[Televisionary]

Everyone here knows how much I love The Office . I loved the British original way back when before anyone over on this side of the pond had even so much as heard of the thing; I bemoaned NBC's attempt to adapt the series for a US audience, following the debacle that was Coupling ; and I grew to love the US Office after its first season. In my spare time, I create wish lists for Season Four of my beloved comedy series. Clearly, I am an Office fanatic in every sense of the word. So what is making me so worried that I can't get the very fear off of my mind grapes? It's those hour-long episodes that former NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly had touted at the network upfronts in May, right before he got the axe and Office executive producer Ben Silverman was brought in as the new man on the top of the totem pole. You might be asking yourself why I'm so up in arms about the one-hour episodes if I'm a fan of the series. After all, isn't an hour-long episode j

Richard Tyler is a bad-ass. That's really all I wanted to say about this week's episode of The 4400 ("Daddy's Little Girl"), which finally brought the much-missed Richard Tyler back into the fold. I've missed Richard and Lily (she, obviously, for much longer) and I'm glad to see that the series' producers have decided not to drop last season's dangling plotline, in which Richard took off on his own after depowering his duplicitous daughter Isabelle. So what does Papa Richard do as soon as he turns up in Seattle? Why, track down the errant Isabelle, kidnap her, and force her to drink a solution that begins to turn her back into an infant. Sure, Isabelle, er, grew up way too fast (literally overnight) but I couldn't believe that Richard would do something so devious as to rob his only child of her free will and trick her into starting over as a child. Tabula rasa. Isn't it something we all wish we could have? Some might say that Isabelle is

Looks like Harvey Keitel won't be returning to television anytime soon. Rumors had pegged the former Bad Lieutenant star Keitel as a lock for being the replacement for outbound Criminal Minds linchpin Mandy Patinkin, who very publicly decided to depart the series at the start of the upcoming season. (Coincidentally, I've been watching Patinkin in the first season of Showtime's Dead Like Me these past few days.) However, Criminal Minds showrunner Ed Bernero has instead announced (via the Criminal Minds Fanatic blog ) that Joe Mantegna will join the cast of the police procedural next season. Details about the new character that Mantegna will play and when said character will first premiere remain under wraps. The reason behind the switcheroo? Negotiations with Keitel went nowhere and producers were forced to look elsewhere for a new series lead. Mantegna for his part has appeared on the Tiffany network several times in the last few years, appearing on Joan of Arcadia , F

As a courtesy to those of you who missed the original invitation on Tuesday , see below for details on the free screening of Pushing Daisies in LA: Still haven't seen the highly anticipated fall series Pushing Daisies ? If you haven't and live in LA (or are conveniently situated to drive to said locale), ABC is hosting a sneak preview screening of the pilot for forensic fairy tale Pushing Daisies on Thursday. Fittingly, the Pushing Daisies event will take place at Hollywood Forever cemetery , which--if you've never been there--is the perfect place for a late night summer film. Select members of the cast and crew will be hand to introduce the event, which promises to be highly entertaining. Details below for the Pushing Daisies screening. What: Pushing Daisies Sneak Peek When: Thursday, August 16th at 8 pm (but get there early!) Where: Hollywood Forever Cemetery 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90038 Trust me, this is one event you don't want to miss. And, if t

I was both intrigued by and fearful of BBC America's latest Brit drama import, Jekyll . After all, it was created by writer/producer Steven Moffat (of Coupling and Doctor Who fame), which lent credence to its high standards of quality, but it also concerned me: would this be the umpteenth retelling/re-imagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel of psychological horror? In the end, I needn't have worried at all. Moffat's Jekyll is a heart-racing, tense, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that never lets up its breakneck pace or taut stylishness. It also deals head on with the that aforementioned Robert Louis Stevenson gem in an interesting and compelling way: by acknowledging it. While that might seem the height of foolishness, just the opposite is the result. This Jekyll definitely owes a debt to the original author and what better way to construct an homage than to actually use the source text? In the world of Jekyll, Robert Louis Stevenson did write the novel,

Sharpen your stakes. I can't tell you how excited I am to share this news. After months of waiting (and waiting), HBO has finally announced that they have officially ordered Alan Ball's latest series, True Blood . Ball ( Six Feet Under ) wrote and directed the pilot for True Blood and it is anticipated that he will write several episodes of the supernatural drama. Based on the acclaimed Southern Vampire novel series by Charlaine Harris, True Blood will go into production this fall. However, the pay cabler still hasn't determined an episode count or launch date for the series. (I'd guess sometime in mid-2008 or as late as fall 2008.) True Blood will star Anna Paquin , Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Stephen Moyer , and Brook Kerr. Paquin toplines as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress and social pariah, who falls for a seductive vampire (Moyer) in rural Louisiana. Vampires, having developed a synthetic blood, freely mingle with humans. Ball's pilot script for Tr

Say what you want about FOX's trashy Hell's Kitchen, but Bravo's superior Top Chef has usually managed to stay above the fray and remain relatively classy (well, except for that head-shaving incident last season, anyway). So I was a little upset to see the competition take an ugly turn this week on last night's episode of Top Chef ("Guilty Pleasures"), especially considering that this crew of chefs seemed on the whole to be more supportive of one another. Well, except for maybe Hung. I've never really been a fan of Howie, either, but last night his true colors really came through. Howie really is an aggressive bulldog of a chef, barking commands, snarling when confronted, and unable to work as part of a cohesive group. It's telling that any time there has been a team challenge this season, Howie's team has ended up placing in the bottom. Coincidence? More on that in a bit. Last night's Quickfire Challenge was yet another product placement o