[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. NBC has pulled freshman drama Kings from its schedule, effective immediately. The drama was originally set to air on Thursday evenings but the Peacock shifted it to Sundays, where it aired four low-rated episodes before being pushed to the graveyard on Saturday nights. NBC has once again managed to surprise, this time by pulling Kings from its lineup altogether, although the network has pledged to return Kings to the schedule on June 13th, when it will begin to burn off the remainder of the series' unaired installments on Saturday nights at 8 pm. In the meantime, NBC will air repeats of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Southland, and Law & Order on Saturdays. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Variety 's Season Pass has a brand-new Q&A with Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse as they look back at the five seasons that have gone by and the final season yet to come. "I think our hope is that

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan talks to Joss Whedon about Dollhouse 's chances for a second season in a massive new Q&A. "I assumed it was dead in the water because the network was refusing to air the thirteenth [episode]," Whedon told Ryan about Dollhouse . "Not refusing, but just not interested. I assumed that meant the bell tolled for us. And they made a point of calling and saying, 'That is not what it means, and we'll keep you posted. I think they want it to succeed. I think they're getting it. They need it to succeed enough for them to pay for it. So I'm oddly hopeful but I'm also ready for anything." ( Chicago Tribune 's The Watcher ) NBC is in talks to pick up an untitled comedy project that will star former Will & Grace lead Debra Messing, who last appeared in the USA series The Starter Wife . The comedy project, written by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott (

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Showtime has renewed period drama The Tudors for a fourth and final season. The series, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as England's King Henry VIII, will air ten episodes--all penned by series creator Michael Hirst--in spring 2010. ( Variety ) 24 executive producer Howard Gordon talks to Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider about the return of Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) to the FOX series. "Kim has been easily targeted and lampooned by fans, so we had to do it very carefully," said Gordon of Cuthbert's return. "Elisha was as sensitive to this as we were." Gordon, meanwhile, offers a few tidbits about the reason behind her return and about her relationship with Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) E! Online's Jennifer Godwin was on hand last night at the Paley Festival's panel for HBO's True Blood and has some answers about the Sooki

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Former Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum and Heroes ' Nick D'Agosto will star in NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, where they'll play brothers in the Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount project; D'Agosto will play the family's youngest sibling who brings his girlfriend home to meet his family while Rosenbaum will play the middle sibling, a married man freaking out over his adopted baby. Elsewhere, Noah Gray-Cabey ( Heroes ), Oded Fehr ( Sleeper Cell ), Kyle Riabko ( Instant Star ), and Jessy Schram ( Life ) will star in ABC musical drama pilot Limelight , about the teachers and students of a performing arts institute; Sam Neill ( The Tudors ) has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot Happy Town ; and Rochelle Aytes ( Drive ) will star opposite Rupert Penry-Jones ( Spooks ) in ABC's untitled Jerry Bruckheimer drama pilot, about a team of amateur detectives, where she will play a police officer who

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Jason Dohring ( Veronica Mars ) and Minka Kelly ( Friday Night Lights ) have signed on to star in CW drama pilot Body Politic , from CBS Paramount Network Television. Dohring will play a Washington Post reporter while Kelly will play Hope, a young woman who leaves Michigan after the death of her mother to take a position in Washington in as a staffer for a senator (Tim Matheson), who has just been named Attorney General. Fans of Friday Night Lights shouldn't worry, however: Kelly's casting here doesn't signal the end of FNL as she was not set to return as a series regular next season but will instead turn up in Season Four in a multiple-episode story arc should the series be renewed. ( Hollywood Reporter ) ABC has confirmed that Ashley Jensen will leave Ugly Betty at the end of the season; it's no secret that the actress was "less than thrilled" when Betty moved production from Los Angeles to New York la

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Mark Valley ( Fringe ) has been cast as the lead in FOX drama pilot Human Target , from Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland, and DC Comics, about a "mysterious security freelancer who assumes the identities of those in danger, becoming the 'human target' for his clients." Pilot will be directed by Simon West. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight will depart the cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy , according to co-star James Pickens who told US Magazine that the duo would leave the series. "Yes, she is," said Pickens when asked if Heigl was leaving. "Wherever Katherine goes, I wish her nothing but the best." As for Knight, Pickens said, "He's going too. He just wanted to pursue other career paths." ABC, ABC Studios, and reps for Heigl and Knight had no comment. ( US Magazine ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello had some further news on this developmen

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. It looks like Caprica will be heading to our screens sooner than we originally thought... or the two-hour backdoor pilot will be, anyway. Sci Fi Channel announced that it will make Caprica 's pilot available as a limited-edition DVD on April 21st with an uncut and unrated version, ahead of the series' 2010 broadcast launch. Additionally, the film will be available for digital download at select online destinations. (Having already seen the pilot, I can say that it will definitely please BSG fans while also offering a glimpse into a series that's vastly different than anything we've seen so far on Battlestar Galactica .) "Ever since fans first caught wind of the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica , they have been eagerly following its development," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming for SCI FI & Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. "We wanted to giv

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. My mind is still buzzing after last night's double-bill of Lost and Damages . Pay cabler HBO has renewed drama Big Love , about the polygamist Henrickson clan, for a fourth season. Production will begin later this year for a 2010 launch. "The stellar reviews and solid viewership this season confirm that this is a signature series for HBO," said Michael Lombardo, president of programming at HBO. "The series keeps getting better and better." (I have to agree with him: this season has been absolutely amazing!) Once DVR, encores, and VOD ratings are added in to Big Love 's initial airing, viewing figures soar to about 5 million, on par with HBO's True Blood . ( Variety , Hollywood Reporter ) Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J are said to be in final talks to star in CBS' untitled NCIS spin-off. Chris O'Donnell would play Callen, a man capable of changing into various different personas with ease,

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. ABC has ordered a pilot for a modern day remake of seminal 1980s mini-series V , to be written/executive produced by Scott Peters ( The 4400 ). Updated V , from Warner Bros. Television, will focus on a female Homeland Security agent. Elsewhere, NBC has removed the contingency from period comedy pilot Lost in the '80s , from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount, which will be directed by P.J. Hogan ( Shopaholic ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) Former Doctor Who co-star Freema Agyeman will reportedly reprise her role as Martha Jones in one of the four Doctor Who specials planned for 2009, despite some rumors of bad blood between her and outbound head writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies, said to originate when she accepted a role on ITV's Law & Order: London rather than star in a new season of Torchwood . “Freema’s on board," said an unnamd source. "It’s early days so it’s unclear what exactly Martha will be

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 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. 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 Thursday morning television briefing. USA Today 's Robert Bianco reviews tonight's season premiere of ABC's Grey's Anatomy , saying that the two-hour launch "completes the task begun last spring, clearing away dead plots and setting this massively entertaining series back on track." And fans will be happy to know that it seems like--for now anyway--Mer and Der and united. Time will tell... ( USA Today ) Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that the end of last season was about the end of the fairy tale but that this season "was all about what happens after the 'happily ever after,' for all our characters. For some, it's about jumping off into something new. It feels like a very fresh start for everybody." And for Katherine Heigl getting a fresh start away from Grey's , don't count her out just yet. "We have every intention of seeing Katherine for the entire season," said