[Televisionary]

With the 2010 Emmy Awards less than a week away, it's time to take a look at this year's front-runners and weigh the major races that are already underway. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "2010 Emmys: Who Will Win This Year?" in which I take a look (via a visual gallery) at who will win the top spots this year and who should be taking home those statuettes come August 29th. Do you agree with my assessments? Think Julianna Margulies is a lock? Or do you think that I'm wrong and Aaron Paul won't get overlooked for a Best Supporting Actor award? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate and post your take on the major categories. The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards will air live coast to coast on Sunday, August 29th on NBC.

While several of the categories in this year's Primetime Emmy Awards look to be fierce, one of the most hotly anticipated is the Best Comedy category, which will see fellow freshman series Modern Family and Glee compete for the top prize. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Why Modern Family Should Win an Emmy Over Glee ," in which I discuss, well, just that, taking a look at whether Glee should be competing in the category, whether it's even a comedy, and whether the FOX musical-comedy stands a chance at winning the Emmy later this month. I also speak to Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan about the comedy series and whether he's written an acceptance speech or not. (Hint: he hasn't.) Which show are you rooting for? And what's your take on Glee 's status as a comedy? Discuss.

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Sometimes the networks taketh and sometimes they give back. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO has had a change of heart about animated comedy The Life and Times of Tim , which it cancelled two months ago. The pay cabler has now reversed its position on the cult hit, ordering a third season of Tim , with ten episodes slated to air sometime next year. Media Rights Capital, the production company behind the project (along with Good Humor TV), attempted to shop Tim to other networks--including Comedy Central, Adult Swim, and TBS--but no buyer materialized... and now the project has headed back to HBO. [Editor: I'm relieved as I was really upset when I heard earlier this year that the series wasn't going to get picked up.] ( Deadline ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chris Vance ( Prison Break ) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Five of Showtime's Dexter

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. According to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, HBO's drama pilot Miraculous Year , from executive producer Kathryn Bigelow just got even more miraculous. The project, which is described as "an examination of a New York family as seen through the eyes of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer," just signed a slew of stars to round out its cast, including former Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace, Linus Roache ( Law & Order ), and Stark Sands ( Generation Kill )... who will join the already high-wattage cast of Eddie Redmayne, Hope Davis, Frank Langella, and Patti LuPone. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) E! Online's Megan Masters spoke to former Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the ABC drama's Emmy nominations now that the series has wrapped up its six-season run... and why they chose to break their radio silence. "Every year after the finale we'v

It's that time of year again: Emmy nominations. Modern Family 's Sofia Vergara and Community 's Joel McHale were on hand bright and early this morning to announce the Primetime Emmy Award nominations. (I stayed home to watch E! Online's stream of the press conference rather than drive over there bleary-eyed and unable to conceal my frustration about overlooked performances and series in person.) While Vergara ultimately walked away with a nomination for supporting actress for Modern Family (as did most of her co-stars, in fact), McHale was sadly shut out of the nominations, as was Community , a real slap in the face (along with that for Parks and Recreation ) considering that Community and Parks were both streets ahead of The Office and 30 Rock this season. Grr. So which series did the best overall? HBO's The Pacific walked away with an impressive 24 nominations, followed closely by FOX's Glee at 19 nods, AMC's Mad Men at 17, and 15 nominations

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Cast changes are afoot at Showtime's upcoming Matt LeBlanc-led comedy Episodes , with Thomas Haden Church pulling out of the project due to a scheduling conflict with a film and Claire Forlani being recast after the recent table read earlier this week. But with Forlani out, Showtime has had the luck of landing British actress Tamsin Greig ( Black Books, Green Wing, Love Soup ) to replace her. [Editor: I think Greig is a much better fit and is a comedy genius. Showtime is beyond lucky to have nabbed her. Grieg's Black Books character, Fran Katzenjammer, remains a perennial favorite.] Greig will step into Forlani's role, as the female half of a husband-and-wife writing team whose British series is adapted for American television... and ruined in the process. Showtime has ordered seven episodes of the series, which is created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, who executive produce alongside Jimmy Mulville. ( Variety ) Ste

While Emmy nominations are a long way off, I'd like to draw attention to the stunning performance of Fringe 's John Noble. (Yes, it's a long way off but keep it under your hats, Emmy voters.) FOX thriller Fringe is a series that I always watch on Thursday nights (so as not to be spoiled) but, as I was out on Thursday evening, I've only now caught up. Last week's absolutely sensational installment of Fringe ("Grey Matters") offered up not only an advancement of the series' overarching mythology plot but also placed the focus squarely on John Noble's Walter Bishop. Throughout my coverage of Fringe 's outstanding second season, I've often drawn attention to Noble's nuanced and compelling portrayal of Walter Bishop in his chief roles as mad scientist, drug-addled theorist, culinary devotee, father, and, well, father substitute and it pains me that he's gone overlooked for an award nomination as long as he has. Over the course of the l

No, it's not quite the morning after the Emmys but I spent yesterday recovering from a bit too much overindulgence the night before and still wanted to get in my thoughts about this year's Emmy awards before the door for such discussion slams shut. Emmy host is a rather thankless job and we've seen, thanks to last year, just how much the show can go off the rails in the hands of less-than-qualified hosts. However, I thought that Neil Patrick Harris did a legendary job and infused the proceedings with wit, sparkle, and humor and kept things running smoothly. (Did we really only run over by a few minutes? Fantastic.) I spent the evening carousing at two post-Emmy bashes, HBO's luxe red-hewed affair at the Pacific Design Center and AMC's latenight after-after-party at Chateau Marmont. Both fetes were absolutely, ridiculously fun and the stars were out in full-force for both events, with this gleeful partier catching glimpses of Jon Hamm, Glenn Close, Ricky Gervais, Chl

Another quick bit of indulgent self-promotion on Emmy day. Please be sure to check out my latest piece for The Daily Beast, entitled "HBO's Troubadours Take Flight," featuring a one-on-one interview with Flight of the Conchords co-creator James Bobin. It's the latest installment of an Emmy story package at The Daily Beast and features a Q&A with James Bobin about the possibility of a third season, musical influences, Jemaine Clement's nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, working with Michel Gondry, and much more. You can read the piece in full here . Be sure to read the whole intro for Flight of the Conchords and then click on the gallery to read the Q&A .

Another quick bit of indulgent self-promotion this morning. Please be sure to check out my latest piece for The Daily Beast, entitled "The Magic of Mad Men ," featuring a one-on-one interview with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. It's the latest installment of an Emmy story package at The Daily Beast and features a Q&A with Matthew Weiner. The period drama is up for thirteen nominations this year, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Jon Hamm), Outstanding Lead Actress (Elisabeth Moss), Outstanding Supporting Actor (John Slattery), and Outstanding Writing, among others. You can read the piece in full here . Be sure to read the whole intro for Mad Men and then click on the gallery to read the Q&A .

Quick bit of indulgent self-promotion this morning. Please be sure to check out my first piece for The Daily Beast , entitled "Damages' Stylish Mind Game." It's the first installment of an Emmy story package at The Daily Beast and features a Q&A with Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, and Daniel Zelman, the creators/executive producers of FX's legal thriller Damages , which is up for seven nominations this year, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Glenn Close), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (William Hurt), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Rose Byrne), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Ted Danson), Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Todd A. Kessler), and Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (Julie Tucker and Ross Meyerson). You can read the piece in full here . Be sure to read the whole intro for Damages and then click on the gallery to read the Q&A.

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Cabler Syfy has ordered a 90-minute pilot for Zak Penn and Michael Karnow's action-adventure drama Alphas , which had been previously set up at ABC two season ago under the name Section 8 . Project, from BermanBraun Television and Universal Cable Studios, follows a team of agents who "possess hyper-developed neurological abilities" (read: superpowers). "What we loved about this idea is that it played into a new way of approaching the superhero genre: the idea of ordinary people who have one slightly extraordinary feature about them and are singularly not so special but together can do extraordinary things was very attractive," said Syfy EVP of original programming Mark Stern. Section 8 , which had a six-episode order from ABC, left the network post-writers' strike over creative differences before winding up at Syfy, which ordered it to pilot from the three projects in had in development. ( Hollywood Repo

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Grant Show, set to star on CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose this fall, has said that he's open to appearing on the CW's revival of Melrose Place . "We've been talking, but nothing solid," Show says. "I'm not opposed to it... They haven't come up with the writing for me yet. I'm not sure they're even going to need me this year — maybe next year." Should Show close a deal to return to the series, he'll join original stars Josie Bissett, Thomas Calabro, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga as those who have turned up on Melrose 2.0 . ( TVGuide.com ) Jennifer Ehle ( Possession ) has joined the cast for the HBO fantasy drama pilot Game of Thrones , where she will play Catelyn Stark, the wife of Sean Bean's Ned Stark. Ehle's character was originally promised to Ned's older brother who was killed before they could marry; she then "fulfilled her duty by marrying Ned and sec

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. NBC has acquired Fox Television Studio's international co-production Persons Unknown , written and executive produced by Chris McQuarrie ( Valkyrie ). Series, which stars Jason Wiles ( Zodiac ), Chadwick Boseman ( Lincoln Heights ), Daisy Betts ( Out of the Blue ), Tina Holmes ( Six Feet Under ), and Alan Ruck ( Drive ), revolves around a group of strangers who are seemingly kidnapped and taken to a deserted ghost town from which they cannot leave and where they are watched by omnipresent security cameras. McQuarrie is executive producing with Remi Aubuchon and Heather McQuarrie. No US launch date was announced for Persons Unknown , which has already produced thirteen installments with Italy's RAI and Mexico's Televisa. ( Variety ) Lost 's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were surprised by the ABC drama series getting an outstanding drama series Emmy nod yesterday following this past season's heavily serialized time