Channel Surfing: NBC Delays "Southland," "Chuck" Co-Creator Josh Schwartz to Pen CBS Comedy Script, "Heathers" Resurrected at FOX, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

NBC has announced that it is delaying the second season launch of Southland by a month. The Warner Bros. Television-produced series, which premiered last spring, was slated to launch its sophomore season on Friday, September 25th but will now instead debut on Friday, October 23rd. The reason behind the late change? According to Variety's Michael Schneider, "insiders said the Peacock hopes to use the extra month to further promote the show, which they worried was getting lost in the fall marketing shuffle." Southland was meant to launch on the same evening as Medium and Dollhouse. (Variety)

Chuck co-creator Josh Schwartz and Chuck producer Matt Miller will write an untitled multi-camera comedy pilot script for CBS about a twenty-something couple who have just gotten married and return home after their honeymoon and must learn how to navigate life together. (The premise was inspired by Schwartz and Miller's own recent weddings.) Project hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Schwartz has a deal. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX is said to be developing a contemporary update of 1989 feature film Heathers (one of my personal faves) with Mark Rizzo (Zip) on board to adapt the dark comedy as an ongoing series. Additionally, Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City) has come on board the project as a non-writing executive producer. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Lakeshore Entertainment, will reset the film's storyline--about a group of loathsome mean girls who begin dying when one of their members, Veronica, meets J.D., a dangerous new guy at school, and the bodies start to pile up. (Variety)

TNT has ordered a third season of heist drama Leverage, with fifteen episodes of the series expected to air in Summer 2010. (via press release)

Supernatural fans have to head over to The Chicago Tribune where Maureen Ryan has a fantastic and lengthy interview with Supernatural creator/executive producer Eric Kripke, in which he teases that the next season of Supernatural will offer "the fun Apocalypse." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Melissa McCarthy (Samantha Who, Gilmore Girls) has signed on to appear in a recurring role on ABC's fall comedy series Hank, starring Kelsey Grammer. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, McCarthy will play Dawn, the wife of David Koechner's Grady, which would make her Hank's sister-in-law. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a two-year first-look deal with Sam Raimi and Josh Donen's shingle Stars Road Entertainment, under which they will develop network and cable drama series projects for the studio while staying away from the horror genre. The duo have hired former CBS executive Robert Zotnowski to oversee the push into television. Meanwhile, Robert Tapert will continue to remain involved as Raimi's producing partner. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has some scoop on what's coming up for Jane Krakwoski’s Jenna on 30 Rock, revealing that Jenna lands the lead role in a Twilight rip-off. "For tax reasons, they shoot it in Iceland and then they realize the sun doesn’t set," executive producer Robert Carlock told Ausiello. "So they’re shooting a vampire movie without having night." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ITV1 has commissioned a seven-part period drama series Downton Abbey from writer Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) that is set at an Edwardian-era country manor house. Series, which will consist of a 90-minute opener and then six one-hour installments, "will focus on the relationship between the Crawley family, who own the Downton estate, and their staff, who live and work at the house. While some are loyal and committed to the family, others try to improve their status, find love and follow adventure." (Broadcast)

Lennie James (Jericho) has been cast in FOX's Lie to Me, where he will play Ray Marsh, the nemesis to Tim Roth's Cal Lightman. Marsh, writes Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, is described as "a charming Brit who ran scams with Lightman way back when and who is now on the FBI and Scotland Yard watch lists. Ray once took the fall for Lightman and spent time in prison as a result. Now, after a 20-year estrangement, Ray is back to collect what he believes he is owed." James will make his first appearance in the second season's fifth episode. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Just three weeks after its launch, Style has renewed docusoap Guiliana and Bill for a second season. (Variety)

MTV has ordered horror telepic My Super Psycho Sweet 16, in which a serial killer hunts down teens at a high-end birthday bash at a roller rink. Telepic, executive produced by Maggie Malina, has already been shot. The cabler also ordered musical/dance telepic Turn the Beat Around from executive producers Tony Krantz and Steve Levitan and a scripted telepic version of the channel's Made. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lewis Black will star in an original comedy special Stark Raving Black for the nascent pay cable channel Epix, a joint venture between Lionsgate, MGM, and Viacom, which will air the special, filmed in Detroit, in December as well as playing in select theatres in 20 markets. (Variety)

Former Hat Trick co-founder Denise O'Donoghue has been hired as president of international television productions at NBC Universal International, where she will spearhead the studio's local production business, expand their international format licensing initiatives, and "[shorten] the format pipeline" between the US and the UK. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Elizabeth Banks Joins "Modern Family," Shawn Ryan to "Ridealong" with FOX, Tina Fey Talks Emmys and "30 Rock," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Elizabeth Banks (Scrubs) has signed on guest star on ABC's upcoming comedy series Modern Family in a potentially recurring role. TV Guide Magazine's William Keck is reporting that Banks will play Sal, a close friend of gay couple Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), in an October episode and that she came to the project via her real-life friendship with Ferguson. "Sal is their old running buddy," executive producer Steven Levitan told Keck. "Mitchell and Cameron decide they need a night out on the town, so they call her up." Lloyd adds, "She's thrilled to be back with her old friends until they start talking about their new (adopted) baby and she doesn't want to hear about the baby, so she starts saying things like, 'I wouldn't mind killing the baby.'" (TV Guide Magazine)

FOX has given a put pilot commitment to Shawn Ryan's one-hour drama project Ridealong, about a group of Chicago-based cops ranging from uniformed beat cops to a female police chief. Ryan will write and executive produce the pilot, which will be shot on location in Chicago. Ryan, who said that the project won't be as gritty as The Shield, indicated that the series will focus on episodic cases "but something will happen in the pilot that will have overarching (ramifications) that we deal with over time. It will be less serialized than Grey's but more than CSI." Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan's shingle Midd Kid Prods. (Variety, Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Broadcasting & Cable's Melissa Grego has a fantastic interview with 30 Rock creator/star/executive producer Tina Fey about the Emmys, Ben Silverman, 30 Rock, syndication, and much more. Of Silverman, Fey said, "Ben was always very good to us and good to 30 Rock, and anyone who left us on the air is all right by me. We'll miss him, but all seems well with the new guy, too. I spoke to Mr. Gaspin last week and he seems like a good guy—so far. So far. I'm giving him 10... no, I'm kidding." (Broadcasting & Cable)

Mike Vogel (Empire State) has replaced Richard Coyle on CBS' midseason medical drama Miami Trauma. Vogel will play a "charming and fiercely competitive surgeon with a healthy ego." (Is there any other kind?) Series, from Warner Bros. Television and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, follows the lives of trauma specialists in Miami. (Hollywood Reporter)

Despite comments made by Kevin Reilly at last week's TCA Summer Press Tour, FOX will be airing the final installments of King of the Hill, according to a new press release. FOX has slated the one-hour series finale of King of the Hill for Sunday, September 13th at 8 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

Hilary Duff will star in ABC Family romantic comedy telepic The Business of Falling in Love, based on the book "Diary of a Working Girl" by Daniella Brodsky about a fashion reporter who goes undercover in the financial world to write an article about dating business men. Gil Junger will direct the two-hour telepic, which was adapted by Mike Horowitz (Burn Notice). (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson confirmed that comedies The Goode Family and Surviving Suburbia have been canceled and won't be returning to the schedule. (Futon Critic)

Two more cast additions to TNT's untitled alien invasion drama pilot from Steven Spielberg: iCarly's Drew Roy and The Hole's Peter Shinkoda have signed on to star opposite Noah Wyle. (Hollywood Reporter)

Clint Black will executive produce anthology series American Storytellers from ITV Studios, which transforms country music songs into one-hour drama installments. Black will executive produce the series with Mark Roberts, Lorena David, and Joel C. High. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: NBC Targets "Persons Unknown," Team Darlton "Shocked" By Nomination, Davies Has Ideas for Fourth Season of "Torchwood," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

NBC has acquired Fox Television Studio's international co-production Persons Unknown, written and executive produced by Chris McQuarrie (Valkyrie). Series, which stars Jason Wiles (Zodiac), Chadwick Boseman (Lincoln Heights), Daisy Betts (Out of the Blue), Tina Holmes (Six Feet Under), and Alan Ruck (Drive), revolves around a group of strangers who are seemingly kidnapped and taken to a deserted ghost town from which they cannot leave and where they are watched by omnipresent security cameras. McQuarrie is executive producing with Remi Aubuchon and Heather McQuarrie. No US launch date was announced for Persons Unknown, which has already produced thirteen installments with Italy's RAI and Mexico's Televisa. (Variety)

Lost's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were surprised by the ABC drama series getting an outstanding drama series Emmy nod yesterday following this past season's heavily serialized time-travel story. "We are very happy, and we are kind of shocked," Cuse told TVGuide.com. "Doing the time travel-heavy genre, we did not have any expectations that we would get nominated." Especially considering that their fellow nominees in the category hail mostly from cable. "The idea that we made it into the mix with the limitations of broadcast is pretty exciting to us," said Lindelof. "Dexter, Big Love, Breaking Bad," added Cuse, "Those are shows we think are really well done." (TVGuide.com)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan talks with Torchwood: Children of Earth writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies about the groundbreaking five-episode event run (airing next week in the US). Of the possibility for a fourth season, Davies said, "I've got vague ideas. I know where to start. I know where the lead characters are. [...] But then, when the call comes, I shall be there. When Torchwood calls, you jump. Whether it is this format, whether they want a new format, whether they want the old format [I don't know]. I'll take on anything and make it work." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

John Goodman will star in FOX comedy pilot The Station, about a group of subpar CIA agents at a secret South American outpost where their mission is to install a new dictator. Goodman will play Ted Gannon, the head of the CIA's Altamara Station. Already on board the 20th Century Fox Television and Red Hour production: Justin Bartha, Whitney Cummings, Rob Huebel, and Julio Oscar Mechoso. David Wain (Role Models) has been attached to direct the pilot. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello congratulates How I Met Your Mother executive producer Craig Thomas about the comedy series' Emmy nomination yesterday and gets some scoop about Season Five of Mother. "For a long time the mother was in this big vast ocean of New York City; she could be anyone," said Thomas. "And we ended the season with Ted teaching at Columbia University -- literally in the same room as the mother. So that has added a great suspense element in the writing. We've gotten some great material out of that, including a whole story that plays almost like a horror movie. Suspenseful ominous music is playing and at any point Ted can round a corner and run into the mother. It's been a really nice engine for writing the season so far." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Jennifer Goodwin caught up with 30 Rock star Jack McBrayer, who landed a first-time nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series and said that Tina Fey and the 30 Rock writers place their emphasis on the characters' dynamics, which for McBrayer's Kenneth is his relationship with Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy. "I could not be more honored to work with him," said McBrayer of Baldwin. "I swear to God. [Laughs.] First season we were all scared to death of him. But the second season, he was a little more relaxed, therefore we were more relaxed. This season was a breeze; I'm so looking forward to season four. He's so generous. He hosted Saturday Night Live back in February, and he had this idea to bring me up during his opening monologue. My parents were in town, and it was just a perfect storm of 'I can't believe this is my life right now.'" (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Sarah Carter (Shark) has landed a series regular role on CBS' CSI: NY, where she will play "a new clean-up tech who aspires to someday work in the crime lab. We'll find out later in the season that she's hiding a secret." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files,

John de Mol's Talpa Productions is said to be close to a deal to acquire reality shingle Bunim/Murray Prods., in deal said to be worth approximately $50-70 million. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

TV Academy Shines Emmy Love on "Big Love," "30 Rock," "Mad Men," "Lost," "Damages"

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised this early morning in Los Angeles.

The Emmy nominees were announced this morning and I have to commend them for showering such love onto diverse and unique series such as Big Love, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Little Dorrit, Flight of the Conchords, , and Damages, even though Battlestar Galactica failed to garner a single nomination in the major categories.

Hell, one of the talented troika of female leads on AMC's Mad Men--Elisabeth Moss--even landed a nomination, as did the entire main cast of 30 Rock! So, something's right in Hollywood for a change.

Meanwhile, FOX's Family Guy snagged the first outstanding comedy series nomination for an animated series... in fifty years. (Not since The Flintstones has an animated comedy scored a nomination.) Something which sadly The Simpsons was never able to achieve in its heyday.

So which series and actors landed Emmy nominations? Let's talk about the major categories. (The full list of nominations can be found here.)

Outstanding Drama Series:
Big Love (HBO)
Breaking Bad (FX)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (FOX)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)

I have to say that I'm actually quite pleased overall with the selection here, which shows some love for quirky cable dramas like Big Love, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Dexter while also lauding network hits like Lost and House. I'm not surprised by the inclusion of Lost and the sensational Mad Men but if I'm being totally honest, I'd love to see Big Love, which is coming off of a mind-blowingly sensational third season, walk away with the top prize here.

Outstanding Comedy Series:
Entourage (HBO)
Family Guy (FOX)
Flight Of The Conchords (HBO)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)

Loving the inclusion of Flight of the Conchords, despite a somewhat subpar second season compared to the strength of its freshman year, but I'm glad to see that the quirky Kiwi comedy won over Emmy voters not just here but also in the lead actor in a comedy category as well. And kudos to the cast and crew of How I Met Your Mother for snagging a nom in the highly competitive category here. Ultimately, I'm hoping--and it's rather likely--that 30 Rock once again walks off with the statuette here. It really is, hands-down, the very best comedy on television today.

Outstanding Miniseries:
Generation Kill (HBO)
Little Dorrit (PBS)

Generation Kill might have the HBO imprimatur but I'm rooting for the lush and emotionally resonant Little Dorrit to win here. Would love to see a Dickens adaptation win the mini-series prize and the cast and crew of this PBS/BBC production were absolutely top-notch.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jemaine Clement - Flight Of The Conchords (HBO)
Tony Shalhoub - Monk (USA)
Steve Carell - The Office (NBC)
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)
Charlie Sheen - Two And A Half Men (CBS)

I'm blown away by the fact that Jemaine Clement managed to get a nomination here and I almost want Clement to win, just so I can watch what would be a fairly surreal and hysterical acceptance speech. Just... wow. Never would have imagined this. Love that Jim Parsons got nominated and his reaction on the nomination telecast this morning was priceless. The rest of the category is pretty predictable (cough, Tony Shalhoub, cough) but I'm once again putting my money on 30 Rock's incomparable Alec Baldwin. It's what Jack Donaghy would do, after all.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall - Dexter (Showtime)
Hugh Laurie - House (FOX)
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment (HBO)
Jon Hamm - Mad Men (AMC)
Simon Baker - The Mentalist (CBS)

As much as I love Bryan Cranston, I have to say that I want Jon Hamm to bring home the win with every iota of my being. His smoldering performance as Don Draper in Season Two of Mad Men was powerful, provocative, and heartbreaking and he anchored the show with a nuanced masculinity and dynamic charisma. As for the others, Laurie and Byrne were expected, but Simon Baker for The Mentalist? Really? Over Bill Paxton for Big Love? Or anyone from Battlestar Galactica? Grr.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures Of Old Christine (CBS)
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who? (ABC)
Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)
Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)
Toni Collette - United States Of Tara (Showtime)
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds (Showtime)

Two words: Tina Fey. Need I say more?

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer (TNT)
Glenn Close - Damages (FX)
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men (AMC)
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace (TNT)

Thank you, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, for--finally!--acknowledging the incredible performance of Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss; her turn as Peggy Olsen this past season was an understated thing of beauty, haunting for her sorrow, inspiring for her strength of character. That fellow femmes January Jones and Christina Hendricks should be overlooked once again is shameful but I do have to credit them for at least shining a much-deserved spotlight on Moss here. Personally, I'd love for her to win. Or for Glenn Close to get the prize for her fearless portrayal of Patty Hewes on FX's Damages, a character who is a seething mess of complexity and anger.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:
Kevin Dillon - Entourage (HBO)
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Rainn Wilson - The Office (NBC)
Tracy Morgan - 30 Rock (NBC)
Jack McBrayer - 30 Rock (NBC)
Jon Cryer - Two And A Half Men (CBS)

I'm loving the support for NBC's 30 Rock here, with Morgan and McBrayer landed nominations for their roles as Tracy and Kenneth. Wish they could both win, but thinking they'll split the vote, so I'm giving the ubiquitous Neil Patrick Harris the edge here. A very tough category this year and one I'll be watching extremely closely.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series:
William Shatner - Boston Legal (ABC)
Christian Clemenson - Boston Legal (ABC)
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad (AMC)
William Hurt - Damages (FX)
Michael Emerson - Lost (ABC)
Jon Slattery - Mad Men (AMC)

Tough, tough category here again. I think the Emmy voters tipped their hat a little bit with two nominations for Boston Legal here (would you *really* say that Shatner is supporting?) but I do love the inclusion of Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul (who should be nominated as well for his vastly different turn on Big Love, just for comparison's sake), Michael Emerson, and Jon Slattery, as well as William Hurt. Would love to see Ben Linus take home the win.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series:
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Amy Poehler - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Kristin Wiig - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock (NBC)
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty (ABC)
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds (Showtime)

Jane Krakowski doesn't get nearly as much recognition as she should for her role as Jenna on 30 Rock, so I am thrilled to see her get the nomination as I am for someone to remember the beauty and bittersweet sparkle of Pushing Daisies and give Cheno a nod as well. As for who will win, I'm not sure at all but I'd love it to be one of these two. Or one of the SNL team.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series:
Rose Byrne - Damages (FX)
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Dianne Wiest - In Treatment (HBO)
Hope Davis - In Treatment (HBO)
Cherry Jones - 24 (FOX)

I'm thinking one of the Grey's Anatomy ladies will win this category (though no Katherine Heigl?) but nice to see Byrne get some Emmy love as well.

Outstanding Reality – Competition Program:
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Idol (FOX)
Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Bravo)
Top Chef (Bravo)

As much as I love The Amazing Race, I think it's about time the Academy recognized the genius of culinary competition series Top Chef.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:
30 Rock - "Reunion" (NBC): Matt Hubbard
30 Rock - Apollo, Apollo" (NBC): Robert Carlock
30 Rock - "Mamma Mia" (NBC): Ron Weiner
30 Rock - "Kidney Now! (NBC): Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock
Flight Of The Conchords - "Prime Minister" (HBO): James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie

30 Rock has a near monopoly on the comedy writing awards this year and I can't say that I'm surprised. Glad that Conchords got a single nomination here, maybe it will be enough to get the boys back in the writers room for a third go-around (and maybe some more strenuous work on the music this time around), but it's 30 Rock's category to lose. Of the four, I'd love to see "Apollo, Apollo" win for Robert Carlock. I loved that episode.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series:
Lost - "The Incident" (ABC): Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof
Mad Men - "A Night To Remember" (AMC): Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "Six Month Leave" (AMC): Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "The Jet Set" (AMC): Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "Meditations In An Emergency" (AMC): Kater Gordon, Matthew Weiner

Hmm, something tells me that Mad Men is going to win this category. I thought that Cuse and Lindelof's work on Lost's "The Incident" was great but I don't think it will be enough to defeat a one-two (sorry, make that four) punch from the Mad Men writing staff. Which one, however? Not sure. They are all so profoundly beautiful, but I'll go with "Meditations in An Emergency" in a pinch.

So there you have it. Who are you rooting for to walk away with the top prize? Who got snubbed? And who do you wish the Academy would award the Emmy to? Discuss.

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards will be telecast on September 20th on CBS.

Channel Surfing: Miracle Laurie to Return for "Dollhouse" Season Two, Syfy Hunts for Next Big Space Opera, Terry Kinney Lured by "Mentalist," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon will write and direct the second season opener of the FOX drama. Meanwhile, Miracle Laurie--who played November/Mellie in Season One of Dollhouse WILL be returning for the sophomore season... in some form, anyway. "All I know for sure is that I'm coming back next season," Laurie told the Baltimore Sun. "I don't actually know in what form I'll be back. The writers are kind of teasing me…everybody knows but me." (Baltimore Sun, Twitter)

io9 speaks to Syfy vice president of original programming Mark Stern about the channel's rebrand and its promise to find the next big space opera along the lines of Battlestar Galatica or Firefly. "The next thing that I really want to do is find the next great space opera; it's been a long time," said Stern. "And we have Stargate, but that's really not that show. And Caprica isn't really that show. So where's the next Star Trek or Farscape? Let's find one of those... We don't want to do something that is the same old. You don't want it to feel recycled. So that's the challenge of doing that. I'm a huge fan of Firefly, and shows that take that idea and take that part of the genre and reinvent it in a whole new way. I'd love to find our version of, not specifically Firefly, but similar to what Joss [Whedon] tried to do with that in terms of, "lets recast the Western in space." Love that idea, and I love that show. What's another way to approach that?" (io9)

The Unusuals' Terry Kinney has been cast in Season Two of CBS' The Mentalist, where he will recur as Sam Bosco, "a by-the-book California Bureau of Investigations agent who heads up the division overseeing the Red John case." According to Entertainment Weekly's Micheal Ausiello, Bosco is an ex-lover of Lisbon (Robin Tunney) as well as her mentor and "[t]he two share a deep, dark secret!" (Entertainment Weekly's Micheal Ausiello)

In other Dollhouse-related news, The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan reports that the missing thirteen episode of Dollhouse's first season, entitled "Epitaph One," will be available for download on iTunes beginning August 11th. The episode will NOT be available via Hulu. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

CSI creator Anthony Zuiker's Dare to Pass shingle has signed a new two-year first-look deal with CBS Television Studios, under which he will develop scripted and unscripted series. "Making a one-off TV show is not going to sustain a real business anymore," said Zuiker. "It starts with a great TV show, but then becomes a 24/7 experience. It's Web, mobile, gaming. From device to device to device." (Variety)

FOX has given a script commitment with a penalty to an untitled dramedy project, from Greg Malins (How I Met Your Mother) and mystery novelist Harlan Coben, about a psychotic former private investigator with a lack of inhibitions (the result of a bullet wound to his frontal lobe) who teaches a university criminology class in Los Angeles and solves crimes with his graduate students. Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television, where Malins has an overall deal. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bravo has announced an August 26th start date for Top Chef: Las Vegas and unveiled the seventeen contestants competing for the title next season as well as the guest judges, who include such notables as Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Tyler Florence, Penn & Teller, and Nigella Lawson. (Televisionary)

Eric McCormack (Trust Me) will guest star in an upcoming episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He'll appear in next season's second episode as a handsome sugar daddy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

More off-net sales for NBC comedy 30 Rock following a deal between NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution and FOX and Tribune station groups on an all-barter basis, with the series launching in fall of 2011. 30 Rock will be "double-run six days a week in access and late-fringe time periods," with NBC Universal getting three minutes of ad time and local stations getting four minutes. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Lifetime has unveiled the identities of the contestants for Season Six of Project Runway, which makes its long-delayed debut on the cabler on August 20th following a protracted legal battle with rival cabler Bravo. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lifetime has acquired rerun rights to CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine after it closed a deal with studio Warner Bros. Television for roughly $350,000 per episode for the series as well as a barter agreement that will see the cabler hand over 90 seconds of advertiser time. Series will debut on Lifetime in fall 2010. (Variety)

BBC America has announced the US premiere date for Season Three of teen drama Skins, which will kick off on Thursday, August 6th at 9 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

NBC opted to shift its newest reality series The Great American Road Trip to Mondays at 8 pm, less than 24 hours after it launched the series. Repeats of America's Got Talent will take over the Tuesdays at 8 pm timeslot. (Futon Critic)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "30 Rock" Lands Off-Net Sale, Andrea Bowen Returns to Wisteria Lane, Producers Seek Replacement for Lynch on "Party Down," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Liz Lemon still has a lot of life left in her yet. Universal Media Studios was able to negotiate a payout of roughly $800,000 per episode of 30 Rock from two separate off-network deals to Comedy Central and WGN America. Both channels will be able to begin airing the episodes as a weeknight strip in fall of 2011. "Pound for pound, this is one of the funniest shows on TV. The DNA of the show is fabulous," said Comedy Central's SVP of programming David Bernath. "I really believe its biggest and broadest days are still ahead of it on NBC." TBS and E! were also said to have had interest in picking up the off-net rights to 30 Rock. (Variety)

Andrea Bowen is set to reprise her role as Julie when Desperate Housewives returns for a sixth season this fall but Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Bowen will be back in a major way: as a series regular, citing an unnamed insider with Desperate Housewives as a source. "Bowen vanished from Housewives at the end of season 4, a casualty of the show's four-year flash forward," writes Ausiello. "She briefly returned last season when Julie, on break from college, announced that she was dating her 40-year-old professor Lloyd (Steven Weber). It's not clear if he'll be accompanying her back home, but I'm guessing not." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Meanwhile in other Desperate Housewives news, Maiara Walsh (Cory in the House) has joined the cast of the ABC drama as a series regular, where she will reprise her role as Ana, the "gorgeous and manipulative niece" of Carlos (Ricardo Chavira), who moved in with the Solises last season. She previously appeared in the final two episodes of Desperate Housewives last season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Following news that Jane Lynch won't be returning for Season Two of Starz's comedy Party Down, E! Online's Watch with Kristin is reporting that producers are looking to cast the role of Lydia, a new series regular who can be any ethnicity other than white and at least 38 years old. In a casting call, Lydia is described as "a recently divorced stage mom who has moved out to L.A. from a small town with her daughter and is very upbeat and optimistic about breaking her daughter into the industry. As a newly single woman adrift in the big city, her thoughts are never far from the matter of reeling in a new man, but things never seem to work out. Her constant love troubles never get her down, it just means more to talk about with her Party Down colleagues..." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

FOX has pushed the launch of Season Two of Dollhouse back a week to Friday, September 25th at 9 pm ET/PT and will instead rebroadcast the season premiere of Glee on September 28th. Meanwhile, The Moment of Truth returns on Wednesday, August 5th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

Lost's producers are looking for your take on the iconic series' theme song (currently consisting of, um, one note) as part of a competition coinciding with the series' Comic-Con panel later this month in San Diego. "The Lost producers want all you musicians out there to compose and submit a Lost theme song," writes E! Online's Jennifer Godwin. "The winning entry will be premiered to 7,000 screaming fans in Hall H during Lost's Saturday panel at San Diego Comic-Con, on the fifth anniversary together of our time together as show and fandom." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

BBC One has commissioned and third and final season of drama Mistresses, which will return for a short run of four episodes in order to wrap up the series' storylines. "Mistresses: The Last Act is a final four part special event that will bring the stories of the four mistresses to a dramatic conclusion on BBC1 next year," said BBC drama commissioning controller Ben Stephenson. "Simply and elegantly book ended by a mysterious glimpse into the future, all the four women will be returning - Katie, Trudi, Siobhan and Jessica - with new and sometimes shocking stories." (Broadcastnow)

Bravo has ordered a third season of The Real Housewives of New York City, with production set to begin this fall. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that CBS will kick off CSI: Miami's eighth season with an origin story that shows how the team came together in 1997. "It's my understanding that the episode will be told from the point of view of a comatose Delko (Adam Rodriguez), who flashes back to his first murder case with the Miami-Dade PD," writes Ausiello. "Delko, of course, was critically wounded in the season finale." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lionsgate Television has forged a joint venture with Marty Adelstein and Jon Kroll's Lost Marbles that will focus on unscripted programming, specifically new reality formats that they can export to territories around the world. Under the two-year deal, Lionsgate will provide overhead and financing as well as distribution in exchange for a profit stake in any projects Lost Marbles produces. Their first project is an untitled reality series that will pit celebrities against disabled people in a variety of challenges. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Deal Breaker!: Liz Finally Gets Hers on the Season Finale of "30 Rock"

Last night's season finale of 30 Rock ("Kidney Now") featured a host of celebrity cameos, including Sheryl Crow, the Beastie Boys, Mary J Blige, Elvis Costello, Clay Aiken, Adam Levine, Cindi Lauper, Michael Stipe, and a ton of others.

But, if I'm being honest, the real joy of the episode, written by Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock, wasn't seeing an impressive batch of musical talent performing a hilarious benefit song for Kidney Now but seeing Jack Donaghy playing catch with his father Milton (played with relish by Alan Alda).

And while Jack wasn't ultimately a match for the kidney that Milton desperately needs to survive, partially so he can finish that three-volume biography of Jimmy Carter, I do hope that Alda's Milton returns next season. I love seeing Jack alternately child-like and suspicious around his biological father and it would be fantastic to see Alda on a more regular basis.

Meanwhile, I loved how Liz's story--with her new found fame for the "Deal Breaker" lady sketches skewering the trajectory of the phrase "he's just not that into you"--propelled her to superstardom, landing her a spot on a raucous daily talk show and a book deal. That Liz is completely unqualified to give out relationship advice (and only screws up both Pete and Tracy's relationships with their wives) is precisely the point. She's a writer and her own romantic relationships have been disasters on par with the Hindenburg.

What else did I love about last night's gleeful season finale? Liz's biology-related song about kidneys, brains, and colons; Jenna's murderous half-sister Courtney; Leo Spaceman's insistence that he would remember to do the opposite of what was on those medical forms; "You have sexually transmitted crazy mouth!"; Liz's insistence that bisexuality was something "invented in the 90s to sell hair products"; Tracy's crying montage; the aforementioned game of catch; Steven Killer; Jack telling Liz that TGS has maybe two more years left and invoking Wings; Tracy's promise to the graduating class of his alma mater that they would all become president of the United States one day; Sheryl Crow and Adam Levine's European alter egos; Rainstorm Katrina. (Really, the list goes on and on.)

Best line of the evening: "A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show." - Milton (Go, MASH series finale shout-out!)

All in all, "Kidney Now" was a fantastic ender to another wonderful season of 30 Rock, television's best comedy. Or as Liz might say, "We sure had quite a year." Yes, Liz, we did.

30 Rock returns for a fourth season this fall on NBC.

Channel Surfing: ABC Orders "Flash Forward," J.J. Abrams Teases "Fringe" Season Finale, Michael Trucco Shares "The Plan," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

In a move that surprised no one (given the on-air viral campaign), ABC has given a series order to sci-fi drama Flash Forward, based on Robert Sawyer's novel. Series, executive produced by David Goyer, Brannon Braga, Marc Guggenheim, Vince Gerardis, Jessika Goyer, and Ralph Vicinanza, will star Joseph Fiennes, Jack Davenport, Sonya Walger, Courtney B. Vance, John Cho, Zachary Knightton, Peyton List, Brian O'Byrne, and Christine Woods. Guggenheim and Goyer will serve as showrunners on the series, which is rumored to be launching this fall. (Variety)

Excited about tomorrow night's season finale of FOX's Fringe? Series co-creator J.J. Abrams promises that the season finale will feature "a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm of the show in a very cool way." Abrams also promises that Season Two will have less exposition upfront. "There’s nothing more crazy than having that sort of massive chuck of exposition thrown at you in the story," said Abrams. "Sometimes the desire of producers/writers/network/studio is to provide clarity ... those kind of monologues of exposition don’t help anyone ... [actor Lance Reddick] delivers them beautifully, but any actor tasked with catching people up deserves a drink at the end of the day." (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

SCI FI Wire talks to Battlestar Galactica's Michael Trucco about the upcoming BSG telepic The Plan, in which he'll co-star along with Dean Stockwell and several other members from the BSG cast. "Whereas Caprica is a true prequel, 50 years before the beginning of Battlestar Galactica, The Plan is less a coda: It doesn't extend the story beyond what we saw in the finale," said Trucco. "It actually picks up the story between Season One and Season Two. It's actually prequel to the entrance of Anders, my character, and Cavil, Dean Stockwell's character. The movie is told from that perspective... it was like being in a time machine; it was amazing. It was like, we did this in Season Two, and here we are going back to that moment in time, and it was a really interesting experience. That was when I first started on the show, so, yeah, you had to kind of erase all the baggage that came with Anders through the finale and start to put myself in the space of Anders the human that I started with, this character that I thought I knew before this big reveal that he's a Cylon. I had to put myself back in that frame of mind." (SCI FI Wire)

Wondering if all of 30 Rock's product mentions in last week's episode ("Mamma Mia") were in fact product placement? Think again. According to the network, the story line was "completely organic" and the product mentions--including that of Universal feature film Mamma Mia--were part of the script and selected by the writers themselves in what amounts to a another McFlurry moment for the series. "The show had written that story line all on its own,” said NBC spokesperson Liz Fischer, “the promotion department had always planned to run a Mamma Mia spot prior to Mother’s Day." (New York Times)

Several bubble series are looking good for renewal, including ABC's Better Off Ted, which is said to be "looking good to return," while Ghost Whisperer scored a renewal at CBS, ABC is said to be high on renewing Scrubs for another season, and CBS is thought likely to bring back Cold Case next season. (Variety)

Nikki Finke takes a look at several potential series projects at CBS, indicating that the untitled NCIS spin-off and Julianna Margulies-led legal drama The Good Wife are locks for the schedule this fall. Also potentially in play are U.S. Attorney and Three Rivers and comedies Accidentally on Purpose, Happiness Isn't Everything, and Waiting to Die. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Casting roundup: Misha Collins has been bumped to regular status on next season's Supernatural, after recurring in twelve episodes this season. Eddie Kaye Thomas ('Til Death) has joined the cast of HBO's How to Make It in America, where he will star opposite Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk; he'll play a wealthy hedge fund manager who went to high school with Ben (Greenberg). And Stephen Dunham (What I Like About You) has been cast in TBS comedy The Bill Engvall Show, where he will recur as Engvall's brother Kenny, a "likable ne'er-do-well who gets by on his charm," and could become a series regular down the road. (Hollywood Reporter)

Neil Gaiman has denied rumors that inbound showrunner Steven Moffat has asked him write a script for Doctor Who's upcoming fifth season and has an update about a possible Sandman series at HBO. "The last thing that I heard was that HBO wanted to do an ongoing, great big Sandman overarching HBO TV series, which would make sense because they're part of the Time Warner empire and Sandman cannot leave Time Warner," said Gaiman. "Whether or not that will ever happen I do not know, because it would involve HBO making a deal with DC [Comics] which they may or may not be capable of doing. The truth is they are things in my life that I do not own, that I've created but do not own and do not control. What gets really frustrating is people assume that I do and they assume I'm consulted and can say yes or no to things - which of course I can't." (Digital Spy)

The Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez takes a look at just what it means when series are said to be "on the bubble" and talks to a member of the 225-strong crew of CBS' The Unit, all of whom are awaiting their fate as CBS weighs whether or not to pick up the 20th Century Fox Television-produced series for another season. "If drama is life heightened, then Hollywood's bubble shows mirror much of America right now, where the specter of pay reductions, freezes and immediate unemployment is writ large," writes Fernandez. "In the television industry, the phenomenon is an annual rite as network executives decide which series will be ditched to make room for new projects." (Los Angeles Times)

Amid the efforts to reduce budgets on ongoing television series, many studios have cut the number of writers on staff, with more experienced writers (who earn a heftier pay check) more likely to be cut than their lower-paid counterparts. "Industry sources say studios producing skeins for Big Four nets are pushing for cuts of as much as 10%-15% in the writing budget for returning series, while new shows will start out with smaller staffs than first-year shows in recent seasons," writes Variety's Cynthia Littleton. "Where skeins once had as many as 10-12 writers, not including the showrunner(s), the new norm is becoming six to eight." Freshman drama series Southland, recently renewed for a second season, only has four writers and isn't expected to add any scribes next season. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that producers on NBC's Heroes are looking to cast a hearing-impaired actress in her twenties to play the love interest for one of the main characters in Season Four. The as-yet-unnamed character will be introduced in next season's fourth episode. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has ordered six episodes of an untitled unscripted series with Jamie Oliver and executive producer Ryan Seacrest that is said to be loosely based on Oliver's 2005 television series Jamie's School Dinners (which aired in the US as Jamie's School Lunches), in which Oliver would travel to the unhealthiest towns in America and work with locals to devise ways to improve diet habits. The series is expected to air sometime in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast's G4 is spinning off long-running franchise The Soup into Web Soup, hosted by Chris Hardwick and launching June 7th. Series, which will air Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT, will focus on digital culture and Internet content and will be executive produced by the team behind The Soup, including executive producers K.P. Anderson, Boyd Vico, Edward Boyd, and Brad Stevens. (Variety)

Executive producers/showrunners Ed Yeager and Ric Swartzlander have departed from CBS' freshman comedy Gary Unmarried after creative differences with the network. Rumors are swirling that Ira Ungerleider and Rob Des Hotel will be promoted to to showrunners on the ABC Studios/CBS Paramount Network Television series, which would then be renewed for a second season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Fox Television Studios has hired Slater/Brooksband as a casting consultant for the News Corp division, with Mary Jo Slater and Steve Brooksband providing casting services on FTVS' scripted programming, including international co-productions. (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times' Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James take a look at the issues facing Internet juggernaut Hulu, including cable and satellite operators who are decidedly nervous about losing control over cable programming. In response, several cable series--such as full seasons of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and USA's Psych--have been yanked from Hulu, despite the fact that they are both produced by Hulu partner studios. The site is also said to be looking into authentication: namely that viewers would have to prove that they are cable subscribers in order to access cable programming on the site. (Los Angeles Times)

Versus has ordered weekly series Fanarchy, in which seven fans will get the chance to get on their soapboxes about current sports topics via webcam in a "frenzied back-and-forth format" that will see two contestants eliminated each episode and replaced by new fans the following week. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What the Frak?: Strawberry Allergies, Lion Tattoos, and Murderous Rampages on "30 Rock"

Call me a complete and utter geek but I was totally over the moon when Salma Hayek's Elisa stormed into Jack's office wearing a Battlestar Galactica "What the Frak?" t-shirt.

Sure, it was a blatant case of cross-promotional product placement (The Sheinhardt Wig Company--excuse me, NBC Universal--also owns Sci Fi and produces BSG via its Universal Media Studios unit) but it was so absurd, so completely random within the fictional universe of 30 Rock that it caused both me and Elisa's would-be fiance Jack Donaghy to pause. It was in a word: awesome.

On this week's episode of 30 Rock ("The Ones"), written by Jack Burditt, Jack contemplated marriage to his Puerto Rican girlfriend Elisa (Hayek), even as he learned that she harbored a dark secret from her past; Jenna fell for an attractive EMT who leaves before she can get his number, leading her to attempt to send Kenneth into "acute strawberry shock" by repeatedly poisoning him; Liz discovered the joys of the "slanket"; and Tracy debated getting a tattoo of his wife Angie's angry face on his chest.

(Seriously, what other series could have those storylines in their logline, I ask you?)

Coming on the heels of last week's extraordinarily strong "Jackie Jormp-Jomp," this week's episode was another virtuoso performance from the cast and crew of 30 Rock, turning in a hysterical installment that had me rolling on the floor. (I believe that I might have to keep these last two episodes on my TiVo to cheer me up if I'm ever blue.)

There was a beautiful symmetry in the storylines between Jack and Tracy and writer Jack Burditt seamlessly had the two plots overlap halfway through the episode, in a scene where Tracy reveals that, for all of his talk, he hasn't ever cheated on Angie during twenty years of marriage... leading Jack to decide he does want to marry Elisa and can commit to being faithful to her. (Which is good, because she killed her last husband who stepped out for some extramarital activities.)

Tracy's admission was a nice surprise from a character whose main role on the series is to shock and provoke, often saying illogical or nonsensical gobbledygook or throwing some diva-like tantrums. That it was juxtaposed with Tracy getting a tattoo on his back that conflated his wife's image with a lion named Tangiers was just the icing on the cake. It's the bizarro moments like these, skillfully planted and payed off, that make 30 Rock such a pleasure to watch week after week.

What else did I love about this week's episode? Kenneth' saying "My real name is Dick Whitman," a hilarious shout-out to Mad Men's pseudonymous Don Draper; Elisa's aforementioned "What the Frak?" t-shirt; the fake engagement ring showroom at Cartier, Kenneth and Jenna's un-PC conversation about girls in math class and Filipinos; the Pranksmen; Tracy thinking about getting Angie a "denim jacket that says Hot Bitch in diamonds"; Liz's consistent use of "Puerto Rican" every time she sees Elisa; Jenna's EMT admirer not being gay or bi-curious; quesadilla meat; Tracy giving out Brian Williams' home number to ladies; Jenna failing Pete's sociopath test; UGC site Wiggo.com's users only posting penises on it; Jenna singing to get Pete's attention; Liz's grandfather being involved with the Kent State massacre; Liz liking the slanket and saying that it's "not product placement." (Really, I could go on and on.)

Best line of the evening: a tie between Kenneth's "My real name is Dick Whitman," Liz's "Elisa has a terrible secret! My current theory is she’s the mother of those Michael Jackson kids!" and Jenna's "So there are different shifts, like on a sheik's pleasure yacht!"

All in all, "The Ones" was a fantastic episode overflowing with hilarious quotables, pop culture references, and some great character moments. It's likely one that I'll be watching again and again... and again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to try to have this lion tattoo lasered off of my back.

On the next 30 Rock ("The Natural Order"), Liz reprimands Tracy in front of the "TGS" staff and he decides to start acting like a professional but demands that Liz also give up some privileges; Jack's mother Colleen (guest star Elaine Stritch) reveals unpleasant memories about Jack's father leaving the family; Jenna adopts a pet gibbon and learns that motherhood is difficult.

Channel Surfing: Gillian Anderson Tackling "Doctor Who," USA Books "White Collar," Kaley Cuoco Not Checking In to "Grey's Anatomy," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Former X-Files star Gillian Anderson is said to be in talks to guest star in an episode of Doctor Who, set to air on BBC One next year, opposite the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith. Anderson would play "the renegade Time Lady, The Rani, a glamorous but evil scientific genius previously played in the series by Kate O'Mara in the 80s," who is an archenemy of the Doctor. "Gillian obviously has a massive sci-fi following following and it's felt it would be a major coup to have her appear in Doctor Who," an anonymous source told The Daily Express. "The team behind the show are keen for the next Doctor to have lots of new enemies and Gillian would be a glamorous and impressive addition to the list. The Rani would be a perfect role for her as the character used to be regarded as one of the Doctor's most deadly opponents." (Daily Telegraph)

USA has ordered drama White Collar, starring Matthew Bomer (Chuck), Tim DeKay (Carnivale), Tiffani Thiessen (Fastlane), and Wille Garson (Sex and the City), to series, ordering 13 one-hour installments in addition to its 90-minute pilot. Bomer will play a professional thief who breaks out of prison and is forced to work with the FBI to track down criminals who have eluded capture. No official launch date has been announced but it's believed that White Collar will kick off this fall. (Variety)

The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco will now not be appearing on the season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy after all, due to a publicity commitment. A Big Bang Theory spokesperson announced yesterday that "due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts on behalf of The Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco regrettably will be unable to guest star on the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Kaley is a big fan of Grey’s Anatomy and hopes to work with them in the future." Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello did some more digging and learned that it was CBS who axed Cuoco's guest turn on Grey's. "An Eye spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment, but as one insider explains, 'They didn't want one of their biggest stars appearing on one of ABC's biggest shows.'" Meanwhile, Shannon Lucio (The O.C.) will replace Cuoco on the May 14th season finale of Grey's Anatomy. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot will now no longer have Justin Adler. The writer/executive producer of the untitled multi-camera pilot, produced by Tannenbaum Co. and Sony Pictures Television, has left the project ahead of next week's reshoots. Moses Port and David Guarascio have been tapped to replace Adler on the pilot, which is being directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC announced early pick-ups for the 2009-10 season of dramas Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, and Ugly Betty, as well as reality series America's Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, and Wife Swap. (Televisionary)

The Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez takes a look at the promotional machine in place for the launch of FOX's Glee, which will air its pilot next month before officially bowing in the fall. FOX will make the pilot episode available for sale this summer on iTunes and will air a different version of the opening installment this fall. "From Day One, I've had so much support from the studio and network," said creator Ryan Murphy. "I think they are all wanting to break out of the box: What is network television? What can it be? Every once in a while, something comes along that's just different. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think we're all on the same page that it's great to attempt it. The scripts are written as though the kids are underdogs and I tell the actors all the time, this show feels like an underdog." (Los Angeles Times)

Casting updates: Jane Lynch (Party Down) has been promoted to a series regular on FOX's Glee, where she plays caustic cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester; Austin Nichols (The Informers) has been bumped up to series regular on the CW drama One Tree Hill; and Eddie Jemison (Waitress) has been made a series regular on HBO comedy Hung, which will also see the addition of Alanna Ubach (Eli Stone) to the cast as recurring. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC America has announced the return of Primeval to its schedule, which will see the launch of Season Three on May 14th. Unfortunately, the network has also bumped Season Two of Life on Mars spin-off Ashes to Ashes, meant to launch next Saturday, off the schedule for the foreseeable future to make room for Primeval. Ashes to Ashes is now expected to return later this year. (Televisionary)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a first look at the musical guest stars turning up on the May 14th season finale of NBC's 30 Rock, which will feature such guests as Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Clay Aiken, Adam Levine, and Rhett Miller. And Alan Alda will also guest star in the episode, which sees the return of Chris Parnell's Dr. Leo Spaceman. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Look for some last-minute scheduling changes next week as sweeps kicks off and President Obama has asked the networks for airtime on Wednesday. The broadcast networks have yet to agree to the request (though it's believed they all will) and will likely have to shift some programming around to accomodate President Obama's news conference. (TV Week)

Filmmaker Pedro Almodovar will oversee a television adaptation of his 1988 feature film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Fox Television Studios. Almodovar will executive produce along with Mimi Schmir (Grey's Anatomy), who will write the pilot script, which she says will be "a suburban drama about a group of women who have known each other for a long time, perhaps from college, who are in the middle of their lives and looking at the second half of their lives." Project will be developed for the international market and could end up being a co-production a la the studio's own Mental, Defying Gravity, and Persons Unknown. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stephen Baldwin has joined the cast of NBC's upcoming reality competition series I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, along with Janice Dickinson, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, and Sanjaya Malakar, among others. Meanwhile, disgraced former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich will also fly to Los Angeles to participate in today's NBC press day, saying "Perhaps I can play some other role in the show." (TV Week)

Meanwhile, the series' producers, Granada America, have signed a deal with MTV to repurpose episodes of NBC's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, in a second window on MTV, though the cabler will also play a role in determining creative for the series and will cross-promote the NBC broadcasts. NBC plans to air the episodes four nights a week beginning June 1st, while MTV will offer a marathon of the previous week's episodes on Sundays starting June 7th. (Variety)

HBO's Jada Miranda and Mike Garcia have left their development posts at the pay cabler. Miranda will remain at the network as a producer with a multiple-year development deal and will join the staff of upcoming comedy How to Make It in America as an executive producer, while Garcia will leave to pursue other opportunities. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former FOX business affairs/alternative production executive Donna Redier Link has been hired as the COO, a newly created position, at Fremantle North America, where she will report to Cecile Frot-Coutaz. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Cutbacks: Liz Has a Few Trix Up Her Sleeve on "30 Rock"

Comedy, when it works best, holds up a cracked mirror to our own society.

Last night's episode of 30 Rock ("Cutbacks"), written by Matt Hubbard, focused on the slew of budget cuts and staff reductions that are plaguing many a company around the country right now. After profits for NBC parent company Sheinhardt Wigs plummet, they call in an outside consulting firm to trim the fat. Meanwhile, Jack is forced to get rid of sycophantic assistant Jonathan and replace him with Kenneth the Page (while still making him do his page duties) and Jenna and Tracy become convinced that Kenneth is a serial killer.

While last night's episode might not go down as the most memorable episode in the history of 30 Rock, it did offer more than a few side-splitting moments and some great scenes between Jack and Liz, whom I love best when their storylines intersect, as they did here. I was glad to see that Liz was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that her staff and crew were unaffected by the budget cuts. Even if that meant putting on a song and dance for consultant Brad (guest star Roger Bart) and sexing him up a little in order to ensure her crew's safety. Which--in true Liz Lemon fashion--didn't quite turn out the way she anticipated.

But, sure enough, Jack was able in the end to clean up Liz's mess by giving her an unpaid two-week suspension from TGS (ahem) for her inappropriate behavior and taking over as overseer of her budget. (Is it just me or is Jack the very best boss ever?)

Meanwhile, I loved having Kenneth take over as Jonathan's replacement on Jack's desk. The little things--the way he waved his hand over his face to transition to/from being Kenneth the Page to Kenneth, Jack's assistant--was hysterical as was his insistence that a deal for free Showtime on cable was grounds for interrupting a meeting.

The Jenna/Tracy storyline in which they believed Kenneth was a murderer could have been run-of-the-mill but I found it absolutely hilarious this week. (Even though I find it hard to believe that series star Tracy would really go to Kenneth's apartment.) I love when Jenna and Tracy are paired together as they have a fantastically manic energy and a biting competitiveness. I never imagined that Kenneth's bedroom actually contained a bug-bomb or that they would end up killing Kenneth's beloved 60-year-old bird. Or that these two would be clueless enough to make it up to him by filling his apartment with uncaged doves.

What else did I love? The crew gifts of decorative air holders; Jonathan singing to Jack as he packed his stuff (although I am hoping that he'll be back); Liz's TGS presentation to Brad which ended with the entire cast appearing and confetti falling from the ceiling; the repetition of The Pelican Brief throughout; the "groovy" Boombox Division being behind the times; Liz's come-on to Brad about how "hot" he looks "in those trousers"; the sluttily made-over Liz; the poor elderly announcer's intros; Lorne, Michael; the "Death of Comedy" Emmy magazine cover; Liz offering Brad use of the "top-front" of her body; the Trix falling out of Liz's sleeve; the Telemundo studio in the writers' room; the rolled up towel under Kenneth's bedroom door; the reason behind the straw budget (ick); Jack admitting that one fired employee managed to get his belt off of him; and the return of the overweight would-be transsexual HR rep.

Best line of the evening: ""Good Lord, Lemon! Top-front is your worst quadrant." - Jack

All in all, last night's episode of 30 Rock was a fantastic diversion from our own current economic woes, even as it offered a nice satire on corporate cutbacks, the ability to read facial cues, and, well, "top-front" interactions in the workplace.

Next week on 30 Rock ("Jackie Jormp-Jomp"), Liz discovers she is lost without "TGS" while completing her suspension from work and misses all the stress that comes with the job; Jack tasks Jenna with creating some promotional buzz using her celebrity status when the studio has second thoughts about releasing Jenna's Janis Joplin biopic film.

Superman Chests and Merkins of Hope: Liz Pops Drew's Bubble on "30 Rock"

It's funny how the handsome can sometimes literally get away with murder. Just look at 30 Rock's Dr. Drew Baird (guest star Jon Hamm): because he looks like a cartoon pilot, he can be a tennis pro, order off the menu items at restaurants, and convince surly traffic cops to tear up tickets with abandon.

For Liz Lemon, it's the gateway to another world she's never experienced, one in which she's treated with the respect and reflected glory of the truly beautiful... and she quickly learns that Drew's looks cover a multitude of sins. Including the fact that he's a doctor who doesn't know the Heimlich maneuver. (Probably a necessary skill when you're around Liz that often.)

On this week's episode of 30 Rock ("The Bubble"), written by Tina Fey, Liz saw the truth behind the gorgeous facade and learned that Drew was actually pretty bad at everything, from tennis to cooking (Gatorade and salmon, anyone?), and just about everything in between. But because he's so attractive, he manages to glide through life rather effortlessly, unaware of the bubble he's nestled in.

And if there's one person willing to pop anyone's bubble it's our beloved Liz Lemon.

I thought that the breakup between Liz and Drew was handled really well this week. I was worried that Jon Hamm's three-episode story arc would end amid some sort of misunderstanding between the two (more so than Liz drugging him and going through his mail in his first appearance) rather than in the hilarious realization that Hamm's Drew Baird is sort of a loser in sheep clothing.

Yes, he cared about Liz and she was able to take advantage of his good looks to, well, accomplish anything she wanted to. But it wasn't real and Liz couldn't go through life always letting Drew win at tennis and getting a table at Plunder or a seat at Barney Greengrass just because she was with some good-looking guy. Besides for the fact that Drew was a real sore loser when she kicked his butt in tennis. And he shook her to try to extract the food caught in her windpipe... as he reached for a fireplace match.

Shudder. Jack did warn Liz about popping the bubble, however, which could have disastrous consequences: "Be careful, Lemon. You wake a sleep walker, you risk getting urinated on." (Sage advice really for anyone.) Jack should know about The Bubble: he lived it in when he was much younger, showing Liz a laminated photograph of himself at age 25, with a "Superman" chest and eyes much bluer than they are today.

Meanwhile, Jack tried to renegotiate Tracy's contract and made the mistake of telling him that, due to the overwhelming success of his porn video game, he no longer needs to work... leading to a standoff between Jack and Tracy with Kenneth caught in the middle. I absolutely loved how Jack figured out that the one thing Tracy needed more than anything else was Kenneth and how Kenneth posed as British page Cranston in order to block Tracy's round-the-clock access to him.

And Jenna went on the Today Show to have her hair cut off as a publicity stunt. But, this being Jenna, she was turned down by Locks of Love and instead will donate her follicles to--guffaw--Merkins of Love. It was a small C-story but a funny one nonetheless, if only because it made me suddenly remember what a merkin was. (Thank you very much, Sex and the City.)

What worked for me this week? Liz's White Haven P.E. t-shirt; the cameo by faux NYC hotspot Plunder; Kenneth starting to dream as Cranston; Tracy's hilariously aggressive son Tracy Jr. (and the silent George Foreman); Kenneth asking Liz if her comment about going to "duck uptown and have lunch with my boyfriend" was really "code for some older woman medical procedure"; Tracy's definition of binky and his distracting thoughts about why we eat birds; Calvin Klein stopping Drew on the street and asking him to be his next underwear model; Liz's over the top eye roll; Jenna being on Page Six... of her publicist's emails and the Jenna vs. Miss Piggy side-by-side photos; Jack's Billy Dee Williams impression; Tracy Jr.'s lunch of mayonnaise and cigarettes; Drew careening off into traffic on his motorcycle.

Best line of the evening: "Tonight, I have to ride my bike over to his house in New Jersey to hold his hand during Lost." - Kenneth

All in all, a hysterical installment that brought the funny and ended Liz and Drew's relationship with flair and memorable wit. In fact, all that's left to say is "Ffffghgg csdlkf gekjl." Pardon my French.

Next week on 30 Rock ("Apollo, Apollo"), Jack plans the perfect 50th birthday party for himself and is inspired to recreate one of the happiest moments he had as a young boy after watching some home movies; Dennis (guest star Dean Winters) returns and comes clean to Liz about an addiction, which leads to some drama between Liz and Jenna; Kenneth and Pete team up to make Tracy's childhood dream come true.

The Splendor of My Beginning: Things Go Up in Flames on "30 Rock"

Here comes the funcooker...

Was it just me or was last night's episode of 30 Rock ("The Funcooker"), written by Donald Glover and Tom Ceraulo and directed by Ken Whittingham, absolutely hysterical?

Perhaps it was the fact that each of the four storylines this week didn't compete for attention but earned it by remaining distinctly hilarious while also managing to intertwine in a delightful way. Much like the ham setting on the new Funcooker, in fact.

While Liz found herself assigned to an arson trial (despite her Princess Leia costume, issues of Playgirl from the early 1980s, and her excuse of being a hologram), Jack attempted to find a suitable name for his portable microwave oven, Jenna participated in a risky clinical drug trial for an anti-sleep medication, and Tracy discovered he could say whatever he wanted on television as long as he could pay the fines... and ended up becoming one of NBC's main advertisers in the process.

It was a series of plots that could have only worked on a series as deliciously loopy as 30 Rock. And much of the credit for this highly memorable episode has to go to guest star Jackie Hoffman (Kissing Jessica Stein) whose hilarious portrayal of arsonist Rochelle Gaulke sparked a sense of kinship within our own frustrated fire bug Liz Lemon... who considered burning TGS to the ground and ended up starting a fire that made all of her staffers absolutely terrified of her. It was a tiny part that could have faded into the background but Hoffman's deadpan delivery of her testiomony and her brittle charm made this one-off character instantly unforgettable.

What else did I love? Kenneth's signs and proclamations about menstruating women and men with mustaches and beards being barred from the workplace; Jack turning to Scrabble letters for a name for his product and coming up with either vagina or Hitler; the BiteNuker; Josh offering to make t-shirts for the new members of the microwave division; Professor Bananas; the freaks in the jury selection pool at the arson trial; Frankie Muniz, Katherine Heigl, and Raven Symone appearing on the cover of Dr. Spaceman's So You’re Simultaneously Doing a Movie and a TV Show! pamphlet; Tracy's excitement at making Martha Stewart Live as "raunchy" as possible; both Jack and Liz telling a silent Lutz to shut up; Robot-Bear Talk Show sketch (and how easily Jack was able to pitch an entire TGS episode of sketches); Hot Richard; Jenna's vision narrowing as the "darkness" closes in around her; Frank repeatedly removing his pants; Tracy's request for "Diet Slice and some pita chips" after everything that had happened; Liz changing her mind about it being the worst day ever when she discovers the Funcooker can heat up ham in the shower. (Really, the list just goes on and on.)

Best line of the evening: "Most of the time has been spent focused on coming up with a hip, edgy name for the product. Something that will appear to the marketing Holy Trinity: college students, the morbidly obese, and homosexuals." - Jack

What did you think of this week's episode? Will it stand the test of time as one of the funniest installments of 30 Rock? Discuss.

Next week on 30 Rock ("The Bubble"), Liz discovers that the good looks of her new boyfriend Drew (guest star Jon Hamm) have allowed him to escape many of life's usual frustrations; Jack tries to convince Tracy to stay on at TGS after his contract expires; Jenna considers getting a new hairstyle to attract public attention.

Cobwebs on Rainbows: A Creaky "30 Rock" Fails to Shine

I can always tell when an episode of 30 Rock has been written by a relative newcomer to the series.

Last night's episode of 30 Rock ("Goodbye, My Friend") was written by supervising producer Ron Weiner, who previously wrote two other 30 Rock episodes, "Senor Macho Solo" and "Secrets and Lies." While I enjoyed "Senor Macho Solo," neither of those episodes will go down in history as the very best of 30 Rock to date and last night's installment just lacked that requisite spark of madness/genius that the very best episodes have in abundance. While I did laugh at certain points, it felt pretty flat overall and the series sadly squandered a potentially hilarious appearance from John Lithgow.

This week's episode juggled three plots which competed with one another for supremacy: Liz befriended a pregnant doughnut shop employee in an effort to adopt her baby; Jack pushed Frank to pursue his dreams of becoming a lawyer; and Jenna seethed with jealousy when her birthday party was overtaken by Tracy, who had never celebrated a birthday before.

I felt like the first two storylines could have been both hilarious and poignant yet neither plot went far enough to warrant their respective endings. I loved the use of Harry and the Hendersons (seriously, what other series would offer a shout-out to that film?) as a motivator for why Jack would have to push Frank back into the woods of the TGS writers room rather than inspire him to practice law. That and the fact that Frank's mother (played by guest star Patti LuPone) revealed that being a mob lawyer was a bit of a family tradition and didn't want Frank going down that road. Cleaned up Frank was fantastic but I don't feel like the episode utilized him enough: I wanted to see him actually hanging out with Jack and being taken under Jack's wing as a new mentee. As for Lithgow wandering in at the end? Didn't need that at all and it wasn't enough of a button to the episode to waste a Lithgow cameo like that.

Meanwhile, I had nearly forgotten that Liz even wanted a baby since that subplot seemed to drop by the wayside a while back... so it was a little odd that Liz suddenly seemed so baby-crazy again (especially as her relationship with Drew Baird didn't seem to be involved in any way) that she was targeting the unwed pregnant teen at her doughnut haunt. While I loved the brutal way that Liz confronted Tim in the elevator bank (even slamming him against the wall), I don't think that this storyline took things far enough either: I wanted to see Liz really ingratiate herself into Becca's life, even perhaps ruining her chances with Tim, and then finally pulling herself back from the brink of soul-annihilation by bringing the two together herself. Which would have been a nicer touch, I think.

As for the Jenny/Tracy storyline, I feel like we've seen this particular scenario play out a thousand times already on the series... and typically in a much funnier fashion than this. Jenna acting over the top jealous gets real old real fast and I wish that the writers had come up with something more interesting and humorous than recycling this old rivalry. Hell, remember when they embarked on their social experiment to see who had it worse? This minor feud pales in comparison to that storyline, which took their relationship into new territory. Here, it just felt like they were treading water with the duo and shoved them into a tired subplot that went nowhere.

So, what little moments did work for me in "Goodbye, My Friend"? The hiring of Becca as TGS' new "youth consultant" and her immediate thumbs-down for Lutz; the surprising use of Harry and the Hendersons footage; Tracy's creation of a cheese friend named Daniel; Jenna's constant sympathy-inducing cry for help that her voice coach died; Lutz admitting that his father tells people he died; Frank's lasagna candles; Donaghy meaning "dung basket" in Gaelic; Patti LuPone as Frank's Italian momma Sylvia; Frank and Jack's shared dream of being overpowered by a female bodybuilder; Tracy's birthday wishes involving breakfast in bed, Robocop, and the painting elephant.

What did you think of this week's episode? Did you feel like it seemed like an off episode of the usually brilliant series? Discuss.

Next week on 30 Rock ("The Funcooker"), Liz discovers that she can't scheme her way out of jury duty, leaving the cast and crew to fend for themselves; Tracy and Jenna begin to act irresponsibly; Jack becomes obsessed with launching a lucrative new product.

NGS Fridays at C30 on TB10: Tracy Causes Confusion, Fear, and Fondness for "Teen Wolf" on "30 Rock"

I may have to take the X train to Zorgonia Avenue Station.

Just a few quick thoughts the morning after the latest episode of 30 Rock ("Jalisa"), previously known as "Larry King," in which Liz and Kenneth attempt to retrieve her lost mobile phone (with a saucy "adult" photo of Liz on it) from a cab driver in Queens, Jack and Elisa try to take their relationship to the next level, and Tracy causes pandemonium in Manhattan when he speaks about the Asian market crash on Larry King's eponymous CNN talk show.

While this week's episode didn't feature any of Jon Hamm's Drew Baird, he was an integral part of the plot nonetheless as the "boobies picture" he snapped of our Liz Lemon on her phone lead to a standoff with a extortion-ready Queens cab driver who didn't quite understand the point of "opposite day." I loved the fact that only Kenneth was willing to accompany her to Queens but wanted her to actually call him her "friend" out loud as traveling outside of Manhattan on official page business was verboten... and Liz returned the favor by lying to Kenneth about the real reason she wanted the phone back, making up an elaborate story about Nana Lemon, Nena's "99 Luftballons," and her birthday.

What else did I love? Kenneth getting tagged; Liz getting her purse snatched by a gang of unruly pre-schoolers; the guys tearing up the TGS offices looking for Tracy's secret treasure... and Kenneth realizing that he is the answer to Tracy's riddle; Pete getting confused for Peter Frampton; Jonathan's video of himself bare-chested and playing the flute; Don Geiss' prescient warning to "avoid the noid" on his video to GE executives; the return of Jorgensen; Elisa's present of a caricature of herself on a skateboard to Jack; Kenneth inviting Liz to an "asbestos removal" party at his apartment; Geiss having a "manstress" as well as a mistress; Tracy recounting the entire plot of Teen Wolf to an incredulous Larry King; his recounting of his casting in Rush Hour and how he was replaced by Jackie Chan; his warning about how "your Lexus is going to turn back into a pile of hot rats fighting over a human finger." Basically anything involving Tracy this week, really.

Best lines of the evening:

"Adult? You mean like you’re driving a car or wearing a suit?" - Kenneth to Liz, attempting to define "adult picture."

"Capitalism is ending. Either because of the Soviets or something crazy like a woman president." - Don Geiss

Next week on 30 Rock ("Goodbye, My Friend"), Liz befriends a pregnant teenage doughnut shop employee, in an effort to adopt her baby; Jenna demands more attention from the TGS staff as her birthday approaches; Jack bonds with Frank over their shared issues with their fathers on a night out with the guys.

Channel Surfing: Tina Fey Responds to McFlurryGate, "NCIS" Spinoff Nabs Three Leads, Pilot News, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

30 Rock creator/star/writer/executive producer Tina Fey has set the record straight about the series' alleged product placement in last week's episode, in which Jack and Elisa (Salma Hayek) declared their love for McDonald's McFlurry as "the best dessert in the world." Fey says that the segment was NOT an example of product placement.

“It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the references to McDonald's in last night's episode of 30 Rock were in no way product placement. (Nor were they an attempt at product placement that fell through.)" said Fey in a statement. "We received no money from the McDonald's Corporation. We were actually a little worried they might sue us. That's just the kind of revenue-generating masterminds we are. Also, the upcoming story line where Liz Lemon starts dating Grimace is just based on a recurring dream I have. Seriously, though, it's not product placement. Also, whoever is writing my Twitter account is pretty funny, but it's not me.” (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

CBS has secured three leads for its untitled NCIS spinoff. Louise Lombard (CSI), Peter Cambor (Notes from the Underbelly), and Daniela Ruah (Midnight Passion) will star opposite Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J in the planned spinoff, which will air as an episode of CBS' NCIS later this season. Lombard will play female lead Clara, a former military police major; Cambor will play "quick-witted" Nate, an operational psychologist; Ruah will play a young forensic investigator. (Hollywood Reporter)

Alexis Dziena (Invasion) will join the cast of HBO's Entourage, where she'll play "Ashley, a beautiful, funny, smart, grounded, self-assured, non-Hollywood-type who, to everyone's great surprise, develops an interest in Eric." But there's allegedly a catch and/or a twist to this relationship. Any theories? (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has given a director-contingent pilot order to comedy Funny in Farsi, based on Firoozeh Dumas' novel about growing up as an Iranian immigrant in 1970s Orange County. Project, from ABC Studios, will be written/executive produced by Nastaran Dibai and Jeffrey Hodes. (Variety)

Dollhouse fans were likely not too pleased by the low ratings for the series' premiere on Friday night on FOX, which lured only 4.7 million viewers. While some were quick to yell "doomed," others, like Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice, had an alternate take on the news. "What does this mean for Dollhouse's long-term prospects?" asked Rice. "Although 4.7 million isn't that great -- Fox typically averages 5.5 million on Fridays -- the Whedon drama has a better chance of making it over the long haul if it stays put on the night. In fact, network insiders have long cautioned that if the series were scheduled earlier in the week and ended up attracting these kind of (low) viewership levels, it would have been axed by its second or third airing. So relax, Whedonites -- Dushku and Co. appear safe for now." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Charles McDougall (The Tudors) will direct CBS drama pilot The Good Wife, from CBS Paramount Network Television, Scott Free, and writer/executive producers Robert and Michelle King. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

"He Looks Like a Cartoon Pilot": Federal Offenses, Doppelgangers, and the Generalissimo on "30 Rock"

I want to go to there.

Last night's episode of 30 Rock ("Generalissimo"), written by Robert Carlock and directed by Todd Holland, was filled to the brim with chocolate fondue, roofies, Spanish-language telenovelas, federal offenses, and stalkerish behavior from one Liz Lemon. In other words: yet another pitch-perfect absurdist treat from the gang at 30 Rock, which brought their A-game to this installment, which could have toppled over--in less gifted hands--under the weight of so much zaniness.

Instead, "Generalissimo" had something for everyone: a star-crossed romance between Liz and new neighbor, pediatric doctor Drew Baird (guest star Jon Hamm); OTT antics with Tracy attempting to keep up with TGS' new former Wall Street frat boy interns; and the increasingly complication-fraught relationship between Jack and Elisa took a turn for the bizarre when her grandmother disapproved of Jack because of his resemblance to an evil telenovela character named--you guessed it!--the Generalissimo.

I was rolling on the floor with laughter while watching this week's episode, which was easily the strongest of the most recent installments of 30 Rock. While it didn't focus on TGS or any of the goings-on at Sheinhardt-Universal (save the company's acquisition of Telemundo), the episode harked back to the early days of the series' first season, where such madcap action was the norm.

The plotline that had Jack confronting his gay Spanish actor doppelganger Moreda was hysterical. I know people haven't been bowled over by Salma Hayek's turn as Elisa, but this episode proved that her relationship with Jack has comedy gold embedded in it as he strives to impress her hard-to-please grandmother ("Le odio.") and goes so far as to take over executive producing her favorite telenovela so he can make the Generalissimo character more sympathetic, rather than the evil rake he is.

I'm already loving Jon Hamm's turn as Liz's new love interest, Dr. Drew Baird. Not since Floyd has such a character seemed so perfectly suited for Liz... which clearly means that she will destroy this man in the end. Her discovery of the things that Drew liked was absolutely hysterical, such as his Netflix rentals: "Muppets Take Manhattan, Caddyshack, and a documentary on how pies are made." (If this guy isn't Liz's perfect match, I don't know who would be.)

What else did I love? Tracy's "I transcend race" line; Drew accidentally taking roofies before his kiss with Liz and exclaiming "I don't know what that means" to Liz's "Generalissimo!" realization; Oswald opening Drew's door ("Girl!"); Drew smelling like frosting because of all the baking he does (and Liz once again delivering the perfect "I want to go to there"); Elisa's grandmother's silver frenzies; Liz's excuse as to why she wanted to take a picture of Drew on her iPhone; Moreda's Sabor de Soledad commercial ("Ahora con mas semen del toro"); a jealous Jenna telling Elisa to never listen to anyone who tells her she should be an actress; Liz's Pediatric Restless Leg Association t-shirt; Elisa taking out Liz's Star Wars references in the latest telenovela script; "I will put my mouth on his mouth!"; Liz attempting to put faux-Buster back in his "special kitchen cabinet"; Tracy taking over Lehman Brothers so no one will know he's getting old.

And, oh, the final cute meet between Liz and Drew, when he goes through her mail and discovers her Netflix (Monty Python, Cheese of the Month Club, Steak of the Month Club, Vegetarian Times) and says he would have wanted to meet her based on the mail. Aw.

Best line of the evening: "He looks like a cartoon pilot." - Liz, of new crush, Dr. Drew Baird.

What did you think of the episode? Did you find it as hysterical as I did? Did you truly want to go to there? Discuss.

Next week on 30 Rock ("St. Valentine's Day"), Liz goes on a first date with Drew, unaware that it's actually Valentine's Day; Jack prepares himself for an unconventional V-Day at church with Elisa; Tracy helps Kenneth win over a new TGS staffer.

Channel Surfing: ABC Orders "V" Remake, "House" May Resurrect Amber, Martha Jones Back to "Who," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

ABC has ordered a pilot for a modern day remake of seminal 1980s mini-series V, to be written/executive produced by Scott Peters (The 4400). Updated V, from Warner Bros. Television, will focus on a female Homeland Security agent. Elsewhere, NBC has removed the contingency from period comedy pilot Lost in the '80s, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount, which will be directed by P.J. Hogan (Shopaholic). (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Doctor Who co-star Freema Agyeman will reportedly reprise her role as Martha Jones in one of the four Doctor Who specials planned for 2009, despite some rumors of bad blood between her and outbound head writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies, said to originate when she accepted a role on ITV's Law & Order: London rather than star in a new season of Torchwood. “Freema’s on board," said an unnamd source. "It’s early days so it’s unclear what exactly Martha will be up to in the new show. Whatever happens it’s good news for Freema and shows that whatever friction there was between her and Who bosses has gone.” (The Sun)

It's looking increasingly likely that 24's Day Eight will be the last for Kiefer Sutherland. "Whether Season Eight is the end or not, I don't know," said Sutherland. "I love making the show, so I'm leaving my options open. And in all fairness, I think the audience will dictate that more than anybody." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has shifted a comedy block of Samantha Who? and new series In the Motherhood to Thursday nights at 8 pm, a timeslot traditionally held by Ugly Betty, which will go on hiatus until the two series wrap their runs. Additionally, Scrubs will be paired on Wednesdays with new comedy Better Off Ted in an 8 pm timeslot. But don't count Betty out just yet; ABC said that the struggling series would have been airing repeats during that time anyway. (Variety)

Amy Poehler's untitled NBC sitcom, from executive producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, now has a title: Public Service. Series is set to launch on April 9th at 8:30 pm ET/PT. (New York Times)

More info about Scott Bakula's multiple-episode story arc on Chuck from NBC: "In the storyline, Chuck made a promise to his sister, Ellie that he was going to find their dad in time for her wedding. But when he does find him, Chuck discovers that his dad is not necessarily a guy who wants to be found. He's living in a trailer, he's disheveled, he's paranoid and he's claiming constantly that Ted Roark (guest star Chevy Chase) -- who he used to work with -- stole all his ideas from him. In addition, Ted Roark has now become a super-successful software billionaire while Chuck's dad has become an eccentric, living in the shadows." (press release)

Jon Hamm is set to appear in three episodes of 30 Rock starting next week but you can get a sneak peek at footage of him as Dr. Drew Baird on the NBC comedy right now. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Among the teams racing for the million-dollar prize on the next season of CBS' The Amazing Race: screenwriter Mike White (best known for Freaks & Geeks, Pasadena, and Chuck & Buck, among many others) and his father, a gay-rights activist and former speechwriter for Pat Robertson and Billy Graham, and a 22-year-old deaf student and his mother. (Associated Press)

Producers of FOX's House are said to be in talks with Anne Dudek about reprising her role as Amber, Wilson's, er, dead girlfriend, later this season. Just don't look for her to return as a ghost like Grey's Anatomy's Denny. "If we could figure out a way to bring her back that is not a ghost sex plot," said executive producer Katie Jacobs, "we'd be thrilled to do it and have her back." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Doug Allen has been fired as national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG in a move that also replaced the SAG negotiating committee, which is being viewed as a sign that the guild may soon sign a feature-primetime deal. "I'm sure it was a difficult decision to replace SAG's negotiators, but if the other entertainment unions can make a deal their members can live with, SAG can too," said Sally Field, who has audibly opposed Allen this past year, "and now I feel certain that will happen, quickly and productively." (Variety)

MTV has renewed The City and Daddy's Girls for second seasons as well as handed out a twenty-episode order for Teen Cribs and another batch of 28 episodes for series Made. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Clooney Returns to "ER," Gondry Directs "Conchords," Patti LuPone Heads to "30 Rock," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I'm sure many of us didn't get a very good night's sleep after the last night brought us the two-hour premiere of Lost, new installments of Damages and Top Chef, and the launch of FOX's Lie to Me. Since when did Wednesday become the go-to night for top-notch television programming?

George Clooney is filming scenes this week on NBC's ER, where he will reprise his role as Dr. Doug Ross. He last appeared on the series in an uncredited cameo in 2000. No word on whether he'll bring Ross' Caesar cut with him. (Entertainment Tonight)

Season Two of HBO's Flight of the Conchords has lined up a host of intriguing guest stars including Saturday Night Live's Kristin Wiig, My Boys' Jim Gaffigan, and Lost's Alan Dale. Also of note: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) directed the February 15th episode, in which Jemaine dates an Australian (shock horror!). (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Patti LuPone has been cast in an upcoming episode of NBC's 30 Rock, where she will play the mother of TGS staffer Frank. (Yes, really, Frank.) Lupone was most recently seen on the small screen on ABC's Ugly Betty, where she played the mother of Michael Urie's Marc. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC is keeping Samantha Who? benched until this spring; the comedy series was originally supposed to return on January 12th but the timeslot will now be filled by two-hour editions of reality series The Bachelor through its entire run, concluding March 2nd, and by two-hour editions of Dancing With the Stars to air March 9th, March 16th, and March 23rd. (Futon Critic)

NBC is said to be considering a sequel or potential primetime spin-off of Sunday night's miniseries The Last Templar. Should the Peacock order a sequel to the four-hour mini--which stars Scott Foley and Mira Sorvino, it would be set in India. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK network Sky1 has acquired exclusive free and basic TV rights plus non-exclusive VOD and download-to-own rights to FOX's Lie to Me, which launched Stateside last night. Sky1 plans to launch the series in the spring. (Variety)

Hilary Duff has been cast in an upcoming episode of CBS' Ghost Whisperer, where she will play a mysterious woman who may have been involved in a man's death. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

USA has pushed the launch of Season Eight of Law & Order: Criminal Intent once again, this time until this summer. Season Eight, featuring Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zach Nichols (taking over for Chris Noth), was originally to launch in November 2008, three months after the end of the seventh season; in both cases, the explanation given was the cabler's wish to air all sixteen episodes of Season Eight in a row. (TV Guide)

NBC has hired outside marketing firm Naked Communications to revamp its brand. "We're thinking about how we market the brand, how we present ourselves to the advertising community at upfront and how we present ourselves to the consumer," said Adam Stotsky, president of entertainment marketing at NBC. "Naked is working with us to sharpen our image, (as we) look for a fresh perspective on how we go to market." (Variety)

Reality television employees have settled a class action suit against FOX, CBS, ABC, and several production companies including Rocket Science Laboratories to the tune of more than $4 million dollars. The action, filed in 2005, alleged that the defendants violated wage and hour laws by underpaying story department employees and failed to provide meal periods or maintain accurate payroll records. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

An Hour of Comedy Laughs (For a Change)

Every now and then you do get a perfect hour of comedy on Thursday night.

I haven't exactly been shy about my feelings about the post-Amy Ryan season of The Office so far this year, so I am always pleasantly surprised when an episode comes along that manages to make me remember why I once loved this series.

That said, I'd be happy if co-executive producer Jennifer Celotta would write every episode of the NBC comedy; I can always tell when an episode is written by Celotta: the characters seem more grounded, more realistic, and the pacing is swift and deliberate. Last night's episode of The Office ("Duel") featured the wrap up of the season-long storyline involving the love triangle between Dwight, Angela, and Andy and had Michael heading to New York to take a meeting with David Wallace, leaving Jim in charge of the office.

Perhaps proving that he is one of the most oblivious characters on television today, Andy still doesn't know that Angela has been sleeping with Dwight seventeen days after everyone in the office learned about Dwight and Angela's tryst. When Michael finally does tell him (following the most painfully drawn-out confession scene ever), Andy doesn't freak out and punch holes in the walls (as I thought maybe he would) but quietly asks Angela to talk in the conference room. Character growth, perhaps?

Meanwhile, I was completely surprised when Andy attempted to run Dwight over in the parking lot (loved the fact that he set him by leaving a "From the desk of Andy Bernard" note for Dwight to find) and loved the little moments: Dwight throwing out the bobblehead after learning that Angela had lied to him about sleeping with Andy, Andy sadly calling to cancel the wedding cake. (I also laughed my butt off when Kelly said simply of the duel, "I guess people have fewer choices as they get older.")

It's the smaller moments that serve the series' original purpose: to find humor in the most mundane of office-based situations. Is a weapons-driven duel between romantic rivals in the office parking lot realistic? Hell no. But the heightened reality of the situation is alleviated by the emotional truths on display here. Seeing Angela's face as she slowly realizes that she's lost both Dwight and Andy was absolutely heartbreaking.

A half-hour later, 30 Rock ("Flu Shot") once again proved why it's the very best comedy on television with an absurd storyline featuring flu shots, zombies, Liz's ideal vacation on St. Bartleby (which just happened to include an island lover, a sandwich turtle, and the French fashion of wearing dark socks with sandals on the beach), and Dr. Spaceman. Bliss, really.

I think "Mr. Templeton" might just be my favorite new song and I loved the montage of Jack and Elisa taking her nursing charge on their dates around town... and Mr. Templeton's explanations to his son about the strange goings-on of late, including "a giraffe with a man's legs" and a man who "was in prison, but now he owns a railroad!" (Ahem, Monopoly.) I'm really enjoying Salma Hayek on the series and, while I know that Elisa won't be sticking around for too long, I think she's a positive influence on Jack. Now if only we'd get a scene between Hayek's Elisa and Elaine Stritch's Colleen, I'd be set. That's one showdown I'm itching to see.

The sickies/zombie aside was absolutely hilarious and I love that it ended with Liz smashing a picture frame over Pete's head... and then being forced to perform a dance for Dr. Spaceman in order to get that flu shot. (For those of you who watch Gavin & Stacey, this dance topped Pamela's robot with Smithy as my favorite television dance move in recent memory.)

What else did I love? The ongoing discussions about whether it was okay to refer to Elisa as a "Puerto Rican"; Liz telling a feverish Kenneth that he's dreaming, they're speaking in French, and she's his mother; Dr. Spaceman making Jack drop his pants to give him a flu shot in his arm and later confessing to Liz that he's cheating on his wife; Jack getting freaked out by what appeared to be a beak in Mr. Templeton's foot; Cerie texting "UR V8K8SH1 iz baqon" to Liz; the general non-sequiturs from Dr. Spaceman ("When is modern science going to find a cure for a woman’s mouth?"); Tracy telling Liz that she looks like Tootsie; Liz admitting that she saw the trailer for Michael Moore's Sicko when she went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks; Liz telling Jenna to skip the shopping montage; the meat plate; Liz asking Elisa at her old job at Dunkin Donuts what time they throw out the old doughnuts. (I can go on and on.)

Best line of the evening: "It’s called a tankort, Cerie. You might have seen it in Us Weekly, worn by Dame Judi Dench...’s mother." - Liz

Next week on 30 Rock ("Retreat to Move Forward"), Jack asks Liz to accompany him to the corporate retreat; Jenna turns to Frank for help when she decides to use Method acting to prepare for her role as Janis Joplin; Kenneth tries to convince Tracy that his diabetes is affected by his diet. And on The Office ("Prince Family Paper"), Michael and Dwight decide to go undercover in order to gather information about a competitor; the other employees hold a debate to decide whether a certain actress is hot.