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Channel Surfing: Syfy Renews Eureka, Lone Star Lands Chad Faust, Teri Polo to Law & Order: Los Angeles, True Blood, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

It's official: Syfy has renewed drama Eureka for a fifth season. The news of the renewal--no surprise given the ratings and the creative resurgence of the series this summer--was announced by Mark Stern, EVP of Original Programming for Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions, which produces the series. “Eureka remains a steadfast performer for Syfy with its superb cast and perfect blend of drama, comedy and eye candy,” said Stern in an official statement. "Given what Jaime, Bruce and their entire team have done collectively to reinvent the show this year, we can't wait to see what's in store for season 5." (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chad Faust (The 4400) has been cast in a recurring role on FOX's upcoming drama series Lone Star, where he will play Harrison, the ex-husband of Adrianne Palicki's Cat. Ausiello, per unnamed sources, confirms the casting and offers up an official description of Faust's character. Harrison is described as "[Cat's] mistake carried over from high school. What was charming about him at seventeen is less than attractive in a grown man with adult responsibilities that until now, he has not wanted to shoulder. But his motorcycle-riding, noncommittal, unfaithful-husband ways are behind him, or so he claims, and he’s back in town now, ready to prove that he’s changed.” Lone Star premieres September 20th. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Teri Polo (Little Fockers) has been cast in a "major recurring role" on NBC's upcoming procedural drama Law & Order: Los Angeles, where she will play Casey Winters, the wife of Skeet Ulrich's Detective Rex Winters. Her character is described as "a former hard-nosed cop who retired to start a family." (Deadline)

MAJOR SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has confirmed that Season Four of HBO's True Blood will feature Hallow Stonebrook, learning from series creator Alan Ball that the "were-sorceress" will turn up in Bon Temps next season, though Ball maintains that Hallow is a necromancer, and said that she is "actually a medium. She communicates with the dead, and she’s interested in developing further powers." No word yet on who will be playing Hallow, though Ausiello has already put in a bid for Buffy's Juliet Landau to take on the role. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Good news for UK fans of Mad Men: Season Four of the period drama will now launch next month on BBC4, several months ahead of the anticipated launch. While the exact launch date is yet to be announced, The Guardian is indicating that it will launch the week of September 4th. (Guardian)

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that CBS is developing a companion reality series for Undercover Boss, handing out a pilot order for an untitled project from the producers of Boss that would "feature two employees who work at the same company competing against one another for a major promotion." (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Kevin Spacey and Rod Lurie's cult drama is heading to HBO. Reports are swirling that the pay cabler is close to finalizing a deal to pickup Spacey and Lurie's cult drama The Crux, which revolves around the leader of a billion-dollar global cult. Project is being written by Lurie and Marc Frydman and will star Spacey as said leader. (Variety)

Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on ABC's Desperate Housewives, where she will play "a self-employed business owner and neighbor to Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan." Kazan will make her first appearance in the seventh season premiere. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Showtime's series debut of Laura Linney-led dark comedy The Big C brought the pay cabler their highest rated original series premiere in eight years, luring 1.154 million viewers at 10:30 pm on Monday and an additional 429,000 during the 11:30 pm airing, bringing the night's total to 1.583 million viewers. (via press release)

AMC has promoted Ben Davis to VP of scripted programming and Susan Goldberg to VP of production. Davis will report to Susie Fitzgerald, while Goldberg will report to an as-yet-unnamed SVP of production. (Variety)

Disney Channel will launch Shaun the Sheep spinoff Timmy Time with a sneak peek on September 7th, followed by the official premiere on September 13th. "Timmy, the baby lamb drawn into misadventures on Shaun, becomes the centerpiece of stories about initial preschool experiences in his new show," writes Variety's Jon Weisman. "Gestures and animal sounds are emphasized rather than human dialogue." (Variety)

Sony Pictures Television has promoted Kim Hatamiya to EVP, where she will now have oversight of worldwide marketing for the television division. Her role now encompasses the duties of Robert Oswaks, who left the studio in April. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

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