[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. True Blood 's Alan Ball is furthering his relationship with HBO. Ball, who created the pay cabler's vampire drama (based on the novels by Charlaine Harris), has signed on to direct and executive producer noir drama pilot All Signs of Death , which is based on Charlie Huston's novel "The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death." Huston himself will pen the pilot script, with production set to begin next month in Los Angeles... though there are no current cast attachments on the project, which will revolve around "a knockaround twentysomething who discovers he has a knack for being a crime scene cleaner, and his life gets messy from there." ( Variety ) Bubs Alert! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Andre Royo ( The Wire ) has been cast as a guest star in the third season premiere of FOX's Fringe , citing unnamed sources. Royo will reportedly play Henry, described as &quo

It's official: HBO has renewed True Blood for a fourth season. It's hardly a surprising twist of fate for the vampire drama series, which has brought the pay cabler some of its highest ratings since The Sopranos and has tapped into an insatiable public appetite for all things vampiric. "The new season of True Blood is off to a terrific start, as enthusiasm for this unique show continues to build among both subscribers and critics,” said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming, in a statement. "We’re looking forward to more chills from Alan Ball and his gifted team next year." "I am beyond thrilled to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew," said creator/executive producer Alan Ball. "This is the most fun I have ever had." Production on Season Four of True Blood is slated to get underway next January, with the fourth season set to air next summer. The full press release from HBO, announcing the renewal, can be fou

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd is reporting that Showtime has renewed Billie Piper-led dark comedy Secret Diary of a Call Girl for a fourth season, which would be the series' last. The series, which airs on ITV2 in the UK, is expected to return in early 2011 and the final season would likely focus on the relationship between Piper's Belle/Hannah and her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) UPDATE: According to Showtime's press release, "Season Four, which will be comprised of eight, half-hour episodes, will follow Belle (Piper), an internationally successful author, torn between her career and her feelings for her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). Additionally, Season Four will feature a storyline where the high-end London call girl visits New York City." The Wrap's Hunter Walker has details on HBO's latest pilot, Tilda , the Diane Keaton-led comedy wh

It's now super-duper-official: AMC has announced that it has renewed drama series Breaking Bad for a fourth season. The cable network today issued a press release that confirmed earlier reports that the Sony Pictures Television-produced drama series, which stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, had been renewed for Season Four. News comes on the heels of the series wrapping its third season last evening. “AMC’s Breaking Bad is one of the most layered and intense dramas on television today,” said Joel Stillerman, Senior Vice President of original programming, production and digital content, in a statement. “The critical acclaim and strong audience growth we’ve seen in season three reinforce that this is the kind of exceptional original storytelling AMC has become known for providing to audiences. Vince Gilligan and his team deliver bold storylines that truly push the psychic envelope and create a mesmerizing, exhilarating television experience. We look forward to an incredible fo

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that AMC and Sony Pictures Television have reached a deal to order a fourth season of drama series Breaking Bad , which would air on the cabler next year. A formal announcement from the network is expected to come later today and the deal was reached after both sides were able to compromise on the production budget after there was an impasse over $.2 million. ( Deadline ) Ricky Gervais has signed on to appear on the next season of HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm , in which he'll play himself in the eighth episode of the season. No other details were immediately available. Production is set to get underway later this summer. Elsewhere, HBO would seem to be the frontrunner to become the US home of Gervais and Stephen Merchant's latest BBC comedy pilot, Life's Too Short , which stars Warwick Davis ( Harry Potter ). ( Variety ) It's official! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael A

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. SPOILER! E! Online's Megan Masters and Kristin Dos Santos talk to Dexter 's Julie Benz and Jennifer Carpenter about what's coming up on the Showtime serial killer drama. "Rita is not going to be a ghost!" Benz revealed about her planned appearance on Season Five of Dexter . "The writers would never do something so cheesy. I am not going to confirm or deny anything, but if she does come back, it would be to move things along." Meanwhile, viewers shouldn't expect that Dexter will lose its humor, even in the face of unspeakable horror. "What's funny is that even in the face of tragedy [of Rita's death], there's still room to laugh with our show," Carpenter told E! Online. "That's why people can stomach it, because as bloody as it gets, they make you laugh two seconds later." ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is repo

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. FOX has given a major vote of confidence to musical-comedy Glee , which it renewed for a third season... before the first season has even wrapped. News of the pickup was broken by Entertainment Weekly 's Lynette Rice. "Everything about Glee – from the concept to the characters to the marketing – has been innovative and risky, but with [series creator] Ryan Murphy tapping into the zeitgeist, the risk has paid off with this truly remarkable series," said Kevin Reilly, FOX Entertainment President. " Glee has one of the most active, devoted fan bases I’ve ever seen, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to give Gleeks a third season of their favorite show." The upside for FOX and studio 20th Century Fox Television are obvious: "Not only does it help cut production costs over the long haul, it allows Murphy and his writers a chance to plan ahead (if not breathe a much-needed sigh of relief)," writes Rice. &qu

Over at The Daily Beast, I've been updating our gallery of new broadcast network television series, as the networks unveil their fall schedules and announce new programming at this week's upfronts. You can check out the gallery at The Daily Beast and keep track of all of the renewals and cancellation by visiting my post "Bring On the New TV Shows!" (and get to the gallery directly by clicking here ). I'll be continually updating the gallery with new photography, descriptions (not pulled straight from the press releases, thank you very much), and tidbits that you won't see elsewhere. In the meantime, I'm curious to know which new series are you most excited about? And which do you think are doomed to fail? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Good news for Chuck fans: Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chuck has been renewed for a fourth season of thirteen episodes, though NBC declined to comment on the report. While I had hoped for a full-season order, any Chuck is better than no Chuck , right? ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Good news as well for fans of the Visitors: ABC has reportedly given a thirteen-episode renewal to freshman sci-fi drama V . " V was likely a no-brainer, as ABC wants to bring back at least one frosh drama, and the alien thriller is showing signs of life," writes Variety 's Michael Schneider. "Its fellow frosh sci-fi drama, FlashForward , is not." ( Variety ) Yep, it's not looking good for FlashForward , which Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting has already been cancelled, along with Better Off Ted, Scrubs, and Romantically Challenged . ( Entertainment W

Just a few days ahead of its upfront presentation to advertisers, FOX announced that it had ordered four pilots to series, adding two new dramas and two comedies, and has reportedly issued renewal notices to dramas Lie to Me and Human Target . Shawn Ryan's cop drama Ridealong and bigamist con man drama Lone Star (formerly known as Midland ) and comedies Traffic Light and Keep Hope Alive (from My Name is Earl creator Greg Garcia) have all been given greenlights and will be part of the scheduled unveiled officially on Monday by FOX brass at their upfront presentation, according to The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd . Move marks the first official orders for the fall season from FOX. No word as of yet on some of the other buzz-worthy projects awaiting greenlights such as Terra Nova and Breakout Kings . Meanwhile, the network surprised some by issuing reprieves for Lie to Me and Human Target , the former of which will continue without showrunner Shawn Ryan, departing t

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Looks like there's more Lost than we thought. The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd is reporting that ABC has expanded the series finale of Lost by a half an hour, bringing the finale's running time to two and a half hours on May 23rd, after the two-hour recap special, Lost: The Final Journey , and before a special edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live featuring the cast at 12:05 am that night. The decision to expand the series finale was made after executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse completed post-production on the final episode. "The producers of ABC's hit drama have shot so much crucial material for the show's hugely anticipated series finale that the network has agreed to extend the last episode by an extra half hour," writes Hibberd. Which means that we get another half an episode of the series. Lucky, lucky us. ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'

Raylan Givens is going to be stuck in Harlan a little while longer. FX today announced that it had commissioned a second season of Timothy Olyphant-led drama series Justified , based on character created by Elmore Leonard. A second season of 13 episodes is expected to air on the cabler, with Season Two likely launching next year. The first season of Justified , meanwhile, is set to wrap up its run on June 8th. "We are very excited about the tremendous, widespread acclaim that Justified has received from both audiences and television critics," said John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks. "Graham Yost, Tim Olyphant, Elmore Leonard and their talented partners have crafted a uniquely ambitious and entertaining series which is everything we aspired to when we developed the show.” “I’m just thrilled, and I’m looking forward to chronicling the future adventures of Raylan Givens,” said executive producer Graham Yost. "To work with an actor like Tim, wh

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. In a surprise move, cabler TNT has ordered a third season of hyper-realistic cop drama Southland , commissioning ten episodes that will launch in January 2011. " Southland is a challenging, visceral show that engages viewers with its immersive style, provocative storylines and complex characters," said Michael Wright, EVP/head of programming, for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies, in a statement. "These qualities have made Southland a favorite among critics and appointment viewing for an extremely loyal audience." It's a sign of support from the cabler, which picked up the drama series after it was cancelled by NBC before it had even aired a single episode of its second season. TNT aired the six-episode sophomore season run earlier this year. [It's noted in this Variety article that the median viewer age of Southland --47--is younger than any other series on the channel.] (via press release) Entertainm

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I still have to get caught up on last night's telly as I was out rubbing elbows with the cast and crew of Doctor Who at a BAFTA/LA screening, Q&A, and cocktail party. (Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Steven Moffat, and former showrunner Russell T Davies were all in attendance and all very chatty.) Burn Notice fans will be very happy this morning: USA has announced that it has renewed the drama series for a fifth AND sixth season even before Season Four of Burn Notice has even launches. The two additional seasons will run at least a respective 15 and 18 episodes, with Season Five set to begin shooting in about a year. "Once Saturday Night Live makes fun of you,' how can you not commit to extra seasons?" Jeff Wachtel, USA's president of original programming, told Variety . It also helps that USA will begin stripping the series in October 2011, following a deal with studio Fox Television Studios for the off-net ri