[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I definitely felt the lack of Pushing Daisies last night (my Wednesday night cure for any rough week) but I was completely sucked in by the season premiere of Top Chef (airing next week), which had more tension, drama, and pitch-perfect casting in its one-hour running time than the entire last season of Project Runway did. ABC has yanked midseason comedy Single With Parents off of its schedule. The comedy, from ABC Studios and Kristin Newman, starred Alyssa Milano, Eric Winter, Annie Potts, Beau Bridges, and Amanda Detmer. Decision behind the cancellation (months before it was to launch on ABC) is said to stem from creative differences between the studio and the series' creator Kristin Newman. ( Variety ) In other ABC midseason news, the Alphabet has opted to reduce its initial order on two midseason drama series, Castle and The Unusuals . ABC has approached ABC Studios about reducing Castle from 13 episodes to ten and has

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I suffered through some sweltering heat here in Los Angeles last night and watched the latest lackluster episode of 90210 and a fantastically taut episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit). CW has given a put pilot commitment to drama The Graysons , based on the pre-Boy Wonder life of Batman sidekick Robin before he dons the mask and cape (a la Smallville ). Drama, from Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and Chuck/Supernatural executive producer McG, will follow Dick "DJ" Grayson in a new take on the iconic character. (In the original comics, Robin was the orphaned son of a high-flying trapeze artist family who was taken in by Bruce Wayne and trained to be Batman's sidekick.) Series is viewed as a potential replacement for Smallville , should this be final season, or as a companion piece if Smallville is renewed. Studio Warner Bros. Television also hopes to use this development to pro

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... Dean Cain? The former Man of Steel, who played Clark Kent on ABC's short-lived series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman , will head over to the CW's Smallville for a guest starring role next season. Cain, scheduled to appear in the fourth episode of Season Seven (really, seven?), will play a "villainous killer" named Dr. Curtis Knox. Curtis Knox. Coincidence that he and Clark both share the same initials? Or are the producers hinting at some other connection between them? Hmmm. Smallville returns to the air(waves) on Wednesday, September 27th at 8 pm.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.... Supergirl . As previously reported, the cast of the CW's drama Smallville will expand next season to include the new character of Supergirl . Cast in the role is Canadian actress Laura Vandervoort , best known for her role as Sadie Harrison on the N's Instant Star and guest roles on CSI and The Dresden Files . Vandervoort will play Kara, Clark Kent's cousin, who also has similar abilities to her relative, in addition to flight. Vandervoort reports to work next week on Smallville , which returns for its seventh season this fall. What's On Tonight 8 pm: Big Brother 8 (CBS); My Name is Earl (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?/Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX) 9 pm: CSI : Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); The Office/30 Rock ; Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); So You Think You Can Dance (FOX) 10 pm: Shark (CBS); The Office/Scrubs (NBC); Men in Trees (ABC) What