[Televisionary]

Those titular palms just got a lot less hidden. The CW's freshman drama Hidden Palms , created by Kevin Williamson of Dawson's Creek and Scream fame, will finally launch on May 30th at 8 pm, taking over America's Next Top Model timeslot. The eight-episode series, which stars The O.C. 's Taylor Handley (yes, creepy Oliver!) and Michael Cassidy, Amber Heard, Gail O'Grady, D.W. Moffett, Ellary Porterfield, Tessa Thompson , Sharon Lawrence, and Leslie Jordan (a.k.a. Will & Grace 's Beverly Lesley), can best be described as The O.C. meets Desperate Housewives . A newly scruffy Johnny Miller (Handley)--recovering from alcoholism as well as the suicide of his father--moves with his mom and her new hubby to Palm Springs, where he encounters the enigmatic Greta (Heard), rival Cliff (Cassidy), and a mystery involving Eddie, the former resident of his bedroom. (A review of the original pilot can be found here .) For those of you looking for a steamy summertime'

Confused about BBC America's wacky schedule? Tired of endless Benny Hill reruns? Fret no more. Digital cabler BBC America has announced that, under new president Garth Ancier (remember him from the old WB?), it has reorganized its entire lineup , launching distinctive primetime programming blocks that target various demos every night of the week, which will also serve to modernize the channel and stabilize the schedule. On Mondays, cabler will launch an 8-10 pm block called Murder Mondays, presenting a night of scripted mystery/dramas including new seasons of Robson Green-starrer Wire in the Blood and James Nesbit-led Murphy’s Law . Tuesdays are all about male-driven action with Tuesday Nitro, with espionage drama MI:5 (aka Spooks , which was unceremoniously yanked from A&E ), drama Ultimate Force , which follows an elite army unit as they encounter life-threatening and dangerous situations, and undisclosed reality series. The girls get their own night with Wicked Wednesday,

You do not want to mess with Patty Hewes, an avenging litigator who is as ruthless as she is icy. Just think of Anna Wintour (or fictional Miranda Priestley) in a power suit with a law degree and a bulldog approach to winning every case and you've approximated the character. But you haven't see anything yet. I'm talking of course of the latest character legendary actress Glenn Close will play and it is an amazingly meaty role. I was surprised that Close would again choose television (following her stint on The Shield ) over feature films, but when she signed on for an untitled legal drama pilot at FX, I knew that the stars had aligned in some way. FX has now ordered the legal drama to series, picking up 13 episodes of the series, now titled Damages , for a slated late summer launch. The series, created by Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, and Daniel Zelman, stars Close as the aforementioned Hewes, Rose Byrne ( I Capture the Castle , Marie Antoinette ) as Ellen, a young associ

Carole King once said, "Where you lead, I will follow," but I think we've reached the end of the road with those two girls called Gilmore. According to a source inside the production, there will not be an eighth season of Gilmore Girls , which will wrap up its run this May. While there have been rumors of a possible eleventh hour contract renegotiation with stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel (who, according to reports, have only decided to sign their contracts if the other does as well), purported (and disastrous) Season Eight storyline plans , and petitions to save the show, it seems that it's not in the stars (hollow or otherwise) for any future seasons of Gilmore Girls . According to my source, staffers on the Warner Bros. Television series have been told that the series will not be going forward and have begun to look for other employment next season. The same holds for the actors: Melissa McCarthy, who plays chef Sookie, recently signed on to co-star opposite

Wow. Two hours of The Amazing Race ? Way too much drama for me on a Sunday night, though I do have to say that I would have been peevishly outraged had they broken the episode into two parts, given the fact that--a first in Race history--teams were beginning a new leg of the Race before the trailing teams had finished the last one. Way to go, Dustin and Kandice! It really was two hours of twists and turns and uncomfortable alliances but I'll limit my comments to just a few salient points. After all, I don't want to be droning on endlessly like Mirna or something. The Best Laid Travel Plans. Is it just me or has this season of TAR featured the most excruciating travel sequences ever? Some teams, like the Guidos or Eric and Danielle (ha!) have faced setbacks time and time again. Last night was no exception as two teams (forced to "work" together) missed their connecting flight by mere seconds and watched in horror as they moved the stairs away from the plane, leading

Jason Biggs has found a roommate from hell and if you've ever seen still-missed comedy Undeclared (available on DVD, natch, so get out there and watch it), you'll recognize his slob of a roomie. CBS Paramount comedy pilot I'm in Hell , about a Wall Street player-type (Biggs) who dies in a freak Blackberry-related accident and is reassigned to Earth (Hell is too full, apparently) has found its co-star, a slovenly awful guy in none other than Marshall himself, Timm Sharp. Sharp will play Bigg's Earthbound roommate from hell, a truly awful individual. So nothing like Undeclared 's so-sweet-he-seemed-stupid Marshall then. (Let's just hope he doesn't end up in a bird-related mishap.) Sharp recently appeared in two episodes of FOX comedy 'Til Death and has been seen on HBO's Six Feet Under and FOX's Malcolm in the Middle . Sharp has popped up in a number of features including Friends with Money (as an architect), Fun with Dick and Jane , and a lit

I was really looking forward to Showtime's The Tudors . After all, it's got all of the things that I do love in a fantastic costume drama: a stellar cast, sword fights and sex, and a tumultuous period of history to draw from. So why does the series leave me so cold? I've given The Tudors several shots now to entertain and captivate me (I've seen various versions of the pilot over the last few months), but even after sitting through the series' second episode, I still can't wrap my head around what's missing from what's arguably one of the most expensive series ever created (10 episodes at roughly $38 million dollars, or so I've heard). I think it all comes back down to HBO's Rome , which wrapped its series on Sunday. Now that series managed to find the right balance between salaciousness and serious drama. Both series occur at critical moments in history, with corrupt politicians, immature leaders, and lawlessness the bon mots of the day. Yet wh