The Daily Beast: "Showtime's New Mastermind, David Nevins"

Former producer David Nevins stunned many Hollywood insiders when he announced that he was stepping down from his role at Imagine Television and taking the top job at Showtime, recently vacated by Robert Greenblatt.

Now five months into his term at Showtime, I sit down with Nevins over lunch in a new feature at The Daily Beast, entitled "Showtime's New Mastermind, David Nevins," in which he tells me about his “girly taste in television,” and why it’s “fun to be naughty” as a programmer.

We also discuss what's coming up for the network, what's in development (Damian Lewis/Claire Danes psychological drama Homeland, House of Lies, starring Don Cheadle), the challenges and opportunities facing Showtime, which is on a growth trend, and, um, selling Time Life books over the phone.

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

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Gwyneth Paltrow Tackles Glee, V lands Jay Karnes, NBC Lands Legends, Showtime Renews Weeds, The Big C, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Gwyneth Paltrow is in talks to join the cast of FOX's Glee in a two-episode story arc in which she would play a potential love interest for Matthew Morrison's Will Schuester. "According to rock-solid Glee sources, Gwyneth would play a substitute teacher in two episodes airing in November," writes Dos Santos. "Mr. Schuester gets sick, so Gwyneth's character steps in and takes over the glee club. The kids love her, and Will starts to fall for her... complicating his relationship with Emma (Jayma Mays)... I'm told Glee creator/executive producer/creative badass Ryan Murphy wrote this role expressly for Gwyneth, as the two are friends. If it all comes together, Ryan will be directing her first episode, which begins shooting in two weeks." Should the deal close, Paltrow would appear in two episodes slated to air in November. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

[Editor: In other Glee news, TVGuide.com's Denise Martin has a set visit feature for Glee, returning tonight for its second season, which you can read here.]

TVGuide.com's Adam Bryant is reporting that Jay Karnes (The Shield) has been cast in a recurring role on Season Two of ABC's V, which returns in November. Karnes will play FBI Agent Chris Boling, who will serve as the new partner for Elizabeth Mitchell's Erica Evans. "The two have some history, having trained together at Quantico," writes Bryant. "However, Bolling quickly begins to suspect Erica may have divided loyalties when it comes to her dedication to the Visitor resistance group, the Fifth Column." Casting marks a reunion between Karnes and former Shield writer/producer Scott Rosenbaum, who serves as V's showrunner. (TVGuide.com)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that NBC has given a put pilot order to espionage drama Legends, from writer Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard) and executive producers Howard Gordon (24) and Jonathan Levin (The Ex-List). Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, is said to be based on a Robert Littell book and revolves around "an CIA operative with an uncanny gift for 'legends' - aka false identities - who is sent on a variety of missions, while simultaneously coping with the possibility that his own identity may be a 'legend' itself." (Deadline, Variety)

Showtime yesterday handed out renewals to dark comedies Weeds and The Big C, which will return for their seventh and second seasons respectively next year. "The unprecedented viewership for both The Big C and Weeds proves that audiences love these shows as much as we do," said Showtime's President of Entertainment David Nevins in a statement. "There are definitely more comedic adventures in store for these fascinating, complex women. For six seasons, we've happily traveled along with Nancy Botwin and we're equally as excited to follow Laura Linney and The Big C team as they chart Cathy's unique journey through such a provocative and personal subject as cancer. We're thrilled that these two signature shows will be returning to the network in 2011." (via press release)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has a first look at Celia Weston playing Barb Tucker, the mother of Eric Stonestreet's Cameron on ABC's Modern Family. "She's somebody who made him the person he is," Stonestreet told Keck about Cameron's mom. "When she comes to the door, she gives me her little puppy kisses. And we find out she called him her 'Little Bomber,' which was actually what my [real-life] grandma called me as a little kid — I think because I was a little gassy." (TV Guide Magazine)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has details about the now prolonged absence expected to face Olivia Wilde's Thirteen on House this season, given that the actress has booked four major film roles, including one of the leads in Cowboys and Aliens and a newly minted role in The Change Up, starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. “It’s going to be a while unfortunately,” series creator David Shore. told Ausiello. “We love her but it is going to be a while. It’s going to be this season, but well into this season.... She called us up and said she wanted to do [The Change Up]. And it just so happened that what we had worked out storyline-wise allowed her a couple of extra episodes [off]. So that movie just filled in the gap. There were no further adjustments to her schedule as a result of that.” (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly has some further details about Community's upcoming zombie-based Halloween episode. “Knowing too much about this particular plot would ruin it, but I promise it’s an awesome, one-off crazy conceptual episode with plot points and effects that are more familiar to horror film fans than our show’s fans,” said creator Dan Harmon. “We’re going over schedule and over budget to get it right,” he adds. “I’ve had to promise to do a few what I call ‘Bottle Episodes,’ where the group never leaves the library, to make up for it.” (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has ordered a pilot script for an untitled comedy to star comedian Mo Mandel (Strange Brew). Project, from 3 Arts, will revolve around "what a group of twentysomethings do in the last five years of their lives before the Earth is destroyed by a meteor." (Deadline)

ABC's upcoming weight loss reality series Obese has already received an order for a second season... and will undergo a name change to the less provocative Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. Six episodes are on tap for the second season, which is being slated for sometime in the 2011-12 season, while Season One is being targeted for midseason, possibly with a March launch. Each episode follows a single person over their year-long weight-loss journey. (Variety)

Disney XD will launch new animated superhero series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! on Wednesday, October 20th at 8:30 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

Stay tuned.

Over the Edge: Brief Thoughts on Showtime's Weeds and The Big C

It's only fitting in a way that Showtime would schedule Season Six of Weeds with the new dark comedy The Big C, both of which kick off tonight on the pay cabler.

In their own way, both series deal with the efforts of two women to survive in any way possible when faced with the insurmountable obstacle of death. On Weeds, Mary-Louise Parker's Nancy Botwin has spent the last five seasons attempting to keep her family together, getting deeper and deeper into treacherous waters after the untimely death of her husband, willing to literally get in bed with dangerous people in order to survive.

While the drama isn't as (soapily) high on The Big C, which airs a half an hour later, it's just as powerful as Laura Linney's Cathy receives a terminal cancer diagnosis and attempts to create a new way of living when faced with death itself, embarking on a journey in which she discovers her crazy again. For an uptight and controlling woman like Cathy, her last chance at living means living free: it means spilling wine on the couch, getting a pool put in her backyard, and attempting to reconnect with her loathsome teenage son.

In both cases, there's a lot of darkness going on but also a lot of humor to be mined from these extreme circumstances. Season Six of Weeds picks up moments after the cliffhanger ending from last season, where Shane killed Pilar with a croquet mallet blow to the head, knocking her into the pool. Wisely, the writers have realized that there's no time jump necessary here, finding both pathos and humor in Shane's new role as a "killer" and in Nancy's efforts to stay one step ahead of everyone likely to be on their tail.

It's a strategy that not only means that they ditch their new lives to hit the road but also removes Justin Kirk's Andy from the love triangle he was enmeshed in with his girlfriend Audra (Alanis Morrisette) and her obsessed, pro-life stalker. While Nancy selfishly doesn't allow Shane or Silas to pack any of their belongings, they hit the road with more than enough baggage--both physical and emotional--of Nancy's to last them a lifetime.

While Weeds has proven itself more than willing to shake up its foundations every few seasons (remember when she burned down their Agrestic home and they ended up by the Mexican border?), I have to say that I'm far more intrigued with this new on-the-lam picaresque than I was with the last two seasons. Publicity materials promise new identities, bizarre disguises, and odd jobs as the Botwins--plus Andy and Doug (Kevin Nealon), of course--attempt to stay alive and out of the hands of the Mexican drug cartel hungry for their blood.

The first episode--the only one sent out to press in advance--gave the series yet another jolt of adrenaline, quickly establishing the high stakes for this season and refocusing the viewpoint onto the Botwins as they attempt to get the hell out of their predicament and, more than likely, encounter a colorful menagerie of eccentrics, deadbeats, and kooks along the way. If you haven't been watching Weeds for whatever reason, this is the perfect opportunity to jump on board right now.

Showtime did, however, send out the first three episodes of the Laura Linney-led dark comedy The Big C, which is a good thing as it takes about that long for things to begin to click into place. The pilot episode, which airs tonight, has a few strong spots, one of which is--unsurprisingly--Linney herself, who stars here as the supernaturally uptight Cathy, a school teacher who keeps her terminal cancer diagnosis to herself and instead kicks her immature husband (Oliver Platt) out of the house and attempts to find new ways to remind herself that she's alive. For the time being, at least.

She sets out to wave her freak flag loud and proud, attempting to build a pool, spending the summer with her son (even if it means chasing down his soccer camp-bound bus with a paintball rifle), and reconnecting with that thing that she forgot how to do: live.

Cancer comedy is a hard thing to pull off and the pilot episode has the danger of becoming maudlin at times, particularly in scenes where Linney's Cathy interacts with her homeless brother Sean (John Benjamin Hickey) or her bitchy neighbor Marlene (Phyllis Somerville)... or Marlene's dog. A scene with plucky student Andrea (Gabourney Sidibe) crackles with nasty wit (just wait until you see what Cathy says to her) but seems separate from everything else.

Which is why the third episode seems to unify the various threads into something cohesive and enjoyable, as Cathy arranges a dinner party that brings together Sean, his new Whole Foods employee girlfriend, Andrea, and Cathy's supremely awful son (Gabriel Basso). Which, in true Showtime fashion, sort of goes horribly awry, really.

Episode Three is also the first episode where I began to see just what the series was capable of achieving and it's also the first installment where the show itself seemed to relax a little bit and, like Cathy herself, stop being so controlled and uptight. For a series about life, The Big C needs to embrace the messiness, humor, and emotion that this episode encapsulates.

If it does, The Big C, despite its subject matter, might just transform into a series that I hope lives for some time to come.

Season Six of Weeds premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT, followed by the series premiere of The Big C, on Showtime.

TCA Diary: Showtime's Matt Blank Teases Upcoming Programming

Showtime's Matt Blank kicked off the festivities on Day Two of the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour by offering a look at what's coming up for their slate of original programming over the next six months or so.

"Showtime continues to thrive in every part of our business," said Blank. "We received more 2010 Emmy nominations for our original series than any other premium cable network."

Here are some highlights from the very brief session, during which Blank acknowledged the behind-the-scenes changes going on at the pay cabler, where Robert Greenblatt has stepped down and will be succeeded by David Nevins.

Weeds comes back in August. Guest stars this season will include Richard Dreyfus, Alanis Morrissette, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Linda Hamilton, and Peter Stomare.

The Big C, which launches on August 16th as well, will feature Idris Elba, Cynthia Nixon, and Liam Neeson, whose participation was announced earlier this week.

Dexter's latest season will feature Peter Weller, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Julia Stiles, Shawn Hatosy, Johnny Lee Miller, and more.

Showtime has renewed Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara for third seasons and Secret Diary of a Call Girl for a fourth and final season.

The American adaptation of UK drama Shameless is set for a January 9th launch. A promo package that was screened had very good response from the collective critics. [Editor: having scene the pilot three times now I can say that it's one of the few series that I feverishly anticipating. Amazing, amazing pilot.]

The network offered a look at period dram The Borgias, which stars Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia and hails from Neil Jordan, who serves as creator/writer/director/executive producer. The series premieres Spring 2011. Production begun last week in Budapest. The network is positioning the series, set in 15th century Rome, as "the original crime family."

Meet the Newmans: Showtime Releases Weeds Season Six Trailer

"The Newmans will succeed where the Botwins failed. They will find jobs, have hobbies. They will have a normal life."

Showtime has released a new trailer for Season Six of Weeds, which returns to the lineup on August 16th.

On the run after Shane took a croquet mallet to Pilar's head at the end of last season, the Botwins hit the road in an effort to evade both the long arm of the law and the less than merciful killing hand of the Mexican drug cartel run by Nancy's husband. It's a trip that takes them through the heartland of America as they blow through a number of cities, trailing identities in their wake.

But as much as it represents an effort to escape death, it's also a new chance at life for Nancy and the gang. Hence the above quote from Mary-Louise Parker's Nancy, looking at this messed-up road trip as a chance at a clean slate. Sort of, anyway.

You can watch the entire three-minute trailer for Season Six below. "You can take the girl out of the business but you can't take the business out of the girl..."



Season Six of Weeds begins August 16th at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

Channel Surfing: Mark Pellegrino Bites into Being Human, Weeds Snares Richard Dreyfuss, Marg Helgenberger Staying on CSI, and More

Welcome to your (slightly delayed) Thursday morning television briefing. A few headlines to get through on Emmy nomination day...

Score another genre hit for Mark Pellegrino. The former Lost and Supernatural co-star is heading to Syfy's US adaptation of supernatural drama Being Human, where he will play Bishop, described as the "charismatic and menacing mentor" to Sam Witwer's vampire Aidan. Pellegrino's casting nearly rounds out the cast for the American adaptation, though there's still one role outstanding (that would be Josh, the werewolf, though there have been rumblings about several actors auditioning for the role). Elsewhere, Patrick J. Adams (Friends With Benefits) has been cast as the lead in USA legal drama A Legal Mind, where he will play Mike Ross, described as "a brilliant but unmotivated college student who gets recruited by a top Manhattan corporate law firm despite not being a lawyer" and who must "use his book and street smarts and hustling skills to keep the charade." (Deadline)

In a bit of absolutely amazing casting, Richard Dreyfuss will appear in at least four episodes of Showtime's Weeds, which returns for its sixth season on August 16th. While the pay cabler is keeping a tight lid on just who Dreyfuss will be playing, Showtime revealed that he will play "an unexpected character" who previously crossed paths with Mary-Louise Parker's Nancy Botwin. Hmmm... (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Marg Helgenberger is staying put on CBS' CSI following the successful conclusion of her new contract. "With Helgenberger’s deal done, the spotlight shifts to fellow CSI vets George Eads (Nick), Eric Szmanda (Greg), and Paul Guilfoyle (Jim), all of whom are negotiating new deals ahead of the show’s 11th season," writes Ausiello. "Jorja Fox is also in talks to return in some capacity. Liz Vassey, meanwhile, will not be back." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Alec Baldwin has reiterated his claims that he'll be leaving the cast of NBC's 30 Rock in 2012, when his contract with the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy expires. "As much as I like acting,I know that I would love to have a different life," Baldwin told CNN's Alina Cho. "A private life... I think that doing this now for a living has become really, really hard. I would rather go do other things, and [with] whatever amount of time I have left in my life, have a normal life." (via Vulture)

Which shows aren't going to be at San Diego Comic-Con this year? The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd rounds up the few television series that won't be making the trek down to San Diego, including Undercovers, Game of Thrones, $#*! My Dad Says, Haven, Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Conan O'Brien. And, oh, the reasons why they won't be down there. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Skeet Ulrich (Jericho) has been cast as one of the leads in NBC's upcoming Law & Order spinoff Law & Order: Los Angeles. Production on the series, from executive producer Dick Wolf, is slated to begin later this month. (Hollywood Reporter)

Vulture's Josef Adalian is reporting that ABC has opted to drop the mockumentary format from its upcoming cop drama Detroit 1-8-7. "The idea of dropping Detroit’s faux doc format was first brought up even before ABC officially ordered the show in May (though as recently as Tuesday, the network's online press materials still included the conceit in the show's description)," writes Adalian. "ABC is also launching another mockumentary-style series in the fall — My Generation, a soapy relationship drama which revolves around a group of pals who've been harassed by documentary makers since they were high school seniors back in 2000 — so one wonders if the network decided that three such shows (counting Modern Family) might test viewers’s patience. Detroit executive producers Jason Richman and David Zabel, however, say that wasn’t the motivating reason for the decision." As for the actual reason, the producers say that ABC found the narrative strong enough without the documentary conceit... and film crews are now banned from accompanying police officers on ride-alongs in Detroit, as of May. Art imitates life? (Vulture)

TV Land has ordered 20 additional episodes for its comedy Hot in Cleveland, a major sign of confidence in the series, which stars Jane Leeves, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, and Betty White, as the initial commitment was only for ten installments. (via press release)

CBS has signed a blind script deal with writer Tom Spezialy (Desperate Housewives) through CBS Television Studios, under which he will write a new series project for the network... and won't be able to take the project elsewhere should a similar situation emerge as it did with Spezialy's last project, the 20th Century Fox Television-produced Chaos. (Variety)

Eric Lange (Lost) has been cast in a recurring role on Season Six of Showtime's Weeds, which launches next month. Lange will play Ellis Tate, described as "an old classmate of Nancy's." Further details were not immediately available as the pay cabler is keeping casting information very close to the vest this season. (Hollywood Reporter)

TeenNick's Degrassi will return to the schedule for its tenth season on July 19th (with a two-hour opener) and will then air Mondays through Thursdays before wrapping on August 26th. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Grifters and Drifters: Showtime Unveils New Weeds Season Six Poster

"Let's blow this joint."

The Botwins are hitting the road.

Season Six of Weeds begins next month and Showtime has issued a striking poster image for the sixth season, one that depicts Nancy, Silas, and Shane Botwin (along with Justin Kirk's Andy and Kevin Nealon's Doug) as yesteryear hoods, a la Atlantic City. (Nice touch with Shane holding onto that plot-twist-driven croquet mallet.)

A larger version of the poster can be found after the jump, along with the teaser trailer for Season Six of Weeds, just in case you missed it a few weeks back.





Season Six of Weeds kicks off on August 16th at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

Channel Surfing: More on Party Down Cancellation, NBC Dumps Persons Unknown on Sats, Weeds, Big Love, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Following yesterday's brutal cancellation of Party Down, Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall talks to Party Down executive producer Rob Thomas about the cancellation of the Starz comedy. "No one on our side is particularly shocked by the news," Thomas told Sepinwall about the cancellation. "Frankly, the waiting has been excruciating, and there's a certain amount of relief in knowing and being able to move on." Thomas indicated that the series was heading towards a third season renewal before newly installed entertainment czar Chris Albrecht was brought in. "There's little to no doubt that we were going to get one until Chris came in," said Thomas. "But I do think if we had done better numbers, Chris would've kept us. I don't think Chris wanted to come in and clean house. I just don't think he had quite the emotional attachment that people who had been at Starz through the birth of the show had towards it." (Hitfix)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos also spoke briefly with Rob Thomas about the Party Down cancellation and learned that he's working on a new project. "I'm writing a drama pilot set in the world of corporate espionage for Showtime," Thomas told Dos Santos yesterday. [Editor: of course, that came out when Dos Santos asked Thomas about what was happening with a Veronica Mars feature film, so Neptune fans, I wouldn't keep holding our breaths on that one.] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

If you're one of the few tuning in to NBC's serialized thriller, don't get too attached to watching Persons Unknown on Mondays. The Futon Critic is reporting that NBC is shifting Persons to Saturday evenings at 8 pm ET/PT beginning July 17th. Mondays will now how repeats of America's Got Talent at 8 pm, new episodes of Last Comic Standing at 9 pm, and Dateline at 10 pm. Persons Unknown will air its final Monday airing on July 5th. (Futon Critic)

SPOILER! Looking for some dirt on Showtime's Weeds, which returns August 16th? TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck talks to Weeds' Hunt Parrish about the sixth season, which finds the Botwins on the run. "Nancy would never leave her family behind so we're all on the run together. We pick up and move states. It's cool to see this family outside of their world," said Parrish. "We've only had one consistent set in the nine out of thirteen episodes we've shot so far [the Bowtin's RV]. We're filming on location a lot." Look for Nancy to move from pot into the hash business as well. (TV Guide Magazine)

ANOTHER SPOILER? Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has some dish on the fifth season of HBO's Big Love. "The new season starts shooting July 13, and based on some fresh casting intel, we’ll be seeing a lotta fallout from the Henricksons’ 'outing' as polygamists’, especially at the elementary school some of the kids attend," writes Ausiello. "Maybe Bill will find a sympathetic ear in Richard Dwyer, the Majority Leader of the Utah State Senate and a new recurring character? On second thought, not likely, eh?" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The CW has announced its plans for fall, unveiling its autumn launch dates for new and returning series. Up first: America's Next Top Model, kicking off on Wednesday, September 8th, along with new drama Hellcats. The Vampire Diaries and Nikita kick off on Thursday, September 9th. 90210 and Gossip Girl return September 13th, One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected launch on Tuesday, September 14th, and Smallville and Supernatural return to the schedule on Friday, September 24th. (Variety)

SPOILER! TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Harriet Sansom Harris (Frasier) will reprise her role as Felicia Tilman on ABC's Desperate Housewives next season as part of the return of Mark Moses' character Paul to the series. "We are definitely going to show Harriet on the show," an unnamed source confirmed to Keck. "We will be using her to clarify how Paul got out of jail." Felicia, after all, had faked her own death in order to point the finger of suspicion on Paul as revenge for Paul's murder of her sister, Martha Huber. "I had lunch with (series creator) Mark Cherry who gave me an idea of some of the fun stuff he wants Paul to do," Moses told Keck. "It's going to be a great run and very interesting to see which of the housewives still think Paul's guilty and which won't. And just why is he coming back to Wisteria Lane?" (TV Guide Magazine)

Heidi Klum and reality shingle LMNO Productions have teamed up to produce family reality series Seriously Funny Kids, which will, per Variety's Michael Schneider, "go on location to where the kids are and document their reactions to various scenarios." Project will be pitched to networks very soon. (Variety)

E! Online's Megan Masters talks to Bristol Palin about her guest role on ABC Family's Secret Life of the American Teenager. "I was excited to work with the cast and just to contribute to this show's message," Palin told E! Online's Masters. "I feel obligated [to speak out] because I've lived through this experience...the more I talk about it and the more I can be hands on about it, the better I feel about myself...'m not an actress. I'll leave that up to the experts, but I had a great time here. I don't think I'll be doing any more acting in the future." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared are coming back to television. Well, sort of. IFC has acquired syndication rights for the series, from executive producer Judd Apatow, and will begin airing Freaks and Geeks this Friday at 11 pm ET/PT (along with repeats on Sundays at 10 pm and Mondays at 11 pm), while Undeclared will bow in the fall. (IFC will also air a never-been-aired episode of Undeclared.) (Variety)

Following a successful grassroots campaign waged on Facebook, Travel Channel has saved reality series Three Sheets. The travel series, which follows Zane Lamprey on a beer quest, will shift from the now defunct Fine Living (which morphed into Cooking Channel) to Travel, which has acquired all back episodes and will begin screening new episodes as well. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sundance Channel has hired former Travel Channel executive Michael Klein as SVP of original programming and development. He'll report to Sarah Barnett and be based out of New York. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Leigh and Morissette Return to Weeds, Jamie Foxx Preps TV Pilot, Sarah Drew Talks Grey's, Doctor Who, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alanis Morissette will return to Weeds for the Showtime dark comedy's sixth season, set to launch August 16th. Leigh will reprise her role as Nancy's sister Jill in one episode, with Morissette due to appear in two episodes as Andy's girlfriend Audra Kitson, who also happened to be Nancy's doctor. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Jamie Foxx has shot a trailer for a potential television project entitled Tommy's Little Girl, which features Paul Sorvino, Selma Blair, James Russo, and Tony Sirico. Project would revolve around the relationship between a mobster (Sorvino) and his daughter (Blair) and will be pitched to cable networks. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has an interview with newly promoted Grey's Anatomy series regular Sarah Drew, in which they discuss her "polarizing alter ego" April, among other topics. " I definitely had that feeling," said Drew when asked if the season finale pushed April together with the rest of the Seattle Grace crew. "April has been kind of annoying this past season. [Laughs] Just neurotic and really insecure, and this was the first time she was able to band together — both with Cristina and Meredith — to help solve a [crisis]. Most of my stuff before was with Patrick [Dempsey] and fawning over him awkwardly. So this was the first opportunity to actually bond in a positive way with them. They say tragedy brings people together, so I guess that’s what happened." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

MAJOR SPOILERS! UK paper The Daily Mirror has an interview with Doctor Who head writer/executive producer Steven Moffat about the season finale of Doctor Who, which brings an end to the first season under new Doctor, Matt Smith, and finds the Time Lord in a bit of a bind. "The doctor is trapped inside a prison from which even he can't escape," said Moffat. "Amy Pond is dead. Rory is plastic. River Song has been blown up in the Tardis, which has been blown up and destroyed every sun in the universe. I think any other hero would be in a pickle but I think the Doctor can take it... I really do think episode 13, the episode we'll see on Saturday, is a story only Doctor Who can do - no other show could have come close to a story like this." The finale will air Saturday night in the UK on BBC One and in two weeks on BBC America in the US. (via Digital Spy)

Vulture's Josef Adalian is reporting that FOX will not go ahead with its unscripted Glee spinoff, which would have depicted the search for actors to play three new roles on the musical-comedy. "Though they collected the tryout videos, Murphy and Fox execs have since quietly agreed to kill the on-air competition after it became clear that working on the reality show would mean less time for planning season two (and the recently announced season three)," writes Adalian. "As it is, Murphy and his team have already had their schedules crowded by such extracurricular events as the brief Glee live tour, multiple hit soundtrack albums, a trip to the White House, and, of course, Oprah." (Vulture)

TVGuide.com's Gina DiNunno talks to Tom Colicchio about Season Seven of Bravo's Top Chef and weighs in on the change at the judges' table, where master chef Eric Ripert has taken over for Toby Young. "For me, I like having him there," Colicchio told DiNunno. "I liked working with Toby [Young], but he didn't have the most authoritative voice when it came to the food. Toby is more of a scene critic when it comes to restaurants — or at least that's my understanding of it. He did know a good amount about food though. Having Eric judging the food has a little bit more weight than Toby judging your food. But you're not going to get the one-line zingers that we got out of Toby. [Laughs]" (TVGuide.com)

[Editor: elsewhere, The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd has an interview with Top Chef executive producers Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth, in which they talk about why this season is Obama-less, the reason behind the name Magical Elves, how they pick the cities for Top Chef, and the status of other projects in development, including spinoff Top Chef Jr.)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Jon Cassar (24) has come board FOX's upcoming adventure series Terra Nova as an executive producer/director. He joins a staff that includes former 24 executive producers Brannon Braga and David Fury and will direct multiple episodes of the series. (Alex Graves is set to direct the pilot episode.) (Deadline)

The Futon Critic is reporting that Project Runway will return to Lifetime on Thursday, July 29th at 9 pm ET/PT, right before half-hour spinoff series On the Road With Austin & Santino. (Futon Critic)

V star Elizabeth Mitchell has indicated that she's open for a possible romance between her character on the ABC sci-fi series, Erica Evans, and Charles Mesure's Kyle Hobbes. “He’s awesome, isn’t he? When he first came on, I said to [exec producer Scott] Rosenbaum, 'You need to make this guy a deal, now,'" Mitchell told Fancast's Matt Mitovich, though she added that Erica could fall for either Hobbes or Joel Gretsch's Father Jack. "Maybe it’s just because I’m a woman, but I’m up for a little romance!" (Fancast's The Big Tease)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has the dish on the upcoming two-parter on USA's Royal Pains, in which Mark Feuerstein's Hank heads to Cuba. The two-episode arc will feature guest stars Tony Plana (Ugly Betty) and Ana de la Reguera (Cop Out), the latter of which will be a potential love interest for Hank. The actress will also appear on Season Two of HBO's Eastbound and Down, where she is set to recur all season as the new love interest for Danny McBride's Kenny Powers. (TV Guide Magazine)

ABC's reality series Shark Tank will return to the lineup this summer... for one episode (a shelved installment from last season) on July 15th at 8 pm ET/PT, while ABC will repeat several other episodes during July and August. There's been no official word on the fate of the Sony Pictures Television-produced series. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer will produce the 83rd Academy Awards telecast, which is slated to air Sunday, February 27th on ABC. Mischer will also serve as the director for the awards telecast. (via press release)

In other Oscar-related news, Deadline's Nikki Finke is reporting that Board of Governor members have discussed moving the annual awards telecast to January, which could lead to conflicts with NBC's Golden Globes. "The awards season is too long currently. This will shorten and reduce the amount of campaigning," an unnamed studio head told Finke. "Also, it will make the Oscars the definitive awards show again. The Globes can't move a lot earlier as all the movies wouldn't be released yet. The only potential downside is how do people see all the films in time to vote for nominations?" (Deadline)

Lifetime has hired Discovery executive Gena McCarthy as SVP of reality and alternative programming at the cabler. She will report to JoAnn Alfano. (Variety)

Tyra Banks' production company Bankable has hired former Warner Music International chairman/CEO Patrick Vien as president/COO, effective immediately. He'll be based in New York and will report to Banks. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Showtime Renews Secret Diary, Details on HBO's Blogger Drama Tilda, Parks and Recreation, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that Showtime has renewed Billie Piper-led dark comedy Secret Diary of a Call Girl for a fourth season, which would be the series' last. The series, which airs on ITV2 in the UK, is expected to return in early 2011 and the final season would likely focus on the relationship between Piper's Belle/Hannah and her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

UPDATE: According to Showtime's press release, "Season Four, which will be comprised of eight, half-hour episodes, will follow Belle (Piper), an internationally successful author, torn between her career and her feelings for her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). Additionally, Season Four will feature a storyline where the high-end London call girl visits New York City."

The Wrap's Hunter Walker has details on HBO's latest pilot, Tilda, the Diane Keaton-led comedy which may or may not be based on the life of notorious Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke. Walker cites one unnamed source, an executive, who describes the plot of the Bill Condon-scripted project as "a broken woman, alone in her apartment," while another maintains that the titular character doesn't have much of a resemblance to Finke. "A lawyer for the network said HBO's official stance on the show is that the Tilda character is a compilation of many Hollywood media personalities, rather than a straight-up caricature of Finke," writes Walker. "Right. And that guy Ari Gold on Entourage is a "compilation" of Hollywood agents." [Editor: I still need to read the pilot script, which is sitting on my hard drive here.] (The Wrap's The Box)

Missing NBC's Parks and Recreation and crushed that it won't be back on the air until midseason? You're not the only one. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello recently visited the set of the NBC comedy series to talk about what's coming up for Season Three, their Emmy chances, and that decision to hold back the series rather than return it this fall. All this, delivered via three video interviews with the cast of the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC Family is developing espionage drama Shadows, about a secret Harvard-based program that recruits and trains young spies. Project, created by Jesse Peyronel and Rene Rigal, will follow the students and faculty of this shadowy program. Executive producers include Mal Young, George Tillman Jr., Matthew Pritzker, and Robert Teitel. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Raising the Bar) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Showtime's Weeds, where he will play Jack, described as a "rough-around-the-edges local bar owner who serves Nancy more than just a drink (wink, wink)." Season Six of Weeds kicks off on August 16th on Showtime. Elsewhere at the pay cabler, Tommy Lee has signed on for a guest appearance on Californication, where he will play himself. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TVGuide.com's Michael Logan has details on James Franco's return to ABC daytime soap General Hospital, where his character, Franco (described as a "serial killer and performance artist") will launch an exhibition in an effort to win over Steve Burton's mobster Jason Morgan. The name of his new exhibit is 'Francophrenia: Dissolving the Boundary Between Illusion and Reality' — as, yes, that's Francophrenia as in schizophrenia," General Hospital head writer Bob Guza told Logan. "Franco will create this elaborate dog and pony show for Jason, and Jason's non-reaction to it will make Franco pull the ultimate trigger." (TVGuide.com)

Victor Nelli (Ugly Betty) has come aboard NBC's fall comedy Outsourced as a director and executive producer. (Variety)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an interview with Gabrielle Union, in which she discusses FlashForward (including what was really meant to happen to Zoey and John Cho's Demetri Noh) and her upcoming role on the untitled Army Wives spinoff, where she will play "asexual" Atlanta cop Gina Holt. "All the butts I wanted to kick on FlashForward and all of the bad guys I wanted to bring to justice, I'll now get to do as this new character — but with a sense of humor," Union told Keck. "Gina views these Army wives as extra-terrestrials. She has no concept of breast-feeding, sore nipples or child care." (TV Guide Magazine)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Sean Hayes' Hazy Mills shingle has signed a two-year overall deal with NBC Universal, under which the company will develop projects for both broadcast and cable. "Hazy Mills already has a project in development at USA Network with writer Jeff Rake about a performer who enters into the world or organized crime," writes Andreeva. (Deadline)

Joe Earley has been promoted to President, Marketing & Communications for Fox Broadcasting Company, where he will continue to be oversee all FOX marketing functions, as well as entertainment publicity, corporate communications and talent relations, creative services, and internal corporate marketing, promotion and special projects. "Joe is the best marketing executive in the industry and richly deserves this promotion," said Peter Rice, Chairman of Entertainment for Fox Networks Group, in a statement. "His groundbreaking campaign for GLEE demonstrates Joe’s formidable combination of strategic, creative and leadership skills. We are all thrilled he will be here with us at FOX for many more years." [Editor: congratulations, Joe!] (via press release)

Elsewhere, CW publicity chief Paul McGuire has been named SVP of worldwide corporate communications at Warner Bros. Entertainment, where he will replace Scott Rowe (who himself is moving up to the top seat at the Warner Bros. Television Group). He'll report to Susan Fleishman and "will continue to serve as an adviser to the CW's communications team, working closely with his longtime lieutenants, such as Paul Hewitt and Pamela Morrison," according to Variety's Michael Schneider. (Variety)

The seventh season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef was 27 percent off from its 2009 season opener, luring 1.8 million viewers overall. [Editor: I would agree with The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd: the brand has definitely been diluted by the addition of spinoffs to the mix... and I don't think Bravo did the series any favors by rushing the flagship back on the air the week after Top Chef Masters wrapped.] (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Stay tuned.

Trailer Park: Showtime Releases Season Six Trailer for Weeds

The plot deepens.

Showtime has released a new trailer for Weeds, which returns in August with its sixth season.

Featuring the song "Terrible Things" by April Smith & The Great Picture Show, the promo shows Mary Louise Parker's Nancy Botwin digging a hole and throwing in a whole lot of items into a pit. Those items would include a passport, a pistol, a cell phone (which happens to ring and displays a call from Esteban), a croquet mallet (recalling how Shane bludgeoned Pilar to death with one at the end of last season), a Jesus bobblehead, and a gasoline container, each items that connect back to one of the previous seasons.

The trailer can be viewed in full below.



Season Six of Weeds is scheduled to premiere August 16th on Showtime.

Channel Surfing: FX Renews "Archer," Team Darlton on "Lost" Partnership, Hiroyuki Sanada Speaks, Jim Belushi Suits Up for "Defenders," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

"Danger zone!" FX has ordered a second season of its animated action-comedy Archer, from creators Adam Reed and Matthew Thompson. The cabler has commissioned 13 episodes for the series' second season, which is set to launch next year. The order is up from the seven installments that comprised Season One of Archer. [Editor: while Archer started off rocky and is somewhat hit-or-miss, I'm actually quite enjoying its off-kilter madcap action now that the season is set to wrap in a few weeks' time.] (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez talks to Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about their partnership on the show. And thanks to a video interview, you can get the words from Team Darlton themselves as they recount the events back in 2004 that lead to the duo forming one of Hollywood's strongest creative partnerships. (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

SPOILER! Meanwhile, TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an interview with Lost's Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays the mysterious temple master Dogen on the ABC drama series' final season. Look for the March 2nd episode to reveal more about Dogen's past. "I believe Dogen and Sayid will experience some kind of friendship in the end," Hiro told Keck. "Temples are built for peace and saving people." Hmmm... (TV Guide Magazine)

No, it's not a joke: former According to Jim star Jim Belushi has landed one of the lead roles in CBS legal drama pilot The Defenders, from writers/executive producers Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy and director David Guggenheim. Belushi will play Nick, described as "as Las Vegas attorney with marital and drinking issues." (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that the cast of FOX's Glee will perform at the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 5th, after being invited by First Lady Michelle Obama. "Rumor has it Mrs. O and her daughters are big fans of the show," writes Ausiello. "And since a White House gig is an offer that’s pretty darn hard to refuse, Glee’s producers did some lickety-split schedule rejiggering in order to honor the request." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

PBS' Masterpiece has signed a co-production deal with BBC Worldwide that will encompass several international co-productions, including a new production of period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' Sherlock--starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Graves--and three mysteries based on Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen novels starring Rufus Sewell. (Televisionary)

Pilot casting roundup: Jane Kaczmarek (Raising the Bar) and Adam Arkin (Life) have been cast in ABC comedy pilot Who Gets the Parents? (Also cast: Greek's Andrew West and Men in Trees' Derek Richardson); Leah Remini (The King of Queens) has landed a lead in ABC comedy pilot It Takes a Village; Zeljko Ivanek (Big Love) and Ian Anthony Dale (Taken) have joined the cast of NBC drama pilot The Event; Ben Koldyke (Big Love) has snagged the lead in NBC comedy pilot This Little Piggy; Romany Malco (Weeds) has been cast in ABC superhero drama pilot No Ordinary Family; Wayne Knight (Seinfeld) has been added to the cast of Ant Hines and Larry Charles' untitled CBS comedy pilot presentation; Olivia Munn (Attack of the Show) will star in NBC comedy pilot Perfect Couples; D.J. Cotrona (Dear John) has come aboard ABC cop drama pilot 187 Detroit; Julian Morris (24), Daniella Alonso (Friday Night Lights), and Kelli Garner (Lars and the Real Girl) have been joined the cast of Noah Hawley's ABC drama pilot Generation Y; Kaitlin Doubleday (Cavemen) will play one of the leads in FOX comedy pilot Most Likely to Succeed; Taran Killam (Scrubs) has joined the cast of ABC comedy pilot Freshmen; and Malcolm Goodwin (Leatherheads) has been cast in Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora's FOX drama pilot Breakout Kings. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lionsgate Television has signed a new two-year overall deal with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan that will keep her at the helm of Showtime's Weeds for a sixth season as well as develop other projects. First up is an untitled musical comedy for Showtime that Kohan is writing with Stephen Falk. "Having gotten to second base with Lionsgate in my former 'under the shirt but over the bra' deal," said Kohan, "it's a thrill to now be in bed with them and going all the way." (Kohan is also executive producing the studio's Epix drama pilot Tough Trade.) (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has a first look at Cynthia Watros' upcoming arc on FOX's House, where she will play the first ex-wife of Robert Sean Leonard's Wilson beginning April 19th. "There can be great comfort in the past," Leonard told Ausiello. "He wants his blankie. And there’s the extra benefit of familiarity and, in a way, a lack of drama." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedy Central has ordered six episodes of an untitled comedy showcase, from executive producers Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan, which will air this summer and will be hosted by Curb Your Enthusiasm's JB Smoove. (Variety)

Bristol Palin, eldest daughter of former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, is set to play herself on an upcoming episode of ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager that will air this summer. "Bristol Palin is the most famous teenage mother in America," said executive producer Brenda Hampton in a statement. "We're thrilled to have her join us, and I think she will bring additional attention to the issues facing teen parents that we've been exploring for a couple of seasons now." (via press release)

Cabler TLC has ordered a third season of docuseries The Little Couple, with 20 episodes set to launch in June. (via press release)

MTV has promoted Chris Linn to executive VP of MTV Production, where he will continue to oversee development and production of telepics as well as physical production and planning for pilots and series. Linn will be based in New York and will report to MTV programming chief Tony DiSanto. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Stay tuned.

The Daily Beast: "23 Shows That Changed Television"

Wondering why I didn't compile a best of the decade list on Televisionary? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can find my latest feature, "23 Shows That Changed Television," which looks at the cultural impact (both good and ill) of 23 series that launched this decade.

Those influential series include American Idol, Lost, Survivor, The Wire, Mad Men, Weeds, Big Love, Arrested Development, The Osbournes, True Blood, Laguna Beach, Family Guy and Battlestar Galactica.

And if you're wondering why some of your favorites got left off, it's because each of the series had to have premiered after January 1st, 2000 in order to be included in the list. Which negated the inclusion of such influential series from the late 1990s, such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The West Wing, and South Park, to name a few.

Head over to the comments section to share your thoughts on the list and your picks for the most influential series of the decade.

Sticky Wicket: Frenemies and Adversaries on the Season Finale of "Weeds"

What a weird, strange journey it's been this season on Weeds.

Between pregnancies, marriages, assassinations, overdoses, teenage STDs, and thievery, Season Five of Showtime's dark comedy Weeds has been a sometimes bizarre and uneven mix of shifting timeframes, over the top characters, and increasingly complicated inter-personal relationships. (Hell, you almost need a flowchart to keep track of the vagaries of the Nancy/Esteban/Andy/Audra storyline this season.)

Last night's season finale of Weeds ("All About My Mom"), written by series creator Jenji Kohan, looked not to shift the action elsewhere but to create a new status quo all the same that would switch up the characters, their motivations, and their state of mind.

And it did so with one hell of a croquet mallet swing.

Yes, I'm referring to that final scene in the season finale, a.k.a. the mallet swing heard round the world as the insidious Pilar (Kate del Castillo) threatened to have Nancy's "extraneous" sons Shane and Silas killed after she learned that Nancy had hired Guillermo to have her assassinated. (Note to Nancy: Pilar's probably right when she says that you shouldn't hire your enemies to kill your adversaries. It always leads to trouble.)

I half-wondered whether Nancy, in lioness-mode, would kill Pilar with her bare hands after hearing her callous threats against her beloved (if totally neglected) children but Nancy, it turns out, didn't have to do anything.

I think I actually gasped aloud when I saw that croquet mallet swing down onto Pilar's coiffured head and knock her into the pool... and then cheered when I saw that it was Shane holding the other end of the mallet. In a series overflowing with quirky characters and over the top situations, Shane has slowly become one character to root for, even as he dives into the deep end of crazy. (Holding a knife to the throat of that rich Mexican heroin fiend in last week's episode springs to mind.)

Is it strange that we can actively root for a teenage killer? You betcha but Shane also took a huge leap there not onto to the dark side but also from teenagedom to adulthood, becoming with one swing his mother's protector. Throughout the five seasons of Weeds so far, Shane has more or less been the quieter, weirder brother to Silas' more rebellious manchild. But with this action, he's developed into a compelling, complex, and dark character in his own right and I can't wait to see just where they take his character next season.

Just how will Shane react to the fact that he's seemingly killed Pilar? (After all, there was blood streaming from her head wound into the pool.) How will Esteban? Did Shane help matters for his family or make them far worse? And, most importantly, can they get away with murder?

While Shane seems hellbent on assuming a new role in the family, Celia is also looking to transform her own life... into Nancy's, that is, going so far as to assemble a team in order to form her own drug empire. While the revenge plot against Celia was fun (though it ended way too quickly thanks to Doug's big mouth), I am interested to see where this storyline goes and I like seeing these disparate characters finally united for a real purpose. Could Celia end up on top for a change? I doubt it but I think that her road to success (or failure) could be paved with comedy gold.

I'm thinking that Andy and Audra's engagement will be short-lived given the fact that Andy takes off without even thinking of his fiancee at the moment a crossbow appears. Something tells me that Audra won't take too kindly to being left on her own in an armed hostage situation.

Nancy, meanwhile, is realizing that her actions have major consequences. Esteban's anger at her using his deodorant was a nice and realistic way of showing the hold he has over her, even as she claims to love him. Nancy's learned the hard way that lovers are weak and fickle and that she can only depend on herself at the end of the day.

Let's just hope that she realizes that that there's one man in her life--Shane--who has proven he's not going anywhere and has the strength and courage to look after her.

Weeds will return next summer on Showtime.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Up in Smoke: An Advance Review of Season Five of Showtime's "Weeds"

Is it just me or has Nancy Botwin become really unlikable?

What always worked for me on Showtime's dark comedy series Weeds was the fact that while Nancy seemed to be floundering morally, she was always attempting to keep her family together in the face of increasing adversity, trying to hold on to the American dream of a house in the suburbs with a pool and an endless supply of caffeinated beverages.

So what quite went wrong? Season Four of Weeds found Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) becoming increasingly shrill and unsympathetic and taking bigger and bigger risks, even after leaving Agrestic following her decision to burn down her house and jumping into bed with a Mexican drug lord (Demian Bichir). When we last saw Nancy, she was about to be killed by Esteban for ratting him out to the federali and she pulled out her ace in the hole: a sonogram depicting her unborn child, the result of her union with Esteban.

Does the last-ditch ploy work and is Nancy able to save her own life? (Well, it sort of has to work as, without Nancy Botwin, there really wouldn't be a series.) I had the chance to see the first three episodes of Season Five of Weeds, which kicks off on Monday evening, and I have to say that I'm curious just where the assorted kooky plots are heading, even as I'm still scratching my head about how showrunner Jeni Kohan will manage to make me care about Nancy again. (Beware: SPOILERS AHEAD!)

After last season's game-changing set-up that moved the Botwins to Ren-Mar, Season Five finds Nancy and her makeshift family reeling from the events of the last few months. Nancy herself is on a knife's edge with her kingpin boyfriend Esteban, who not only has political aspirations but also wants proof that Nancy is in fact carrying his child... and that it's a boy. It soon becomes clear that Nancy's greatest asset at the moment is not only keeping her safe from murder at Esteban's hands but it's also placing her and her family in even greater jeopardy as an imprisoned Guillermo (Guillermo Diaz) seeks to have his revenge against the woman he calls Blanca.

Even as a suddenly much-older Shane (Alexander Gould) moves into the family business, Nancy tasks Andy (Justin Kirk) with shipping Shane off to her estranged yuppie sister Jill (Jennifer Jason Leigh) for his own protection. Not that Andy's very pleased with Nancy after she comes clean about being pregnant as he's only now finally come to terms with his own feelings for his sister-in-law.

Jennifer Jason-Leigh is a hoot as Nancy's polar opposite Jill. While Nancy has survived all these years in spite of the abject chaos around her, Jill's whole existence is about precise order and rigid routine. (Just look at the scene where she serves her adorable blond moppet twin daughters breakfast to see what I mean.) Yet, Nancy's returned presence in her life (even from far) throws off this delicate balancing act and pushes Jill into taking a risk for the first time in her entire life. Look for some major sparks between her and Andy as they bond over their mutual love/hate for Nancy, whom they blame for all the wrongs in their life.

I'm much less thrilled, however, about the return of Hayley Hudson's long-lost Quinn to the series in an extremely cartoonish twist that sees Quinn and her Mexican rebel boyfriend kidnap Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) and hold her hostage... only to discover that Celia is so universally loathed that no one will pay the ransom, much less even speak to her kidnappers.

I didn't really feel that Celia's storyline last season meshed very well with that of Nancy and the Botwins (not to mention Doug, Dean, and Isabelly) and I'm not really sure what her reunion with Quinn (look for the latter to consider chopping up her mother and selling her organs) will portend for her participation this season. Dean (Andy Milder) and Isabelle (Allie Grant) still seem somewhat tangential to the plot and I'm not sure it really makes sense for them to even be in Ren-Mar much less moving in the same circles as Nancy Botwin. Doug (Kevin Nealon) at least seems somewhat more back on his game than last season and is pushing Silas (Hunter Parrish) to include him in his latest business venture: a secret pot farm in a national park... which then transforms into a medical marijuana dispensary after a run-in with some well-armed thugs.

I think Weeds works best when it reins in a little of its out-there OTT energy and grounds the series a bit more. It's become somewhat manic in recent seasons and it's harder and harder to find characters to root for amid the madness and chicanery. As noted before, Nancy has become even more tough to like and these opening episodes do little to make me root for her, especially as she crosses some lines that should not be crossed, endangering herself, her unborn child, and her family.

All in all, the first three episodes of Season Five of Weeds demonstrate a marked increase in tension and danger as Nancy attempts to keep spinning a growing number of plates even as her original impetus--keep her family together--seems threatened by her own actions. Will this season miraculously make us fall in love with Nancy again? I'm not sure but I do hope that Kohan and Co. at least find a way to make Nancy sympathetic again.



Season Five of Weeds launches Monday night at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

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

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: 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.