[Televisionary]

As there have been a lot of new visitors popping up here at Televisionary lately, I thought I'd take the opportunity this Memorial Day to take a look back at some recent posts that may have given you a reason to take a break (or sneak one) from work. (Not that I'm advocating that or anything, mind you.) Hopefully, you're off from work today, with the family, having a lazy old day of it. But if you happen to be stuck inside, below are a few Televisionary moments to keep you entertained... Pilot Inspektor: ABC's V ABC's Modern Family NBC's Community ABC's Happy Town Network Upfronts 2009: CW Announces Primetime Schedule, Orders Four Series, Shifts "Smallville" to Friday Nights CBS Announces Fall Primetime Schedule, Picks Up "Medium" from NBC, Orders Eight New Series NBC Unveils Fall and Spring Schedules, "Chuck," "Day One," and "Mercy" to Midseason, "Friday Night Lights" to Summer Chuck Me Times Three...

Televisionary is proud to be a member of the TV Blog Coalition. At the end of each week, we'll feature a roundup of content from our sister sites for your delectation. This week, I offered up extremely advance reviews on the full pilots of such new series as ABC's V , ABC's Modern Family , NBC's Community , and ABC's Happy Town . And I reported on all of the goings-on at the 2009 network upfronts, including FOX , ABC , NBC , CBS , and the CW ... and kept you up to date with all of the advance renewal/cancellation news and rumors . I also had the glorious news about the Chuck renewal (and even had the renewal scoop early ), offered some dish on Melrose Place , reviewed the True Blood: Season One DVD, reviewed FOX's Glee pilot (and offered a talk back ), and offered an advance review of the Gossip Girl season finale. Elsewhere in the sophisticated TV-obsessed section of the blogosphere, members of the TV Blog Coalition were discussing the following items... Se...

For the last two years, NBC has sought to find a series to cement its lineup of comedies on Thursday nights... with mixed results. Last season's offering, Kath & Kim , didn't quite gel with the wit and dry humor of veterans 30 Rock and The Office and was quickly sent to the mall in the sky. And Parks & Recreation, from the executive producers of The Office , hasn't quite lived up to its potential or pedigree. Next season, NBC will launch another new comedy series, Community , which will join returnees 30 Rock, The Office , and Parks and Recreation on the Thursday night roster. I had the opportunity last night to watch the full pilot episode of Community and believe that NBC may have finally found a worthy addition to its "Comedy Done Right" lineup. The dry-witted and caustically funny Community , written by Dan Harmon ( The Sarah Silverman Program ) and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo ( Arrested Development ), tells the story of Jeff Crocker ( The S...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. (Following a week that included the 2009 network upfronts, I think we are all looking forward to a three-day weekend.) SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has the dish on the actual set-up of the new Melrose Place series, kicking off this fall on the CW, and it will either make you squeal with delight or make you want to scream, well, bloody murder. "Sources confirm to me exclusively that the dead body found floating face down in Melrose 's trademark pool in the opening minutes belongs to none other than Laura Leighton's bitchtastic ex-stripper," writes Ausiello of Melrose's seemingly resurrected Sydney. "I'm told her death will set in motion a season-long murder mystery that finds nearly all of the show's principal characters -- particularly Syd's ex, Michael (Thomas Calabro) -- a possible suspect." Leighton, meanwhile, will continue to appear on the series via flashback...

ABC made a bold statement at its upfront presentation the other day when it presented new midseason drama series Happy Town as hailing "from the network that brought you Twin Peaks ." The statement rubbed me the wrong way for a number of reasons. First, it's not exactly like the executives who developed Twin Peaks even still work at ABC. Second, ABC may have brought us Twin Peaks but it just as quickly canceled David Lynch's groundbreaking drama, which aired a stunning nineteen years ago. And third, Happy Town should not be making any comparisons between itself and Twin Peaks because it is certainly no Twin Peaks . I had the opportunity the other night to watch Happy Town 's 90-minute pilot and the only similarities I could find between it and Twin Peaks were that (A) they both air on ABC and (B) they are both set in small towns where the sunny exteriors belie a secret underbelly of darkness. ( Happy Town itself seems to relish the comparison, even having ...

Welcome to Day Four, the last day of the 2009 network upfronts. Up last is netlet the CW, which has now unveiled its primetime schedule for advertisers. As expected, the CW has ordered three new series for fall, with Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries , and The Beautiful Life joining the schedule and drama Parental Discretion Advised (formerly known as Light Years ) getting a midseason berth. Melrose Place gets the post- 90210 spot, echoing the original pairing of the two series when FOX launched Melrose Place way back in 1992. And it was widely believed that the CW would pair new drama The Beautiful Life --about the personal and professional lives of young models--with reality franchise America's Next Top Model on Wednesdays and, sure enough, they did. (No surprises there.) More intriguing, however, is that the CW will break up its combination of Smallville and Supernatural on Thursdays and bump Smallville , returning for its ninth and final season, to Friday nights in order to...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Wondering just what Season Three of NBC's Chuck will be like? For one thing the series' core trio isn't going anywhere. "Yes. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey are in all episodes," said Chuck co-creator/executive producer Josh Schwartz. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello catches up with Schwartz to find out about Season Three, budget cuts, Subway, returning supporting cast members ("We have plans for Anna to return"), and about being off the air for ten months. "It was really a tough choice that the network faced: Put us on Friday or [hold us until] midseason," said Schwartz. "I really believe Chuck is the little show that could. Our fans are clearly passionate, clearly loyal, and hopefully all we'll do is get them more and more [excited] for our return. And we'll come up with fun ways of stoking the fans throughout the fall. We also have something very, very fun planned for...