[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Starz is heading back to Spartacus , ordering six episodes of a prequel series that will be set before Season One of the gladiator drama series, which wrapped its run last month. The six-episode prequel, as yet untitled, will revolve around the House of Batiatus and its champions and will star John Hannah and Lucy Lawless, as well as Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Antonio Te Maihoha, Nick E. Tarabay, and Lesley-Ann Brandt, and feature a brief appearance by Andy Whitfield, who is currently undergoing treatment for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Production will begin this summer, with the pay cabler eying a January 2011 launch, clearly an effort to keep the franchise humming until a second season can be produced. "The prequel story maintains the excitement and entertainment value of the first season of Spartacus , giving audiences the engaging experience they've come to expect," said Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht in a stat

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. SPOILER! "Presence," huh? TV Guide Magazine 's Will Keck attempts to get to the bottom of just who Allison Janney ( The West Wing ) will be playing on the May 11th episode of Lost by going right to the source: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who are being rather cagey about Janney's mystery role. "We were so happy that she was able to do this," said Cuse. "It was really hard for her because she was getting ready to shoot a pilot, but she squeezed us in. Then once we saw her in this part we were like, 'How could anyone else have done this but Allison Janney?'" Lindelof wasn't giving Keck anything either: "We’ve been talking about this character for awhile and how nervous we were that we wouldn’t find the right actress," he said. "When we first started talking about this character in the writers room we called her 'Allison Janney' under the assumption that we wo

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

Looks like it's curtains for Betty Suarez. ABC today announced that this will be the final season of Ugly Betty and that the series will wrap up its run this spring. The series had been placed on life support on Friday nights this season before being given a last chance with a Wednesday night 10 pm ET/PT timeslot as part of the network's comedy block. "We’ve mutually come to the difficult decision to make this Ugly Betty ’s final season, and are announcing now as we want to allow the show ample time to write a satisfying conclusion," said ABC in a prepared statement. "We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series, and felt it was important to give the fans a proper farewell." What do you think of the news? Was it time to bid Betty farewell? Is it good that the producers will have time to wrap up the series' storylines before a final episode? Discuss.

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jennifer Morrison will return to FOX medical drama House later this season. While the nature and timing of Cameron's return are unknown, Ausiello quotes an unnamed House insider who said, "You will see Cameron again on House before the end of the season." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Rumors are swirling that Conan O'Brien could be beating a path to FOX to launch a latenight franchise to rival The Tonight Show but it's not exactly a smooth ride. "There are still a slew of obstacles standing in his way at Fox, including those same network affiliates. And several Fox insiders wonder whether it would even be possible to launch a latenight Conan O'Brien franchise anytime soon," writes Variety 's Michael Schneider. "Still, once O'Brien manages to settle out of his NBC contract -- and that's the route he

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. It's official: FOX has canceled Joss Whedon's metaphysical drama series Dollhouse . The series, which is currently in production on this season's eleventh episode, will finish production and the network is currently expected to air all thirteen installments of the low-rated Friday night drama beginning December 4th. Whedon himself posted on Whedonesque about the cancellation news (which didn't come as a surprise to anyone tracking the ratings) and said, ""I don't have a lot to say. I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again. I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking," he wrote. "Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By

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

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. ABC is developing a US adaptation of British hit comedy series Gavin and Stacey , about the romance between two very different lovers from two very different places (in the original it was Essex and Wales) who fall in love over the phone and begin a relationship, against the advice of their eccentric friends and families. US version, from BBC Worldwide, will be written by Stacy Traub ( Notes from the Underbelly ) and Hayes Jackson ( According to Jim ). Elsewhere at the Alphabet, the network has given a pilot order to 18 Years , about a young couple who become parents and must "adjust to their new life as parents -- trading their fast-paced existence for a more domesticated lifestyle," from Sony Pictures Television and writer/executive producers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith ( The King of Queens ). ABC is also developing an untitled comedy, from Samantha Who? executive producer Don Todd, ABC Studios, and Brillstein Entertai

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. It seems like the stars are finally aligning. Producers on FOX's Bones are in talks with Zooey Deschanel to guest star on the procedural crime drama in December as the cousin of real-life sister Emily Deschanel's Brennan, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "We’ve been looking for an opportunity to get the Deschanel girls together," said Bones creator/executive producer Hart Hanson, "but Zooey’s rockin’ career kept getting in the way... We alluded to [her] having a cousin in Minnesota two seasons ago. I’d very much like to meet her in the Christmas episode." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) As previously reported on this site, 20th Century Fox Television is teaming up with Columbia Records on a series of soundtracks for FOX's upcoming series Glee . The first release, "Glee: The Music, Volume 1," will contain seventeen tracks from the series' first seas

TVGuide.com is reporting that FX drama Rescue Me will wrap up its series run in 2011, according to co-creator/executive producer Peter Tolan. "Within the next couple of weeks, we're going to begin shooting the last 19 episodes, which will be the final two seasons of the show," Peter Tolan told TVGuide.com , with the final episodes of the Sony Pictures Television-produced series slated to air in September of 2011 in order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Those episodes will be broken down into two seasons, with the first batch airing next year. "I think they're stretching the airing of it out until the 10th anniversary," surmised Tolan. "So if you put 10 episodes on next year and nine the following year, you'll land there." Additionally, TVGuide.com also reported that Tolan is seeking to have Maura Tierney ( ER, Parenthood ) reprise her role as Kelly McPhee in four installments of Rescue Me 's final episodes. Rescue Me will en

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. MTV is developing a US adaptation of hit British teen drama series Skins , which airs on E4 and Channel 4 in the UK. Co-creator Bryan Elsley will executive produce the new version, which will be shot in Baltimore with unknown actors, with Company Pictures' Charlie Pattinson and George Faber. "It's been two years that I've been personally involved in trying to get this here to the network," MTV's SVP of series development Liz Gateley told Variety , "and I don't think I've ever had a negotiation drag out as long as this, but I knew it was something very special." Elsley will write the pilot script for the US version of Skins , which MTV has committed to filming. ( Variety ) FX has ordered a pilot script for sports drama March to Madness , about a corrupt college basketball program that manages to reach the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament through some duplicitous means. Project, writt

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada ( Rush Hour 3 ) has joined the cast of ABC's Lost in a recurring role for its sixth and final season. Details of Sanada's character are being kept firmly under wraps as is the number of episodes that he'll ultimately appear in. Sanada's casting comes on the heels of the announcement that Deadwood 's John Hawkes had signed on to the drama series as Lennon , the spokesperson and translator for a foreign conglomerate. Could these two roles be connected in any way, given Sanada's Japanese background? Hmmm.... ( Hollywood Reporter ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jayma Mays ( Glee ) will return to NBC's Heroes , where she will reprise her role as Hiro's former love interest Charlie in one episode of the superpowered drama series. But didn't Charlie die? Yep. "As the dying time-traveler zips back and forth through the ages to accomplish

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Virtuality star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has been cast in the pilot for fantasy drama Game of Thrones , HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novel series. Coster-Waldau will play Jaime Lannister, described by The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd as "one of the king's guards and a ruthless usurper of the previous king." Also cast in the Tom McCarthy-directed pilot: Tamzin Merchant ( The Tudors ), Richard Madden ( Hope Springs ), Iain Glen ( Into the Storm ), Alfie Allen ( The Other Boleyn Girl ), Sophie Turner ( Doctor Who ), and Maisie Williams, all of whom join the previously announced Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Jennifer Ehle, Kit Harrington, Harry Lloyd, Peter Dinklage, and Jack Gleeson. Production begins this October in Ireland. ( Hollywood Reporter ) FOX has handed out a pilot script order with penalty to drama Break Out Kings , from 20th Century Fox Television and Prison Break writer/producers Matt Olms