[Televisionary]

Bravo has announced an replacement for outgoing Top Chef host Katie Lee Joel who " departed " the culinary reality series last month, locking 36- year-old Indian supermodel, author, and actress Padma Lakshmi to step into Joel's designer shoes. Known as the world's first Indian supermodel, Padma Lakshmi joins Bravo's Top Chef at the start of the second season, where she'll introduce the challenges to the contestants and join Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons at the judges' table each episode. Lakshmi is no stranger to the culinary world, having hosted cooking series Padma's Passport and documentary series Planet Food on Food Network. For the latter, Lakshmi traveled the world on an ongoing quest for exotic cuisine. She is currently writing her second cookbook, which is due to be published next spring. Her first cookbook, "Easy Exotic," netted her a prize at the International Versailles Event for the best cookbook by a first time author. Laks

If NBC's lackluster summer reality entry Treasure Hunters isn't exciting enough of a hunt for you during these warm summer months, why not do a little sleuthing with the accounting department of Dunder-Mifflin's Scranton branch office? Fortunately, your solution is here as yesterday brought the launch of the first two webisode installments of NBC's The Office: The Accountants . A sum of three thousand dollars has gone missing from the coffers of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton and it's up to the crack detective team of Angela (Angela Kinsey), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), and Oscar (Oscar Nunez) to unmask the thief and recover the missing cash. Ten webisodes, appearing every Thursday on NBC's Office website, will follow this dynamic, um, trio as they question the paper manufacturer's employees. (One caveat, however: don't hold your breath for appearances from Michael, Jim, or Pam.) While each installment may only be three minutes in length, much of the fun comes

Okay, I finally succumbed to peer pressure and watched the third season premiere of Bravo's fashion reality series Project Runway . And, guess what? I was hooked. From the champagne toast on the roof to Heidi Klum's adorable German accent to Tim Gunn's studio walkthrough critiques, I couldn't get enough. While I've always kept the series on my televisionary radar (I know all about Santino), I tried to resist the lure of yet another reality TV show. It was a mistake because Project Runway is the perfect summertime reality show: bubbly, cool, and buzz-inducing. Like a chilled glass of champagne on the roof of an Atlas apartment complex. Part of my newfound appreciation of the show comes from the fact that, for the most part anyway, these 15 competitors actually have talent and experience as designers, unlike say, most of the chefs on Hell's Kitchen . (Which, to be honest, is more about Gordon Ramsay than the competitors anyway.) It's always hard to root for p

In a move that smacks of overkill, mobile service provider Cingular has pacted with HBO to release mobile episodes of Entourage featuring D-Lister Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon). The mini-episodes will only be made available to Cingular customers who also subscribe to HBO Mobile and will be written by Entourage 's writers. (In another deal, Cingular customers will be able download full-length episodes of HBO's Entourage , Dane Cook's Tourgasm , Sex and the City , and Curb Your Enthusiasm .) According to Cingular's official press release , there will actually be a so-called story going on in these mini-installments: “The premise of the made-for-mobile Entourage story is (appropriately): Johnny Drama makes a “cellivision” show. Customers can view a series of short vignettes based on this premise as they continue to enjoy the adventures of the friends from Queens on the Hollywood road to fame and fortune.” Could this be the big break that Johnny Drama has been working fo

I'll admit that I found the BBC's Monarch of the Glen to be a little, well, twee the first time I caught an episode on BBC America. When Monarch 's first season was released on DVD a few years back, I decided to give the series a second chance and placed it in my Netflix queue. Happily, I quickly became enchanted by this Scottish drama about the conflicting forces of familial duty and personal desire and eagerly consumed the series' subsequent seasons on television. Over the past few years, Monarch has quickly become one of my favorite series, a cozy cup of tea before bedtime in television form. Granted, Monarch of the Glen is a drama series so chaste that characters seem to fall in love and propose after nothing more than a first date and a peck on the cheek, but that's all part of the charm of this wacky, whimsical family drama, set in the gorgeous Scottish Highlands. At the start of the series, prodigal son Archie MacDonald (Alastair Mackenzie) arrives at Glen

"Battlestar Galactica" Sets Course for October Launch of Season Three Sci-Fi has announced a premiere date for the third season of its hit drama, Battlestar Galactica , according to a report filed by The Futon Critic . The third season premiere is set for Friday, October 6th at 10 pm ET/PT. Like its second season BSG 's third season will be broken into two sections, with Season 3.0 airing ten episodes through December 8th; Season 3.5 will air sometime in 2007 with an additional 10 installments. I don't know about you, but BSG has become appointment television for me. If you weren't lucky enough to snag an Emmy screener set containing all of Season 2.0 and 2.5, fret not. Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 is set to be released on DVD on September 19th, leaving you plenty of time to catch up on the drama and wacky antics of Apollo, Starbuck, Roslin, Adama, and that duplicitous weasel Gaius Baltar. And after that cliffhanger ending, I'm on pins and needles to to s

Arrested Development 's Alia Shawkat (Maeby Funke) has told TV Guide that a feature film adaptation of Arrested Development is in the works. In an interview about her upcoming Lifetime Original Movie, Not Like Everybody Else (premiering tonight at 9 pm ET/PT), Shawkat said, "Mitch actually recently told us that there is a good possibility for a movie, and that he's talking to Ron Howard about it." (So there's hope yet for Arrested fans to see some continuing adventures of the Bluth Family.) As for that other burning question: Will Shawkat and fellow Arrested alum Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth) be returning to Veronica Mars ? According to Shawkat: "The creator [Rob Thomas] was a huge fan of Arrested , and he told us that he would love to have us back. But I know that Michael is busy and I'm in Vancouver right now, and we haven't officially been approached about anything. But it was fun to do." Rob Thomas, if you're listening, there&#