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Channel Surfing: Lost DVD Epilogue, Diane Keaton and Ellen Page Land Tilda, Julia Stiles in Talks to Join Dexter, Skins, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Is it just me or does it feel like this week will never end?)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that there's still more Lost to come, including an epilogue that depicts the time that Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) spent on the island after the events of the series finale. Emerson spilled the dirt on the sequence on G4's Attack of the Show, where told Kevin Pereira about the bonus footage on the complete series DVD. "For those people that want to pony up and buy the complete Lost series, there is a bonus feature," said Emerson. "Which is um, you could call it an epilogue. A lost scene. It's a lot; it's 12 or 14 minutes that opens a window onto that gap of unknown time between Hurley (Jorge Garcia) becoming number one and the end of the series... It's self-contained. Although, it's a rich period in the show's mythology that‘s never been explored, so who knows what will come of it." Dos Santos, for her part, wonders if it's that sequence that will also connect to the producers' promises that we'd see the story of Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) resolved as well. "Whatcha wanna bet that during Hurley and Ben's adventures on the island, they run into Walt a few years into the future, when he's oh, 18 and looking just as Malcolm David Kelley looks now?" ponders Dos Santos. [Editor: Hmmm....] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

It's official: Diane Keaton is heading to HBO, where she will topline the pay cabler's half-hour comedy pilot Tilda, which revolves around Tilda, a powerful Hollywood blogger. (You know, the one who may or may not be based on Nikki Finke.) Keaton will be joined by Ellen Page (Juno), who will play Carolyn, described as "a morally conflicted creative assistant caught between following the corporate culture of the studio she works for and following Tilda, who has taken a keen interest in her." Project is executive produced by Cynthia Mort (Tell Me You Love Me) and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum) is in talks to join the cast of Showtime's Dexter for its fifth season. Details on who Stiles would play, should a deal be reached, are remaining firmly under wraps, though Ausiello reports that it's unlikely that she would be the season's Big Bad, citing comments made by executive producer Chip Johannessen several weeks ago. "We’re not going to have a single Big Bad this season," Johannessen said at the time. "We don’t want to try and top John Lithgow, so we’re going to change up the forces that Dexter’s going to be dealing with." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

UK's Channel 4 and Film4 are moving ahead with a feature film version of teen drama Skins, which will be directed by Charles Martin and will feature characters from both "generations" of the hit series. No word yet on who those characters will be--although this editor is hoping for Sid and Cassie to be in the mix!--though production is slated to begin in September, with a Summer 2011 release being eyed. (Deadline)

Say goodbye to SOAPnet, soap fans. The cable-based soap network will go dark as Disney/ABC Television Group will use the network to instead launch pre-school-oriented cable network Disney Junior in 2012. "The launch of Disney Junior in the U.S. is the next step in our global preschool strategy, which began 10 years ago with the premiere of our first dedicated preschool channel in the UK," said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, in a statement. "The decision to ultimately transition SOAPnet to accomplish this was not arrived at lightly. SOAPnet was created in 2000 to give daytime viewers the ability to watch time-shifted soaps, before multiplatform viewing and DVRs were part of our vocabulary. But today, as technology and our businesses evolve, it makes more sense to align this distribution with a preschool channel that builds on the core strengths of our company." (via press release)

I can now officially announce what I've known for quite some time: Chuck writer/producer Phil Klemmer will be working on NBC's new espionage dramedy Undercovers, from executive producers J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims, next season.

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that CBS has offered drama pilot Chaos an eight-episode midseason order, but there is no guarantee that the series will ever make it air as talks continue between CBS and studio 20th Century Fox Television, the latter of which seems less than encouraged by the short-run and has not accepted the offer. Elsewhere, CBS is said to have passed on medical drama pilot Gimme Shelter (formerly known as Untitled Hannah Shakespeare Medical Drama), though they may revisit it, given the situation with Chaos. Creator Hannah Shakespeare, meanwhile, has signed on to ABC's drama series The Whole Truth, but it's said to be in second position to her CBS pilot. (Deadline)

BBC America has teamed up with ITV Studios American to produce ten episodes of a US version of hit British culinary competition series Come Dine with Me, which features New Yorkers "competing for the title of ultimate dinner party host, bringing together four amateur chefs who take turns cooking up their idea of the perfect evening." The series will debut in early 2011 on BBC America and around the world on various BBC lifestyle networks. Meanwhile, the digital cabler has also acquired the original UK format and will air 22 episodes of the series beginning in July on BBC America. (Hollywood Reporter)

USA has given a script order to half-hour comedy Driven, the first time in decades that the cabler has developed a half-hour comedy. Project, from Linda Bloodworth and Harry Thomason, will star Ron White as an unemployed Texan who starts a limousine business. (Variety)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has a video interview up with the stars of the CW's Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, and Ian Somerhalder, in which the trio discuss Season Two, love triangles, and more. "The dynamic is going to change between the three of us," said Somerhalder of Season Two of Vampire Diaries. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TBS has announced an airdate of Sunday, June 27th for its upcoming special, Team Coco presents Conan's Writers Live, which will feature Andy Richter, Reggie Watts, and several of Conan O'Brien's writers. (via press release)

Lifetime is developing two new unscripted series that are connected to acquired reality franchise Project Runway. The first is an untitled makeover show, from executive producer Rich Bye, featuring former Runway contestants Santino Rice and Austin Scarlett as they travel the country and transform women. The other is an untitled unscripted series (working title: Love's Divine) featuring Heidi Klum and her husband Seal as they travel the country offering guidance and counseling to couples. (Variety)

RDF Rights has hired former Shine executive J.C. Mills as VP of US acquisitions. He will be based in Los Angeles and report to Jane Millichip. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Comments

The CineManiac said…
Thank you Dexter producers for giving me one more reason to catch up on Seasons 3 and 4 that I've missed. Julia Stiles is probably the longest crush I've ever had on a celebrity and I've missed her presence dearly. Can't wait to see her on my TV screen again.
Hadley said…
Diane Keaton and Ellen Page starring in an HBO show? Awesome!

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