[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Sue Sylvester, SNL host? Moveline is reporting that Glee 's Jane Lynch will be hosting the October 9th episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live . No word yet on whether Lynch--who is nominated for an Emmy Award in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy category--will be packing Sue's ubiquitous track suits for the hosting gig. What is certain, however, is that Lynch will be bringing her acute comic timing to the host role for SNL 's 36th season. ( Movieline ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that the CW is planning to launch a crossover between One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected this fall, with One Tree Hill 's Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Mia (Kate Voegele) dropping by the October 12th installment of Life Unexpected , where they will perform at a Portland music festival that's sponsored by the radio station where Shiri Appleby's Kate works. "Haley and Cate are surprised to lear

"My name is Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221b Baker Street..." The details might be the same but this is most definitely not your great-grandfather's Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective is given a modern-day makeover courtesy of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss with the new Sherlock , which launches on Sunday in the UK on BBC One and Stateside at the end of October on PBS as part of Masterpiece Mystery . Starring Benedict Cumberbatch ( The Last Enemy ), Martin Freeman ( The Office ), and Rupert Graves ( Death at a Funeral ), Sherlock deposits the titular master sleuth and his trusted companion Dr. John Watson to contemporary London, where they will use their deductive skills to solve all manner of bizarre, surprising, and just plain weird cases. "Conan Doyle's stories were never about frock coats and gas light," said Moffat. "They're about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes... and, frankly, to he

Julia McKenzie's intrepid armchair detective Miss Jane Marple returns to Masterpiece Mystery this Sunday evening with the first of two brand-new installments of Marple that are bound to delight connoisseurs of crime. The two spellbinding installments, "The Mystery of Chimneys" and "The Blue Geranium" follow last month's "The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side," which kicked off a new collection of Six By Agatha , Masterpiece Mystery 's pod of Agatha Christie-based programming that includes three installments of Marple and three of Poirot , including an adaptation of Christie's classic potboiler, "Murder on the Orient Express." Here, McKenzie returns as Miss Marple, the elderly spinster whose kindly exterior belies the rapier wit of a first rate detective... and who finds herself often crossing paths with murder itself, whether it be in amid the hedgerows of a postcard-perfect English village or in the faded ballroom of an ornate

"One should respect his motherland, his culture and his mother tongue because they are givers of happiness." - Rig Veda Adapted from Andrea Levy's novel of the same name, the lyrical and profound Small Island --airing the next two Sundays as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic --recounts the struggle of two very different couples, bound by a invisible web of fate, who attempt to reconcile their own notions of the motherland and the reality of their circumstances. Set during and immediately after World War II in London, two-part drama Small Island --adapted by Paula Milne ( Endgame ) and Sarah Williams ( Becoming Jane ) and directed by John Alexander ( Sense & Sensibility )--explores the imaginary landscape of the motherland, the promise of its embrace, and its cold reception towards those who might be willing to lay down their lives to her defense but whose skin color makes them outcasts. For Jamaican schoolmistress Hortense ( Pirates of the Caribbean 's Naomie H

Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 thriller The 39 Steps took the action of John Buchan's World War I espionage novel and transported it forward in time to the 1930s, where the world was on the brink of yet another global war. As with Buchan's novel, Hitchcock's 39 Steps traced the steps taken by reluctant hero and former spy Richard Hannay as he receives a coded message from a spy who dies in his London apartment and who then finds himself enmeshed in a dangerous conspiracy that puts his life and that of everyone he comes in contact with in jeopardy. The film, while a gripping masterpiece of intrigue and suspense, took several liberties with the underlying material and a new version of The 39 Steps --starring Spooks ' Rupert Penry-Jones--goes back to the source material to craft a new adaptation that is much more in line with Buchan's original novel than Hitchcock's film. Penry-Jones plays Hannay with the pitch-perfect combination of world-weariness and glinting adr

PBS' long-running (and recently rebranded) Masterpiece has signed a co-production deal with BBC Worldwide that will encompass several international co-productions. These will include a new production of beloved period drama Upstairs, Downstairs , Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes ( Sherlock , starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Graves), and three mysteries based on Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen novels starring Rufus Sewell. "I'm so proud of this particular group of programs," said Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton in a statement. "These three series say everything about what Masterpiece aims to be: iconic, rich with wonderful actors, witty, literate, and timeless. I can't wait to see them all." "These three co-productions offer a new spin on well-known, treasured stories and we're thrilled to be working with Masterpiece to bring them to life,&quo

"Better to be without sense than misapply it as you do." - Mr. Knightley Jane Austen's novel "Emma" remains an enduring masterpiece of biting wit, scathing satire, and Regency society-trapped-in-amber since its publication in 1815. Even nearly 200 years later, there's still quite a bit of relevance and humor to be found in its pages and the novel's matchmaking heroine Emma Woodhouse--young, spoiled, and naive--remains a favorite for readers of all ages. Douglas McGrath's 1996 Emma , which starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Alan Cumming, and Ewan McGregor, remains a favorite of mine when thinking of Austen adaptations. Daringly breaking away from the stylistic constraints of 19th century English novels, McGrath infused this story with modern flourishes, creating something timeless in and of itself. Likewise, the 1995 feature film Clueless transplanted Emma Woodhouse to mid-90s Beverly Hills, transforming the Austen heroine into the vapid Cher Ho

Every now and then a literary adaptation comes along that is so pitch-perfect, so precisely cast and beautifully written and directed, that it stands as a piece of art in its own right. Masterpiece Classic kicks off its latest season with the superlative Return to Cranford (which aired in the UK several weeks ago under the title Cranford Christmas ), based once again on the "Cranford" novels of Elizabeth Gaskell and here adapted by Heidi Thomas and directed by Simon Curtis. As in the original Cranford , life in the sleepy English town of Cranford is in peril, thanks to the winds of change. The railroad--the focus of the first "Cranford" adaptation--has nearly reached the town and brought with it the unstoppable fumes of progress. The prim streets of the village have been filled by unruly railway workers and modern ideas have begun to seep into the minds of the town's most staunch residents. In other words: the industrial revolution has arrived. Despite the uns

Not every single British limited series can hit it out of the park, unfortunately. Following closely on the heels of the superlative and gripping thriller Place of Execution , the ambitious Collision --which launches Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary strand and is currently airing across the week in the UK on ITV1--doesn't reach the dizzying heights or emotional sucker punch of Place of Execution . Written by Anthony Horowitz and Michael A. Walker, the five-part Collision (which will air in two installments in the States) circles the aftermath of a fatal highway road accident, which leaves several parties dead or injured but which manages to derail the lives of everyone even tangentially involved, from the police detective investigating the cause of the crash to a Happy Chef waitress whose workplace was just down the road from the site of the fatal accident. As its narrative unfolds in a series of shifting perspectives, Collision seeks to bring to life

Just a quick reminder to be sure to take a break from your Halloween festivities to tune in to two of the weekend's best television offerings. Tonight, be sure to catch USA's crime procedural White Collar , which airs its second episode at 10 pm ET/PT. Neal and Peter infiltrate New York's Fashion Week to stop a criminal from selling security data that is stored on a piece of technology woven into the fabric of a runway dress. Given that White Collar is already one of the most gorgeously stylish series on television, the addition of a sartorial-themed plot can only be the icing on top. While not forgetting of course about HBO's comedy duo of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bored to Death and CBS' The Amazing Race , be sure to tune into Part One of PBS' extraordinary mystery mini-series Place of Execution on Masterpiece Contemporary on Sunday evening. (Check your local listings for details.) You can read my advance review of the two-part mystery , which I called &quo

Every now and then a mini-series comes along that just sucks you in by the sheer force of its spellbinding story. Such is the case with the sensational British mini-series Place of Execution , airing Stateside in a two-episode format that begins this Sunday as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary . From its haunting opening minutes to the truly and horrifically shocking final scenes, Place of Execution is a thriller which will remain with you long after the closing credits have rolled. Anchored by three incredible performances, Place of Execution --written by Patrick Harbison and Val McDermid (and based on the latter's novel) and directed by Daniel Percival--takes place both in the present-day as well as in 1963 rural England as two very different investigators explore the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl who vanished without a trace one winter afternoon in 1963. Told in two overlapping and interlocking plots, the story telescopes outwards from that fateful day to ensnare

Apartheid is an ugly word, conjuring up images of racial segregation and hatred from a time in the not-too-distant past of South Africa. PBS' new political thriller Endgame , which airs Sunday evening as part of the public broadcaster's Masterpiece Contemporary wheel, dramatizes not the plight of the common South African man and woman under the draconian decree of apartheid but rather the machinery operating behind the scenes to bring an end to apartheid once and for all. Written by Paula Milne ( Second Sight ) and directed by Pete Travis ( Vantage Point ), Endgame revolves around a series of secret talks between the ANC and the South African government brokered by Consolidated Goldfields, a multi-national company with vested financial interests in South Africa. The talks took place at an estate in England, far away from the violent rebellion in South Africa, and despite the risk in bringing together these enemies, the open lines of communication actually did bring about stun

Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor is perhaps best known for his work in such diverse films as American Gangster, Dirty Pretty Things, Serenity, Love Actually, Redbelt, and Kinky Boots . The British actor has made a career of playing deeply complex individuals, from cross-dresser Lola in Kinky Boots to Dirty Pretty Things ' cab driver and former doctor Okwe. In PBS' gripping apartheid thriller Endgame , which airs Stateside this Sunday as part of the new season of Masterpiece Contemporary , Ejiofor, recently appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth, plays South African political figure Thabo Mbeki, a key player in secret negotiations between the African National Congress and the South African government that were brokered by Consolidated Goldfields. Remarkably these talks resulted in an end to apartheid in South Africa and Endgame , written by Paula Milne and directed by Pete Travis, dramatize the secret talks, which occurred at Mells Park, an estate in England. In addition to

No, it's not quite the morning after the Emmys but I spent yesterday recovering from a bit too much overindulgence the night before and still wanted to get in my thoughts about this year's Emmy awards before the door for such discussion slams shut. Emmy host is a rather thankless job and we've seen, thanks to last year, just how much the show can go off the rails in the hands of less-than-qualified hosts. However, I thought that Neil Patrick Harris did a legendary job and infused the proceedings with wit, sparkle, and humor and kept things running smoothly. (Did we really only run over by a few minutes? Fantastic.) I spent the evening carousing at two post-Emmy bashes, HBO's luxe red-hewed affair at the Pacific Design Center and AMC's latenight after-after-party at Chateau Marmont. Both fetes were absolutely, ridiculously fun and the stars were out in full-force for both events, with this gleeful partier catching glimpses of Jon Hamm, Glenn Close, Ricky Gervais, Chl

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. It seems like the stars are finally aligning. Producers on FOX's Bones are in talks with Zooey Deschanel to guest star on the procedural crime drama in December as the cousin of real-life sister Emily Deschanel's Brennan, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "We’ve been looking for an opportunity to get the Deschanel girls together," said Bones creator/executive producer Hart Hanson, "but Zooey’s rockin’ career kept getting in the way... We alluded to [her] having a cousin in Minnesota two seasons ago. I’d very much like to meet her in the Christmas episode." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) As previously reported on this site, 20th Century Fox Television is teaming up with Columbia Records on a series of soundtracks for FOX's upcoming series Glee . The first release, "Glee: The Music, Volume 1," will contain seventeen tracks from the series' first seas

Inspector Morse's dogged former sidekick Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately) returns this weekend with seven new crime-packed mysteries set in the heart of Oxford's academic community of scholars, dons, and students. Inspector Lewis (or Lewis as it's known as in the United Kingdom) kicks off on Sunday night (part of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery ) with "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea," in which Lewis finds himself enmeshed in an investigation involving art forgery, gambling addicts, and calculatedly brutal murder. I had the opportunity a few weeks back to watch both the first two sensational installments of Inspector Lewis ' second season and was immediately sucked into the clever plotting, deft characterizations, and witty banter between Lewis and his junior partner, the erudite DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox). (Confession: I attended Oxford University and met my wife there, so the setting alone for me is worth the price of admission.) The seven episodes of Inspector Le

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. David Anders ( Alias, Heroes ) has been cast in a recurring role on Day Eight of FOX's 24 and Zap2It's Rick Porter has managed to obtain some further information about Anders' villainous character. Anders, who is slated to appear in a handful of episodes next season, will play Josef Bazhaev, the son of an Eastern European mobster, who is described in casting breakdowns as being the "heir apparent to an Eastern Promises -style godfather. Josef is a dangerous man but is cautious and worries about things more than his father." ( Zap2It ) Just a few days after the opening of feature film The Time Traveler's Wife , ABC has announced that it is teaming up with Friends creator Marta Kaufman and Warner Bros. Television to develop a drama series based around the film (itself an adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel). Kaufman will write the pilot script and executive produce. "ABC executives believe the