[Televisionary]

In a summer filled with premature cancellations, I shouldn't really be surprised by any network pulling the trigger. That said, I was stunned to learn that CBS has canceled reality series Pirate Master , which had recently moved to Tuesday nights after launching a few weeks ago (and failing to find traction) on Thursday. Five unaired episodes of Pirate Master , from reality maven Mark Burnett, remain and will be burned off on CBS.com, with new episodes appearing every Tuesday at 3 am ET/midnight PT, beginning tomorrow. Pirate-themed reality series, which failed to find an audience this summer, will also be made available to the CBS Audience Network. Hmmm, maybe the pirates shouldn't have voted Joe Don off the ship after all.

Looks like the Peacock has a reason to be proud. The Television Critics Association handed out its trophies this weekend, giving four key awards to NBC. I'm pleased as punch that NBC's The Office nabbed the trophy for outstanding achievement in comedy for the second year in a row. (Take that, According to Jim !) Lest you worry, 30 Rock wasn't shut out of the proceedings; 30 Rock 's Alec Baldwin picked up the award for individual achievement in comedy. On the drama side, Heroes walked away with the trophy for outstanding program of the year, while The Sopranos ' swan song racked up two: one for outstanding achievement in drama and the Heritage Award, given to programs that are felt to have a long-term impact on culture and society. Meanwhile, Michael C. Hall was awarded the individual achievement award for his work on Showtime's Dexter. In a surprise move, NBC's Friday Night Lights took home the top prize for outstanding new program, beating out a slew of

Fans of BBC's Hyperdrive or Channel 4's Black Books might just want to make their way down to the ABC Family booth at Comic Con. Cabler ABC Family will be on hand at the convention later this week to promote several of its series, including upcoming animated series Slacker Cats , about the misadventures of two ne'er-do-well cats. Voice talent includes Alex Borstein, Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Harland Williams, Sinbad, Emo Philips, and Nicole Sullivan. So what does this series have to do with Black Books and Hyperdrive ? I'm glad you asked. Creators Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, who created the BBC2 comedy Hyperdrive (starring Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz 's Nick Frost) and wrote several episodes of the hysterically surreal Black Books --including one of my personal favorite episodes "Manny Come Home," which guest starred Simon Pegg--just happen to be the creators of Slacker Cats , which launches August 13th on ABC Family. They'll be at the ABC Famil

24 has elected its first female president. Supporting a rumor I had heard last week (which FOX, via the Hollywood Reporter , still refused to confirm), Season Seven of beleaguered drama 24 will feature its first female president and has cast Cherry Jones. Producers on the series had been weighing creating a female president for the series, which returns for its seventh season in January, after a season that many--both viewers and critics (myself included)--felt was creatively lacking . No word on whether the early rumors that indicated the female president would be living at the White House with a husband and child are still true or if these characters have been removed. The Tony Award-winning Jones, best known for her work as an acclaimed stage actor, has also been featured in films such as Ocean's Twelve , Signs , Cradle Will Rock , and The Village . What's On Tonight 8 pm: How I Met Your Mother /The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); Age of Love (NBC); Everybody Hate

Pie and a comic book? Only a few more days to go to Comic-Con and, while I've already seen the pilot for ABC's Pushing Daisies about a zillion times (check out a new promo here ), I cannot wait to attend the Q&A panel after the pilot screening with the cast and crew of Warner Bros. Television's new drama. Along with giving out pie to the first 300 attendees (the pie is an in-joke that those of you familiar with the series will already get), Warner Bros. has unveiled the cover (shown left, thanks to the good folks at Warner Bros. Television) for the comic book companion to Bryan Fuller's super-saturated supernatural drama Pushing Daisies . It's a Comic-Con exclusive, which means you can only get the Pushing Daisies comic book next week in San Diego at the Warner Bros.' booth. Supplies, as they say, will be extremely limited so be sure to drop by and get your Pushing Daisies comic before they're gone!

Confession time. While there is a whole plethora of new summer series to watch this season (including next week's launch of Damages on FX), the one show I keep finding myself watching is none other than Veronica Mars . Yes, I've started over at the very beginning and have been steadily working my way back through Season One of Veronica Mars this summer, relishing in every single plot twist and turn as Veronica and Papa Keith investigate the murder of Lily Kane and, you know, solve a few dozen other mysteries along the way. While I never forgot how much I loved the now-canceled Veronica Mars (which, sadly, had its final send-off on the CW last Tuesday), it's been brilliant fun going back and watching all of the set up for the eventual reveal of Lily's killer. And little things too: seeing Logan and our girl Veronica go from hostile animosity to full-blown lust over the course of 16 episodes or so. Remember when he vandalized her car in the pilot episode? And when they

NBC's returning drama Heroes has again expanded its cast, adding another young actress to the mix. Dana Davis, whom some of you might remember from this season's drama debacle The Nine (or from the pilot episode of CW's cancelled summer skein Hidden Palms ), has signed on to NBC's Heroes as a regular. She'll play new hero Monica but NBC and Universal Media Studios are keeping details about what exactly her powers are firmly under wraps. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter , Davis' character "would give up everything to help the people around her." So... some sort of healing ability? Davis joins a slew of recent Heroes cast announcements that include Dania Ramirez, Nick D'Agosto, David Anders, Eriko Tamura, Lyndsy Fonseca, and Dianna Agron. Just one word of advice: don't get too attached to any of them. What's On Tonight 8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); 1 vs. 100 (NBC); WWE Friday Night SmackDown (CW; 8-10 pm); Set for Life (ABC