[Televisionary]

If you're participating in a reality competition series, should you help out a competitor if they find themselves in the weeds? And does the answer to that question change if you're competing for charity? This week's episode of Top Chef Masters ("It's My Party"), the season's second, welcomed five new master chefs to the Top Chef kitchen--Carmen Gonzalez, David Burke, Marcus Samuelsson, Monica Pope, and Thierry Rautureau--as they made their way through a Quickfire Challenged designed to tie into National Grilled Cheese Month (yum!) and catered a soul food-themed birthday party atop the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills (about a block away from where I live) for actor Mekhi Phifer ( ER ). But one chef found themselves in a bit of a bind when they realized they had left a crucial element of their dish back at the the Top Chef kitchen and had to return to collect it while the timer continued to tick down. Which is where the above question really came

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. From maenad to murder victim's parent: Former True Blood series regular Michelle Forbes has joined the cast of AMC drama pilot The Killing , along with Brent Sexton ( In the Valley of Elah ), Eric Ladin ( Generation Kill ), and Jamie Anne Allman ( The Notebook ). They join the previously announced Billy Campbell in the drama pilot, from Veena Sud and Mikkel Bondesen, which revolves around the police investigation into the murder of a young girl. Forbes and Sexton will play Mitch and Stanley, the girl's parents. ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) If you haven't seen Monday's episode of 24 , stop reading. TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams has an interview with 24 's Annie Wersching, who discusses the aftermath of this week's surprising twist and what's next for her. "In not knowing each other for that long, they are very similar and understood each other in a lot of ways," said Wersching

Well, we finally learned just what those whispers are in the jungle. This week's episode of Lost ("Everybody Loves Hugo"), written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Daniel Attias, provided a few answers as well as some explosions in an episode that focused on Hugo Reyes in both timelines. Acting as a bookend with Season Two's "Everyone Hates Hugo," this weeks installment cast Hurley not as a doomed victim but as a millionaire philanthropist beloved by everyone and lucky in every way. Except maybe love. Given that we now know that Lost as a whole is about the transformative and redemptive powers of love, it's only fitting that Hurley would get a second chance at achieving true happiness with his own soul mate. If the Lost -X timeline represents a new set of variables for the character, what was Hurley's greatest desire? The chance to reverse his luck, to bring good to the people around him rather than destruction? So what did I thin

Looking to discuss last night's episode of ABC's V ? Head over to the Los Angeles Times /Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on last night's episode ("John May"), entitled " V : May Day, or Everyone Has a Breaking Point." I'm curious to know what you thought of the episode. Head to the comments section to discuss. Next week on V ("We Can't Win"), Chad and Anna head to Geneva, Switzerland for the U.N. Energy Summit, where Anna is going to present a gift of technology to the world; Erica learns that the V Task Force is investigating The Fifth Column; Valerie goes on the run, knowing something is different about her baby and not sure she can trust Ryan.

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. It took just one episode, apparently, before HBO ordered a second season of New Orleans-set drama series Treme , from creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer. "We would have picked up this show last week," HBO president Michael Lombardo told The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd. "We've seen the first nine episodes it's as strong as any show we've seen. Much like The Wire , the audience is so passionate and so invested. We're about servicing our subscriber base and I believe that people will become addicted to this show. We have to be a place where this kind of excellence is giving space to continue." According to Lombardo, Season Two of Treme is being targeted for a spring 2011 debut, where it will likely be paired with the first season of fantasy drama Game of Thrones . "They should be ready about the same time," said Lombardo. "[ Game ] looks beautiful, the compelling scri

While some viewers swoon for Glee , I've had more of a love-hate relationship with Ryan Murphy's crooner comedy. There are times when Glee makes me roar with laughter at its often witty and risque dialogue. Laden with innuendo and pop culture savvy, these are volatile bon mots delivered with precision and a killer left hook. But these moments often serve to remind me that Glee can and should be so much better, they're glimpses into the better series that's buried within Glee should they mine deeper territory, instead of offering a series of saccharine treats. That's not to say that there aren't moments in the next three episodes of Glee , which returns tonight to the FOX lineup, that aren't genuinely entertaining, because there are. Next week's episode in particular, "The Power of Madonna," might be the best episode of the series to date, focusing as it does on Sue Sylvester and the empowering music of Madge herself. As a whole, the next thr

Just a word of advice: don't mess with the person who knows all of your secrets. This week's phenomenal episode of Damages ("You Were His Little Monkey"), written by Glenn Kessler and directed by Timothy Busfield, began to draw together the extremely diverse story strands of the series' taut third season before next week's finale. (It's worth noting here that Damages ' ultimate fate is unclear and next week's installment may serve as either a season finale or a series finale. I'm hoping it's the former rather than the latter.) I can't quite wrap my head around how the writers will manage to tie everything up, with Tom's murder, Patty's car accident, the Frobisher case, the Ponzi scheme, African charities, Wes Krulik, feature films, and dreams all in the mix somehow. Yet Damages has proven itself quite adept at building tension throughout the season and bringing together a slew of clues to offer one hell of a final act. Which m