Channel Surfing: ABC Family Fires "Middleman," Jenna Elfman and Amy Smart Land Pilots, Sean Gets a Brother on "Nip/Tuck," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

ABC Family has canceled quirky dramedy The Middleman, with the cabler confirming that it has "decided not to renew the series for a second season." Fans looking for closure can keep their eyes open for a Season One DVD, slated to be released this summer, and a comic book written by creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach that will tell the story of the original season finale, which was scrapped for budgetary reasons. (New York Post)

Jason Clarke (Brotherhood) has been cast as the lead in CBS' untitled US attorney drama pilot from writer/executive producer Frank Military. Clarke will play "the powerful, charismatic section chief who oversees four lawyers and a handful of paralegals in their overlapping cases." Elsewhere, Jonathan Sadowski, Kevin Simpson, Noureen Dewulf, and Ricky Mabe been cast in FOX comedy pilot Two Dollar Beer and Nick Bishop, Kelli Giddish and Ravi Patel have all been cast in FOX's untitled reincarnation drama from writer/executive producer David Hudgins and Warner Bros Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jenna Elfman (Brothers & Sisters) will star in CBS comedy pilot Accidentally on Purpose, from CBS Paramount Network Television, BermanBraun, and writer Claudia Lonow. Elfman will play a movie critic who finds herself pregnant after a one-night-stand with a younger man and decides to raise the baby. (Variety)

Amy Smart (Smith) has been cast as the lead of ABC drama pilot See Cate Run (formerly known as I, Claudia), in which she'll play a prosecuting attorney who will one day be a serious contender for the US presidency. (Hollywood Reporter)

Following the success of Flashpoint, CBS has given a 13-episode order to Canadian drama The Bridge, which it will co-produce with CTV. Series, which stars Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Paul Popowich, Inga Cadranel, Frank Cassini, Theresa Joy, Ona Grauer, Michael Murphy, and Stuart Margolin, is based on the life of a former Toronto police union head who must "battle criminals and fight his own bosses in order to protect other officers." The Bridge will air next season on CBS and CTV. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch offers up five reasons why the CW should renew Privileged and keep on the schedule next season as the series is set to air its season finale on February 24th. Among the reasons: Joanna Garcia, The Gilmore Vibe, The Twins, Its Dark Side, and Underrated Actors. (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Bravo has announced the hosts and judges for its new sartorial competition series The Fashion Show, set to launch later this year. Isaac Mizrahi will host the series alongside Kelly Rowland and joining Mizrahi and Rowland as judges is frequent Project Runway guest judge Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week. The Fashion Show follows professional designers as they compete for an opportunity to have their designs sold for the mass market. (via press release)

Neil Hopkins (Lost) has been cast in FX drama series Nip/Tuck where he will play Sean's long-lost brother Brendan, a recovering meth addict who has been living on a nature preserve. "Sean thought his brother had died," a source told Michael Ausiello. "So he's definitely surprised to see him." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Robert De Niro and Van Morrison will be among the first guests for Jimmy Fallon's debut as the host of Late Night, beginning March 2nd. Also slated to appear in the first week of Fallon's run: Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Donald Trump, and Serena Williams. (Variety)

Fremantle has acquired a 75 percent stake in Thom Beers' Original Prods., which produces such reality hits as Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, among others. Beers will stay on as CEO and Philip Segal will remain president under the terms of the deal. (Hollywood Reporter)

AMPTP has offers a "last, best and final offer" to SAG that is said to contain a $250 million improvement over SAG's now-expired contract. SAG has 60 days to decide whether or not to accept the producers' offer, after which time AMPTP reserves the right to withdraw those terms. "The AMPTP made these enhancements in an effort to conclude the AMPTP's sixth major labor agreement in the past year," said the producers in a statement. "The terms in the offer are the best we can or will offer in light of the five other major industry labor deals negotiated over the past year and the extraordinary economic crisis gripping the world economy." (TV Week)

With the future of an AMPTP-SAG contract still up in the air, it's become clear that at least 50 of the planned 70+ pilots being produced this development season will be shot under AFTRA digital guidelines rather than SAG jurisdiction, a significant increase from the typically small number of pilots usually shot under the SAG rival. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stuart Murphy has been hired by British Sky Broadcasting as director of programs for Sky1. Most recently creative director at TwoFour, Murphy was previously a controller at BBC3, where he commissioned such hit comedies as Gavin & Stacey and Little Britain. He will replace outbound director of programs Richard Woolfe, who will be leaving Sky1 next month to oversee Five's programming. Murphy, who will oversee all three of Sky's general entertainment channels, is expected to begin his new post in May. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Edie Britt to Leave Wisteria Lane, Getty Not Gone for Good on "Brothers & Sisters," Glau Discovers "Big Bang Theory," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Edie Britt will leave Wisteria Lane at the end of the season. Nichollette Sheridan's rep confirmed to Extra that the actress will depart ABC's Desperate Housewives after the current season. "Yes, [it's] confirmed," said Sheridan's rep. "Nicollette had a great time on the show and is looking forward to her next project." (Extra)

Balthazar Getty is not leaving ABC's Brothers & Sisters for good, according to co-showrunner Alison Schapker, who says that the actor will leave Los Angeles in the nineteenth episode but return before the season finale. "Balthazar is taking time off from the show right now because we felt that character was really on a downward spiral and you see him really go on it," said Schapker. "In almost trying to be his dad, he's destroyed by it, and he has lost everything by the end of the year. Tommy is in no way permanently gone. This is just the logical end to this year's story. What we'd like to do is bring him back next year in a different way." (Los Angeles Times)

ABC handed out greenlights to six comedy pilots, including Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) and Courteney Cox's Cougar Town, about a 40-something mom with a 17-year-old son; an untitled Kelsey Grammer comedy from Warner Bros. written by Tucker Cawley (Everybody Loves Raymond) about a former Wall Street hotshot who loses his job and returns to his hometown; Dreamworks and ABC Studios' The Law, starring Cedric the Entertainer, about LAPD reserve police officers; multi-camera ensemble comedy Canned, from writer/executive producer Kevin Etten and ABC Studios, about a group of friends who all lose their jobs on the same day received a showrunner-contingent order; Planet Lucy, based on the Fiona Neill novel "Slummy Mummy," about an accident-prone woman who tries to raise three kids while attempting to reclaim who she was before motherhood from writer Gaby Allen and executive producer Jamie Tarses, received a cast-contingent pilot presentation order; and an untitled comedy strring Christian comedian Anita Renfro, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount and writer/executive producers Rob Hanning and Amy Welsh, which received a pilot presentation order. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

CBS ordered a pilot for crime procedural I Witness, from writer/executive producers Pam Veasey and Trey Callaway (CSI: NY) and CBS Paramount Network Television, about a former professor-turned-detective who uses her "psycho-physiological skills" to solve crimes. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere at the Eye, pilot orders went out to medical drama The Eastmans, from writer/executive producer Margaret Nagle (Side Order of Life) and Warner Bros. TV, about a family of doctors, and romantic drama Confessions of a Contractor, from writer/executive producer Richard Murphy, EXPs Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Jeff Okin, and Paul Green, and 20th Century Fox Television, about a successful contractor. (Hollywood Reporter)

USA has canceled romantic dramedy The Starter Wife and said in a statement that the series' December 12th season finale would serve as a "satisfying conclusion" to the series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Pilot helmer alert: Alex Graves (Fringe) will direct NBC's sci fi drama pilot Day One; Gary Fleder (October Road) will direct ABC's two-hour supernatural mystery pilot Happy Town; Mark Tinker (Private Practice) will direct Shonda Rhimes' ABC pilot Inside the Box; and Marc Buckland (My Name is Earl) will direct ABC's untitled Tad Quill comedy pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Alex O'Loughlin (Moonlight) will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS' Criminal Minds, in which he'll play a serial killer. O'Loughlin's episode is slated to air in April. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC One has commissioned a sixth season of drama Hustle and expects to return the series to the air in 2010. Hustle's current season, which featured Adrian Lester, Robert Vaughn, Robert Glenister, Kelly Adams, and Matt Di Angelo, wraps today in the UK. "We are really pleased with the way that series five has been received, it's always difficult to maintain a drama's following when you've been off air for a period of time," said Hustle creator Tony Jordan. "Having a fabulous actor like Adrian Lester back in the fold has really helped. I've already got some great ideas for series six, so I can't wait to get cracking on the scripts." (BBC)

Elsewhere at the Beeb, Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Brian Cox, Eddie Izzard, Jason Priestley, and Vanessa Redgrave have been cast in mini-series The Day of the Triffids, based on John Wyndham's 1951 novel, which was previous adapted for television in 1981. Mini, from Power, will air later this year on BBC. (Variety)

ABC has quietly renewed reality dating franchise The Bachelor for another season, the franchise's fourteenth, and has begun casting on the next installment. (TV Week)

The Bachelor will also get an extra hour this season as ABC has announced that it has ordered a one-hour special, which will air the night after the season finale. It's going to be shocking," said creator Mike Fleiss. "The end of this series is the best we've every had." (Hollywood Reporter)

Comic legend Carol Burnett will guest star on an episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where she will play a former prima ballerina who becomes enmeshed in the murder of a young couple. Burnett's episode is slated to air March 17th. (via press release)

You can't fight synergy: Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) will guest star as herself in an upcoming episode of CBS' The Big Bang Theory, set to air March 9th, in which Leonard, Sheldon, Wolowitz, and Raj discover Glau is traveling aboard their train to San Francisco. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Family Cancels "Kyle XY," At Odds with Parents Television Council, Adam Baldwin, ABC Pilot News Bonanza, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I hope everyone's now well rested from Super Bowl weekend and a slew of first-run series programming. Let's dive into the headlines.

Bad news for the belly button-less: ABC Family has canceled teen sci-fi drama Kyle XY. The cabler did however renew Greek, Lincoln Heights, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager for additional seasons and handed out ten episode orders for new series Ruby and the Rockits, Perfect 10, and 10 Things I Hate About You. (Variety)

NBC announced that it will stream both the 3D and 3D versions of tonight's episode of Chuck live at NBC.com starting at 5 am PT tomorrow. Viewers will also be able to choose between watching the 3D installment in either HD or standard definition, with or without closed caption subtitles, and stream while chatting using NBC.com's Viewing Party function. (via press release)

The New York Times profiles Chuck's Adam Baldwin, who returns to the airwaves tonight with the NBC series. “The guy does more with a grunt than most actors could do with a monologue,” said Chuck executive producer Josh Schwartz. “You totally believe him as this N.S.A. agent who’s happy to torture and kill people, but he’s also really, really funny. He gets the comedy without ever breaking character. And his preparation is astounding. Adam really relishes all these details: How does Casey sharpen his knife and fork before he eats? He’s worked all that stuff out.” (New York Times)

ABC ordered an untitled pilot from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Mark Friedman that will be directed by Danny Cannon (CSI). Project, from Warner Bros. TV and Bruckheimer TV, will follow a team of amateur crimefighters who solve crimes against unidentified victims. (It's known informally around town as The Unknown.) Also getting pilot orders late Friday: high school musical drama Limelight, from writer K.J. Steinberg (Gossip Girl), executive producer McG, director/EXP David Semel, and Warner Bros Television and Wonderland TV, about the teachers and students of an NYC performing arts college and is loosely based on the life of the Neptunes' Pharrel Williams; and Empire State, a modern day Romeo and Juliet story from executive producers Mark Gordon and Deb Spera, writer Michael Seitzman and ABC Studios, about two families--one blue-collar and the other wealthy real estate moguls--who crash into one another in a star-struck romance. (Variety)

Twilight's Jackson Rathbone has been cast in an upcoming episode of CBS' Criminal Minds, where he will play a college student on spring break who could be the target of a serial killer. Episode, to be directed by Jason Alexander, is scheduled to air in April. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has once again changed the title of Amy Poehler's new comedy, launching in April. Previously known as Public Service, the comedy--which stars Poehler, Rashida Jones, and Aziz Ansari--has undergone another name change and will now be known as Parks and Recreation.

NBC medical drama pilot Trauma will be directed by Jeff Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Caprica), in a move that removes the contingency to be lifted from the project. Also signing on to helm pilots: Simon West (Revolution) will direct FOX drama pilot Human Target; Deran Sarafian (K-Ville) will direct FOX's untitled reincarnation project (informally referred to as The Reincarnationist around town). (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times discusses the monstrously large set of FOX's Dollhouse, a "5,000-square-foot, two-story structure, unusually elaborate for a TV production, sits 10 stories below a Los Angeles high-rise," desgined by Stuart Blatt. (Los Angeles Times)

CBS given a series order to unscripted docusoap Arranged Marriage, from Magical Elves' Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth, the executive producers of Bravo's Top Chef. Series will follow four adults who are married off by their friends and family to a stranger and then, after they exchange vows, follow the newlyweds as they begin married life together. (Hollywood Reporter)

Parents Television Council's latest target? ABC Family's name, which the organization feels is misrepresentative of the material it airs given the word "family" in the network's name. "It's kind of a misnomer to call ABC Family a family channel," said Michelle MacNeal, the head of a local branch of PTC. "When you call something 'family,' it gives the impression that it's safe for all members of the family, even young children." (Los Angeles Times)

Nikki Finke is reporting that George Lopez may land a latenight talkshow at cabler TBS to air at either 11 or 11:30 pm. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Universal Cable Prods. has signed a two-year overall deal with writer/executive producer Steve Franks (Psych) that will keep him on as showrunner on Psych for Seasons Four and Five and a one-year first-look deal with director Jace Alexander (Burn Notice), under which Alexander will develop projects for the cable group. (Hollywood Reporter)

BET has acquired off-net rerun rights to CW's comedy The Game and will beginning airing episodes from the series' first two seasons in February. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Gossip Girl" Spinoff Back to the 1980s, Chevy Chase to Torment "Chuck," Idris Elba Heads to "The Office," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Looks like Ashes to Ashes isn't the only series heading back to the 1980s (well, except for Mitch Hurwitz's Lost in the '80s, that is): Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage have announced that the untitled spinoff of CW's Gossip Girl will focus on a teenage Lily Rhodes van der Woodsen Bass (played in the original by Kelly Rutherford) as a wild child in 1980s Los Angeles who moves in with her sister in San Fernando Valley after a falling out with her parents and must adjust to life at a Valley public school and a nightlife on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Spinoff will be produced as a backdoor pilot that will air May 11th as part of Gossip Girl's current season. (Variety)

Chevy Chase has been cast in a three-episode story arc on NBC's Chuck, where he will play Ted Roark, the billionaire technology mogul and owner of Roark Instruments, a company that Chuck Bartowski has always dreamed of working for. But Roark is accused of stealing Chuck's father's ideas and the company may not be as squeaky clean as it originally seems. (press release, Hollywood Reporter)

Holy Stringer Bell! British actor Idris Elba (The Wire) has been cast in six episodes of NBC's The Office, where he will play an uptight executive at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office who creates, shall we say, some major problems for Michael Scott. (press release, Variety)

Aubrey Plaza of the Upright Citizens Brigade has joined the cast of the untitled Amy Poehler/Greg Daniels/Mike Schur comedy pilot, which is to be set in the office of Amy (Poehler,) the deputy chairman of the parks and recreations department in Pawnee, Indiana. Plaza will co-star as April, an intern who shadows Amy. (Hollywood Reporter)

Kings is moving to Sundays at 8 pm, as a lead-in to Celebrity Apprentice. Could it be that NBC machinery didn't think the allegorical series had enough staying power to warrant a 10 pm weeknight time slot? Meanwhile, look for John Wells' new cop drama Southland (formerly known as Police and even more formerly known as LAPD) to take over the Thursdays at 10 pm timeslot once ER wraps up its run. (The Peacock recently ordered three additional episodes of ER.) (Hollywood Reporter)

Mark Cherry and the cast discuss the 100th episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives, slated to air on Sunday, which will feature flashbacks--revealing just why each woman turned out the the way they did--that are linked by appearances by handyman Eli Scruggs (Beau Bridges). (USA Today)

CBS has officially swung the axe: Swingtown is no more. CBS president Nina Tassler confirmed the cancellation speaking at yesterday's CBS panel at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. "We're not going back to Swingtown," said Tassler. "At the end of the day the show was well executed, it was well received, the performances were great, the writing was great. It was a risk, we took it, and we're proud of it." Meanwhile, look for CBS to order an additional episode of The Mentalist and for the untitled NCIS spin-off cast to appear in an upcoming episode of NCIS. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Diablo Cody will play herself in an upcoming episode of the CW's 90210, the series' nineteenth episode, which will also feature the first appearance of Tori Spelling's Donna Martin. "Donna Martin is still in the fashion business, and it may be that she may be called upon by Diablo Cody to create something for some event," said executive producer Rebecca Rand Kirschner. "That may be the beginning of their friendship.” (iF Magazine)

CBS is developing an untitled variety/sketch comedy pilot with musician John Mayer, which it plans to air later this year. If successfully, the pilot could spawn a series of specials. (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Universal Media Studios has signed a two-year, first-look deal with Don Cheadle's Crescendo Prods., under which Crescendo will develop series projects for the studio. Company is run by Cheadle along with producing partners Kay Liberman and Lenore Zerman. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

"Prison Break" to End and Other News from FOX's TCA Panel

Yesterday's FOX panel at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour wasn't filled with too many surprises (did we really need to find out what Kiefer Sutherland's exercise regimen entails?) but there were a few revelations in store for attendees, most of which came from FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly.

(Those of you who were following my Twitter feed during the panel can attest to some shocking/funny/bizarre moments throughout the day, including when Reilly described NBC as "the crazy ex-wife that I can't get away from." Those of you who weren't following the feed: shame on you!)

Chief among the revelations: Reilly claiming that the network would "let [Dollhouse] play out for 13 episodes" and that FOX would end Prison Break at the end of this season.

"Creatively, the show is just played out," said Reilly. "Creatively, everybody feels enough stories were told. We want it to finish strong and not just gimp out next season."

Currently, Prison Break has four additional episodes yet to air and these new installments are slated to return on April 17th. However, an undisclosed number of additional episodes are currently under discussion which could neatly tie up some dangling storylines and act as a series ender.

"We've got our remaining batch of four episodes," said Reilly, "and then there are a couple more we're contemplating."

Reilly discussed FOX's decision to slot Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on Friday nights "Joss Whedon does a certain kind of show," said Reilly. "He’s right in the zone again on that. It's the kind of show that we know has a core passionate audience. In some other scheduling scenarios, there could be enormous pressure on it but there could be an upside. We have a very compatible lead in with Sarah Connor."

Still, slotting the series elsewhere on the schedule would have put a lot of pressure on Whedon to perform at higher expectations which could have led FOX to "yank it from the schedule."

"We’re going to let the show play out for 13 episodes and hopefully it will catch on," continued Reilly. "If we can do some business there, that would be a great thing for the future."

Meanwhile, don't look for Fringe to fade off of the schedule. "I already know Fringe is a keeper," said Reilly. "The show's been a bear creatively because it's been very ambitious. They've really found the storytelling model now. What you're going to see in the second half in the year, if you follow the serialized story you will not be disappointed, yet the stories really do reset themselves each week. I would not expect it to take off after Idol, but I do think it will tick up another level," he says.

(We picked up review copies of next week's episode of Fringe, the first of 2009, so look for a review next week.)

Reilly hopes to keep Bones--which has moved around the schedule more than any other FOX series, I believe--sitting tight in the future. "I'd like to stop moving it around," said Reilly. "If it does what we think it's going to do on Thursdays, we will glue it there."

Elsewhere, FOX will launch animated comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up--starring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Cheri Oteri, Nick Kroll, Kristin Chenoweth, and others--on April 19th, where it will take over the 8:30 pm timelsot on Sundays, following The Simpsons.

And FOX is committing itself to comedy development, despite the network's current "low pulse on live-action" comedy, although Reilly admitted that it's possible no new live-action comedies may appear on the schedule this fall. He said that the network doesn't want to just launch something blindly (as, perhaps it did with last fall's Do Not Disturb?)

Despite plans to pick up five drama pilots and five comedy pilots in the next few weeks, Reilly indicated that they may not launch another live-action comedy until they have a series "that can fire up time period" or they find a series that "can be compatible behind Idol" or can be launched in their Sunday night animated block and moved elsewhere.

Ultimately they want comedy series that are "bold and have a view."

Regarding FOX's surprising recent decision to renew lackluster comedy 'Til Death for another season, Reilly said simply: "We want to keep original programming on the air."

More Secret Millionaire could be on tap.

Scarily, FOX has an entirely unseen season of 22 episodes of reality series Moment of Truth on the shelf and could roll it out later this year. "Fortunately, we have other options," said Reilly. "And I don't mean that pejoratively to that show. We have it as a tool when we need it over the summer or to fill a time period. We have a season of them on the shelf... I think it will come back on the air at some point."

And then there was that winning bit about NBC, Reilly's former home, which he described as "the crazy ex-wife that I can't get away from." (FYI, the crowd erupted into laughter with that one.)

Of the Peacock's decision to fill its 10 pm hour with a Jay Leno talk show, Reilly said: "I was surprised to see that. I think it's the a smart strategic move in a very, very troubled place. Just looking at the facts, the network historically has struggled to establish scripted shows at 8 pm. You have to go back to Fresh Prince to find a self-starting scripted hit. It's been historically a challenge for NBC even at their height. So if 8 pm is a place they're going to struggle with scripted shows, if they don't program Friday, Saturday or Sunday for half the year with scripted show, on a historic level you look and say for the network that was the premiere brand for scripted television, 'that's a sad statement.' Whether they make it go at a business level, we'll see."

Stay tuned.

Wilted Daisies: ABC Opts Not to Renew "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money," and "Eli Stone"

The axe has fallen at ABC.

It's time for the terrible, terrible news that we've all been dreading for weeks now: ABC has decided not to renew Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Eli Stone past their initial 13-episode orders for this season.

While the word cancellation hasn't been officially given, it's basically equal to just that. None of the three series will continue past their initial second season orders. Many of us have been on death watch for Pushing Daisies for some time now and it absolutely breaks my heart to think that Chuck and Ned's days are now numbered.

ABC has yet to release an official statement about the, er, non-cancellation cancellations, but word started to reach me mid-day that the network would not be ordering any additional episodes of the troika.

UPDATE: James Hibberd at The Live Feed has gotten a statement from Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, who was playing phone tag with ABC's president, about the decision:

"I assumed that's what [the call] was about," said Fuller. "I can't help but feel immense pride when it comes to Pushing Daisies. I'm grateful TO everyone and FOR everyone who brought the show to life and for the very loyal audience that embraced us. If we are indeed dead on ABC, we now have to convince DC Comics to let us tell the rest of the season's story lines out in comic book form and convince Warner Bros. features to let Pushing Daisies live again as a movie."

While we've heard other creators speaking of continuing their canceled series' storylines in comic form (I'm still waiting for that Carnivale comic, Knauf!), I really do hope that Fuller has the opportunity to wrap up some of Daisies' storylines, especially as the thirteenth episode is said to end on a cliffhanger for Chuck.

UPDATE #2: Kristin Dos Santos at E! Online has another statement from Fuller. "Steve McPherson called me, and said 'We gave it the best shot we could,'" said Fuller. "It's very likely that Pushing Daisies will end after episode 13, which as you know, is a cliffhanger. But we are talking to DC Comics about doing comic books that will wrap up our storylines, and I already have a pitch for a movie ready to go. To be honest, I'm really not feeling very boo-hoo about it. I am so proud of the show. We put together 22 really good episodes, and there is a lot to be proud of. I'm sure I'll be working with a lot of these people again, and I would love to do so."

Sigh.

Meanwhile, I can't help but think back to a certain dinner I had with Bryan Fuller back in May 2007 when he told me the very final scene he envisioned for Pushing Daisies, should the series make it that far. (If Bryan is okay with me revealing the details, I'm happy to share.) But until then, I can't help but imagine just what other delicious treats Fuller would have been able to cook up in that brilliant imagination of his.

Pushing Daisies, I'll miss you terribly, not only for bringing some lightness (and darkness) into the television landscape with your zany plots, candy-colored sets, and heartbreaking (and mirth-making) stories but for the deft dialogue, the witty characterizations, and above all your innate beauty and originality. You'll be missed.

Channel Surfing: Rashida Jones Joins Untitled Greg Daniels Comedy, Heaton Heads to "The Middle," No Brain Tumor for Izzie, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I'm still a little tired after staying up to watch Fringe last night after attending the Los Angeles premiere of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. (Verdict? A good film but not a great one.)

NBC has confirmed a long-standing rumor and announced that Rashida Jones (The Office) has been cast in the untitled Amy Poehler workplace comedy project from Greg Daniels and Michael Schur that isn't a spin-off to The Office. Jones will play Ann Logan, a nurse whose boyfriend has suffered a strange injury that leads her to the characters played by Poehler and Aziz Ansari. Do they work in a specialized medical clinic? A psychiatrist's office? Witch doctor's emporium? That remains to be seen but I am happy that Jones and Poehler will appear together in this project. I've missed Jones, especially since her last Office visit. The series is expected to be ready by late spring but may not launch until next fall. (Variety)

Izzie will NOT have a brain tumor on Grey's Anatomy. So says series creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes. "I think the love triangle with Denny, Izzie, and Alex is among the most interesting we've ever done," said Rhimes. "Watching the chemistry between Jeffrey and Katherine again has been really touching. I can't wait for our viewers to see where we're taking it. But what it won't involve is Izzie having a brain tumor." So then what the hell is going on between Izzie and the dead Denny then? Hmmm. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has given out a pilot order for family comedy The Middle, to star Patricia Heaton (Back to You). Project, to be directed by Julie Anne Robinson (Weeds) and written by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler, was previously produced as a pilot in 2006-07 with Ricki Lake in Heaton's role and was resurrected by ABC and Warner Bros. TV when they received a pilot order contingent on Heaton's attachment. Personally, I quite liked the script (about a mother dealing with her unruly flock in Middle America) back in 2006 and am interested to see what they do with it this time around. (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV is in talks to resurrect reality franchise Beauty and the Geek for a new six-episode season that is being called Beauty and the Geek: Celebrity, in which the titular geeks would be paired with celebrity hotties. Under the potential deal, MTV would also retain the option for additional cycles of the series. (TV Week)

Want more scoop on what's coming up next on Pushing Daisies, including that aforementioned crossover with Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls? Head over to Sci Fi Wire, which has details about the "Comfort Food" episode which will feature guest star Beth Grant's May Ann Marie Beetle character from Wonderfalls, as well as several other upcoming episodes. (Sci Fi Wire)

Brooke Shields is attempting to save Lipstick Jungle from cancellation following an onslaught of lipstick delivery by fans to the network. "NBC is now flooded with lipstick,” said Shields. “Women are in uproar over this… they’ve tried to kill us before and we have refused to die. If we were meant to be off the air, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we have. Everything that could possibly go wrong with a show has happened with us.” (The Daily Beast)

FX is developing drama AR2, from Prison Break creator/executive producer Paul Scheuring, executive producer Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing), and fox21 that is described by Scheuring as "Les Miserables in modern America." Plot follows a group of Michigan college students who set off a second American Revolution (hence the title) and how the military and police deal with their revolt. "It looks into what happens on both sides of the conflict and how that affects the personal lives of all involved," said Scheuring. (Hollywood Reporter)

Laura Linney will take over as host of PBS' Masterpiece Classic, succeeding Gillian Anderson. Linney's first on-screen appearance is set for January 4th when Masterpiece Classic will kick off a new season that includes Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Wuthering Heights, and The Incomplete Charles Dickens. (Variety)

The New York Times has an update on the increasingly complex legal situation surrounding the next season of Project Runway, which will likely not air until late spring. (New York Times)

Sean Combs will guest star in a two-episode arc of CBS' CSI: Miami, where he will play a prosecutor who bristles against David Caruso's Horatio Crane. His episodes are slated to air sometime this winter. (Associated Press)

Ed Begley Jr., Tyne Daly, Linda Emond, and Henry Simmons will star opposite Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in Lifetime biopic Georgia O'Keeffe, from Sony Pictures TV and director Bob Balaban. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere in TV Movie Land, Hallmark Channel has filled out the casts for two its upcoming telepics. Peter Strauss, Jonathan Silverman, DeDee Pfeiffer, Linsey Godfrey, and Nolan Gerard Funk will star in The Wilderness Family, about a family that inherits a cabin in the woods and faces some distinct challenges. Angie Dickinson and Laura Leighton will star in The View From Here, about a journalist who returns to her hometown to visit her ill mother and uncovers a plot against the town's inhabitants. Both are expected to air in late 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing; NBC Cans "My Own Worst Enemy," "Lipstick Jungle," Sci Fi Asks for More "Sanctuary," Novak to Leave "The Office," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I hope everyone watched the season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef, which nearly made up for yet another week without a new Pushing Daisies... though from what I gather, there's going to be quite a lot of those come soon. Sigh.

NBC has canceled freshman drama My Own Worst Enemy, which starred Christian Slater in the dual role of Edward/Henry. Series will wrap production after shooting its current episode, the ninth of the initial 13-episode order. No word yet on what NBC will substitute in the Monday 10 pm timeslot. (Variety)

As for the fate of sophomore drama Lipstick Jungle, NBC has also given the drama the sack as well. Ouch. (Hollywood Reporter)

Should Pushing Daisies be canceled tomorrow, creator Bryan Fuller says that the series' storylines will be wrapped up in comic book form. "The idea would be to finish out the season's story arcs in comic books," said Fuller, "to satisfy the fans and ourselves, to finish up the stories we'd love to tell." Sigh. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that ABC comes to their senses but it's not looking good, people. (TV Week's Blink)

Sci Fi has renewed drama Sanctuary for a second season, ordering thirteen episodes to launch sometime in 2009. Production on Season Two is expected to begin early next year in Vancouver. (TV Guide)

In other renewal news, the CW has ordered five additional episodes of freshman dramedy Privileged, bringing its season total to 18 episodes. While slightly short of a full 22-episode order for the series, it does show a vote of confidence on the part of the netlet, which has now given its sole new drama series full season orders. In order to promote sampling of Privileged, the CW will air two new episodes on December 1st and Devember 8th behind new episodes of lead-in Gossip Girl. (One Tree Hill, which was scheduled to air repeats, will be pre-empted those weeks.) Those episodes will be repeated in the series' regular timeslot on Tuesday evenings. (Variety)

20th Century Fox Television has informed the cast of FOX's Prison Break that they may extend the current filming schedule to include two additional episodes. While Prison Break's writers have yet to pitch their take on these episodes, speculation is that they may function as a series finale or as a "special" two-hour feature next season a la 24: Redemption. FOX, meanwhile, has not yet committed to airing these extra two episodes though the network is currently engaged in talks with the studio on this matter. (Hollywood Reporter)

B.J. Novak will take a leave of absence from NBC's The Office, where he serves as writer/producer and a performer in order to film a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming feature Inglorious Bastards. Conflicting reports either have Novak disappearing from Dunder-Mifflin for "several episodes" or permanently. Given that Novak's Ryan is currently filling in for receptionist Pam, who WILL return to Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch eventually, it seems as though the writers have already engineered an easy exit for Ryan. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has canceled latenight sketch comedy series MADtv after fourteen seasons; the series will end its run at the end of the current 2008-09 season. Producers say that they are weighing their options and that the series could turn up at another network. (Variety)

FX has announced return dates for Damages and Nip/Tuck. (Televisionary)

Matthew Lillard will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS' Gary Unmarried, where he will play Gary's irritating ex-brother-in-law Taylor "who has a knack for rubbing his well-to-do status in people's faces." (TV Guide)

Sasha Alexander (NCIS) has been cast in CBS' multi-camera comedy pilot The Karenskys, where she will play Emily, a woman who returns to her hometown when her husband is forced to relocate due to his job and reconnects with her eccentric family while her husband is uncomfortable with their quirks. Also cast: Tinsley Grimes (That '80s Show). Project comes from writer/executive producer Linwood Boomer (Malcolm in the Middle), BermanBraun, and Universal Media Studios. (Hollywood Reporter)

Showtime is developing an untitled drama project based on Perry Moore's novel "Hero," that will follow the life of a gay superhero. Project comes from writer Moore and executive producer Stan Lee, the co-creator of such Marvel properties as X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Avengers, and Gill Champion. (Variety)

Also at Showtime, the pay cabler is developing half-hour comedy Kevin and the Chart of Destiny, about a "a brilliant but lonely market researcher who designs an elaborate 'dating system'--as laid out in a complex wall chart--in order to achieve his goal of finding a wife within one year." Project comes from writer/executive producer Tim Long (The Simpsons). (Hollywood Reporter)

Comedy Central has greenlit two pilots: animated comedy Ugly Americans, about a social worker who helps new US citizens--both human and non-human--adapt to life in NYC; and live-action comedy Evan and Gareth Are Trying to Get Laid, about two men earning first-hand experience in the perils of dating so they can offer advice at the relationship website where they work. (Variety)

Abby Elliott (King of the Hill) and Michaela Watkins (Old Christine) have joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, following the departure of Amy Poehler. The sketch comedy series may also add additional cast members later this season. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Addison Returns to Seattle Grace, Ricky Gervais Considers "Office" Drop-in, "Knight Rider" Gets Retooled, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I hope you all tuned in to the launch of HBO's new comedy series Summer Heights High; I've already seen the series several times but tuned in once again (it's just that funny) and also caught upon Skins (how cute was Chris' drawing of him and Jal?) and The Amazing Race.

Kate Walsh's Addison Montgomery will return to Seattle Grace... at least as part of a multiple-episode crossover story between Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice that's scheduled to air during February sweeps. (TV Guide)

FOX has delayed the start of animated comedy The Cleveland Show, a spinoff of Family Guy, until next fall. But the network has also ordered an additional nine episodes for Cleveland, bring its episodic total to a full 22 for the 2009-10 season. If that weren't enough Cleveland-centric news, Arianna Huffington has been added to the cast. (Variety)

Less than four months after premiering, NBC's Knight Rider is already undergoing some major retooling, beginning with its tenth episode, scheduled to air in January. Among the changes to the series, look for original cast members Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias, and Bruce Davison to depart; the troika's options were not picked up beyond the original 13-episode order and the series will focus instead on the five core characters (Mike, Sarah, Billy, Zoe, and KITT). "It's a reboot," said executive producer/showrunner Gary Scott Thompson. "We're moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original, making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen." (Hollywood Reporter)

Ricky Gervais said he would like to appear in the American version of The Office and has suggested that he play Extras' struggling actor Andy Millman. (TV Guide)

Showtime and BBC are developing a contemporary retelling of Camelot with Michael Hirst and Morgan O'Sullivan (The Tudors) writing an executive producing Camelot with Douglas Rae. Showtime and BBC are co-financing the development of the scripts and, should the project be ordered to series, it would be produced by Eccose Films and Octagon Filmes. (Variety)

ABC has announced the return of Lost. Season Five will kick off on Wednesday, January 21st in a special three-hour event, with Lost premiering in its new official timeslot of 9 pm ET/PT the following week. (Televisionary)

Tori Spelling will reprise her role as gossip columnist/liquefying villain Linda Lake on CW's Smallville and is said to be in "preliminary talks" to reprise her role as Donna Martin on 90210. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Michael Rapaport (Prison Break) has signed a development deal with CBS under which he will develop, star in, and produce an untitled drama project for the network. Said project, to be written by Bryan Goluboff (Basketball Diaries) and executive produced by Denis Leary and Jim Serpico, follows the lives of NYC social workers. Sony Pictures Television and CBS Paramount Network Television are behind the project. (Hollywood Reporter)

Tiffani Thiessen (Beverly Hills 90210) has been cast in USA's drama pilot White Collar opposite Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay; she'll play Debbie, the "intelligent and supportive" wife of the head of FBI's white collar crime unit (DeKay) who works as an accountant. Elsewhere, Matthew Marsden (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) has been cast as the lead in Spike's two-hour backdoor pilot Madso's War from MGM; project follows the Irish mob in Boston; Marsden will play a thief with links to Boston racketeers who tries to leave the game when two of his men are murdered, only to realize that he's next on a hit list. Also cast: Kevin Chapman (Brotherhood). (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide talks to Jordana Brewster, who joins the cast of Chuck beginning tonight in a multiple-episode story arc where she plays iconic character Jill, Chuck's Stanford girlfriend who broke his heart. (TV Guide)

NBC has ordered a full season of crime procedural Life, bumping the sophomore series to a full 22 episode order. (Televisionary)

TV Land has ordered six episodes of hidden-camera reality series Make My Day, based on a successful British Channel 4 format that is being executive produced by Michael Davies (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) and Sony Pictures Television. Series follows people who are unknowingly put through a series of strange surprises and coincidences set up by their family and friends. Series is set to launch in 2009. (Variety)

FX has opted not to renew unscripted series 30 Days from executive producer Morgan Spurlock. The series, the last remaining reality title on the cabler, wrapped its third and final season this July. (Broadcasting & Cable)

FremantleMedia has signed a deal with Spike for the worldwide financing, marketing, and distribution of three upcoming series, including Jesse James Is a Dead Man, Deadliest Warrior, and Surviving Disaster, all set to launch in 2009. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Dumps "Single With Parents," "Heroes" Nabs "Everwood" Alum, Van Der Beek and Denman Check Out "Eva Adams," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I definitely felt the lack of Pushing Daisies last night (my Wednesday night cure for any rough week) but I was completely sucked in by the season premiere of Top Chef (airing next week), which had more tension, drama, and pitch-perfect casting in its one-hour running time than the entire last season of Project Runway did.

ABC has yanked midseason comedy Single With Parents off of its schedule. The comedy, from ABC Studios and Kristin Newman, starred Alyssa Milano, Eric Winter, Annie Potts, Beau Bridges, and Amanda Detmer. Decision behind the cancellation (months before it was to launch on ABC) is said to stem from creative differences between the studio and the series' creator Kristin Newman. (Variety)

In other ABC midseason news, the Alphabet has opted to reduce its initial order on two midseason drama series, Castle and The Unusuals. ABC has approached ABC Studios about reducing Castle from 13 episodes to ten and has spoken with Sony about doing the same with The Unusuals (easily the best new series ABC has on offer in midseason). Decision is said to be based on inventory needs rather than creative decisions. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC's Heroes has cast Justin Baldoni (Everwood) in its next story arc, entitled "Fugitives." He'll play Alex, a surfer from California who works at a comic book store. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Battlestar Galactica returns to Sci Fi on Friday, January 16th but before that, keep your eyes open for a half-hour special entitled BSG: Essential Elements on January 11th at 11 pm and the latest batch of Battlestar Galactica webisodes, scheduled to air during the January 15th telecast of Pitch Black. Meanwhile, Sci Fi will add repeats of Invasion and Moonlight to its Friday night lineup beginning January 23rd. (Futon Critic)

James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek) and David Denman (The Office) have joined the cast of FOX drama pilot Eva Adams, based on telenovela Lalola. Project, from Journeyman creator Kevin Falls and Sony Pictures Television, follows a egocentric sports agent who turns into a gorgeous woman after being the victim of a witch's spell and is forced to endure the same sexist treatment he once dished out. Van Der Beek and Denman will play agents at the firm. (Hollywood Reporter)

A&E is developing paranormal/medical procedural drama Signs & Wonders with executive producer Jed Mercurio (Bodies), Fox Television Studios, and Mandalay Television. Project will follow a psychiatrist who oversees the cognitive sciences research division at a university and leads a team of graduate students in solving bizarre medical mysteries. (Variety)

Executive producer Joel Fields has left Ugly Betty after eight months and has accepted a position on TNT's legal drama Raising the Bar. Fields, brought in to replace Marco Pennette, was hired to oversee the series' transition from Los Angeles to New York and now that stories have been approved by the network for the remainder of the season, his services are considered completed. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide talks Supergirl with Laura Vandervoort who returns to Smallville tonight as Clark's cousin Kara, following a brief stint in the Phantom Zone. (TV Guide)

Bob Balaban will direct Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in Lifetime biopic Georgia O'Keefe, which will follow the two-decades-long tortured romance between celebrated painter Georgia O'Keefe and photographer Alfred Steiglitz. Telepic is slated to debut in third quarter 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Pushing Daisies" In Danger of Wilting Away, Mad Man Hamm Heads to "30 Rock," and More

Happy Halloween and welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I'm still catching up on television from this week, thanks to a busy social calendar and some LA-based preemptions of CW's Wednesday night series, so look for me to spend much time this weekend catching up.

I got many a worried email from readers last night about Kristin Dos Santos' report about the possibility that ABC had not extended Pushing Daisies beyond its initial 13-episode order. While ABC has yet to make a decision about the fate of the series, producers were told to change their original plan for the second season's thirteenth episode (intended as the first of a two-parter) and make said episode a stand-alone installment to "cover all bases," whether the episode be just the thirteenth episode... or Pushing Daisies' series finale. (And be sure to read this item about what you can do to help the Daisies cause.) (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Don Draper has found somewhere new to hang his hat. Jon Hamm (Mad Men) is said to be in advanced negotiations to appear in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Three of NBC's 30 Rock, where he'll play a potential love interest for our beloved Liz Lemon and possibly her neighbor. (Let's just hope he has better luck with her than Achmed.) (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has ordered a fifth season of American Dad and studio 20th Century Fox Television has signed new overall deals with executive producers Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman to keep them on as showrunners on Season Five. Barker and Weitzman, who were writing partners working out of the same deal, have separated their services and signed individual deals, freeing both up to pursue solo projects as well. (Variety)

While American Dad may be returning for the 2009-10 season, one FOX animated skein won't be. FOX has confirmed that it will not go ahead for an additional season of King of the Hill, currently airing its twelfth season. Episodes for Season Thirteen, however, don't launch until February and could, in fact, be held for next season if need be. (Variety)

Bradley Whitford (West Wing) and Romany Malco (Weeds) have joined the cast of NBC's buddy cop comedy pilot Off Duty from writer/executive producer Jason Mantzoukas. Project follows a veteran police detective (Whitford) who finds his life--both on and off duty--complicated by his new partner (Malco), a rising star in the force. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jane Lynch (Lovespring International) has joined the cast of FOX dramedy pilot Glee, where she will play the "antagonistic coach of the high school's cheerleading squad." The former Cindy Lightballoon will star in the project opposite Matthew Morrison, Jessalyn Gilsig, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Lea Michele. Should Glee be ordered to series, it could bow as early as this spring. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Mike Binder (The Mind of the Married Man) has sold comedy pilot script Two Dollar Beer to FOX and 20th Century Fox Television. Project will revolve around a group of twenty-somethings as they deal with the worsening economy in Detroit. Should the project be ordered to pilot, Binder is attached to direct. (Variety)

Emily Rose (Brothers and Sisters) will star in USA's medical drama pilot Operating Instructions as a top female truma surgeon who returns from Iraq to take a position at a military hospital; her attachmen lifts the casting contigency on the project. Elsewhere at USA, Willie Garson (Sex and the City) has joined the cast of drama pilot White Collar, opposite Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bravo has announced five unscripted projects in development: Fashionality, featuring Manhattan tastemakers in a roundtable discussion about pop culture and fashion from Embassy Row; Celebrity Sew-Off, in which celebs will design their own clothes in a sartorial competition from Lake Paradise Entertainment; Double Exposure, a docusoap following fashion photographer Markus Klinko from Juma Entertainment; Polo, a BTS-look at the lives of professional polo players from Granada America; and The Dubai Project, about the lavish lifestyles of American and Brit ex-pats from World of Wonder. (Variety)

Alison Pill has been cast as one of the leads of Season Two of HBO's In Treatment, where she will play April, a graduate student diagnoses with lymphoma. (Hollywood Reporter)

Dave Franco (Do Not Disturb, Greek) has signed on to appear in a multiple-episode arc of CW's Privileged, where he will play a love interest for Rose (Lucy Hale). His first episode is expected to air in early 2009. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

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

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Macaulay Culkin Heads to "Kings," Bravo Gets Stylish with "Fashion House," "Persons Unknown," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Just a few quick headlines this morning as I've been called to perform my civic duty today and have to drive downtown for jury duty.

Macaulay Culkin will appear in a multiple-episode arc on NBC's midseason drama Kings, where he will play the nephew of King Silas Benjamin (Ian McShane) who has been exiled from the kingdom of Shiloh for mysterious reasons. Also slated to appear in the series: Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan), Leslie Bibb (Popular), Michael Stahl-David (The Black Donnellys), and the previously reported Brian Cox. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

(Aside: I saw the pilot for Kings about two months back and while it was gorgeously directed, I thought that the pacing (it's currently scheduled to air as a two-hour) was glacially slow and could use significant tightening; I think it would be a hell of a lot more compelling at 60 or even 90 minutes.)

Could Bravo be readying a Project Runway clone? Sources say that the project Fashion House is remarkably similar to Project Runway, currently the subject of a lawsuit between NBC Universal and the Weinstein Company. One source went so far as to call Fashion House "a shameless copycat show" and is said to be using Runway's original production team, Magical Elves, on the new series. (New York Post)

CBS will give freshman comedy Gary Unmarried a shot in its Monday night lineup, reairing the pilot episode on Monday at 9:30 pm, replacing Worst Week. The move is said to be an attempt to get viewers to sample Gary Unmarried and it's thought that CBS will keep the series on Wednesdays for now. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has put reality competition series Hole in the Wall on hiatus and will fill the series' Thursdays at 8 pm timeslot with repeats of Kitchen Nightmares for the "foreseeable future." Yeah, it was only a matter of time before the death knell sounded for that one. (Futon Critic)

Gary Cole (Desperate Housewives) is set to join the cast of HBO's Entourage as a series regular next season; he'll play Hollywood agent Andrew Klein, one of Ari Gold's oldest friends in the business, and will be introduced during the current season in a three-episode arc to begin in November. (Hollywood Reporter)

Dan Byrd (Aliens in America) has joined the cast of Heroes, where he'll play David, a twisted compulsive liar who could potentially be an apprentice of Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Byrd will appear in at least three episodes of Heroes' Volume 4: Fugitives.(Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Fox TV Studios has hired Michael Rymer (Battlestar Galactica) to direct the first episode of its of Persons Unknown, a co-production with Mexico's Televisa and Italy's RAI, that is set to start shooting on Monday. (Series, which has an initial 13-episode order, does not yet have a home in the US.) Cast in the project, from creator Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects): Daisy Betts (Out of the Blue), Jason Wiles (Third Watch), Tina Holmes (Six Feet Under), Sean O'Bryan (Vantage Point), Lola Glaudini (Criminal Minds), Alan Ruck (Drive), Chadwick Boseman (Lincoln Heights), Gerald Kyd (Casualty), and Kate Lang Johnson (Days of Our Lives). (Variety)

In other casting news, Nathan Lane will play the gay brother to Brad Garrett's Eddie Stark in a November sweeps episode of FOX's 'Til Death. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! has renewed latenight talk show Chelsea Lately through 2009; series has seen a 21 perecent increase year to year. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: AMC Renews "Mad Men," ABC Cancels "Opportunity Knocks," Brian Cox, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I spent last night in front of the telly, watching The Office (meh), SNL Weekend Update Thursday (hilarious), Crusoe (mind-numbingly boring), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (funny), and Life on Mars (humdrum). I still have to watch last night's Ugly Betty, however.

AMC has renewed Mad Men for a third season mere weeks before the series' current series wraps up. However, talks continue apace between the cabler, studio Lionsgate Television, and creator Matthew Weiner. Lionsgate does not have a deal in place with Weiner to stay on as showrunner/executive producer for Season Three and he is seeking a raise "commensurate with the white-hot level of acclaim (including the Emmy for drama series last month) and pop-culture buzz the show has generated." Studio hopes to reach a deal with Weiner for both the third and fourth season, which it would then use to leverage an early pickup for Season Four from AMC. Fingers crossed that they are able to come to an arrangement as, to me, Mad Men is synonymous with Matthew Weiner. (Variety)

Jessica Walter wanted to be downgraded to recurring status on CW's 90210. "I'm just recurring on 90210, not a regular," said Walter in an interview. "I come in, drop a glass and goodbye. Actually [Tabitha] hasn't dropped a glass yet! And I recur on Saving Grace too, as Holly Hunter's mother. So it's sort of ideal because I'm bicoastal and, of course, I'm available for other things because I'm not committed on the show. When you're recurring, you're not exclusive." (Los Angeles Times)

ABC has given a put pilot commitment to a US adaptation of British comedy series The Inbetweeners, about four high school boys who belong to the social caste in between the cool, popular clique and the geeks. Project, which aired in the UK on Channel 4, will be overseen by original series creators/executive producers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, who have also written for HBO's Flight of the Conchords, and will adapt their own material without an American writer. In a separate deal, ABC has given Beesley and Morris a blind script commitment with penalty for a future original project. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Arquette, who guest stars in next week's episode of Pushing Daisies as "frescort" Randy Mann, will return to the series later in the season as a potential love interest for Kristin Chenoweth's Olive Snook, according to series creator Bryan Fuller. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In other Pushing Daisies-related news, ratings for the third episode of the current season were actually up twelve percent this week, with an average of 6.3 million viewers, and retained nearly all of its audience from half-hour to half-hour. Well done, Pie Hole gang! (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

ABC has canceled reality competition series Opportunity Knocks, pulling the series off of its schedule effective immediately. The series had aired three episodes to date in its Tuesdays at 8 pm, where it averaged a 1.9/5 among adults 18-49 and 6.3 million viewers. Series will be replaced by an edited one-hour recap of Dancing with the Stars. Personally, I was surprised that this was ever programmed during the regular season; it screamed cheap summer reality filler to me. (Variety)

Brian Cox (Zodiac) will star opposite Katee Sackhoff in NBC's drama pilot Lost and Found, where he will play Burt Macey, the argumentative and racist older partner to Sackhoff's Tessa who solves crimes by cracking heads and taking names. Cox has also signed on to appear in a four-episode arc on NBC's midseason drama series Kings, where he will play former King Vesper, the nemesis of Ian McShane's Silas Benjamin. (Hollywood Reporter)

The third season premiere episode of NBC's 30 Rock (an advance review of which can be found here) will be offered as a free download on iTunes a full week before its broadcast for readers of TV Guide, who can obtain a special code from the October 27th issue. (Variety)

Colin Hanks will return to CBS' NUMB3RS, where he will reprise his role as mathematician Marshall Penfield, Charlie's frenemy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Former Veronica Mars cast member Jaime Ray Newman has been cast in a multiple-episode arc on Sci Fi's Eureka, where she will play Dr. Tess Fontana, an engineer/astrophysicist with a unique perspective and a potential love interest for Colin Ferguson's Jack Carter. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: FX Cancels "The Riches," "Pushing Daisies," Ratings Dim for "Friday Night Lights," "Ashes to Ashes," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. While everyone is buzzing about last night's presidential debate, there are more than a few television-related news tidbits to discuss as well.

Following several months of discussions, FX has confirmed that it will not be renewing drama series The Riches for a third season, due to falling ratings for the drama. In its second season, which was shortened to seven episodes due to the writers strike, viewers dropped 44 percent in the key 18-49 demo. The move is hardly a surprise: showrunner Dmitry Lipkin is currently working on his HBO pilot project Hung and I had assumed for a while now that The Riches would sadly not be returning to the cabler. (Variety)

TV Guide talks to Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace about what to expect for Season Two, a certain game of "slap jack" between Ned and Chuck that never made it to the screen, and the Pie Maker's family. (TV Guide)

Sadly, there might not have been a new episode of Fringe last night but you can still get some hints about The Pattern and what's going on with Walter, Olivia, and Peter in this handy video from Fringe's executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Jeff Pinkner, and Roberto Orci. (FOX)

Only 400,000 viewers tuned in to watch the third season opener of Friday Night Lights, which debuted on DirecTV's The 101; series will run exclusively on the satellite provider for four months before launching its third season on NBC in February. Granted, DirecTV only counts 17.1 million subscribers overall but that's still extremely low, as Friday Night Lights only ranked in 7th place among all basic cable programs available to its subscribers. (New York Times)

Writer/executive producer David E. Kelley and Warner Bros. are shopping a spec script for a new one-hour legal drama. CBS and NBC said to be extremely interesting in picking up the project, which is expected to land a significant commitment. (Hollywood Reporter)

Fire up the Quattro. Filming has begun on Season Two of BBC One's Life on Mars spinoff sequel Ashes to Ashes, which stars Keeley Hawes, Philip Glenister, Dean Andrews, Marshall Lancaster, and Montserrat Lombard. In the second season, Alex (Hawes) will discover that she may not be the only one in 1982 in her, uh, predicament. (BBC)

TBS has renewed comedy My Boys for a third season, with nine episodes set to air in early 2009. (Variety)

HBO has cast Bryan Greenberg (October Road) and Victor Rasuk (Stop-Loss) as the leads of its single-camera comedy pilot How to Make It in America, from writer Ian Edelman and executive producers Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg. Project revolves around two twenty-something NYC hustlers who are determined to grab a slice of the American dream. Julian Farino (The Office) will direct the pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jack Kenny (Book of Daniel) has joined the staff of Sci Fi's upcoming drama series Warehouse 13 as showrunner/executive producer, a move that reunites Kenny with his former Book of Daniel colleague David Simkins. Warehouse 13, which stars Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, and Saul Rubinek, is set to launch in July 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Robin Takes Flight at CW, "Partridge" Lands at NBC, Norman Lear, "Sarah Connor" Woes, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I suffered through some sweltering heat here in Los Angeles last night and watched the latest lackluster episode of 90210 and a fantastically taut episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit).

CW has given a put pilot commitment to drama The Graysons, based on the pre-Boy Wonder life of Batman sidekick Robin before he dons the mask and cape (a la Smallville). Drama, from Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and Chuck/Supernatural executive producer McG, will follow Dick "DJ" Grayson in a new take on the iconic character. (In the original comics, Robin was the orphaned son of a high-flying trapeze artist family who was taken in by Bruce Wayne and trained to be Batman's sidekick.) Series is viewed as a potential replacement for Smallville, should this be final season, or as a companion piece if Smallville is renewed. Studio Warner Bros. Television also hopes to use this development to prove that the netlet isn't in any serious jeopardy. But they're really going to call Robin "DJ"? Ick. (Variety)

Could Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles be canceled in an effort to save the ratings of FOX's Prison Break? That's what one network source has said as the axe could come swinging down on ratings-starved Terminator as early as this week. "All I can say is that production will likely stop," said the unnamed source, "and I would think that Fox might try to air some of the episodes already in the can. But I don't know. They don't want to lose Prison Break, so there could be some schedule shuffling in the future."(SyFy Portal)

Television icon Norman Lear is developing Everybody Hurts, a drama series following a pro-wrestling business in 1970s New York, at HBO. Project is written by Aaron Blitzstein (The Riches) and will be executive produced by Lear and Lara Bergthold. (Hollywood Reporter)

The revamped single-camera comedy pilot The Partridge Family has landed at NBC. This version, from Reveille, Geffen Records, and Sony Pictures Television, will have a struggling single mom "pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow." Pilot will be written by Jeff Rake, who also serves as executive producer. (Hollywood Reporter)

Rake has also teamed with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz on an untitled action dramedy pilot about ""a Pentagon-based inventor who decided he couldn't live another day standing on the sidelines while Rome burns and accordingly set out [to] put his inventions to very real use, behind the back of friends, family and the entire U.S. government," according to Rake. Arrested Development pilot helmers Anthony and Joe Russo are attached to direct the project, which has been set up at FOX. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS and CBS Paramount Network Television have signed a talent deal with Cole Hauser (K-Ville), who recently starred in drama pilot The Tower for the network and studio. (I actually quite liked the journalism drama pilot, which also starred Rosamund Pike, Marcia Gay Harden, Denis O'Hare, and CCH Pounder.) (Variety)

Fred Willard will guest star in two episodes of CBS' comedy series Worst Week. The former Back to You star and Connie Ray (Thank You for Smoking) will play the parents of hapless Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) in two installments set to air later this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Cory Monteith (Kaya) has joined the cast of FOX's Ryan Murphy pilot Glee, opposite Jayma Mays and Matthew Morrison. He'll play Finn, a football player who is coerced into joining the high school glee club by its new advisor. (Hollywood Reporter)

Valerie Bertinelli just got some company on her untitled TBS comedy: Nadia Dajani (Emily's Reasons Why Not), Kevin G. Schmidt (Cheaper by the Dozen), and Dean Collins (The War at Home) have joined the cast of Dave Caplan's comedy pilot about a woman whose husband leaves her to deal with their kids, his struggling lumber business, and life in general on her own. Already cast: Juliette Goglia and Anjelah Johnson. (Hollywood Reporter)

Vanessa Marcil (Las Vegas) will serve as the host for Lifetime's upcoming reality competition series Blush: The Search for the Next Makeup Artist alongside judges Hal Rubenstein and Joanna Schlip and mentor Charlie Green. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Project Runway" Injunction, "Fringe" Science,

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I'm still in telly overload mode, having watched the first three episodes of Season Two of Pushing Daisies, the first two episodes of the CW's Stylista, and the shocking new installments of Skins and Mad Men this weekend. Whew.

The big news over the weekend was that a New York judge has handed out a preliminary injunction on Friday, which has temporarily barred the Weinstein Company from moving Project Runway from Bravo to new home Lifetime. The move casts some shadow on the future of the series--which is meant to launch its sixth season in January on the women's cabler--though production will continue in Los Angeles. If the case goes to trial, it's likely that it would delay the launch of Season Six, which could put Weinstein in a sticky place with Lifetime; not unexpectedly, Weinstein Company is expected to appeal the injunction. (Variety)

Could the science in FOX's Fringe be fictional? Um, the series deals with fringe science, after all, and I don't think it was ever designed to offer up textbook descriptions of actual scientific theories. The point of the show is not to be a classroom film on the state of science and technology," said J.J. Abrams. "It's science fantasy. We're trying to entertain people with interesting characters placed into exciting situations, not bore them." (USA Today)

Jesse McCartney (Summerland) has booked a recurring role on ABC Family's drama Greek, where he'll play Andy, an old friend of Calvin and a freshman athlete who is torn between pledging the KT and OX frat houses. He'll first turn up in early 2009. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO is developing Americatown, a futuristic drama which would follow ex-pat Americans as they live in cities around the world, "set 25-40 years into the future when the precipitous decline of the U.S. leads to a mass exodus of its citizens." Project is from writer/executive producer Bradford Winters (Kings) and executive producers Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy and had previously been developed as a series, movie, mini, and book. "By presenting Americans as immigrants in the near future, as both underdog and hero in the drama of global dislocation," said Winters, "we substitute a mirror for the rancor that informs much of the partisan debates on immigration." (Hollywood Reporter)

The New York Times has a fantastic interview with prolific writer/director/actor Paul Feig, of The Office, Freaks and Geeks, and Arrested Development. (And did you realize he directed an installment of Mad Men? I didn't!) (The New York Times)

NBC Universal will use its recently acquired UK production entity Carnival to produce its midseason series The Philanthropist, starring James Purefoy, as part of an effort to shift production away from the US as production costs continue to climb. Production on the series will begin in London in November, with most of the filming taking place in the UK and South America. Pilot installment was written by David Eick (who replaced Tom Fontana) and will be directed by Peter Horton. (Variety)

Wondering what former Melrose Place vixen Heather Locklear is up to these days? Looks like she got arrested over the weekend after driving her car repeatedly over some sunglasses and then stumbling into traffic. Eek. Alcohol has been ruled out as a factor in her behavior. (E! Online)

FOX has confirmed that it has cancelled freshman comedy Do Not Disturb. No decision has been made about the four episodes that were filmed that had yet to air. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Bravo has scored off-network rerun rights to CBS' summer series Swingtown, which it will begin airing this fall as part of a block of drama programming that includes The West Wing and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. No decision yet about the fate of Swingtown but a renewal by CBS is looking rather unlikely. (TV Week)

Don't hold your breath waiting for Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman) to return to BBC's EastEnders, where she played Zoe Slater for five years. Ryan returns to the airwaves next in a four-episode stint on Merlin. (Digital Spy)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Do Not Disturb" Checks Out Early, Sarah Michelle Returns to TV, "Boston Legal," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Last night was quite a busy telly-viewing evening here in the Televisionary household, with brand-new episodes of Ugly Betty, The Office, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which once again managed to make me laugh until it hurt. Green man!

We may have our very first cancellation of the season on our hands with FOX's comedy Do Not Disturb. Series, which starred Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash and struggled in the ratings since its launch three weeks ago, has been preempted next week and will be replaced with a repeat of 'Til Death. (Ouch.) There was no official announcement as of press time from studio 20th Century Fox Television or the network about the fate of Do Not Disturb, but Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello claims that inside sources at the network have confirmed that the series has been cancelled. Let the guessing games about what the second cancelled series of the year will be begin! (Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sarah Michelle Gellar has signed on to star in HBO's half-hour comedy pilot The Wonderful Maladys, about the dysfunctional lives of three adult siblings who lost their parents at an early age. In the project, from writer/executive producer Charles Randolph (The Interpreter), Gellar will play a character described as having "a king of zealous immaturity -- like a drug addict with a to-do list." Character was created by Randolph with Gellar in mind; pilot will likely be shot in early 2009. (Variety)

Melissa George (Alias) is in final negotiations to join the cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, where she will play an intern who is intended to be a potential love interest of their Sara Ramirez's Callie or Brooke Smith's Erica. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TNT has ordered two procedural cop drama pilots, including an untitled project from writer/executive producer Doug Jung (Big Love) and executive producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Danny Cannon (CSI) about a squad of young undercover police officers as they find themselves torn between performing their duty and being seduced by corruption and cash. The other project ordered by TNT is Bunker Hill (formerly known as Morse Code), which stars Donnie Wahlberg and explores the "crime, corruption, and deceit" of the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Boston. Project comes from writer/executive producer Walon Green and executive producers Donnie Wahlberg and Jon Avnet, who is set to direct the pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX is developing an untitled single-camera workplace comedy from writer/executive producers Moses Port and David Guarascio, who created last season's CW comedy Aliens in America. Project is about a young man who takes a mood enhancer that breaks him out of his funk and he applies for a job at a pharmaceutical company, where he must deal with working for his high-powered female boss who is nicknamed "The Velvet Hammer." (Variety)

Could Jason Ritter be joining the cast of ABC's Brothers & Sisters as Ryan Walker, the secret child of William Walker? (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

In other FOX news, the network is developing a The New McToms, a single-camera half-hour comedy about a "conservative matriarch who must face the reality of her three children marrying ethnically diverse spouses." Project comes from ABC Studios, executive producer Salma Hayek, and writers Boyce Bugliari and Jamie McLaughlin. (Hollywood Reporter)

Julie Bowen is set to return to ABC's Boston Legal in November in the series' tenth episode. Just don't hold your breath waiting for Mark Valley to return... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

True Blood has upped four actors to regular status when the series returns for its recently ordered second season. Former guest stars Mehcad Brooks (Desperate Housewives), Todd Lowe (Gilmore Girls), Deborah Ann Woll (The Mentalist), and Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica) are all set to appear in the season finale, which airs later this fall. (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV has renewed reality competition series From G's to Gents, ordering ten episodes to run early next year. (Variety)

David Tennant is said to be suffering from Doctor Who withdrawal while acting alongside Patrick Stewart in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet, joking that "Shakespeare's all right, but he's lacking in spaceships." He went on to say, "It's nice to know that I'm coming back. I'll be reminded of [Doctor Who] in some shape or form pretty much every day until I start filming again in January." (Digital Spy)

ABC Studios has extended director Gary Fleder's overall deal; he's said to be developing a project with Jericho creator Jonathan Steinberg and is set to executive produce and direct CW pilot Light Years. This past development cycle, he directed the pilots for ABC's Life on Mars (launching October 9th) and Finnegan. (Variety)

Oxygen has acquired off-network rerun rights to the CW's America's Next Top Model, which it will begin to air in January. The cabler has purchased the rights to the full library of the series, including its current and future cycles. (TV Week)

Steve Valentine (Crossing Jordan) will sereve as host on Sci Fi's new reality competition series Estate of Panic, which follows seven contestants seeking hidden cash on an estate filled with all sorts of unexpected challenges. Series comes from Endemol and will launch on November 12th. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The Mentalist (CBS); America's Toughest Jobs (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown! (CW; 8-10 pm); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: Presidential Debate (CBS; 9-11 pm); NBC News Special (NBC); Presidential Debate (ABC); Presidential Debate (FOX)

10 pm: Dateline (NBC); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

Um, I think I'll just go out instead...

Channel Surfing: "Stargate Atlantis" to End, Joel Silver Setting Up at HBO, "90210" Marathon, and More

Good morning one and all and welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Yes, the weekend is just within our grasp.)

Stargate Atlantis will wrap its run on Sci Fi when the fifth season concludes in January, but the cabler has ordered an untitled two-hour telepic that will air sometime in 2009, following the series finale. An official press release from Sci Fi is said to be forthcoming. (Multichannel News)

Joel Silver is back in television news headlines again (he's said to be in discussions with creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell about a possible feature version of Veronica Mars): he's optioned Arthur T. Vanderbilt II's 1989 family history "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt," about the famous clan's 20th century saga as they deal with "declining fortune, extravagances and social-climbing instincts." Silver plans to adapt the book into a possible series for pay cabler HBO; he and Jane Semel would executive produce the one-hour drama, with Jim Solomon (The Practice) writing and executive producing. (Variety)

ABC Studios has bought an autobiographical script from Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith (Legally Blonde, House Bunny) which it will develop with McCullah Lutz and Smith on board to write and executive produce, should the project get ordered to pilot. Deal came after a recent Los Angeles Times article detailed their work method, which can involve champagne and therapy, and pilot will revolve around their friendship, partnership, and adventures in Hollywood. (Hollywood Reporter)

Newsarama has sat down with Battlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick for a chat about what's to come for BSG and spin-off Caprica. And, yes, there will be more Battlestar webisodes. (Newsarama)

And, speaking of interviews, Joss talks Dollhouse, why the dolls' sleeping units shouldn't resemble coffins, and more. (Philadelphia Daily News)

Sophina Brown (Shark) has been cast as a series regular in CBS' crime procedural NUMB3RS, where she will play Nikki Betancourt, a street-savvy ex-LAPD officer with a law degree to boot who joins the team as their newest agent. (TV Guide)

And Battlestar Galactica's Mark Sheppard (whom you might also remember from Firefly) has confirmed that he will appear in several episodes of Dollhouse in early 2009. (SyFy Portal)

Cabler SOAPnet will be airing a 24-hour marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 starting at Midnight, Monday, September 1st, featuring 24 pivotal episodes of the series--including the pilot--in advance of the CW's launch of 90210 the following evening.

Lifetime has ordered six episodes of docuseries Blonde Charity Mafia, about three twenty-something socialities in Washington D.C. who are frequent faces on the fundraiser circuit. Series, produced by PB&J Television, is set to start production next month but the cabler has not issued an air date yet. (Variety)

Eddie Cibrian (Ugly Betty) has been cast in a three-episode arc on USA's The Starter Wife. Cibrian will play a detective investigating Molly (Debra Messing). No word on what this means about his role as Coach Diaz on Betty, though Cibrian was only secured to appear in four episodes this season... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Finally, the New York Times has a fascinating article about diversity casting in television and how the Disney Channel and ABC (both owned by Disney) seem to be at the forefront of this trend. (New York Times)

Stay tuned.

"Dirt" to Take, Well, Dirt Nap

Sorry, Dirt fans, it's do or die time and it looks like it's more of the latter and less of the former.

According to TV Guide, cabler FX has axed soapy tabloid drama Dirt starring Courteney Cox Arquette.

"It just got canceled," Cox Arquette told TV Guide when asked about the possibility of a third season renewal for the series, which starred Cox Arquette, Ian Hart, Josh Stewart, and Alex Breckenridge.

The news is hardly shocking. After okay numbers the first season, Dirt was renewed for a sophomore season... which was itself cut short (from thirteen segments to just seven) in light of the writers strike. (Ratings for the truncated second season of Dirt, which moved to Sunday evenings, weren't anything to write home about; Season Two launched with 1.6 million viewers but, by the season finale, those numbers had dwindled to 1.06 million.)
FX went to great pains to say that the episodic count reduction would in no way influence the network when looking at ABC Studios-produced Dirt and Fox Television Studios series The Riches when they came up for renewal once again.

FX has not officially announced that the series has been canceled (I'm still holding out hope that The Riches manages to get another reprieve) but I think it's time for fans to let this one go quietly into the night.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Most Outrageous Moments/Most Outrageous Moments (NBC); Beauty & the Geek (CW); Moment of Truth (FOX)

9 pm: 48 Hours Mystery (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Reaper (CW); Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)

What I'll Be TiVo'ing

8-10 pm: Britcoms on BBC America.

I don't know about you but by Tuesday night, I'm usually in need of some comedy in my life. Why not stick around on Tuesday nights for BBC America's new comedy lineup, consisting of classic episodes of Coupling, new comedy Not Going Out, and Absolutely Fabulous? You'll thank me in the morning.