A mother's love or the icy logic of a woman doomed to know how events will unfold?

Last night's 100th episode of Lost ("The Variable"), written by Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis, forced the audience to see the strained relationship between Daniel Faraday and his mother Eloise Hawking in a very different light.

Providing the audience with the first scenes of the duo together, this week's installment cast a light on Daniel's complex backstory, giving us a glimpse into his childhood, his time at Oxford with doomed lover/lab assistant Theresa, and his memory loss... as well as revealing what many of us have suspected for some time now: Daniel Faraday's true parentage.

So what did I think of this week's episode of Lost? Put on your Dharma jumpsuit, grab your journal, turn off the pylons, and let's discuss the 100th episode of Lost, "The Variable."

Daniel Faraday. I was beyond thrilled to see Faraday back in the mix this week, having arrived back on the island after a stint doing research at Dharma HQ in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The reason for his sudden return? A fax showing the new Dharma recruits--namely Jack, Kate, and Hurley--posing for that photograph which keeps seeming to pop up all over the place. Arriving via the sub, Faraday tells Jack that Eloise had made a mistake: this isn't their destiny. In fact, Faraday wants to undo everything from happening: prevent the release of electromagnetic energy at the Swan... which will prevent them from concreting the structure and devising the pressing of the button every 108 minutes... which Desmond would then never have to press... which means that he won't ever fail to press the button that one time... which means that Oceanic Flight 815 won't ever crash on the island. (Whew.)

How utterly heartbreaking was the scene where Faraday tells Young Charlotte that she needs to leave the island with her mother? Repeating Charlotte's dying words ("I'm not supposed to have chocolate before dinner"), Young Charlotte receives the message that she was always meant to have from the "scary man." And she does leave the island but in doing so she will return in the future, regardless of how much Faraday would seek to alter the timeline and save her life. Some deaths can't be prevented.

In fact, Faraday has now changed his opinion about their relationship to the past; whereas before he claimed that they couldn't change anything (whatever happened will still happen), he now believes that they are the variables in the equation. Their free will can alter events. He can save Charlotte and get her off the island, he can prevent the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 from ever arriving on the island, he can change his destiny... Except that he can't. After escaping the Barracks, Daniel arrives at the hostile's camp and demands to see Eloise but is rebuffed by Richard Alpert, following a moment of frisson between the two of them in which Richard seems to recognize Daniel (from their 1954 encounter with Jughead)... and then Faraday is shot by Ellie herself. Just why did Richard lie about Ellie not being there? And why did Ellie shoot even though Richard had the situation under control?

So is Daniel Faraday dead? It certainly seems that way. I'm not sure how that jibes with the infamous Comic-Con video, in which Daniel Faraday compels Pierre Chang to film a message that predicts the destruction of the Dharma Initiative during The Purge and is a call to arms to reform the Dharma Initiative, thanks to some knowledge from the future. Given that this event had to take place after Faraday's encounter with Chang at The Orchid (which, yes, did take place after his return from Ann Arbor and not before). So does it mean that Faraday somehow manages to survive Ellie's gunshot? Is there time for Richard to take Faraday to The Temple to be healed, just as he did Benjamin Linus? Hmmm... Or is it curtains for Faraday after all? (I'm thinking he's a goner.)

We now know just what happened to his memory and why he was so visibly shaken by the footage of the faked crash site of Oceanic Flight 815. Before testing his experiment on Theresa (and sending her consciousness reeling through time), he tested it on himself, causing his short-term memory to become jumbled. And yet there's a sense that he's also able to recall future events as well, realizing just what significance the crash will have. And, as predicted by Widmore and Eloise, the island does heal him, allowing him to realign his consciousness, exert control of his memory, and regain the ability to calculate complex equations.

Eloise Hawking. Aristotle in his "Poetics" mentions the Greek word hamartia, which isn't easily defined in English. It means something akin to sin, often ascribed to an error in judgment, a tragic flaw within a character's makeup that leads to their downfall. Watching last night's episode of Lost, I was struck by the notion that Eloise Hawking is trapped by her own hamartia: the second she picked up that gun and shot Daniel Faraday in the back.

Eloise has known since 1977 that she would kill her son and yet everything that she has done to push Daniel towards his destiny has been a series of actions to propel him towards his inevitable death at her hands. She's always known that he would end up on that island and formed him into the very person he needed to be in order to get there, with full knowledge of the harm she would inevitably cause him. Is it a sacrifice, as Widmore tells her? Is it an inevitable end to Daniel's life, one that can't be stopped, just as the man with the red sneakers will die regardless of whether she prevents his death? Why does her belief in inexorable fate counteract that of Daniel's belief in free will? Is it that the variables can change but the outcome is always the same?

Charles Widmore. We now know for certain that Widmore was behind the faked crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and that he is Daniel Faraday's father (a hunch many of us had after learning that he was bankrolling Faraday's research and knew Ellie on the island). I'm still unclear as to why Daniel's last name is Faraday and not either Hawking or Widmore but I absolutely loved the scene between Faraday and Widmore when the latter visits an addled Faraday and offers him an assignment: to be part of his research team and travel to the island. I'm still not clear what Widmore and Eloise's endgame is: to ensure that everything that has happened does come to pass? That everything plays out the way it always has? That 1977 happens as it always has? Widmore claims that he sacrificed his relationship with Penny just as Eloise will sacrifice their son. Are they both so cold-hearted that the lives of their children are as disposable as paper dolls? Or do their lives matter less in comparison to that of the greater good?

Penny and Desmond. I'm thrilled that Desmond managed to survive Ben's shooting and wasn't a "casualty" as Eloise predicted. His survival marks the first time that Eloise doesn't know what will happen next, a twist that leaves her visibly shaken. Could it be that Faraday was wrong: they're not the variables but Desmond himself is The Variable? After all, Faraday was able to send a message to the future Desmond on the island. We know that Desmond is special and has played a role in Eloise's machinations but what if his continued presence on the chess board has unforeseen consequences?

Jughead. There's no way for Jack and Kate to be able to detonate Jughead and prevent The Incident from occurring. If they did somehow manage to prevent this event, it would create a divergent timeline where they never arrived on the island; but they do arrive on the island because they have to travel back to 1977 in order to be a part of these very events. As I've indicated before, they are not there to prevent these events from occurring but to ensure that they do... before they are returned to the present day. The Incident will occur, The Purge will occur, and the crash will occur as well.

It's not that they can't change the past, it's that they can't change the future: the outcome will always remain the same. The variables might change but the two sides of the equation will always balance out in the end. Sometimes you just have to push a little harder to get them to line up the way they should.

What did you think of this week's episode? Is Faraday dead or will he live to write in his journal another day? (And how shocking was Ellie's murder of Faraday?) Were you surprised by the reveal about Daniel's parentage? Just what does Eloise Hawking want? And how on earth will the castaways return to their rightful time? Discuss.

Next week on Lost ("Follow the Leader"), Jack and Kate find themselves at odds over the direction they must take to save the castaways; Locke solidifies his role as the leader of The Others; suspicion falls on Sawyer and Juliet from the Dharma Initiative.

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Imagine if you will the cult British teen series Skins with less melodrama, more acne, and a hell of a lot more laughs and you might come close to describing BBC America's latest comedy import The Inbetweeners, which airs in the UK on E4.

Created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, The Inbetweeners tells the story of four sixth form college students--nerdy Will (Simon Bird), lovelorn Simon (Joe Thomas), sex-obsessed Jay (James Buckey), and gawky Neil (Blake Harrison)--as they attempt to navigate the perilous mine field that his high school, laced as it is with the lure of girls, cheap booze, and mischief.

Thanks to the good folks at BBC America, I had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes of The Inbetweeners' two-season run (so far, anyway), which the digital cabler plans to air back-to-back beginning later this year. As a former teenage boy myself (fortunately since recovered), I found this series boisterous and painfully funny, often at the same time. But one needn't has to be a teenager to enjoy this series which takes a look back at the awkward, illogical, and frustrating time in everyone's lives.

The Inbetweeners begins with the arrival of Will McKenzie (Simon Bird), whose parents have split, arriving at the local comprehensive school after his mother is unable to continue paying his fees at a posh private school. There Will immediately falls in with the losers, thanks to his suit and tie, his "actual briefcase," uptight hairstyle, and his general lack of social skills.

But Will is looking to be upwardly mobile, at least to move beyond the four-eyed geeks and into the painfully average crowd populated by Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas), Jay Cartwright (James Buckley), and Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison)... all of whom immediately shun him, knowing that even being seen with a kid with a "Hello, My Name is Will!" badge is pure and utter social suicide on the first day of term. And so an unwitting friendship is formed between the three friends and Will, who manages to wear the trio down far enough that they will at least tolerate his presence... which immediately leads them into all sorts of trouble. (The second episode, in which the gang play hooky from school is especially painful to watch, especially when Will launches into a tirade against Neil's sexually ambiguous father.)

Complicating things is the fact that none of these lads have an actual girlfriend, though all they talk about--in graphic and hilarious detail--is sex itself, though none of them will admit that they are virgins. Jay in particular refuses to acknowledge his inexperience, talking about his alleged sexual adventures as part of the, ahem, caravan club, while Simon waxes romantic for his true love, the beautiful and unattainable Carli (Emily Head), who is Simon's first love and a family friend since they were both eight. (Unfortunately for Simon, she has an older boyfriend with a car, a situation not helped when he drunkenly spray paints "I love Carli D'Amato on her driveway.)

The dialogue on The Inbetweeners is raw, realistic, and beyond risque, unlike anything on US television today, save maybe on pay cable. It's also completely over the top hilarious and I wonder just how much of the individual episodes airing on BBC America will be comprised of bleeped out swear words. Sexual situations and nudity also play a large role, as you would expect from such a hormonally-charged series and I can't help but hope that BBC America leaves some of this intact. Besides for the fact that it's handled in a hilarious fashion, it also creates a truthful and naturalistic portrayal of teen life in Britain today.

Assisting the creators in this end are the talented actors here, all of whom embody their roles with a vividness that makes it hard to separate the actors from the roles they're playing. All four of the leads seem like such genuine artifacts and that's shocking to learn that all four of the actors aren't actually teens themselves but in their twenties. Simon Bird's Will is so deliciously awkward, so unaware of his social ineptness, that it's hard not to root for him even as he tosses out bon mots without realizing just how hard they'll explode on contact. Joe Thomas' Simon tries to go through life without being ostracized by his peers but his romantic feelings for Carli place him in trouble time and time again (look for his, uh, new nickname in the first episode after an encounter with Carli leaves him aroused) and his efforts to land a girl by getting car backfire with hilarious results. James Buckley's Jay is a whirling dervish of unfulfilled sexuality, his hormones crackling in the air like roman candles. Blake Harrison's Neil is the sloth-like member of the group, his affable nature shining out just as much as his inherent slowness. All of them seem completely and at times shockingly real.

Any teen series worth its salt (or at least lager) has to have a fantastic soundtrack of the latest hot bands and The Inbetweeners features music from such acts as The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Cure, and Feist, among others in its few episodes alone.

All in all, The Inbetweeners is the perfect antidote to nostalgia for your teen years, reminding you just how lucky you are to have outgrown that traumatic time in your life, even as you roar with laughter at just how much things never really change.

The Inbetweeners will launch on BBC America later this year.

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With summer just around the corner, I've got some first looks at NBC's offerings for the sweltering season, including British fantasy series Merlin, Canadian co-production The Listener, and mini-series Meteor and The Storm.

Merlin is a 13-episode series that shines a light on the backstory of the Arthurian sorcerer as a teenager and novice in the mythical city of Camelot. The series premieres Sunday, June 21st at 8 pm ET/PT and stars Colin Morgan, Bradley James, John Hurt, Anthony Head, Richard Wilson, Katie McGrath, and Angel Coulby.

The Listener, launching Thursday, June 4th at 10 pm ET/PT, follows Toby Logan, a 25-year-old paramedic who is telepathic and tries to help people in need. It stars Craig Olejnik, Ennis Esmer, Colm Feore, Lisa Marcos, Mylene Dinh-Robic, and Anthony Lemke.

Additionally, NBC's schedule this summer will also include two mini-series, Meteor and The Storm.

In Meteor, airing Sunday, June 7th and June 14th at 9 pm ET/PT, two massive rocks -- tumbling debris older than the solar system itself -- collide in space, form a massive meteor the size of Mount Everest, and head straight towards Earth. Meteor stars Christopher Lloyd, Marla Sokoloff, Stacy Keach, Billy Campbell, Michael Rooker, and Jason Alexander.

Meanwhile, in The Storm, billionaire Robert Terrell has fulfilled a lifelong obsession and made history with "weather creation" technology though his Atmospheric Research Institute. But during a test run, a blast of energy is sent into the ionosphere with unexpected results. The Storm, starring Treat Williams, James Van Der Beek, David James Elliott, Teri Polo, Luke Perry, John Larroquette, and Marisol Nichols, will air Sunday, July 19th and Sunday, July 26th at 9 pm ET/PT.

Trailers for each of these projects can be found below.

Merlin:



The Listener:



Meteor:



The Storm:

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Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Not unsurprisingly, NBC's Chuck has topped USA Today's Save Our Show poll, scoring 54 percent of the 43,000 viewers who cast their votes in the ten-day online poll. The Warner Bros Television-produced series scored the top spot overall as well and was the most favored choice among men, teens and twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings, forty-somethings, whites, Asians, Hispanics, Westerners, Southerners, Northeasterners, and Midwesterners and the fourth favored choice among women as well. (If that's not cross-cultural appeal, I don't know what is.) (USA Today)

Adult Swim has acquired rights to the original UK series The Office, starring Ricky Gervais, from BBC Worldwide and will air both seasons as well as the Christmas special (which marked the series finale) this summer. Move marks the second deal between Adult Swim and BBC Worldwide, which previously sold rights to comedy The Mighty Boosh to the cabler, which launched the series on March 29th. (via press release)

As production on ABC's Grey's Anatomy approaches the 100th episode, creator Shonda Rhimes talks to USA Today's Bill Keveney about the ABC drama, Denny, spin-off Private Practice, and her new pilot Inside the Box. "We're heading on a journey," said Rhimes about Grey's Anatomy's use of Izzie's dead lover Denny. "[Viewers] are in the middle and don't have a map, so they can feel lost. But I know where we're going. For me, it's about looking at the larger picture. [...] What I thought was interesting was that anybody who knew anything about our show would think we had a ghost on our show. In the world in which our show operates, there is a way things happen, and clearly we don't do ghosts." (USA Today)

Disney has announced that it has joined NBC Universal and News Corp as a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu. Under the deal, Hulu will now be able to offer full-length episodes of current and library titles from Disney such as Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, and Scrubs, among many others. "From our landmark iTunes deal to our pioneering decision to stream ad-supported shows on our ABC.com player, Disney has sought to meet the constantly evolving viewing habits of our consumers, and today's Hulu announcement is the next important step in that ongoing journey," said Robert Iger, President/CEO of The Walt Disney Co. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jon Gosselin, star of TLC's reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8 has issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly after US Weekly published a photo of him leaving a club at 2 am with a female friend. "Like most people, I have male and female friends and I'm not going to end my friendships just because I'm on TV," said Gosselin in an exclusive statement. "However, being out...late at night showed poor judgment on my part. What makes me sick is that my careless behavior has put my family in this uncomfortable position. My family is the most important thing in my life and it kills me that these allegations have hurt them." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

ABC Family has officially cancelled freshman comedy Roommates. The writing was on the wall when the basic cabler opted to burn off the final eight episodes of the series over two consecutive Monday evenings, with the final four episodes to air in a two-hour block this coming Monday night. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin wonders why viewers seemingly don't want science fiction on television anymore, with most recent sci fi series--Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Chuck, Life on Mars, and Pushing Daisies--either canceled or on the bubble for next year. "Have we, as a society," writes Bernardin, "just become too -- gulp -- stupid for science fiction?" (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

NBC has renewed reality series Celebrity Apprentice for another season and plans to air the next cycle in spring 2010. "It's a valuable franchise and proven competitor," said NBC Universal's alternative topper Paul Telegdy. [Editor: meanwhile, there's still no news of a possible Chuck renewal. Sigh.] (Variety)

TNT will expand its original programming to three nights a week this summer, with Mondays playing host to The Closer and Raising the Bar beginning June 8th, Tuesdays the home of Wedding Day, HawthoRNe, and Saving Grace beginning June 16th, and Wednesdays the berth for Leverage and Dark Blue starting July 15th. (Futon Critic)

IFC has announced a slew of new programming for the 2009-10 season, including Chris Kattan-led three-part comedy Bollywood Hero, airing August 6-8th, Food Party, launching June 9th, which features a "surreal mixture of puppets, weird special effects and cooking hosted by [Tru] Tran," six-part series Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut), which features interviews with the surviving members of the comedy troupe, telefilm Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, which will debut in 2010, and Dinner with the Band. The cabler also announced that it has acquired BBC comedy series Ideal and Wrong Door and Canadian series The Jon Dore Television Show and renewed Z-Roc and The Whitest Kids U Know. (Hollywood Reporter)

Discovery and Hasbo have closed a deal for a joint venture that will encompass a television network and a website which are dedicated to family-based entertainment. Discovery will receive $300 million for the entertainment assets of its Discovery Kids Network in the US which will be rebranded next year and will feature series from Discovery's library of educational programming as well as series based on Hasbro properties including G.I. Joe, Transformers, Romper Room, Trival Pursuit, Cranium, and My Little Pony. (Hollywood Reporter)

Reveille has announced that it has teamed up with publisher Rodale to develop a reality series based on David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding's best-selling non-fiction book "Eat This, Not That!" (via press release)

Nikki Finke is reporting that, in light of the recent approved merger between William Morris Agency and Endeavor, that the majority of the TV reality department, including Mark Itkin, John Ferriter, and Colin Reno, have decided to leave and set up camp at CAA while talent agent Dana Simms asked to be released from her contract. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

CMT has picked up musical series The Singing Bee, which aired its first season on NBC last year, and will launch the series' second season on June 16th. So far the series, which is produced by Gurin Co. and Juma Entertainment, has no host but the producers say that they are close to closing a deal on that front. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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I'm really enjoying Fringe more and more these days, although some of my earlier complaints about the series still continue to irk me, even as we race towards the freshman season finale. (Don't even get me started on Astrid or how poor Lance Reddick is given so little to do each week.)

This week's episode of Fringe ("Midnight"), written by J.H. Wyman and Andrew Krisberg, offered a pretty gruesome case involving a woman dosed with an extinct strand of syphilis that also contained a pretty twisted virus that turned her into a spinal fluid-craving monster capable of chomping through her male victims' spines to sate her hunger. It also dovetailed quite nicely with the team's investigation of bioterrorist group Z.F.T., who were responsible for the experiment in the first place, a warning to a pioneering scientist whose wife ended up the unwitting guinea pig in this latest demonstration of Z.F.T.'s power.

While I won't go into much detail about the episode, I do want to address the episode's ending, clearly intended to shock the audience with its reveal about who is funding the Z.F.T.... had it actually been at least somewhat of a surprise. (Guess what: it wasn't.)

First off, I want to say that I thought that "Midnight" was an edge-of-your seat thrill ride. I loved the opening, in which we were given a bait-and-switch worthy of the opening scene of the pilot to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which a female victim turns the tables on her would-be attacker by chomping on him with some massive teeth.

It was a nice surprise that was clearly at odds with the less-than-shocking reveal at the episode's end, which stated that Massive Dynamic's William Bell was responsible for funding the bioterrorist organization Z.F.T. Now I don't know about you but I believed that this was fairly a given. After all, Massive Dynamic has proved themselves to be involved, at least tangentially, with many of the cases investigated by the Fringe Division and while Bell's right-hand Nina Sharp has proved herself willing to assist in several of the FBI's investigations, they haven't exactly been forthcoming with intelligence on any of The Pattern's major players.

We know that Bell shared a lab with Walter Bishop and that the Z.F.T. manifesto was typed on an ancient typewriter still in Walter's possession. Walter and Bell discussed many things during their time together and one or both of them wrote the manifesto itself. Adding to this that Massive Dynamic is one of the world's biggest companies and a major player on the scientific fringe and it seems a foregone conclusion since the pilot that Massive was involved with The Pattern, if not directly behind it.

For a second, I thought that Nicholas Boone (Jefferson Mays) had given Olivia the name of someone we knew who was involved with ZFT: say, Charlie, Astrid, or even Broyles himself. Something that would resonate and actually be shocking or have long-term consequences for the series. But to make the big reveal be about the oft-mentioned-but-never-seen William Bell seemed like a bit of a cop out given that I've always assumed he was the bankroller for Z.F.T. in the first place. (I hate feeling like I am one or ten steps ahead of a series' characters.)

Am I alone in feeling really quite underwhelmed about this "big" reveal? Did you also assume that Bell was involved with Z.F.T. and then think that Olivia and Broyles were absolutely naive for not thinking he was involved in the first place?

Meanwhile, here's your first look at Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy as the elusive William Bell, the founder of Massive Dynamic, in the May 12th season finale of Fringe, entitled "There's More Than One of Everything":


Next week on Fringe ("The Road Not Taken"), Olivia experiences “awake dreams,” seeing elaborate visions of things not really there and explores her unexplained visions further; the team investigates the case of a woman who seemingly spontaneously combusted; Walter discusses key information about the Z.F.T. manifesto; Peter reveals a secret that yields unexpected results in the case.

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The dream has been achieved for one team.

On last night's season finale of BBC America's deliciously addictive culinary competition series ("First Class Service"), the final two teams faced off against each other as the prize--the chance to open a restaurant with famed chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc--was within their grasp.

But before Raymond Blanc would make one couple his partners in a future restaurant venture, he would be putting both teams through their paces with one of their toughest challenges yet as Blanc tasks them with devising and serving a lavish five-course meal to the passengers aboard the famed Orient Express.

No mean feat this. The well-heeled clientele of the Orient Express expect the very best in cuisine, service, and atmosphere and, if that weren't enough for the teams to worry about, they also have to contend with the fact that they are preparing this meal in a small, cramped kitchen aboard a moving train. In other words: this could be a disaster.

So how did the final two teams fare in the final challenge? Let's discuss.

Overall, I have to say that I was both impressed and disappointed by both teams, both of whom made a wide array of errors in the final challenge. That said, I do think that they were both way out of their depth in such an elaborate and complex challenge such as this. Raymond Blanc really stacked the deck against them with the Orient Express challenge and that was the point: it wasn't to see who could pull off the better meal (though, certainly, that was part of it) but really to see which team was more adaptable, more flexible, more ready to roll with the punches... or at least the turns in the train tracks.

Alasdair and James. Throughout the competition, this team of best friends has been rightly slated by all and sundry for the lack of communication between kitchen and front-of-house and their side has often been let down by the inattention to detail shown by Alasdair. However, over the last few weeks, I do have to say that Alasdair has taken on board all of Raymond and the inspectors' criticisms and has shown more confidence and skill in front of house. The lack of communication, however, is felt all the more in this final challenge as bulldogish James keeps railroading Alasdair's efforts to know what is going on in the kitchen, resisting his requests for information about timing, etc. If these two have any hopes of eventually opening a restaurant of their own, they have got to work together better and learn to talk amongst themselves without getting defensive or aggressive, as they have in the past.

The duo started off the train journey on the right foot, offering guests aperitifs, champagne, and canapes... but their decision to offer travelers a bowl of mixed olives and a cheap disposable camera reflected a disconnection from their clientele. These weren't appropriate "gifts" to give customers aboard the Orient Express and James and Alasdair should have realized this. Nothing wrong with olives per se, but it lent the proceedings the atmosphere of a corner Italian trattoria rather than the lush excess of the fabled Orient Express. Likewise, the camera was the wrong signal to send. I get what the guys were going for but again wrong audience here. They should have offered something simple and elegant to takeaway from the train, not a cheap disposable Kodak from the local corner shop.

Big mistake trying to make risotto on a train and getting it out to customers on time. Risotto has to be eaten piping hot and there was no way that James could serve the risotto to all of his guests without it getting stone cold in the process; additionally James overcooked the rice, turning it to the consistency of porridge. (Ouch.) I understand why he thought--conceptually, anyway--that a summer vegetable risotto with broad beans would be a showcase dish but it failed on all fronts. Likewise, the ghastly lobster Thermidor and its accompaniment of bitter vegetables (loved the face Raymond made describing the bitterness of the turnip). This was intended to be a showstopper and instead the lobster was overcooked and rubbery and just looked... not right. This should have been elegant and refined but lacked any real panache. Not improving things was the fact that Ali never took a headcount of the guests aboard the train and told inspector David Moore that he had run out of lobsters... even though he actually hadn't.

The guys did make some good decisions, however. The idea to book a close-up magician was a good one and showed that they were looking to think outside the standards and they offered a superior cheese plate and a vastly wider selection of wine than their competitors. Additionally, James' dessert, a duo of strawberry and champagne soup and lemon posset, struck the right chord as a final course. But would it be enough to put them over the top?

Michele and Russell. I've been pretty hard on this couple throughout the competition because Russell is just so damn talented and Michele often lets him down with her scattershot attention to front-of-house details, frequent histrionics, and inability to receive criticism of any kind. To me, Michele is not the ideal business partner in any venture. She's far too given to make emotional outbursts and become bitterly defensive when faced with any sort of negativity. Her entire purpose of being is seemingly to create a welcoming atmosphere for the customers of The Cheerful Soul but she lacks the business acumen and the culinary knowledge to truly achieve that goal. Russell has been a patient and level-headed chef for most of the competition but recent weeks found him becoming self-doubting and slightly whinging at times. (Last week's risotto plating, for example.) Still, they've clearly been doing something right, winning Restaurant of the Week more times than any other couple and wowing the judges with their well-executed dishes that reflect the bounty of the English countryside. Would it be enough for the discerning palates of the Orient Express travelers, however?

Russell was extremely wise to offer a delicious broad bean and pea veloute served in a tea cup as a first hot course. Able to prepare the soup ahead of time, all Russell had to do was to simply warm the soup and serve it; the choice of a tea cup as a vessel for the green elixir was a stroke of genius that left diners wanting more rather than leaving them with a bowl of half-eaten cold soup at the end of the course. Sarah Willingham waxed ecstatic about the veloute, saying that she could have eaten a whole bowl of it. (Always keep them wanting more!) Up next was a spice and nut-crusted goat cheese salad which seemed fairly fomulaic and straight-forward. None of the wow factor of the previous dish and it screamed dining room standard, not Orient Express dining car.

The same was true of Russell's poached salmon with cucumber and dill salad, sauteed potatoes, and a lemongrass broth. Many complained that the dish was very cold and the flavors bland. Again, this is the sort of thing that would work quite well in the casual atmosphere of The Cheerful Soul and less well aboard an elegant train ride when customers are paying an arm and a leg. Likewise, I thought that their choice of entertainment--a musician and accompanist playing some songbook standards--was unoriginal and didn't quite match the theme or tone of their venue. (A train ride to Venice through the English countryside and the singer is crooning "Lullaby of Broadway"? Really?) At least the musicians got on the train. Michele failed to check to see that they did climb aboard the Orient Express and she last left them a long time before departure in the waiting lounge and then never checked up on them, only realizing after the train pulled away that she never double-checked to see they were on board. Fortunately, for her, the musicians were paying more attention than she was.

Russell did, however, prove himself willing to roll with the punches. Discovering that there were no freezers aboard the Pullman car, he still went ahead with his grapefruit sorbet, turning the dish into a lovely and delicious granita, which Sarah raved about ("you can taste every grapefruit") and which seemed to please the travelers as well. And when the biscuits for his double-decked dessert went crashing onto the floor, Russell didn't let it derail him, instead opting to transform the dessert into an elegant single-layer. Michele's gift boxes which tied in the English country theme of the evening were a little too down-home for my liking but Raymond seemed to appreciate the little touch of the countryside aboard the train. Still, not sure why Michele found it necessary to call Russell--while he was trying to prep all his dishes alone--when she couldn't figure out which tissue paper to purchase for the gifts. Priorities, anyone?

All in all, I thought that Russell and Michele winning was really the only plausible outcome here. I've thought that Michele and Russell were going to walk away from this competition with the big prize for quite some time now. In fact, they seemed like the front-runners since nearly the very beginning of the season, although they did make some pretty big missteps along the way. I do think Russell is extremely talented and Michele is a welcoming presence in the front of house; they both have a ways to go to become the professional restaurateurs that Raymond is expecting them to become but that's part and parcel of the learning process.

As for Alasdair and James, they both have a lot of growing up to do before they are anywhere near ready to take on a challenge of this magnitude. I would have been amazed if Raymond had decided to open a restaurant with them. They've proven that they are adaptable and take on criticism and suggestions but a partnership with them would be a hands-on operation, with Raymond pushing and pulling them constantly in order to get them anywhere near the level they need to be at.

What did you think of the final outcome? Would you have awarded Russell and Michele the top prize? Did the teams perform to the standards you thought they would in this final challenge? Discuss.

BBC has commissioned a third season of Last Restaurant Standing, which airs in the UK under the name The Restaurant. Stay tuned for news about when BBC America will schedule the third season.

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Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

With the 100th episode of Lost set to air tonight on ABC, many are already looking to the series' next milestone: the all-important series finale, set for May, 2010, and viewers are bound to have high expectations when creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse wrap up the series. "We can't let those expectations terrify us," said Lindelof in an interview with Variety's Shawn Malcom. "The reality is, we've known what the series finale is going to be for a while now." In fact, the real variable is how the series' characters wind up at the end point charted by Lindelof and Cuse. "The path that we take to the end still has some room for surprises and changes and discoveries along the way (in terms of) the characters' journeys and how their relationships evolve," said Cuse. While the duo wouldn't reveal any specifics about the finale, they did say that fans will be left wanting more. "When we say more, we don't mean answers," said Lindelof, "because hopefully, the show will wrap up in an incredibly satisfying way, both mythologically and emotionally." (Variety)

Wondering if Zachary Quinto will be sticking around NBC's Heroes next season? "Zach [Quinto]'s not done. There's Nathan, there's Sylar, and there's the point of view that you have to factor in. If I look up into the mirror, who would I see?" said Heroes' Adrian Pasdar, who teased an epic battle between Nathan and Sylar in Season Four of the series. "Who's going to be able to control the actions of the body? Like one of those computers that self-teaches, the longer he stays in my body and the longer he assimilates my physical structure and DNA, the more control I get. So it becomes a battle of who's in charge." (TVGuide.com)

Ben Shenkman (Grey's Anatomy) has been cast in at least four episodes of Season Three of USA's Burn Notice. Shenkman will play Tom Strickler, a "smooth-talking, gregarious freelance spy broker who offers to cancel Michael's (Jeffrey Donovan) burn notice in exchange for an unspecified -- and potentially lethal -- job." Look for Shenkman to first turn up about halfway through the season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sasha Roiz (Unthinkable), who played the brother of Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) in the backdoor pilot for Sci Fi's Caprica as a guest star, has been upgraded to series regular on the series. Elsewhere, Callard Harris (Roommates) has joined the cast of FX's Sons of Anarchy, where he will play an Irish gun trafficker in the second season of the drama series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former General Hospital actor and "Jesse's Girl" singer Rick Springfield will play himself in four episodes of the upcoming third season of Showtime's Calfornication. Springfield was cast on the series after producers posted a casting call looking for "an actor who experienced huge fame in the 80's to play themselves as a now down-on his-luck-ex-celebrity waiting tables to get by." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Looking for more Lost goodies on the day of the 100th episode? Variety takes you behind the scenes of the writers' room in Burbank, far away from the lush jungles of the series' set in Oahu, Hawaii. The Hollywood Reporter offers a look back at journey of Lost over the last 100 episodes, offering a timeline of the series's real-life history and discussing making the original pilot. ("The fact that no one believed 'Lost' was going to be successful in the beginning was enormously liberating," Cuse says. "So we set out to make 12 episodes of what we thought was the coolest TV show we could come up with and in so doing we violated a lot of the traditional rules of television narrative. We had characters who were murderers and had done very bad things. We had incredibly complex serialized storytelling. We had lots of intentional ambiguity, leaving the audience lots of room for interpretation and those things that sort of violated the rules of television were the very things that the audience ended up responding to.") Variety also talks to script coordinator Gregg Nations, who maintains the series' gargantuan bible.

Stargate Universe co-creator Robert C. Cooper has confirmed that the upcoming Sci Fi series is influenced by Joss Whedon's short-lived FOX drama Firefly. "The concept is that we wanted to shoot this a little bit like a documentary crew would shoot a ride-along to a space ship out in the universe - that maybe we could get audiences to embrace the science fiction elements and the characters in a realistic way if we shot the show using the 'language' of documentary and reality," Cooper told crowds gathered at this weekend's Stargate convention. "It's not intended to be style for style's sake, or to emulate any other show. Although, to be honest with you, one of the shows we love that we did look at and say, 'That's a style we would love to try and approach' is Firefly. That's how Firefly was shot. There's a lot of handheld stuff. Cameras were placed in places that were non-traditional or [not] typical of filmmaking." (Gateworld)

MTV will be continuing docusoap The Hills without Lauren Conrad. The cabler ordered a ninth season of the reality hit, which will air new episodes this fall. While Conrad is departing the series, fans can expect to see more of Heidi, Audrina, Spencer, Brody, Stephanie, Lo, and Justin Bobby this fall. MTV also announced a slew of new series including The Alexa Chung Show, The Buried Life, DJ and the Fro, The Stylist, Ultimate Parkour Challenge, Pranked, Popzilla, Gone Too Far, and Disaster Date. (via press release)

NBC has given a seven-episode series order to Steve Schirripa-hosted reality series Face the Ace, in which contestants--who are found via an online search--battle it out against poker players in Las Vegas. Series, from Poker Prods., will launch on August 1st at 9 pm and, after two airings, will then run during Saturday afternoons in September. (Variety)

Eighteen years after seminal drama series thirtysomething went off the air, fans will finally get to purchase the DVD of the first season of Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick's series. Season One will be available for purchase on August 25th, with a new DVD volume planned for the series every six months after that. The delay was once again caused by expensive music clearances but Garson Foos, president of Shout! Factory, now says, "It doesn't look like we'll be cutting any music from the show." (Los Angeles Times)

RDF USA has hired former E! staffer Jennifer Danska as SVP of development and current, named former Painless Prods. exec Kevin Shinnick as VP of production, promoted Andy Lennon to CFO, and promoted Miranda Wang to VP of business and legal affairs. (Variety)

Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine Group has purchased Nordic production company Metronome Film & Television AB for approximately $88 million. "It has always been my intention to expand the existing Shine Group companies with the finest creative and entrepreneurial minds from the key markets we have identified, and each Metronome company more than meets this criteria," said Murdoch. "Their addition gives us an unrivalled presence in a market with a well-earned reputation as the birthplace of so many successful international formats." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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"Oh, Chuck me."

If I was anxious before about NBC renewing Chuck for a third season, last night's jaw-dropping season finale ("Chuck Versus the Ring"), written by Allison Adler and Chris Fedak, left me screaming to the heavens for a solution that would pull Chuck back from the brink of cancellation. (It can't end that way, it just can't!)

Series creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak promised a "game-changing" season finale and they not only delivered on this promise but gave us what may be one of the single most enjoyable hours of television this year in the Chuck season finale, as well as one of the strongest installments of the series so far.

Whether this week's episode of Chuck ends up being a season or series finale (and I'm pulling for the former), "Chuck Versus the Ring" was a primer on how to infuse tension and possibility into every scene, while also offering the series' rabid viewers a lot of laughter and more than a few tears along the way. It also deftly set the stage for what looks to be an incredible new direction for the series, should NBC decide to follow up on that tantalizing (and torturous) "To Be Continued..." card that ran at the end of the episode.

On the edge of my seat? I'm on the edge of a cliff waiting to see just what will happen to this brilliant and compelling series. So put on your tuxedo, check your pocket for rings, get your kung-fu on, and let's discuss "Chuck Versus the Ring."

I wondered after last week's amazing episode (which itself could have been a season finale) just how the writers would manage to top themselves but I needn't have worried: "Chuck Versus the Ring" was everything that a season finale should be, managing over the course of forty-odd minutes to reinvent itself, give its lead characters new purpose, and alter its own underlying structure to open the gates of possibility to this story.

This episode will definitely go down as one of--if not the--strongest episodes on the series to date and it's due entirely to the lushness of the writing and the strength of actors Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, and Adam Baldwin. I can't offer enough superlatives about this trio, who week after week manage to imbue their characters with genuine emotion and three-dimensional personalities. Chuck has succeeded due to their abilities and their chemistry.

Chuck. Season One began with Bryce stealing the Intersect and destroying it. So it was only fitting that the series would come full circle and wrap its second season by placing the characters in the same position, albeit with a twist. Bryce believes that the Intersect 2.0 is far too powerful and intends to destroy it. His mission is of course compromised by the entry of a new secret organization (more on them in a bit) and it falls to Chuck to carry out Bryce's plans. It's that moment, with Chuck standing over the Intersect computer, that the entire series has been leading to: the moment where Chuck finally learns that he is a hero.

At the beginning of the series, Chuck had no choice about the Intersect being placed inside his head. That decision was forced upon him and Chuck became an unwitting and reluctant hero, forced to work for the government because of the information inside his head and not out of choice. Here, with Bryce having given his life for this cause, Chuck finds himself standing at the edge of a precipice. He's finally achieved everything he's ever wanted: the girl of his dreams, the freedom to do whatever he wants, and he's gotten back a "normal" life once more. And yet he places his palm on that desk and activates the Intersect cube. Why? Because Chuck has discovered that he is a hero and that heroism isn't easy, it isn't convenient or safe, but very, very dangerous. A true hero risks everything, most especially personal happiness and security, in the name of protecting those around him. In that very moment, Chuck goes from being a reluctant hero to a true one, uploading the Intersect back into his head and destroying it. It's a sacrifice of sorts as Chuck willingly opts to place national security above self-interest.

Kung Fu. We knew that the Intersect cube had some upgrades, thanks to the conversation between Orion and Bryce Larkin but even I could not have imagined just what those upgrades would be. While the Intersect 1.0 contained government intelligence and the ability to retrieve data at an alarming rate, the Intersect 2.0 has knowledge of a different means: physical ability. When the Intersect room is flooded with agents, Chuck is able to flash and retrieve some physical data: kung fu. He's able to skillfully and gracefully take out a room of agents without breaking a sweat. (Hell, even Casey was impressed.) Just what the limits of this technology are remain to be seen. Can Chuck learn any ability? Could he suddenly have the knowledge to dismantle a bomb, assemble a gun, skydive, or sculpt? Has he become a super-soldier, the perfect repository of intelligence and physical know-how?

The reveal was just, well, awesome and set the stage for what promises to be a vastly different role for Chuck should Season Three happen. (No more staying in the car for him.) It's with new eyes that Sarah and Casey see him and with a new appreciation for his heroism. Casey had earlier said that if Chuck were a true patriot, he wouldn't cash his government check but even he can't argue with the ramifications of what Chuck has done. He's proven, in no uncertain terms, that he's just as much a hero as Casey or Sarah. Perhaps even more so.

Bryce Larkin. I was absolutely chuffed that the writers brought back Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer) and brought the series full-circle with Bryce and the Intersect. I suggested a few weeks back that Bryce could have been working with Orion all along, and I am glad to see that the writers ran with this idea as well. It was never a coincidence or a stroke of fate that Bryce sent Chuck the Intersect in the first place: he was tasked with protecting Chuck at Stanford and sent Chuck the Intersect because he knew that Chuck could handle it, even if Stephen wanted him to keep him out of it. Bryce knew that Sarah would find Chuck and that Chuck deserved to know the truth about his father.

Sarah. Much of the series has dealt with the love triangle between Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce as Sarah found herself torn between the suave superspy and the sweet, well, nerdiness of Chuck. This episode finally ended that triangle, killing off Bryce Larkin once and for all in a scene that had me screaming at the television. Before that, Sarah was faced with a difficult decision as she spent her last few hours with Chuck at Ellie's wedding, revealing that she was supposed to fly out with Bryce to start work on the new Intersect project in the morning. Would she go with him and follow her duty? Or would she choose her heart and stay with Chuck? Her decision was clear; asked by Bryce to stay or go, she shakes her head sadly, indicating that she's choosing Chuck this time. Strahovski's expressions in this scene indicate the battle going on inside of her and her head-shaking demonstrates her resolve and her love for Chuck. No easy decision this. On a lighter note, how many people cheered when Sarah effortlessly ripped off the bottom of her bridesmaid dress in order to get down and dirty with the Fulcrum agents at the wedding? And when she and Chuck shared their "You look like a real spy"/"You look like a real bridesmaid" conversation and later their dance in the courtyard? (All together now: aw.)

Colonel Casey. I'm glad that Casey and Chuck shared a scene together and Casey revealed his own feelings towards the Chuckster, giving him his private number (on a business card, one can't help but note, with nothing else on it) and telling him to call him if he's ever in trouble (like his "fingers being on fire"). I knew Chuck would hug Casey but didn't imagine that Casey would actually tolerate it for as long as he did (though he did threaten to remove Chuck's "man parts"). Casey proved his loyalty by rescuing Chuck and saving the day at the wedding and I wouldn't have had it any other way. And, hell, he attacks Ellie's wedding with as much enthusiasm as he would a military engagement. ("That clashes with the bunting!") Double aw.

Orion. Stephen has an Intersect of his own? Very intriguing. He claims that he tested the machine on himself first and he's able to "flash" on the agent accompanying Bryce. How awesome was it that he got to punch Ted Roark after twenty years of hell? I thought for sure that Stephen would wind up dead by the end of the episode, so I am very surprised to see what they do with him next season, should the series continue. Loved that he gave his nifty Orion wrist device to Chuck to use to track down Bryce. Any thoughts on what his involvement would be next season?

The Ring. Fulcrum may be destroyed and Ted Roark dead, but there's more intrigue afoot in the spy world as the gang learns that there's a new organization interested in acquiring the Intersect for its own purposes. Casey's team is infiltrated by an agent for his new unnamed secret society, who shoots Roark in his cell and kills Casey's entire team. (Casey, meanwhile, only gets pistol-whipped as he previously saved Miles' life.) And they kill Bryce Larkin when he gives them access to the Intersect cube. So who are these baddies? I don't know. Miles (The Office's Tug Coker) says that they are not Fulcrum, though one of their number is a former CIA agent presumed dead. Bryce says that Fulcrum is just "one part of The Ring." I can't help but think of that scene a few episodes ago when we glimpsed a shadowy cabal. Is Fulcrum one of the many players after the Intersect? Do they work for a central and very evil overseer, just as these new spies do? "No one stops us," says Miles. "No one ever has." Hmmm...

The Wedding. True confession: I'm always nervous about wedding episodes; they have a tendency to be cheesy and overblown (just look at Anya and Xander's wedding on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for an example) rather than have genuine heart. It turns out that Chuck pulled off one of the most beautiful and understated weddings on television by first literally destroying the site of Ellie's wedding (how cool was it when Casey and the commandos parachuted in through the skylights?) and throwing the ceremony off the tracks with Jeffster performing a awe-inducing rendition of "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."

The gun fight between Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce and Ted Roark (Chevy Chase) and Fulcrum was absolutely fantastic, especially that Sarah once again got to use her knife-throwing skills. (Remember in the pilot how she threw that knife to trigger the emergency barrier?) Especially as the battle destroyed Ellie's entire reception room, from the centerpieces and cakes to the elaborate ice sculpture, as Chuck inwardly moaned while seeing Ellie's dreams go up in smoke. The sprinkler system cutting in and nearly drowning an already overstressed Ellie who was meditating a few minutes earlier? Awesome. I'm glad that Ellie didn't just forgive Chuck for destroying her wedding day (to her knowledge, anyway) but instead climbed into the bathtub with her wedding dress and a bottle of champagne after canceling the wedding.

And just when you thought everything was wrecked beyond belief, Chuck managed to pull it all together, using his government paycheck to grant his sister the wedding day she deserved and the one she originally wanted: a small affair on the beach. It was a beautiful moment of true happiness, not just for Ellie, but for Chuck and Stephen Bartowski (Scott Bakula) as well. As for Devon, when he learned that Morgan was stalling the wedding because Chuck asked him to, he knew it was a matter of life and death. The look of pride on his face when Chuck pulls off not just the wedding of the century but has likely saved all of their lives as well spoke volumes.

Buy More. Seeing Jeffster take to the stage to perform "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" (complete with fireworks show-stopping ender) was a thing of beauty and hilarity. (I can't stop singing the damn song the next day.) Even if Mr. Woodcock called the duo "Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian." And it kept some of the focus on the Buy More employees this week, given Chuck and Casey's departure from the store (not to mention Morgan's as well.) I'm not quite sure what will happen to the denizens of the Buy More should the series end up getting renewed for a third season. Given that Chuck will need a cover, it would make sense to utilize one that's already created but the writers have given themselves an out should they need to reduce the cast: they could cut the Buy More altogether now that Chuck has quit. However, some of the Buy More characters (in particular Jeff and Lester) are extremely beloved by the audience, so I'd hate to see them go. I was, however, extremely pleased to see Chuck quit his job in so forceful a fashion, telling Emmett that he could take his job and his flag and shove it. (After, that is, Emmett thought Chuck was coming on to him and said he was flattered but was a "flaming heterosexual.")

All this, references to Back to the Future and The Matrix, and some fantastic musical choices, including The Cure's "Friday, I'm in Love"? I think I'm in heaven.

Best line of the evening: "Guys, I know kung fu." - Chuck (tied with "Thank you for saving my life at least once a week.")

"Chuck Versus the Ring" packed more action, emotion, and tension into itself than many dramas do in entire season-long runs. When that card for "To Be Continued..." flashed on the screen, I found myself desperate for more. While this installment wrapped up some of the series' overarching plots, it also opened the door to a whole new set of adventures for Chuck, Sarah, and Casey. I would hate to see the series end with so much potential still in its bones.

If this is in fact the ending, all that's left to say to the talented cast and crew of this phenomenal series is domo arigato, really. Thanks for the memories, the laughs, the tears, and the edge-of-your-seat action. And thanks for two wonderful, memorable seasons of one of television's most innovative and original series. Personally, I'm still holding out hope that Chuck will continue next season. Because anything else would be unthinkable right now.

What did you think of "Chuck Versus the Ring"? Was it the perfect season finale or an ideal series finale? What do you think the future holds for our beloved team of super-spies? Were you surprised by the upgrades to the Intersect? And just what is The Ring? Discuss.

Chuck has yet to be renewed for a third season by NBC. Fingers crossed that they do the right thing and bring back this fantastic series.

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Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

CBS has announced that it will move struggling freshman drama series Harper's Island to Saturday nights at 9 pm ET/PT, beginning May 2nd. What saved the series from outright cancellation are its strong DVR numbers and the fact that all thirteen episodes of Harper's Island's limited run were already in the can, making it much easier for the Eye to just burn off the episodes. "This move gives us an opportunity to improve the time period on Thursday while experimenting with more original programming on Saturday," said CBS senior exec VP Kelly Kahl of the network's decision. Harper's Island won't be alone on Saturday nights, which the networks have been increasingly using as a dumping ground for series with small but loyal viewers; Kings, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Dirty Sexy Money will all air episodes on Saturdays this summer. (Variety)

J.J. Abrams is confident that freshman drama series Fringe will return this fall. "It should be returning," Abrams told SCI FI Wire. "I'm really happy with so much of what we did this year. And I feel like we have barely gotten going. There's so much that we know we want to explore and knew we did from the beginning. A lot of it is yet to come." Apparently, one episode of the second season has already been shot, despite the network not having officially renewed the series. "I think that season two should be pretty great, pretty dynamic," said Abrams. "We have some cool ideas. I'm very excited about that. I'm proud of the group. My only regret is I wish we could have stayed shooting in New York. We had a terrific crew. That's the one thing I'd wish we'd be able to do differently. It's a show that's still, as it's going, evolving. Finding the balance between relatable characters and absolute science fiction takes a while, but I think we're getting there." (SCI FI Wire)

The curtain hasn't fallen on CW's Privileged just yet. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that a second season order is still possible, pointing toward the netlet's decision to air repeats of Privileged's first season on Friday nights at 8 pm ET/PT throughout the summer. "It's definitely a positive sign," one Privileged insider told Ausiello, though CW has yet to make a decision about the dramedy series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The writing is on the wall: FOX has opted to shift new comedy Sit Down, Shut Up to the less desirable timeslot of 7 pm ET/PT on Sundays. It had aired two installments in its post-Simpsons 8:30 pm slot; the network will now air episodes of King of the Hill after The Simpsons. It's thought extremely unlikely that the series, from Sony Pictures Television, will continue past this season. (Futon Critic)

Missi Pyle (Boston Legal) will replace Leslie Bibb in NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, following the latter's departure from the project in the wake of a creative overhaul. Pyle will play domestic goddess Vanessa, the eldest sibling. As Pyle already shot CBS comedy Big D, her participation here will be in second position to the CBS project. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC is said to be in talks with ABC Studios about continuing comedy series Scrubs next season. Should a deal be reached for Season Nine, the studio would have to accept a reduced license fee while creator Bill Lawrence would return as showrunner/executive producer and star Zach Braff is now "believed to be interested in returning for at least a portion of the episodes." Scrubs is said to be popular with advertisers due to its upscale viewers and ABC is said to need another half-hour on its lineup. Meanwhile, Variety is reporting that Better Off Ted "appears to be a real candidate for renewal as well, thanks to decent buzz -- and the fact that it's not produced by ABC Studios (as the network is looking to spread the financial risk beyond the Disney borders)." And Samantha Who? could also return next season. (Variety)

Lisa Rinna has changed her tune about wanting to join the cast of CW's revival of Melrose Place. "I don’t think I wanna go back anymore," Rinna told Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider. "Seriously, I watched some old tapes recently -- Harry [Hamlin, her husband] and I were going through stuff. It doesn’t feel right! It feels weird. I’ve changed my mind. You can’t go back!" (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

NCIS' still untitled spin-off starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J will be set in Los Angeles and will focus on the employees in the Office of Special Projects, "where they do a lot of undercover and surveillance work," said NCIS executive producer Shane Brennan. "There are no forensics or autopsies in it. There is no [lab tech] Abby character in it. It's not going to trample on our traditional NCIS show." (New York Post)

Spooks (which has aired Stateside under the name MI-5) is set to go into production on its eighth season, which will air this autumn on BBC One and will star Richard Armitage, Peter Firth, and Hermione Norris. (BBC)

Talent agencies William Morris and Endeavor formally approved a merger yesterday, laying the groundwork for the two firms to launch the joint WME Entertainment, which is expected to move into new offices that William Morris is building in Beverly Hills in 2010. Many agents are being courted by rival agencies. William Morris chairman Jim Wiatt will serve as the chairman of WME, with Endeavor's Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell sharing oversight with William Morris president Dave Wirtschafter and a nine-person board--five seats from WMA and four from Endeavor--will be formed as well. (Los Angeles Times)

Maureen FitzPatrick has been named SVP of comedy development at FremantleMedia North America, where she will oversee comedy development, sell and adapt British comedy series, and develop formats from the company's Atomic Wedgie online site. She was formerly SVP of digital content and development at the company's licensing arm. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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If the real world were just as awesome as the fictional one we tune in to each Monday night to see on NBC's Chuck, the action-comedy series wouldn't be in any danger of cancellation.

And yet, with the series about to air the final installment of its second season tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC, that's just where we are. It's entirely possible that tonight's episode of Chuck, which has yet to receive a pickup for a third season, could be the series' last.

I'm still keeping my fingers firmly crossed that NBC realizes what a sensational series this is and renews Chuck for a third season. Monday nights surely wouldn't be the same without Chuck. Hell, television right now wouldn't be the same without Chuck, which offers a winning combination of action, humor, workplace comedy, and, well, a sly skewering of underemployed twenty-somethings, stuck in a perpetual state of arrested development. It's a series that the whole family can watch together... and that's a rare beast in this day and age.

Those of you who watch this intelligent and fun series agree that Chuck is utterly unique. So why aren't more people watching? I'm not entirely sure. Maybe it was the fact that, due to the writers strike of last winter, the series' freshman season wrapped after just thirteen episodes and NBC opted not to get the series back into production and on the air until the following fall.

Or perhaps it's that the 8 pm timeslot on Monday nights has Chuck facing some stiff competition from Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory on CBS, House on FOX, Dancing with the Stars on ABC, and Gossip Girl on CW. Personally, I always watch Chuck live and TiVo whatever else I want to watch in that same time period. (I'd urge you to do the same, especially tonight.)

I've also wondered if Chuck's genius conflating of several storytelling genres--action/adventure, buddy comedy, romantic drama, workplace comedy--into one awesome package make it hard for fans to describe the series in a reductive logline to people who haven't watched the series before. One of the many beauties of the series has been that it's completely accessible to newbies, thanks to a mission-of-the-week format, but also keeps long-term viewers hooked with an overarching mythology that isn't confusing to follow or overly elaborate.

I've written endearingly (and at times gushingly) about Chuck since the very beginning. I've been hooked on Chuck since I first saw the pilot episode way back in early May of 2007 (it was one of the first I watched that year after loving the pilot script), so it's hard for me to imagine why more people aren't tuning in to this fantastic series. Bringing Chuck to life are the talents of a top-notch writing staff, working under the watchful eyes of creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, star-making performances from series leads Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, and Adam Baldwin, and a truly superb supporting cast who bring the off-kilter world of the Buy More to life each week.

It's crunch time now, with only one original episode of Chuck left to air this season. I am sure that all eyes at the Peacock are going to be on tonight's ratings as they debate whether or not to give the series another shot on its 2009-2010 schedule. I'm hoping that studio Warner Bros. Television, which produces the series, has been looking to make some innovative deals in order to keep the series on the air, whether that means accepting a reduced episode count (say, thirteen episodes rather than the traditional twenty-two) perhaps with an option for additional installments, structuring a second window on a cable or satellite channel (DirecTV, perhaps?), or implementing some drastic budget/license fee reductions.

Personally, I'm willing to support both WBTV and NBC in all and any of those efforts. Thirteen episodes of Chuck is far too little, but it's better than not having any more episodes altogether. Watching Chuck on both NBC and in another window (plus on Hulu or NBC.com) is something I'm very happy to do. I'm even willing to see some beloved characters/actors from Chuck's sprawling cast leave the series--or get downgraded from series regulars to recurring--if it means reducing the series' episodic budgets.

Basically, the bottom line is this: I'm willing to do whatever it takes to see that Chuck gets renewed for a third season. I'm willing to get on my soap box and keep writing about Chuck, keeping Twittering about it, and keep talking about it until I'm blue in the face.

So, please, do me--and the entire Chuck fan base--a favor and tune in tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC. Tell everyone you know to tune in. Talk about the series on Twitter, comment on blogs and web sites, spread information about tonight's season finale via word of mouth, and visit Subway (a company that has paid for product placement on the series) today and buy a sandwich for Chuck.

Chuck's fans are just as determined, loyal, and canny as our beloved troika of Chuck Bartowski, Sarah Walker, and John Casey, so send a message to NBC today that we're not going to let them kill off our smart and sly series without a fight.

Chuck's second season finale airs tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC.

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I'm hoping many of you tuned in to the phenomenal and shocking season finale ("Alex's Big Day") of Life on Mars sequel series Ashes to Ashes this weekend. I saw the entire first season last fall (the spoils of a trip last year to London, where the first season was released a while back on DVD).

I discussed the questions raised by this season finale last October in a post about Ashes' first season finale, but rather than just direct you to that post itself, I thought I'd make things easier and reproduce some of my thoughts here for the sake of convenience.

So crank up some David Bowie and Roxy Music on your iPod as we dive into some burning questions left over from Ashes to Ashes' brilliant first season. (WARNING: there are major spoilers for the end of Season One after the jump.)

My very first question, after watching the full first season of Ashes to Ashes, naturally concerns the first season's ending... in which we learn that Young Alex had met Gene Hunt before, seconds after witnessing the death of her parents and that it had been Gene's hand (and not Evan's) that she had gripped in the hallucinatory memory flashes Alex kept experiencing.

The fact that she knew Gene in the past is significant: if Gene was actually in Alex's past, then he must be a real person and is not, as Alex keeps maintaining, a fictional construct. So is he real? And, if so, is he still alive in 2008? Alex has believed that 1981 is a series of puzzles devised by her subconscious to keep her mind struggling to survive rather than succumb to the darkness and cold of death. Has she then always carried a memory of Gene Hunt around in her subconscious, unaware of his significance in her life? Is this world a puzzle for her psyche as it resists shutting down or has she really traveled back into time?

I had figured out both the Clown's identity and the motive behind Alex's parents death a few episodes before the season finale. Watching as her father put "Ashes to Ashes" on the cassette player, Alex is stunned to see him remove his glasses and transform into the Clown seconds before the car explodes. So my question is this: did Alex again *always* subconsciously know that her father had planned to kill her and her mother in a pathetic murder-suicide as payback for her mother's affair with Evan? I'd suggest that she did and that her memory filled in the blanks in her subconscious that she had successfully managed to repress for so many years.

But if the Clown is her father and an Angel of Death, why did Shaz (Montserrat Lombard) see him rather than another personification of death when she was nearly fatally stabbed in the series' seventh episode ("Charity Begins at Home")? And is the Clown still significant now that Alex knows who he actually is? Is his power over her now nonexistent now that she's peeled away the mask from his face and seen the skull beneath the skin?

I had always thought it was interesting that the song that was playing when Alex woke up in 1981 wasn't Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" but rather Ultravox's "Vienna," which is why I was so glad to see that the writers saved that song for the moment of her parents' death, a soundtrack to their demise that makes it far more iconic and significant to Alex and alludes to why she sees her father as the Pierrot Clown rather than in some other incarnation.

Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, Gene Hunt is an actual physical person in Alex's life as a child, so is he the reason that she was pulled backwards to 1981 and why Sam Tyler was pulled back to 1973? In both cases, Alex and Sam arrived in the past just prior to a critical incident in their lives that lead to their psychological development as adults. And yet in both cases Gene Hunt was on the scene, despite Mars taking place in Manchester and Ashes in London.

So, why is Gene significant in both their stories? And is Gene more than just a common link but a means for them to latch onto that particular point in time? And is it important that in 1981, Gene is struggling to maintain relevant in a world that is changing around him? If Sam thought that 1973 was his Oz, is 1981 Alex's Narnia, a journey to understand the critical incidents that defined them later as adults? For Sam, it's a need to follow the word of the law, to enforce the concept of justice. For Alex, it's the need to find logic and meaning in the criminals she chases, to understand the flaws in their psychology... even as all along she's been trying to discover what deficiency in her father's makeup lead to him seeking to obliterate his entire family.

And how does this connect to Arthur Layton, the man who created the car bomb that killed Tim and Caroline and who Alex arrested in the first episode of the season? The man who, I might add, shot Alex in the present day... after calling an unseen person. Just who does Layton call as he leads Alex away? ("I've got a piece of your past standing right here in front of me. Tim and Caroline Price's daughter. And I'm going to tell her the truth about why her parents died... Well, that's your choice.") His words seem to perhaps indicate it's Evan, but what if it's someone else altogether different? Some other force at work perhaps? A sign of something else yet to come?

What did you think of the season finale of Ashes to Ashes? What is this world that Alex has found herself in? Why wasn't she able to prevent her parents' death from occurring? And what will it take for her to wake up in the present day? Discuss.

Season Two of Ashes to Ashes, originally intended to launch this Saturday, will instead air later this year on BBC America.

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Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Timothy Olyphant (Damages) has been cast in FX's untitled Elmore Leonard project, which is based on a short story by Leonard entitled "Fire in the Hole." Olyphant will play U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens who returns to his hometown in Kentucky. "He has a certain jaggedness, but he also loves his job," said creator/executive producer Graham Yost. "He is like an anachronism: He wears a hat, cowboy boots and a holster on his hip. It's a little bit like he was born 100 years too late." Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Timberman/Beverly Prods., will be directed by Michael Dinner and will start shooting at the end of May. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a sneak peek at three scenes from Wednesday evening's 100th episode of ABC's Lost, entitled "The Variable." (Gee, does that title remind you of another famous installment?) All I can say is that this episode looks to pack quite a punch. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Dollhouse star Enver Gjokaj talks to E! Online's Jennifer Godwin about his character, Victor, and about what's coming up on the FOX drama, created by Joss Whedon. "We know he has a military background and that something bad happened," said Gjokaj about Victor. "Joss and I have talked briefly about that, but nothing is official." As for why Victor and Sierra (Dichen Lachman) seem to be propelled towards each other, Gjokaj said, "Pheromones? I'm not sure, but we know it's something deeper, more instinctual than liking her personality, because we don't really have those as dolls. I personally think Joss is asking, "What if there is such a thing as true love?" Something more than a pat psychological answer. What if two souls are attracted to each other even in the absence of memory?" (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Pamela Adelon (Californication) will star opposite Adam Carolla in CBS comedy pilot Ace in the Hole, where she will play the wife of Carolla's character, a nurse and mother of two. Should Ace in the Hole be picked up to series, Adelon would depart Showtime's Californication. Meanwhile, Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) has left NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, following a creative shakeup that also saw Adler, the pilot's writer leave the project. Bibb's role is currently being recast. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC announced several additions to its summer schedule, including three installments of news magazine Primetime, Primetime: Family Secrets, Primetime: Crime, and Primetime: The Outsiders, while Primetime: What Would You Do will return for another run. Series will air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT throughout the summer. The network also has four-hour mini-series Diamonds and Impact, special J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, and a slew of reality series, including Great American Road Trip, which will now air Tuesdays at 8 pm beginning July 7th, and America's Got Talent, which will kick off with a two-hour opener on June 23rd. (Variety)

Spike is said to be close to signing a deal to acquire off-network cable rights to HBO comedy Entourage, possibly in conjunction with another channel in MTV Networks' stable, likely Comedy Central. Series will become available in 2010. (Broadcasting & Cable)

AMC's Mad Men took home the top prize yesterday at the BAFTA TV awards in London, where it won the trophy for best international series, beating out fellow nominees The Wire, Dexter, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, while Kenneth Branagh drama Wallander beat out Doctor Who, Shameless, and Spooks for the continuing drama prize. (Variety)

The New York Times talks to King of the Hill creator Mike Judge about the long-running FOX animated series wrapping its run after 13 seasons. Judge, who says that he wanted to stop working on the series six or seven years ago, says that there won't be a finale per se. "I’m not sure there will be a final episode this time around," he told the Times' Kathryn Shattuck. We did a final episode back in the first year we thought we were canceled. I was really proud of that last episode, and then when we didn’t get canceled, we had to kind of tweak it and do these different things to make it not seem so final. And I’m not sure there will be any kind of story arc. The thing I think we do well is kind of keeping it the same. I’m a big fan of just classic TV — the old Bob Newhart Show, Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show. There was something kind of comforting in that, episode after episode, they didn’t change that much." (New York Times)

NBC is bringing back axed reality competition series The Chopping Block to the schedule. The series, which was pulled from the Peacock's lineup last month, will return on Friday, June 19th at 8 pm and air the five remaining episodes of the series. (Futon Critic)

Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) have set up production company Points West Pictures, which they hope will develop projects that will place them in front of and behind the camera. Company is in development on three projects, two of which are being written by Westfeldt. (Hollywood Reporter)

William Morris Agency and Endeavor are expected to vote today on a potential merger that would create a major new player on the talent representation scene. The combined joint entity, WME Entertainment, would offer 300 agents, one of the top client rosters, and an annual revenue of roughly $325 million. "The deal could trigger a new wave of consolidation, putting pressure on other smaller agencies to combine or find larger partners," writes The Los Angeles Times' Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James. "The last significant talent agency merger was in 2006 when International Creative Management bought the smaller Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann Agency in a move to inject new life into ICM's television business." (Los Angeles Times)

ABC Family has yanked freshman comedy Sophie off of its schedule effective immediately. The cabler will air back-to-back new episodes of fellow first-year comedy Roommates in the 9 pm hour and 10 pm hours on Monday nights beginning tonight, wrapping up its run now on May 4th, rather than June 15th. (Futon Critic)

MTV has given a series order to reality competition series The Stylist, which will pit fashion stylists against one another for a contract with a major agency, from Bunim-Murray. The cabler also ordered 80 additional episodes of dating series Parental Control, bringing the series' six season total to 200 installments. (Hollywood Reporter)

Style has renewed eight series, including Ruby, The Dish, How Do I Look?, Clean House, Split Ends, Clean House Comes Clean, Dress My Nest, and Whose Wedding Is It Anyway. The cabler has several new series in the pipeline including Mothers and Daughters of Dallas and Guiliana & Bill, a docusoap following former Apprentice winner Bill Rancic and his wife Guiliana, an anchor on E! (TV Week)

Stay tuned.

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