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Channel Surfing: Masi Oka to Hawaii, Bones Won't Go for The Situation, Vincent Kartheiser Talks Mad Men, MI-5 Heads to ABC, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. TV Guide Magazine 's Will Keck is reporting that former Heroes star Masi Oka will guest star on CBS' upcoming reboot of crime drama Hawaii Five-0 , where he will play a local coroner who assists Steve McGarrett and his team solve some murders. "He'll debut in the fourth episode as the coroner and be billed as a guest star," writes Keck. "But with the body count expected to spike considerably in Oahu, this coroner could potentially be busy for several seasons." Keck also reports that D.L. Hughley will guest star in the third episode. ( TV Guide Magazine ) You can breath a sigh of relief: it looks like The Situation won't be turning up on Bones this season after all, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, who says that plans to have the Jersey Shore star turn up as a murder victim this season on Bones haven't come to fruition. “The Situation is not going to work out,” execu

County Fairs, Dancers, and White Castle: The Winner is Named on the Season Finale of Work of Art

I'll admit that I didn't expect to enjoy Bravo's Work of Art: The Next Great Artist as much as I did in the end. Before the season began, I was curious just how the format would work. After all, true art takes time to develop, and the series seemed based around the type of severe time restraints that could hamper true creativity. But a funny thing happened: I found myself sucked in and captivated by what was unfolding before me. I had hoped, all along, that the final three contestants standing would be Miles, Abdi, and Peregrine. And that's just what happened going into last night's season finale of Work of Art ("The Big Show"), in which the final three artists presented a group show, with one of them walking away the winner of the season and their very own show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. For one thing, I loved just how very different each of these artists was, how each of them focused on different subject matters and expressed their artistic tempera

Cheese Course or Just Desserts: A Dramatic Exit for One Top Chef Contestant

Is it just me or does Restaurant Wars always bring out the worst in the cheftestants? The fiercest comments on Top Chef this week didn't emanate from former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, but rather from the contestants of the losing team. On this week's episode ("Restaurant Wars"), the eight remaining contestants were split into two teams and tasked with running a dinner service at a restaurant for one evening, developing and executing the menu and running the front of house at the same time as the kitchen. It's a fan-favorite challenge that always pushes the contestants well past their breaking points but this season the Restaurant Wars challenge wasn't so much fun as frustrating to watch, given that the eliminated chef was an outstanding talent who went home while other, lesser contestants still remain in the competition. It was this elimination that left me scratching my head at the end of the episode. While I've disagreed wit

Channel Surfing: AMC Finds The Killing, Lotus Caves for Syfy and Bryan Fuller, More Office Rumors, FNL Launch Date, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. AMC has given a series order to pilot The Killing , which hails from writer/executive producer Veena Sud and Fox Television Studios and is based on Danish television series Forbrydelsen , ordering thirteen episodes which will air sometime in 2011. Series, which will star Big Love 's Mireille Enos, revolves around the murder of a young girl and a police investigation that connects several seemingly separate story threads. "We are thrilled to be moving forward with this stunning piece of television," said Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior vp of original programming, production and digital content, in a statement. "It is a crime drama, but it is also a gripping character based story that pulls you in and doesn't let go. The storytelling is completely compelling, and the show is visually breathtaking." In addition to Enos, the project--which will be renamed, sadly--also stars Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes,

Channel Surfing: Office Politics, Britney's Glee Harrison to V, Mad Men's Sally Speaks, Beckman Promoted on Chuck and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Could Steve Carell's Michael Scott be replaced by Danny McBride ( Eastbound and Down ) or Rhys Darby ( Flight of the Conchords )? That's the word from Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, who reports that producers of The Office have reached out to the duo to check their level of interest in appearing on the series later this season. Showrunner Paul Lieberstein had told Ausiello that the producers are in talks about introducing a salesman to the Scranton team later this season, but that might not be related to the vacancy opening up from Carell's departure. "We haven’t settled exactly who will take over,” said Lieberstein. [Editor: As much as I love McBride and Darby, I still maintain that the network would be wise to wrap up the series after this season.] ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Britney Spears will be appearing on FOX's Glee

The Daily Beast: "Scott Pilgrim Gets a Life"

Okay, it's not quite television-focused but given that it does deal with one of my favorite all-time television series ( Spaced ), I figured that I had to plug it here. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled " Scott Pilgrim Gets a Life," where I talk to Michael Cera, Edgar Wright, and Bryan Lee O'Malley about their feature film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , which hits theatres on Friday. Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the film stars Cera as the titular hero and features a huge cast that includes Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza, Mae Whitman, Alison Pill, Kieran Culkin, and more. Plus, Edgar Wright and I talked about Spaced and the similarities between the British comedy series Spaced (which Wright co-created with Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes) and Scott Pilgrim itself, part of an amazing half-hour interview at San Diego Comic-Con (which was itself interrupted by the appearance of

Channel Surfing: Jane Lynch to Host SNL, Good Guys Gets Retooled, CW Plans Crossover, More Sherlock on Tap, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Sue Sylvester, SNL host? Moveline is reporting that Glee 's Jane Lynch will be hosting the October 9th episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live . No word yet on whether Lynch--who is nominated for an Emmy Award in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy category--will be packing Sue's ubiquitous track suits for the hosting gig. What is certain, however, is that Lynch will be bringing her acute comic timing to the host role for SNL 's 36th season. ( Movieline ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that the CW is planning to launch a crossover between One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected this fall, with One Tree Hill 's Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Mia (Kate Voegele) dropping by the October 12th installment of Life Unexpected , where they will perform at a Portland music festival that's sponsored by the radio station where Shiri Appleby's Kate works. "Haley and Cate are surprised to lear