[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. ABC ordered three drama pilots yesterday: Inside the Box , about a female news producer in a Washington network news bureau from writer Richard E. Robbins and executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers (Grey's Anatomy); I, Claudia , about a young prosecuting attorney who is unaware that in the future she will be a contender to be the first female president of the US, from writer/executive producer John Scott Shepherd ( The Days ); and an untitled US adaptation of Argentinian series Brothers & Detectives , about a detective who discovers that he has a brilliant 11-year-old brother after the death of his estranged father, from Daniel Cerone ( Dexter ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) NBC has ordered a pilot for futuristic drama Day One from writer/executive producer Jesse A. Alexander ( Heroes ) about "the aftermath of a global event that devastates the world's infrastructures when a small band of survivors strive to

It's rather easy at first glance to draw comparisons between TNT's new drama series Trust Me , which launches tonight, and AMC's award-winning period drama Mad Men . Though Trust Me is set in the present day, both series are set in advertising agencies and seek to capture a photograph of the society in which they inhabit. After all, advertising needs to speak to its buyers and what better way than by reflecting people's dreams, fears, hopes, and excesses? Unlike Mad Men , Trust Me , created by The Closer 's Hunt Baldwin and John Covent, attempts to take a more humorous approach and seeks to mine its agency setting to maximum comic effect. While it's essentially an ensemble piece about the employees of Chicago's Rothman, Greene & Moore agency, the real heart of the series is the relationship between a pair of best friends and partners, mature and level-headed Mason McGuire (Eric McCormack) and creative manboy Conner (Tom Cavanagh) as they pitch, whine, f

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I'm off in a bit to FOX's panel for the Television Critics Association, but here are a few headlines first. Torchwood 's John Barrowman will collaborate with artist Tommy Lee Edwards on an original comic strip entitled "Captain Jack and the Selkie," which will run in the fourteen issue of the bi-monthly Torchwood magazine. The strip will feature a story in which Jack faces" a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one... To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible." (via press release) Entertainment Weekly 's Doc Jensen offers some clues to understanding Season Five of Lost , which premieres Wednesday, January 21st, and recommends five previous episodes for essential viewing before the season premiere, including "There's No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3)," "Flashes Before Y

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I spent last night fully immersed in television, watching screeners of the Season Three premiere of Skins , Lost in Austen , and Mistresses , before indulging in this week's episode of Bravo's Top Chef . Tori Spelling is in "final negotiations" to reprise her role as Donna Martin in the CW's 90210 in multiple episodes this season. One major point holding up the deal previously was allegedly Spelling's fear or running into Shannen Doherty on the set, but Doherty has now wrapped her role for the season. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan ( Traffic ) was recently the subject of a bidding war between ABC and FOX, with ABC landing the writer with a seven-figure blind put pilot commitment. Under the terms of the deal, Gaghan--who previously wrote for The Practice and NYPD Blue --will write and executive produce a one-hour drama pilot for the network and is attached to di

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The first appearance of Mad Men 's Jon Hamm on NBC's 30 Rock is slated for February 5th. As previously reported, Hamm will join the cast of 30 Rock in a three-episode arc where he will play a new love interest for Liz Lemon (Tina Fey). Let's just hope their relationship goes a lot smoother than Don and Betty Drapers, huh? ( The Chicago Tribune 's The Watcher ) Holy British format import! HBO, Warner Bros TV, and writer/executive producer John Wells (ER) are developing a US version of Channel 4's Shameless , created by Paul Abbott ( State of Play ). Series follows the lives of the members of the rough-and-tumble Gallagher clan, headed up by lovable alcoholic/drug addict patriarch Frank, living on a public housing estate in Manchester. The sixth season of Shameless launches in the UK later this month; Season Seven is slated to air in 2010. ( Variety ) NBC has ordered a script for one-hour music drama pilot Soundtr

TNT's new drama Leverage has a winning premise: a good guy, betrayed by the company that employed him to capture criminals, puts together a team of baddies to rob from the rich and give to the poor, providing, as we're told in the epilogue, "leverage." However, the series--from creators John Rogers and Dean Devlin--fails to live up to the promise of its premise, due to some muddying of its tone, a general flatness, and a lack of compelling humor and action. When faced with a series like NBC's Chuck , which does both well and in abundance on a weekly basis, Leverage seems like a tired rehash of action elements from the 1980s and lacks an overall freshness. I had seen an early cut of the pilot back in the spring and little had changed between that rough cut and the finished product, one of two episodes supplied for review. In fact, the pilot ("The Nigerian Job")--which I only moderately liked at best--is far superior to the series' second episode (&

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I'm still getting mail from readers about yesterday's announcement that FOX would stick Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on Fridays, as many are extremely upset by what they perceive to be the final nail in the coffin for Whedon's latest work. As one door opens, another one opens. Or so the aphorism goes. In any event, should ABC opt not to order additional episodes of Pushing Daisies past their initial 13-episode commitment this season, creator Bryan Fuller will be heading back to NBC's Heroes , where he was on staff during the beleaguered series' freshman season. "I am exclusive to Daisies through the delivery of the 13th episode of our 13-episode order, which will be mid-January," Fuller told EW.com. "If Daisies isn't picked up by then, I will definitely be going back to play with my friends at Heroes ." Sadly, it's now looking more and more likely that ABC won't be ordering more i

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. While the post-election television-related news is pretty scant today (though I am filled with hope at the prospect of change under President Elect Obama... while being pretty disappointed in the still undecided tough race for Prop 8 in California), there are a few tidbits to get through. As the networks prepare to announce their full midseason schedules, many believe that some of our favorite series are in serious jeopardy. Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Lipstick Jungle, Eli Stone , and Life are all said to be on the bubble for midseason. Pushing Daisies ' cancellation would make me absolutely heartbroken but the writing is starting to appear on the wall for this sophisticated and unique series. Sigh. ( TV by the Numbers ) Nikki Blonsky will guest star on ABC's Ugly Betty , where she will play an assistant at Mode's rival publication, Elle, and will make an offer of friendship to Betty, though naturally she'll

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. NBC has given a full season pickup to Knight Rider , bringing this season's total to 22 episodes despite sagging ratings . And that's all I want to say on the subject. ( E! Online ) CW has ordered a few additional scripts for freshman drama series Privileged , which has struggled to find ratings though has shown significant improvement in recent weeks (it's up 22 percent) despite softening numbers for its lead-in, 90210 . Should the trend continue, it seems fairly certain that Privileged will get a full season order. ( Hollywood Reporter ) One of my main suggestions for improving FOX's Fringe involved giving its supporting cast some real dimension , especially Jasika Nicole's Astrid Farnsworth. Nicole speaks with TV Guide and reveals in this interview that she doesn't know Astrid's backstory either, other than "Astrid majored in music" and is "really, really smart." Not quite the thr

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Quite a lot of good telly on last night, including new episodes of Skins, Mad Men, Amazing Race , and Little Britain USA , not to mention another installment of Masterpiece Contemporary's The Last Enemy . Whew. FOX has issued a reprieve for ratings-starved sci-fi action drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles . The series has been given a full season order for its second season, which averaged a 2.3/6 in adults 18-49 in its last original airing. Many insiders had pegged the series as a goner, proving that there's obviously still some life in the Terminator franchise yet. ( Variety ) Zeljko Ivanek ( Damages ) has been cast in Season Three of Heroes , where he'll appear in a multiple-episode story arc playing a character known as the Hunter in Volume Four of the series, which is subtitled "Fugitives" and is set to kick off in January or February of 2009. ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Entertainment W

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Last night was quite a busy telly-viewing evening here in the Televisionary household, with brand-new episodes of Ugly Betty, The Office , and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia , which once again managed to make me laugh until it hurt. Green man! We may have our very first cancellation of the season on our hands with FOX's comedy Do Not Disturb . Series, which starred Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash and struggled in the ratings since its launch three weeks ago, has been preempted next week and will be replaced with a repeat of 'Til Death . (Ouch.) There was no official announcement as of press time from studio 20th Century Fox Television or the network about the fate of Do Not Disturb , but Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello claims that inside sources at the network have confirmed that the series has been cancelled. Let the guessing games about what the second cancelled series of the year will be begin! ( Holl

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I had a wonderful if busy weekend which--not atypically--revolved around television. The wife and I attended Saturday's BAFTA/LA TV Tea Party and shared more than a few Pimm's Cups with Flight of the Conchords, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, 90210 executive producer Gabe Sachs, The Office 's Kate Flannery, Leslie David Baker, and Creed Bratton, Mad Men 's Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton, and Michael Gladis, The Riches ' Noel Fisher, 30 Rock 's Scott Adsit, Battlestar Galactica babe Tricia Helfer, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ' Thomas Dekker, Jeff Garlin, and many, many others. (Fun, to say the least.) Reaction to this year's Emmy Awards--the 60th installment--wasn't quite what producers likely intended, with many critics --myself included--lashing out at the format, the hosts, and the distinct lack of scripted funnies. ( Televisionary ) FOX has given a script order to workplace comedy Th

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I'm in fashion overload after back-to-back episodes last night of Top Model and Project Runway (more on the latter in a bit) but can't say that I am as enthused with either series as I was in the past. Lest you worry about the fate of Joss Whedon's action drama Dollhouse --beset by multiple problems months before the series' launch--you can dismantle the shrine. FOX is said to be still deeply committed to the project. “With months before our broadcast premiere, we have the rare luxury of extra time,” a 20th Century Fox Television spokesman said. “We believe in this show and want to give it every opportunity to succeed.” Let's hope that's true, given the recent reports that the network was decidedly less than pleased with the series' creative direction. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) Meanwhile, FOX must be pleased as punch that its other cult drama Fringe performed so well in its seco

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I was absolutely riveted by last night's episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit) and not so riveted by another dull installment of 90210 . Meh. The CW's buzz-worthy Gossip Girl scored the highest numbers ever in the life of the series, drawing in 3.7 million viewers on Monday, an increase of nearly 500,000 from the week prior and 300,000 above Gossip Girl's second season premiere on September 1st. Those numbers are even more palatable for the netlet when you realize that it's a full one million viewers more than tuned in to the third episode of the first season. Not doing quite as well? FOX's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles , which lost 800,000 viewers from last week's season premiere to sink to a low of 5.5 million, off 36 percent from its Season One average. Ouch. ( Entertainment Weekly ) More talk from NBC chiefs about the quality work co-chairman Ben Silverman is doing (in between "[party