[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. They have... returned? V star Laura Vandervoort will reprise her role as Kara on the CW's Smallville for the series' tenth and final season, reports Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. But don't get too excited, Supergirl fans: Vandervoort is only expected to appear in one installment of the Warner Bros. Television-produced superhero drama, scheduled to air in October. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Just what is going on with FOX's Terra Nova at Comic-Con? After the official San Diego Comic-Con 2010 schedule was announced over the last few days, 20th Century Fox Television opted to pull the panel for its upcoming prehistoric/time-travel drama starring Jason O'Mara from the convention. "Since production on the Jason O’Mara starrer isn’t expected to start until September, the producers don’t have any footage to show the fans in San Diego," writes Entertainment Weekly 's L

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

Looks like it's the end of the road for Party Down . Despite critical acclaim and cult-like status among viewers, pay cabler Starz has cancelled Party Down after just two seasons. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva broke the news of the series cancellation this morning, reporting that Starz had opted not to review Party Down and fellow Friday night lead-out Gravity , the latter of which aired for a single season. "While the off-beat comedy has become an instant cult classic, I hear at the end of the day its appeal was deemed not wide enough to keep the show beyond its recently concluded Season 2," writes Andreeva, who goes on to say that Starz may make an official announcement later today about the fates of both series. Sadly, it seems as though Party Down is in fact a goner, a decision that I believe to be myopic, foolhardy, and heartbreaking in equal measure, particularly as the series was starting to catch on with viewers thanks to Netflix's Instant Viewing functio

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Elijah Wood ( Lord of the Rings ) will star opposite Jason Gann in the pilot for FX's US adaptation of Aussie comedy Wilfred , about a man and his talking dog, the latter of which will be voiced by Gann, the original creator of the series. Project hails from writer David Zuckerman ( Family Guy ) and director Randall Einhorn ( The Office ). Production is slated to begin this summer. ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) Larry King will be hanging up his trademark suspenders this fall after 25 years as the host of Larry King Live in order to spend more time with his family. The Los Angeles Times ' Matea Gold and Yvonne Villarreal have a fantastic interview with King about his decision to leave CNN. "I said, 'I can't top this,'" King told the Times on Tuesday. "I'm not getting younger. I want more time with other things. It's time to go... The daily grind is tough. And there are aspec

I have a hard time imagining a world without Party Down . While Starz's critically adored by ratings-challenged comedy has only been on for two seasons (the second of which wraps its run tonight), Party Down has served as a beacon of hope, particularly in light of watching the crop of comedy pilots ordered to series for next season. Tonight's season finale of Party Down ("Constance Carmell Wedding") arrives at a time when the future of the series is even more uncertain than when the season began back in April. Starz hasn't picked up the series for a third season and many of its cast members--including Adam Scott and Ryan Hansen--have signed on to star in other shows. (You can read my feature on The Daily Beast from April about the situation here and the outtakes from my interview with Scott--in which we talk about Parks and Recreation and Party Down --here .) In its twenty episodes, Party Down found the pitch-perfect balance between sweet and sour and between

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Vulture's Josef Adalian is reporting that Starz is developing a US adaptation of Aussie crime series Underbelly , which has aired Stateside on DirecTV's Channel 101, following a deal to acquire the U.S. rights to the gritty crime drama, which some have likened to Australia's answer to The Sopranos ... which Starz topper Chris Albrect himself oversaw when he headed up HBO. "Albrecht is clearly hoping Underbelly ’s phenomenal success in Australia (its 2008 premiere drew more viewers there than any other non-sports broadcast, and the show won the country's equivalent of the Emmy for best drama) can be replicated here," writes Adalian. "Since the show is based on real events that took place in Australia starting in the 1970s, Starz can't simply film the original scripts using American actors. But the network is currently researching various American crime families that they can build effective story arc

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television update. It's official: Julia Stiles ( The Bourne Ultimatum ) has signed on to appear in ten episodes of Showtime's serial killer drama Dexter next season. Stiles will play "a mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) in the wake of the death of his wife," according to Showtime. Production on Season Five of Dexter gets underway this month and is expected to premiere this fall. [Editor: any guesses on just who Stiles will be playing and just what her relationship is to Dexter? Let the speculation begin.] (via press release) Could pop superstar Lady Gaga be heading to Doctor Who ? If writer Gareth Roberts has his way, she would be. While Gaga hasn't signed on to appear in an episode of Who , Gareth maintains in an interview with OK! Magazine that he has already thought out a plotline for the "Bad Romance" singer to appear in. "She is no stranger to dressing up and

Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood is set to return to the airwaves next summer, but likely not to where you might expect it. Starz has today announced that it has come on board as the US home for a new season of Torchwood , with ten episodes slated to launch on Starz and BBC One in Summer 2011. Move comes after FOX passed on a US version of Torchwood , which, like this new season, will be produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. John Barrowman and Eve Myles are expected to reprise their roles as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper respectively, while new characters--as yet uncast--will be added to the Torchwood team. Creator Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner will return as executive producers for Torchwood . But there will be some changes to the series: "The new series will allow Davies and his writing team to tell a more explosive and global story, one that takes advantage of the unlimited narrative opportunities of a premium television service like Starz," according to the pr

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that ABC's upcoming superhero drama No Ordinary Family is undergoing some casting changes as Tate Donovan ( Damages ) and Christina Chang ( CSI: Miami ). The actors respectively played the family's doomed pilot and a detective at the precinct where Michael Chiklis' character worked as a police sketch artist. An unnamed source close to the production told Ausiello that the decision was storyline-based and that producers hoped to bring both actors back in a guest starring capacity if their schedules allowed for it. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has an interview with Bones star Emily Deschanel, in which she asks the actress about the will-they-or-won't-they romance between Brennan and David Boreanaz's Booth. So will the star-crossed duo ever come together? "[In] the 100th episode we came very close,&quo

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 Tuesday morning television briefing. NBC has given a series order to spy dramedy Undercovers , from executive producers J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims, the first series pickup for the 2010-11 season. Series, which revolves around the exploits of a married couple who both work in espionage, stars Boris Kodjoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Carter MacIntyre, Gerald McRaney, and Ben Schwartz. “Having J.J. on our creative team is a great reason for celebration,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement. “In Undercovers , J.J. and Josh have found a breakout couple that is rich in character and brimming with romance and action. We feel he’s found the perfect cast.” ( Televisionary ) MEGA-SPOILER! I won't be clicking over to read these (and would ask that you not discuss them in any specific detail here ) but Italian blog Macchianera has obtained six script pages from the Lost series finale, schedule

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that ABC is said to be considering renewing nighttime soap Desperate Housewives for two more seasons, which would then wrap up the series' run on the network. "There have been indications that ABC may go for a straight two-year pickup, including making deals with key writers on the show. Creator/executive producer Marc Cherry already has a deal in place with producing studio ABC Studios for three more years," writes Andreeva. "If Desperate Housewives indeed ends its run after eight seasons, he is expected to focus on development in the final year of his deal." She also reports that Patrick Dempsey may not want to continue on Grey's Anatomy after next season... ( Deadline.com ) Good news for Brittany and Santana. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Glee 's Heather Morris and Naya Rivera, who play Cheerios/New Directions doub