[Televisionary]

Welcome to Day Two of the 2009 network upfronts. Up next is ABC, which has unveiled its fall schedule to advertisers. So far, the Alphabet has picked up the most new programming out of any broadcast network to date, with orders for Cougar Town, The Deep End, Eastwick, Flash Forward, The Forgotten, Hank, Happy Town, The Middle, Modern Family, Shark Tank , and V as expected . Returning series include America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Better Off Ted, Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Saturday Night College Football, Scrubs, Supernanny, True Beauty, Ugly Betty, Wife Swap, and 20/20 . "Our focus is always on delivering the best stories with the most memorable characters on TV, whether that’s established audience favorites or innovative new shows," said ABC Entertainment Group president Steve McPherson. "This year we’ve got the best of both. We’re h

"Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway." - Emory Austin Sometimes as a critic you need to take what could be an unpopular stand when just about everyone is gushing about a particular television series or feature film. That time, my friends, is right now. Despite the overwhelming love and support for FOX's impassioned new series Glee , which will offer viewers a sneak peak at the pilot episode following tonight's American Idol , I have to say that I'm not jumping on this particular bandwagon, as much as the publicity machine at FOX might want me to. Call me a cynic, call me jaded, but I just can't muster any, well, glee for Ryan Murphy's new series. For those of you who haven't seen the series' ubiquitous commercials, billboards, and print ads, Glee , written and directed by Murphy, tells the story of sad sack Spanish teacher Will Shuester (Matthew Morrison), the type of guy who is married to his high school sweetheart and

Full disclosure: I wasn't crazy about Alan Ball's HBO vampire series, True Blood , based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris, when I first saw the pilot early last year. After watching the first few episodes of True Blood , I gave up and moved on to other summer series and didn't really look back. I had a second chance to fall under True Blood 's seductive spell when HBO graciously sent me a copy of the True Blood Season One DVD a few weeks back. I put aside my prejudices against the series and watched it from the beginning... and ultimately ended up devouring the entire first season in about three days' time. While I still think that it takes way too long for the series to find its feet, finally settling into its tone and breathing a little somewhere about the sixth episode or so. The early episodes, particularly the first three (all scripted by Ball himself) are jarring and the characters somewhat unsympathetic and unlikable. However, by the time the halfwa

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. In a surprise twist, ABC has opted to cancel comedy series Samantha Who , after it was widely believed that the network would renew the Christina Applegate-led comedy. The reason behind the cancellation was budget-cutting by the network and the comedy series was unable to reduce its budget enough to make a third season financially viable for ABC. The network had attempted to transition Samantha to a multi-camera format from single-camera in efforts to cut as much as half a million dollars per episode. ( Variety ) NBC has given out an eleventh hour renewal to long-running legal procedural Law & Order , bringing the series' total to twenty seasons, tying it with Gunsmoke for the longest running drama series on television. It's believed that the order is for sixteen episodes. NBC will unveil their fall schedule to advertisers later today. ( Hollywood Reporter ) CBS is set to unveil its fall schedule to advertisers on Wedne

Welcome to the first day of network upfronts 2009. FOX is up first and this morning announced its plans both for fall and midseason, unveiling a schedule that includes several new scripted series, including dramas Past Life , Glee , and Human Target and comedies Brothers and The Cleveland Show . What's immediately noticeable is the decision to shift sophomore drama series Fringe to Thursdays (where it will be paired with Bones ) and hold off launching the majority of its new scripted series (other than Glee , The Cleveland Show , and Brothers ) until the New Year, a wise move considering the massive promotional machine that is American Idol . (Traditionally, FOX has had a hell of a time trying to launch new series in the fall.) Fridays, meanwhile, will remain the home of Dollhouse at 9 pm ET/PT, this time being paired with two live-action comedies, Brothers and 'Til Death , which take over the 8 pm timeslot vacated by the now-canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicle