It had to happen, really.

The tension between Jeff Lewis and sometimes business partner Ryan Brown has been building all season long and things got more than a little heated on last night's episode of Bravo's addictive reality series Flipping Out ("Irreconcilable Differences"), in which Jeff confronted Ryan about his allegedly "shady" business dealings.

The confrontation, which went down in the final minutes of the episode, followed an hour where Jeff pulled some rather telling passive-aggressive maneuvers towards Ryan, disregarding his father's advice to cut the cord between the two but also not quite giving Ryan the opportunity to defend himself against Jeff's silent accusations.

Who is at fault? It's really difficult say. Obviously, Flipping Out follows Jeff Lewis around on a daily basis and not Ryan Brown, so it's easy to side with Jeff because it's his perspective that we're seeing here. But let's look at the supposed evidence.

So far, the most damning pieces of evidence against Ryan are those sponsored links to Brown Design on Google. Regardless of whether Ryan can say that he's just being a "smart businessman," there's something underhanded about sponsoring links to your design firm to pop up when people are searching for Jeff Lewis.

Is it smart? Sure, it's diabolically clever but it's also toeing a very narrow ethical line between acceptable and shady behavior because it's quite possibly--or probably--taking business away from Jeff. Ryan claimed that he doesn't say that it's not Jeff Lewis' office that callers have reached because it isn't. But people searching for Jeff Lewis who stumble onto the Brown Design site might call thinking the calls would get to Jeff. Or, assume so anyway, just as Ryan assumes that he needn't ask people who they are looking for.

And then there's Santa Barbara. Ryan is debating whether or not to move north and open up a second office as he's flooded with business from Santa Barbara, a fact that has Jeff very suspicious, coming on the heels as it does of the magazine layout featuring Jeff's house at Valley Oak... which contains barely any mention of Jeff's role in the design of the place.

The confrontation itself was painful to watch. Jeff might talk a big talk about being tough as nails but the guy is sensitive underneath his hard exterior and it was clear to see just how much hurt and anguish he was experiencing bringing up these difficult topics. Old wounds hurt the most, after all.

It's impossible to say right now who is telling the truth. Ryan makes a point about Jeff cutting him out of his life altogether if he doesn't believe him, which I think he meant as a sincere expression of his honesty and loyalty but which Jeff interprets as a sign of guilt. As for how they left things, it's not good, to be honest. Ryan storms out of the house, Jeff is tearing up and this friendship and business partnership may have been ripped asunder forever. Trust is, after all, a very fluid, funny thing. Once it's gone, all bets are off.

Whose side are you on in this conflict? Is Jeff right to be suspicious about Ryan or is he just being paranoid? Discuss.

Next week on Flipping Out ("Pledging Allegiance"), Jeff faces setbacks with his Buena Park contractor while Ryan makes commitments.

Flipping Out Preview: Money In, More Money Out:



Flipping Out Preview: Jenni's Alter-Ego:



Flipping Out Preview: In Bed with Vlad:

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Penance for Joey perhaps?

Showtime and BBC Two have joined together to co-produce new comedy series Episodes, set to star Matt LeBlanc (Friends).

The single-camera comedy series, which received a six-episode commitment from Showtime and BBC Two, revolves around a British couple whose smash-hit British skein is adapted into a "dumbed-down" US sitcom starring Matt LeBlanc (who will play himself).

Project, which is slated to air next year on Showtime, is created by David Crane (Friends) and Jeffrey Klarik (The Class) and will be executive produced by Crane, Klarik, and Hat Trick's Jimmy Mulville. Production is slated to begin this autumn in London and Los Angeles.

"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," said Showtime president of entertainment Bob Greenblatt in a statement. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake. This show complements our eclectic and critically-acclaimed line-up of half-hour comedies beautifully."

The full press release from Showtime, announcing the series order, can be found below.

MATT LEBLANC MAKES FRIENDS OF SHOWTIME & BBC IN SITCOM SATIRE

Six "Episodes" of Comedy-Within-a-Comedy to Premiere in 2010

LOS ANGELES, CA – (September 30, 2009) – "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc and creators David Crane ("Friends," "The Class") and Jeffrey Klarik ("The Class," "Mad About You") have teamed up on a fresh new send-up of the television business entitled EPISODES, a single-camera comedy series about a British couple whose hit UK show is turned into a dumbed-down American sit-com starring LeBlanc (as himself), it was announced today by SHOWTIME President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt.

Crane and Klarik created the series and Jimmy Mulville will also serve as executive producer through his successful Hat Trick production company ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?," "The Kumars at No. 42", "Worst Week"). EPISODES, a co-production of Showtime and the BBC, will begin shooting the six episodes in London and Hollywood this winter for a 2010 debut on SHOWTIME and BBC Two.

"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," says Greenblatt. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake. This show complements our eclectic and critically-acclaimed line-up of half-hour comedies beautifully."

"Jeffrey and David have a great idea -- I love it," said Matt LeBlanc. "I am really excited to be working with Showtime and the BBC. And I am so glad I got the part, seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating."

When a successful British husband-and-wife comedy team are lured by Hollywood to produce a new version of their hit series for a stateside audience, they're initially thrilled at the prospects. But they soon realize what the American execs have in store for their precious show – including replacing the erudite British lead with the quintessential comedy star, Matt LeBlanc – and begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the TV business. Before long it's clear that not just the couple's show is at stake, but perhaps even their marriage.

Television veterans Klarik and Crane will draw upon their storied experiences in the network wars and behind-the-scenes "too many cooks" tinkering to bring to life a vivid collection of characters trying to hold onto their sanity in an insane world. Klarik and Crane said: "To work with either Showtime or the BBC on this project would have been terrific. To have both involved is more than we could hope for. We feel like we have found the two perfect homes for this show."

"It is very exciting to be making this wonderful production for Showtime and the BBC," added producer Mulville. "Both networks have an outstanding portfolio of exciting and innovative comedies, and it is an honor to be included amongst them. The scripts are brilliantly funny, and with Matt LeBlanc playing a hilarious version of himself, EPISODES promises to be one of the treats of 2010."

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Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

CBS is said to be developing a potential spin-off from its crime drama series Criminal Minds that will be created by showrunner/executive producer Ed Bernero and executive producer Chris Mundy, the latter of which will write the script for the potential spin-off which will air as an episode of Criminal Minds later this season. No concrete details are available but the series is thought to revolve around a new team of FBI agents, rather than focusing on any of the existing Criminal Minds characters. (Hollywood Reporter)

John Simm (Life on Mars), who returns to Doctor Who to reprise his role as The Master this winter, has said that David Tennant's swan song on the British sci-fi series is a "brilliant send-off" for Tennant and the Tenth Doctor. "It'll be a brilliant send-off for Mr Tennant," said Simm. "Last time I did it it was such fun to do. It was wonderful to be asked back and to be in the very, very last one. To go head-to-head with him was a really honour. It was lovely to be asked. It was a great, great experience. We had such fun doing it. Hopefully it'll come across." (BBC News)

Kevin Zegers (The Jane Austen Book Club) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's Gossip Girl as the potential love interest for Taylor Momsen's Jenny. Zegers will play Damien, "an international bad boy who somehow gets tied up with the likes of little Jenny Humphrey—-who is, in fact, the new Queen Bee." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) will write the pilot script for an untitled FOX supernatural dramedy, said to be in the style of Shaun of the Dead, about "a group of dysfunctional siblings who are forced to live together in the family's haunted house after their father dies." Project, from executive producers Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Ruggiero and studio 20th Century Fox Television, has received a script order from the network. (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth who guest stars on tonight's episode of FOX's Glee as April Rhodes, a former classmate of Will's who has a certain thing for younger men. "This part is like nothing I've had the chance to do on TV," said Chenoweth of April. "She's very happy when drinking to ease her pain. I also sing in three very different styles, which is always fun and challenging." (TVGuide.com)

FOX has given a pilot presentation order to an untitled animated project from Robot Chicken creators Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Tom Root that will revolve around various characters at home and at high school and will feature traditional, rather than stop-motion, animation. Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that the two-hour pilot for Syfy's Caprica, which launches in January, is hitting the film festival circuit, with airings planned for the San Diego Film Festival as well as the Woodstock Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival in October. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

TLC will relaunch its brand-defining reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight as just... Kate Plus Eight. The newly retitled series will be relaunched on November 2nd and will focus on Kate Gosselin as the single mother of eight children. But don't count Jon Gosselin out just yet; he's set to continue to make appearances on the series, albeit "on a less regular basis." The cabler is also said to be developing a new series for Kate Gosselin for 2010. (Variety)

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Drop Dead Diva) have received script commitments for two projects at FOX and NBC. The FOX project, a legal drama entitled Laney Sparrow, will be written by Dana Calvo (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) and hail from 20th Century Fox Television. The NBC project, dramedy Inside Mary Baxter, is set in a women's prison; that script will be written by Maria Maggenti (Without a Trace), who will executive produce with Zadan and Meron. (Hollywood Reporter)

Billie Piper (Doctor Who), Theo James (Untitled Woody Allen Film), Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval), Sue Johnston (Waking the Dead), and Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) have been cast in BBC One drama Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, based on Mellor's stageplay about a young mother who calls in love with a Polish neighbor and its dangerous consequences over a thirty-year period. Project, from Rollem Productions, will air next year. (BBC)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a two-year overall deal with Cold Case executive producer Greg Plageman, under which he will continue to oversee the CBS drama series with Jennifer Johnson and develop new projects for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will get a chance to watch Warner Bros. Television's new sci-fi series V (which is airing Stateside on ABC), following a deal between the studio and NBC Universal Global Networks that will see the Scott Peters-executive produced series air on the UK's Sci Fi, as well as the midseason drama series Human Target. (Broadcast)

History Channel has ordered several new reality series, including Extreme Trucking, a spin-off of its Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, Madhouse, and Sliced. (Hollywood Reporter)

Camryn Manheim (The Practice) has been cast in Lifetime telepic Pregnancy Pact, opposite Thora Birch and Nancy Travis. She'll play a local nurse who alerts the school to the rising rate of teen pregnancies. Telepic is slated to air in early 2010. (Variety)

Jason Priestley will star in Canadian pay TV comedy Meet Phil Fitz, about a "morally bankrupt" used car salesman who "walks a fine line of acceptable behavior on the lot." Project, from writer/executive producer Sheri Elwood (Defying Gravity). E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film and Television, and Big Motion Pictures, will air on Movie Central and the Movie Network in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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Cabler AMC has announced that its six-hour limited series event The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan, will launch on Sunday, November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT.

The cabler will air three two-hour installments over three consecutive nights, with subsequent installments airing on Monday, November 16th and Tuesday, November 17th.

In this remake of the classic British cult series, Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) plays Number Six, a man who finds himself the unwitting titular prisoner of The Village, a strange and surreal settlement overseen by the nefarious Number Two, played by Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings). The Prisoner also stars Jamie Campbell-Bower (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Number 11-12, Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) as Number 41-5, Lennie James (Jericho) as Number 147, and Ruth Wilson (Suburban Shootout) as Number 313.

The Prisoner was written by Bill Gallagher (Conviction) and directed by Nick Hurran (Little Black Book).

Here's how AMC describes the six-hour limited series:

"The Prisoner tells the story of a man, "Six" (Caviezel), who wakes up to find himself inexplicably trapped in a mysterious and surreal place, The Village, with no memory of how he arrived. As he frantically explores his new environment, he discovers that Village residents are identified by number, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. The Village is controlled by one man - the sinister and charismatic "Two" (Ian McKellen). Throughout the series, "Six" and "Two" are locked in a battle of wits, as "Six" challenges the oppressive nature of The Village and struggles to learn the truth behind it."

AMC's nine-minute clip reel for The Prisoner, shown this summer at San Diego Comic-Con, can be found below.

The Prisoner launches November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT on AMC.

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Looking for a sneak peek at Syfy's new mini-series Riverworld, starring Dollhouse's Tahmoh Penikett? You're in luck.

Distributor RHI has released the first trailer for the mini-series (itself a backdoor pilot for an ongoing series), which also stars Laura Vandervoort, Mark Deklin, Peter Wingfield, and Alan Cumming, among others. The project was written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe (The Dresden Files) and directed by Stuart Gillard (90210).

Here's how Syfy described the four-hour mini-series:

"Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica/Dollhouse) and Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) star in Riverworld, based on the popular award-winning series of novels by Philip Jose Farmer. Penikett stars as Matt Ellman, an American war zone reporter who has witnessed the worst of humanity first-hand yet still grasps on to an optimistic spirit. When a suicide bomber kills both Matt and his fiance Jessie, played by Vandervoort, they awaken, separated in a mysterious world where everyone who has ever lived on Earth, seems to have been "reborn" along the banks of a seemingly endless river.

Determined to locate Jessie, Matt joins forces with a 13th century female samurai warrior named Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen) and American novelist Sam 'Mark Twain' Clemens (Mark Deklin). Together they sail upriver in search of its source, and to discover where they are and who put them there. Alan Cumming (Tin Man) guest stars as the mysterious 'Caretaker.' Riverworld (Airdate 2010) is produced by Reunion Pictures and is shooting in Vancouver, BC. RHI will distribute internationally."

The roughly two-minute trailer for Riverworld can be viewed below.

Riverworld is slated to air in 2010 on Syfy.

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I'm curious to see how many of you out there tuned in last night to watch NBC's new medical drama series Trauma.

I didn't review Trauma--possibly because I couldn't find anything nice to say about it--but I am wondering what those of you thought who happened to tune in to the series opener last evening.

Did you like the series' combination of feisty, flawed characters and things going boom? Were you sucked in my the catastrophic opening minutes' footage of that downed helicopter? Did you like the chemistry between the actors or was it sideswiped by the explosive production values? Or did you find the whole thing incredibly bombastic and forced? Or a wee bit dated?

More importantly, will you tune in again next week for the second episode?

Talk back here.

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Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Sci-fi drama series Primeval has been saved from extinction thanks to an unprecedented international co-production deal between Impossible Pictures Limited (IPL), ProSieben, BBC Worldwide (BBCW), ITV, and UKTV. Under the terms of the deal, thirteen new installments of Primeval will be produced for 2011 (the thirteen episodes will comprise two seasons). BBC America will step in to take on a full co-production credit and UKTV will become a first-time investor. Adrian Hodges will again oversee the creative direction of the series, which will feature the return of stars including Hannah Spearritt, Andrew Lee Potts, and Jason Flemyng. "Primeval is one of BBC AMERICA's all time top ten shows and we're thrilled to be co-producing the new season," said BBC America SVP of Programming Richard de Croce. "It’s an innovative deal securing the future of an innovative show - and we can’t wait to bring it back to U.S. fans." (via press release)

Barry Sonnenfeld (Pushing Daisies) is attached to executive produce and direct an untitled multi-camera ABC comedy series about an overworked mother who finds a special suit that grants her super powers. Project, from ABC Studios, will be written by Laura House and executive produced by Sonnenfeld and Stu Bloomberg. (Variety)

Stephen King has signed a deal with independent studio E1 Entertainment to adapt his 2005 novella "The Colorado Kid" into a one-hour drama series entitled Haven, which will revolve around a small town in Maine "where cursed folk live normal lives in exile." But then those curses rear their ugly heads, FBI Agent Audrey Parker is sent in to keep the supernatural forces at bay. Sam Ernest and Jim Dunn will write the pilot script and Scott Shepherd (The Dead Zone) has signed on as showrunner and will executive produce with Lloyd Segan Shawn Piller, John Morayniss, and Noreen Halpern. E1 has already committed to producing 13 episodes of the series, which was previously in development at ABC during the 2008-09 season, and is said to be in talks with several foreign broadcasters about co-production deals. (Variety)

CBS has given a script commitment plus penalty to an untitled project from executive producers Craig Wright (Dirty Sexy Money), Mark Burnett, and Roma Downey. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, follows a lawyer who gets a second chance at life by the ghost of his ex-wife after a near-fatal accident. Wright will write the pilot script for the project, which was the subject of a bidding war. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has ordered eight one-hour episodes of reality competition series Perfect 10, in which contestants will have to compete ten seemingly innocuous tasks in 60 seconds. Project, from Universal Media Studios, will be executive produced by Craig Plestis and Tim Puntillo. The network hopes that people will play along at home and NBC will post demonstrations of 50 of the series' games on a web site before the series' launch, which is thought to be in midseason. (Hollywood Reporter)

Omar Miller (Transformers) has joined the cast of CBS' CSI: Miami as a series regular. He'll play Walter Simmons, described in press materials as a "Louisiana native and art theft specialist who transfers over from the night shift to join Horatio's team." Miller's first appearance is slated for the Monday, October 5th episode. (via press release)

Syfy has ordered six episodes of supernatural reality series Ghost Hunters Academy (formerly known as Ghost Hunters: College Edition), which the cabler will launch on Wednesday, November 11th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

TLC has ordered eight one-hour episodes of docusoap BBQ Pit Masters, which will dissect the "cutthroat world of competing grillers." Series, from Original Media, is slated to launch December 2nd. (Variety)

Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Chris Carmack (Drop Dead Diva), and Zoe McLellan (Dirty Sexy Money) will star in Lifetime Movie Network telepic Deadly Honeymoon, based on the real-life disappearance of groom George Allen Smith. Glau and Carmack will play Lindsey and Trevor Forrest, newlyweds who get caught up in a partying and sex-fueled honeymoon after crossing paths with a group of Eastern European passengers on a cruise. Telepic is written by Ron McGee and will be directed by Paul Shapiro. (Hollywood Reporter)

RDF Media Group has named SVP Karrie Wolfe as its "chief emissary" for the shingle's RDF Rights division, where she will oversee the acquisition of US formats and set them up at broadcasters worldwide. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Disney Channel has ordered eight additional installments for Season Three of Wizards of Waverly Place, bringing the total order to 86 episodes. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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Not all prisons have bars.

This week's episode of Mad Men ("Seven Twenty Three"), written by Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and directed by Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, proved that power is an arbitrary construct and that we can fool ourselves into believing that we have control over our lives when in actuality, we're victims of causality and subject to the whims of others.

Don Draper believes himself to have power over Bertram Cooper and Roger Sterling so long as he doesn't sign a contract. Without his signature on a piece of paper, he's free to throw tantrums and retain some semblance of authority over his two partners. After all, he can walk at any time. He's not married to the company or to Cooper and Sterling. One false move and he can take his considerable talents elsewhere. Which is the very definition of power, no?

Except that Don Draper has been backed into a corner. The deal with Connie Hilton should have been cause for celebration but it's brought Don nothing but aggravation and exasperation. First from the partners and Hilton's lawyers, who want Don locked into Sterling Cooper for three years... and then from protege Peggy Olson who asks to be placed on the Hilton assignment and gets an earful from a wrathful Don.

Don's never been one to keep it in his pants, sexually or professionally speaking. Just as he's attracted to the notion of bedding Sally's latent hippie teacher Miss Farrell, so to force him to sign away his freedom is like asking the world to stop spinning. Despite his protestations, some things never change.

But while Don believes he can stonewall Cooper and Sterling and make the contract issue just magically go away, he doesn't anticipate two things. For one, I don't think Don ever expected Roger to turn to Betty for assistance in getting Don to sign the contract. I thought that this was such a breach of confidence and propriety, especially given the tenuous nature of Roger and Don's relationship at the moment and the fact that we shouldn't forget that Roger once hit on Betty in her home. It was beyond the pale, really. Is it Betty's anger towards Don that seals the deal in the end? Hardly. As Betty says, Don will do whatever Don wants to do, regardless of the consequences. (Look at the way he casually swigs from his glass while driving and picks up a couple, only to be attacked and robbed by them. Again: power is mirage.)

And that's typically the case but this time there's a sword of Damocles dangling over Don's head in the form of Bert Cooper. In a fantastic payoff to a dangling plot thread from Season One, Cooper reminds Don that he knows the truth about his identity, dropping a hint about his assumption of Don Draper's life and stating that it really wouldn't be him signing that contract anyway. Checkmate, Don.

I'm glad that Pete's reveal about Don came back into the story at such a crucial moment for Don. And it is an utterly crucial moment, with the title of the episode reflecting the date that Don signs away his freedom to Sterling Cooper.

It may also be the date of Don's undoing. In his castigation of hungry Peggy Olson, he propels her quite literally into the arms of Don's enemy, Duck. While Peggy wasn't initially open to Duck's overtures (even going so far as to attempt to return his gift of an Hermes scarf), Don's rage towards her proves that she needs to plan for her own future, for her own freedom from Sterling Cooper. The question, however, is whether Duck wants Peggy for herself--for her mind and her body--or whether she is merely an instrument to be used against Don in Duck's ongoing vendetta.

I knew that it was Duck that Peggy was in bed with in the opening minutes of the episode and wish that we hadn't gotten those non-linear glimpses of Don, Peggy, and Betty at the start of the episode. The reveal of the two of them in bed together would have been shocking enough without us waiting for it at every turn. I'm extremely concerned about Peggy's future. There's been no real sign that Duck intends to honor his offers of success (he turns down her request for a copy chief position) and their dalliance further clouds the issue. Or could it be that with that very moment, Peggy has gained the upper hand? That remains to be seen.

Likewise, Betty is drawn back into the orbit of Henry Francis, an adviser to the governor whom she turns to for... Well, the cover story is that she is speaking on behalf of the Junior League and opposing a water tank on the site of the reservoir but really she's addicted to the sense of frisson that she experiences from stepping outside of her role as wife and mother, relishing the sensation of being an attractive conquest to a powerful man.

Despite the encroaching women's movement on America, Betty is drawn backwards in time to an even more restrictive time, to the Victorian era, where women were so physically and socially strained that, feeling overwhelmed, they often had to lie down on fainting couches. It's Henry who recounts the purpose of the fainting couch but it's Betty who purchases it and puts in right in front of the hearth, which her designer described as the "soul of the home." If that's true, then what should we make of Betty's decision to include a symbol of male domination and feminine control in the very heart of her familial home? Is it a subversive gesture or an independent one, reinforcing her desire to step outside the bonds of marriage? Hmmm...

Next week on Mad Men ("Souvenir"), Don takes Betty on a business trip; Pete helps a neighbor in his building.

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Just a few quick words about Friday night's season premiere of Dollhouse, which saw the series return for a miraculous sophomore season, only to plummet to its lowest ratings yet.

You read my advance review of the second season opener of Dollhouse ("Vows"), written and directed by Joss Whedon, but now that the episode has aired, we can talk about some of the specific plot points from the installment.

And, in this case, it's the premiere's storyline involving Amy Acker's physically and emotionally scarred Whiskey/Claire Saunders that has piqued my interest more than any other, despite the appearance of Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber as shady businessman Martin Klar and Whedonverse alum Alexis Denisof as Senator Daniel Perrin.

I'm still not entirely sure why Adelle would allow Paul Ballard to use Echo on an engagement to entrap Martin Klar or how Ballard was able to pay for the engagement. Or why Klar was such a powerful emblem of the failures he experienced as an FBI agent that he would want to take him down now. Just odd, really. It seemed like an excuse for a bait-and-switch with Echo's marriage to Klar but it begged the question about just how long this assignment lasted if there was time to arrange not only a first meeting between Echo and Klar but an entire courtship and engagement. But those are questions for another day, perhaps.

I made the point in my advance review that while Echo is the nominal lead character on the series, she and Eliza Dushku are often upstaged by some of the other, more interesting and three-dimensional elements of the series. In this case, it's Amy Acker's Whiskey who provides the focal point of the series and fleshes out Whedon's overarching themes of identity, self-awareness, and actualization.

Forced to come to terms with the fact that her life as Dr. Claire Saunders is nothing more than fiction created by Topher Brink, Whiskey is in a state of emotional freefall. Desperate to cling to some real emotion, she ricochets from thoughts of vengeance (seducing Topher) to violence (her hand lingering far too long on that scalpel while treating Echo). Is she looking to punish Topher and Echo... or to punish herself?

And Acker manages to pull off every excruciating emotional beat of that transformation, beautifully rendering a portrait of a soul in absolute chaos. What if we learned that the life we're leading is a massive lie? That the way we feel, think, hell, breathe was designed by someone else? You'd want to rip your own heart out, really, and Acker conveys the agony she's experiencing while making Whiskey painfully sympathetic. In a series that's filled with wirework, stunt fighting, and geek-chic technology, it's the small moments in Acker's performance that give Dollhouse its true heat and heart.

I thought that there was a gorgeous poignancy in the scene between Acker's Whiskey and Harry Lennix's Boyd, a scene which recalled their possible future relationship (as depicted in the unaired "Epitaph One" episode) but also turns that scenario on its head somewhat. Whiskey's been cut up by a psychopath, given the personality of a dead man, and been imprinted with the fears of an agoraphobic. She's essentially trapped in the Dollhouse between life and death, between a lie and the truth.

Her decision to remain Claire Saunders but run is a telling one. Is the life we know better than the life we don't? As bad as things are, couldn't they be worse? And wouldn't escaping to her former life be as much of a lie--if not more--than remaining Saunders and remembering? It connects to her insistence that her scars not be repaired. Claire/Whiskey wants to remember, she wants to suffer, she wants a visible reflection of the turmoil in her soul.

Likewise, the queasy seduction scene between Acker and Fran Kranz not only deepened Whiskey's character but also Topher's as well, giving me the first scene of the series where I was actively engaged with Topher as a character and saw him less as a quippy Whedon manqué and more of a deeply shaded individual with his own demons to battle. Uncomfortable, apt, and self-destructive, really.

Best line of the episode: "My whole existence was constructed by a sociopath in a sweater vest. What do you suppose I should do?" - Whiskey

Whedon has said that Acker will appear in three episodes this season as Whiskey/Claire and I'm anxious to see just what he has in store for Acker's character after she's attempted to flee the confines of her spa-like prison. For me, Whiskey remains one of the more interesting and intriguing elements of the series and I'll be extremely sad to see her go after her storyline wraps up. Still, it's in this subplot that Dollhouse has achieved some of the depth and potential that it promises, scars and all.

Next week on Dollhouse ("Instinct"), Echo is imprinted as a mother with a newborn baby but takes too strongly to motherhood as a result of Topher's modifications; Adelle pays November a visit; Senator Daniel Perrin ramps up his investigation into the Rossum Corporation.

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Looking to discuss the two-hour season premiere of CBS' fantastic reality series The Amazing Race?

Head over to my piece, entitled "The Amazing Race: I Survived a Japanese Game Show," on the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on the season opener, wasabi bombs, duck herding, anger-prone contestants, the poker players' scheme, and much more. (The piece itself is a post-air story that follows up Friday's piece about five reasons why you should tune in this season to The Amazing Race.)

Sound off in the comments section.

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Looking to discuss the latest episode of HBO's painfully funny comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Head over to my piece, entitled "Curb Your Enthusiasm: The C Word," on the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on the latest episode of the Larry David-created series ("Vehicular Fellatio") and discuss your feelings about the episode, which I thought was one of the funniest--and most painful--to date.

Thought Larry was crazy to concoct a plan to get Loretta to break up with him? Wish he wouldn't have agreed to pay for Dean's broken glasses? Astounded that Dr. Trundle beat Larry mercilessly with a copy of her "Walking Out on Cancer" book?

Sound off in the comments.

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Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

ABC has confirmed that it has now altered its launch plan for sci-fi drama series V, which is set to premiere November 3rd. The network has decided to air just the first four installments of the Warner Bros. Television-produced series and then place V on hiatus until after the Winter Olympics. The news comes as a surprise as the series, which is written and executive produced by The 4400's Scott Peters, has enjoyed extremely positive buzz from critics and from Comic-Con audiences who screened the pilot episode earlier this summer. However, both Warner Bros. Television and ABC were quick to point out that the episodic order for V hadn't been shortened; series is still set to air 13 installments. (Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker)

The first official cancellation of the fall season is here: The Beautiful Life, we hardly knew ye. The CW has confirmed that it has axed The Beautiful Life after just two episodes, which plunged to just 1 million viewers in its second outing. Series, which was executive produced by Ashton Kutcher, had been filming its seventh episode when the crew received word to shut down on Friday. The series has been pulled from the schedule and its timeslot will be filled by repeats of Melrose Place beginning this Wednesday. (Hollywood Reporter)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry about the resolution to last May's wedding cliffhanger, which was revealed in the opening minutes of the series' sixth season premiere, which aired last night on ABC. Cherry says his decision about which woman Mike would marry "plays better for this season's mystery" and gives the jilted woman a hell of a storyline as well. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A&E has canceled drama series The Cleaner after two seasons. The series, which starred Benjamin Bratt as a professional interventionist, wrapped its second season earlier this month. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan talks with new Lie to Me showrunner Shawn Ryan about what's coming up on the second season of the procedural drama series, which kicks off tonight on FOX. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Crista Flanagan (Mad Men) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's new comedy series Hank, where she will play Dawn, the wife of David Koechner's Grady. She replaces Melissa McCarthy (Samantha Who?), who dropped out of the series in order to take a role in romantic comedy feature film Life as We Know It. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The CW has ordered eight episodes of an untitled reality series that will follow the life of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer, whom some may recall appeared on-screen on the CW's Gossip Girl. Project, from executive producer Andrew Glassman, will follow "Mortimer, currently embroiled in a high-profile divorce, as she hits the New York scene." (Variety)

Production has begun on the third and final season of Life on Mars sequel series Ashes to Ashes, which will air on BBC One in early 2010. "Everyone has their own theory about who Gene Hunt is, and why Alex Drake and Sam Tyler ended up in his world," said executive producer Jane Featherstone. "Alex's journey is nearing its end and Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have planned a fabulous finale. We're now at the point where we can finally reveal some of the answers and we can't wait to hear what the fans think about it all." (BBC)

As if he weren't animated enough already. Gordon Ramsay is the basis for a new stop-motion animated series entitled Gordon Ramsay, At Your Service from Canadian production company Cuppa Coffee, which will be pitched next week at Mipcom in Cannes. Project, which is currently seeking a writer, will focus on the hot-tempered celebrity chef and television personality. (Broadcast)

TBS has canceled comedy series The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons. (C21)

Charlie Cox (Stardust), Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money), and Gillian Anderson (Bleak House) have been cast opposite William Hurt and Ethan Hawke in TeleMunchen's big-budget Moby Dick telepic. Cox will play Ishmael; Sutherland will play Father Mapple; Anderson will play Elizabeth, the wife of Captain Ahab (Hurt). (Variety)

Annie Potts, Kim Zimmer, Drew Seeley will star in Hallmark Channel telepic Freshman Father, about a Harvard student who finds himself in a shotgun wedding and must juggle school and parenthood. Project, slated to air in 2010, is written by Bill Wells and directed by Michael Scott. (via press release)

BermanBrauun has hired former Fox Television Studios executive Jerry Longarzo as the head of business affairs. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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I was largely on the fence about the freshman season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.

Conceptually, I felt that there were some fascinating ideas about identity and perception embedded in the series' overarching concept but I felt that these concepts were often let down by some fundamentally flawed execution on a weekly basis. In other words: I wanted to love the series but I found time and time again that I couldn't. Perhaps it was the regular occurrence of plot holes large and numerous, making Dollhouse resemble something akin to Swiss cheese.

The unaired thirteen episode of Dollhouse's first season, entitled "Epitaph One," did manage to change my feelings about the series; it offered a much darker and edgier version of Dollhouse and imbued the series with a strong throughline and narrative purpose. Given that the episode never aired in the US (and is still only available to screen on the Season One DVD boxset or on iTunes), it will be interesting to see as time goes on how "Epitaph One" reshapes the narrative direction of the series.

I was extremely curious then to watch Dollhouse's second season opener ("Vows"), written and directed by Joss Whedon, to see if they learned any lessons from "Epitaph One" or the series' uneven first season.

So what I did I think of "Vows" then? Let's discuss.

For one, I still find Eliza Dushku the least interesting element of the series, which is a bit of a sticky wicket as she is the series' nominal lead. However, she's largely outshone each week by the supporting actors, particularly Dichen Lachman, Enver Gjokaj, Amy Acker, Harry Lennix, and Olivia Williams, and that trend continues in the second season opener.

While Lachman is relegated to the sidelines in this installment (very sadly, though Sierra does get a corker of a tiny scene with Ivy), Acker gets some major attention in this episode, which largely focuses on the fallout from Claire Saunders learning at the end of last season that she's actually an Active named Whiskey. The A-storyline might revolve around Echo's latest engagement (which involves her marriage to a shady arms dealer played by Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber), but it's Claire's story that packs more punch, emotionally anyway, as she's faced to come to terms with the truth about her identity. I won't say how this plays out exactly but I will say that it involves tormenting her "maker" Topher (Fran Kranz) and ties in somewhat with echoes of a Boyd/Claire relationship glimpsed in the "Epitaph One" post-apocalyptic storyline.

It's a shame that Acker isn't a series regular on Dollhouse (she'll instead co-star in ABC's abysmal mystery drama series Happy Town) as Claire brings a stark fragility and depth to the series. Acker has excelled throughout her career at playing brilliantly complex individuals and her Claire/Whiskey is no departure from this formula. Armed with the knowledge about her lack of identity in "Vows," Claire is even more dangerous, fierce, and resourceful. Whether she's out for vengeance or self-awareness, I'll let you discover for yourselves tonight.

Echo and Tahmoh Penikett's Paul Ballard are meant to be the audience's entry point into the world of the Dollhouse, but both of their characters are so distant--and Paul Ballard in particular so chilly and vacant--that it's hard to get a grasp on them or feel much compassion for their situation.

That situation gets even more trippy in the season opener as there's an unexpected twist to Echo's engagement that I didn't see coming, even as I can't quite work out some of its implications. We're meant to feel that there's a connection between them that defies identity and logic but I still don't feel it a season in. Part of that, I think is that Ballard is so unlikable and unsympathetic that it's difficult to wrap your head around their, uh, complicated relationship.

Bamber is fantastic as Martin Klar, a wealthy financier who weds Echo but whose business is just a front for international arms trading. It's a nice change of pace to see Bamber portray a villain for a change (and with his native British accent as well!) and he carries off the role with aplomb. While we only catch a quick scene with Alexis Denisof's Senator Daniel Perrin in the first episode, I'm intrigued to see just where this storyline will go; he seems hell-bent on bringing down the Dollhouse (too bad Ballard didn't know him during the first season) but I can't help but question his motives. Hmmmm...

All in all, "Vows" is an intriguing start to a season that will either broaden Dollhouse's fanbase or keep it limited to its cult audience on Friday evenings. I'm hoping that the dramatic tension of "Epitaph One" can continue to infuse the series with a new purpose and a strengthened mythology and that Whedon and the series' writers continue to focus more on the supporting characters, transforming the series into more of an ensemble drama with Dushku's Echo at its core rather than The Echo Show. Which, in my eyes anyway, isn't the Dollhouse I want to be playing in.

Dollhouse premieres tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on FOX.

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Don't ever turn your back on a hole in the ground when there's a psychotic mutant killer on the loose.

Last night's episode of Fringe ("Night of Desirable Objects") offered the sort of X-Files tinged suspense that's been missing from FOX for quite some time, even as the solution to the central mystery itself--the truth behind the disappearance of several people in a small Pennsylvania town--was obvious about two seconds in.

This week's installment, written by Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman, had the team leaving the relative comforts of their lab to trek over to Pennsylvania to investigate the aforementioned disappearances. While this is nothing new for a series that has its characters embarking on various investigations on a weekly basis, it was perhaps the first time that newly appointed team leader Peter Bishop took up the reins and sent the team out without getting a dossier or briefing from Broyles.

Yes, proactiveness is the word du jour for the Fringe Division this season and it's nice to see the gang breaking their own pattern and being less reactive in the face of bizarre phenomenon. It's a nice change of pace and one that gives both Peter and Broyles much more to do than stand around and wait for something awful to happen.

While the procedural plot itself was extremely predictable--as soon as Andre Hughes appeared underground, I knew that he was covering up for a family member and as soon as it was mentioned that his wife and baby died during childbirth, I knew it was the son--the episode itself had some nice moments (the police car dropping through the earth, the creepy scarecrow scene in the cold open) and a few emotional beats that were distinct from the overarching plot.

Meghan Markles' Agent Jessup still doesn't nothing for me and I feel like we're supposed to find her possibly spiritual quest for answers enthralling but it instead bores me to tears. I don't even believe she had any dialogue this week but her character has remained even more of a nonentity that Astrid so far.

As for Evil Charlie, I'm concerned about the direction that this is going. After all, the shapeshifter from "over there" didn't know anything about Charlie Francis before he assumed Charlie's shape, so I'm not quite sure how he's pulling off slipping into Charlie's life quite so easily. Surely, Charlie's wife (whom we saw in the first season) is suspicious about her husband and why he doesn't seem to know anything about his life, no? Or am I quibbling? I do love the typewriter scenes between here and over there as the injured shapeshifter continues to receive his instructions but I'm not sure why he didn't just kill Olivia and get it over with before she remembers? But, given the episode's ending, now his employers seem to want Olivia to know just what William Bell told her. Hmmm...

There were some genuinely beautiful moments between Walter and Peter this week. As they investigate a case of a father protecting his son at all costs, it stirred up all sort of unresolved feelings between the Bishops. And seeing that lure--the night of desirable objects--in Sheriff Golightly's office reminded Peter of that fishing trip they never took and how he had bought that lure for that purpose. (Loved Walter's reply asking if "the young man" had given Peter the lure.) Given the slow reconciliation that's going on between the two, I have to wonder about when the truth about Peter's identity will emerge as it's likely to shatter any hope of a renewed relationship between Bishop pere et fils.

Likewise, Olivia is tormented by the fact that she can't remember just what happened to her or where she went but wonders--to Evil Charlie, no less--that maybe her mind doesn't want her to know and is intentionally suppressing those memories in order to keep her safe. (As in safe from him, perhaps.) But she also must come to grips with the fact that she's returned from over there a changed woman. She's seemingly enhanced--with super-sonic hearing--but we all know from experience that these gifts likely come at a cost.

A cost which Nina Sharp is hoping that Olivia can avoid by consulting an associate of hers, a "specialist" named Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan), who helped her through some rocky times of her own. Just who is Weiss? That's a mystery for another day but he works at a bowling alley and is expecting Olivia. Something tells me Weiss is no mere bowling alley clerk but an important figure who could hold the answers to unlocking Olivia's memory.

What did you think of this week's episode? Was it as strong as the season opener? How long will it be before Evil Charlie makes his "coffee ice cream" slip-up? Discuss.

Next week on Fringe ("Fracture"), Peter, Walter, Olivia, and Broyles investigate an incident in Philadelphia where a bomb blew up inside a train station but left no trace of any explosive device; uncovering links to a classified military project, Olivia and Peter head to Iraq.

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What did you see?

I've been talking about FlashForward for nearly a year now since my initial review of the series' pilot script back in November to my recent advance review of the first episode. But now that the series has launched, I'm curious to see just what you thought of FlashForward and its prospects for success.

Were you lured in by the mystery of the global blackout and the flashforwards experienced by the main characters? Did you compare it to Lost or do you see the two series as distinct and separate entities? Do you think that FlashForward is a worthy successor to the mythology-based Lost in any event?

Did you find Joseph Fiennes a compelling series lead or was he lacking in charisma? Are you intrigued by the characters' backstories? Did you find the dialogue realistic or clunky? Was there a bit too much exposition in the opening hour? What do you make of the twist ending? What's up with that kangaroo, which producers have said is a "thing"?

And, most importantly, will you come back next week and watch another episode?

Talk back here.

Next week on FlashForward (""White to Play"), Mark and Demetri head to Utah to track down a suspect who may be connected to the global blackout; Olivia comes face-to-face with the man from her vision; Mark and Olivia's daughter, Charlie, has trouble dealing with the aftermath of her flashforward.

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Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Jennifer Morrison will depart FOX series House this season, with her final episode airing in November. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, who broke the story, Morrison did not quit but her departure was "a creative decision on the part of [the series'] producers." Ausiello is quick to point out that Morrison's character, Dr. Allison Cameron, won't be killed off and producers are leaving the door open for her to guest star later on in the season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Looking for just how House's producers will write Cameron out of the series? E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos and Jennifer Godwin have the scoop as sources close to the production indicate a major medical standoff between Cameron and Chase (Jesse Spencer), with House (Hugh Laurie) getting involved in the discussion as well. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Hollywood Reporter's Roger Friedman is reporting that Law & Order: Criminal Intent will be phasing out leads Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, and Eric Bogosian this season, with the focus shifting onto Jeff Goldblum and the recently cast Saffron Burrows. "Details about D’Onofrio, Erbe and Bogosian’s exit are still unclear as the actors’ deals are being worked out," writes Friedman. "The network only recently renewed the Wolf Films/Universal Cable Prods. series for a ninth season, slated to premiere in late spring with a two-parter." (Hollywood Reporter's Showbiz 411)

Glen Mazzara (Crash) has been named showrunner on the second season of TNT's medical drama Hawthorne, which stars Jada Pinkett Smith. Mazzara replaces the series' creator John Masius, who served as the showrunner on the series' first season; he'll remain with the series as an executive producer. According to the Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva, the decision was "initiated by Masius, who wants to focus on writing, the part of making a TV show that he enjoys the most and that has earned him nine Emmy nominations and two wins. He will continue to be involved in the oversight of the series with Mazzara." (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has given a pilot order to "high-concept police procedural" Hopscotch, from writer/executive producer Chris Levinson (Law & Order), executive producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman, and Warner Bros. Television. No other details were immediately available about the project, which was the focus of a bidding war between several networks. (Variety)

Elsewhere at the network, ABC has given a script order to single-camera comedy Friends With Benefits, from writer/executive producers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber (500 Days of Summer) and director David Dobkins (Wedding Crashers). Project, from Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox Television, revolves around a group of twenty-somethings looking for sex and relationships. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has ordered a script for half-hour comedy Slacker Sons, from Sony Pictures Television, writer Mike Sikowitz, directors/executive producers Anthony and Joe Russo, and executive producers Bryan and Sean Furst. Project follows two hapless brothers who inadvertently create a hugely successful energy drink and save their family home and bail out their divorced father when he's let go from his job. (Variety)

Missed the new ABC promo for V, launching Tuesday, November 3rd, that aired last night during the series premiere of FlashForward? No worries as Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files has an embedded version of the promo. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

RDF USA has pre-sold animated UK comedy pilot Sky Jockeys, about the staffers at an airport, to FOX. The project is party of a three-script development deal between RDF USA and UK digital channel Dave, under which the shingle will develop three half-hour scripts for the channel with at least one of them getting a greenlight for late 2010. Sky Jockeys will be written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto. (Variety)

AMC has concluded a deal with former Brillstein-Grey Entertainment executive Susie Fitzgerald to join the network as SVP of scripted development and current programming. In that position, Fitzgerald will oversee original scripted development as well as day-to-day operations for the network's current series, reporting to Joel Stillerman. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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Just a few quick words about tonight's episode of NBC comedy Community ("Spanish 101"), the series' second outing. I had the opportunity a few weeks back to watch the second episode of this hilarious new series and loved every second of it.

So why should you tune in to tonight's episode of Community, when the airwaves are positively overcrowded with televised offerings? Here are five reasons why.

(1) If you liked the pilot, you'll love this even more.

If you enjoyed the hysterical pilot episode of Community, you'll love tonight's episode even more. Free from having to set up the group's situation and first meeting at Greendale Community College, tonight's installment has a lot more fun with the low-key academic setting, further building out the world of Greendale and strengthening the relationships between the characters.

(2) It focuses on some of the supporting characters.

While Community is an ensemble comedy, a lot of the action of the first episode centered around the flirtation between Joel McHale's Jeff and Gillian Jacob's Britta. While Jeff and Britta play a large role in tonight's episode, the spotlight also gets to shine on several of the other characters as Alison Brie's Annie and Yvette Nicole Brown's Shirley get a subplot involving political protest and Chevy Chase's Pierce gets to bond with Jeff when they're paired together for a Spanish project. Which brings us to...

(3) Ken Jeong.

Tonight's episode of Community marks the first appearance of Ken Jeong's imperious Spanish teacher Senor Chang, easily one of the most terrifying and funny professors ever to grace the small screen. Jeong has cornered the market on playing absurd, eccentric, or creepy characters in both film and television and he adds a dangerous, quixotic element to the mix here. His language lesson in tonight's episode (he claims 90 percent of Spanish is using your hands) is gut-bustingly comical and alone is worth the price of admission.

(4) Aimee Mann's "Wise Up."

The award for the best usage of Aimee Mann's song "Wise Up" ever goes to Community for its inclusion in tonight's episode. I won't spoil just how or why it's used but will say that I was rolling on the floor after seeing

(5) It's just plain funny.

And, really, what more do you need than that?

Community airs tonight at 9:30 pm ET/PT on NBC. Here's a sneak peek at tonight's episode:

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It's funny how camaraderie can evaporate the minute someone feels one of their number doesn't deserve to win.

On this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Penn and Teller"), the chefs seemed to offer a unified front, even going so far as to honor the memory of their fallen compere Mattin by donning his trademark red scarves (just how many did he pack?) in the Top Chef kitchen. It was a touching testament to how much of an emotional impact Mattin had on the chefs (even if not in a culinary sense) but that sense of community was quickly shattered by the results of the Quickfire Challenge this week.

Now I've long felt that there have been several chefs still in the competition at this point who should have packed their knives a long time ago. Perhaps it's the fact that there seem to be four incredibly talented chefs gunning for the final four (that would be Kevin, Jennifer, and the Voltaggio brothers) but the majority of the other contestants haven't made much of a mark thus far. That said, there are some who I'm shocked to watch squeak past elimination time and time again. And clearly, the chefs feel the same way I do.

This week the chefs had to prepare a duo for their Quickfire Challenge and then serve a deconstructed classic to magicians Penn and Teller for their Elimination Challenge. Just how did the chefs do? Let's discuss.

For this week's Quickfire Challenge, the judges would be critiqued by tough-to-please Michelle Bernstein; they had an hour to create a preparation of duos that would best signify the angels and devils sitting on their individual shoulders. I was impressed that the producers gave them an hour to prepare; granted there were two dishes involved but many of these chefs have been able to pull that off in roughly 30 minutes. So I had a feeling that they wanted the chefs to really pull out all of the stops in this challenge and really wow Padma and Michelle.

Here's what they prepared:

• Ashley: scallop crudo and scallop puttanesca
• Ash: spicy asparagus custard with cornbread (he was unable to complete his coffee custard)
• Bryan: frozen coconut lychee and dark chocolate mousse
• Eli: scallop with radish and greens and scallop with risotto and butter
• Jennifer: simple scallop with olive oil and scallop with butter sauce
• Kevin: halibut with seasonal vegetables crushed deviled eggs and bacon
• Laurine: chicken consomme and vegetables and chicken saltimbocca
Mike I.: cucumber yogurt soup and rack of lamb kabob-style over couscous
• Michael V: rillete of salmon and sopa and confit salmon and ice cream
• Robin: raw salad of apple and fennel and cardamom ginger crisp
Ron: Chilean sea bass with carrots and yucca and corn mash

Some interesting dishes there (Michelle seemed to love Jennifer's butter sauce but didn't single her out for acknowledgment) and some truly awful ones (Ash's gooey custard). But I have to say that I was stunned that Robin walked away with immunity... for making a salad and a fruit crisp. Yes, they may have been great offerings but this is Top Chef and people have been sent home for making a salad in the past.

Given that Robin's performance to date has been so terribly underwhelming, I was really hoping that this would be the week that she'd be sent packing but no dice. I, like the chefs, have to question whether her reveal that she had cancer played a role in establishing some sympathy in Michelle's mind. Whether it was done consciously or not, it was a manipulative thing to say and Robin didn't offer it up as a vague aside but rather as a specific part of the angel/devil scenario; she was also way too specific ("two kinds of lymphoma") rather than even just stating that she had cancer.

I can understand why the chefs were so perturbed by her win but Robin later added insult to injury in the Elimination when she chattered on endlessly about her dish and what she was doing and then, despite having immunity, had the nerve to ASK LAURINE FOR HELP. That to me was crossing a line that shouldn't have been crossed. If she's that oblivious to the irritation she's engendering in everyone around her, she should at least have the common sense to just do her own thing and get it done on her own as she doesn't have the threat of elimination hanging over her head. Mind-boggling, really.

Moving on... The Elimination Challenge this week was to take a classic dish--randomly selected by drawing knives--and deconstruct it. Which seemed simple enough but several of the cheftestants had difficulty understanding just what deconstruction meant in the first place. Modern chefs love to deconstruct dishes; it's the process of breaking down the overall flavors of a dish into separate elements, which when combined back together approximate the flavor of the original. Unlike classical cuisine, it's a post-modern technique and it has its adherents and its detractors. Personally, I think if done correctly, it's a mind-blowing experience that shows some real intelligence and creativity on the part of the chef and requires an exacting execution in order to pull it off properly.

Ash had shepherd's pie and offered a pan-roasted pork chop with braised leeks, glazed carrots, pea puree and a Madiera jus. I was baffled by this dish. I love shepherd's pie and I didn't feel like he approximated any of the flavors of the classic English comfort food dish in the least. Yes, he had planned to serve a potato and parsnip puree (it turned out "gummy") but I don't think that would have helped matters. His lamb was not evenly cooked, the tomato just looked unappetizing and he missed the boat completely here. Not a surprise that he landed in the bottom.

Ashley, on the other hand, has won me over in the last two episodes for some well-executed dishes. Here, she drew pot roast and created a dish of seared strip loin, potato puree, crispy shallots, and carrot foam. She understood deconstruction and nailed the flavors of pot roast while creating something innovative and beautiful on the plate. Well done.

Bryan landed pastrami reuben and created a dish of tuna pastrami, warm mayonnaise, shallots, rye, gruyere, and fried capers. Eli deconstructed sweet and sour pork and created a dish of tempura pork rillettes with broccoli puree, sweet and sour sauce, and celery salad.

Laurine tried to approximate fish and chips but her dish--poached halibut with malt sabayon, tartar sauce and tomato confit, with ginger and garlic--didn't really capture the dish at all. Plus, her fish was overcooked and the inclusion of two potato chips didn't capture the "chips" element at all. Mike's Eggs Florentine, likewise, didn't do the trick either. He offered up a braised kale roll, egg emulsion, mornay sauce, and crispy phyllo but it was completely unimpressive.

Was there anything positive said about Robin's clam and fennel flan, braised celery slaw, pancetta crisp, and crushed bacon? I don't think so. I do wonder if she would have been sent home for this ghastly dish if she didn't have immunity from the Quickfire Challenge. But it was really Ron, another underwhelming chef, whose dish was truly the worst of the week. His "deconstructed" paella was a messy, soggy, overcooked mound of food that didn't quite seem to offer the requisite deconstruction or even a well-executed paella to boot. Ron has managed to avoid elimination far too many times and I just knew that this would be the dish to send him home.

I'll admit that I was worried about Jennifer this week. Deconstruction is not her thing and when she landed meat lasagna, I was concerned as I can't imagine her really making a meat lasagna in regular circumstances, much less deconstructing one here. But once again Jennifer has blown me away with her creativity and skill, offering up a dish of flat iron steak, mascarpone bechemel, tomato sauce, and parmesan crisp that perfectly captured the essence of meat lasagna, from the richness of the beef, the acidic sweetness of the tomato and the slightly burnt quality of the melted cheese on top of a lasagna. A thing of beauty, really.

I knew that Michael Voltaggio would rock this challenge, even when he landed something as innocuous as Caesar salad. Proving that he sees every challenge as a possibility, he baked his own brioche and used some molecular gastronomy techniques with his incredible dish of chicken wing, parmesan gel, romaine leaves, dressing spherification, egg emulsion, and brioche. I was a fan of Michael's from his days at The Bazaar at the SLS here in Los Angeles and I'm curious to check him out at the Langham Dining Room to see just what other magic he has up his sleeve these days.

Drawing chicken mole negro, Kevin was concerned after last week's mole didn't land him a spot in the top but he needn't have worried at all. His dish, a baked chicken and chicken croquetta with Mexican coffee, chili flakes, and pumpkin and fig jam, was a master class in deconstruction. He understood the flavor components and utilized them in creative and intriguing ways to offer up something that was essentially chicken mole negro but broken down into separate and delicious pieces.

I had a feeling that he would walk away the ultimate winner here and I'm glad to see that he didn't disappoint. Longtime readers will remember that I called Kevin and Jennifer as the two chefs to watch this season from the first episode. And I truly believe that the two of them and the Voltaggio brothers would make the ideal final four this season. Fingers crossed...

What did you think of this week's episode? Should Ron have packed his knives or should it have been Ash? Would Robin have ended up in the bottom if she didn't have immunity? And what did you make of her admission during the Quickfire Challenge? Discuss.

Next week on Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Dinner Party"), the remaining contestants cater a dinner for the chefs in the Macy's Culinary Council, but first they must make it through the Quickfire Challenge, where Lady Luck again holds all the cards... or in this case, reels.

Top Chef Preview: Playing the Slots:



Top Chef Preview: Mike Is Not Pleased:

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I hope all of you tuned in last night for the launch of comedy Modern Family on ABC.

I've been praising Modern Family for months now (you can read my original advance review of the pilot episode here) but now that the series has launched, I'm extremely curious to find out what all of you thought of this remarkable and hysterical new series. It's hands down my pick for the season's best new show, a fantastically taut series about the trials and tribulations (and humor) of family life in the new millennium.

Did you enjoy the series' heady mix of deadpan humor and emotional heart? Did you like the mockumentary aspect? (I thought it worked better than, say, The Office has for the last few seasons.) Did the entire cast--from Ed O'Neill and Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, to Julie Bown and Ty Burrell (not to mention those kids!)--win you over with their overwhelming charm?

Did you roar with laughter to Cameron's Lion King homage? Or from Mitchell's request to take Jay's "multi-colored jacket and bejeweled cap"? Were you pleasantly surprised to learn that they are all one big, somewhat happy family?

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

Talk back here.

Next week on Modern Family ("Coal Digger"), tension mounts when the entire family is invited to Jay and Gloria's for some barbeque and football following an incident at school between Manny and Luke, leading to some nasty words between Gloria and Claire.

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