[Televisionary]

TNT has cast Monica Potter ( Boston Legal ) in their Madison Avenue-set drama pilot, Truth in Advertising , which revolves around the multi-million dollar advertising agency Rothman, Greene & Moore (what, no Dewey, Cheatum & Howe?), a high-stakes ad agency whose execs are constantly driven to prove why they deserve to keep their plum gigs. Potter joins the previously cast Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh in the pilot, which begins production later this month. Potter will play Sarah Krajicek-Hunter, a divorcee and copywriter who is brought into the firm. Lest you be confused by the similarities between this project and AMC's Mad Men , rest assured that Truth in Advertising is set firmly in the present day. The script for this pilot has just made its way into my inbox, so I'll have to let you know what I think. * * * Meanwhile, in other casting news, Robot Chicken auteur Seth Green ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer ) has been cast in a two-episode...

A few freshman series got a slight vote of confidence from their respective networks. NBC has ordered three additional scripts for each of its new dramas, including Chuck , Journeyman , Bionic Woman , and Life . While it's not quite the back nine order that I've been hoping for (especially in the case of Chuck ), it's definitely a step in the right direction. CBS, meanwhile, extended the order for four additional scripts from its primetime soap Cane . So far the CW's Gossip Girl has been the only freshman drama to receive a full season pickup, despite a staggering 30 percent drop in viewership between the series opener and second episode. Given the immediacy of the strike situation (nearly everyone--myself included--now believes that the strike is definitely happening), I am surprised that the networks aren't handing out additional script orders--even as many as nine--left and right. There's no guarantee that these scripts will ever be shot but, given the loomi...

Oh. My. God. Am I the only one completely and utterly blown away by last night's episode of Damages ("I Hate These People"), which didn't so much as introduce a plot twist as it did shove it brutally before our eyes? I'm still in shock after everything that happened last night and I don't even know where to begin my analysis of this week's installment. While Damages has always been a series that judiciously revealed just a smidgen of its serpentine plot each week, it went wholly against type last night to almost completely bring down the shaky house of cards (a.k.a. Hewes v. Frobisher and everyone in between) it had constructed. While Ellen might hate these people, I'm finding that I can't get enough of them and can't believe that the season is almost at an end (only two episodes to go!). Patty. It's been clear now for a while that Patty is in shock after committing a crime, but I never anticipated just what that crime was or her involvem...

Still catching up on several episodes of new and returning series that aired last week (though I do have to count my blessings that I was able to get several of them ahead of time), but I realized that I haven't even mentioned last week's installment of Ugly Betty , a huge step-up in quality from the season opener. Last week's episode ("Family Affair") was everything that I wanted out of Ugly Betty , which I find lately has a tendency to drift into the mawkish rather than remaining blissfully over-the-top. (After all, pairing gunshot victims with West Side Story death throes does not make for laugh-out-loud moments.) But last week's installment still gave us characterization and plot advances without sacrificing the humor. What worked? The Amanda storyline for one, in which she learns that her inheritance from mother Fey Sommers is little more than a rash-prone pooch and a $1000 a week stipend but has to grow to love the pooch as it's all that remains of d...

Pay cabler HBO has announced that it is developing a scripted workplace comedy series entitled Intelligence , to star Bradley Cooper ( Alias , Kitchen Confidential ) and Patton Oswalt ( The King of Queens ). The comedy pilot, created by Flight of the Conchords ' Michael Patrick Jann, revolves around an elite government counter-intelligence agency whose operatives are disguised as " disgruntled civil servants ." Jann will write and direct the potential series; he'll also executive produce alongside stars Cooper and Oswalt. Oswalt and Jann are certainly no strangers to one another: both have worked on Comedy Central series Reno 911! Personally, I love the idea about a comedy in which the nation's defense is in the hands of two public servants who seem just so frustrated with their jobs. It almost makes me feel a little better about bureaucratic red tape.

Is it just me or is Carly Pope suddenly everywhere these days? The former Popular actress has been turning up everywhere lately (new agent?), from a co-starring role on FX's Dirt (where she played Garbo) to a random one-episode guest starring spot on this past season of The 4400 (remember the girl who randomly slept with Shawn and then promptly vanished after going to the press?). Pope has turned up again , this time on Day Seven of FOX's real-time thriller 24 . While next to no information has been released about who most actors will play in 24 's seventh season, here's what we do know about Pope's character. She'll play Samantha Roth, the girlfriend of the son of the US president (Cherry Jones), who may be involved with his disappearance. Intriguing. I'll all for a little family disappearance on 24 , so long as it doesn't involve (A) Kim Bauer, (B) cougars, or (C) animal traps. * * * Paging Patty Hewes... In other casti...

Geeks are chic. One need only take a look at the current roster of fall series to see that the geek really have inherited the Earth. From the action/adventure dramatics of NBC's Chuck to the comedic prowess of a troika of nerds (and their lovely neighbor) on CBS' The Big Bang Theory , the networks seem more fixated on the geeky than those same demos would be on, say, the latest news about J.J. Abram's nascent Star Trek feature. So it was only a matter of time before PC Magazine weighed in on their ten favorite geeky series (and their eight most missed ones ). What series ended up on the list? The aforementioned The Big Bang Theory and Chuck (natch), along with fan favorites like the Tardis-traveling Time Lord on Doctor Who , the superpowered gang over at Heroes , gun-toting mayhem on 24 , the squints on Bones , and the antsy crew of Battlestar Galactica . But lest you think that geeks know everything, be forewarned: also included in the list is The IT Crowd , which any...