[Televisionary]

Just curious how many of you tuned in to watch the series premiere of the CW's updated version of nighttime soap Melrose Place . I reviewed the pilot episode of Melrose back in early June (you can read my advance review here ) but now that the first installment has aired, I'm curious to see what you thought of the new take on that famous Angeleno address. Did you love seeing Laura Leighton back in the apartment complex as Sydney? Or were you too weirded out about the whole she-faked-her-own-death-only-to-return-to-her-former-home-and-take-over-as-apartment-manager scenario? Did you think that the new characters were engaging or one-dimensional? Did it offer just the right amount of suds or was it trying way too hard to please? And, most importantly, will you tune in again next week? Talk back here. Melrose Place airs Tuesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT on the CW.

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. NBC is developing a US version of British crime drama series Prime Suspect , which starred Helen Mirren as the dogged and damaged Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison. The US version, which will be developed and written by Without a Trace 's Hank Steinberg, will be shot as a two-hour presentation and is the first effort of a multi-year deal between NBC and ITV Studios, the production arm of British terrestrial network ITV. "We want to carefully choose a couple of iconic titles this year to reinvent, and our intention is to create another classic television show from this brilliant original format," said NBC Primetime Entertainment president Angela Bromstad. "Hank Steinberg was key in helping us secure this project, and we are incredibly excited about this modern vision for the show." ( Variety ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former Smallville star Kristin Kreuk has been ca

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Virtuality star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has been cast in the pilot for fantasy drama Game of Thrones , HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novel series. Coster-Waldau will play Jaime Lannister, described by The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd as "one of the king's guards and a ruthless usurper of the previous king." Also cast in the Tom McCarthy-directed pilot: Tamzin Merchant ( The Tudors ), Richard Madden ( Hope Springs ), Iain Glen ( Into the Storm ), Alfie Allen ( The Other Boleyn Girl ), Sophie Turner ( Doctor Who ), and Maisie Williams, all of whom join the previously announced Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Jennifer Ehle, Kit Harrington, Harry Lloyd, Peter Dinklage, and Jack Gleeson. Production begins this October in Ireland. ( Hollywood Reporter ) FOX has handed out a pilot script order with penalty to drama Break Out Kings , from 20th Century Fox Television and Prison Break writer/producers Matt Olms

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Grant Show, set to star on CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose this fall, has said that he's open to appearing on the CW's revival of Melrose Place . "We've been talking, but nothing solid," Show says. "I'm not opposed to it... They haven't come up with the writing for me yet. I'm not sure they're even going to need me this year — maybe next year." Should Show close a deal to return to the series, he'll join original stars Josie Bissett, Thomas Calabro, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga as those who have turned up on Melrose 2.0 . ( TVGuide.com ) Jennifer Ehle ( Possession ) has joined the cast for the HBO fantasy drama pilot Game of Thrones , where she will play Catelyn Stark, the wife of Sean Bean's Ned Stark. Ehle's character was originally promised to Ned's older brother who was killed before they could marry; she then "fulfilled her duty by marrying Ned and sec

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Looks like Kelly isn't going anywhere. Jennie Garth has signed a deal to reprise her role as Kelly Taylor on Season Two of the CW's 90210 , where she will appear in multiple episodes, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "Garth reappears in episode 3," writes Ausiello, "when Kelly gives Harry advice on how to deal with his, ahem , situation with Annie." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Elsewhere at the CW, Melrose Place continues to get more and more crowded. Nip/Tuck's Kelly Carlson (yes, Kimber!) has signed on to join the cast of Melrose Place this fall, where she will play a madam who "eventually entices Lauren (Stephanie Jacobson) to work for her as part of her prostitution ring." ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Parenthood 's Erika Christensen has booked a guest starring role on Season Two of FOX's Lie to Me this fall. Christensen will

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Sean Bean ( Lord of the Rings ) has been cast as the lead in HBO fantasy drama pilot Game of Thrones , based on the series of novels by George R.R. Martin that Tom McCarthy is directing from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' script. Bean will play Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, the close friend and adviser to King Robert. Also cast in the pilot: Mark Addy, Kit Harrington, Jack Gleeson, and Harry Lloyd, who join the previously announced Peter Dinklage. Addy will play King Robert; Harrington will play Jon Snow, Ned's illegitimate son; Lloyd will play the conniving usurper Viserys; Gleeson will play Joffrey, the son of King Robert. (Editor: this project just keeps getting more and more exciting; I absolutely loved the pilot script!) ( Hollywood Reporter ) Talks between studio 20th Century Fox Television and Futurama stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, and Tress MacNeille broke down on Friday over comp

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Daphne Zuniga ( One Tree Hill ) will reprise her role as photographer Jo Reynolds in the CW's relaunch of soap Melrose Place in at least two episodes. Zuniga will join several other cast members from the original Melrose Place on the CW series this fall, including Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett, and Laura Leighton. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) Martha Plimpton ( ER ) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc next season on ABC's Grey's Anatomy , where she will play the mother of a young patient at Seattle Grace. Her first appearance is set for the sixth season premiere, slated to air September 24th. In other Grey's casting news, Mitch Pileggi ( Stargate: Atlantis ) will reprise his role as Larry Jennings, the chairman of Seattle Grace's board of directors, in the sixth season premiere. ( Hollywood Reporter , TVGuide.com ) Eliza Coupe has been upgraded to series regular on Scrubs next s

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. TVGuide.com talks to Lost 's Titus Welliver, who played the mysterious man in black seen in the fifth season finale (that many of us are referring to as Esau). "The way that I interpreted it, on a biblical level, is that it's a sort of Cain-and-Abel scenario," said Welliver of the showdown between Jacob and his character. "So by destroying Jacob, what does that prove — that [the man in black] can ultimately have power over the island? Do the castaways become solely his playthings? And why was it so important that he find the loophole to be able to kill Jacob? That moved me in the direction of thinking that if he needs this loophole, there's a greater power than the two of them that they're answering to." ( TVGuide.com ) FX has ordered six episodes of animated comedy Archer (working title), about the eccentric employees of an international spy agency, from writer/executive producer Adam Reed. Proj

If you're like me, you remember watching episodes of the original Melrose Place with a zeal bordering on near obsession. After all, this was a nighttime soap where anything--and in fact, everything --was possible: from apparent returns from the dead to jaw-dropping plot twists (Kimberly removing that wig, anyone?) to bombs going off right in the namesake apartment building that housed most of the characters. So I'll say then that expectations were high for the CW's revamp of Melrose Place , which the netlet will launch later this fall. Would the new incarnation of Melrose Place live up not to only one of Los Angeles' most tony streets but also to the original series, which pushed the envelope in terms of over the top plots? I had the opportunity a few days ago to watch the full pilot episode of Melrose Place , written by former Smallville producers Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer and directed by Davis Guggenheim, and sadly I have to say that I was pretty disappointed

A few days after the CW unveiled its fall primetime schedule , the netlet has release new teaser trailers for its upcoming series Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries . The thirty-second spot for Melrose Place features swooping camera movements through the iconic apartment complex and voiceover from the characters about their dreams, fears, and dilemmas, before then showcases a series of quick-cut scenes from the pilot episode. Melrose Place will air Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT. The promo for the Kevin Williamson-executive produced supernatural series Vampire Diaries , meanwhile, puts the action squarely on the relationship between teenager Elena (Nina Dobrev) and vampire Stefan (Paul Wesley), culminating in the first encounter between the two star-crossed lovers. Vampire Diaries will air Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT. The new promos for Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries can be found below. Melrose Place: Vampire Diaries: Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries will launch this fall on the CW.

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. (Following a week that included the 2009 network upfronts, I think we are all looking forward to a three-day weekend.) SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has the dish on the actual set-up of the new Melrose Place series, kicking off this fall on the CW, and it will either make you squeal with delight or make you want to scream, well, bloody murder. "Sources confirm to me exclusively that the dead body found floating face down in Melrose 's trademark pool in the opening minutes belongs to none other than Laura Leighton's bitchtastic ex-stripper," writes Ausiello of Melrose's seemingly resurrected Sydney. "I'm told her death will set in motion a season-long murder mystery that finds nearly all of the show's principal characters -- particularly Syd's ex, Michael (Thomas Calabro) -- a possible suspect." Leighton, meanwhile, will continue to appear on the series via flashback

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. CBS has opted to cancel dramas The Unit, Without a Trace , and Eleventh Hour and will renew dramas Cold Case and NUMB3RS and comedies The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried . ( Hollywood Reporter ) CW has ordered three new drama series for next season, giving the greenlight to Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries , and The Beautiful Life , while Privileged, Reaper, Everybody Hates Chris , and The Game have all been officially cancelled. Meanwhile, the CW has announced that it will not go ahead with the planned spin-off of Gossip Girl but has indicated that drama Life Unexpected remains in contention for a midseason order. The network will unveil its schedule to advertisers tomorrow. ( Variety , Hollywood Reporter ) After NBC's cancellation of comedy series My Name is Earl , producers on the 20th Century Fox Television-produced series are said to be shopping it elsewhere, including to FOX and ABC. Series co-star

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Still reeling from last night's season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy ? Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive interview with series creator Shonda Rhimes about some of the shocking plot twists in last night's season ender. Responding to rumors about whether Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight wanted off of Grey's Anatomy and how this impacted their characters' fates, Rhimes said simply, "I don't think there are any coincidences. I think Katherine's stated publicly that she's happy to stay. I think that there have been lots of rumors about TR, but TR's never said anything. Take from it what you will." Rhimes also discusses the fates of Izzie and George, Mer and Der's wedding day, Jessica Capshaw, and a host of other Grey's related issues. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) FOX has given a series order to supernatural drama Past Life (formerly kn