[Televisionary]

Is it just me or has Nancy Botwin become really unlikable? What always worked for me on Showtime's dark comedy series Weeds was the fact that while Nancy seemed to be floundering morally, she was always attempting to keep her family together in the face of increasing adversity, trying to hold on to the American dream of a house in the suburbs with a pool and an endless supply of caffeinated beverages. So what quite went wrong? Season Four of Weeds found Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) becoming increasingly shrill and unsympathetic and taking bigger and bigger risks, even after leaving Agrestic following her decision to burn down her house and jumping into bed with a Mexican drug lord (Demian Bichir). When we last saw Nancy, she was about to be killed by Esteban for ratting him out to the federali and she pulled out her ace in the hole: a sonogram depicting her unborn child, the result of her union with Esteban. Does the last-ditch ploy work and is Nancy able to save her own life? (Wel

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Good news: pay cabler Starz has renewed comedy series Party Down , from creators Rob Thomas, John Enbom, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd, for a second season. The entire cast of Season One of Party Down will return for a sophomore season, though Jane Lynch's commitment to FOX's upcoming series Glee could create complications for her return and the actress is the only cast member who isn't already signed on for a second season. Party Down will return to production this summer for a Season Two launch date sometime in 2010. Also returning: directors Fred Savage and Bryan Gordon, who will direct episodes of the series, along with Ken Marino, who is locked to helm an installment as well. ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin , Variety ) FOX has reportedly ordered pilots Human Target , from Warner Bros Television, and comedy Sons of Tucson , from 20th Century Fox Television, to series. FOX had no comment on the news, which is

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Evan Rachel Wood ( The Wrestler ) has been cast on HBO's True Blood , where she will guest star in two episodes as Sophie-Anne, a 500-year-old French vampire who is the Queen of Louisiana. Woods will turn up towards the end of Season Two, which kicks off on June 14th, but is expected to reprise her role should True Blood be renewed for a third season. Her character, Sophie-Anne, is described as "who is charming, wily, ruthless and wise. She's a consummate diplomat who has (or had) many of history's most famous people on speed dial." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Nancy Botwin may have left Agrestic behind but Weeds ' Mary-Louise Parker isn't going anywhere. "No. That's not true," said series creator Jenji Kohan when asked whether Parker would leave Weeds now that Jennifer Jason Leigh had been cast in the series. Leigh's character will appear in just a handful of episo

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller has said that a comic book spin-off of the sadly demised series could be on sale via Marvel as early as this fall, should a deal with Warner Bros for the rights be closed in the next month or so. What should fans expect from the comic, which Fuller describes as Season Three of Pushing Daisies ? "We're going to see a lot of exploration with Ned and his father, which we teased but were never able to make good on," Fuller told SCI FI Wire. "We had [Ned's father, played by] George Hamilton save Ned and Chuck, and by having Emerson and Dwight Dixon clean up the whole mess we're going to understand who Dwight was to Chuck and Ned's dad. Dwight will be making a return, and we'll be seeing the adult Eugene Mulchandani and Danny that involves helium smuggling. There's a lot of fun stuff woven into the series that we were intending to pay off that we can now do in the

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Joss Whedon admitted that it's unlikely that Dollhouse will be renewed for a second season by FOX, given the series' low ratings. "[The chances are] not very good but in limbo," Whedon told SCI FI Wire. "Obviously our numbers are pretty soft, and there it is, but we live in hope. I'm really proud of the episodes that are coming out. More than that, I can't really ask." ( SCI FI Wire ) But, at last night's Paley Festival panel for Dollhouse , Whedon seemed to have changed his tune, saying that the series isn't dead just yet. "We also talked about next season, [FOX] called me specifically to say we've been hearing you sound a little despondent, being very clear about this, the show is not cancelled," he said. "The numbers have been soft, but the demographic is wonderful. DVR is great, they [FOX] are big fans of the show and they're waiting to see what happens, so now

Speaking Friday at the Television Critics Association, Showtime made a host of programming announcements, the most salient of which is its renewal of its Mary-Louise Parker dark comedy series Weeds , and handed out some series orders. The pay cabler has renewed Weeds for two additional seasons of 13 episodes a piece. Which means that the series will air its fifth and sixth seasons--which follow the misadventures of suburban pot-dealing mom Nancy Botwin (Parker) and her eccentric associates and family members--in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Weeds is currently airing its fourth season on Monday nights at 10 pm ET/PT. Showtime handed out series honors to the untitled Edie Falco comedy pilot, which will now officially be known as Nurse Jackie . (The name follows a series of name changes over the last few years for this long-dormant project, including Nurse Jenna, Nurse Mona , and Nurse Helen .) Edie Falco will star in the half-hour comedy series about a tough-as-nails Manhattan nurse who

I'm curious to know what everyone thought of Showtime's two program launches last night, which saw the return of Weeds (now in its fourth season) to the lineup and the addition of British import Secret Diary of a Call Girl to the mix as well. If you couldn't tell from my advance review of both series, I was completely captivated by Secret Diary of a Call Girl and by Billie Piper's incandescent performance as Hannah/Belle in the ITV2 series which aired in Blighty last year. Showtime was definitely smart not to buy the format and remake it here in the US but to just air the original British production as is; it's absolutely perfect the way it is and I can't imagine very many young actresses pulling off the combination of vulnerability and sexual confidence that Piper manages to effortlessly deliver. (You can read my original advance review of Secret Diary of a Call Girl here .) As for Weeds , I thought that the Season Four premiere was a sign that the series, w

Ah, how the time has flown. When we last saw Weeds ' Nancy Botwin, she had set fire to her own house as Agrestic burned to the ground; it was a figurative transformation for pot-dealer Nancy and a cleansing of sorts as she erased the stuff that defined her suburban existence. Where would she and the kids (not to mention Andy) end up now that her carefully laid plans had gone up in smoke quite literally? Cut to next week's hilariously wicked fourth season opener for Weeds ("Mother Thinks The Birds Are After Her"), which premieres on Monday on Showtime. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first two fantastic episodes of the fourth season, which comprise a new beginning of sorts for the extended Botwin clan. Leaving behind Agrestic (and on the lam for the discovery of the grow house), Nancy and the kids drive aimlessly until she stumbles onto a temporary solution: they'll head south to the Mexican border and the small beach town of Ren Mar, where Shane and Sil

Could racy Showtime hits Weeds , Dexter , and The Tudors be heading to primetime on CBS ? It certainly looks that way, based on comments made by CBS topper Leslie Moonves, who says that the Tiffany network will look to repurpose Showtime's slate of edgy series. " Dexter is probably the first one to go on -- with some edits, "Mooves said. "It fits with our crime shows." (I don't want to argue with Moonves that his crime series typically feature law enforcement officers solving murders rather than, you know, committing them, but who am I to quibble?) There's no launch date as of yet for Dexter other than indications that it will air "in the near future," but the strength of the crime drama's second season ratings point towards a potential primetime hit for CBS. Sister series Weeds , which recently wrapped its third season, and period drama The Tudors may also bow on the Eye, but both would require judicious editing due to the strong sexua

Between getting her DEA agent husband killed and participating in a drive-by shooting, Nancy Botwin must be doing something right. Pay cabler Showtime has renewed dark comedy Weeds for a fourth season, ordering 13 episodes of the Mary-Louise Parker-led ensemble comedy. Network is targeting a summer 2008 launch for the fourth season of Weeds , with production to begin in April. That of course, depends on the outcome of the current writers strike. Weeds ' current season, pegged at an expanded 15 episodes, is currently in full swing on Monday nights at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime. What's On Tonight 8 pm: How I Met Your Mother /The Big Bang Theory (CBS); Chuck (NBC); Everybody Hates Chris/Aliens in America (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC; 8-9:30 pm); Prison Break (FOX; 8-10 pm) 9 pm: Two and a Half Men /Rules of Engagement (CBS); Heroes (NBC); Girlfriends/The Game (CW); Samantha Who (ABC; 9:30-10 pm) 10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); Journeyman (NBC); The Bachelor (ABC) What I'

It's that time of year when Showtime invites a bunch of people around to catch a sneak peek at the next season of Weeds and last night was no exception, except that this year the pay cabler offered attendees a chance to watch both the season premiere of Weeds and the premiere of new comedy Californication (which I had seen back in April, but who's counting). This year, the Weeds / Californication screening took place, not at the Egyptian (whew!), but at the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight, a much better venue for this regular event. In attendance, besides for Showtime and Lionsgate executives, numerous agents, and members of the TV intelligentsia (like yours truly)? Series stars Mary Louise-Parker, Romany Malco, Kevin Nealon, Hunter Parrish, Andy Milder, Tonye Patano, Justin Kirk, Indigo, Allie Grant, and Alexander Gould, along with newest cast members Mary-Kate Olsen and Matthew Modine . I spied Weeds ' Maulik Pancholy across the room at the after party at Boulevard3 but

In one of the, er, oddest bits of casting recently, Showtime announced that Mary-Kate Olsen will join the cast of drama Weeds , which returns for its third season of pot-scented shenanigans August 13th. Mary-Kate Olsen (remind me, is that the blonde one?) will play Tara, a Christian who moves into a new planned community sponsored by a local evangelical church, located next to the Botwin's Agrestic. Tara will quickly become a new love interest for Nancy's son Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Olsen is already contracted to appear in 10 of the 15 episodes ordered for Season Three. " Weeds isn't your eight-o'-clock family fare," says creator Jenji Kohan. "It's an adult show with adult subject matter and we're confident Mary-Kate is right for the role. She came in and read with Hunter and was absolutely charming and real and seemed like a great fit. Audiences have seen only one side of Mary-Kate but here, we'll see her in a whole new light." (I co

Just when you thought that things couldn't get any worse in Agrestic... they do. Well, at least for just about everyone other than poor Isabelly and a suddenly very happy Shane. In last night's episode of Weeds ("Mrs. Botwin's Neighborhood"), Nancy (Mary Louise Parker) has to contend with attacks on the home front from a number of directions, the most upsetting of which is eldest son Silas' (Hunter Parrish), um, reaction to the news that pregnant girlfriend Megan (Shoshannah Stern) won't be keeping their child after all. While Silas keeps texting her with thousands of potential baby names, Megan has shut herself in her bedroom and her father is none to pleased with Silas when he attempts to try and see her. (Nor should he be when Silas breaks through Megan's bedroom window and stabs--yes, STABS--Megan's dad with a piece of broken glass. Nancy's reaction to the entire bloody scene is a classic momma bear action; she gets right up in to the guy&

Fans of Showtime's Weeds who don't, you know, actually want to pay for Showtime can catch the second season premiere online. MSN Video has pacted with the pay cabler to stream Weed' s entire season premiere episode ("Corn Snake") online for one week, after it premieres on the network Monday. Additionally, short clips from the Mary-Louise Parker-led dramedy will be available online throughout the second season, but there are no current plans to offer any other full-length episodes. So catch your hit now while you still can. And, who knows, you might just be willing to pony up that extra money for Showtime.

Fans of Weeds are in for a few surprises when the series launches its second season on Showtime next month. I attended the Weeds Season Two premiere last night at the Egyptian in Hollywood and the audience -- a mix of celebrities, cast members, and execs from Showtime and studio Lionsgate Television -- was able to catch a sneak peek at the first two episodes of next season. And let me just say, if you thought that season finale cliffhanger ending with Nancy (Mary Louise Parker) discovering that her newest beau Peter (Martin Donovan) was a DEA agent after sleeping with him was a doozy, you're in for a real treat. Before the main event, Showtime president Bob Greenblatt screened the trailer for Showtime's upcoming series The Tudors , a revisionist take on the Tudor dynasty starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Sam Neill, and Jeremy Northam, among others. It's sort of a soap operatic version of history but without any of the flair or panache of HBO's Rome . The first half of th