[Televisionary]

Network Upfronts start today with the Peacock getting the first go-around at the fall schedule announcements. There's still a few hours to go until NBC makes its announcement, but that wily Kevin Reilly has already officially publicized what the fall schedule will look like. "Last year we promised a return to the NBC legacy of quality, and in terms of awards, buzz and critical acclaim, that's just what we delivered," said NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly in a statement. "We've got the class and next season we're ready to add some mass, with new shows that build on the creative accomplishments of last season and are as broad as they are good. Combine the energy of these new programs with the bulked-up strength of our existing NBC hits and you've got a lineup that's poised to take us to the next level." Without further ado, a sneak peek at NBC's fall schedule: NBC Primetime Schedule for the 2007-08 Season: MONDAY 8-9 pm: Deal or No

Every once in a while a pilot comes along that completely shocks and surprises you with its dazzling beauty, pitch perfect cast, and its casual ability to create a whole world that you never want to leave. I'm talking, gentle readers, about Pushing Daisies , which ABC recently ordered to series for the fall season. From the fertile mind of Bryan Fuller ( Wonderfalls , Heroes ), it's unlike anything you've ever seen on television, a Burtonesque vision of mortality, morality, and, er, pies that sucks you in from the very opening scene and never lets go. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld ( The Addams Family ), Pushing Daisies has a super-saturated color palette that jars sharply (and intentionally) with its life-and-death theme: Lee Pace ( Wonderfalls ) plays Ned, a lonely pie maker who, as a child, discovers that he has the ability to bring dead things back to life, a gift he uses to full effect, when his beloved dog Dibney is hit by a truck in the pilot's beautiful and bruta

With NBC and ABC announcing multiple series orders for their pilots, FOX had to get in the game as well, quietly ordering three dramas and three comedies to series yesterday. I'm thrilled to report that one of my favorite comedy pilot scripts , Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Return of Jezebel James , has received a series order for fall. The series, which stars Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as estranged sisters who reunite when the older, more responsible one (Posey) asks the her flaky irresponsible sib (Ambrose) to carry her baby. It also stars Gilmore Girls ' Scott Cohen (remember Max Medina?) and features the series' trademark snap, crackle, and pop witty banter that made Sherman-Palladino a favorite in the Televisionary household. What else was ordered? The Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton -led Back to You (a.k.a. Action News) , which had already received a 13-episode order from FOX earlier this year, was on the shortlist, along with The Rules of Starting Over , s

Is it just me or are the networks releasing a lot of series orders way in advance of next week's upfront presentations? ABC managed to steal NBC's thunder by ordering no less than ten pilots to series. What made the list? Well, it was a diverse group of seven dramas, including a few that made my list of the best pilot scripts, and three comedies (with only one fave in the bunch). On the drama front, ABC granted series orders to my favorite drama script this season, Bryan Fuller's beautifully whimsical drama Pushing Daisies (look for a review of the completed pilot on Monday), which had me jumping for joy when I heard the news. Whether the American viewing public will warm up to this charming and imaginative series, reminiscent of a brighter version of Wonderfalls --starring that series' Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Swoozie Kurtz, and Kristen Chenoweth--remains to be seen. I'm just praying they don't dump it, like Fuller's Wonderfalls , on Friday nigh

Now that 's how a super-sized episode works. Last night's episode of The Office ("Beach Games") completely took away the bad taste in my mouth (that's what she said) from last week's stretched-to-the-limits installment. In this case, the episode was swiftly paced, with some hilarious laugh-out loud moments and some emotional character beats, to boot. What other series would feature the tantalizing juxtaposition of Andy Bernard floating around a lake in an inflatable sumo wrestling suit... and a confession/declaration from Pam? While this episode took the characters out of their Scranton, Pennsylvania office environment, I felt that it worked in this example. My former employers had a beach day every year (granted, it's LA), but the idea of a work-related field trip is one that most people can easily relate to and understand (unlike, say, a trip to a beet farm). The episodes that take place outside of the office work best when they're directly related

It's always a happy day when three of your favorite drama pilots get ordered to series, all in the same day, and all before the network upfronts have even begun. NBC today gave series orders to five dramas, including Bionic Woman , Journeyman , and Chuck . Bionic Woman comes from NBC Universal, David Eick Productions, and G.E.P. Productions Inc. It stars Michelle Ryan ( EastEnders ) as a down on her luck bartender who is forced to undergo a radical surgery to save her life after a car accident that turns her into a bionic dynamo. The cast also includes Chris Bower, Miguel Ferrer, Will Yun Lee, Mae Whitman, and Molly Price. Journeyman , from 20th Century Fox Television, stars Kevin McKidd ( Rome ) as a man who suddenly finds himself traveling into the past in order to change people's lives, sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. But when he encounters his long-dead fiancée (Moon Bloodgood), who was killed in a plane crash, he finds himself torn between saving her and re

Oh. My. God. Please tell me Locke isn't dead. That Ben didn't just shoot him in the gut. That he didn't just fall in an open mass grave containing the bodies of every man, woman, and child from the Dharma Initiative on the island. Where's that super-fast healing when you need it? I am just in complete and utter shock from last night's episode of Lost ("The Man Behind the Curtain"), which gave us more than a little glimpse into the entire life of the enigmatic Benjamin Linus and answered more than a few questions in the process. I'm still shaking hours later. (Talk about shoehorning a crescendo of reveals into a single episode. Whew!) Locke. I have to start with Locke, because I simply cannot get that scene out of my mind. Ben has taken him to "see" Jacob and then leads him to where he "comes from," i.e., the death of the Dharma Initiative and then shoots the poor guy in the gut. I'm thinking that Alex gave him the gun just for