheart would be pretty high on the list?" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has given a pilot order to legal dramedy Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, about a lawyer with crippling panic attacks who begins coaching clients on how to represent themselves in court. Project, from writer/executive producer Andrew Leeds and David Lampson, BermanBraun, and Universal Media Studios, was originally pitched and sold to NBC in 2007 and then shut down by the writers strike. Barry Schindle (Law & Order) will server as showrunner on the project, which will be executive produced by Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. (Hollywood Reporter)

Keith Carradine (Dexter) will guest star in two episodes of FOX's Dollhouse, where he will play Matthew Harding, described by Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello as "a powerful businessman." No other details about Carradine's character are available and it's unclear whether he'll be a client of the Dollhouse or someone looking to take it down. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TVGuide.com's Mickey O'Connor is reporting that Amalia Zinser (Cold Case) has been cast in the CW's 90210, where she will play tomboy surfer Ivy who serve as a potential love interest for both Dixon and Liam. Zinser's first appearance is slated for October. (TVGuide.com)

BET is said to be in talks with CBS Television Studios about ordering a new season of comedy series The Game, which was canceled in the spring by the CW. Should a deal be reached, however, new deals with the actors would have to be made as their options have now already lapsed. (Hollywood Reporter)

Cabler TLC has ordered a second season of docusoap The Little Couple, which follows married couple Bill Klein and Jen Arnold, who are both under four feet tall. Project, from LMNO Prods., will return this fall with eighteen new episodes. (Variety)

VH1 has cancelled reality dating series Megan Wants a Millionaire, after one contestant was charged with murdering a former model. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK satellite network Sky1 has commissioned a six-part mini-series adaptation of Chris Ryan's hostage crisis novel "Strike Back," which will star Richard Armitage, Andrew Lincoln, Jodhi May, Orla Brady, Nicola Stephenson, and Laura Greenwood. Project, written by Jed Mercurio and directed by Daniel Percival, will launch in Spring 2010. (Variety)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a two-year deal with Big Brother executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan, under which they will form a joint production company, Fly on the Wall Entertainment. Their shingle will develop and produce reality-based programming for the studio. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Drea de Matteo Moves to Wisteria Lane, Meloni and Hargitay Return to "Law & Order: SVU," Showtime Axes "Brotherhood," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Sons of Anarchy's Drea de Matteo (best known as The Sopranos' Adrianna) is joining the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives next season as a series regular, reports Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. De Matteo will play "the matriarch of a new Italian family," writes Ausiello. "Casting is underway for her landscape designer husband and their tightly wound son." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay WILL be coming back to NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit next season, after all. The duo have finally signed deals that will keep them in the lead roles on the NBC drama series for the next two seasons and will be paid just slightly less than $400,000 per episode. Neal Baer also closed a deal to remain on board the series as showrunner and Christine Lahti (Jack & Bobby) has signed on to guest star in the first four episodes of next season's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as an ADA, while Stephanie March will appear in at least ten episodes next season. (Variety, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Showtime has confirmed to E! Online's Watch with Kristin that it has canceled drama series Brotherhood and will not be returning the series for a fourth season. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

My Name is Earl creator Greg Garcia has landed a put pilot deal at FOX for an untitled single-camera comedy about a 25-year-old man who has a one-night stand with a woman on death row for murder and then has to raise the resulting baby with his family. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, will be written by Garcia. (Variety)

SCI FI Wire spoke to Edward James Olmos and Grace Park about what to viewers should expect from Battlestar Galactica prequel telepic The Plan, which Olmos directed. "What their plan was, I think that's a big surprise," said Olmos. "Finding out what the plan was and how it was structured and how close they were to completing it." Park said that there's more than meets the eye with The Plan. "[There is more than] the obvious, which is what was the Cylon perspective," said Park. "If they had a plan, what their plan was, what it entailed. I think besides that, [The Plan shows] probably how alike or unlike humans they really are." (SCI FI Wire)

CBS is launching seven-episode reality competition series There Goes the Neighborhood, in which eight suburban families are enclosed by a twenty-foot wall in compete for a cash prize of $250,000, on Sunday, August 9th. (via press release)

Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live) has been upgraded from guest star to series regular on ABC comedy The Middle, where he plays car salesman Bob, a co-worker and friend to Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton). He'll next be seen in IFC's three-part Bollywood Hero. (Hollywood Reporter)

SOAPNet has renewed Canadian drama Being Erica for a second season of twelve episodes that is slated to air early next year, according to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider. "Sources say the next season will find Erica (Erin Karpluk) learning more about the dynamics of time travel," writes Jennifer Armstrong, "and will reveal more about her enigmatic psychiatrist, Dr. Tom (Michael Riley)." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

VH1 ordered three new series including an eight-episode untitled reality project starring Salt-N-Pepa's Sandra "Pepa" Denton as she looks for love after a "self-imposed romantic and sexual dormancy," an untitled eight-episode project starring TLC's Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas as she also looks for love, this time with the help of relationship expert Tionna Smalls, and an untitled ten-episode docusoap featuring Frank "the Entertainer" Moresco from I Love NY as he looks for love and tries to move out of his parents' basement. The cabler also renewed Celebrity Fit Club for a seventh season and Sober House with Dr. Drew for a second season. (Variety)

Danneel Harris will reprise her role as Rachel Gatina in at least seven episodes of the CW's One Tree Hill next season after she was written out of the series in Season Five. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Bryan Fuller Leaves "Heroes" Again, Cross, Jonze, and Arnett Team Up, "Doctor Who," Justin Kirk Talks "Weeds," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller has left his position as consulting producer on NBC's Heroes, just a few months after he rejoined the writing staff of the NBC drama. The reason behind the departure: to focus on developing new series for the network (he has an overall deal with Universal Media Studios), rather than creative differences with Heroes creator Tim Kring. "I'm crafting two pilots right now and it's a lot of work," Fuller told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "It was just too hard to [juggle] Heroes and my development; something had to give." Meanwhile, Fuller told Ain't It Cool News' Herc, ""Development was really starting to heat up, And it appears like I may be writing multiple pilots for NBC so that wasn't leaving a ton of room for Heroes, unfortunately. We crafted some really great arcs for the season that I'm excited to see come to fruition. I love that cast dearly and am sad to go, but the plate -- she was over-flowing." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, Ain't It Cool News)

Holy comedy legends: David Cross has written a comedy pilot entitled The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret for UK's Channel 4 with Extras' Shaun Pye that will star Arrested Development's Will Arnett, Being Human's Russell Tovey, and director Spike Jonze (who appeared on-screen in feature film Three Kings). The pilot, produced by RDF Media, is slated to air this winter. "I shot a pilot for Channel 4," Cross told The Los Angeles Times. And it’ll air, I believe, in December. When we picture-lock on Friday, it will be almost two years to the day that I was first approached by those guys. The cast is a crazy dream team." As for the plot, here's the official description from the RDF Media site: "American Todd Margaret (David Cross) bluffs his way into an apparently great job opportunity, heading up the sales team in his employer’s London office. All he has to do is sell several thousand energy drinks before his boss visits him in a week. Simple. Apart from the fact that he knows nothing about British culture and nothing about sales. This is further complicated when he lies continuously to cover his ignorance and spectacularly fails to impress Alice the first beautiful girl he meets. Dave his British co-worker, soon takes full advantage of Todd’s situation and chaos ensues." (Los Angeles Times, via /Film)

BBC has denied reports made by British paper The Mirror, which claimed that the channel would air an "all-Doctors reunion" installment of Doctor Who during this year's Children in Need charity campaign. According to The Mirror, David Tennant would reprise his role as the Doctor and call upon every other incarnation of his character (including Matt Smith's upcoming Eleventh Doctor) in order to help him retrieve a missing piece of Time Lord paraphernalia... and that William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, and Jon Pertwee would also appear on the series via archival footage. (All three, who played the Doctor's first three incarnations are all deceased.) "Nothing has been finalised yet, although there is discussion of a Children in Need Doctor Who special," said a BBC spokesperson. "It is too early to say what." (Digital Spy)

Weeds' Justin Kirk dishes about Alanis Morrisette, Kate del Castillo, Andy's relationship with Nancy, and Jennifer Jason Leigh's Jill. And, oh, a familiar face from the past is set to return this season. (Hmmm.) "I don't know what's going to happen," said Kirk of Andy's relationship with Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker). "But I like exploring that world. I would like that relationship to go on. I think their relationship, whether it's consummated or not, remains to be seen. But it's one that is a lot of fun to do, and I like working with Mary-Louise, so I hope it goes on. Sometimes it's heartbreaking and sometimes it's funny." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

USA's Burn Notice will definitely be having a presence at this year's Comic-Con next month, according to The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan. Executive producer Mikkel Bondesen announced that Burn Notice would be hosting a panel next month via Twitter that will include creator Matt Nix, though Ryan says that the network has confirmed the panel but hasn't yet confirmed the date. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

VH1 has given a series order to RDF USA's docuseries The Price of Beauty, which will feature Jessica Simpson traveling the world "to meet every day women as well as some local pop culture icons" and "study local fashions, dietary fads and beauty regimes and even participate in some of the extreme practices she discovers." The series, which will begin shooting next month, is executive produced by Jessica Simpson, Joe Simpson, Chris Coelen, Claire O'Donohoe, Greg Goldman, Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, Alex Demyanenko, and Sean Boyle. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bravo's weekly topical, interactive series Watch What Happens: Live, hosted by Andy Cohen, will launch on Thursday, July 16th at midnight ET/PT. The series will feature Cohen talking to guests from Bravo's stable of series as well as celebrities from other areas of entertainment to "chat about what has transpired on-air and in pop culture that week for a live half-hour full of viewer interaction." The network also promises that viewers will be able to interact "via email, phone, video, Twitter and Facebook." Series is produced by Embassy Row and executive producer Michael Davies. (via press release)

NBC's launch of British acquisition Merlin reached an average of five million viewers on Sunday, less than that for the US Open golfing championship but more than those who tuned in for ABC's mini-series Impact, which only garnered 4.7 million viewers. (New York Times)

Despite the announcement that series stars Jon and Kate Gosselin will be divorcing, TLC has confirmed that docusoap Jon & Kate Plus 8 will continue. "The show must go on," said Kate Gosselin on camera. (Variety)

Actress Kathryn Hahn is said to be developing a pilot script at Sony Pictures Television with her husband, writer Ethan Sandler, which will be a potential starring vehicle for Hahn. Details about the script's plot are being kept firmly under wraps. (Hollywood Reporter)

Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, James Corden, John Hurt, and Tom Wilkinson will lend their voices to one-off animated Christmas special The Gruffalo, based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's children's book, which BBC One will air this winter. (BBC)

Former Dominant Pictures executive Ben Spector has been hired by Tollin Prods, as EVP of television, where he will develop scripted projects for the shingle, overseen by produced Mike Tollin. (Variety)

FOX has hired Ron Taylor as VP of diverse programming and content, where he will identify and develop scripts that contain diversity-based themes or are written by minorities, as well as advise producers of scripted projects at the network about how to "expand a diversity presence to those comedies and dramas." Taylor will report to Matt Cherniss. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Flash Forward" Will Tell Complete Story, Lafayette Speaks, "Lost" Spin-offs "Impossible," ITV Axes "Primeval," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Producers of ABC's upcoming sci-fi series Flash Forward say that the series will offer a complete plot in its first season and will reveal answers in the first season finale. "We know exactly ... what season one is, with great specificity, because at ... the outset, we had to plan the entire season," showrunner/executive producer Marc Guggenheim told SCI FI Wire. "The first season ends with our characters' catching up to their futures. So you can't do that on the fly. I mean, I suppose you could, but I don't think it would be a very satisfying viewing experience for anybody. We made the commitment at the outset [to] plan out the entire first season before we start breaking episode two. So the very first thing we did, apart from ... figuring out character backstories and [all] that—when the time came ... to actually start breaking story, it was, 'OK, how are we going to move the characters from where they are in episode one to where they are at the end of the season?'" (SCI FI Wire)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello catches up with True Blood's Nelsan Ellis, who plays charismatic and flamboyant Lafayette to discuss the character's fate, the reveal in the season premiere of the HBO drama, and what's to come. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lost's Matthew Fox says that there won't be any spin-off series emanating from ABC's Lost once the series wraps its run next year. "I think the show will end in a way that there really cannot be any future of Lost," said Fox, shooting down dubious reports of a spin-off series. "I don't think the word Lost will come up at the end of the last [episode]. That's how much finality it will have. Unlike any other episode ever done on Lost, I think it will just go to black and that will be it." (Digital Spy)

Total Sci-Fi is reporting that UK broadcaster ITV has canceled sci-fi drama Primeval and won't be recommissioning it for a fourth season, despite ending the third season on a cliffhanger. "Obviously we're devastated that things should end this way with ITV," said an unnamed source close to the production. "But we're absolutely certain that although this stage of its evolution seems to be over, Primeval isn't dead. We're very proud of what we've achieved over the past three years and we have every intention of keeping Primeval alive in other ways." Those ways may include a possible US series or a feature film from Warner Bros. US fans may want to skip the spoiler-laden third paragraph, which contains spoilers for the third season finale. (Total Sci-Fi)

CBS has ordered three more installments of I Get That a Lot, a hidden-camera special in which celebrities work undercover at various run-of-the-mill jobs. The celebrities participating in the next batch of specials, from LMNO Entertainment and Magic Molehill, have yet to be named. (Variety)

TV Guide Channel is making some significant changes, beginning with the pink-slipping of 38 employees and programming downgrades. Weekly talk show TV Watercooler will be canceled as of June 22nd, while Hollywood 411, a daily entertainment news magazine, will become a weekly series and weekly series Infanity will become a series of specials. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has given a series order to an untitled reality series which will focus on people afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder. The series, from 3 Ball Prods. and executive producers JD Roth, Todd Nelson, Adam Greener, Matt Assmus, Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, Alex Demyaneko, and Noah Pollack, will focus a group of OCD sufferers as they live together at a treatment facility and participate in group and solo treatment. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Brian Austen Green Heads to "Hill," "Who" is Getting Married, Famke Janssen Returns to "Nip/Tuck," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Brian Austen Green is said to be in "advance talks" to join the cast of the CW's One Tree Hill next season. Should the deal close, he'll be playing Clayton, a Jerry Maguire-esque sports agent representing Nathan (James Laferty) on Season Seven of One Tree Hill. "They're ironing out a few issues," an unnamed insider told Ausiello, "but it's pretty much a done deal." The Hollywood Reporter describes the character as "a brash sports agent who represents Nathan Scott's (James Lafferty) basketball interests and has become a close friend, ally, business partner and advisor to him while also enjoying the spoils that come from being a wealthy, handsome single guy." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

SPOILER! According to a report in Britain's paper The Sun, the final David Tennant Doctor Who special will feature three weddings, with Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) all set to marry. According to unconfirmed reports, Rose would be wedding the half-human duplicate of the Doctor in a parallel universe and Martha would be marrying Rose's former sidekick Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke). As previously reported, Tennant will be dropping by spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures on the eve of Sarah Jane's own wedding. True? Or just wishful thinking? Stay tuned. (The Sun)

Famke Janssen will return to FX drama Nip/Tuck for its seventh and final season. Series creator Ryan Murphy announced that Janssen would reprise her role as transsexual Ava Moore via the series' fan forum. "Just finished the last [Nip/Tuck] script today -- the 100th episode," wrote Murphy in a post to the forum. "The end. Very strange. But I thought I would confirm something here on the forum, since you've all been so great and loyal: Ava Moore (Famke!) returns for the final two episodes." Janssen was last seen on the series in Season Two. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Primetime Emmy Awards will shift one week earlier this year, to September 13th. The move comes after CBS announced that they will air an NFL doubleheader that afternoon, which could have affected the start time of the Emmys telecast. Instead, CBS opted not to take a chance and moved the Emmys one week earlier. (Variety's Award Central)

CBS Television Studios has signed a two-year overall deal with Carol Barbee (Jericho, Swingtown), under which she will remain on board as an executive producer/showrunner on CBS' upcoming medical drama Three Rivers. She also executive produced the CW drama The Beautiful Life but will be handing over showrunner reins on that drama to Mike Kelley. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC's renegotiation talks with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit stars Chris Meloni and Mariska Hartigay are said to be "moving in the right direction," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Disney Channel has ordered a fourth season of Hannah Montana and renewed Sonny With a Chance for a second season. Production on Season Four of Hannah Montana, which stars Miley Cyrus, is slated for early 2010. (Variety)

Discovery Channel has revived reality franchise Monster Garage and ordered a new Detroit-set series MG: Motor City, the pilot of which "will feature the team taking a Ford Model T and transforming it into a dragster." A deal for a host has yet to be closed. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Just days before the launch of Season Three of Burn Notice, cabler USA has promoted Alex Sepiol to VP of original scripted series programming. Sepiol, who reports to Jackie de Crinis, had overseen production on both Burn Notice and In Plain Sight. (Variety)

Broadcasting & Cable's Claire Atkinson talks with writer/executive producer Ray Romano about his new TNT dramedy Men of a Certain Age, which will launch in December. "We have more freedom with language and content, but there's not a lot of difference really," said Romano about the move to cable. "It's important to keep these guys as real as possible. There's a little less censorship, and you have fewer people with their hands in the mix, which is also good. It's similar except for my salary and the budgets. That's fine, though; I'm not doing it for the money. I don't want to tell them that." (Broadcasting & Cable)

VH1 has ordered a third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, featuring Mackenzie Phillips, Dennis Rodman, Tom Sizemore, Heidi Fleiss, Mindi McCready, Lisa D'Amato, Mike Starr, Joey Kovar, and Kari Anne Peniche. Eight episodes are slated to air in early 2010. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: McG "Optimistic" About "Chuck" Renewal, ABC Settles Down with "Modern Family," FOX to Air Two-Hour "Virtuality" Pilot, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

While the fate of NBC's on the bubble action comedy series Chuck is still unknown, executive producer McG--who helmed the pilot episode--is feeling positive about an eleventh hour renewal. "We're optimistic," he told SCI FI Wire. "We're going to find out in a week. But the fans have spoken. People really rallied and articulated their love of the show, but it's a cold-hearted numbers business. And I'm happy to report that the people at NBC like the show." (SCI FI Wire)

ABC has given an early series order of thirteen episodes to single-camera comedy Modern Family, from writer/executive producers Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. The 20th Century Fox Television-producted project, formerly known as My American Family, will track 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, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould, and Ariel Winter. (Variety)

FOX has announced that it will air the two-hour pilot of Virtuality, created by Michael Taylor and Ronald D. Moore, on Saturday, July 4th at 8 pm ET/PT. Virtuality, which stars Clea DuVall, Erik Jensen, Gene Farber, James D'Arcy, Jimmi Simpson, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Joy Bryant, Kerry Bishe, Nelson Lee, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omar Metwally, Richie Coster, and Sienna Guillory, follows the crew of starship Phaeton on a ten-year journey on which the crew uses virtual reality modules to escape their mundane existence but a virus infects the system and unleashes a virtual killer into the mix. (Futon Critic)

Nikki Finke is reporting that the Gossip Girl spin-off series focusing on the 1980s adventures of a then teenage Lily Rhodes is now dead at CW. The potential series, which would have starred Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter, will get a backdoor pilot this Monday as Lily flashes back to her teenage years in 1980s California. However, Finke says "Even though I heard Peter Roth loved its yesteryear vibe, the show went from hot, to lukewarm, to 'fading but wouldn't count out,' to now dead, according to my insiders. I'm really surprised." (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

ABC has pulled comedy Surviving Suburbia off of the schedule for the remainder of the season. Scheduling change goes into effect immediately and will see Dancing with the Stars return to a two-hour format. (Variety)

Could Guitar Hero be coming to television? Video game producer Activision Blizzard is said to be looking into developing its array of video games into television or film projects. Guitar Hero is said to be a likely target for a reality television series and/or concert tour, while World of Warcraft and Call of Duty are being looked at for feature film development. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has ordered a second season of reality series Tough Love, with new episodes slated to air towards the end of 2009. (Variety)

BBC Two has ordered six episodes of comedy series Roger And Val Have Just Got In, starring Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley, French & Saunders). Series, written by Emma and Beth Kilcoyne, will follow the lives of a middle-aged couple after they arrive home after a long day of work. Casting for the male lead is under way. "Roger And Val leapt off the page at me the very first time I saw it," said BBC Head of Comedy Mark Freeland. "There will be nothing like it when it arrives on BBC Two. It's original, intriguing, sweet, funny and full of pathos. And it's only got two people in it." (BBC)

Hulu has acquired online rights to such British series as Green Wing, Doc Martin, Peep Show, and Kingdom. All four titles are already available for streaming viewing on the site, which is offering all episodes from each of the series' freshman seasons. (Twitter)

ABC has ordered a pilot for an untitled talk show to feature host Aisha Tyler which will incorporate elements of social networking, including Tyler interacting with viewers via Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. While there were rumors swirling that the Tyler talk show, from ABC Media Prods., would take the place of one of ABC's afternoon soaps, sources at the network were quick to clarify, stating that the potential series was being developed for cable or syndication. (Hollywood Reporter)

ITV Global Entertainment has acquired worldwide television and home video distribution rights to multi-platform series Project Chopin, which follows the adventures of two children who discover a magical piano that can fly. Deal encompasses a film, a television docudrama, and 24 two-minute animated shorts, along with online and mobile content. (Variety)

Former RDF executive Martin Rakusen has been hired by ShineReveille International, where he will oversee their day-to-day operations and explore new joint ventures and partnerships. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Evan Rachel Wood Bites into "True Blood," Mary-Louise Parker Not Leaving "Weeds," "Lost" 100th Episode to "Flash Forward," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler) has been cast on HBO's True Blood, where she will guest star in two episodes as Sophie-Anne, a 500-year-old French vampire who is the Queen of Louisiana. Woods will turn up towards the end of Season Two, which kicks off on June 14th, but is expected to reprise her role should True Blood be renewed for a third season. Her character, Sophie-Anne, is described as "who is charming, wily, ruthless and wise. She's a consummate diplomat who has (or had) many of history's most famous people on speed dial." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Nancy Botwin may have left Agrestic behind but Weeds' Mary-Louise Parker isn't going anywhere. "No. That's not true," said series creator Jenji Kohan when asked whether Parker would leave Weeds now that Jennifer Jason Leigh had been cast in the series. Leigh's character will appear in just a handful of episodes in Weeds' upcoming season. "Right now we've written two that she's in, but as we write, we'll see where she fits in and if she wants to come back and play," said Kohan. "She's doing a movie, so her schedule is kind of crazy right now. It's a great piece of guest casting. We love having Jennifer here; we'd love her to do as many as she wants to do, but by no means does it edge out Mary-Louise." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC hasn't yet ordered sci-fi pilot Flash Forward, starring Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, and a host of others, but the network will be giving viewers of Lost's upcoming 100th episode, set to air next week, a sneak peak at the project via a "stealth promo campaign" that will actually be spots for Flash Forward, "part of an elaborate marketing campaign for the drama, which has not been officially picked up to series but is quietly being positioned on ABC's schedule for next season." (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has acquired thirteen episodes of Canadian co-production Copper, a cop drama from studio E1 Entertainment. Series, which revolves around five rookie cops, will be executive produced by Ilana Frank, Tassie Cameron (Flashpoint), John Morayniss, and Noreen Halpern. Series will air on Canwest Global in Canada. (Variety)

Elsewhere at the Alphabet, ABC has announced that it will return game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by Regis Philbin, for a special eleven-night run to celebrate its tenth anniversary, beginning Sunday, August 9th. (via press release)

Chuck creator Josh Schwartz is still hoping that the series' rabidly loyal fanbase can keep the series afloat for another season. Speaking at NAB, Schwartz said that he "had a good meeting with NBC about Chuck's future, but he would not speculate on whether the show would survive" and pointed to some fan-based efforts such as continually mentioning Chuck on Twitter and organizing an effort to buy Subway sandwiches on Monday (the sandwich chain was recently featured on the series). Of the latter, Schwartz said, "It shows a real sophistication on the part of the viewer." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Christopher Gorham (Harper's Island) will reprise his role as Henry on ABC's Ugly Betty in the May 21st episode, which marks a two-hour season finale for Betty. Gorham's Henry will run into Betty while with his new girlfriend Chloe (Gossip Girl's Dream Walker) and they end up on a double date with Betty and her new boyfriend Matt (Daniel Eric Gold). "As Henry and Betty reconnect, it could potentially threaten her relationship with Matt," Ugly Betty creator Silvio Horta told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "Chris has always been, and will always be, part of the Ugly Betty family." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC is expected to announce that it has cut back on the episodic order for Heroes next season, with aims to produce only 18-20 episodes rather than 25 installments, as the series did this current season. The network is also expected to run those episodes closely together and try to avoid interruptions in the storyline. [Editor: look for the timeslot to be most likely filled during the series' hiatus by Jesse Alexander's sci fi project Day One.] (Advertising Age)

Comedy Central has given a pilot presentation order to an untitled half-hour sketch comedy starring blue-collar comedian Ron White. Project, executive produced by White, Eddie Feldmann, John MacDonald, Michael Pelmont, Brian Volkweiss, and Barry Katz, will feature White as he shares stories from the heartland of America. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has renewed Celebrity Rehab for a third season and has handed out an eight-episode series order for Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew, in which the titular Dr. Drew tackles everyday people's sex compulsions and its "destructive effect on those who suffer from it." Also on tap at the cabler: Gotti's Way 2 and New York Goes to Work, both of which will launch May 4th. (Variety)

Style has given an eight-episode series order to docusoap Mothers and Daughters of Dallas, which will follow four mother/daughter socialites in Texas as they strive to maintain their position in society. Project, from executive producers Allison Grodner, Peter Tartaglia, Sarah Weidman, and Merah Chung, will launch this fall. (Hollywood Reporter)

Spike has renewed 1000 Ways to Die, which will return with thirteen episodes, and MANswers, which got a ten episode pickup, while the cabler has also ordered a 1000 Ways to Die spin-off entitled 1000 Ways to Lie. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Whedon Talks Potential Fate of "Dollhouse," Matthew Perry Shoots Down "Lost" Rumors, Jennifer Jason Leigh Scores "Weeds," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Joss Whedon admitted that it's unlikely that Dollhouse will be renewed for a second season by FOX, given the series' low ratings. "[The chances are] not very good but in limbo," Whedon told SCI FI Wire. "Obviously our numbers are pretty soft, and there it is, but we live in hope. I'm really proud of the episodes that are coming out. More than that, I can't really ask." (SCI FI Wire)

But, at last night's Paley Festival panel for Dollhouse, Whedon seemed to have changed his tune, saying that the series isn't dead just yet. "We also talked about next season, [FOX] called me specifically to say we've been hearing you sound a little despondent, being very clear about this, the show is not cancelled," he said. "The numbers have been soft, but the demographic is wonderful. DVR is great, they [FOX] are big fans of the show and they're waiting to see what happens, so now I've gone from a place that's sort of ehhhhhh, they don't even care, no one loves me, to a place of - God, I can't believe I'm saying this... hope." (Fearnet)

Matthew Perry has personally shot down rumors that will be appearing in the season finale of ABC's Lost. "It is not true," said Perry. "I really don't know why those rumors have been floating about. I have admitted I am a Lost junkie. And at the press junket for [17 Again] I was asked what my favorite TV show was and I said [Lost], so maybe that's how they started. That's probably the one show I wouldn't do. I don't want to know how they shoot it and all that stuff. I don't want to know the secrets of the smoke monster or the island before other people. I want to be able to sit back and get swept away like everyone else. I want to develop my theories from my armchair. I just want to be a fan." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding) has landed a recurring role on Showtime's fifth season of Weeds, in which she will play Jill, the estranged older sister of Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) in at least two episodes. When the heat gets too heavy for Nancy, she sends brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) to take son Shane (Alexander Gould) to live with Jill... who then finds her way back into Nancy's life, intent on dredging up the past between them. Season Five of Weeds is set to launch in June. (Hollywood Reporter)

Pilot casting alert: Merrin Dungey (Alias) has been cast in FOX drama pilot Masterwork, where she will play the "longtime colleague" of Matt Passmore's FBI agent on the hunt for some ancient artifacts; Brandy (Mo'esha) has been cast in ABC comedy pilot This Little Piggy, where she will play the demanding wife of Jeff Davis' character; and David Walton (Quarterlife) has landed the male lead in NBC comedy pilot 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne. (Hollywood Reporter)

USA Today has once again launched their annual Save Our Shows campaign and the paper's Gary Levin offers an update on which current series are on the bubble for renewal. Among those who may or may not return next season: NBC's Chuck, Medium, My Name is Earl, Parks and Recreation, and Southland; CBS' Cold Case, Without a Trace, Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Rules of Engagement, and The Unit; ABC's Scrubs, Samantha Who?, The Unusuals, Surviving Suburbia, Castle, Cupid, In the Motherhood, and Better Off Ted; FOX's Sit Down, Shut Up; and CW's Privileged. With Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Prison Break not returning, it's thought that Dollhouse's cancellation is already a done deal. And, rather scarily, it does seem like Chuck's chances at getting a slot on NBC's reduced schedule is looking like a longshot. (USA Today)

BBC has announced three appointments for the fifth season of Doctor Who, set to star Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor in 2010. Beth Willis (Ashes to Ashes) will join lead writer Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger as an executive producer on the series while Tracie Simpson (Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead) and Peter Bennett (Torchwood: Children of Earth) have been named producers. Pre-production on Season Five begins next month, with shooting in and around Cardiff set for this summer. "Beth and Tracie and Pete aren't the A Team, they're the people the A Team call," said Moffat in a statement. "Tracie and Pete are the backstage stars of Doctor Who and having them on board as producers isn't just the best possible news for Matt Smith's first series, it's a massive relief. And Beth Willis, fresh from the brilliant Ashes To Ashes, is joining Piers and I as an executive so finally there'll be someone to wear the trousers." (BBC)

NBC Universal has teamed up with the Canadian Film Center to launch a talent development and mentoring program which will generate series for the company's owned outlets from Canadian writers. Says Variety's Cynthia Littleton, "The program will issue a call for script submissions from Canadian scribes, and then CFC and NBC U execs will select promising candidates to take part in the program, which will formally launch in the fall." (Variety)

History Channel is launching a huge multi-platform push for its documentary project A People's History of the United States, based on the book by Howard Zinn and executive produced by Matt Damon and Chris Moore. The two-hour film will integrate archival footage with readings by such boldface names as Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Viggo Mortensen, Bruce Springspeen, John Legend, Morisa Tomei, David Strathairn, Kerry Washington, and Eddie Vedder. The cabler, meanwhile, will roll out interstitial material that will be distributed online, on demand, and in schools. (Variety)

Cartoon Network is developing live-action movie Reborn, a modern-day retelling of the King Arthur myth from writer Travis Wright (Eagle Eye) and executive producers Wright and Alli Shearmur (who is now the president of motion picture production at Lionsgate). (Hollywood Reporter)

Oxygen has signed a deal with reality staples Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott under which they will star in a fourth season of their docusoap, Tori & Dean, produce and front a new couples makeover series, entitled Mr. and Mrs. Makeover, develop a telepic which they will executive produce, and a web series based on Spelling's book "Mommywood," which will be offered on Oxygen.com, Hulu.com, and iVillage.com. Elsewhere at Oxygen, the cabler announced that it was launching dance/weight loss competition series Dance Your Ass Off, hosted by Marissa Jaret Winokur, The Naughty Chef with Blythe Beck, and Addicted to Beauty, set in the world of medical spas. Cabler is also developing reality series Keshia and Kaseem, following former Cosby Show moppet Keshia Knight Pulliam and her boyfriend, and Celeb-U-Moms, which will track the lives of a crew of Hollywood mothers. (Variety)

VH1 has given a series order to an untitled docusoap starring former American Idol contestant Fantasia Barrino, as she juggles being a single mother with her life as a professional singer. Project, slated to air on the channel in 2010, will be executive produced by World of Wonder's Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, and Tom Campbell. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will be able to watch FX's Sons of Anarchy now that channel Bravo has acquired UK rights for the series, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, which it plans to launch this spring. "We're excited and proud to have secured such a high-quality and successful series for our viewers," said channel controller Dave Clarke. "US cable drama is the best in the world and FX are past-masters. Sons of Anarchy will be essential and compelling viewing for UK fans of both high quality action and premium drama." (Digital Spy)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Freddie Prinze Jr. Dons Cape for "No Heroics," Bloodgood Subs in for Esposito, Sherry Stringfield Gets "Back," "Rome," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Freddie Prinze Jr. (Freddie) has been cast as one of the leads in ABC's US remake of UK comedy series No Heroics. In the ABC Studios-produced pilot, Prinze will play Bradley (a.k.a. Ultimatum), a cocky celebrity superhero with no shortage of women, arrogance, or grade-school quips. He joins the already cast Paul Campbell, Eliza Coupe, and Arielle Kebbel. (Hollywood Reporter)

Just days after announcing that Samantha Who? star Jennifer Esposito had been cast in USA's Burn Notice, the actress has dropped out of the role. No reason was given for Esposito's departure from the series, where she was to have played Miami police detective Michelle Paxon, a new adversary for Jeffrey Donovan's Michael Weston. Stepping in to replace Esposito: Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman), who will assume the role of Michelle. Production on Burn Notice's third season is currently underway. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sherry Stringfield (ER) has been cast opposite Skeet Ulrich in the CBS drama pilot Back, where she will play Cheryl, the former wife of Ulrich's Richard, a man reported missing after 9/11 who suddenly returns home and has to reconnect with his family. For Cheryl, Richard's homecoming is fraught with complication as she is remarried to Tom, a firefighter. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Rome star Ray Stevenson says that a feature film based on the HBO series is currently being developed and could shoot as early as six months from now, with the script being written by Rome creator Bruno Heller (The Mentalist). "The script is in full development," said Stevenson. As you are probably aware, this is a pretty strange process. We could go into production in a year, or it could be as quick as six months. Who knows? It will happen. At least it is no longer a rumor. From what I have heard, they are nearing the end of script development. We shall see. We shall see." (Movieweb)

In other TV-to-feature film news, Dan Shotz, the co-executive producer of CBS' Jericho says that a feature adaptation of that series is also in development. "It's not just wishful thinking," said Shotz. "We've ... been developing a feature to hopefully make, because we would love to. I mean, ... Jericho is so built in a way, ... especially where we left off season two, to create a feature. So our hope is to launch this comic-book series and then, with the development at the same time of the feature, hopefully get that launched as well." (SCI FI Wire)

CBS has renewed The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men for two and three additional season, respectively. (Televisionary)

Pilot casting alert: Eric McCormack (Trust Me) has been cast in ABC's untitled multi-camera comedy from writer/executive producer Tad Quill. Also cast in the pilot: Reno Wilson (Blind Justice), Jolie Jenkins (Desperate Housewives), and Constance Zimmer (Entourage). McCormack will play Dean, a heart surgeon whose wife (Jenkins) has just had a baby, while Wilson will play Seth, a contractor with an empty nest. Zimmer will play Seth's wife. For McCormack, the pilot is in second position to his TNT drama series Trust Me, which is not expected to return. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere, Lindsay Sloane (Help Me Help You), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and Charlie Finn (Help Me Help You) have been cast in ABC comedy pilot Pulling, a US remake of the British comedy series, while Holly Robinson Peete (Love Inc.) and Josh Braaten (The Ex List) will star opposite Lauren Graham in ABC comedy pilot The Bridget Show. (Hollywood Reporter)

Heather Locklear has turned down an offer to star in CW's revival of Melrose Place. (Televisionary)

NBC has ordered eight-episodes of reality competition series The Sing Off, in which a cappella groups will face off against one another for a Sony Music recording contract. Series, from Outlaw Prods. and Sony Pictures Television, will be executive produced by Joel Gallen. NBC/Universal Media Studios' Paul Telegdy called The Sing Off "a fantastic feel-good series." No airdate has been announced. (Variety)

One guest star too many? Clay Aiken is slated to appear on the May 14th season finale of NBC's 30 Rock. (TV Week)

SCI FI Wire talks to Caprica star Esai Morales about the Battlestar Galactica prequel series. "I think he's the moral spine [of the story]," said Morales of his character, Joseph Adama. "He's somebody who came from the wrong side of the tracks, ... or the galaxy, or solar system, so to speak. They're from a planet that's more oppressed. He and his brother came from Tauron and establish their roots here, but they're still a minority. There are still ethnic tensions. So I'm a [civil liberties] lawyer who's trying to work on the right side of the tracks, and my brother is a gangster. It's like a Rich Man, Poor Man issue meets The Godfather meets Brave New World." (SCI FI Wire)

"We are all Cylons. And every one of us is a Colonial." Speaking of Battlestar Galactica, The Washington Post has a fantastic story about the series' recent appearance at the UN, where the cast and creators discussed issues like human rights, torture, and security issues. "Suddenly we are presented with this false dichotomy of security versus human rights," said Craig Mokhiber, deputy director of the New York branch of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. "That slippery slope shows up so much in the show, and so much in real life." (Washington Post)

HBO has acquired the rights to eight-episode autobiographical documentary series The Neistat Brothers, which follows filmmaker siblings Casey and Van Neistat. All of the episodes were shot on consumer-grade cameras and edited by the Neistats using Apple's iMovie. HBO has yet to announce an airdate for the project, executive produced by Tom Scott. (Variety)

The New York Times' Brian Stelter takes a look at pay cabler Starz, which is looking to stand out from among the glut of movie channels by broadening its original series offerings, which include Rob Thomas' comedy Party Down, Crash, and Head Cases, as it looks to build a new identity for itself. "We’re the new guys on the block, even though we’re 15 years old," said Bill Myers, president of Starz Entertainment. (New York Times)

Suspense drama series Harper's Island, launching in the US next month on CBS, has been acquired by BBC Three, which plans to air the series later this year. "This is truly exciting event television," said BBC Three's Sue Deeks, Head of Series, BBC Programme Acquisition, "a suspenseful, contemporary take on the classic murder mystery with more than a dash of horror – think Agatha Christie meets Scream and you will get the idea!" (BBC)

VH1 has revived reality staple Behind the Music, ordering ten episodes that will air later this year. So far the network has signed Lil Wayne and Scott Weiland to appear in installments. "It felt like the time is right," said Jeff Olde, EVP of original programming. "There's all sorts of new artists on the scene who have emerged and have these great stories. And there's other artists that we always wanted to do the first time around." (Hollywood Reporter)

USA has promoted Jeff Wachtel to president of original series. As EVP of original programming, Wachtel helped launch such series as The 4400, Monk, and Burn Notice. "As head of original programming, Jeff’s leadership has inspired the team responsible for one of the most successful slates in all of television," said Bonnie Hammer, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions. "His creative intellect, impeccable taste and production savvy are among the best in the business, and we look forward to having his stamp of originality on all future successes here at USA." (TV Week)

National Geographic has renewed Dog Whisperer for a sixth season, ordering 30 episodes that will air later this year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Neve Campbell Gets Charitable with NBC's "Philanthropist," CBS Adds "Harper's Island," CW Announces "Reaper" Return Date, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Let's get to the headlines, shall we?

Neve Campbell (Party of Five) will return to network television with NBC's midseason drama The Philanthropist, starring James Purefoy and Jesse Martin, about a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth to help people in need. The former Scream queen will play the wife of Teddy Rist's business partner and BFF Phillip (Martin), who runs the men's philanthropic organization and finds herself drawn to Rist (Purefoy). (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC released some new footage from the Season Five premiere of Lost. (Televisionary)

Samantha Who? (and former Ugly Betty) writer Marco Pennette has three projects in development, including ABC drama pilot The Romeos, about four men in the 1960s who eventually become the country's biggest pop stars, which he'll write and executive produce with Brad Meltzer and Steve Cohen (Jack and Bobby), and ABC comedy Straight Up and Dirty, based on Stephanie Klein's autobiographical book about recovering after a traumatic divorce. (Variety)

ABC has announced launch dates for its midseason dramas Cupid, Castle, and The Unusuals. (Televisionary)

Little Britain USA will return for a second season on HBO and BBC. (BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat)

Horror-themed reality competition series 13: Fear Is Real, from executive producers Sam Raimi and Jay Bienstock, will air Wednesdays at 8 pm on the CW, beginning January 7th. Fear will take over the timeslot from America's Next Top Model while it is between cycles. In other CW programming news, Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will return with new episodes on January 5th and 90210 and Privileged will return on January 6th. And look for repeats of 90210 to take over Stylista's Wednesdays at 9 pm timeslot in January. (TV Week)

In other CW news, Season Two of dramedy Reaper will kick off on March 7th at 9 pm; the thirteen episodes filmed for the series' sophomore season will air uninterrupted this spring. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS is launching thriller series Harper's Island on April 9th, where it will air on Thursdays at 10 pm following the run of current timeslot holder Eleventh Hour. Harper's Island will air its serialized story over the course of thirteen episodes... which will run until July 2nd. The Eye will also return crime drama Flashpoint to the schedule on January 9th and will air on Fridays at 9 pm. (Variety)

Meanwhile, CBS will burn off back-to-back episodes of unscripted series Game Show in My Head--from executive producer Ashton Kutcher--on Saturday nights beginning January 3rd. (Variety, TV Week)

Craig T. Nelson (My Name is Earl) will appear in a three-episode story arc on CBS' CSI: NY, where he will play Manhattan publishing mogul Robert Parker, who happens to be a nemesis of Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise). (Hollywood Reporter)

Christine Ebersole will drop by ABC's Samantha Who?, where she'll play Amy, the "secret sister" of Samantha's mom Regina (Jean Smart)... who has used Sam's amnesia as a way to erase her sister from their family. She'll appear in the fourteenth episode of the current season. (TV Guide)

Disney Channel has ordered six additional episodes of Hannah Montana, bringing the Season Three total to 30 episodes. (Variety)

NBC will be airing two-hour editions of Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday nights beginning in February, with an announcement about the decision to come as early as this week. The decision would appear to be financial, as it would give the Peacock a way to cull some programming costs; NBC would then have five hours worth of unscripted series per week this spring with two-hour Biggest Loser: Couples on deck and Howie Do It to air on Fridays. “Donald has always felt the boardrooms were too short, and I think he’s right,” said executive producer Mark Burnett. “Right now, there’s really only about nine minutes of footage that we use and the boardroom (scenes) go on for hours sometimes. The problem has been trying to squeeze it all in. Every season we go through the struggle of cutting the show down." (TV Week)

Dick Clark Prods. is developing an unscripted series based on the popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" franchise of books. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has ordered eight episodes of unscripted series Tough Love, which follows a group of women, chosen to live together in a house and trained in the art of meeting Mr. Right via a "Tough Love Boot Camp." Project comes from Flower Films, High Noon Entertainment, and executive producers Nancy Juvoven and Drew Barrymore; Steve Ward will host the series. (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.