Following up this morning's Doctor Who story, BBC America has announced that it will air Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars on Saturday, December 19th at 9 pm ET/PT.

The news comes on the heels of BBC One's announcement that they will debut the David Tennant special, the first of three final Doctor Who installments featuring the Tenth Doctor, on Sunday, November 15th at 7 pm GMT, a full month ahead of the US transmission.

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, written by Russell T. Davies and Phil Ford, will star David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Rome's Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide. The plot finds the Doctor arriving on Mars at the Bowie Base One where not everything is as it seems as the base falls under attack from a deadly water-based threat. ("Mars, 2059. Bowie Base one. Last recorded message: don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop.")

US airdates for the final two David Tennant Doctor Who specials will be made public in early December. As fans of the British sci-fi series are aware, Tennant will depart Doctor Who at the end of the year before Season Five returns in 2010 with the Eleventh Doctor, to be played by Matt Smith.

The full press release from BBC America, announcing the scheduling, can be found below.

THE DOCTOR WHO SPECIALS ARE LANDING ON BBC AMERICA

"Mars, 2059. Bowie Base one. Last recorded message: don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."

New York, NY – October 30, 2009 - The BBC today announced the imminent arrival of the final Doctor Who episodes starring David Tennant as the Doctor. Television’s longest running science fiction series, shot in HD, has just three episodes to go before a new Doctor arrives on screen next year.

The next special, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars airs on BBC AMERICA, Saturday December 19, 9:00pm ET/PT. It stars Tennant and British stage and screen actress Lindsay Duncan (Rome, Langford) as Adelaide, his cleverest and most strong-minded companion.

All will be revealed as the Doctor and his companion Adelaide face terror on the Red Planet in one of the scariest adventures yet. Peter O’Brien (Casualty, Neighbours) guest stars as Ed, Adelaide’s second-in-command at the base.

The Waters of Mars is written by Russell T Davies (Torchwood, Queer as Folk) and Phil Ford and directed by Graeme Harper. The executive producers are Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner (Torchwood, Life on Mars).

The remaining episodes, starring Tennant, will air over the holiday season as a two-part special. Airdates will be released in early December. Tennant shot a total of four specials before exiting the role - Planet of the Dead was the first one to air, last July, on BBC AMERICA.

The BBC will release The Waters of Mars and the two-part finale on DVD and Blu-ray, Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead is already available on DVD and Blu-ray. Releasing on February 2 are:
· Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars – DVD SRP: $14.98/BD SRP: $19.89
· Two-part special (2-disc release) – DVD SRP: $24.98 / BD SRP: $29.99
· Doctor Who: Specials Collection (5-disc release) – DVD SRP: $49.98 / BD SRP: $59.99 - contains The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, Waters of Mars and the two-part finale

The iconic sci-fi series originally aired on the BBC from ‘63 – ‘89 and ran on over 400 PBS stations in the ‘80s. This slick re-imagination of Doctor Who, created by Russell T Davies puts a fresh spin on the adventures of the iconic Time Lord and his feisty companions - who travel across the universe to protect Earth from dangerous aliens and terrifying monsters.

Doctor Who has received 67 awards in total - two BAFTAs, including Best Drama Series in ‘06, three Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form in ‘06, ’07 and ’08 as well as the Saturn Award for Best International Series in ‘08. Doctor Who has two hit spin-off series - Torchwood, which gets its name from an anagram of Doctor Who, and one for children, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

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I've never been much of a Halloween guy. Some people love to dress up and head out to parties but I've always taken the view that Halloween is one of those holidays that you either believe in with all of your being or you can't quite wrap your head around.

Last night, NBC's two-hour Thursday night comedy block all offered Halloween-themed diversions but happily each did so in their own inimitable way with Community focusing on a Mexican Day of the Dead after-school party, Parks and Recreation splitting its focus between Leslie stalking a notorious Halloween teen vandal and Ann throwing a costume party, The Office keeping it all confined to the cold open, and 30 Rock offering a celebration of "gay Halloween."

I have to say that I thought that Community and Parks and Recreation were by far the funniest two entries in last night's comedy block, comprising a strong one-two punch of humor that seems to be gathering more confidence week to week.

Last night's episode of Community ("Introduction to Statistics") might just be my favorite episode yet and featured fantastic turns by Yvette Nicole Brown and Danny Pudi, some fantastic Senor Chang moments, and some genuine emotion as Britta tried to get Jeff to attend Annie's Day of the Dead party rather than score with his statistics professor and slowly realized that Shirley's anger toward Jeff really stemmed from her own issues at home. (Brown is hands-down one of my favorite elements of the series and last night gave her the chance to bring some genuine emotion along with the humor.)

Meanwhile, Pudi perfectly nailed Christian Bale's gravely voice as Batman, turning in a stunning performance as the Dark Knight, even managing to save the lives of Jeff and a drug-addled Pierce from a collapsing fort of desks and chairs. (You really had to see it.) The cast of Community seems to get more self-assured with each episode and is gelling magnificently now, offering some deeply absurd comedy with an extra dose of heart on a weekly basis.

Likewise, Parks and Recreation continued the trend, turning out yet another incredible installment ("Greg Pikitis") that pitted Leslie against the titular teen, a juvenile criminal mastermind who would give Ferris Bueller a run for his money. Over the course of the episode, we saw Leslie stalk Greg with her policeman boyfriend (Louis C.K., who I hope sticks around for a while), attempt to waterboard him after discovering he had vandalized the Parks Department offices, and then got caught by her own boyfriend after toilet-papering Greg's house with Andy.

I'm confused by some viewers' dislike for Andy; to me, he's so absurdly goofy and dumb that it works perfectly in the off-kilter world of Parks and Recreation. I love having him around and am secretly hoping the writing staff can figure out a way to keep Andy on the Parks Department payroll after his short stint guarding over the Pawnee founder's statue.

Elsewhere, Ann realized that Tom isn't as bad as she thought he was after he saved her party from going off the deep end and we got to see a rare moment of vulnerability from Tom himself when it began to hit home that his green card marriage would soon be coming to an end. It's small moments like those that make Parks and Recreation such a fantastic place to visit week after week and this season has taken tremendous strides to deepening both the characters and the world they inhabit.

I was less pleased with The Office ("Koi Pond"), which jettisoned a Halloween plot early on in the episode (it was restricted to the cold open) and instead offered up a lukewarm plot about Michael falling into an ornamental koi pond during a business meeting, which seemed pretty much like stale Halloween candy. I know the writers are trying to create a new dynamic between Michael and co-branch manager Jim but the plots have gotten so ludicrous and the humor become so slight that it's actually painful for me to watch The Office on a regular basis these days. It hasn't been must-see television for several seasons now (save for when Amy Ryan joined the cast briefly) and it's likely going to get dropped off of my TiVo Season Pass very soon.

As for 30 Rock ("Stone Mountain"), not my favorite episode. Some genuinely hysterical moments (Tracy saying that he will have "a bowl of cherries and some ghost meat" in honor of a dead celebrity) and a semi-funny plot about Frank, Twofer, and Lutz attempting to befriend Jenna in order to party with some hot women at a "gay Halloween" party. The Jeff Dunham bits were painful to watch, even if it appeared that the humor was actually pointed at Dunham himself at times. I liked the idea of Liz and Jack hitting the road to find a new star for TGS but the Stone Mountain-set bits didn't quite work for me as well as I wish they had. But it's an uncharacteristically off episode for 30 Rock and I have no doubts that it will return to form next week.

What did you think of last night's Halloween comedy lineup? Which series had the strongest episode? Are you as hooked on Community and Parks and Recreation as I am? Bored by The Office? Discuss.

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Just a quick reminder to be sure to take a break from your Halloween festivities to tune in to two of the weekend's best television offerings.

Tonight, be sure to catch USA's crime procedural White Collar, which airs its second episode at 10 pm ET/PT. Neal and Peter infiltrate New York's Fashion Week to stop a criminal from selling security data that is stored on a piece of technology woven into the fabric of a runway dress. Given that White Collar is already one of the most gorgeously stylish series on television, the addition of a sartorial-themed plot can only be the icing on top.

While not forgetting of course about HBO's comedy duo of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bored to Death and CBS' The Amazing Race, be sure to tune into Part One of PBS' extraordinary mystery mini-series Place of Execution on Masterpiece Contemporary on Sunday evening. (Check your local listings for details.)

You can read my advance review of the two-part mystery, which I called "gripping and provocative." The truly haunting (and at times harrowing) mini-series stars Juliet Stevenson, Lee Ingleby, and Greg Wise in a dual-stranded mystery taking place in 1963 and the present-day. It's not to be missed.

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Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

ABC has released the first promo for Season Six of Lost, the series' final season. But, be warned, the fifteen-second clip doesn't contain any new footage, which many believe is proof positive that the network will be going out of their way to avoid revealing just what happened after Juliet detonated the hydrogen bomb at the end of last season. There's still no premiere date for Season Six of Lost, but it's expected to debut roughly around the end of January.

(Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

BBC One has announced today that it will air the latest David Tennant Doctor Who special, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, on Sunday, November 15th at 7 pm GMT. No word yet on when BBC America will schedule the special, which will feature Tennant in one of his last appearances before his final two-part story at the end of the year. As soon as BBC America announces their scheduling plans, I'll let you know.

Novelist Bret Easton Ellis will adapt Jason Starr's novel "The Follower," about a group of twenty-something Manhattanites seen through the eyes of a stalker, for HBO. Project, from Lionsgate Television, will be executive produced by Jason Blum, Doug Davison, Roy Lee, and Geyer Kosinski. (Variety)

Sasha Alexander (NCIS) has been cast opposite Angie Harmon in TNT's drama pilot Rizzoli, where she will play medical examiner Maura Isles, who teams up with Harmon's police detective Rizzoli to solve crimes in the Boston area. Also cast: Bruce McGill (Law Abiding Citizen), Jordan Bridges (Bionic Woman), and Lee Thompson Young (FlashForward). (Hollywood Reporter)

With Rescue Me set to wrap its run in 2011, Denis Leary and Jim Serpico's Sony Pictures Television-based shingle Apostle Films is busy adding to its development slate, including an untitled CBS dramedy with Peter Ocko which will star Michael Rapaport as a social worker who helps people with their problems but can't solve his own; multi-camera FOX comedy Extended Family, with John Beck and Ron Hart, about a family that takes in foster kids; an untitled FX drama about evangelists with writer David Folwell (Medium); USA procedural drama Partners in Crime, about divorced spouses who are private eyes; USA drama Scales of Justice, about an overweight former cop who teams up with his support group to fight crime; and an adaptation of "The Rebel League," about a hockey league, for Spike. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has the scoop on last night's shocking twist on the CW's Vampire Diaries. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Feature writer Josh Heald has set up two comedy projects at NBC and FOX. His NBC multi-camera comedy script, Sausagefest, will revolve around two twenty-something best friends who each have clingy fathers. Norm Macdonald is attached to play one of the dads, a three-time divorcee and misogynist. Project, from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun, will be executive produced by Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Heald's FOX project, multi-camera comedy Sequestered, will focus on twelve jurors forced to live together when they are sequestered for a lengthy trial. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Chernin Entertainment, will be executive produced by Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has ordered a sixth season of Seth MacFarlane's animated comedy American Dad, with 22 episodes expected to air during the 2010-11 season. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that 90210's token lesbian Gia (Rumer Willis) will embark on a romance with a major and heretofore straight female character later this season. "This isn’t a fling," 90210 executive producer Rebecca Sinclair told Ausiello. "We’re coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, 'Let’s do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.' This is a real aspect of teenager life that’s interesting... And there’s been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters." The character in question? Jessica Lowndes' Adrianna. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedy Central has ordered six half-hour episodes of an untitled sketch comedy series to star Nick Swardson (Reno 911!) that will mix man-on-the-street interviews, animation, skits, and digital shorts. Series, from Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison Prods., is expected to launch in 2010. (Variety)

Danielle Panabaker (Shark) has been cast as a guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, where she will play a patient at Seattle Grace under the care of Cristina and Jackson in the November 19th episode. The episode will also feature The Wire's Frankie Faison, who will play Bailey's father, Bill. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Disney Channel has ordered 21 episodes of animated high school comedy Fish Hooks, which will mix photo collage with two-dimensional digital animation. Series, which will launch in Fall 2010, "revolves around party guy Milo (voiced by Kyle Massey); his neurotic brother, Oscar (Justin Roiland); and an overly dramatic goldfish, Bea (Chelsea Staub). They attend Freshwater High, a school submerged in a giant fish tank in the center of a local pet store." (Hollywood Reporter)

The New York Times is reporting that Cox Communication's sale of cabler Travel Channel could fetch as much as $1 billion. The company is said to have received bids from such entities as News Corporation and Scripps Networks, with one of the bids said to be north of $900 million. (New York Times)

Discovery has ordered eight episodes of unscripted series Airplane Repo, from executive producer Craig Piligian, about repo man Nick Popovich who specializes in repossessing jets and helicopters from delinquent owners. It's expected to debut during first quarter 2010. Elsewhere, the network renewed Swords for a second season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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Season Three of True Blood might be a long ways off but I was able to get a taste of what we can look forward to in the meantime.

I was lucky enough to be in attendance last night at the Paley Center's event Inside the Writers Room: True Blood, featuring True Blood writer/producers Alan Ball, Raelle Tucker, Alexander Woo, Bryan Buckner, and Nancy Oliver.

Expertly moderated by Entertainment Weekly's divine Alynda Wheat, the panel pulled back the curtain to reveal the creative process behind HBO's vampire drama, with the panelists teasing some information about the series' upcoming third season, which will launch sometime around June of next year and is currently being written. (They've so far broken about half of Season Three.)

Asked what the major theme of Season Three of True Blood is, Ball joked that it was "helmets and racism," and admitted that they just tell HBO that it's about "identity." (Which it is, in actuality, as Ball told me last month.)

Ball quickly addressed the recent news that rapper Snoop Dogg wanted a role on True Blood by saying that he's not a fan of stunt casting. (Sorry, Snoop.) Unless he was looking to cast a specific part wherein the character was a rapper and vampire, he's not calling Snoop Dogg as celebrity stunt casting takes the audience out of the story. So it's not going to happen anytime soon.

Wheat brought up comments made by Ball in the past about the fact that True Blood started to hit its stride in the fifth episode of Season One, where Bill speaks about his experiences during the Civil War and Sookie returns home to discover that Gran has been murdered. "It was Episode Five for both Six Feet Under and True Blood where it just hit its stride," said Ball, who added that those were the "moments where I said 'I get this. I know what this show is now.'"

Nancy Oliver said that she feels very lucky to be on HBO. It would be impossible to do this series justice if it weren't on premium cable, said Ball, who said that they are writing a series for adults. He once again said that "vampires are sex." And that the sex is meant to be adult and real and "be about something." That said, he admitted to being in the writers room and saying, "Come on, can we get his shirt off? It's Louisiana! It's really hot!" (Apparently, his cast isn't shy about nudity as Raelle Tucker said that the frequently nude Ryan Kwanten complained about having his clothes on for five episodes in a row.)

But True Blood is also able to deftly inject some much needed humor into the darkness and sexuality on the series. The humor in the series is not because the writers want to plug in a joke into a particular scene but rather, because the actors play everything so straight, the humor is often extremely unexpected. "Just let it be funny and let the actors play right through it," said Brian Buckner, a veteran of several sitcom writers rooms.

Likewise, there shouldn't be too much reading into the bigger metaphors on the series, such as the notion that the vampires are substitutes for the gay and lesbian community in our world. Those metaphors are just "fun window dressing," said Ball, but they are not the heart of the show.

Ball said that in hiring his writing team, he didn't read spec scripts for other series as he wanted to read something that was in that particular writer's voice, whether it be a script, a short story, a screenplay, rather than see if they could imitate someone else's voice. All of the writers praised Ball for allowing them to take risks with their individual scripts and give them much more freedom than they would on a typical one-hour drama, enabling them to follow their episode through prep and post-production as the on-set producer. Ball said he feels this is a natural evolution of their role as they know these individual episodes better than anyone, as they wrote them. Alexander Woo said it's a privilege that isn't normally accorded them on other series.

Several of the writers spoke about the fluidity of television as a medium, allowing the writers to course-correct based upon where the story needs to go. Because Nelsan Ellis' Lafayette was such a huge hit with the audience and the writing staff, they opted to diverge from Charlaine Harris' novels and keep the flamboyant short order cook alive. Likewise, Season Two indicated that the story needed to follow Eric and Jessica and Hoyt and the writers were able to push the plot in those directions because serialized television is a living, breathing medium that can change and go where the story dictates in a way that perhaps only comic books (by dint of their own ongoing, serialized nature) can.

Ball said he regretted killing Gran during Season One but said it was necessary and the right decision to make for the story as it was such a huge part of Harris' novels and would propel Sookie into adulthood. (He shrugged when asked about killing off Eggs.)

Asked which characters they most like writing for, Ball said he really enjoys writing for Jason and Lafayette. Tucker said she loves writing for Jessica and Hoyt. Buckner, to several hearty cheers in the crowd, said Eric. (Quelle surprise.)

Among the tidbits of information that Ball and Company revealed for upcoming storylines on True Blood:

• Expect some major Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) nudity in the first episode of Season Three. ("I think he appears without most of his clothes in the very first episode," said Ball.)
• It's extremely likely that Allan Hyde's Godric will make a return appearance. Given the fact that he torched himself in the rays of the rising sun, he won't cross paths with Sookie but there's a good chance he'll appear in Eric's flashbacks, given their thousand-year history.
• Pam (Kristin Bauer) will "have her hands full in Season Three." Which is good news for those of us (like myself!) who are in love with Bauer's snarky Pam.
• We'll definitely be seeing more of American Vampire League spokesperson Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) next season.
• SPOILER! (For those of us who haven't read the books, anyway) Ball is sticking to the Eric-getting-amnesia plot, but don't look for it to surface until Season Four.
• Stephen Moyer will not be marginalized though Bill and Sookie will have some major problems, possibly longer than Team Bill would like.
• No ifs about it: Ball confirmed that Maryann (Michelle Forbes) is DEAD.
• Ball is not shutting the door on the Newlins, who could turn up again at any point during the series' run. (Ball told me as much in my one-on-one interview with him a while back.)
• Evan Rachel Wood's Queen Sophie-Anne will be back.
• Don't expect a wedding this season on True Blood, though someone will want a wedding.

Season Three of True Blood is slated to air next summer on HBO.

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First off, I am not a vegetarian. I've flirted with vegetarianism at certain points in my life (perhaps, most notably, a reaction to dining hall food at university), but I've been a blissfully happy carnivore for the majority of my life and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

That said, vegetarians often get a raw deal in restaurants and sometimes have to deal with chefs that don't understand how to satiate someone's hunger without the inclusion of meat. But vegetarian cuisine can be just as nourishing, comforting, and filling as carnivorous dishes; it's just a matter of replacing protein with protein and making sure that the dish is more than a collection of cooked vegetable side dishes.

Last night's episode of Top Chef ("Meat Natalie") found the cheftestants grappling with the unexpected. After arriving at Tom Colicchio's craftsteak in Las Vegas, they all made a very big assumption and believed that they would be creating steak-based dishes for Tom and his special guest. But Tom's guest was vegetarian actress Natalie Portman and there would be no red meat going out of the kitchen that night.

Top Chef has always been, at its core, about how well the chefs can adapt to whatever is thrown their way, whether that be time elements, a change in plans, or the exclusion of meat altogether when they're cooking in a steakhouse. Some chefs rose to the challenge, producing stunning and inventive dishes, while others this week sank to some new lows.

So how well did they perform? Let's discuss.

This week's Quickfire Challenge had the chefs preparing TV dinners that were meant to be inspired by classic television series, selected by TV Guide editors. After drawing knives to randomly select between seven well-known series from MASH to The Sopranos, the chefs had to deliver a TV dinner-style meal that was not only satisfying and original but also captured the essence of the series.

What did the individual chefs prepare?

• Bryan (MASH): meatloaf roulade, mashed potato, asparagus, and apple tarte tatin
• Eli (Gilligan's Island): macadamia nut-encrusted shrimp with sweet potato puree, herb salad, and dessert of cherries and bananas
• Jennifer (The Flintstones): chicken roulade with garlic cream, pea salad, and carmelized peaches
• Kevin (The Sopranos): meatballs with polenta, roasted cauliflower, and roasted pears
Mike I. (Seinfeld): chicken parmesan with braised swiss chard and cherry pie
• Mike V. (Cheers): sausage and peppers, mushroom and cheese, warm fruit salad
• Robin (Sesame Street): burger with egg, crispy kale, carrot salad, and almond-laced cookie

I had a feeling it would come down to either Bryan or Kevin for this one. Both of their dishes not only perfectly fit the brief but also looked absolutely delectable. I really thought it was Bryan's challenge to lose but the judges went with Kevin, who's been on a really fantastic run of late. It was quite apparent that Bryan's near-wins are getting the better of him; he appeared to be seething when Kevin won the Quickfire. No immunity in play but Kevin did win the opportunity to have his winning dish featured as part of Top Chef's frozen dinner line. (It's a product that, I'll be honest, makes me incredibly sad as it seems to be at odds with the series' message about honest, handmade cuisine.)

As for the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to quickly throw out their conceptualized meat-based dishes to cook solely vegetarian for Natalie Portman and her guests. In a bit of a chance, Portman herself would also be a judge, making it even more imperative that the chefs appealed to her tastes and offered a satisfying and rich meal that didn't involve meat.

Some of the chefs accomplished this better than others. Jennifer's nerves have seriously gotten the better of her and this week she once again skated very dangerously toward elimination, placing in the bottom of the Quickfire and just creatively breaking down during the Elimination Challenge. One major problem among the majority of the dishes is that they didn't quite deliver main courses; several would have worked as beautiful vegetable-based sides but they didn't offer a hunger-sating meal in themselves. And, when you're working with vegetarians, that's a huge issue.

Bryan offered a gorgeous looking artichoke barigoule with confit of shallot, wild asparagus, and fennel puree; it was stunning even without all of the elements he wanted to get onto the plate but it looked like something that might accompany a beautiful steak rather than the main event itself. Same too with Jennifer, who delivered a dish of charred baby eggplant, braised fennel, tomatoes, and verjus nage, which her shaking hands then proceeded to splatter on the guests. I'm really concerned about Jennifer, given her amazing talents; she seems to be all but cracking under the pressure at this point and she can't seem to recover from losses. This was a shockingly underwhelming dish from her and I can only hope that she manages to get it together and regroup... fast.

I'm really not sure what to make of Mike I.'s confusing and bewildering dish of whole roasted leeks with onion jus, baby carrot puree, and fingerling potatoes. He kept referring to the leeks as standing in for the protein so much so that Padma had to make sure that he knew that leeks weren't actually protein. (It was pretty bizarre.) It was such a dish that showed no real vision or execution skills; it was lazy, bland, and just blah. It didn't qualify as a main course or even, really, as a salad, I'd say. Just odd. Likewise, Robin's schizophrenic dish of stuffed squash blossoms, beet carpachio, fresh garbanzo beans, and chermoula was shockingly weird. There was no cohesion to any of the ingredients, no sign of any connective tissue (no pun intended), and no real skill or flair; it was a collection of disparate ingredients thrown onto a plate together and she couldn't articulate what she was going for or how these things related to one another. (How she's still in this competition is beyond me.)

On the top end of the competition, Eli surprised the judges with a beautiful confit of eggplant, lentils, garlic puree, and a radish and herb salad. He understood the brief and offered up a dish that was meaty and rich without containing meat, was stunning to behold, and was comforting and inviting. Kevin's dish, a duo of mushrooms with smoked kale, candied garlic and turnip puree, was smoky, meaty, and richly seductive, enticing the diner with the familiar scents and textures of meat but without any of the actual stuff. Michael once again dazzled the judges with a playful and inventive dish of asparagus salad, Japanese tomato sashimi, and banana polenta, offering an amusing and inspiring take on meat-free dining that had Portman in giggles at one point.

But it was Kevin who once again took home the top honors for his soulful and warm dish, much to the chagrin of Michael Voltaggio, who took the opportunity to knock Kevin's dish as something he would have done "in the second year of culinary school." That might be but it was still a better dish than yours, Michael. No need for sour grapes. Kevin has proven once again that he's an extremely strong contender, despite the fact that the Voltaggio Brothers seem to underestimate him time and time again. Here's to hoping that he makes it all the way to the final round.

On the other end, Jennifer, Mike I., and Robin found themselves before the judges' table. I really thought that this would be the week that Robin would be going home and, AGAIN, I was sweating bullets that Jen would be told to pack her knives. But the judges managed to surprise me by keeping Robin around for another week (WHY!?!) and sending home the supremely arrogant Mike, who failed to see why his dish failed to impress and couldn't quite wrap his head around why he was in the bottom (the "whatever, whatever" of this title). I wasn't all that impressed with Mike throughout this season but I do think he's a better chef than Robin. Let's just hope she's the next to go...

In two weeks on Top Chef ("Strip Around the World"), the day begins with a Quickfire Challenge that tasks the chefs to create the perfect breakfast in bed; Nigella Lawson stops by as this week's guest judge.

And here's a look at the Top Chef reunion cookoff coming up next week...

Top Chef Preview: An Angry Dinner:



Top Chef Preview: Marcel vs. Everyone:

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FOX has unveiled their first official promo for Day Eight of 24, which launches in January.

The 45-second promo clip for Day Eight, which can be viewed below, doesn't focus on the new characters played by Katee Sackhoff and Freddie Prinze Jr. next season, instead placing the emphasis squarely on Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer and Elisha Cuthbert's Kim (sans cougar, natch).

Will Jack ever get a chance to settle into the quiet comfort of grandparenthood and time with his family? Not this day, anyway, as Jack is once again called upon to save the nation.

Are you excited about Day Eight? Curious about the new characters? And wondering whether Jack will make it through the season alive? Discuss.

Day Eight of 24 is scheduled to launch on Monday, January 17th on FOX.

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Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Good news for Chuck fans: NBC has opted to order six additional episodes of Chuck, bringing the episodic total for Season Three to 19 installments. (Huzzah!) While NBC has yet to announce an official launch date for Chuck's third season, the order of the additional episodes points to a potential January launch for the Warner Bros. Television-produced series, as does NBC's decision to cancel low-rated medical drama Trauma, which failed to garner a back nine pickup. Given the Peacock's cancellation of both Trauma and Southland, it now seems more likely that Chuck will return to the schedule before March. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe, Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin gets Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof to answer a few choice questions about Season Six of Lost while at a signing for the hardcover collection of Lindelof's Wolverine Vs. Hulk. Asked about whether fan questions have helped the writers frame a storyline, Lindelof said, "The fact of the matter is no question is ever asked of us that we're not asking ourselves. So by the time someone asks me if Libby's ever coming back to the show for the 14th time, I'm like, 'Trust me. I wish we could figure out a way to make that work.' Like, I wish I could talk to the actress and get down on my hands and knees and beg her to come back, but the reality is, you know, there are certain questions that every time you're asked it's a pain for you because you're basically like, 'I know man. You're absolutely right.'" (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Syfy has given a thirteen-episode order to an American remake of British supernatural dramedy series Being Human. Project, from RDF USA, will focus on the lives of three twenty-somethings--a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost--who live together. No writer is attached to the remake and the hunt is on for a scribe to adapt the British series for an American audience. "We've always been keen on vampires and werewolves, and we loved the originality of Being Human, the fact that the fantastical creatures in it are very young, accessible and charming," said Syfy president Dave Howe, who added that the US version won't "slavishly replicate the British version." Meanwhile, the British version of Being Human is slated to launch its eight-episode second season on BBC One next year. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has announced return dates for comedies Better Off Ted and Scrubs. The latter will return to the lineup on Tuesday, December 1st, when it will relaunch itself with a largely new cast. Scrubs will launch initially with back-to-back episodes on December 1st but will then move to its regular timeslot of 9 pm ET/PT the following week, when it will be joined by Better Off Ted at 9:30 pm ET/PT. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Desperate Housewives creator Mark Cherry has signed a two-year deal extension with ABC Studios that could keep the soap on the air through the 2012-2013 season. Under the terms of the deal, Cherry will remain on board Desperate Housewives as executive producer, though it should be noted that the main cast has only signed on through the series' seventh season, slated for the 2010-2011 season. Bob Daily has also signed a two-year extension with the studio, keeping him on board through those potential eighth and ninth seasons. Cherry, meanwhile, is currently developing new projects for the studio, including a multi-camera comedy about two brothers--one gay, the other straight--neither of whom knows anything about women despite the fact that they share a gynecology practice. Jeffrey Bowen and Hunter Bell will pen the script. There's also the drama that Cherry is writing with Alexandra Cunningham. (Variety)

Oliver Platt (Bored to Death) has been cast opposite Laura Linney in Showtime's dark comedy pilot The C Word; he'll play Paul, the husband to Linney's Cathy, a woman who is forced to come to terms with her cancer diagnosis. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has given a script order to an untitled drama about a crime-solving magician whose career is in shambles after he develops stage fright and agoraphobia but who finds a new purpose when a "an elite law enforcement agency recruits him to take an unusual approach to cracking tough cases." Project, from Universal Media Studios, is written by Dan Fesman, who will executive produce with David Percelay and Jon Amiel, who is attached to direct should the project go to pilot. (Variety)

BBC One has ordered six one-hour installments of The Accused, said to be the "spiritual successor" to Jimmy McGovern's The Street. Project, from McGovern's RSJ Productions, will follow a different lead character each week who has been accused of a crime and will focus on the unraveling of their lives as their individual trials get under way and a verdict on guilt or innocence creeps in. (Broadcast)

VH1 has given a series order to Dad Camp, which gives first-time fathers a crash course in parenting responsibilities. Project, from 3 Ball Prods., will be executive produced by J.D. Roth, Jeff Olde, Adam Greener, Todd Nelson, Matt Assmus, Jill Holmes, Sean Boyle, and Csherian Coleman. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

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Cameras are funny things. They're meant to capture the reality of a moment but there's something inherently artificial about them being there in the first place. Reality television isn't exactly reality as it exists; it's an edited-together version of actual events, threaded together into a cohesive narrative for television. It gives us an image of reality but not the whole picture.

The reason I'm bringing this up is that I'm still in shock about last night's dramatic and intensely stressful Flipping Out: Season Three Reunion on Bravo.

While the reunion special brought up a number of intriguing (and in some cases hilarious) plot strands from the third season of Flipping Out including "rollover Number Two minutes," Roomba (dubbed a "big bitch" by Zoila), the poisoned bacon, and the status of Valley Oak, the main set piece in the episode was a confrontation between Jeff Lewis and his former business partner Ryan Brown.

It was, shall we say, heated. The former best friends--who hadn't spoken in the four months since Jeff walked out of Chloe's birthday party in the season finale--attacked, defended, and deflected and ultimately reached another stalemate, unable to convince the other of their perspective.

It's impossible to say who is telling the truth but it's clear that there are some mightily bruised feelings on both sides. And it's also clear that Jeff believes with all of his heart that Ryan deliberately misled people and siphoned business away from him via some rather shady dealings including a "smokescreen" website, sponsored links on Google, and other misleading practices. Ryan, for his part, vehemently denies any wrongdoing, saying that he can't apologize for anything as he hasn't done anything.

Which brings me back to my original point about the cameras. To say that watching the duo air their dirty laundry on camera was uncomfortable is a massive understatement of the highest order. Would it have been better for Jeff and Ryan to attempt to talk without the prying eyes of the cameras (and host Andy Cohen)? Perhaps. But it was also the cameras themselves that led to the breakdown in their relationship and to their coming together one final time.

Putting aside the accusations that Jeff has very publicly made against Ryan for a second, things were incredibly mismanaged in the way that Jeff went about confronting his former business partner. For one, he should have never made those accusations on national television without speaking to Ryan and attempting to find out the truth first. It does, as Ryan was indicating on the reunion special, create a dangerous situation as Ryan's very reputation is being damaged in front of an audience of millions. Likewise, Jeff opted to engage both his father and "long-suffering assistant" Jenni in conversations about his suspicions... on camera.

Furthermore, the confrontation on last night's reunion took a turn for the nasty, with both sides making accusations and bringing up information that the audience shouldn't really be privy to, such as Ryan's monthly mortgage or the fact that Dale isn't working (though we did know that: he's in culinary school). Ryan, in turn, attempted to paint a portrait of Jeff as an unstable, paranoid, and delusional individual who thrives on tearing down his friends for amusement and stated that clients should know who "the real Jeff Lewis" is.

The truth of the matter is that we don't know what actually happened between the two, just as we still don't know a season later what actually happened between Jenni and her ex-husband Chris Elwood. We see one side of the equation on reality series and we, as an audience, only see part of the truth. Do some of Ryan's choices seem unethical? Based on Jeff's perspective, yes. The matter of the Google sponsored links still hasn't been dealt with head-on and Ryan didn't deny that he paid for sponsored links to Jeff's name. So will we ever know what really went down? Probably not. Given Jeff's televised accusations, Ryan would be crazy to do anything other than defend himself and vigorously deny any wrongdoing. After all, his professional and personal reputation depend upon it.

What we do know at the end of the day is that these two did, and possibly still do, care for one another. The pain and anguish that both people feel is palpable. Ryan moved on from Jeff a long time ago; he has a husband and a baby now and naturally their relationship would change. He says that he's stuck by Jeff and supported him. Jeff says that he misses the old Ryan, "ugly haircut" and all. But it's not enough to mend the massive rift between them and I don't know that anything can at this point.

As stressful as the confrontation was, it was the sight of Jenni struggling to hold back tears that brought home the message for me. Regardless of what might or might not have happened, things have changed, perhaps irrevocably, in the various relationships depicted on Flipping Out. And that, cameras and all, is painfully real.

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With less than a week to go until the series premiere of ABC's reimagination of cult classic sci-fi series V, the network has released a longer version of its "We Will Be Victorious" promo, which is set to the song "Uprising" by Muse.

While a 45-second promo featuring the song was released about a month back (and can be viewed below), Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive look at a longer "Victorious" promo that clocks in at just under two minutes. (It can be viewed here.)

Meanwhile, ABC has scrapped plans for a viral publicity campaign that would have seen giant, crimson-hued Vs appear over 26 major American landmarks to promote the November 3rd launch of V, according to Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed.

An ABC spokesperson tells THR's James Hibberd that they have decided to spend the funds in other ways, following a Washington Post column in which Lisa de Moraes calculated the amount of pollution that would have been created from the skywriting campaign, noting that ABC parent company Disney had made a pledge to cut its carbon emissions in half within the next two years.

But, as Hibberd is quick to point out, "Giant red 'V's in the sky might have also freaked a few people out."

V launches Tuesday, November 3rd at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC.

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Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Good news for Dollhouse fans. After double-booking Dollhouse episodes on Friday nights in December, FOX has indicated that it will continue to air the remainder of the second season of Dollhouse, with the series returning to its regular timeslot of Friday evenings at 9 pm ET/PT beginning January 8th. Meanwhile, 'Til Death will move to Sundays at 7 pm beginning January 10th while Brothers will wrap its run on December 27th. (Futon Critic)

NBC has announced that it will keep underperforming medical drama Trauma in the Monday night timeslot for the next three weeks. No decision has yet been made about the ultimate fate of the medical series, which failed to garner a back nine pickup along with fellow freshman series Community and Mercy. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Lisa Kudrow will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's Cougar Town, which will reunite her with her former Friends co-star Courteney Cox. Kudrow is slated to appear in an upcoming episode as a mean-spirited dermatologist. TV Guide Magazine broke the story and Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has confirmed the casting, saying that Kudrow's episode will air sometime in early 2010. (TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse has teased the identity of an upcoming guest star on the sixth and final season of ABC's Lost. Via Twitter, Cuse sent the clue-laden message, "Damon and I are die hard fans of this impeckable actor who keeps the barr high and just signed to guest star on the show. Life is good!" After sending fans guessing for roughly two hours, Cuse confirmed the theories of many readers that veteran character actor William Atherton (Life) would be guest starring on Lost. (Twitter)

In other Lost-related news, Jeff Fahey has been upgraded to a series regular for Season Six of Lost. USA Today's Whitney Matheson has a fantastic interview with executive producer Damon Lindelof about the final season of Lost, where he reveals Fahey has been promoted. "Lapidus is definitely a series regular this season," said Lindelof. "Jeff Fahey was just a recurring character up through last year. Now, whether or not Lapidus makes it until the end of the season is anyone's guess, but he's definitely one of the A-team this year." This and much more in the interview. (USA Today)

NBC is developing an untitled legal drama about "a vigilante lawyer who uses any means necessary to defend his clients against a corrupt district attorney and city establishment," that will star Idris Elba (The Wire). Project, from writers Sean O'Keefe and Will Staples, will be executive produced by David Eick (Battlestar Galactica). Elba appeared in a seven-episode story arc on NBC's The Office; deal could potentially keep him on the network, should the project go to series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former Women's Murder Club star Paula Newsome has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's FlashForward this season, where she will play a doctor. Her first appearance on the series is set for early 2010. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Gabourney Sidibe (Precious) is said to be in talks to appear in Showtime comedy pilot The C Word opposite Laura Linney. If a deal closes, Sidibe would guest star in the pilot as a "teen whom Linney's character tries to help lose both weight and the bad attitude." (Variety)

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin has some spoilers for Season Three of HBO's True Blood. I won't be reading it (I prefer to be surprised) but if you're of the spoiler-loving persuasion, you can check out what tidbits she's pulled together. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Lakers star Pau Gasol will guest star in the November 16th episode of CBS' CSI: Miami, where he will play a person of interest in an investigation involving a car accident. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comedy Central has acquired 13 episodes of ABC's short-lived animated comedy The Goode Family beginning in January. The cabler is also said to be in talks to pick up FOX animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up. (Variety)

Disney Channel has given a pilot order to musical comedy Dance Dance Chicago, which will follow two teens working as back-up dancers on an American Bandstand-esque series. Project, from writer/executive producer Chris Thompson, is slated to begin production in January. (Hollywood Reporter)

Reveille has formed a joint venture with former Ish Entertainment co-founder Stella Stolper. Company, dubbed Wikked Entertainment, will focus on reality projects that are talent-driven, with the venture run by Stolper. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

TruTV has ordered eight episodes of an untitled reality series set inside the Vegas county jail from executive producers John Langley and Morgan Langley's Langley Prods. Project, which is currently known under its working title of Las Vegas Lockdown, is slated to launch in January. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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With the fall season now officially a few weeks old, I thought it was time to check the pulse of the television landscape a bit.

I'm extremely curious to know what new and returning series everyone is watching. Have you fallen for ABC's Modern Family? In love with NBC's Community? Dying to see ABC's V? Surprised by how much you're enjoying CBS' The Good Wife? Laughing your head off over NBC's reinvigorated Parks and Recreation? Singing your heart out to FOX's Glee? I want to know.

Conversely, which new or returning television series have you given up on? Have you moved out of Melrose Place? Been traumatized by NBC's Trauma? Frustrated by FlashForward? Already forgotten about The Forgotten?

I'd be interested to know either way which series are at the top of your must-view list and which ones have been deleted from your season pass. And, most importantly, why.

Talk back here.

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Every now and then a mini-series comes along that just sucks you in by the sheer force of its spellbinding story.

Such is the case with the sensational British mini-series Place of Execution, airing Stateside in a two-episode format that begins this Sunday as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary. From its haunting opening minutes to the truly and horrifically shocking final scenes, Place of Execution is a thriller which will remain with you long after the closing credits have rolled.

Anchored by three incredible performances, Place of Execution--written by Patrick Harbison and Val McDermid (and based on the latter's novel) and directed by Daniel Percival--takes place both in the present-day as well as in 1963 rural England as two very different investigators explore the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl who vanished without a trace one winter afternoon in 1963. Told in two overlapping and interlocking plots, the story telescopes outwards from that fateful day to ensnare the lives of several people obsessed with the case.

Place of Execution is a gripping and provocative glimpse into the choices we make in our lives, the events that shape us, and the hold that obsession has over us. It's also a terrifying look into the heart of darkness lurking behind the hedgerows of a seemingly idyllic English village. Just what happened that afternoon to young Alison Carter is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder.

In 1963, the inexplicable disappearance of wealthy teenager Alison Carter triggers a manhunt in the sleepy farming village where she lives. As the snow begins to fall and clues begin to mount, university-educated Detective Inspector George Bennett (Lee Ingleby), an outsider in a village of farmers, becomes hell-bent on finding Alison before she is killed and locating the perpetrator of this heinous crime when it quickly becomes clear that Alison may have been the victim of something far worse than just kidnapping. As Bennett doggedly questions Alison's parents, the well-heeled Ruth (Emma Cunniffe) and Philip Hawkin (Greg Wise), class distinctions, prejudices, and misdirection soon become shockingly clear.

Bennett's quest to find Alison's attacker plants a seed of obsession inside him and the Alison Carter case propels him to great heights over the course of his career. In the present day, a much-older George Bennett (Philip Jackson) is a participant in a documentary film about the Alison Carter case that is being directed by filmmaker Catherine Heathcote (Juliet Stevenson), a gifted documentarian whose skill with the camera and her subjects is sadly greater than her maternal instincts. We first see Catherine as she's forced to post bail for her fifteen-year-old daughter Sasha (Elizabeth Day), accused of vandalizing some local businesses.

And that's where the story begins. Old George Bennett is able to pull some strings with the local constabulary to get Sasha released but the cooperative former copper stuns Catherine by saying that he's pulling out of the film and refuses to discuss the Alison Carter case any further, saying that mistakes were made in the investigation. It's Bennett's silence that spurs Catherine to action as she begins to pour over the evidence once again in order to find out what has provoked Bennett's sudden reluctance.

Catherine's investigation in the present-day dovetails quite nicely with that of DI Bennett's in 1963 as the duo conduct their own explorations of the townspeople and Alison Carter's disappearance. As each of them does so, the audience is invited along for the ride but certain clues take on new meaning in the harsh light of present-day scrutiny, leading Catherine and the audience to believe that not everything about the Alison Carter investigation was as it seemed.

I'm loath to say more about Place of Execution's plot because it is a corker of a story, a first-rate thriller that will have you guessing from start to finish.

As mentioned before, the piece is brought to life by three compelling performances from leads Juliet Stevenson, Lee Ingleby, and Greg Wise, the latter of whom turns out an eerie performance as Alison's icy and domineering stepfather at the manor house, a social pariah who views himself as above the muck and rabble of the village. Ingleby is absolutely perfectly cast as the grimly determined George Bennett, who has himself, perhaps in an homage to Otto Preminger's noir masterpiece Laura, fallen in love with the missing Alison Carter.

Juliet Stevenson, meanwhile, anchors the entire piece with her all-consuming need for the Truth, at any cost. Her performance is stunningly nuanced as she allows Catherine to be both truth-seeker and muckraker at the same time; a mass of flaws and inconsistencies who is searching for a girl long-missing but can't see her own daughter crying out for help in front of her.

Ultimately, Place of Execution is gorgeously directed, written, and acted and is perhaps one of the finest thrillers on the large or small screen, forcing the audience to come to terms with our own preconceptions, notions, and investigative instincts. You'd be wise to fall under its dangerous spells now before the inevitable American big-screen adaptation.

Place of Execution airs Sunday, November 1st and Sunday, November 8th as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary. Check your local listings for details.

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Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Bones' 100th episode will in fact be a flashback episode to reveal the first time that Emily Deschanel's Temperance Brennan and David Boreanaz's Seeley Booth worked together. "We’ll be there for the first time those two personalities clashed, Bones executive producer Stephen Nathan told Ausiello. "Events will conspire to make them come out of the case hating each other and vowing that they will never work together again... We’ll also see the introduction of Angela and the genesis of her friendship with Brennan." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Maggie Grace is confirmed to be returning for Lost's sixth and final season, according to TV Guide Magazine. She'll return to Oahu next month to reprise her role as Shannon Rutherford, who was last seen on the series in 2005. "Producers had invited Maggie back earlier, but the busy actress had to wait for shooting to conclude on a string of three film projects, including the role she just wrapped as Cameron Diaz’s kid sister in Knight & Day, also starring Tom Cruise," writes TV Guide's Will Keck. "I’m hearing Shannon may be cut into an episode shot earlier this fall with brother Boone, played by Ian Somerhalder." (TV Guide)

Ricky Gervais will host the 67th Annual Golden Globes award telecast, slated to air January 17th on NBC. The attachment of Gervais marks the first time since 1995 that the awards show has utilized a host. The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin talks to Gervais about his upcoming stint. "I don't know! Maybe I'm cheap?" said Gervais when asked why he was asked to host the Golden Globes. "They're saving on presenters now because they all need goody bags," he said with a giggle. "No, no, someone must have said, 'Is there like a fat shmuck from Britain who doesn't know our ways and would think this is a real honor? Who'd do it for a giant pizza?' My agent overheard them..." (Los Angeles Times)

Microsoft has pulled its sponsorship of Seth MacFarlane's upcoming FOX comedy special Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. The commercial-free special is still slated to air on November 8th, even without Microsoft on board and the network will announce another sponsor closer to broadcast. "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of Family Guy, but after reviewing an early version of the variety show, it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand," said a Microsoft spokeswoman in a statement. "We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent." (Variety)

TNT has given a pilot order to drama Delta Blues, about a Memphis policeman who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and who lives with his mother. Project, from Warner Horizon and Smokehouse Pictures, is written by Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, who executive produce with George Clooney and Grant Heslov. (Hollywood Reporter)

Chazz Palminteri (Bullets Over Broadway) will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC comedy Modern Family, where he will play a friend of Ed O'Neill's Jay. (TVGuide.com)

FOX has given a pilot script order to Ravens Parish, a family adventure story about "a man and his teenage son who return to their rural Mississippi hometown in search of a fabled cavern hidden beneath a nearby swamp that allegedly holds hidden treasure." Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Generate, will be written/executive produced by Dan McDermott (Eagle Eye), who has a first-look deal at the studio. Generate's Peter Aronson and Jordan Levin are also on board to executive produce. Project shouldn't be confused with the network's similarly-themed The Mysteries of Oak Island, also about treasure-hunting family members; FOX is said to be looking for a scripted series with wide appeal to schedule alongside American Idol. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Phil Morris will return to the CW's Smallville to reprise his role as Martian Manhunter in the upcoming "Society" two-part episode written by Geoff Johns, which sees the arrival of such Justice Society members as Doctor Fate, Stargirl, and Hawkman. The two episodes are slated to air in 2010. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Did you miss Nathan Fillion's Halloween shout-out to Firefly's Captain Mal on last night's episode of ABC's Castle? Fret not as you can catch the clip here. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Augusten Burroughs has teamed up with Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Films to develop several television projects based around his work, including a Showtime comedy based on his memoir "Dry" and a drama at CBS entitled The Nature of Fire, about male firefighters who are forced to work with a female arson investigator. Both projects will be written by Borroughs and produced by CBS Television Studios. (Variety)

Sherri Saum (In Treatment) has been cast in a recurring role on the CW's Gossip Girl, where she will play Holland Kemble, "a powerful business executive-turned-Upper East Side trophy wife and could be trouble for Lily (Kelly Rutherford) and Rufus (Matthew Settle)." (Hollywood Reporter)

James Van Der Beek will guest star in an upcoming episode of ABC's crime procedural The Forgotten, where he will play a financier who is questioned by The Forgotten Network. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedy Central has ordered an animated project called Hounds, which will star comedian Ron White as the voice of Chicken, described as "a countrified Yoda with a bottle of Jack and a bag of weed, an opinionated Southern philosopher who considers himself the center of the universe." Chris Thompson will write the pilot script. Elsewhere at the cabler, Joey Kern (The Sasquatch Gang) has replaced Jonathan Sadowski in supernatural comedy pilot Ghosts/Aliens. (Hollywood Reporter)

MGM Domestic Television has acquired syndication rights to Discovery's quiz show Cash Cab and plans to get it on broadcast networks by next fall. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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Those of you looking for some more information about ABC's upcoming reimagining of the 1980s sci-fi mini-series V, should head over to the Los Angeles Times to read my lengthy interview with the series' lead Elizabeth Mitchell, entitled "From The Others to the Visitors: Elizabeth Mitchell talks about battling the otherworldly on her new ABC series 'V'."

In this exclusive interview, I talk to the lovely and articulate Elizabeth Mitchell about her time as Juliet on ABC's Lost, her character FBI Agent Erica Evans on V, Erica's relationship with Joel Gretsch's Father Jack, what's coming up on the sci-fi series, and much more.

If that weren't enough, V-related goodness for you, here's a link to my original advance review of the pilot episode from May, and you'll find a video of the first nine minutes of the V series premiere below.

V premieres Tuesday, November 3rd at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC.

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"And who are you supposed to be?"

Rarely ever has a question been asked that has carried more weight than that one. On this week's stunning episode of Mad Men ("The Gypsy and The Hobo"), written by Marti Noxon & Cathryn Humphris and Matthew Weiner and directed by Jennifer Getzinger, the truth about Don's secret past finally comes tumbling out as he was forced to confess his true identity to Betty.

It was only a matter of time before Matt Weiner decided that Betty ought to know just who she has been married to all of these years. After nearly three seasons, Don has managed to pull the wool over Betty's eyes about his affairs, his indiscretions both romantic and professional, and about his past. But Freud once said that there is no such thing as a mistake. Did Don want to be found out? Is that why, as Betty surmises, he left that key in his bathrobe pocket and kept those photographs, dog tags, and legal documents in their house? Or was it just an oversight?

The scene in which Betty confronted her husband, not about his philandering but about his marriage to Anna Draper and the family photographs hidden inside his desk drawer was one of the most powerful on the series to date as we see a flustered and broken Don Draper for the first time, unable to grasp a cigarette with a shaking hand as it flutters sadly to the floor. It's a glimpse at Don diminished, not only in Betty's eyes but our own, the polished facade of the flannel suited ad man ripped away to reveal a broken man deeply ashamed of the choices he's made in life.

For years, Don has carried the burden of guilt about a fateful choice he made amid the terrors of war. He assumed another man's identity, dressed himself up in the clothes of someone else (how fitting that the episode circled around Halloween and Sally and Bobby's request for costumes), and attempted to navigate a minefield of possible discovery, looking after the widowed Anna Draper, denying any relationship to his mentally unstable brother Adam, lying to Betty about his past and his family. But secrets, even those long buried, have a way of rising to the surface eventually.

Even Betty, instructed by her family lawyer to leave things alone and return to Don rather than divorce him, can't allow things to continue as they have. She deserves the truth, deserves to know who and what she married, though I believe that Don never thought the day would come where he would have to unburden himself to her, to tear away the plastic mask he's been wearing all these years and show his wife his true face. But it's perhaps that moment, of full-blown honesty, that saves their marriage. Betty's tenderness in the scene on their bed, when she places her hand on Don's shoulder, spoke more about love and kindness than any of their bedroom romps. Things might not be perfect between them, but a light has been shown on the truth and revealed a chink in the armor of their marriage. (America itself is about to get a rude awakening; in just a matter of weeks, John F. Kennedy will be assassinated and the nation will be dragged into the harsh light of day.)

Of course, Betty has no idea that while she's confronting her husband, Don's latest inamorata, Suzanne Farrell, is outside in his car, as the two were about to leave for a romantic trip to Mystic, Connecticut. Don is so shaken by Betty's furious confrontation that he forgets about Suzanne completely, perhaps not remembering until the following morning that she must have been outside for hours. That he would have taken to Suzanne to his house shows a complete disregard for any discretion; he's making massive mistakes in this romance. It's almost as though he wants to be caught by his wife, wants to be punished.

Suzanne, of course, wants more of Don than he's willing to give, despite her assurances early on that she knew just what she was getting into when she climbed into bed with him. I'm firmly of the mind now that it was Suzanne who called the Draper residence last week and, in spite of her teary declaration that it was over between them, I don't know that she's going to relinquish Don quite that easily.

But it's not just Don and Betty who have to deal with the harsh glare of the truth in this week's episode. Joan finally sees her husband Greg for what he is: a perennial screw-up who represents the exact opposite of what she dreamed of as a girl. Her act of defiance--smashing him over the head with a flower vase--was a breaking point for Joan, clearly still in denial over the fact that he raped her when they were engaged and that her dreams of marrying a wealthy doctor have resulted in nothing but heartbreak. Greg, as aimless as ever, blows an interview for a psychiatric residency and then, without discussing it with Joan, enlists in the army. He thinks it's the best decision he's made as it will allow him to become a surgeon and he might be sent to Germany or Vietnam, "if that's still going on." I had wondered just how Joan would manage to disentangle herself from Greg and I had an inkling when he wondered what to do next that he would end up in Vietnam eventually...

I was also pleased to see a reunion of sorts between Joan and her former lover Roger Sterling, as she called him for a favor that he was only too happy to comply with (namely to find her a job somewhere). I'm still hopeful that Joan will end up back at Sterling Cooper and I thought it a nice touch that their reconciliation came at a time where Roger himself was confronted by the ghosts of girlfriends past in the form of the woman who broke his heart, Annabelle Mathis (Mary Page Keller), and chose faithfulness to Jane over an affair with Annabelle. Still, if Annabelle wasn't "the one," as he tells her, who was? Is it the youthful Jane, Roger's child bride? Or is it Joan Harris nee Holloway, whom Roger says is "important" to him?

Just who is lying now?

Next week on Mad Men ("The Grown-Ups"), Don meets with an impressive candidate; Peggy second guesses her taste in men; Pete makes big career decisions.

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