[Televisionary]

"I don't even know what the road in front of us is going to look like." - Bill In terms of the narrative of Big Love , which entered its last season with this week's evocative episode ("Winter"), written by Mark V. Olsen & Will Scheffer and directed by David Petrarca, roughly a week has gone by since the Henricksons publicly outed themselves as polygamists, joining together on stage in a symbolic gesture of unity. Finding them as the fifth season begins, the family has fled Sandy for the isolation of the desert, embarking on a camping trip together both as an act of escape and also one of healing. But the old slights still sting. The Henrickson family is in recovery mode, the wreckage from their act of courage still smoldering around them. Their trip to the wilderness is a reactive move, a reversal from their bravery in the face of those flashing cameras. The fallout has been severe as we see from this week's installment: Margene loses her job and he

Big Love returns on Sunday and I've already seen the first three episodes. (In fact, I've now seen them multiple times, including the season opener on the big screen last night at HBO's Big Love premiere.) Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Falling in Love with Big Love Again," in which I examine why HBO's polygamist family drama Big Love is back in fine form for its fifth and final season. In addition to taking a critical look at the start of the fifth season, I also make some predictions about where the season--and the series as a whole--is ending. I'm curious to know: are you planning on watching Season Five of Big Love ? What was your take on last season? And how do you think creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer are going to end the series? Head to the comments section to discuss. Season Five of Big Love premieres on Sunday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Winter is coming... Well, not that winter, not just yet. While we continue the long slog until April when HBO launches its adaptation of Game of Thrones , there's quite a lot of new and returning television series to keep us entertained in the meantime. Over at The Daily Beast, I offer "16 Shows to Watch This Winter," a round-up that includes such series as Episodes, Shameless, Big Love, Downton Abbey, Parks and Recreation, Portlandia, Off the Map, The Chicago Code, Lights Out, Archer, Justified, The Killing, Body of Proof , and others. In other words: quite a fair bit coming up. Which of these new and returning shows are you most excited about? Head to the comments section to discuss.

It's official: it's the end of the road for the Henrickson clan. HBO today announced that the fifth and final season of Big Love will kick off on January 16th. Yes, you read that correctly: the final season. “It has been an honor and pleasure to work with series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer on this unique and provocative series, and I’m happy that they will be able to bring the story to its close the way they always envisioned,” said HBO Programming president Michael Lombardo in a statement. “We look forward with great anticipation to collaborating with Mark and Will on their next venture.” However, don't get angry at HBO. At least according to comments made by Olsen and Scheffer in the official press release, it seems as though the series is reaching a natural ending, as it were... and the duo aren't going anywhere. It appears that a new HBO project for the writing team will be announced shortly. “When we created Big Love in 2002, we had a strong concept

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Hold on to your (ten-gallon) hats: Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Battlestar Galactica 's Ronald D. Moore is said to be developing a remake of The Wild, Wild West , which ran for four seasons in the mid-1960s and starred Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. Project is still in the very early stages, which means not only is there no network attached but Moore has yet to take the project out to networks. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Chris Mundy has left CBS' midseason Criminal Minds spinoff, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and will be replaced by Ed Bernero, who will now oversee both the flagship and spinoff series as showrunner, though he'll lean a little more heavily on Simon Mirren and Erica Messer, who will gain some oversight on Criminal Minds . Mundy's departure from the series was said to be due to the studio deciding that "the spin-off needed more direction f

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. With the holiday weekend having just wrapped, no one was breaking too much news. Which isn't to say that there are no key television-based headlines, because, well, there are. Let's get to it. It's official: Kara DioGuardi will not be returning to FOX's American Idol this season. The singer-songwriter joined the judges table two years ago and FOX has now confirmed the long-gestating rumors that DioGuardi would not be returning for another season of the musical competition series. "I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave IDOL," said DioGuardi in an official statement. "I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol - it has truly been an amazing experience. I am grateful to FOX, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, as well as the cast, crew and contestants, for all they have given to me. I look forward to my nex

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Many had given up hope that FX's brilliant and labyrinthine legal drama Damages would survive another season, given the low ratings for the series' fantastically taut third season, which wrapped its run earlier this year. Not so: DirecTV has come to the aid of the Sony Picture Television- and FX Productions-produced series and has renewed the Glenn Close-led series for two seasons of ten episodes apiece. The only problem: it won't be airing on FX anymore as DirecTV has the exclusive rights to the series on The 101 Network. "We're excited to partner with Sony Pictures Television as we breathe new life into this outstanding drama," said Patty Ishimoto, general manager of The 101 Network and vice president of entertainment for DIRECTV, in a statement. "It's a win for our customers because only they will be able to see these new episodes and another great step forward for DIRECTV as we continue to buil

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Following yesterday's brutal cancellation of Party Down , Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall talks to Party Down executive producer Rob Thomas about the cancellation of the Starz comedy. "No one on our side is particularly shocked by the news," Thomas told Sepinwall about the cancellation. "Frankly, the waiting has been excruciating, and there's a certain amount of relief in knowing and being able to move on." Thomas indicated that the series was heading towards a third season renewal before newly installed entertainment czar Chris Albrecht was brought in. "There's little to no doubt that we were going to get one until Chris came in," said Thomas. "But I do think if we had done better numbers, Chris would've kept us. I don't think Chris wanted to come in and clean house. I just don't think he had quite the emotional attachment that people who had been at Starz through the birth of

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. It's official: the clock has run out on FOX's serialized drama series 24 . On Friday, FOX announced that Day Eight of 24 would be the series' last, with a two-hour series finale planned for Monday, May 24th. "This has been the role of a lifetime, and I will never be able to fully express my appreciation to everyone who made it possible," said Kiefer Sutherland in a statement. "While the end of the series is bittersweet, we always wanted 24 to finish on a high note, so the decision to make the eighth season our last was one we all agreed upon. This feels like the culmination of all our efforts from the writers to the actors to our fantastic crew and everyone at Fox. Looking ahead to the future, Howard Gordon and I are excited about the opportunity to create the feature film version of 24 . But when all is said and done, it is the loyal worldwide fan base that made it possible for me to have the experience o

Welcome your Wednesday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Alan Cumming has been promoted to series regular on Season Two of CBS' The Good Wife . Cumming, who joined the cast of the legal drama last month, will reprise his role as Eli Gold (described as "a sharp-tongued reputation rehabilitator working with Chris Noth’s disgraced politician") as a series regular next season. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Looks like Scrubs is done. At least according to former series star Zach Braff, who posted a message on Facebook indicating that the ABC medical comedy series would not be resuscitated next season. "Many of you have asked, so here it is," wrote Braff. "It appears that New Scrubs, Scrubs 2.0, Scrubs with new kids, Scrubbier, Scrubs without JD is no more. It was worth a try, but alas... it didn't work." ABC refused to comment on the possible cancellation, though series creator

Looking answers to your burning questions from this week's season finale of HBO's Big Love ? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read the second part of a day-after interview with Big Love creators/executive producers Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer , one that delves deeper into the world of Big Love to bring you some confirmations and some answers to some subplots. (You can find Part One here .) For those who haven't yet seen Sunday night's fourth season finale of Big Love , major spoiler warnings apply as Olsen, Scheffer, and I discuss everything from changing Big Love ’s opening credit sequence in the fourth season; what happened to the church Bill started; whether it was Tommy or Jerry who sold out the Henricksons to Marilyn Densham; what JJ wanted from Joey; the creepy miracle pregnancy of Adaleen; the fates of JJ and Malinda; and much, much more. Season Five of Big Love will air in 2011 on HBO.

Looking for more Big Love ? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my exclusive day-after interview with Big Love creators/executive producers Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer . For those who haven't yet seen last night's fourth season finale of Big Love , major spoiler warnings apply as Olsen, Scheffer, and I discuss everything from the big reveal at the end of last night's episode, numerous subplots involving everyone from Bill, the wives, Ana, and JJ, the departure of Amanda Seyfried, their thoughts on how well Season Four worked, and what lies ahead for the Henrickson clan. And, oh, there's a hell of a lot of fantastic material from Olsen and Scheffer that didn't make it into the interview, so if this does well, look for a Part Two... Season Five of Big Love will air in 2011 on HBO.

"I've needed you for twenty years. I don't think I need you anymore." - Barb Doubt and uncertainty have always clouded the Henrickson clan throughout the four seasons of HBO's Big Love , which has depicted their struggles to embrace the Principle and remain true to themselves, their family, and their religious beliefs, which often put them in conflict with each other and opened up internal debates about the path they're on. Throughout the series' run, the Henricksons have gone to great pains to conceal their plural marriage from those around them, almost sequestering themselves in the three homes they share, which open out onto a communal backyard, a sanctuary representing their true selves, a place where they truly can be themselves away from prying eyes. In last night's spectacular fourth season finale of Big Love ("End of Days"), written by Eileen Myers and directed by David Petrarca, the Henricksons took a major first step to reclaim the