[Televisionary]

I'm still shocked by last night's Lost but wanted to offer just a few quick thoughts about Veronica Mars . Yes, I succumbed to the temptation of watching this week's episode online at CWTV.com rather than waiting for the rescheduled telecast on KTLA on Saturday (don't worry, I plan to watch again, to keep up those all-important ratings numbers); I couldn't help myself. Still, this week's episode of Veronica Mars ("Debasement Tapes") was all about the guest star: Paul Rudd, who should by law be required to guest star on every television series I watch. Or to have a series of his own. Or, you know, release an album. The star of Clueless , Wet Hot American Summer , and The 40-Year-Old Virgin did not disappoint in his star turn this week as has-been rocker Desmond Fellows, whose band My Pretty Pony seemed an amorphous mix of 90s grunge bands like Nirvana and Mother Love Bone (who later became, yes, Pearl Jam). Rudd was fantastic as Fellows, turning him i

Following yesterday's discussion of my personal favorites from the current crop of drama pilots up for consideration for the 2007-08 season, I'm today turning my attention to this year's comedy pilots. I do have to say that things are looking pretty grim for comedies this year. Sure, the TV landscape is surprisingly lush at the moment with quality comedies like The Office and 30 Rock , but this year's comedy pilot scripts were, at best, sub-par. Which isn't to say that there weren't a few gems glistening among the wreckage ( Area 57 , pictured, wasn't one of them). So which comedy pilot scripts did I like best? Let's find out. The Return of Jezebel James (FOX): What can I say? I loved it. It's a return to form for Amy Sherman-Palladino, revisiting the multi-camera set-up of her days as a scribe on Roseanne , and a female-driven comedy that crackles with wit and depth as it tells the story not of an unbelievable close mother and daughter, but an es

Those of us in LA fortunate enough to be far away from that awful Griffith Park raging fire tuned in to the CW last night hoping to get our minds off the fire by catching up with our favorite blonde sleuth. We were in for a bit of a nasty shock as the CW pre-empted the telecast in favor of the local news. The episode of Veronica Mars ("Debasement Tapes") is up on the CW's website for those of you who can't wait for the televised version, but regardless, be sure to tune in to the rescheduled airing as we need to keep those viewing numbers up. (UPDATE: KTLA will show the episode in its entirety this Saturday at 9 pm.) Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter is indicating that Veronica Mars is inching ever closer to a fourth season renewal , following a "warm reception" at the network towards the trailer focusing on Veronica as a Clarice Starling-style FBI agent in training. As previously reported, the new direction, envisioned by Rob Thomas, would propel the plot

With the network upfronts scheduled for next week (I cannot wait!), I thought I'd take a look at this year's current crop of pilots, some of which will blossom into full grown series next week. I can honestly say that I have now read every single drama and comedy pilot at every single broadcast and cable network that is up for consideration for the 2007-08 schedule. (It's a demanding job but somebody has to do it.) Yes, ladies and gentlemen, every single one. From Cashmere Mafia to Marlowe , The Return of Jezebel James to I'm in Hell (a fitting title), no pilot is beneath this Televisionary's piercing gaze. So which drama pilots did I like and what new series do I hope will make it onto their respective networks' schedules? Sit back and find out. Dirty Sexy Money (ABC): Equally one of my favorite drama pilot scripts this year (save the remarkable Damages , which has been ordered to series at FX), it is a tantalizing combination of Arrested Development and D

Alas, poor Milo. I had a feeling someone would take a bullet in this week's episode of 24 but I hardly expected it to be Milo. That is until he and Nadia tried to have an adult conversation about their stolen kiss earlier this season. That's when I knew he was a goner. Milo Pressman, grumpy, prone to tantrums, and odd facial hair, stood up to the Chinese terrorists who invaded CTU and announced himself as the acting director (following Bill Buchanan's firing by, you know, his wife Karen) in order to protect his would-be girlfriend Nadia Yassir from possible danger. I did actually gasp when the gun-toting villain then shot Milo right in the head. (In a show that's gotten as needlessly serpentine and dull as this season's 24 , I take my rightfully earned shocks as they come.) While there was barely a reaction from Chloe or Morris, Nadia was shaken (justifiably), especially when the gunmen then learned she was the actual acting director of CTU. Still, if anyone was go

Excuse me while I wipe the vomit from my television. I cannot believe that Eric and Danielle are now a million dollars richer and that Dustin and Kandice didn't win this thing. Hell, I'd rather Charla and Mirna won this rather than Eric and Danielle. Grr. It just makes me so damn angry. Last night's season finale of The Amazing Race stirred up all sorts of emotions as I vacillated between hope that the Beauty Queens would win (making them the first female team to win TAR ) and depression at the thought that they'd come in a close second. (Why couldn't there have been another flag challenge to throw Eric?) Still, I was a little nervous when I saw the tension between Dustin and Kandice take their toll after the disastrous kayaking expedition off the shore of Shipwreck Beach in Hawaii. (Whose idea was it exactly to get out of the boat and *walk* with it?) The car ride afterwards was even more tense as Kandice attacked Dustin for her ego and poor teamwork. (Oh, come on

The castaways will make it off the island a little sooner, after all. I've finally had a chance to digest the news that ABC will be announcing an endgame for Lost in the next week or so... and I think it's a good thing. After all, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been clamouring for just that for some time now and, well, serialized dramas have been looking mighty anemic of late . Just look at how far poor, bedeviled 24 has fallen. When he's not getting crushed by those Heroes , Jack Bauer's been getting his ass kicked by D-list celebrities on Dancing with the Stars . But those kids over at Heroes better not get too comfortable either; nearly 3 million less people tuned into NBC's drama when it returned with a fresh batch of sweeps-scented episodes recently. (Not to mention CBS's Jericho , which has been struggling, or the scads of dramas--like The Nine or Day Break or Kidnapped --which didn't even make it to 13 episodes.) Lost has always been a se