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Channel Surfing: John Stamos to Glee, Jorge Garcia Teases Lost Epilogue, Idris Elba Heads to BBC America and The Big C, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. (Apologies for the late posting but I was out very late last night at the True Blood premiere party.)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former ER star (and one-time Uncle Jesse) John Stamos has landed a recurring role on Season Two of FOX's Glee, launching this fall. If a deal is reached, Stamos would appear in a multiple-episode story arc as a new love interest for Jayma Mays' Emma. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has a few details about just what that DVD-only epilogue of Lost--featuring Jorge Garcia and Michael Emerson--will contain. "It will address some of the issues, like the food drops, and it will deal with what happened on the island after Hurley took over and how he handled things," Garcia told E! Online of the bonus feature, which will be available on the DVD and Blu-ray release of Lost: The Complete Series, available August 24th. "It will give you a taste of what took place after Hurley took over as the new number one. There's a little epilogue thing going on with the DVD." Meanwhile, an unnamed source told Dos Santos that the bonus feature will also feature Malcolm David Kelley's Walt as well, though Garcia was quick to neither confirm nor deny that fact. "There are other people in it," said Garcia, "but I'm not going to tell you who." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Idris Elba's gritty BBC One crime drama Luther is headed to BBC America later this year. The series--which also stars Ruth Wilson, Steven Mackintosh, Indira Varma, Paul McGann, Saskia Reeves, and Warren Brown--was co-produced by the US web offshoot of the Blighty broadcaster and revolves around John Luther, described as "an intellectually brilliant but emotionally impulsive murder detective" whose sole confidante is murderer Alice (Ruth Wilson), with whom he shares a complex adversarial relationship. "I'm delighted that the BBC has brought Luther to life," said creator Neil Cross (Spooks). It's an intense psychological thriller which examines not only human depravity but the complex nature of love … and how it's often this – our finest attribute – that leads us into darkness." Series will debut later in 2010. (via press release)

Meanwhile, Elba (The Wire, The Office) is also set to appear in at least four episodes of Showtime's upcoming Laura Linney comedy series The Big C, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. He'll play a love interest for Linney's character, a married suburban housewife with terminal cancer. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

UPDATE: Elba will play Lenny, a painter, on The Big C, according to an official press release from Showtime.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a first look at Season Three of FX's provocative drama series Sons of Anarchy, which returns this fall. As well as the first pictures from the upcoming season, Ryan has exclusive details about Season Three. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Elsewhere, Ryan has an ongoing list of television series that are going to be making the trek to San Diego Comic-Con this year, including True Blood, Fringe, Glee, Terra Nova, Walking Dead, Psych, Hawaii Five-O, White Collar, No Ordinary Family and many others. Keep checking back for more updates. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Vinnie Jones (Chuck) has signed on to NBC's vigilante drama series The Cape as a series regular; he plays Scales, a criminal with a terrifying skin condition that makes him appear reptilian. He'll star opposite David Lyons, Summer Glau, and Keith David. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Los Angeles Times' Glenn Whipp has a Q&A with Parks and Recreation's Amy Poehler, in which she admits that she's far more cynic than Leslie Knope. "When we picked up with [Leslie at the start of Season One], she was obsessed with this guy and couldn't let go," said Poehler. "But that was just one aspect of Leslie. The show was never going to be about this lady who's boy-crazy and deluded when it comes to relationships... She's not simplistic. It's an interesting thing to play somebody who believes change can happen without being stupid. Personally, I'm a lot more cynical than that." (Los Angeles Times)

ABC has given a pilot order to game show 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show, from Endemol USA, in which contestants "answer questions while sitting in various compromising positions like a catapult," according to Variety's Michael Schneider. "If they get one wrong, however, the player exits the show via one of several terrifying ejection devices -- such as being shot out of a cannon or speeding down a zipline." Project will be executive produced by Matt Kunitz. (Variety)

Andrew Bernstein (Mercy, Mad Men) has been hired as co-executive producer/director on CBS' upcoming--and as-yet-untitled--Criminal Minds spinoff. (Hollywood Reporter)

The final two episodes of FOX supernatural procedural Past Life have been yanked from the schedule and replaced with repeats of The Good Guys. (Futon Critic)

Taye Diggs is apparently up for a guest role on ABC's Cougar Town (or whatever it's eventually called), according to E! Online's Megan Masters. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

BBC One has commissioned a pilot for comedy Accidental Farmer, to star Ashley Jensen (Extras, Ugly Betty) as a high-powered executive who, after catching her boyfriend in bed with another woman, impulsively buys a run-down farm in Yorkshire, among other things with his credit card. Project is written by Daisy Coulam and directed by Mandie Fletcher. (BBC)

NBC has resurrected its current programming department and placed Vernon Sanders at the head of the division as EVP. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Comments

AskRachel said…
Have you heard any buzz on Luther? Is it supposed to be good? The cast is fantastic.
Steve said…
Rather belatedly, here it is: Luther is amazing. Yup, totally amazing. I read somewhere it was described as Columbo meets Sherlock Holmes with some new millennium grit lobbed in... quite simply, that sums it up. Plus the cast is great, Idris rocks, it has 'case of the week' alongside a wider story arc and lots of stuff to keep you gripped and caring about the characters.

It's only 6 episodes but easily one of the best shows I've seen here in the UK for many a year. Tivo it or check it for sure - hopefully Jace agrees.

Cheers, Steve.

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