[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving weekend (I'm still full from two Thanksgiving dinners' worth of turkey and all the trimmings) and is at least somewhat happy to be back at work today. Rome creator Bruno Heller--who happens to also be the creator of this season's only certifiable network ratings hit, The Mentalist --has expressed interest in producing a feature film version of Rome . "There is talk of doing a movie version," said Heller. "It's moving along. It's not there until it is there. I would love to round that show off." HBO quietly admitted recently that it was likely a mistake that they canceled the series before its well-received second season. Meanwhile, Heller says that he had a road map for five seasons of the series: "I discovered halfway through writing the second season the show was going to end," Heller said. "The second was going to end with death of

After weeks of anticipation, FOX has announced its midseason schedule for winter 2008/09. Among the winners? Fringe , which gets the highly prized post- American Idol timeslot on Tuesdays, and new drama Lie to Me , which gets a Wednesday night timeslot also following American Idol . Among the losers? Genre series Dollhouse --from creator Joss Whedon--and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles , which get shipped out to timeslot Siberia, namely Friday nights. (Ouch.) While many Whedon fans are already up in arms about what they perceive as a slight against Dollhouse , I can say that I am not at all surprised that FOX has chosen to ship the creatively struggling Dollhouse and ratings-starved Sarah Connor to Friday nights. Having seen the first two episodes of Dollhouse (and failing to be very impressed despite being a die-hard Whedon-ite), it makes sense that FOX would try to minimize any expectations and put Dollhouse on an evening where ratings are slim to begin with. However, one

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I can't believe that today is Election Day and I hope that all of you out there, before reading this, have done your civic duty and exercised your democratic right to vote today. I know I won't be resting easily until after this election is called, one way or the other, though naturally there's a specific winner I have in mind. Following Sunday's news that Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander had been fired from NBC's Heroes , series creator Tim Kring announced that he will "focus on simplifying what's been criticized, even by ardent fans, as an overly complex storytelling structure to get back to the show's comicbookish good vs. evil themes and to emphasize character development more than plot twists." Execs seem to believe that Kring has focused more on post-production than on breaking stories; he'll have to switch gears and spend more time in the writers' room fixing the series' wavering

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I'm in fashion overload after back-to-back episodes last night of Top Model and Project Runway (more on the latter in a bit) but can't say that I am as enthused with either series as I was in the past. Lest you worry about the fate of Joss Whedon's action drama Dollhouse --beset by multiple problems months before the series' launch--you can dismantle the shrine. FOX is said to be still deeply committed to the project. “With months before our broadcast premiere, we have the rare luxury of extra time,” a 20th Century Fox Television spokesman said. “We believe in this show and want to give it every opportunity to succeed.” Let's hope that's true, given the recent reports that the network was decidedly less than pleased with the series' creative direction. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) Meanwhile, FOX must be pleased as punch that its other cult drama Fringe performed so well in its seco

Good morning and welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I ended up making it a fashion-fueled night last night with new episodes of Top Model and Project Runway and threw on the ABC pilot Single with Parents (starring Alyssa Milano) just for good measure. What's up first today? Dollhouse , natch. Everyone is talking about the production shutdown on the set of the new Joss Whedon action drama, slated to kick off in January 2009. 20th Century Fox Television has shut down shooting on Dollhouse beginning tomorrow through September 25th so that Whedon can oversee a rewrite of the fourth script and get ahead on the next few scripts. News comes after FOX rejiggered the running order in July: Dollhouse 's originally filmed pilot will now bow second, after a newly constructed pilot episode (which I hope to see soon). Does this bode ill for the series? No one can say but it does at least point to the reassuring fact that Whedon does seem to be involved with the decisi

Good morning one and all and welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Yes, the weekend is just within our grasp.) Stargate Atlantis will wrap its run on Sci Fi when the fifth season concludes in January, but the cabler has ordered an untitled two-hour telepic that will air sometime in 2009, following the series finale. An official press release from Sci Fi is said to be forthcoming. ( Multichannel News ) Joel Silver is back in television news headlines again (he's said to be in discussions with creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell about a possible feature version of Veronica Mars ): he's optioned Arthur T. Vanderbilt II's 1989 family history "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt," about the famous clan's 20th century saga as they deal with "declining fortune, extravagances and social-climbing instincts." Silver plans to adapt the book into a possible series for pay cabler HBO; he and Jane Semel would executiv

Whither Dollhouse ? That seems to be the big question today following news that television auteur Joss Whedon would be retooling the pilot for his midseason action drama Dollhouse , starring Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett, Amy Acker, Harry Lennix, Olivia Williams, Fran Kranz, Reed Diamond, and a host of others. (You can read my early review of the pilot script for Dollhouse here .) Early reports seemed to indicate that Whedon had made the decision to scrap the pilot in favor of reshooting an introductory episode that was less noir and had more of the "visceral pop" that was promised in the pilot script and that the decision was not one handed down to him from FOX. According to Whedon in a post on Whedonesque : "The fact is, I’m very proud of the ep we shot and the series is making me crazy with the excitement. But I tend to come at things sideways, and there were a few clarity issues for some viewers. There were also some slight issues with tone – I was in a dark, noir k

Less than a day after posting my glowing review of Joss Whedon's pilot script for his upcoming FOX series Dollhouse , the network has announced further casting on the project. The talented Harry Lennix ( 24 ) has been cast in the role of Boyd Langton, a former cop who serves as "handler" to Echo, Eliza Dushku's character. Within the confines of Dollhouse , Boyd seems to offer a (gruff) voice of reason, feeling morally at odds with the treatment of the Actives (or Dolls, as they're sometimes known) yet willing to lay down his own life to protect them. While reading the script, I kept picturing Waking the Dead 's Trevor Eve as Boyd but I am pleased as punch to see that Lennix has been tapped for this role; he'll bring a real sense of gravitas and moral uncertainty to a complex and compelling role. Lennix's hiring means that there's only one other major role to be cast (other than the recurring role of November, another Active at the facility who does

I am still trying to catch my breath. I'm talking about my reaction last night after reading Joss Whedon's brilliantly evocative script for his new seven-episode drama series for FOX, Dollhouse . If there's one thing that Dollhouse has been this development season in Hollywood, it's been THE script to try to get your hands on. After weeks of conniving, begging, and bartering, I finally managed to get my greedy mitts on the script and hungrily devoured the 54-page script in about fifteen minutes, seemingly without pausing to breathe. While I had extremely high expectations for Dollhouse (I always trust in the Joss), I was worried that, after all of the hype and hoopla, it wouldn't quite live up to my preconceived notions about the project. I am happy to say that not only were those expectations matched but they were exceeded. This isn't latter-day Alias by any stretch of the imagination: while there are still costume changes and choreographed fight sequences,

A couple of interesting tidbits emanating from the casting world this morning, courtesy of some very secretive sources. First up, I am hearing that an offer is out to British actress Olivia Williams ( Miss Austen Regrets, Rushmore ) to play the role of Adele DeWitt in FOX's upcoming Joss Whedon drama Dollhouse . Adele is described as "40-something, beautiful, sophisticated, cold as an Alp. Runs the Dollhouse with an efficiency that is both ruthless and protective. Would die before she showed anyone how lonely she is." I think Williams, who was absolutely dynamic as the witty, wounded Jane Austen in the recent Miss Austen Regrets , would be perfect for the role of Adele. Fingers crossed that the deal closes as I'd love to see her in Whedon's hands on Dollhouse and I think she'd be a fantastic foil to Eliza Dushku's Echo. UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed my scoop . Olivia Williams has been cast as Adele in Dollhouse . Huzzah! Over on Damage

I woke up this morning with a singular thought: what ever happened to that planned Buffy spinoff Ripper ? If you remember back nearly a year ago, the internet was abuzz with the news coming out of San Diego Comic-Con: Joss Whedon had announced plans to go ahead with Ripper , the proposed Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff centering on Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). Fanboys (and girls) everywhere were proclaiming it to be a very happy day indeed, what with Whedon returning to the franchise with Ripper and the then-upcoming Buffy Season Eight comic book. (Shame on you, if you're not reading it!) Since then, a lot has happened, both here in Hollywood and specifically to Whedon himself. Joss ended up selling a seven-episode drama series called Dollhouse --starring former Buffy staple Eliza Dushku and BSG 's Tahmoh Penikett --to FOX; pre-production is currently underway for a spring shoot and Dollhouse has been slated to air this fall. (I, meanwhile, have been hard a

One of the most popular games this development season is to guess just who will be cast in Joss Whedon's upcoming FOX action series Dollhouse opposite Eliza Dushku. After all, now that Whedon has finally turned in his script to the network, FOX's casting gurus can finally start casting what is shaping up to be the most eagerly anticipated new series of next season. First up: Tahmoh Penikett, who plays the determined Karl "Helo" Agathon on Sci Fi's Battlestar Galactica . I've long wondered where BSG 's fantastic actors would end up with the groundbreaking drama wrapping its fourth and final season this year. Penikett (who is hands-down one of the nicest guys in the business) will play Paul Smith, an FBI agent driven to crack the urban myth of the Dollhouse and, according to The Hollywood Reporter , "a twisted romantic foil for Echo," Eliza Dushku's character. Frank Kranz ( Welcome to the Captain, The TV Set ) will play Topher Brink, a comput

It's rather like a high-stakes game of musical chairs these days around the studio lots, what with numerous behind-the-scenes changes on some of your favorite series. The latest news: Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft, late of ABC's Women's Murder Club (until they were let go just the other day, that is), have already been hired. Their new home? Why, none other than the new drama project, Dollhouse , from Fain and Craft's former boss, Mr. Joss Whedon. Let's just say it was an offer they couldn't refuse. Craft and Fain, who cut their teeth as story editors on Whedon's Angel , got the gig two days after getting the boot from Women's Murder Club when Whedon offered them staff writer gigs on Dollhouse . “Joss emailed and said ‘I’m really sorry — and is it too soon to ask you to work on Dollhouse ?’” Fain told TV Barn's Aaron Barnhart. Dollhouse , of course, already has a seven episode order from FOX . It stars another Whedonverse alum, Eliza Dushku, as Ec

You read that headline correct. I think I just wet my pants with excitement. Joss Whedon is making his return to network television, with an original drama series entitled Dollhouse . Series, which will reunite Whedon with former Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Eliza Dushku (who will star and produce Dollhouse ), has received a seven episode commitment from FOX. Dushku will star as Echo, a member of an elite team of secret agents each of whom, according to James Hibberd at TV Week , has "the ability to be imprinted with custom personalities and abilities for special assignments. When they return, their newly acquired memories are wiped. The show follows Echo as she takes on a variety of assignments—some romantic, some adventurous, some uplifting, some illegal—and gains awareness of her role and confinement." The idea for the series was hatched by Whedon at a lunch with Dushku, who was allegedly instrumental in bringing Whedon back to network television. The series concept w