[Televisionary]

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. The CW has given early renewals to five of its series, including freshman drama The Vampire Diaries , reality series America's Next Top Model , and Gossip Girl, Supernatural , and 90210 . However, not on the list are One Tree Hill , which has even odds at renewing, the ratings-starved Melrose Place , and newbie Life Unexpected , which has struggled in the ratings. ( Variety ) There's a bit of a caveat to that early Supernatural renewal. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that creator/executive producer Eric Kripke will be stepping down as showrunner on the Warner Bros. Television-produced series, with executive producer Sera Gamble set to take over the reins next season. "Kripke will remain actively involved in the show — and not just in name only," writes Ausiello. "Although CW and Warner Bros. reps declined to comment, a Supernatural insider assures me that Kripke and his current co

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Break out the carrot and raisin salad (and mix up some fry sauce)! HBO has renewed drama series Big Love for a fifth season, with ten episodes set to air next winter. The long-running drama series has been on a roll of late, with ratings up 13 percent among viewers this season and some well-earned awards recognition, with Chloe Sevigny walking away with a Golden Globe for her performance as Nicki. "We've taken the show deeper and darker over the last couple of seasons," said executive producer Mark V. Olsen, "and we're overjoyed that HBO has come along with us." Production is expected to begin on Season Five in June or July. ( Variety ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos and Jennifer Godwin have an interview with V and Lost star Elizabeth Mitchell. "I feel really bad for Juliet all the time," Mitchell told E! "I feel like, you know, karmically, maybe she's due, because when she was a

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Great news for fans of NBC's killer comedy Parks and Recreation : the Peacock has renewed the series for a third season, set to launch this fall. News of the renewal was broken by The Wrap's Josef Adalian, who reported that due to "certain production timing issues," an early renewal was required on the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy, which is executive produced by Greg Daniels and Mike Schur. ( The Wrap ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Torchwood 's John Barrowman is joining the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives for at least five episodes this season. Barrowman, who is slated to appear beginning in April, will play "the Big Bad at the center of the Angie (Drea de Matteo) mystery," writes Ausiello. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) BBC Three has commissioned a third season of supernatural drama Being Human and announced that all three of the ser

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. CBS has given second season renewals to freshman dramas The Good Wife and NCIS: Los Angeles . "Two great new series, fronted by talented stars on one big night of television," said Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment in a statement. "We're proud of these shows and what they've accomplished on Tuesday night." The renewal news comes on the heels of pickups for fellow froshers Glee at FOX and Modern Family, The Middle , and Cougar Town at ABC. (via press release) While still in the pilot stage, buzz continues to build for HBO's fantasy project Game of Thrones , based on George R.R. Martin's series of novels. HBO programming czar Michael Lombardo indicated at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour yesterday that Game looks very likely to get a pickup and that the dailies look "fantastic." "I would be surprised if it doesn't (get a green light)," Lombardo

Breaking from TCA Winter Press Tour: Stephen McPherson, ABC Entertainment Group President, has announced the second season renewals for Modern Family, The Middle , and Cougar Town . McPherson also indicated that each of the series would air more than the traditional 22 episodes this season. The full press release from ABC announcing the pickups can be found below. ABC ANNOUNCES EARLY PICK-UPS OF HIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT COMEDIES “COUGAR TOWN,” “THE MIDDLE” AND “MODERN FAMILY” FOR THE 2010-2011 SEASON Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment Group, announced early pick-ups of hit Wednesday night comedies “Cougar Town,” “The Middle” and “Modern Family” for the 2010-2011 Season today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. “Cougar Town” (Wednesdays from 9:30-10:00 p.m., ET) Courteney Cox, who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her role on the show, stars as Jules, a newly divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty

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

In an unusual move, pay cabler Starz has renewed Spartacus for a second season, over a month before the first season, entitled Spartacus: Blood and Sand is set to debut. Starz handed out a thirteen-episode second season order to Spartacus today, which will begin production on Season Two in early 2010 in New Zealand. The plot details for Season Two, expected to be entitled Sparactus: Vengeance, are being kept firmly under wraps. Executive producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen, and Steven S. DeKnight (who is also the series' head writer) will all return for Season Two. "We couldn’t be happier with the first season. Spartacus delivers on all levels – action, characters, intrigue, romance and excitement," said Stephan Shelanski, Starz Entertainment EVP, Programming, in a statement. " Spartacus is the most ambitious original project we’ve ever undertaken, and speaks to the commitment to our subscribers to provide truly original programming along with our unma

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has an interview with Dexter executive producer Clyde Phillips about last night's season finale of the Showtime serial killer drama. One very interesting tidbit: when asked about when the decision was made about pulling the trigger on the episode's final scene, Phillips said, "I would say we made the decision pretty late in the season. We didn’t quite know what we were going to do [in the finale]." As for when Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) will find out about Dexter's true nature, don't hold your breath. "We’ve bounced that around the [writers] room," Phillips told Ausiello. "But once we do that... want to talk about game-changers? Once we do that, the game is changed in a way that we just don’t know how to anticipate just yet." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Syfy has given series renewals to Stargate Universe and Sanctuary , pickin

Has FX finally found its companion for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ? All signs point to yes. FX has renewed freshman comedy The League for a second season, picking up the series for an expanded order of thirteen episodes. The announcement comes as The League wraps its first season tomorrow night. Season Two of The League , which is produced by FX Productions, is expected to launch in late summer 2010. (That's also when Season Six of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is also due to return. Hmmm...) "We’ve been very pleased with the creative and ratings trajectory of The League and believe it’s an excellent fit with our comedy brand,” said Nick Grad, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, FX Networks, in a statement. “Jackie and Jeff Schaffer are incredibly talented producers and the ensemble cast is fantastic. The performance of the show this season is reminiscent of Sunny in its first season.” The full press release from FX can be found below. FX