[Televisionary]

Just a day after the news that the third season of Arrested Development would finally be released on DVD, home video watchdog TVShowsonDVD.com announced that another criminally cancelled comedy series, HBO's The Comeback , would be released on August 1st. The series, which starred Lisa Kudrow as washed-up actress Valerie Cherish, charted Valerie's attempts at a comeback career after she is cast in an awful sitcom and agrees to have her life filmed simultaneously by a camera crew for a reality show called, you guessed it, The Comeback . The series was created by Kudrow and Michael Patrick King ( Sex and the City ) and ran for 13 episodes on the pay cabler last year. The two-disc release of The Comeback will include all 13 episodes of the short-lived series, commentaries on six episodes, a DVD interview with "Valerie Cherish," and original material (which Kudrow told me about last month in Aspen), including footage of Valerie backstage at Dancing with the Stars . S

We've all noticed the sudden proliferation of product placement on television as it's become inescapable of late. Whether it's Venus razors on America's Next Top Model or Windex on HBO's Big Love , American television has become cluttered with shots of name-brand products, a trend which has lately carried over into actual program dialogue. Pundits have blamed the explosion of product placement on the popularity of TiVo and other DVRs that allow users to speed through (or erase entirely) commercial ad breaks, making it necessary to embed ads into the actual program. If less people are seeing the commercials, networks need to reassure their sponsors that their products are still being viewed. But when does product placement cross a line from a subtle nudge to a knock over the head? Reality shows have always been gluttons for product placement, whether it be competitors' rewards in the form of cars or luxury vacation excursions or, in the case of CBS reality serie

Following FOX's announcement that it had ordered pilots Vanished and 'Til Death (which I reported here ), the network has again today announced that it has greenlit drama pilots Primary and American Crime , according to Variety . American Crime , from Jerry Bruckheimer TV and Warner Bros. Television, focuses on a team of high-profile defense attorneys. The cast includes Victor Garber ( Alias ), Eamonn Walker ( Oz ), and Kerr Smith ( E-Ring ). The pilot was written by Jonathan Shapiro, who also executive produces along with Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, and David McNally, the pilot's director. Primary , from 20th Century Fox TV, is being described as "a 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'-type hour about hostage negotiators." The drama, which stars Ron Livingston ( Sex and the City ), Gina Torres ( Firefly , Alias , Angel ) and Rosemarie DeWitt ( Rescue Me ), had already received word to begin staffing and building sets last week. Primary 's executive prod

It turns out that rather than make a huge mistake, Fox will release the Bluth family from their imposed jail sentence after all... at least on DVD. TV Shows on DVD announced today that Fox Home Entertainment will release the third season of Arrested Development , the sadly cancelled cult comedy, on DVD on August 29th, a full two months after its original planned release date (June 13th). The release will be a two-disc box set containing all of Season Three's thirteen episodes and as- yet-unnamed extras. TVShowsonDVD.com had the following information about the release: "In this Emmy-winning comedy's hilarious third season, Michael Bluth finally realizes that it's his Uncle Oscar serving time in prison, not his father. Reluctant to spring Oscar due to the effect it may have on the family business, Michael decides the only fair thing to do is to find his father and place him under house arrest. Yet once found, George Sr. insists he was tricked into working with the Iraqi

Before you continue reading, let me be clarify the above title so that I am not actually in breach of the Blogger.com contract as it were: I'm not actually talking about naked television but rather Naked TV , a co-production between NYC-based theatre group Naked Angels and Fox Broadcasting Company. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Naked TV is an evening of live entertainment in the form of one-act plays, presented by Naked Angels and FOX in an attempt to "identify new writers and stage works which hold some potential for a TV adaptation." In theory, entertainment execs, representatives, etc. are supposed to attend the event and view these mini-pilots; FOX gets to see if the works play well in front of an audience; and new writers get the opportunity to potentially break into the industry. Except that's not quite how it seemed this year. This year's Naked TV lineup consisted of the following six one-act plays: Penicillin by Deirdre O'Connor Victor

And then there were three... I am stunned that Lee Anne was eliminated this week on Top Chef and that Dave--DAVE, people!--made it to the final three and earned a spot for the season finale showdown in Las Vegas. Surely, overall merit and week-to-week consistency and creativity should have played a role in the decision, over the truffled macaroni and cheese that Dave made, which somehow won him a spot. A top chef, Dave is not. True, Lee Anne's plate was a little crowded with flavors: pistachio-crusted loin of lamb, butternut squash and truffle risotto, treviso, and a cherry-red wine-port sauce, the latter of which earned her accolades from many of the Napa Valley chefs who had been roped in by Tom Colicchio to judge this challenge. But it certainly didn't help matters that after Lee Anne decided to use lamb for her dish that both Tiffani and Harold followed suit and also chose lamb (I think Dave's choice of beef also helped his odds)... and then Lee Anne was forced to serv

NBC has announced that it has picked up drama series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and placed in on its fall 2006-2007 schedule. The series, which explores the behind-the-scenes drama at an SNL-type late night sketch show, comes from The West Wing 's Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme. "Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme's work is TV at its best and Studio 60 lives up to that standard," said Kevin Reilly, President of NBC Entertainment, who made the announcement. "I'm thrilled they are back on NBC for the Fall." The show's ensemble cast includes Matthew Perry ( Friends ), Amanda Peet ( Syriana ), Bradley Whitford ( The West Wing ), Sarah Paulson ( Deadwood ), D.L. Hughley ( The Hughleys ), Evan Handler ( Sex and the City ), and Steven Weber ( Wings ), among others. NBC's publicity machine had the following to say: Sorkin returns to television with this crackling take on the drama behind the humor of producing a popular, late-night comedy sketch sh