[Televisionary]

I'm not entirely sure how NBC's Chuck became such a contentious, controversial series, but after my write-up of last week's episode ("Chuck Versus the Ex") garnered some vociferous responses on both sides (those who loved the episode versus, well, those who didn't), I wanted to be sure to see what everyone thought of this week's episode ("Chuck Versus the Fat Lady"), the second in a three-part storyline that featured the return of Chuck's ex-girlfriend Jill. (You can read my advance review of the entire three-episode story arc here .) While Chuck and Jill grew closer--despite the disapproving glare of Casey and the more-than-slightly jealous shifty glances of Sarah--astute audiences were, of course, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And drop it did in last night's episode in which the team goes on the hunt for a computer file containing the identities of every single Fulcrum agent within the CIA, Chuck betrays Casey and Sarah to save

I'll admit it. Initially, I was a little concerned with the idea of comedian Catherine Tate's Donna Noble joining the Doctor for the entirety of the series' fourth season... but Tate's winning performance as spunky and headstrong Donna quickly won me over and, if I'm being honest, I have to say that Donna is perhaps my favorite companion now. While Tate's turn in Season Three's "The Runaway Bride" pegged Donna as a comedic foil for the Doctor, Season Four quickly gives her some much needed character development and transforms the uppity Cockney girl into a tragic figure of pathos. (If that's not a head-turning surprise, I don't know what is.) If you missed Doctor Who 's superlative fourth season (or want the opportunity to relive it all over again, from "Voyage of the Damned" to "Journey's End), fret not as BBC Video releases Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series on DVD today in a glorious six-disc set. (Also availa

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I'm still laughing about last night's unintentionally hilarious episode of Gossip Girl , which in true Thanksgiving spirit, featured seemingly mortal enemies being polite to one another and everyone refusing to acknowledge the pink elephant in the room: namely Little J's ghastly "makeover." (Shudder.) Are the producers of CW's 90210 update going to do the unthinkable and kill off toothy Brenda Walsh? Fans are in an uproar about a possible rumor that Brenda (Shannen Doherty) will contract a terminal illness on her latest batch of 90210 episodes and, well, die. While some are livid about the potential storyline, Jason Priestley seemed open to the possibility of Brenda dying on-screen. "This is all news to me, but this is fantastic," Priestly told Access Hollywood. "That is going to be awesome. No they haven't given me anything yet. I don't even know if the episode is written yet, but I

Well, Pushing Daisies fans, there's the good news and then there's the bad news. The good news is that ABC hasn't quite decided what to do about the fate of Pushing Daisies . Daisies and fellow sophomore drama series Dirty Sexy Money are both said to be in contention for renewal for the 2009-10 season. However, then there's the bad news: Pushing Daisies isn't anywhere on ABC's midseason schedule. (Its Wednesday night timeslot, according to the schedule obtained by Futon Critic from ABCStagePass.com, has been taken over by Scrubs and The Goode Family .) The decision to take Daisies off the schedule could mean that ABC merely decided to cut costs and truncate the second season and could later decide to magnanimously renew the series for a third season despite low ratings. (Production wrapped on the series' initial thirteen episodes last week so it's now a given that it won't shoot any additional episodes for this season.) I'm hoping that ABC

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I hope everyone remembered to tune in to HBO's Ricky Gervais: Out of England special on Saturday, which was absolutely hysterical (if not, it repeats about a zillion times throughout the week) and to a rather odd and dream-like episode of Skins last night and another brilliant episode of Summer Heights High . CBS has given a seven-episode pickup to freshman comedy Gary Unmarried , bumping its season total to a surprising twenty episode order, and also ordered two additional scripts beyond that. Additionally, the Eye also gave some good news to the producers of comedy Worst Week , giving the comedy an additional three episode order, despite sagging ratings. ( Variety ) Over at NBC, Medium (which returns to the lineup in January) received a six episode pickup. The news comes as NBC is in desperate need of some schedule hole-filling, with the recent cancellations of My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle . Medium was originally

Televisionary is proud to be a member of the TV Blog Coalition. At the end of each week, we'll feature a roundup of content from our sister sites for your delectation. This week, I interviewed Chris Lilley, the creator/writer/star of HBO's new comedy series Summer Heights High , about what it's like to play Jonah Takalua, what's next for him and the characters, and those rumors that he refused to sell the format rights for Summer Heights High . I also offered up my thoughts on what appeared to be a strangely controversial episode of Chuck , wrote an advance review of the season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef as well as a detailed deconstruction of the episode , announced the cast of characters for Season Three of Skins , and shared my joyous enthusiasm for the return of FX's Damages , among other things. Elsewhere in the sophisticated TV-obsessed section of the blogosphere, members of the TV Blog Coalition were discussing the following items... From the curmudgeo

Another Thursday night, another fantastic episode of 30 Rock . There are some things in life that are just meant to be and 30 Rock proves that it hasn't lost its kooky charm, absurd humor, or bizarre characters in its third season. This week's episode ("The One With the Cast of Night Court") proved no exception to the above rule, offering up a deliciously outlandish plot that involved new page uniforms, Liz's former roommate Claire (guest star Jennifer Aniston) stalking Jack, and a reunion of the cast of NBC's Night Court . That the latter storyline is a direct outgrowth of the first is just one reason why I can't help but fall for 30 Rock 's oddball nature. I was initially concerned that Aniston's Claire would steal the focus away from the other characters, but Tina Fey (who wrote this week's installment) and director Gail Mancuso did a fantastic job at juggling the Claire-Jack-Liz storyline and that of Kenneth and Tracy. In fact, I thought t