[Televisionary]

I'm still in awe thinking about last night's breathtaking season finale of HBO's Big Love . Over the course of the ten episodes that comprised Big Love 's intense and gripping third season, we saw the Henrickson clan go from being a complicated but stable family unit to literally disintegrating before our eyes... and possibly coming back together again, if last night's superlative episode ("Sacrament") points to a new direction for the series. It's hard to believe that Season Three of Big Love was only ten episodes, the series' shortest season so far, as it was so packed with tension, drama, emotional beats, and enough neck-snapping plot twists to give you emotional whiplash. Showrunners on network series that are working with 22 episodes a season take note of executive producers Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, who managed to squeeze in more plot and story in those ten fantastic installments than many showrunners are able to fit into the traditio

Was anyone else let down by the series finale of HBO's Flight of the Conchords ? Last night's episode of Flight of the Conchords ("Evicted") marked what is likely to be the series' last installment as Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie have publicly indicated that it's unlikely that they'll return for a third season. In the episode, Bret and Jemaine discovered that, unless they were able to raise roughly $7000 (in US currency, that is) within a month, they would be evicted from their apartment. Unable to do so, they end up moving in with Mel and Doug and launching a bid at Broadway stardom by putting on a play written by Murray about their lives (with a little Star Wars thrown in). Inevitably, however, the play's themes about illegal immigrants attract the attention of the INS and the duo are deported to New Zealand, where they return to their previous lives as shepherds. I wasn't terribly impressed with this installment and it felt almost haphaza

I went into the series finale of Battlestar Galactica with more than a little trepidation. Would Ronald D. Moore and David Eick be able to wrap up all of the loose threads in this five-year-long tapestry of a narrative in roughly two hours? And, more importantly, would it be a satisfying swan song for the series itself, which has attracted millions of devoted followers who have theorized, discussed, and dissected every moment leading up to this ending? I did expect Moore and Eick to deliberately leave some things open to interpretation and discussion with the series finale of Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak, Part Two") but, while I enjoyed watching the final moments of this intelligent and provocative series, there were a few things that got under my skin. So put on your Viper suit for the last time, unplug the toaster, prepare for some spoilers (if you haven't yet seen the series finale) and let's discuss the Battlestar Galactica series finale. Most of all, I had

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Elizabeth Mitchell ( Lost ) has been cast in ABC drama pilot V , a retelling of the cult 1980s sci-fi series. But before we start to mourn the passing of Juliet, it's worth noting that Mitchell will guest star in the sci fi pilot, from Warner Bros. Television, and not star in it, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, Visitorsite.net has confirmed that Mitchell will play Erica Evans, a single mother and an FBI Counter-Terrorism agent. ( Visitorsite ) Editor's note: Having read the script, I can say with all authority that Erica is far from being a "guest star" in the pilot; in fact she's one of the lead roles and as intrinsic to the plot of the pilot episode as Jacqueline McKenzie's Diana Skouris was to The 4400 . In fact, she's the very first character we meet in the draft of the script I read... What this truly means for Eliz

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 talked to Joss Whedon about his "Man on the Street" episode of FOX's Dollhouse , why Dollhouse seems to lack the funny, and whether he would be leaving television for good . I offered an advance review of ABC's comedy series Better Off Ted , a sneak peak at the full third season premiere episode of Showtime's The Tudors , and a Talk Back for the premiere episode of NBC's Kings . I shared news about Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, Catherine Tate, and John Simm reportedly reprising their roles on David Tennant's final episode of Doctor Who , Heather Locklear turning down a role on the new Melrose Place , and CBS renewing The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men for multiple seasons, Sci Fi morphing into Syfy (and the true story behind the new name ), David Chase developin

Tonight's episode of Dollhouse on FOX? It's the Joss Whedon-scripted "Man on the Street," the series' sixth installment and the one episode which many are holding up as the first time the dark drama series really hits its stride. To promote this all-important episode, Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon participated in a conference call with press and answered some questions that were lingering in the minds of both audience members and journalists alike: will we ever see any of the Dollhouse 's employees' personal lives, do some of the engagements (ahem, midwife) that Echo is assigned to make sense, and where's the trademark Whedon sense of humor? Will Whedon really leave television behind for new media? And, yes, Joss addressed all of those questions and more. (You can read Whedon's earlier comments, made prior to Dollhouse 's premiere, here .) Given that tonight's episode, "Man on the Street" better represents Whedon's vision f

It's funny how the handsome can sometimes literally get away with murder. Just look at 30 Rock 's Dr. Drew Baird (guest star Jon Hamm): because he looks like a cartoon pilot, he can be a tennis pro, order off the menu items at restaurants, and convince surly traffic cops to tear up tickets with abandon. For Liz Lemon, it's the gateway to another world she's never experienced, one in which she's treated with the respect and reflected glory of the truly beautiful... and she quickly learns that Drew's looks cover a multitude of sins. Including the fact that he's a doctor who doesn't know the Heimlich maneuver. (Probably a necessary skill when you're around Liz that often.) On this week's episode of 30 Rock ("The Bubble"), written by Tina Fey, Liz saw the truth behind the gorgeous facade and learned that Drew was actually pretty bad at everything, from tennis to cooking (Gatorade and salmon, anyone?), and just about everything in between.