[Televisionary]

Looking for more information about Syfy's newest drama series Haven ? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest feature, entitled "Stephen King's Haven on Syfy: Is It the Next Twin Peaks ?" where I talk to executive producers Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn as well as series lead Emily Rose about the spooky supernatural drama, based on Stephen King's novella "The Colorado Kid." Haven premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on Syfy.

Tonight, Syfy launches two series, one returning favorite and a new offering, both of which are set in small towns that conceal the truth about their nature. Syfy itself has had more success with its light procedurals such as Eureka and Warehouse 13 (which itself returned to the lineup earlier this week) than with the sort of doom-and-gloom of fellow original series Caprica , but that doesn't mean that the network should slide permanently over to to the sunny side of the genre. (After all, there does need to be not only a balance between light and darkness in terms of tone but also a sense that there's a variety of programming on offer at the cable network.) However, summer might just be the perfect place for such sci-fi jocularity and off all of Syfy's series, the one that best achieves the blend of humor and action (along with a real sense of speculative fiction) is Eureka , created by Andrew Cosby and Jamie Paglia. Eureka returns tonight with its fourth season premier

Syfy has had a lot of success of late with quirky, humorous dramedies where the science fiction often takes a backseat to the trappings of traditional drama. Think of them more as extraordinary dramas than say, purely speculative fiction. This is particularly true with Syfy's original series Eureka and Warehouse 13 , both of which return to the schedule this week with new seasons. In their own ways, both series have served to push the network further into the mainstream, fusing together the supernatural/speculative elements of the genre with mass appeal to create a new sub-genre that's heavy on the humor and light, well, in general. While Eureka focuses on a town of super-scientists hidden in the Pacific Northwest, Warehouse 13 using somewhat similar trappings: a tiny town in the middle of nowhere hides a massive government-sponsored secret. In this case, that secret is the Warehouse itself, a depository of arcane and mysterious artifacts, each with their own abilities. It&#

"Let's blow this joint." The Botwins are hitting the road. Season Six of Weeds begins next month and Showtime has issued a striking poster image for the sixth season, one that depicts Nancy, Silas, and Shane Botwin (along with Justin Kirk's Andy and Kevin Nealon's Doug) as yesteryear hoods, a la Atlantic City. (Nice touch with Shane holding onto that plot-twist-driven croquet mallet.) A larger version of the poster can be found after the jump, along with the teaser trailer for Season Six of Weeds , just in case you missed it a few weeks back . Season Six of Weeds kicks off on August 16th at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

As the Summer Solstice has come and gone now, the hot months of summer are officially in full swing as the broadcast and cable networks bring out their slate of originals and burn-offs during the sweltering season. While I'm sinking my teeth into quite a bit of programming this summer (including HBO's True Blood , Bravo's Top Chef , and my latest obsession, BBC America's upcoming Come Dine With Me ) and catching up on some others (cough, Friday Night Lights , cough), I'm curious to know just what you are watching right now... and what you intend to watch this summer. Are you hooked on USA's dramedies? Can't wait for the return of Entourage ? Trembling at the thought of more True Blood ? Intrigued by Work of Art ? Spooked by the thought of Syfy's Haven ? Head to the comments section to discuss what's on your season pass this summer, what's failed to click with you so far, and what new and returning television series you are most looking forward to

Suffering isn't just the provenance of the living within the world of True Blood . In fact, everyone--whether human, vampire, or shifter--must make their way through the world carrying their own pain and misery in their bones. That truth--one spoken ages ago by the Buddha himself--is the underlying thread within this week's episode of True Blood ("Beautifully Broken"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Scott Winant, in which several characters attempt to come to grips with the sources of their suffering: anguish over a lost loved one, abandonment during childhood, and the haunting of some bitter memories better left buried. When the Buddha wrote that life was dukkha , he didn't mean "pain" or suffering precisely (though Lafayette quotes him as saying such). Rather, he posited that life was analogous to disquietude--to interruptions--the way a potter's wheel might skip rather than turn smoothly. But the intent is the same. What we're seein

The best laid plans, as they say... Last night's season premiere of True Blood ("Bad Blood"), written by Brian Buckner and directed by Daniel Minahan, kicked off the third season in style, with a riveting installment that was sexy, sultry, and dangerous all at once and which found several of the characters having to make, uh, alternate arrangements as their strategies didn't exactly pay off the way that they had intended. That went for Sookie (Anna Paquin), who decided to accept Bill's marriage proposal, only to learn that he'd been kidnapped, to baby vamp Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and conscience-suffering Jason (Ryan Kwanten), as well as conspirators Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Sophie-Anne (Evan Rachel Wood). Taking place just a few seconds after the events of the Season Two finale, "Bad Blood" found the characters reeling from those life-altering collisions of sex and violence. Sookie discovered that Bill had disappeared and was convinced that

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.” - Leonardo Da Vinci I'll admit that my expectations for Bravo's newest reality competition series Work of Art were painfully low. After all, this seems just just the sort of series for which you can easily make a snide remark about it being less exciting than watching paint dry. But I have to say that I was extremely pleasantly surprised by Work of Art , which premieres tonight. Not only was it fast-paced and exciting, but it was slickly produced, thanks in part to the crack team at Magical Elves, which has once again worked its reality magic on this format. Art isn't the most accessible of topics, yet the show--which is hosted by China Chow--is just that: tearing away the sort of potential pretentiousness of its subject by allowing the audience to enter the minds of some gifted artists--each coming from different media--and participate in the artistic process. The result is a fun and engaging hour that's overflowing with quirk

Looking to set your TiVo season pass this summer before you head out on vacation? Or sticking around and wondering just what's worth watching (or at least checking out) this summer? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my piece entitled, "19 Reasons to Watch TV This Summer," where I break down 19 new and returning series airing during the sweltering season, including HBO's True Blood AMC's Rubicon and Mad Men , Bravo's Work of Art and Top Chef: DC , FOX's Masterchef , Syfy's Haven , USA's White Collar , TNT's Memphis Beat and Rizzoli & Isles , BBC America's Being Human , and a lot more. Check out the gallery to read descriptions of the series and then head to the comments section to discuss just what you're most excited about this summer.

There's a term in mystery writing called a "locked room mystery." You know the sort, a crime--typically a murder--is discovered in which the deed occurred behind a locked door. Unless the killer is still in the room, there is seemingly no means of egress from this chamber, resulting in a baffling and impossible situation. NBC's new summertime mystery-drama series Persons Unknown , from executive producers Chrisopher McQuarrie ( The Usual Suspects ), Heather McQuarrie, and Remi Aubuchon, aims to be the television version of such a locked room mystery, revolving not around a singular crime but rather a central mystery: how did a group of seven strangers find themselves taken from their ordinary lives and deposited into a seemingly deserted town? And why is it impossible to leave this place? The premise alone warrants comparisons both to Lost and to the seminal 1960s British television series The Prisoner , with its use of inescapable and remote scenery, head-scratching

What a weird, strange journey it's been this season on Weeds . Between pregnancies, marriages, assassinations, overdoses, teenage STDs, and thievery, Season Five of Showtime's dark comedy Weeds has been a sometimes bizarre and uneven mix of shifting timeframes, over the top characters, and increasingly complicated inter-personal relationships. (Hell, you almost need a flowchart to keep track of the vagaries of the Nancy/Esteban/Andy/Audra storyline this season.) Last night's season finale of Weeds ("All About My Mom"), written by series creator Jenji Kohan, looked not to shift the action elsewhere but to create a new status quo all the same that would switch up the characters, their motivations, and their state of mind. And it did so with one hell of a croquet mallet swing. Yes, I'm referring to that final scene in the season finale, a.k.a. the mallet swing heard round the world as the insidious Pilar (Kate del Castillo) threatened to have Nancy's "

"Don't you like vampires, little girl?" This week's episode of True Blood ("Frenzy"), written by Alan Ball and directed by Daniel Minahan, marks the penultimate installment of the second season (though we'll have to wait two weeks for the season finale) and consequently ramped up the tension, bringing us several new alliances, the deepening of a personal vendetta, a possible romantic split, and the fragmentation of several long-standing friendships. And, oh, a giant egg. So just what did I think about this week's episode of True Blood ? Pour yourself a Tru Blood, strap on a bandolier, gather up some feathers and yarn, and let's discuss "Frenzy." Bon Temps has literally gone to hell, thanks to Maryann's influence and this week we finally got an answer as to why Maryann happened to stumble in the backwoods town in the first place. While it seemed as though Maryann's arrival in Bon Temps with her murderous retinue was

It was inevitable that the double-life that Jackie Peyton strove so hard to create for herself would come crashing down around her eventually. And so it would appear to have done so on the gripping and profound season finale of Showtime's exquisite dark comedy Nurse Jackie ("Health Care and Cinema") as Jackie (Edie Falco) was startlingly slammed out of her reverie and into reality. Written by Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem, the season finale saw Jackie's lover Eddie (Paul Schulze) find out about her husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) and cause a scene at the hospital, forcing Jackie to sink lower than we've ever seen her before. Throughout the complex and lyrical first season of this unique and beautiful series, Edie Falco has brought a rich humanity to the role of the deeply flawed Jackie Peyton, a woman who tries so hard to do right by her patients but often does more harm than good to herself and those around her. It was only a matter of time before one of the men i

"Bacchus drowns within the bowl/Troubles that corrode the soul." - Horace On this week's episode of True Blood ("New World in My View"), written by Kate Barnow and Elisabeth R. Finch and directed by Adam Davidson, homecoming proved to be an eye-opening experience for Sookie, Bill, and Jason, Jessica and Hoyt's relationship was tested by Maxine's mercilessness, and Andy and Sam attempted to evade the entire blood-thirsty population of Bon Temps. The inhabitants of Bon Temps have worked themselves into a frenzy, pushed into an ecstatic state by the malevolent Maryann; their every inhibition is stripped bare, resulting in a wave of chaos overtaking the sleepy backwoods town, a darkness that cascades over the souls of every man, woman, and child and threatens to consume them from the inside out. A vengeful god demands his sacrifice, after all, and that sacrifice just happens to be our favorite shifter Sam Merlotte. So just how did Sam manage to evade being

HBO's seductive vampire drama series True Blood is positively overflowing with memorable and flawed characters but one of this season's most indelible and dynamic character additions is that of naughty preacher's wife Sarah Newlin, played with delicious aplomb by South Carolina native Anna Camp. I had the opportunity to catch up with Camp earlier this week in an exclusive interview where we talked about Sarah Newlin, Camp's original audition for True Blood (for the role of Sookie, no less!), the love triangle between Sarah, Jason, and Steve, Sarah's darker side, Camp's theatre work (opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Equus ), whether the Newlins are gone for good, Mad Men , and lots more. So what are you waiting for? Toss your hair, flash your pearly whites, sharpen a stake and let's see what Anna Camp had to say about True Blood . Televisionary: How did you get involved with True Blood ? What sort of audition process did they put you through? Anna Camp: Actuall