Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: NBC Launches "Mission: Chuck Me Out," HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" Grounded, Jane Leeves Heads to Wisteria Lane, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

With the third season premiere of Chuck just around the corner, NBC has launched an online incentive called "Mission: Chuck Me Out," reports The Wrap's Josef Adalian. "Using the already existing Chuckmeout.com site, fans can sign up their Twitter, Facebook and MySpace campaign for the game," writes Adalian. "Then, every time they preach Chuck or get friends to watch a clip of the show or otherwise pimp the series, they'll earn points." The winner will have their photo used as one of Chuck's flashes on-air. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Comedy series Flight of the Conchords will not be returning for a third season, according to a statement released yesterday by the series' creators Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, and James Bobin. The Kiwi folk-rock band hasn't broken up, however. [Editor: seeing as the guys ended up back as shepherds in New Zealand, I didn't think there was much of a chance that the series would continue.] (Televisionary)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jane Leeves (Frasier) has been cast in a two-episode story arc on ABC's Desperate Housewives, where she will play a psychotherapist for Tom Scavo (Doug Savant). But Ausiello also points out that Tom won't be the only one getting psychiatric treatment in 2010. "Word has it Katherine will also have her brain examined by a shrink in the new year," writes Ausiello. "Better late than never!" (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CBS has given a pilot script order to time travel drama Murmurs,from writer Jason Smilovic (My Own Worst Enemy) and executive producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. Project is "set in a world where time travel is a reality and centers on the Commission, an agency that detects and corrects alterations in time called murmurs, ensuring that history remains unchanged." (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV has opted not to renew live talk show It's On With Alexa Chung, which will wrap up its run on December 17th. Chung, who is under contract with the cabler until early next year, has no firm plans with MTV at the moment. (Hollywood Reporter)

Natalka Znak in, Chris Coelen out. RDF USA executive Chris Coelen has stepped down from his position at the production/management company; news comes on the heels of the hiring of former ITV Studios executive Natalka Znak. Variety's Michael Schneider indicates that insiders are pointing to an expired contract and loggerheads over a new deal. Broadcast, meanwhile, reports that Coelen left "by mutual agreement with group chief executive David Frank." (Variety, Broadcast)

Beth Hoppe will serve as executive producer on Discovery Studios' factual strand Curiosity: The Questions of Life, which will launch in February 2011 and air twelve episodes a year over the following five years. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Marissa said…
I can't wait for Chuck to be back on the air! Especially with all of his fancy new karate moves!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Katie Lee Packs Her Knives: Breaking News from Bravo's "Top Chef"

The android has left the building. Or the test kitchen, anyway. Top Chef 's robotic host Katie Lee Joel, the veritable "Uptown Girl" herself (pictured at left), will NOT be sticking around for a second course of Bravo's hit culinary competition. According to a well-placed insider, Joel will "not be returning" to the show. No reason for her departure was cited. Unfortunately, the perfect replacement for Joel, Top Chef judge and professional chef Tom Colicchio, will not be taking over as the reality series' host (damn!). Instead, the show's producers are currently scouring to find a replacement for Joel. Top Chef 's second season was announced by Bravo last month, but no return date has been set for the series' ten-episode sophomore season. Stay tuned as this story develops. UPDATE (6/27): Bravo has now confirmed the above story .

BuzzFeed: Meet The TV Successor To "Serial"

HBO's stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary The Jinx   — about real estate heir Robert Durst — brings the chills and thrills missing since Serial   wrapped up its first season. Serial   obsessives: HBO's latest documentary series is exactly what you've been waiting for.   The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst , like Sarah Koenig's beloved podcast, sifts through old documents, finds new leads from fresh interviews, and seeks to determine just what happened on a fateful day in which the most foul murder was committed. And, also like  Serial  before it,  The Jinx may also hold no ultimate answer to innocence or guilt. But that seems almost beside the point; such investigations often remain murky and unclear, and guilt is not so easy a thing to be judged. Instead, this upcoming six-part tantalizing murder mystery, from director Andrew Jarecki ( Capturing the Friedmans ), is a gripping true crime story that unfolds with all of the speed of a page-turner; it

BuzzFeed: "The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now"

The CBS legal drama, now in its sixth season, continually shakes up its narrative foundations and proves itself fearless in the process. Spoilers ahead, if you’re not up to date on the show. At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, " The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now," in which I praise CBS' The Good Wife and, well, hail it as the best show currently on television. (Yes, you read that right.) There is no need to be delicate here: If you’re not watching The Good Wife, you are missing out on the best show on television. I won’t qualify that statement in the least — I’m not talking about the best show currently airing on broadcast television or outside of cable or on premium or however you want to sandbox this remarkable show. No, the legal drama is the best thing currently airing on any channel on television. That The Good Wife is this perfect in its sixth season is reason to truly celebrate. Few shows embrace complexity and risk-taking in t