The Daily Beast: "Nine Shows to Watch, Six Shows to Shun"

My fall TV preview--or at least part of it, anyway--is finally up.

Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest feature, "Nine Shows to Watch, Six Shows to Shun," where I offer up nine new series to watch this fall and six shows to avoid like the plague.

Just which ended up on which list? Hint, The Event ended up on my worst-of list, while things like Boardwalk Empire, Terriers, Nikita, Sherlock, Luther, Undercovers and others ended up on my watch list. (While The Walking Dead is on there, I still--like every other critic--have not seen a full episode, so there's that to consider.)

But while this is my list, I'm also extremely curious to find out what you're looking forward to this autumn. What are you most excited about watching this fall? Head to the comments section to discuss, debate, and tear into my list.

Channel Surfing: TBS Axes My Boys, John Schneider to Wisteria Lane, Top Chef: Just Desserts, Terra Nova, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

It's official: TBS has cancelled comedy My Boys after four seasons. News comes after series stars Jordana Spiro and Kyle Howard had to withdraw from pilots that had been ordered to series due to their first position on the TBS comedy, whose days many suspected were already numbered. According to Variety's Jon Weisman, roughly 14 months passed between the end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth season, which kicked off in July. One cast member--Jim Gaffigan--left between the seasons. Spiro's role on Love Bites was eliminated when she was unavailable as the show under went some retooling. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that John Schneider (Smallville) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's Desperate Housewives this season, where he will play the father to Brian Austin Green's Keith, the new handyman/contractor overseeing the remodeling of the home of Marcia Cross' Bree. Schneider will make his first appearance in Season Seven's seventh episode. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TVGuide.com's Gina DiNunno has an interview with Top Chef: Just Desserts host/judge Gail Simmons about the culinary competition series launching tonight (after the season finale of Top Chef). "Pastry chefs are so precise and so exacting [that] it really does come out in their personalities," said Simmons. "And they're artists, so with that comes a lot of drama. ... I mean, there's a lot of strategy and sabotage, and what's amazing is that desserts sort of lend themselves to that because they're so delicate and so fragile that you kind of have to guard them with your life or else it all could be lost." (TVGuide.com)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice has confirmed that Stephen Lang (Avatar)--reported by Deadline to be in talks to join the cast of FOX's Terra Nova--is indeed in talks to do just that. Lang would star opposite Jason O'Mara and Allison Miller in the project, which recounts the adventures of a family from the future who travels back to prehistoric times as part of a project to save the human race. Lang would play "the merciless leader of a prehistoric settlement." Series is slated to launch in fall 2011 after a sneak peek next May. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

All is not well behind the scenes on Terra Nova, however. Executive producer David Fury--known for his work on 24 and in the Whedonverse--has exited the project, citing "creative differences." Fury had been serving as co-showrunner on the FOX project, alongside Brannon Braga, who will now become the series' sole showrunner. (Variety)

SPOILER! TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck talks to Bones star Michaela Conlin about just what she and Hodgins will be bringing back from Paris when the series returns on September 23rd. "Angela's pregnant!" said Conlin. "I have to be honest, at first I was a little hesitant. To marry this wild child off and get her pregnant had me worried that this would limit her, story-wise. But I now feel, getting in to the sixth season, it's going to be interesting to see her try to fit her wild life into this maternal situation." Look for Angela's pregnancy to have a major effect on Brennan meanwhile. (TV Guide Magazine)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Rachael Taylor (Transformers) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's Grey's Anatomy this season. "Taylor’s character is still being conceived—she’s not scheduled to debut until midseason—but a Grey’s insider confirms that she will be playing a (surprise!) doctor," writes Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

MTV has ordered two scripted pilots: That Girl, a coming of age comedy about "a 15-year-old misfit who suddenly becomes the center of attention after the kids in school mistakingly believe she tried to commit suicide," from creator Lauren Iungerich; and horror comedy Death Valley, about a division of the LAPD that focuses on supernatural threats, from executive producers Austin Reading, Jilie Kellman Reading, Eric Weinberg, and Tim Healy. (Variety)

E! Online's Megan Masters has an exclusive first look at the tenth and final season of the CW's Smallville, which kicks off on September 24th. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC is developing an untitled drama pilot about the vice president of the United States and his female chief of staff with writers/executive producers Sheldon Turner and Shaun Cassidy attached. "The drama, which comes with a strong dose of comedy, focuses on the underdog nature of the veep's team -- call it the political equivalent of Glee," writes Variety's Michael Schneider. "Untitled hour is less about politics and more about office dynamics, including a budding romance between the chief of staff and the veepee's son." (Variety)

Dylan Baker, Matthew Lillard, Amy Irving, and Jennifer Grey are all set to guest star on Season Seven of FOX's House, which kicks off on Monday evening. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other FOX casting news, Jamie Hector (The Wire, Heroes) will guest star in the third season premiere of Lie to Me, where he will play a character involved in a major bank heist. (Hollywood Reporter)

TNT is said to have renewed medical drama Hawthorne for a ten-episode third season, according to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. Official word of the pickup will apparently come today. (Deadline)

Denise Richards has been cast in Season Two of Spike's Blue Mountain State, where she will play "the coach's contentious and meddling ex-wife Debra who adds to his troubles as he must deliver a winning season." (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC Two has renewed comedy Rev, created by and starring Tom Hollander, from Simon Pegg and Nira Park's Big Talk Prods. Series revolves around an inner city priest and is set to return for a second season in Fall of 2011, while the US cable networks are said to be sniffing around a potential American remake. (Deadline)

In other UK-centric news, Comedy Central has given a pilot order to a US remake of BBC Two's Time Trumpet, created by Armando Iannucci, which offers a take on the current news from the perspective of the future. Should it be ordered to series, the format would likely launch in late 2011 or 2012. (Hollywood Reporter)

Syfy has promoted three executives: Tim Krubsack has been upped to senior VP of alternative programming, Lucia Gervino to senior VP of production, and Erika Kennair will now serve as VP of original programming and development. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

The Sun and the Wind: Introspection and Clarity on Mad Men

It's fitting that when Don Draper attempts to organize his thoughts, he does so with a pad and pen rather than Roger's confessional cassettes.

Don's writing--reminding him of those 250-word essays he wrote before dropping out of high school-- is part of a concerted effort to gain some clarity in his life, to unburden his mind even as the last vestiges of his true self slip away in the wake of Anna's death. While Don might look the part of the carefree summer man, the internal struggle raging within him is anything but placid.

Throughout this week's episode of Mad Men ("The Summer Man"), written by Lisa Albert, Janet Leahy, and Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham, we see glimpses of a very different Don Draper, one painfully aware of his own mortality--hence the look of horror at his actual physical condition while swimming--and of the coping mechanisms in his life. He sees for the first time perhaps the way that alcohol affects him, the way that it swimmingly fills his brain, pushing his fears and concerns to the back of his brain. He's traded clarity for false comfort.

It's interesting then that Don would choose this time to back away from the booze, to attempt to find himself on the page, to unjumble his thoughts into something lucid and cogent, and to attempt to change, something he's able to do at the end of the episode: to choose to delay gratification in a way that the old Don Draper never would have.

After all, as we learned in this week's episode with a hat tip to Aesop, the sun's approach is always preferable to that of the wind.

It's interesting that Aesop's fable should loom so large over this installment, which juxtaposed Don's voice-over narrative as he wrote down the facts of his current situation against two other storylines: one involving Joan and Peggy at the office, each enmeshed in a power struggle, and that of Betty and Henry in Don's old house. In all three circumstances, the choice between brute force and gentle supplication--between the wind and the sun's differing methods of achieving the same ends--are utilized to great effect.

In the fable, the sun and the wind enter a competition to see who can make a man remove his coat first. While the wind attempts a direct assault on him, the man simply draws his coat tighter, whereas the sun simply slowly warms him and the man easily removes his jacket. According to Faye, "kindness, gentleness, and persuasion win where force fails."

It's a method that Don seemingly embraces in his apparent conquest of Faye Miller, in fact. Despite the fact that she has turned down Don's advances in the past, his knowledge that she has broken up with her boyfriend result in a different tack, as she agrees to an actual date rather than the after-work dinner that Don proposes. After that dinner, she's keen to go back to his place but Don chooses to simply drop her off at her place instead. He's not only happy sleeping alone, his whole body filling the bed like a "skydiver," but he's also grown up a bit since his fallout with Betty. His dalliances might have been suitable for a twenty-something but Don isn't as young as he used to be, the generation gap between him and Bethany Van Nuys a vast chasm that's growing by the day. By gently rejecting Faye, he embraces the gentleness of the sun, whereas the old Don would have kicked up a fierce gust. (It takes Faye by surprise, in fact. She didn't expect him to be quite so gentlemanly in that moment.)

Don's efforts--to pull back on his work-hours drinking, to take things slow with Faye (even as he receives some, er, pleasuring from Bethany in a different cab ride)--point towards a path of redemption for this reluctant bachelor. He's discovering his own simple pleasures--the cool spots of the bed he can hold onto when he's sleeping alone--as well as the transformative powers of altered thinking. By attempting to find clarity, he's finding his new self. His act of writing, of self-discovery, are paving stones on this new path. He can make due with what he has, rather than mourning what he's lost. He can choose not to follow in the footsteps of Roger Sterling but forge his own journey, reclaim his wounded pride, and put the past behind him.

He does just what when he travels to Ossining to pick up the last of his things from the house he once shared with his family. When he arrives, he finds the cardboard boxes--labelled simply "Draper"--dented on the sidewalk, placed there as one might refuse on garbage day. As he pulls up, he sees Henry mowing the lawn of his old home, his place usurped by another man, his castle now no longer his. The old Don may have drowned his sorrows in a deep glass. Instead, Don packs up the boxes in the trunk of the car and then puts them into a dumpster. He doesn't tear up over the crated-up possessions, the symbols of his old life. Rather, he accepts them and then puts them behind him, consigning them to the rubbish bin of yesterday. They don't define him. Not anymore.

But it's Betty who finds that it's more difficult to let go than she imagined. Henry maintains that he has a cordial--if strained--relationship with his ex-wife but insists that he doesn't hate her, whereas Betty's vociferous hatred of Don reveals that not only is he still taking up room in their house but in her heart as well. She can't move on and a chance encounter at a Manhattan restaurant (where Don is on a date with Bethany) stirs up a host of unresolved feelings and animosities towards her ex-husband.

It's interesting that Betty's looks would be so perfectly captured within Anna Camp's Bethany: the scene plays up the similarities in their looks, their hair, their blue dresses, and earrings. What Betty sees reflected back at her is a looking-glass into yesterday, a painful reminder of what was and what will never again be. She sees Don's happiness and it stabs her precisely because she herself will never be happy. She traded one marriage for another, one domineering husband for a different one, one unhappy situation for yet another. She and Henry might have "everything"--the house, the kids, the marriage, but Don has something that she will never achieve: freedom.

Betty downs a drink and then another, she runs off to the ladies' room, but she can't escape what she feels. Her scene--and the subsequent pouting in the car--demonstrate her own tempestuous nature, the wind in her very veins. But she changes her tune later, thanks to an offhand comment made by Francine (the always welcome Anne Dudek, here in her first Season Four appearance), who says that Don has nothing to lose and she has everything.

If she causes a scene at Gene's birthday party, she risks looking foolish in front of her friends and further upsetting Henry after she "misbehaved" at that dinner. She can choose to be the wind or take the path of the sun: choose to be welcoming, kind, and persuasive. Choose sunniness over brusqueness. Which she does spectacularly, welcoming Don and finally allowing him time with Gene. Even as Henry visibly prickles, Betty tells him that it's alright. "We have everything," she whispers. Even as she says it, she looks at Don and sees just what has been lost.

While it's perhaps a thawing of the iciness between Don and Betty, it doesn't mean that things will be coming up roses between them. However, it does point to each of them taking a different approach with the other and perhaps finally coming to terms with the new circumstances they're in right now. Perhaps by being gentle with each other, they can turn that gentleness on themselves...

Back at the office, Joan discovered unpleasantly just how little power she truly has at Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce, as she saw herself for the first time as a relic from another time, yet another symbol of that gap between Roger's generation and those of the immature, over-confident young men of Joey's.

Spinning out of last week's confrontation between Joan and the creative team over the messiness of their office, Joan was not only the butt of several jokes this week but of a pornographic drawing of her and Lane, one that capitalized on her seductive nature and her (perceived) menial job. Whereas she ran Sterling Cooper with an iron fist, she doesn't have the respect here that she once did. Hell, her office is used as a thoroughfare between two points, rather than as a place of sanctuary. Her kingdom is so small that the two doors of her office are less defendable battlements than they are a symbolic revolving door.

And it's true that Joan's loss of power isn't limited to her career. Her marriage is hanging on by a thread as Greg prepares to leave for basic training, after which he'll be shipped out to Vietnam... and, as Joan knows in her heart of hearts, likely won't return to her. Her remarks to the boys of creative that they too will likely be sent over there and die in the jungles is scathing but only too true. It cuts to her heart of her own fears that Greg is being sent to die.

Even as she tearfully prepares to send him to his fate, she discovers just how truly alone she really is. She has no one to talk to, no one to confide in, and certainly no one who understands her. Certainly not Peggy Olsen, who wrongly believes that she can ingratiate herself to Joan by firing Joey.

Don empowers Peggy to fire Joey and Peggy offers Joey a lifeline: he can apologize to Joan but he refuses. He rails against her because he sees in Joan a mirror image of his own power, the pen around her neck, flaunting her sexuality to get her way, a joke of an office peon who believes she has power because she makes men stare. (He even goes so far as to piercingly call her "mom," a reflection of last week's episode where Joan said to the boys that she wasn't their mother.)

Peggy's firing of Joey reinforces her role of authority within the agency, even as she witheringly tells Joey that Don doesn't even know who he is, putting him down even as she raises herself up. But in doing so, she chose to make herself the "cold bitch" in the equation, the wet blanket who ruined the boys' fun and lacked a sense of humor about the "joke" at hand. Furthermore, in doing so, she carved out a role of power at the expense of Joan herself. While unintentional, Peggy wresting control of the Joey situation revealed Joan to even less capable of defending herself. She was reduced to little more than a secretary, wounded at the hands of the cruel boys who had to have someone else bail her out and save her.

Joan wanted to be less outwardly brutal. She would have preferred to handle it her own way, to apply persuasion (the sun, again) and get Joey kicked off the Sugarberry account rather than blow in, guns blazing. It's the choice between Aesop's feuding natures, but it's also a sign of the times. Joan isn't as young as she used to be; could it be that Joey saw her usefulness in the same way that Don sees Miss Blankenship's? That both have outlived their day in the sun?

As the elevator opens and Peggy is left agape, the sad truth about the two roles that women in 1960s workplaces could take is made all the more apparent. Peggy might have willingly taken on the role of "humorless bitch," but she ripped Joan down from whatever level of power she had made for herself, reducing her to the role of "meaningless secretary," a woman unable to fight her own fights. Someone in need of rescuing.

In the end, perhaps progress is about what's gained as much as what's lost. While Don may have set foot on the road to redemption, the times are being less kind to Joan Harris, for whom I imagine heartbreak is only just beginning. The summer might have arrived for Don Draper, the scent of chlorine on his skin, but one can only hope that, even in the cold months to come, he can hold onto his invincible summer.

Next week on Mad Men ("The Beautiful Girls"), Peggy receives a romantic gift that could compromise her career.

Grave Times: The Witching Hour Approaches on Season Finale of True Blood

Bon Temps has long been a place where telepathic waitresses could rub shoulders with vampires while a shifter barkeep looked on enviously, but of late this backwoods Louisiana berg feels positively overflowing with supernatural types.

From vamps and werepanthers to witches and faeries, this season of True Blood brought out just about every thing that goes bump in the night and deposited them in this once sleepy town, leaving the human-to-creature ratio dwindling even further. While I understand that the confluence of supernatural entities is part of the overarching mythology of the series, it's beginning to make Bon Temps seem like it's on top of a Hellmouth or something.

While it's been mentioned in the past that supernaturals feel drawn to the site, I'm hoping next season can shed some light on just why Bon Temps is a nexus of supernatural occurrence, particularly as now it seems that just about everyone that passes by Merlotte's has some sort of otherworldly nature that they're concealing from the world at large. And the problem with that is that when everyone becomes "special," it means that no one is truly unique anymore.

On the season finale of True Blood ("Evil is Going On"), written by Alan Ball and directed by Anthony Hemingway, this was keenly felt as the few human characters seemed to be shifted entirely to the background. That is, when they weren't leaving Bon Temps altogether. While I found the finale entertaining, there was also something slightly off about the season ender. While it paid good to certain storylines and set up some new plot threads for Season Four, it didn't quite deliver the narrative payoff that the season warranted.

If Season Two of True Blood was about frenzy, Season Three was more nuanced. It was about the darkness within each of us and how we can either embrace that dark side or hold onto our humanity, an increasingly difficult proposition for several characters, dealing with their true natures. While it seemed that the season was building to a final showdown between Sookie and her companions and Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi, the season finale sort of thwarted those expectations, getting rid of Russell early on, while keeping him "alive" for a potential return down the road.

It was telling that Eric didn't stake Russell but instead embedded him within a block of concrete, a true torment that went against the words of the ghostly Godric, who implored Eric to allow Russell to find the peace that comes after the One True Death. Eric, still acting out of vengeance for the wholesale slaughter of his human family (over, we learned some goats), condemns Russell to a the one true torture that a vampire is powerless to withstand: a tomb in which he'll be unable to feed, trapped alone with his thoughts and his grief.

But before that, Russell attempted to make a deal with Sookie, offering her the world in exchange for his freedom, promising her riches, safety, and death. The latter was an offer to kill one of, both of, or neither of Eric and Bill. An interesting offer that cut to the heart of the dilemma raging inside Sookie: could she trust either of the vampires in her life? Both of them had betrayed her for their own ends and while she may have owed her continued existence to them, it didn't mean that she could overlook just how much they had lied to her.

Those lies further mounted within the episode as Bill hatched a plot to permanently protect Sookie by eliminating everyone who had knowledge of her true nature. Once Russell was dealt with, Bill betrayed Eric and encased him in cement as well, then posed as Eric to put an end to Pam before attempting to take out Queen Sophie-Anne herself.

But was Bill looking to protect Sookie, as he insisted, or was he looking to protect himself, as the cement-clad Eric maintained? While he claimed to love Sookie and said that his every action was an attempt to keep her safe, it did have a twofold purpose of silencing those who knew the truth about his own dark secret: that he was sent to Bon Temps to procure Sookie for Sophie-Anne and had unexpectedly fallen for her.

While we suspected this for some time (did anyone actually believe Bill's yarn about his files on Sookie?), what we didn't know was that he had actually allowed Sookie to be placed in mortal danger in order to ingratiate himself to her. It's a revelation that goes back to the first two episodes of True Blood when Sookie was attacked by the Rattrays and beaten nearly to the point of death. It's a cold-blooded individual who allows a woman to be brutally and savagely beaten in order to swoop in and rescue her at the last second, giving her your vampire blood to heal her wounds... and get inside her mind at the same time.

It's one betrayal too far. It's Eric who causes the scales to fall from Sookie's eyes, allowing her for the first time to see just what Bill really is: an opportunist. While his love might be genuine, it's far from pure. He lied to her, betrayed her, and used her for his own devices, even if he did fall in love with her. But the circumstances of their meeting--and their fast courtship--were calculatingly engineered. Considering Sookie spent the better part of this season looking to rescue Bill, to track down her missing fiance, it's an emotional stake to the heart.

No wonder she rescinds Bill's invitation to her house, casting him out permanently.

Which isn't to say that Sookie is rushing into Eric's arms either. Sookie now knows that she's essentially "vampire crack," thanks to her faerie nature, and she wants to be as far away from all of the vampires as possible. Which is why she rushes to Bon Temps cemetery, not just to have a few heartfelt words at Gran's gravesite but also because she knows it's somehow connected to Claudine, an entrypoint to that other world of liquid glass and shimmering light. Betrayed by everyone, she isn't at all surprised when Claudine appears and gives her a choice, offering her the opportunity to come with them to that other place, a place of light rather than darkness.

Something tells me, however, that that land of faeries isn't quite as innocent and charmed as it appears... But Sookie accepts the invitation, and in a burst of light, she's gone.

It was a final scene that made me question just when Season Four would take place. While the past two seasons have picked up right where the previous season left off (often just seconds later), it seems like it would be in the best interests of True Blood's writers to jump ahead in time a little bit, given Sookie's disappearance, Bill's exile, and Tara's departure... not to mention Arlene's pregnancy. It would give the writers an opportunity to skip ahead and pick up at an appropriate time several months in the future, Arlene's due date rapidly approaching and perhaps the return of several characters who have left Bon Temps for places unknown.

I have to say that while I was sad to see Tara go, I knew that it wasn't an actual goodbye for Tara Thornton (I don't think they'd have her go out that way), but it also once again undid some of the forward momentum her character was making. After embracing life, Tara once again succumbed to the darkness and weakness and then fell into bed with Sam, learned he was a shifter, caught Lettie Mae in bed with Reverend Daniels, chopped off her hair, and left town.

But what happened to that fighting spirit within Tara? The one who wouldn't give up, who cast off her humanity in order to hold onto it? Where did she go? Tara's arc has been one of the more frustrating ones this season because it consistently kept painting her as a victim, even when it finally granted her the courage and conviction to defend herself. Sam even tells Tara that she can run from her problems, but they will always catch up to her, even if she keeps moving on.

Yet that's what Tara appears to do, as she says her goodbyes and looks for a "reboot," a chance to start over and hopefully find different results. While there's something to be said for a vision quest, I'm hoping that Tara finds the inner strength that she seems to be searching for and returns to Bon Temps more in control next season. Especially as I miss the firebrand that we all know Tara to be...

Meanwhile, Sam's storyline took another unbelievable turn this week. I'm still struggling to reconcile the fact that Sam killed two people in cold-blood when he was a grifter back in the day and that he used the money from the scheme they had pulled off to purchase Merlotte's and a new life for himself. It's a reversal of a character that was one of the few good and decent folks left in Bon Temps. While it meant that Sam was often a doormat for just about everyone, it was a refreshing change of pace from the morally grey areas that most of the characters inhabit. He may not have been perfect, but Sam seemed to strive for perfection, even if it was out of his reach.

But by making Sam a killer--and by having him point that gun at his brother Tommy and seemingly fire--it undermines his entire character. I don't like bad-Sam nor do I find him all that interesting, in fact. His pursuit of Tommy, while essentially to get his money back, turned dark pretty quickly. While I can see why Tommy might not want to give him back the cash, I was surprised that Sam would be willing to resort to murder in order to stop his little brother.

So is Tommy dead? Probably not. I can't believe that the writers would have Sam kill again, especially by shooting Tommy in the back. But I'm also deeply, deeply concerned with where his storyline is headed, especially as I felt it went off the rails more than a little this season. Searching for his family? Sure. Bringing out the long-simmering rage behind his seemingly placid facade? Absolutely. But making him a killer and having him (possibly) shoot his brother? A bridge too far, really.

I am, however, intrigued to see where Jessica and Hoyt's storyline is going. After allowing her to feed on him, Hoyt makes his intentions towards the baby vamp absolutely clear: he wants to marry her and he wants them to live together. He's even found them a cute little house which he'll fix up (and create an awesome little hidey-hole for Jessica). But there's also a sense of sadness about their efforts to play house. That doll, lying forlornly in the darkness of the next room, symbolizes the vast chasm between them and "normal" couples, even as Jessica says that she doesn't know what she'd do without him. There will be no babies for these two, no growing old together. The future is hauntingly out of reach and there will always be something--everything that old doll symbolizes--achingly between them.

So too am I curious to see just what happens to Jason Stackhouse next season. While this season found him attempting to become a cop and deal with his complicity in Eggs' death, he seems all too willing to become the savior of Hotshot, his hero complex burning a path right to leadership for him. After Felton's betrayal of his kin--and his kidnapping of Crystal--it's Jason who is forced to assume care for these dirty and snaggle-toothed men, women, and children. While Jason has ricocheted from v-user to cultist to wannabe cop, it's interesting that he's so willing to take on caring for these have-nots. Does he quite understand what that will intend? Absolutely not. But here's to hoping that we see the education of Jason Stackhouse next season and just what that means for this formerly selfish and immature individual.

Likewise, I'm also intrigued to see just what happens between Lafayette and Jesus, after the latter came clean about his own true nature. Jesus, it turns out, is a witch and he went through something similar to Lafayette when he was first taught magic. But while Lafayette is calmed by the news, he's also not happy that his sensitivity has been turned on, especially as it brings with it some ominous visions: the blood on Sam's hands, Rene's ghost with his hands around Arlene's throat, that demon-head that he saw on Jesus. One can only hope that Lafayette is as powerful as Ruby Jean indicated... and that he can control his own destiny and not be sucked into the darkness.

I'm also hoping that Sookie might be able to find happiness with someone a little more down to earth next season. Like, say, Alcide, who returned last night to work off his debts to Eric Northman and offer Sookie a sensitive shoulder to cry on. It's a reminder that even the shiftiest among us--whether werewolf or other--might still have the truest heart. And, after the immense wave of betrayal that has crashed over her, it might be just the lifeline that Sookie needs.

That is, if she's able to get out of whatever faerie court she's now been ensnared by...

What did you think of the season finale? Were you satisfied by how the season came together? Thrown by the Tara and Sam storylines? Surprises that Sookie turned her back on both Bill and Eric? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Season Four of True Blood will premiere in Summer 2011 on HBO.

Video: HBO Teases Game of Thrones

Winter is coming...

While the premiere of HBO's fantasy drama Game of Thrones might still be several months off, the pay cabler has continued to pique viewers' interest... as well as the obsessive zeal of the fans of George R.R. Martin's novel series on which the series is based.

Last night, HBO premiered a new teaser trailer--the second thus far--for Game of Thrones, which is set to launch early next year. I'm extremely curious to see the redone pilot and subsequent episodes as the original pilot--which I viewed back in May--knocked my socks off in the best possible way. Given some recasting and reshoots, I'm confident that the production team has taken the already fantastic pilot to even more dizzying levels of accomplishment.

Without further ado, here's the teaser trailer:

If that's not enough to strike your fancy, HBO also offered a behind the scenes featurette on the making of Game of Thrones, focusing on the production of the ambitious fantasy series.

In Production

Game of Thrones will launch in early 2011 on HBO.

Channel Surfing: The Future of Serialized Dramas, Dan Akroyd on Defenders, Outnumbered, Law & Order: SVU Lands Sagemiller, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Variety's Robert Abele has a very interesting feature on the future of serialized programming, following the conclusion of Lost and 24 (and the narrative burn-out of ABC's FlashForward and NBC's Heroes) last season. Abele talks to AOL Television's Maureen Ryan, NBC's Laura Lancaster, and The Event executive produce Evan Katz about viewer fatigue, commitment, and concerns. "Viewer trust is something you earn by delivering -- it's that simple," said Katz. "It's not easy to accomplish, but when it works, you have something big on your hands... This show is very Hitchcockian in that it's an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, and you experience the twists emotionally with him," said Katz. "We don't have 660 beats laid out," Katz says, "but you need to know where the characters are going, and those benchmarks are in place. The line is, mystery is good, confusion is bad." (Variety)

Could Dan Akroyd be dropping by CBS' upcoming legal drama The Defenders? It certainly looks that way, as creator/executive producer Kevin Kennedy indicated Friday night at the Paley Center preview event for for the Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi-led drama series. We have a lot planned and we certainly have a dream list," Kennedy told The Hollywood Reporter. "The [guest star] we've talked about most recently, and we'll see if we can get it arranged -- it's a scheduling thing and it wouldn't happen until the end of the year if it happens this year -- we want to get Dan Aykroyd together with Jim." (The Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has given a pilot order to a US adaptation of British comedy series Outnumbered, the second time the network has attempted to import the family comedy. (The first time was a 2008 pilot starring Ken Marino and Brooke Bloom, which wasn't ordered to series.) Barbara Wallace and Thomas Wolfe are attached to write the pilot, which will be produced outside of the normal production cycle. The Hat Trick-produced original series revolves around a married couple who are "outnumbered" by their three young children. [Editor: It's also a hysterically funny comedy. The key to the US version succeeding or failing really lands on the strength of the kids they cast.] (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Melissa Sagemiller (Raising the Bar) will take over the role of ADA on Law & Order: SVU, after Paula Patton had to drop out of the role after just one episode thanks to her casting in Mission: Impossible 4. No details were available about her character. Sagemiller will first appear in November. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Well, this might be why NBC hasn't sent it out to press yet... Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Wanda De Jesus has left Law & Order: Los Angeles after two episodes and her part--that of LAPD Robbery Homicide Division captain Arleen Gonzales--will be recast and her scenes in the first two episodes will be reshot. Producers are said to be looking for a potential replacement. They're swiftly running out of time, however, as the series is set to launch at the end of the month. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Michael Badalucco (The Practice) has been cast in a recurring role on CBS daytime soap The Young and the Restless, where he will play Hogan, described as "a tough bookie who helps Jeff (Ted Shackelford) and Kevin (Greg Rikaart) come up with cash to help pay for Jeff’s nightclub/restaurant, Gloworm." He's set to make his first appearance on October 13th. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Lennie James has been promoted to series regular on HBO's Hung, where he previous recurred as Charlie the pimp. Elsewhere, Arie Verveen (Cold Case) has been cast in a six-episode story arc on FX's Sons of Anarchy, where he will play Liam O'Neill, described as "a high-ranking member of a motorcycle club in Belfast, Northern Ireland." (Hollywood Reporter)

Let them eat (period) cake? Mad Men writers Andre and Maria Jacquemetton have been hired to write the scripts for 12-episode period drama Versailles, an English-language French production that is currently looking for British or American production partners. Former HBO executive Anne Thomopoulos is executive producing the project, which revolves around the court of King Louis XIV, for Canal Plus. (Variety)

Lifetime has given a greenlight to telepic Unanswered Prayers, an adaptation of the Garth Brooks song, which will star Samantha Mathis, Eric Close, and Madchen Amick. Telepic, from Sony Pictures Television, will premiere in November. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC's marketing co-head Mike Benson has stepped down from his position as newly minted ABC entertainment president Paul Lee looks to put his own imprimatur on the Alphabet's brand. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Friday Night Lights Watch: Courage and Conviction on Season Four of FNL

Earlier this week, I finished watching Season Four of Friday Night Lights and, wiping away the manly tears that fell from my eyes, I'm already anxiously awaiting the start of the fifth and final season this fall.

Over the course of the summer, my wife and I have gone back and watched all four seasons of Friday Night Lights and fallen in love with this remarkable and heartfelt drama series, which in its fourth season inverted its premise to present even more complications for the central couple of Eric and Tami Taylor (Emmy Award nominees Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton), who found themselves under attack from a number of directions at once. From the school board, from the townspeople, from parents, from those who would see them fail rather than triumph.

(If you missed my earlier posts about the first three seasons, you can read my thoughts on Season One here, Season Two here, and Season Three here.)

Whereas the first three seasons presented a series of struggles both marital and professional for the Taylors, Season Four pushed the Texas couple--and the town of Dillon itself--nearly to their breaking points, as Eric was forced out of his job as the Panthers coach and handed an impossible task: to form a new football program at the decrepit East Dillon High (recently reopened after Season Three's redistricting) while Tami remained under fire as the principal of Dillon High.

While the show has always been about the invincible nature of the human spirit, Season Four of Friday Night Lights took the series in a different direction, presenting Coach Taylor with a nearly Sisyphean task to overcome. The goal wasn't the state championships anymore nor anything quite so lofty. No, this molder of men would once again have to get his hands dirty shaping a new team, transforming sullen and combative individuals into something resembling a fully functional single unit. And prove to the town at large that both he and this young men were capable of surprising everyone.

The battle lines drawn between the Dillon Panthers and the East Dillon Lions weren't arbitrary. In the hands of Jason Katims and his talented team of writers, the division became one of economics and race, as the show tackled some weighty issues and provided a portrait of a very different Dillon, one that wasn't as idealized and noble as the first few seasons.

Over the course of thirteen outstanding installments, Katims and Co. tackled hot-button issues of drug addiction, abortion, grief, and gang violence as the focus shifted from lily-white West Dillon to the mean streets of the other side of town, a place where a park wasn't an oasis but rather a crime-ridden hellhole, its lights permanently turned off, its purpose forgotten amid a sea of brutality.

Just as Eric Taylor gets the lights turned on at Carroll Park, so too does Friday Night Lights shine a spotlight on the challenges facing East Dillon's residents. Functioning as the new entrypoint to the story is Vince Howard (The Wire's sensational Michael B. Jordan), a young man at a crucial crossroads in his life, one torn between the potential that Eric is offering him and the lure of the street, a decision complicated further by the fact that his mother Regina (Angela Rawna) is a drug addict in need of saving.

While Vince is put through the ringer, there is someone who believes in him: his friend and would-be love interest Jess (Jurnee Smollett), who finds herself drawn towards nice guy Landry (Jesse Plemons), despite the obvious simmering attraction between her and Vince.

But we can't force anyone to take the path we want them to. Vince must find his own way in the world, make the right choices for himself. The same holds true for Zach Gilford's Matt Saracen, who gets one of the most intense and emotionally resonant storylines this season as Matt grapples with the unexpected death of his father, his grief pushing him to make a dramatic change in his own life.

Among a series of innately strong episodes, "The Son"--which focused on the fallout of the death of Matt's father and how it impacts everyone around Matt as he finally has an emotional breakdown at the Taylors' house--stands apart from the rest. Gilford gives a staggering performance that taps into our collective grief, a tricky turn that balances his inability to articulate his emotion with a male rage at a lack of control over the universe. Provocative and compelling, it's a sadly overlooked performance that points towards Gilford's strength as an actor and was impossible to shake after viewing.

It's Matt's story that provides the season with emotional bookends: the kid who stuck around in Dillon to care for his ailing grandmother (Louanne Stephens) and to be with girlfriend Julie (Aimee Teegarden) finally gets out for good, flying back to Chicago with his best friend by his side. Having returned to offer Julie not only an explanation for his departure but an olive branch (a plane ticket to Chicago), he's turned down by Julie but achieves an inner peace. There's an almost beatific expression on his face as he stares out of the plane windows, Dillon receding to a place in his past, not necessarily his future.

It's a fate that's juxtaposed with that of Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), who remains an important focal point within the series' narrative. Reeling after graduation, Tim ditches college and returns to Dillon, where he shakily attempts to find direction in his life. Is he destined to work on cars with brother Billy (Derek Phillips) at Riggins' Rigs? Is he still dreaming of owning a piece of land and achieving that dream of "Texas forever" that he and Jason had once spoken about so reverently? And just what is he willing to do to achieve those ends?

Season Four finds a very different Riggins than we've seen before. No longer a football star yet clinging to his identity as 33, Rigs finds himself aimless. That is, until he meets the precocious Becky Sproles (Madison Burge), a 16-year-old who thinks that she's the perfect thing for Tim. Rather than fall into bed together, however, Tim takes Becky under his wing, protecting her against the lies her father spews at her, supporting her dreams, and supporting her when she discovers that she's pregnant.

(It's Tim's decision to seek the counsel of Tami Taylor that leads Tami to her own personal crucible this season as she's called out for counseling a teenage girl to get an abortion--a spurious claim that nevertheless leads her to step down from her position as principal of West Dillon and head up the counseling unit at run-down East Dillon, professionally reuniting her with Eric in the process.)

While Becky would have their relationship turn romantic, it's important that Tim keeps it absolutely platonic. His decision to do so demonstrates a different side to Tim Riggins, echoes of which we saw in Season Two with Julie Taylor. A protective, gentlemanly presence mixed with something almost paternal.

Which is interesting as it's Billy who becomes a father this season, though his puts his baby and his future with Mindy (Stacey Oristano) in jeopardy when he convinces Tim to begin chopping stolen cars for profit. His intentions are good: he needs money for Mindy's difficult pregnancy and for his family but his decision to commit a series of crimes opens them up for more difficulty.

Tim, however, comes up with an elegant if selfless solution: he'll confess to the crimes and keep Billy out of it. Billy can remain with his family, become the father his family needs him to be, and Tim will do the time. Having lost the land he purchased and lost the makeshift family he created when Becky's mom Cheryl (Alicia Witt) kicks him out, Tim finds meaning and a purpose: he can sacrifice his own freedom to ensure his brother's.

It's a heartbreaking and unexpected twist of fate, one at odds with the very freedom that Saracen achieves at the end of the season. Tim opted to remain in Dillon and his decision leads almost directly to him not being able to leave, a self-created prisoner whose incarceration isn't figurative but quite painfully literal. Yet at the same time, his throwing himself on the fire is an act of courage, of self-sacrifice, and of nobility, an argument against the hateful words of Cheryl. Tim Riggins might be "nothing" in her eyes and those of the law, but he has saved the Riggins family with his gesture, given the severity of Billy's previous charges.

Becky's unwanted child, meanwhile, leads not only to her own personal crossroads but to Tami's as well. Despite her pleas to Luke Cafferty (the fantastic Matt Lauria) to keep her pregnancy a secret, he tells his religious parents that he got a girl pregnant. When his mother learns that Becky had an abortion, she turns her anger against Tami and attempts to have her fired.

While Margaret (Kathleen Griffith) believes what she is doing is right, she's blind to her own child's problems as Luke develops a dependence on prescription painkillers after injuring his hip... and keeping his injury a secret from Coach and the entire team. While she's railing against Tami for offering advice that "killed" her "grandchild," her own son is killing his own body in secret.

Tami's decision not to apologize but to make a statement about how she put the needs of a student--of a scared teenage girl--first and followed protocol reveal the strength of character and conviction that have marked Tami Taylor from the start. This season found her grappling with the political nature of her public job, juggling spiteful boosters and school board members, rather than focusing on what got her into education in the first place: the kids. Her decision to go East Dillon, where she's needed," points too to her own selfless nature.

Just what will the future hold for the Taylors? Will Julie go off to school far away? Will they have to deal with financial issues now that both of their salaries have likely been cut? Eric may not have gotten the Lions to the state championship but that was never in the cards for this scrappy team. But they proved that they had the heart to overtake their rivals, the Panthers, on their own field.

It was a victory not just for Eric and for the team but for the underdogs everywhere, in every battle. It was a reminder of the unbreakable bond between teammates and of the the truth of Eric's early words in the series: clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

And in reminding us of such, neither it seems can Friday Night Lights itself.

Season Five of Friday Night Lights begins October 27th on DirecTV's The 101 Network.

Talk Back: Series Premiere of the CW's Nikita

The fall premieres continue to wear on as last night brought the series premiere of the CW's new action-thriller Nikita, starring Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Xander Berkeley, and Aaron Stanford.

While you can read my advance review of Nikita's pilot episode here, I'm curious to know what you thought now that the episode in question has aired.

What did you make of Maggie Q as the lead? And of Lyndsy Fonseca as new Division recruit Alex? (And of the pig masks?) Were you a fan of USA's Peta Wilson-led La Femme Nikita and how did it hold up in comparison? Were you surprised by the twist or did you see it--as I did--from a mile or more away? Where do you think the season will head? Did you see any similarities to Alias or Dollhouse?

And, most importantly, will you be tuning in again next week?

Talk back here.

Next week on Nikita ("2.0"), Nikita tries to interfere with Division's protective custody of a Slavic leader wanted for war crimes, but is thwarted by a band of mercenaries; Alex is sent into the field.

Channel Surfing: Syfy Brings Caprica Back Early, No Heroes Movie, Office Succession Plans, Fringe, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

I'm still not entirely sure what to make of the news that Syfy has bumped the premiere of the second half of Caprica's freshman season up by several months. While the series premiere aired this past January, Syfy surprised many by announcing that it would be a year later that the back half of Caprica's first season would launch. Cut to yesterday when Syfy seemingly reversed their decision, announcing a shocking soon launch date--Tuesday, October 5th, in fact--while Sanctuary, which was to have that timeslot, will now move back to Fridays this fall, where it will share the lineup with Friday Night Smackdown. “Though we initially announced the January return of Caprica, we still had hopes of finding a way to get the series back on the air sooner,” Syfy EVP Mark Stern told Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. “We’ve been able to successfully re-work our schedule, and are thrilled to bring the show back during what is traditionally Syfy’s most-watched time of the year." I can't help but wonder whether the move is intended to capitalize on Caprica or it's an effort to bury it among the slew of new network and cable series, given that there's now less than a month to get a promotional campaign off the ground. Hmmm... Meanwhile, still no word on a second season pickup. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed, Deadline)

File this under "hardly surprising." Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that NBC is not moving forward on a Heroes telepic that would tie up the loose plot points left dangling after the series ended this spring. Despite NBC's discussion of said film, series creator Tim Kring was less than hopeful that said film--like the ones discussed at HBO for Deadwood--would ever make it to air. Which means that the series finale of Heroes will remain just that: the finale, though Kring and Co. could in future again tap into the mythology of Heroes in some other fashion. [Editor: Was anyone really clamoring for a Heroes movie anyway?] (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd has a very long feature examining just how NBC will deal with the departure of Steve Carell at the end of the upcoming season of The Office and cites unnamed sources who say that "the final decision likely won’t be made until after the upcoming seventh season wraps," but "by season’s end, you will know who is getting Michael Scott’s job." According to Hibberd, the current strategy is to use the first half of the season to shine a spotlight on specific characters, giving them each a specific episode in which to be the focal point. The second half of the season will focus then on the issue of succession as Carell's Michael Scott makes his plans known for his departure, while NBC will launch online polls and the like designed to make the decision of his replacement interactive. "By season’s end, one character will have Scott’s job — but that person is not necessarily Carell’s replacement as the show’s star," writes Hibberd. "Sources say writers are tempted to have the character who becomes the Scranton branch's new boss fail in some spectacular manner, leaving the seat open again for another successor during Season 8. One radical notion being explored is the possibility of subtly shifting the show’s point of view so that a current character is the star instead of the boss." (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has a first look at the Season Three cast photo for FOX's Fringe, which features Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, and Blair Brown... and a shadowy figure lurking in an open doorway that looks suspiciously like the silhouette of an Observer to me. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Megan Masters talks to Life Unexpected creator Liz Tigelaar about Julia, the mysterious character that Jamie Ray Newman (Eastwick) will be playing on the CW series this fall. "We [introduce] Julia in the premiere, and then we let Cate and Ryan go on with their lives for a little bit. But her name starts coming up again, and Cate's confused about who this person is. We'll actually see some flashbacks of who this person is, and how she knows Ryan," said Tigelaar. "Julia's a person who was an integral person in Ryan's past. He's moved on and is with Cate, but in the course of season one she reappeared and there are repercussions of that. She's definitely lightly threaded into the first 13, and if we get a back nine, she'll be back. She be a character who's going to stir some stuff up for them." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

It's official: Jennifer Morrison (House) has joined the cast of CBS' How I Met Your Mother, where she will play Zooey, a new love interest for Ted Mosby. Morrison's Zooey, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, is "a rabble-rousing activist who’s hell-bent on saving the Arcadian, an old New York hotel that’s scheduled to be torn down to make way for the Goliath National Bank tower—which Ted just so happens to be designing." But this won't be another date-of-the-week for Ted, according to the show's producers. "This is going to be a big saga for Ted," Carter Bays told EW. "[It's] going to be a big overarching story that will take Ted on a journey that we’re really excited about." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

HBO has confirmed the launch of Season Three of therapy drama In Treatment, which will kick off with two back-to-back half-hour episodes on Monday, October 25th, and Tuesday, October 26th at 9 pm ET/PT. Subsequent episodes will follow the same scheduling. New cast members include Irrfan Kahn, Debra Winger, Amy Ryan, and Dane DeHaan. (via press release)

American Dad producer Bob Kushell has sold two comedy pitches, animated comedy Red Roofs to FOX and an untitled multi-camera comedy to NBC about a "blended family dealing with the death of the clan's patriarch (who had been living a double life)." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Lethal Weapon of Mass Destruction: An Advance Review of the CW's Nikita

The only way that you could have missed the provocative and eye-catching ads for the CW's Nikita, premiering night, is if you are perhaps visually-impaired. The red-hued promotional campaign, featuring series lead Maggie Q (Live Free or Die Hard) have been ubiquitous of late, popping up on mall food court tables, billboards, and bus sides for months now.

The wait, however, is over now. Tonight brings the series premiere of Nikita, the latest in a line of adaptations of Luc Besson's landmark 1990 film La Femme Nikita, which starred Anne Parillaud as the titular character, a government-trained assassin from, uh, humble origins who finds herself transformed into a cold-blooded killer. The film was then adapted into Bridget Fonda vehicle Point of No Return before being resurrected as the Peta Wilson-led USA action series La Femme Nikita and going on to influence ABC's Alias... and now it's been revamped again as CW's high-flying action-thriller Nikita, which seems to take some of its cues from Alias.

Unlike before, the start of this Nikita-based project isn't a drugged-up Nikita being discovered by Division and trained in the deadly ways of the femme fatale assassin. (That role falls to a new recruit.) Here, Maggie Q's Nikita has already been through the ringer, already been instructed in the womanly ways as well as those of the gun, and has gone rogue. Like Alias' Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), she has learned too well that her employers are not what they appear to be and that they are willing to do everything in their power to keep their grasp on her, including murdering her fiance, who--like Sydney's in Alias--is also named Danny.

The murder of her beloved sends Nikita on a quest of vengeance as she looks for a way to hurt Division as badly as they've hurt her, an eye for an eye, a massive explosion and dozens of casualties for the one that she's lost. However, inside Division, her handlers have found a potential replacement for their lost Nikita in Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), a troubled girl with a background similar to Nikita's. Caught in an armed robbery gone horribly awry, she is taken by Division and undergoes training to make her a deadly assassin.

Which creates a dual focus for the series to explore, as Alex functions as the audience's entrypoint to the story, a sarcastic and brutal ingenue who finds herself navigating the complex and deadly waters of Division, and Nikita works to take down Division from the outside, turning up when Division's nefarious Percy (Xander Berkeley) least expects it in order to make them pay.

On some levels, the overall conceit reminded me somewhat of Season One of FOX's short-lived Joss Whedon drama series Dollhouse, revolving as it did around an organization that uses people as living weapons that is largely undone by internal and external aggressors. Hell, the trainees--Fonseca's Alex, Ashton Holmes' Thom, and Tiffany Hines' Jaden--wear drab clothes similar to the ones the Actives wore on Dollhouse.

It's also a conceit that makes me wonder just what Season Two of this series would look like. With Nikita on the outside--despite her being the titular character--would the entire series' run focus on her efforts to take down Division and free the other recruits? Will she find a potential ally in the deeply conflicted Division operative Michael (Shane West), with whom she shares some crucial backstory? Just how long can this overarching plot wend its way through the storyline before it becomes difficult to maintain and still have a basis in some semblance of reality?

Which isn't to say that Nikita isn't a fun, if somewhat mindless, diversion, because it is. Maggie Q is a sensational lead and she effortlessly slips into the role of a calculated killer and career strategist, a trained agent bristling against what's been done to her but using those very skills to topple her former keepers.

Maggie Q gets to wear slinky outfits, strut in a bikini in the pilot episode, and use her considerable martial arts background to kick some bad guy ass, engaging in a number of stunts that she did on her own. The action sequences are particularly strong and showcase Maggie's talents in a number of different environments. (I only wish that they had been able to film the pilot script's death-defying leap off of an infinity pool, a wicked visual that demonstrated the extreme risks Nikita is willing to take.)

There's additionally a nice balance between Maggie Q and her co-star Lyndsy Fonseca (as well as a taut chemistry between the former and West), who seems to fulfill the role of a young Nikita in the story: the newbie going through the ropes of training and being tested at every turn by the operatives of the Division, including psychologist Amanda (Melinda Clarke).

A twist at the very end of the series premiere can be easily seen from a mile away, but still sets up an intriguing direction for the first season, albeit one that also makes me reiterate the above questions at the same time. Still, Maggie Q is genuinely a pleasure to watch and there's an energy and boldness that the pilot exhibits that makes it a fun--if dark--alternative on Thursday evenings. Whether it will be able to win an audience that's already gripped by strange goings-on over on FOX with Fringe in the same timeslot remains to be seen.

However, one thing is for certain: this Nikita has some definite potential, as long as it doesn't fall into certain traps along the way, pitfalls that an operative like Nikita herself should have planned for in advance.

Nikita premieres tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on the CW.

Holy Asian Extravaganza: The Final Four Compete in Singapore on Top Chef

After a lackluster season of Top Chef, having even a single enjoyable and tense episode is a step in the right direction, really.

Last night's episode ("Finale, Part One"), which saw the final four contestants jet off to Singapore for the last few challenges before the ultimate culinary showdown, seemed to showcase the spark and magic that this season has been largely missing, forcing the contestants to jump through some pretty narrow hoops as the finish line inches its way ever closer.

Perhaps the producers were smart to leave behind stuffy Washington D.C. for the street markets of sweltering Singapore; each of the chefs seemed to far more awake and creative as a whole than we've seen them collectively this season, invigorated by the flavors and scents of Southeast Asia.

I have to say that I was extremely impressed by the performance of each of the four. While there were some technical issues at play, each of them turned out gorgeous and complex plates that showcased the tastes of Southeast Asia while also remaining true to their own culinary ethos and personality. Given that Angelo was considered the front-runner going into this season--and into the final legs--it's interesting that the arrogant chef--who is known for his innovative take on Asian cuisine--didn't fare as well as many had expected, leaving this competition open for the taking.

So how did the chefs do? And what did they prepare this week? Let's take a closer look.

It was instantly apparent that the chefs were more energetic and engaged as soon as we saw them in the Singapore street market; there was an infectious energy even as the chefs continued to sweat profusely throughout the installment. As an episode it literally contained the blood, sweat, and tears (well, Angelo's anyway) of the cheftestants as they were faced with some pretty intense challenges before the final round.

Which is how it should be. This season has been largely marred by uneven editing, some lame challenges, and a decided lack of atmosphere, much of which was undone by shifting the focus to the strong chefs of this group and taking them outside of their comfort zone by depositing them in an overwhelming marketplace crowded by scents and tastes that they might not have had a firm grasp of.

But they are chefs, after all, and they quickly picked up the nuance of Southeast Asian street food after a tour of the market... and a surprise Quickfire Challenge that had them cooking street food using a wok and a burner just like any of the other hawkers within the expansive (and hunger-inducing) marketplace.

So what did they make? Here's the rundown...

Quickfire Challenge:

• Angelo:chili frog legs with pineapple and rambutan salsa
Ed: stir fry noodles with black pepper sauce, lobster and gai lan
• Kelly: Chinese noodles with lobster, cockles, bean sprouts, and Chinese broccoli
• Kevin: seafood stew with lobster and cuttlefish with crispy shallots

I knew straightaway that Ed had this challenge in the bag. He was calm, cool, and collected and he delivered a dish that drew in the diverse flavors of the market while also elevating street food to a whole new level. His dish was beautifully presented, a mix of two kinds of noodles, a simple lime wedge, and some greens the only accompaniments. It wasn't fussy, overdone, or crowded. Simple food done beautifully.

Which isn't to say that Angelo and Kelly were out of the running but their dishes, while masterfully executed, didn't quite reach up to the high standard that Ed had created. Some nice touches from Angelo: the pineapple in the salsa had the right amount of sweetness to cut through the fire of the chili and I have to say that I'm impressed he was able to pull off the frog's legs in such a short amount of time and have them be cooked perfectly. Kelly's dish was a beautiful bowl of noodles, lobster, and cockles, elegantly presented. Kevin's inexperience with the wok, however, was immediately noticeable. His dish was easily the weakest of the bunch.

No surprise that Ed walked away the winner here... and with immunity from the coming Elimination Challenge. But would he rest on his laurels or would he push himself to compete just as hard as if he hadn't already secured a spot in the final three? I had a feeling it would be the latter, especially as he seemed like he wanted to defeat rival Angelo at all costs. I found it interesting that no one named Ed as their chief competition before that Quickfire, but afterward it was entirely clear that they were all shocked at just how well Ed had performed... even though he had won his fair share of challenges back in D.C. Huh.

For their Elimination Challenge, the chefs would have to work as a team to create a meal for Food & Wine editor Dana Cowin and 80 guests based on local cuisines and cook their dishes a la minute. Which meant no cooking their dishes ahead of time: each dish would have to be cooked to order.

No small feat, this. 80 guests all ordering at once from a menu of eight items (Ed wisely had conceived two dishes ahead of time, while the others had to scramble at the last second to come up with a second dish each) puts an enormous strain on the kitchen, particularly as the waitstaff hadn't been trained to work with them and they had such a short amount of time--one hour!--to prep ahead of the service.

So what did they make for their two dishes each? Let's take a gander...

Elimination Challenge:

• Angelo: spicy shrimp broth with ginger and prawn dumplings and lamb tartare with rambutan ceviche and curry oil
• Ed: crispy rice and potato cakes, sweet and sour pork, and kai lan and fried banana fritter with red chili paste
• Kelly: chilled cucumber-yogurt soup, bitter melon salad and seared prawns, spicy red coconut curry, crispy prawn heads
• Kevin: clam chowder with flavors of Southeast Asia and 63° farm egg, pearl tapioca, radish condiment

Once again, it was Ed who took the early lead here with two dishes that had the judges swooning. His crispy rice cake with pork belly and kai lan was an early favorite, a masterful dish that showed off the local flavors while also presenting a strong portrait of Ed as a Western chef. But it was his fried banana fritters with red chili paste inside that had the judges going crazy. (Gail herself said that the only flaw was that she wanted six of them rather than the two provided.) Despite having immunity, Ed had once again run circles around his competitors, making him--in my opinion--the one to beat next week.

Angelo's lamb tartare was a thing of beauty, gorgeously presented and pulled off expertly. We've seen other chefs fail when attempting to create a tartare from lamb, presenting a dish that's mealy, metallic, or unappetizing. But in the hands of Angelo, the lamb was perfectly cut and seasoned and captured the refinement of a tuna tartare. Too bad his soup was so intensely salty; the saline quality of that dish knocked him right out of the running.

I was extremely impressed with Kevin's two dishes here, especially as he didn't perform as well as the others in the Quickfire (and had Padma calling him out for his inexperience with the wok). But he delivered two knock-out dishes, with a Southeast Asian-inspired clam chowder and his take on congee, here with a perfectly cooked 63-degree egg, the yolk nice and runny, and simple accompaniments of radish and red chili. Elegant, simple, and delicious, he more than won a spot in the charmed circle of the final three.

And then there was Kelly. I really wanted her to perform better than she did here as she made a few mistakes that sealed her fate in the end. I'm not sure why she included the fish in her bitter melon and cucumber soup as the flavors of that dish seemed in perfect harmony without needing the inclusion of a protein in there, especially when the fish itself seemed oddly cut and several judges complained about the oddness of the texture. Likewise, she pulled back far too much on the heat of her red curry, which lacked the fire that the judges wanted, even as they raved about her guava-apple salad, which Tom felt should have been better integrated into the dish and might have elevated the dish.

Alas, it was Kelly who was not going to stick around for the final battle, leaving the guys--Ed, Angelo, and Kevin--to duke it out for the title of Top Chef next week. As for why they were summoned back to the judges' table... Well, we all know what that's about.

What did you think of this week's episode? Would you have sent Kelly home? Is Ed now the front-runner to take home the top prize? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Next week on the season finale of Top Chef ("Finale, Part Two"), the three remaining chefs attempt to cook the best meal of each of their lives; with the title of Top Chef on the line, Angelo falls ill.

Top Chef Preview: Always A Twist



Top Chef Preview: Angelo's Sick

Talk Back: Series Premieres of FX's Terriers and CW's Hellcats

I could make a joke about dogs and cats fighting here but that would be too easy, no?

I've been raving about FX's new drama series Terriers for weeks now but now the Ted Griffin-created series (executive produced by Shawn Ryan) has finally aired so I'm curious to see what you thought of last night's series premiere. (You can read my advance review of the first five episodes here and check out my feature interview with Shawn Ryan over at The Daily Beast.)

Did you fall for the series' mixture of comedy and drama? What did you make of the camaraderie and chemistry between series leads Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James? Of the San Diego setting and the overarching conspiracy plot that arcs over the whole first season? Glad to see Laura Allen sink her teeth into a meaty role as Britt's vet girlfriend Katie? Wondering just what will happen next?

And, most importantly, will you tune in again next week?

And then there was the CW's Hellcats. I didn't write a review of the pilot episode mostly because I found it to be hellishly awful and entirely tedious, but I'd be curious to know what those of you who tuned in thought about the series premiere. Did you bother watching? Will you tune in again? And why oh why has the CW sunk so low again?

Talk back here.

Channel Surfing: Dark Tower Comes to TV (And Cinemas), Chuck Lands Freddie Krueger, TNT Mines Dallas, The Event, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Deadline's Mike Fleming broke the news yesterday that Universal has landed the rights to Stephen King's massive multiple-novel series "The Dark Tower," and is developing an adaptation that will comprise both a feature film franchise as well as a television series element, an unprecedented use of the two platforms. Ron Howard will direct the first film as well as the first season of the television series that would follow on its heels; likewise both elements will be written by Akiva Goldsman, with Universal Media Studios attached as the studio. The first season of the series would use the same actors and focus on gunslinger Deschain after the events of the film, while the second season would revolve around Deschain's past. “What Peter [Jackson] did [with Lord of the Rings] was a feat, cinematic history,” Howard told Fleming. “The approach we’re taking also stands on its own, but it’s driven by the material. I love both, and like what’s going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there’s the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you’d deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We’ve put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It’s fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker.” (Deadline)

[Meanwhile, JJ Abrams--who had previously been attached to The Dark Tower--is said to be shopping yet another television project, this time a crime thriller created by Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige) that could start a bidding war at several networks, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello.]

Is it just me or is the Chuck casting team on a roll this season? Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Freddy Kreuger himself--make that Robert Englund--is set to guest star on Chick's Halloween-themed episode, set to air in October. "Englund will play Dr. Stanley Wheelwright, an evil scientist who can make your waking life a nightmare," writes Ausiello. "He’ll appear in this season’s sixth episode, titled 'Chuck Versus Aisle of Terror.'" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TNT announced a slew of pilot pickups, including a remake of nighttime soap Dallas from writer Cynthia Cidre (Cane) and Warner Horizon that will focus on the rivalry between brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing. Other projects include ABC Studios' Perception (formerly known as Proof), from writers Biller and Mike Sussman, about a neurosurgeon who solves crimes using his unique way of viewing the world and an untitled Allan Loeb drama from Lionsgate Television about a widowed cop whose partner has just gotten married (which is based on Marshall Karp's novel "The Rabbit Factory"). TBS, meanwhile, ordered a pilot for comedy Brain Trust, from Dean Devlin and Marco Schnabel, about a detective who gets a second shot at life. (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Hal Holbrook (Sons of Anarchy) has signed on to NBC's upcoming thriller The Event in a multiple-episode story arc, where he will play "a mysterious character by the name of Dempsey." A press release from NBC that hit the wire shortly thereafter expanded upon the description of Holbrook's character: "Holbrook will play Dempsey, a businessman with shadowy intentions, who will be revealed as an antagonist to President Martinez (Blair Underwood) beginning with his first scheduled appearance on October 11." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, press release)

It's officially official: America's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan will headline his own talk show on CNN, replacing Larry King in the 9 pm timeslot beginning in January. (Variety)

Former Battlestar Galactica and 24 star Katee Sackhoff is finally heading to CBS' CSI three years after producers tried to cast her as Jorja Fox's replacement on the CBS crime procedural, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Sackhoff has been cast in a "potentially recurring role" as Detective Reed, described as "a smart, tough, and feisty investigator with an acknowledged lack of sensitivity." She'll make her first appearance in November. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

There's still more Jersey Shore on tap for MTV: the cabler has ordered two specials that will air after the second season finale on October 21st; the first will be a reunion special slated to air a week later, while the second will be a behind-the-scenes special. No air date has been announced for the latter. Season Three of the reality juggernaut will air next year. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former House star Jennifer Morrison is said to be in the running to join the cast of CBS' How I Met Your Mother as a "major new love interest for Ted," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. She's not the only one, however, as Minka Kelly and Jacinda Barrett are also said to be in contention. "I don’t know if she’s the mother we’ve been waiting to meet," writes Ausiello. "However, I do know that the character—a quick-witted, rabble-rousing activist who initially clashes with Ted over the planned demolition of a historic New York hotel—will appear in as many as 13 episodes this season." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Watch with Kristin team at E! Online rounded up a ton of information about Season Two of FOX's Glee directly from the horse's mouth as it were, talking to the cast on the red carpet of the premiere party earlier this week and revealing information about duets, romances, Rocky Horror and more. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Diane Farr and Peter Tolan have separately received script orders for two one-hour dramas at FOX. Farr's project, based on her upcoming semi-autobiographical novel "You Can't Love One of Them," is said to focus on "several interracial couples living in the South in a post-Obama world." Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Generate, will be written and executive produced by Farr alongside Pete Aronson and Jordan Levin. Tolan, meanwhile, has sold a script for an untitled Glen Mazzara drama with Sony Pictures Television attached as the studio; it will revolve around "a burnt-out doctor who joins a neighborhood medical clinic." (Deadline)

Showtime has ordered a second season of The Green Room with Paul Provenza, with six episodes on tap for 2011. (via press release)

Epix has hired Jill Burkhart as the director of documentary development for the pay cabler. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Dogged Detectives with Bite: An Advance Review of FX's Terriers

As the owner of a small dog, I can attest to the fact that the size of the beast isn't indicative of the largeness of their personalities... nor the fact that they're only too willing to take on adversaries far bigger than them.

Which seems to be the metaphor behind the title of FX's new drama series Terriers, which premieres tonight. Despite the title, Terriers isn't about dog breeders or, well, dogs at all, though there are more than a few canines lurking in the background of this scrappy and sly series, created by Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven, Matchstick Men) and executive produced by Shawn Ryan (The Shield).

While the unlicensed private detectives of the series, ex-cop Hank Dolworth (Life's Donal Logue) and his BFF Britt Pollack (True Blood's Michael Raymond-James), might be small fry in the sunny San Diego coastal town of Ocean Beach, they're not ones to back down from anything, even when they've bitten off far more than they can chew.

For this winsome duo, their low-level business isn't a lucrative line of work but rather an effort to remain a little longer in Neverland, despite the efforts of everyone in their lives--whether that be Hank's ex-wife Gretchen (House's Kimberly Quinn), now moving on with her life, or Britt's would-be veterinarian girlfriend Katie (Dirt's Laura Allen)--to push them, kicking and screaming, into adulthood.

Despite the fact that Hank and Britt are slumming it a bit, it's a joy to chew the fat with them in the gutter. In the hands of Logue and Raymond-James, there's a genuine camaraderie and rapport between these two and it's hard to imagine that they've been anything but the best of friends for years now. They have a shorthand between them for their professional maneuvers--which often include the illicit, immoral, and outright illegal--and, like any friends of the male variety, seem hellbent on driving each other crazy. (In the pilot episode, this includes Hank's repeated attempts to create an earworm--a song that gets stuck in one's head--to torment Britt.)

But this isn't a USA dramedy. While there's a hell of a lot of comedy going on here, it's nicely juxtaposed against some toothy drama that exposes the seedy underbelly of this sunny beach town. It's not all suntanning and beers on the ocean. A rotting corpse is discovered in a lifeguard tower. A real estate developer is as dirty as they come. A parking lot confrontation--over a missing girl under Hank and Britt's protection--turns brutally nasty. Underneath the crisp air and rays of sunshine lurks a violence that's always threatening to erupt and overtake the status quo.

And Hank, we learn over the course of the first few episodes, was dishonorably discharged from the local police department thanks to his alcoholism. Now clean and sober, he's lost everything--his job, his house, and his wife--to his addiction, but he's maintained a contentious relationship with his ex-partner Mark Gustafson, played here to delicious perfection by Rockmond Dunbar (Prison Break). But Britt is no angel, either, as we learn in a later episode. How the two met is only too fitting, really.

(Points too for Jamie Denbo's hilarious and super-pregnant lawyer Maggie Lefferts, here presented as a cross between the guys' confessor, mother, and manager. Denbo--half of Ronna and Beverly--shines in her scenes and I only hope we see more of her in the back half of the season.)

It's also worth noting that this isn't a crime procedural, but rather a gripping and taut serialized drama. Each episode builds on the one that preceded it and gracefully unfolds the further development of the characters while also broadening out the world. Throughout it all, the case in the pilot--the one involving the aforementioned real estate developer--hovers uneasily over the action as Hank and Britt find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into a scandal that puts their lives--and those of their loved ones--in serious risk.

Will the guys throw in the figurative towel? Or will they doggedly pursue the truth about just what is going on at the Montague development, even as all number of obstacles are thrown up in their way? (You can guess which way the wind blows.)

Thanks to the crack writing staff of Terriers, what develops is a smart, funny, and compelling series that masterfully balances light and dark, humor and drama, pain and catharsis. The five episodes that I screened earlier this month point towards Terriers being an accomplished and gutsy series that's unlike anything else on television. While the fall season has only gotten under way today, it's safe to say that Terriers is already high atop the list of the very best new series on television right now.

This dog's bite is just as fierce as its bark.

Terriers premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on FX.

The Daily Beast: "The Shield Creator Shawn Ryan's New Show, Terriers"

Before I post my (glowing) review of FX's new drama series Terriers, starring Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James, I thought I'd plug my latest feature over at The Daily Beast.

Head over to The Daily Beast to read "The Shield Creator Shawn Ryan's New Show, Terriers," in which I talk to Shawn Ryan about Terriers--created by Ted Griffin--and Ryan's upcoming FOX midseason drama Ride-Along (one of the very best of the season) and discuss the thematic links with The Shield, which transformed FX into a major player in the original programming game and transformed cable as a result.

Be sure to head to the comments section to discuss the legacy of The Shield and whether you'll be tuning in to Terriers tonight. (You really should be: it's hands-down one of the best new shows of the year.)

Channel Surfing: Psych Has a Twin Peaks Experience, HBO Orders Apatow/Dunham Pilot, SNL, Modern Family Casts Cam's Mom, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

I'm not even a Psych fan and this made me blissfully happy. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that USA's Psych is staging a Twin Peaks-inspired episode that will also feature original cast members Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn, Dana Ashbrook, Catherine Coulson, Ray Wise, Lenny Von Dohlen, and Robyn Lively. Um, yes please. The episode, co-written by series star James Roday, will air sometime this fall and will revolve around "a quirky Northern California town that has been rocked by the death of a high school student." Sound familiar? Coulson will even play a "mysterious Woman with Wood," a tongue-in-cheek take on her Log Lady from Twin Peaks. Sign me up. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO has given a pilot order to an untitled comedy written/directed by 24-year-old Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture) and executive produced by Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner. Project, which will also star Dunham, revolves around "the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20's" and will feature autobiographical elements from Dunham's own life. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Parks and Recreation leading lady Amy Poehler will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 25th, with Katy Perry serving as musical guest. Season 36 has added four new players to the mix, including Taran Killam, Paul Brittain, Vanessa Bayer, and Jay Pharoah (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

[Editor: Will Forte, as widely reported, will not be returning to SNL this season. Jenny Slate, who made headlines for the F-bomb heard 'round the latenight world, is also "not expected to return," according to Variety's Michael Schneider.]

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Celia Weston (Desperate Housewives) has beat out Delta Burke, Dianne Wiest, and Kathy Bates (along with others) to play Barb Tucker, the mother of Emmy Award winner Eric Stonestreet's Cam, on ABC's Modern Family. Weston is expected to turn up around the holidays for a visit this season. (TV Guide Magazine)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Alan Ritchson will reprise his role as Arthur "AC" Curry on the final season of the CW's Smallville during November sweeps. "AC was last seen in season 8, when his secret identity was discovered by LuthorCorp," writes Ausiello. "I’m told the Justice Leaguer will resurface in this season’s ninth episode." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

MTV is getting back into the live daytime game with new daily countdown show The Seven, according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd, who reports that the show, which will launch September 27th, "presents seven stories that MTV viewers need to know, from Hollywood news, music, sex and fashion to other topics." Project, which will also feature interviews and musical performances, will be executive produced by Steve Tseckares. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Nevins has announced his first piece of development business since he took over as president of Showtime. The project in question is an adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel "The Wishbones," which Perrotta himself will adapt for the pay cabler. Warner Bros. Television-based project, which will be executive produced by Perrotta and John Wells, revolves around a small-time wedding band with plans of rock n' roll stardom. Wells is no stranger to Showtime: his next series, a US adaptation of UK drama Shameless, is set to launch early next year on the channel. [Editor: Having seen the pilot for the US Shameless--twice, no less--and been raving about it for months since, this is one to keep an eye on.] (Variety)

Don't look for Marc Cherry to pull out the stops this sweeps on ABC's Desperate Housewives. Cherry told TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck that the soap will get back to basics this season and ditch the gimmicks. "I'm not doing another big gimmicky natural disaster this year; I'm trying something different," Cherry said. "My big cliffhanger right before we take our Christmas break will have to do with Paul Young. He has a plan for destroying the neighborhood. There will a shocking cliffhanger that effects everyone's lives, and then right before February sweeps, we're going to kill off one of our characters." (TV Guide Magazine)

HBO has acquired rights to Martin Scorsese's documentary Public Speaking, which focuses on writer Fran Lebowitz and which will air on the pay cabler in November. (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that FOX's Bones will feature an episode that's loosely inspired by dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance, as Booth and Brennan tackle a case involving street performers. Episode will feature a guest appearance from So You Think You Can Dance Season Four runner-up Stephen "tWitch" Boss, who will play a murder suspect. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has renewed culinary competition series Masterchef for a second season. (Variety)

Despite the rumors swirling that Simon Cowell will step down from the UK X-Factor in order to focus his attention on the upcoming US launch of the format, his reps have told The Hollywood Reporter that "no decision has been made." (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

The Daily Beast: "HBO's Scorsese Sensation" (Boardwalk Empire)

Looking to find out more about HBO's period drama Boardwalk Empire, which launches later this month?

Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest feature, "HBO's Scorsese Sensation," in which I talk to the cast and crew of HBO's glittering and gripping 1920s drama Boardwalk Empire--including creator Terence Winter (The Sopranos), Steve Buscemi, and Kelly Macdonald--and take a look at the role that the gangster has played in the American consciousness for the last century or so.

The series is so strong--based on the six episodes that I've seen to date--that I believe that Boardwalk Empire and FX's Terriers (which premieres tomorrow) are the two strongest new series I've seen thus far.

So don't get left behind. Pour yourself a stiff drink (and whisper thanks that Prohibition is long over) and settle in as you're transported back to 1920 Atlantic City, a world populated by gangster, smugglers, cops, and widows. Head to the comments section to discuss your take on this fantastic and brilliant new series... and whether it's the heir apparent to HBO's network-defining shows like The Sopranos and The Wire.

I'll see you at Babette's...

Boardwalk Empire premieres Sunday, September 19th at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Channel Surfing: Kara DioGuardi Leaves Idol, Treadstone Heads to CBS, Ashmore Twins Land Fringe, Glee, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. With the holiday weekend having just wrapped, no one was breaking too much news. Which isn't to say that there are no key television-based headlines, because, well, there are. Let's get to it.

It's official: Kara DioGuardi will not be returning to FOX's American Idol this season. The singer-songwriter joined the judges table two years ago and FOX has now confirmed the long-gestating rumors that DioGuardi would not be returning for another season of the musical competition series. "I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave IDOL," said DioGuardi in an official statement. "I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol - it has truly been an amazing experience. I am grateful to FOX, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, as well as the cast, crew and contestants, for all they have given to me. I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!" Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller had this to say about DioGuardi's departure: "Kara is one of the world's best songwriters. She has been passionate and committed to Idol over the last two seasons. I will miss having her on the show, but I look forward to working with her in music for many years to come." (via press release)

Variety's Michael Schneider is reporting that the new Idol panelists, including a replacement for DioGuardi could be announced next week, with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler still expected to join the judging team for the next cycle of American Idol. (Variety)

Has CSI creator Anthony Zuiker found his next smash hit? Zuiker has landed a script order for Treadstone, a series take on the black ops division of the CIA from Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels, at CBS. Project, from CBS Television Studios and Dare to Pass, will be written by John Glenn (Eagle Eye), who will executive produce with Zuiker. (Deadline)

Shawn and Aaron Ashmore--the twin actors known for their roles in the X-Men film franchise, Smallville, and Veronica Mars--are set to appear in Season Three of FOX's Fringe this fall. The duo are set to guest star in an episode slated to air in November and have turned down other invitations to play opposite each other in the past. "It's usually because the stuff that comes along is kind of hokey," Shawn Ashmore told Chicago Now. "But I think the quality of Fringe is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We're going to have some fun." No word immediately on just who or what they'll be playing but it's safe to say that twins will play into the equation in some capacity. (via Digital Spy)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an exclusive first look at John Stamos' Dr. Carl Howell on Season Two of FOX's Glee. "Just when Will thinks he'll win Emma because he can sing and dance, we find out Carl used to be in an '80s boy band," Stamos told Keck. "I discover Will's chewing his teeth, so the other day I had, like, four fingers in Matthew Morrison's mouth." And Carl will also play a key role in causing those Brittany Spears hallucinations this fall in the Spears tribute episode... and will appear in the Rocky Horror Picture Show-inspired Halloween episode as well. (TV Guide Magazine)

NBC is teaming up with DreamWorks Animated for half-hour holiday specials Scared Shrekless and Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special. The first will air on October 28th as a Halloween tie-in while Panda will air on November 24th. Both will be paired with repeats of last year's DreamWorks Animated specials based around Monsters Vs. Aliens and Madagascar. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bill Lawrence is keeping it in the family: Ken Jenkins (Scrubs) is set to guest star on ABC's Cougar Town, where he will play the father of Courteney Cox's Jules, according to Entertainment Weekly. No airdate has been set for Jenkins' appearance, though it's thought likely that he'll turn up this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Office isn't going anywhere, executive producer Paul Lieberstein told E! Online's Megan Masters on Friday... and indicated that there could be an Office movie. [Editor: for the love of all things holy, no.] "There's been no talk at any point of The Office ending," Lieberstein told Masters. "Maybe when the series is done we'd do an Office movie. I'd be up for that... But they're all such big movie stars now, I don't know if we could afford them on set." Lieberstein also advised fans to stick with the series even after Steve Carell leaves at the end of this upcoming season. "This will definitely change the dynamic [of the show]," said Lieberstein. "And we can't just replace Steve because I think that would lead to failure. We have to do something different. This show is really about office life, which so many people live. And changing it up a little will be welcome to the fans. Steve feels he's played almost everything he can with Michael Scott. There isn't a lot of new territory for him to discover. And if he's feeling that, fans must be, at a certain level, feeling that too—it's an opportunity to reinvent The Office." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) has been cast in a recurring role on HBO's Big Love), where he will play the son of a fundamentalist polygamists. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Futon Critic is reporting that Syfy will air Felicia Day's telepic Red: Werewolf Hunter on Saturday, October 30th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

Elsewhere at the cabler, Syfy is developing conspiracy-based reality series UFO: Unbelievably Freakin' Obvious that will feature Billy Ray Cyrus and his son Trace as they "travel cross-country and offer a skeptical solution to many of the theories," according to Variety's Stuart Levine. "The existence of paranormal phenomena is something I've always wanted to explore further," Cyrus told Variety. "Getting the opportunity to take this adventure with my son, who has always had a keen interest in this area, is a dream come true. I hope this series can shine a light on some of the activities we have questioned, and the mysteries that have long inspired us." (Variety)

MTV has given a put pilot order to an untitled scripted comedy from comedian Bo Burnham which will revolve around "a kid fresh out of high school who's pursing the new American dream of being a celebrity without having any talent," according to Burnham, who will write and executive produce the pilot, alongside Dan Lagana and Luke Liacos. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Unwanted Guests: Emotional Baggage on This Week's Incredible Mad Men

Though Don might have once told Peggy Olsen always to look forward and never look back, it's an impossible credo to embrace completely. Regardless of how much we might attempt to escape the trappings of our past, they have a nasty way of staring us right in the face, whether that's an inevitable phone call, a playground, or a pregnant rival.

It's the past that we always carry around with us, dragging our failure and shortcomings at our heels, shoving them into whatever baggage we might grab at the moment, whether it's an army duffel bag or a stylish Samsonite suitcase.

This week's beautiful and intense episode of Mad Men ("The Suitcase"), written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Jennifer Getzinger, swung the focus back around to the central relationship between Don Draper and Peggy Olsen, two sides of the same coin, each grappling with the intrusion of an unwanted guest into their structured and compartmentalized lives.

Threaded around the Cassius Clay/Sonny Liston boxing match, the episode shines a spotlight on the often contentious relationship between Don and Peggy, each of whom proves in this week's installment that, no matter how many times they get knocked down, each of them manages to get back on their feet again. Like a piece of Samsonite luggage, they can take a hit and keep on swinging. This season has been noticeably scant on Don and Peggy intimacy as their relationship seemed to take a bit of a hit when they moved to the new agency... and Don's Clio Award cemented a frustration on Peggy's part, as did his constant needling of her ideas.

Of course, Don is hard on Peggy because he's hard on himself, more so than anyone else. Like he does with himself, he holds Peggy to an unrealistic expectation of perfection, one than no mortal can meet. If Don had to be the best in order to overcome his upbringing, his lack of education, and his lack of experience, so too has Peggy. They have to be the best at everything because Don has seen that it can all so easily be ripped away from them.

"I know what I'm supposed to want," says Peggy, sadly, "but it just never feels right, or as important as anything in that office."

While the major theme this week seemed to be unwanted guests--from the unwelcome appearance of Peggy's family at Mark's surprise birthday dinner, Duck's near-defactory cameo at the office, the mouse in the office, the roach in the Parthenon--it also delved into notions of identity and perception. If the people who know us in the truest, deepest sense of the word are no longer alive, no longer remembering, are we still intrinsically us? If our pasts are scrubbed from memory, can we escape who we were? Who we are?

Despite the fact that Don has long known that Anna Draper was going to die, Stephanie's call from California still comes as a shock and he does everything in his power to delay making the call, the call that will forever alter his life as he is forced to contend with Anna's death and its inescapable implications. He goes so far as to keep Peggy at the office lest he have to deal with picking up the telephone, throwing himself into work, shielding his heart behind the office walls. His intransigence towards Peggy, towards the Samsonite campaign--not due for two more weeks--is an effort to delay the inevitable.

But he can't forget. The phone remains omnipresent throughout the episode, each time it rings it becomes the clarion symbol of some painfulness he's hoping to avoid. But each time, it's Peggy's boyfriend Mark, increasingly fed up with the fact that she is making excuses and keeping all of them waiting for her. While Peggy's frustration with Don mounts, it's really Mark who she's the most upset with, once she learns that he brought her entire family to dinner, her overbearing and clucking mother who disapproves of her lifestyle. It's as if, Peggy tells Don, he doesn't know her at all.

So who does know us in the end then? It's those who see us at our best and at our worst. For Peggy, that's Don Draper, the only one who visited her in the hospital, who nurtured her talents and promoted her, who gave her the life that she was so desperate to live, a life that she chose over her own baby, given away for adoption. He has seen Peggy at either end of the spectrum, just as she has done with him. They both still have their secrets; while both have revealed truths about themselves, each has chosen to conceal something powerful about their pasts--Peggy that Pete is the father of her child, Don that he stole another man's identity--but that doesn't diminish the bond between them, one forged in the fires of honesty, the late nights at the office, the frantic calls, and the sometimes horrific consequences of their mistakes.

It's fitting that Don attempts to bring Peggy back around by sharing with her his own discovery, the tapes that Roger has been making for his autobiography, entitled--of all things--"Sterling's Gold." Among the juicy tidbits we learn: that Don's secretary Ida Blankenship was once the "queen of perversions" and that Bert Cooper had his testicles removed... for no good reason.

It sets up what ends up being a night of truths, not just ones coerced from illicit tapes but ones shared openly between Don and Peggy, their fractured relationship breaking down once she erupts at him... and then finally being knitted back together over coffee at a Greek diner, drinks at a bar, and a trip to the men's room. (I loved Peggy's reaction upon seeing the urinals therein.) All before Don attempts to protect Peggy's honor when a drunk Duck calls her a "whore." (If Duck was hoping to woo Peggy into his bed or his office, he failed miserably on both accounts, particularly after he nearly defecated in Roger's office.)

Throughout it all, both Don and Peggy drag their own emotional Samsonites across town, circling back into the office. (Don cracks his open to tell Peggy that he grew up on a farm and his father was killed by a kick from a horse.) But each is a heavyweight in their own right, their inner selves unable to broken by just anybody, even when it's being hefted from the height of the Eiffel Tower. Rather, each is able to open up those suitcases for one another.

Don's breakdown in the office removed any semblance and artifice from his relationship with Peggy, a moment of such agony and pain--upon hearing confirmation that Anna had died--that he is not embarrassed by his grief, nor by expressing it in front of Peggy. In fact, there are similarities between the way that Peggy is painted in this episode and the way that we've seen Don's relationship with Anna, one that's not encumbered by a sexual dimension but rather by a familiar rapport that marks them more as siblings rather than would-be lovers. Don falling asleep on Peggy's lap on the couch marks their relationship as strictly platonic, a mirror image of Don and Anna.

It's fitting that Anna's ghost, appearing to Don in the wee hours of the morning, carries with her a Samsonite suitcase, a receptacle for everything they shared, the knowledge of Don's true self. After all, Don sees her passing as the death of not just his best friend in the world but also, in a way, of the last connection to Dick Whitman in his life. It's not just Anna who dies, in that sense, but also Dick as well. She was "the only person in the world who really knew me," says Don. But that's not true, not really. While she doesn't know the full story, Peggy does know him. She knows the man he is today, his flaws, his courage, and his charm. She's seen behind the facade and lived to tell the tale. When she says that it's not true, we feel that she's telling the truth inasmuch as anyone can know anyone else.

There might be another way out of the office, one the mouse is capable of navigating, but Don and Peggy don't find it that night, each of them grabbing some kip on the couch in their respective offices before starting a new day tackling the Samsonite campaign once more.

The question before the final scene, unspoken but hanging in the air like smoke, is whether Don would acknowledge the very real moment that passed between them the night before. Would he look forward as always, or would he admit that what had happened between them--the supreme moments of connection over a shared evening and open truths--had actually happened?

After all, that's all that Allison had wanted: Don to admit that they had slept together, that it wasn't all in her head, that he hadn't somehow drunkenly forgotten, that he wouldn't pretend that nothing had occurred. Don wasn't able to do that with Allison. He switched into his standard operating mode, one of no regrets, no looking back, sweeping the unpleasant and the awkward under the thick rug.

Not so with Peggy. While it might be all business--another take on the Samsonite pitch, this time using Clay's victory as a basis--Don breaks the spell, taking Peggy's hand in his and holding on. It's an acknowledgment of what passed between them, of the depth of their relationship, and of the unbreakable bond that they share.

I'll admit that I freely started crying at that part, not by what's been lost but by what's been found for each of them. We might not be able to ditch our emotional baggage but we can sometimes in life find those willing to help us carry it.

Next week on Mad Men ("The Summer Man"), Joan and Peggy deal with high-jinx in the office.

Boxed In: Thoughts on Tuesday's Summer Season Finale of USA's White Collar

I promised you some thoughts about next week's summer season finale of USA's slick and stylish drama series White Collar and I hate to disappoint.

Airing on Tuesday evening, the summer season comes to an end with next week's fantastic and taut installment ("Point Blank"), after which we'll have to wait until January to find out just what happens to Peter, Neal, Mozzie, and the others.

Suffice it to say, the wait will be especially difficult, given the cliffhanger ending that creator Jeff Eastin and his crack writing team have left us with. It's far more intoxicating--and far less head-scratching--than the Peter/Ring scenario that they left us with halfway through the first season.

While there's no sign of Hilarie Burton's savvy insurance investigator Sara (sorry, folks!), the episode itself is extremely mythology-heavy, which makes it rather difficult to enmesh newbie Sara to the action right now. But while Burton is not present, Sara's absence isn't felt at all, thanks to a fantastic plot that draws together the various storylines involving the music box, Neal's key, some nifty codes, Kate's murder, Fowler, and OPR.

I don't want to say too much lest I spoil some of the deliciously twisty plot mechanics of this episode but I will say that we see Matthew Bomer's Neal Caffrey in a way that we haven't seen him before... and that the stakes for everyone are higher than ever.

The mysteries that have lurked in the background of White Collar throughout the back half of the first season and the first nine episodes of Season Two are pushed front and center and they manage to bring together just about all of the series' fantastic characters into a single storyline. Which means, yes, Neal, Peter, Mozzie, Diana, and Alex are all entangled in a unified narrative and, while there are answers given, there are more questions still that are raised here. Certainly enough that make us question some of the things we've taken for granted the past dozen or so episodes.

Motivations become crystal clear, alliances are formed and shattered, and Neal makes a decision that will have lasting consequences for himself and several others. Along the way, plot points that have been planted throughout the season come to fruition as the music box storyline begins to reach its climax. Just what secrets does the box contain? Why are so many people after this object? And what will Neal's key unlock once it's inserted?

Like a matryoshka, this box seems to contain secrets within secrets, puzzles within other puzzles. It's a Rambaldi device without the ominous apocalyptic overtones, yet it also connects deeply to the mystery of who wanted Kate dead and just what happened aboard that plane in the final minutes of the first season.

All this and some swashbuckling from Neal that has to be seen to be believed (yes, seriously), some great comedic interludes between Neal and Willie Garson's Mozzie (one of the best being how they age an FBI case file), and a tense standoff involving several interested parties. Not to mention that aforementioned cliffhanger, which will have people talking over the next few months, even as they hum the Batman theme.

In other words: miss Tuesday's episode at your own peril.

The summer season finale of White Collar airs Tuesday at 9 pm ET/PT on USA.