[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Variety 's Michael Schneider takes a look at the current batch of network series that are on the bubble for renewal next season, including NBC's Chuck and Life and FOX's Lie to Me and Dollhouse . Chuck co-creator Josh Schwartz is pitching a "game-changing" season finale to NBC execs in the next few weeks but its chances for renewal will "mostly be up to how well those shows perform during the final weeks of the season -- and how all those pilots look once the nets head into the screening room." Complicating matters for Chuck is the reduction of primetime real estate at the network, with The Jay Leno Show taking five of its primetime hours this fall. ( Variety ) This, that, and the other: The cast of Seinfeld --Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards--appear with co-creator Larry David in a multiple-episode story arc on Curb Your Enthusiasm 's seventh season,

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. NBC will likely be renewing superhero drama Heroes for a fourth season. At least, according to NBC Entertainment President Angela Bromstad, who said that the series wasn't currently on the bubble for the next season and that the network was likely going to order 18-20 episodes for next season. One of the major factors is said to be NBC's sci-fi pilot Day One, from Heroes writer Jesse Alexander, which could air on Monday evenings. " Day One is a big event and we're looking at that to come into the Heroes spot," said Bromstad. "It's right now being looked at as a 13-episode run -- something people could commit to and we could make a big splash with." And the network is also said to have been privately discussing issuing an end date for Heroes , however " even if NBC ever made such a move, Bromstad said, they wouldn't want to make next season the conclusion." ( Hollywood Reporter &

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I had a wonderful night of telly viewing last night, between another fantastic episode of Pushing Daisies , Old Christine , and Dirty Sexy Money . (I'm saving Top Model , which I'm growing bored of, for later in the week.) Jason Dohring fans have some positive news for a change. The former Veronica Mars star--who appeared in last season's short-lived vampire drama Moonlight --has signed on to star in HBO comedy pilot The Washingtonienne , based on Jessica Cutler's semi-autobiographical book of the same name. Also cast in the comedy about the lives of a troika of sophisticated 28-year-old women on Capitol Hill: Kate Burton of Grey's Anatomy . ( Hollywood Reporter ) In other casting news, Lost 's Dominic Monaghan has been cast to guest star on the February 2nd episode of NBC's Chuck (which will be presented in 3-D), where he will play Tyler Martin, a "free-spirited British rock star targeted for dea

After weeks of leaked semi-finalist nominee lists, it's good to finally get a glimpse of which series and actors actually made it onto the ballots, instead of seeing yet another list that showed who could make it to the nomination stage. The Emmy nominees were announced this morning and I have to commend them for showering such love onto diverse and unique series such as Mad Men, 30 Rock (17 nominations, no less!), and Damages ... while also locking some repeat offenders--like Ugly Betty in the comedy category--out in the cold. (Yes, I watch Ugly Betty but should it be competing with such comedy series as 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or The Office ? Hells no, especially when HBO's hysterical Flight of the Conchords didn't even get a mention.) So which series and actors did land Emmy noms? Let's talk about the major categories. Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men (AMC) Boston Legal (ABC) House (FOX) Lost (ABC) Damages (FX) Dexter (Showtime) I'm actually qui

And on the sixth day, Jack Bauer got some company. Rick Schroder ( NYPD Blue , Scrubs , and, um, Silver Spoons , anyone?) has joined the cast of 24 in the action/thriller's sixth season, set to launch this January on Fox. Schroder will play a CTU operative named Mike Doyle who will join Jack Bauer in the field. Further details were not available, but that's hardly surprising in a series as tight-lipped as 24 . Schroder's not the only new kid on the block this season, as he joins the previously announced Chad Lowe, James Cromwell, Regina King, Powers Boothe, Peter MacNicol, Kal Penn, and David Hunt. (Also a lock for a return engagement on 24 this season: Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart.) In other casting news, Larry David is getting a houseguest on the upcoming sixth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm : Vivica A. Fox. In an allusion to the events of Hurricane Katrina, Fox will play a member of an African-American family that moves in with Larry and Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) after a n

It looks like Larry David has come up with a few more reasons to get bent out of shape. Pay cabler HBO has reached a deal with Larry David and has officially ordered a sixth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm , according to Variety . Production on the semi-improvised comedy series will begin in October and all of Curb 's cast members, including Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin and the potty-mouthed Susie Essman are expected to return. No scheduled premiere for the sixth season was announced, but it is expected to return to HBO sometime next year. A total of ten episodes will be produced. Seinfeld creator Larry David had been unsure about whether or not he wanted to go ahead with Curb Your Enthusiasm after its most recent 2005 season, but was inspired to revive the series. HBO has not said that the upcoming season of Curb will be its last, but that the decision is in Larry David's hands. Something tells me not to count David out. After all, there are still many, many annoyi