[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Katherine Heigl will be departing Grey's Anatomy for good this time, citing unnamed sources. "Series creator Shonda Rhimes has agreed to release the fast-rising movie star from her contract. It’s now up to ABC Studios and Heigl’s reps to hash out a final exit agreement," writes Ausiello. "After taking more than half of the current season off to make another movie and connect with her adopted daughter, Heigl was scheduled to return to the Grey’s set on March 1 to begin work on the five remaining episodes of the season. There’s just one problem: March 1 came and went and there was no Heigl." Long story, short: Heigl's final episode as Izzie has already aired and Heigl will not be returning to the set of Grey's Anatomy . ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) UK network E4 has commissioned two additional seasons of teen drama Skins ,

More information is trickling out about Neil Patrick Harris' upcoming guest turn on FOX's musical-comedy Glee this May. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Harris will play Bryan Adam, a former glee glee club nemesis of Matthew Morrison's Will, who is now as a William McKinley High board member in the episode, to be directed by Buffy creator Joss Whedon. Citing an unnamed Glee insider, Ausiello goes on to report that the high school feud between Harris' Bryan Adam and Morrison's Will will be depicted via flashbacks which will show the two as rivals for solos and girls as teenagers... and that animosity has carried over into adulthood, where Bryan is now looking to cut the arts program. "Show choir ruined his life, made him feel he could be a star, but all he could do is book Carnival cruises,” the unnamed Glee insider told Ausiello. "Now he wants vengeance." I'm happy to add some further details to Ausiello's re

Get your matching ensembles ready. FOX has officially announced dates for the live stage tour of musical-comedy Glee , set to begin Wednesday, May 18th in Phoenix. The 2010 Glee Live! In Concert! tour will take the cast from Phoenix to Los Angeles and Chicago, before wrapping up the tour with two performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on May 28th and 29th. It will feature the ensemble cast performing some of the series' musical numbers including “Don’t Stop Believin,” “Somebody To Love," “Jump,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “Sweet Caroline.” "The response of the fans to our little show has been so immediate and so gratifying, we wanted to get out and thank them live and in person," said series co-creator Ryan Murphy in a statement. "And what show lends itself more to a concert than Glee ? We can’t wait to take this show on the road and the actors couldn’t be more excited to perform live for audiences in these four cities." The full schedu

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. "Danger zone!" FX has ordered a second season of its animated action-comedy Archer , from creators Adam Reed and Matthew Thompson. The cabler has commissioned 13 episodes for the series' second season, which is set to launch next year. The order is up from the seven installments that comprised Season One of Archer . [Editor: while Archer started off rocky and is somewhat hit-or-miss, I'm actually quite enjoying its off-kilter madcap action now that the season is set to wrap in a few weeks' time.] ( Variety ) The Los Angeles Times ' Maria Elena Fernandez talks to Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about their partnership on the show. And thanks to a video interview, you can get the words from Team Darlton themselves as they recount the events back in 2004 that lead to the duo forming one of Hollywood's strongest creative partnerships. ( Los Angeles Times ' Show Tracker ) SPOILER! Mean

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Syfy's latest original series Caprica isn't going anywhere any time soon, according to the cabler's EVP of original programming Mark Stern in an interview with Airlock Alpha's Michael Hinman. "We're definitely with Caprica for the long haul," said Stern. "There's no question about it. We knew exactly what it was not going to be, that is an easily adopted show. It's not Battlestar Galactica , it's its own animal. And we definitely recognize that it's going to find its audience and it's going to grow its audience... We're certainly not sharpening the axe by any stretch of the imagination. We all really believe in the show, and it has a lot of potential." Set to air its fourth episode tonight, Caprica will air the first half of its freshman season (10 episodes) before taking a breather and returning in late summer, where it will be paired with another original series as a

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Could Julianne Moore become the lead of the US adaptation of crime series Prime Suspect ? If NBC gets their way, she very well could be. Moore is being pursued by NBC for the remake of the Helen Mirren-starring British series as well as ABC to star in another remake: this time Scoundrels , based on Kiwi series Outrageous Fortune . Moore has some competition for the Prime Suspect gig as Maria Bello has also been approached about starring in the remake as well as starring in Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama pilot Chase , which has offers out to Bello, Tea Leoni, and Christina Applegate. Other in-demand stars this pilot season: Matt Dillon, Jason Isaacs, Michael Chiklis, and Josh Lucas. ( Hollywood Reporter ) E! Online's Megan Masters has an interview with Joss Whedon, in which the Dr. Horrible creator talks about the possibility of a sequel, directing FOX's Glee , Neil Patrick Harris, and more. "We very much want to do

The Paley Center for Media has announced the lineup for the the 27th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival (known affectionately to its attendees as PaleyFest). Critical darling Modern Family will kick off the festival on February 26th. Other series getting individual sessions include ABC's Lost , CW's The Vampire Diaries , FOX's Glee , NBC's Community , ABC's Cougar Town ABC's FlashForward , TNT's Men of a Certain Age , CBS' NCIS , Showtime's Dexter , AMC's Breaking Bad , and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm , the latter of which will be the festival's final offering this year. Additionally, keep your eyes peeled for Seth MacFarlane and Friends, an evening celebrating McFarlane's animated comedies Family Guy, American Dad , and The Cleveland Show . The day-by-day breakdown of the festival can be found below. (All panels begin at 7 pm.) Feb. 26th: Modern Family Feb. 27th : Lost March 1st: NCIS March 3rd: Community March 4th: Dexte

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed is reporting that FOX is developing a US version of British sci-fi series Torchwood that will hail from BBC Worldwide. Remake will be written by creator Russell T. Davies. and will feature the production team of the original series, including Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter. But that's not all. According to THR , it's possible that Torchwood 's UK cast--including John Barrowman and Eve Myles--could star in the project, should it be ordered to pilot. "As for the new show’s plot," writes James Hibberd, "the U.S. version will contain a global story line compared to the more localized sensibility of the first two BBC seasons." Good news for the Torchwood team... or a disaster waiting to happen? ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) Bad news for Veronica Mars fans: the feature film adaptation of the much-missed UPN/CW drama series has stalled, according to

Just a few quick words about last night's Golden Globes. I spent the evening watching the (thankfully) live telecast from home and then went over to the Beverly Hilton for HBO's Golden Globes after-party at Circa 55. As usual, HBO did an incredible job transforming the outdoor space (right at the poolside)... but, rather sadly, the network's handiwork was undone by the weather, rendering the glass-enclosed firepits and open-air seating unusable. But the party must go on and it was moved under the tents and inside Circa 55 itself, where executives, celebrities, and bon vivants sipped Copper-tinis and Moet et Chandon champagne. Those celebrities included Mad Men 's January Jones and Entourage 's Jeremy Piven, Modern Family 's Eric Stonestreet, Big Love 's Chloe Sevigny (Golden Globe-winner Chloe Sevigny, I should say), Ginnifer Goodwin, and Mary Kay Place, True Blood 's Anna Camp, Hung 's Natalie Zea (with whom I chatted about her role in FX's upco

Glee fans: it's time to sing. In a completely unsurprising move, FOX has officially announced that it has renewed musical comedy Glee for a second season. "We’ve loved Glee ever since it was a pilot script, so it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season," said Kevin Reilly, FOX President, Entertainment. "The show is a true and rare gem in television. We couldn’t be more proud of what Ryan Murphy and the Glee team have created so far, and can’t wait to see what they come up with for Season Two." Glee 's first season, meanwhile, is set to return to the schedule on Tuesday, April 13th at 9 pm ET/PT. The full press release from FOX announcing the renewal can be found below. GLEEKS REJOICE! FOX PICKS UP SECOND SEASON OF “GLEE” NATIONWIDE OPEN CASTING CALL FOR “GLEE” BEGINS FEBRUARY AND WILL AIR AS MULTI-PART SPECIAL THIS FALL ON FOX Series Returns with All-New Episodes Tu

Another December, another batch of Golden Globe nominations. I got up very early on this very brisk Los Angeles morning to watch the nominations live as they were announced on-air by John Krasinski, Diane Kruger, and Justin Timberlake. (The latter of whom stole the show a little bit with his comment to Krasinski, "Someone's gonna have a good night tonight," after Emily Blunt earned a nomination for her role in The Young Victoria .) But onto the nominations themselves. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association this morning announced its nominees for the 2010 Golden Globes, which will be handed out at a live telecast on NBC on January 17th. Glee was the clear favorite this year, walking away with four nominations this morning, followed closely by 30 Rock, Big Love, Damages, Mad Men, and Dexter , each of which garnered three nominations in their respective categories, along with telepics Georgia O'Keeffe and Grey Gardens . I'm thrilled, first off, that so many fanta

Yesterday, American Film Institute announced their official selections for the programs of the year for 2009. I'm happy that the esteemed board--which included The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan, TV Guide Magazine 's Matt Roush, Variety 's Brian Lowry, actor CCH Pounder ( The Shield ), and writer/producer David Milch ( Deadwood )--chose to recognize several series that don't get nearly as much love from critics and audiences as they should. Along with noteworthy freshman series like Modern Family and Glee (both of which I expected would end up on the list) and the always sterling Mad Men , the panel selected such unexpected entries like HBO's lyrical mystery series No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency , Starz's breakout ensemble comedy Party Down , HBO's groundbreaking (and sadly often overlooked) drama series Big Love (which had its best season yet earlier this year), saved-from-cancellation drama Friday Night Lights , and Showtime's sensational m

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Former Wicked star Idina Menzel is in advanced talks to join the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring role when the series returns in March with its back nine episodes. Menzel, who will play the coach for the glee club's main rivals, Vocal Adrenaline, could potentially appear in all nine remaining installments this season. [Editor: personally, given the strong resemblance between Menzel and Lea Michele, I figured producers would get her to play Rachel's biological mother. Unless...] Menzel will also be joined by Spring Awakening 's Jonathan Groff who, as previously reported, joins Glee in a multiple-episode story arc and is slated to appear in five or six episodes this spring. ( Hollywood Reporter , Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, E! Online's Megan Masters has some details about what we should expect from Glee 's back nine episodes. "I don't know if Glee starts back after a s