[Televisionary]

BBC America held its session today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, offering panels on Survivors and The Choir allowing critics the opportunity to pose questions to Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear via satellite. Post-apocalyptic drama Survivors will launch on February 13th with the first two seasons airing back-to-back on Saturday nights. Top Gear Season 13 premieres Monday, January 25th at 8 pm and The Choir is set to debut later this spring. Promotional videos for BBC America's Survivors , The Choir , and Season 13 of Top Gear can be found below. Trailer: Survivors: Sneak Peak: BBC America's The Choir : Trailer: Top Gear Season 13: Stay tuned.

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. CBS has given second season renewals to freshman dramas The Good Wife and NCIS: Los Angeles . "Two great new series, fronted by talented stars on one big night of television," said Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment in a statement. "We're proud of these shows and what they've accomplished on Tuesday night." The renewal news comes on the heels of pickups for fellow froshers Glee at FOX and Modern Family, The Middle , and Cougar Town at ABC. (via press release) While still in the pilot stage, buzz continues to build for HBO's fantasy project Game of Thrones , based on George R.R. Martin's series of novels. HBO programming czar Michael Lombardo indicated at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour yesterday that Game looks very likely to get a pickup and that the dailies look "fantastic." "I would be surprised if it doesn't (get a green light)," Lombardo

After a day of interviews and covering press sessions at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, I had the honor of dining at Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio's restaurant, The Dining Room at The Langham, in Pasadena. I've been dying to eat there since Top Chef ended... and what an evening it was. I was joined in this culinary adventure by several fellow television journalists/foodies including: my editor at The Daily Beast, Kate Aurthur; Denise Martin of The Los Angeles Times ; Zap2It's Hanh Nguyen; and St. Louis Post Dispatch TV columnist Gail Pennington. Arriving at the Dining Room, we were greeted with several warm welcomes by the restaurant's manager and the hotel's PR executive. We sipped on some lovely glasses of non-vintage champagne while we perused the menu and ultimately decided to go with a five-course chef's tasting menu, with the dishes to be expertly selected by Michael Voltaggio, with whom we visited in the kitchen following the

Breaking from TCA Winter Press Tour: Stephen McPherson, ABC Entertainment Group President, has announced the second season renewals for Modern Family, The Middle , and Cougar Town . McPherson also indicated that each of the series would air more than the traditional 22 episodes this season. The full press release from ABC announcing the pickups can be found below. ABC ANNOUNCES EARLY PICK-UPS OF HIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT COMEDIES “COUGAR TOWN,” “THE MIDDLE” AND “MODERN FAMILY” FOR THE 2010-2011 SEASON Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment Group, announced early pick-ups of hit Wednesday night comedies “Cougar Town,” “The Middle” and “Modern Family” for the 2010-2011 Season today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. “Cougar Town” (Wednesdays from 9:30-10:00 p.m., ET) Courteney Cox, who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her role on the show, stars as Jules, a newly divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty

No new footage and precious little information about the sixth and final season of Lost , launching on ABC on February 2nd, but showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and cast members Emilie de Raven, Daniel Dae Kim, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, and Jorge Garcia did tease some information about Season Six. And Team Darlton had one specific announcement that might just be catnip to Lost 's legion of obsessed fans: "Harold Perrineau will be back on the show this year," said Lindelof. "Cynthia Watros will be back!" said Cuse. You heard it here first. And some other changes are afoot as well. "We're doing something different narratively in this season," said Cuse, which that doesn't require either a deep investment or in-depth knowledge about the series. (Just what that could mean? Hmmm....) So what can fans expect from the beginning of Season Six of Lost ? "The season premiere picks up right after

FOX has officially announced that it has given a series order to a US version of musical competition series X Factor , which will launch in fall of 2011. As a result, Simon Cowell will depart American Idol at the end of the upcoming season and will take over as host and executive producer of X Factor . "I’m thrilled that we have put a date on the launch of the U.S. version of The X Factor , and delighted to be continuing to work with FOX," said Cowell in a statement. "We have a fantastic relationship, a great team and are all very excited about this." The full press release from FOX can be found below. “THE X FACTOR” TO LAUNCH ON FOX IN 2011 FOX announced today that THE X FACTOR will launch in the U.S. in the fall of 2011. Simon Cowell, who created and launched THE X FACTOR in the U.K. in 2004, will serve as both executive producer and judge on the U.S. version, which will be produced by Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America. THE X FACTOR is currently

Time to take another walk on the dark side. AMC has finally announced a launch date for Season Three of critically-acclaimed drama series Breaking Bad . The cabler will launch the third season on Sunday, March 21st at 10 pm ET/PT and will offer a "best of Breaking Bad " marathon on Friday, March 19th. The full press release from AMC can be found below. AMC ANNOUNCES “BREAKING BAD” SEASON THREE PREMIERE SUNDAY, MARCH 21 AT 10PM ET/PT Back-to-Back Emmy® Winner Bryan Cranston Directs Season Premiere “The Best of Breaking Bad” Marathon Begins Friday, March 19 at 8pm “Top 10 Baddest Moments” and Other Exclusive Content on AMCTV.com New York, NY – January 11, 2010 – AMC will premiere the highly anticipated third season of “Breaking Bad” on Sunday, March 21 at 10pm ET/PT. Back-to-back Emmy® winner Bryan Cranston will serve double duty as director of the premiere episode, “No Mas.” Leading up to the highly-anticipated new season will be a “Best of Breaking Bad” Marathon, featuri

FOX has announced a start date for the thirteen-episode action-comedy Code 58 (formerly known as Jack and Dan ), from creator Matt Nix ( Burn Notice ) and Fox Television Studios. The series, which stars Bradley Whitford, Colin Hanks, Jenny Wade, and Diana Maria Riva, will officially launch on Monday, June 7th at 8 pm ET/PT but Code 58 will have "special previews" on Wednesday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 19th. "I’m incredibly excited to be doing the show at FOX," said creator Matt Nix. "It’s a network that’s known for pushing limits, and that’s what we’re doing here. They’ve really embraced the quirkier, more unconventional aspects of the show, and even encouraged me to go further with them." The full press release from FOX can be found below. “CODE 58 (working title)” PREMIERES MONDAY, JUNE 7, WITH SPECIAL PREVIEWS WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, AND WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, ON FOX New Series from Matt Nix Stars Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks CODE 58 (working title), th

Glee fans: it's time to sing. In a completely unsurprising move, FOX has officially announced that it has renewed musical comedy Glee for a second season. "We’ve loved Glee ever since it was a pilot script, so it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season," said Kevin Reilly, FOX President, Entertainment. "The show is a true and rare gem in television. We couldn’t be more proud of what Ryan Murphy and the Glee team have created so far, and can’t wait to see what they come up with for Season Two." Glee 's first season, meanwhile, is set to return to the schedule on Tuesday, April 13th at 9 pm ET/PT. The full press release from FOX announcing the renewal can be found below. GLEEKS REJOICE! FOX PICKS UP SECOND SEASON OF “GLEE” NATIONWIDE OPEN CASTING CALL FOR “GLEE” BEGINS FEBRUARY AND WILL AIR AS MULTI-PART SPECIAL THIS FALL ON FOX Series Returns with All-New Episodes Tu

NBC made the right call in trotting out Jeff Gaspin to answer questions alongside Angela Bromstad at this morning's NBC executive sessions here at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena. While critics were eager to get some answers on the still-developing schedule changes afoot at the network (which would have Jay Leno potentially moving to a half-hour timeslot at 11:35 pm--after the local news--and Conan moving The Tonight Show to 12:05 am, followed by Jimmy Fallon at 1:05 am), there wasn't the same baying for blood that marked the August appearance of Bromstad and reality czar Paul Telegdy. Anticipating the need for concrete information about the Leno-O'Brien situation, Gaspin began the session by stating unequivocally, "I can confirm that, starting February 12th, Jay Leno will no longer air at 10 pm." He also confirmed reports that the current proposal has Leno shifting to 11:35 pm, Conan retaining The Tonight Show title and moving t

Yep, it's that time of year again as television critics and reporters descend on Los Angeles en masse for the annual Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, being held once again in Pasadena. I'll be attending again as I have for the last few press tours. Look for me to be filing stories directly from Pasadena beginning tomorrow, as well as live-tweeting several sessions and doing some one-on-one interviews for upcoming features. Wondering what the executives have to say about the network's upcoming midseason programming? Want to hear what Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have to say about Season Six of Lost ? Want some tidbits from the cast and crew of NBC's Parks and Recreation? You've come to the right place. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and keep refreshing the main page here at Televisionary for the latest information, gossip, and intel from the TCA Press Tour. Stay tuned.