[Televisionary]

Another December, another batch of Golden Globe nominations. This year, however, there's at least hope that the show will go on. (If you remember, last year's telecast was plagued by, uh, issues even greater than force majeure : namely the 100-day WGA strike in which everyone boycotted NBC's Golden Globe telecast, resulting in a 3-hour press conference to announce the winners.) The Hollywood Foreign Press Association this morning announced its nominees for the 2009 Golden Globes, which will be handed out at a live telecast on NBC on January 11th. While I am beyond thrilled that Mad Men and 30 Rock got some much needed love, with 30 Rock justly landing nominations for Best Comedy, Best Actress in a Comedy (Tina Fey), and Best Actor in a Comedy (Alec Baldwin), I'm pleased as punch that an awards committee has finally given recognition to Mad Men 's January Jones, who landed her first nomination as the embattled Betty Draper on AMC's period drama. The women of

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Mark Cherry announced that he would like to continue ABC's Desperate Housewives through 2013. While Cherry is signed on to executive produce the ABC drama through its seventh season and ABC has only committed so far to the current fifth season, there is currently no deal in place for any additional seasons beyond that. Cherry announced his intentions to keep Desperate Housewives on the air for nine seasons (rather than the seven he previously discussed) during a cast and crew celebration yesterday. "We've been talking with the studio and the network about the conceptual possibilities of additional seasons," said a source close to the situation, "but it's still dependent on a lot of things like cast willingness, ratings, etc... It sure seems like it could happen!" Yes, but four more seasons? ( E! Online ) "I think the goal for everybody is to put a face back on the drama. " Pushing Daisies

ABC has had a tough time attempting to find a timeslot companion for its signature series Lost . Over the past few years, it's attempted to to find a series that could either sit beside the Bad Robot-produced series or fill the timeslot during Lost 's hiatus period. Such series as The Nine, Invasion, Daybreak , and others have attempted to do just that with limited success. Until now. ABC's new drama pilot Flash Forward , written by David S. Goyer ( Batman Begins, Blade ) and Brannon Braga ( Enterprise, Threshold ) and loosely based on Robert J. Sawyer's 1999 novel of the same name, might just be the one to do the trick. With Lost set to end in May 2010, the network seems hellbent on finding a suitable replacement for the series and Goyer and Braga's project seems the best suited so far to capture the imaginations of Lost 's devoted band of obsessive followers. It was with much curiosity that I sat down last week to read the pilot script for Flash Forward , en

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Pushing Daisies fans can at least look forward to one thing: closure. The series finale was said to contain a cliffhanger ending for our girl Chuck but no more, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, who learned that Bryan Fuller and Co. were able to tack on a different opening and ending to the episode in post. "We're doing a lot of work in post to shape it so that it is satisfying for the audience," said Fuller. Ausiello also reports that there are rumors swirling that ABC may burn off the final three episodes in a single night. I don't know about you but I'm already missing Daisies . ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Looks like she's always the constant: Lost 's Sonya Walger has been cast as the female lead in ABC's drama pilot Flash Forward . She'll play Olivia, the wife of newly sober FBI agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), who is troubled by the vision

While I wasn't thrilled with last week's Casey-centric episode of Chuck , which felt a little subpar coming off of the superlative Jill story arc, last night's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the DeLorean") was the exact opposite: utterly polished, poised, and positively overflowing with character development. In the hands of writer Matt Miller, who previously scripted three episodes of Chuck including "Chuck Versus the Seduction" and Season One's "Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami" and "Chuck Versus the Tango" (and directed by frequent Office director Ken Whittingham), this week's installment conflated several episodes' worth of character development, including subplots about Sarah's upbringing with her con man father Jack Burton (ably played by go-to-casting guy Gary Cole) and her conflicted current dynamic with her law-breaking daddy (who has no idea about his beloved daughter's chosen profession) and Mo

So now we know just what happened all those years ago between Lily and Rufus. While their tortured almost-love affair is one of the main reasons I keep tuning in to Gossip Girl despite some truly overwrought plots (and some shrilly irritating characters in Vanessa and Serena's new BF Aaron), last night's episode of Gossip Girl ("O Brother, Where Bart Thou?") also gave Chuck and Blair opportunities to shine. I absolutely loved the scene between the two of them in Blair's bedroom when Chuck crashed Eleanor's wedding to Cyrus and then Blair wrapped him up comfortingly in her arms. I almost wish the episode had just ended right then and there with that gorgeous image of Blair barely containing the explosive Chuck in her tiny arms. So what did Chuck and Rufus learn about Lily's mysterious past? Let's discuss after the jump. I've suspected for quite a long time now that Lily had a child with Rufus and concealed it from him. As soon as CeCe mentioned th

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The news that everyone is talking about since yesterday afternoon is that NBC has handed over its 10 pm timeslot Mondays through Thursdays to Jay Leno, beginning Fall 2009. This has been rumored for the last few months but I don't think even NBC was prepared to make it fact until the recent economic (and ratings) downturn of recent times. First, it solves two issues: keeping Leno--who is losing his 11:35 timeslot to Conan O'Brien (while Jimmy Fallon will take over his old digs)--at NBC and thus out of the grabs of rival networks such as ABC and FOX; and allows the Peacock to continue programming the 10 pm hour instead of handing it back to the local affiliates. (Something, believe it or not, that was also widely discussed.) ( Variety ) Which means that scripted television has just taken another hard-to-handle blow. If NBC goes ahead with its plans for a Leno talk/variety series at 10 pm weeknights and has Sunday Night Footbal