[Televisionary]

If there's one actor in whose presence I feel completely unworthy, it's got to be the grande dame of film and stage, Glenn Close, who currently appears on screen each Tuesday night as ruthless litigator Patty Hewes on FX's addictively serpentine legal series Damages . If Patty Hewes reminds you of another Close character, it's no coincidence: "Patty of all the characters I’ve played is probably the most like the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons ," said Close, "in that she is playing a man’s game in a man’s world. And she ultimately gets censured for it." Lest you think that, because of her character's prominence in the story, Close was any more aware of the labrinythine twists and turns of Damages' plot, think again. "In the beginning before the schedule got kind of more crazy, we would have table reads with every script in the beginning of the week or try to do it at least a day before we started that next episode," sai

Ouch. FOX has shut down production indefinitely on midseason drama New Amsterdam , which stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ( Wimbledon )--playing an immortal NYC police detective--and Zuleihka Robinson ( Rome ). The drama has already filmed seven episodes and, according to reports, FOX execs will examine what they have on their hands before making a decision about whether to proceed with the shooting the remaining episodes in New Amsterdam 's initial 13-episode order. (Don't hold your breath on that one.) Decision does seem linked, however, to the recent announcement that the network would cut the episodic order for fellow midseason entry The Return of Jezebel James from 13 to 7 episodes. Personally, I didn't care a jot for New Amsterdam 's mawkish and overwrought pilot and so am not in any way sad to see it go prematurely. What's On Tonight 8 pm: Kid Nation (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); Pushing Daisies (ABC); Back to You/'Til

I have to say that I am really enjoying Chuck . After the rare hiccup that was the second episode, the series seems to be settling into its groove, delivering a series that's filled with action and intrigue but also some heartfelt emotion along the lines of What About Jake 2.0 . Last night's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Wookie") was no exception to this rule and it managed to deepen the characters as well as present the audience with a kick-ass spy caper, a diamond worth millions, and a terrorist group whose main contact in Los Angeles really did appear to be some sort of hairy Wookie. More than anything, I enjoyed the character interplay last night as we got a chance to catch a glimpse into these characters' backstory. It's clear that Sarah is incapable of revealing any piece of herself that isn't carefully molded into her cover. Your heart would have to be made of stone if you didn't feel intensely sad when she couldn't answer any of Chuc

Every now and then you stumble on a monumentally bad title for a television series. Often it's the name of an equally horrific series ( Shasta McNasty and One Tree Hill come to mind) and sometimes the series is actually good in spite of such a bad title ( Dirty Sexy Money, Samantha Who ). But then there's the rare gem of a pitiful title that belies not only an inherent weakness but an ability to make the American public question all rules of grammar, spelling, and good taste. I'm talking, ladies and gentlemen, about the title for the spinoff series of ABC's hit reality competition series Dancing with the Stars . It's been previously referred to as Dance X or Dance Wars ; those titles positively gleam with thoughtfulness and intelligence in comparison. According to a source close to the production, the title that the producers have now chosen is... DanSing . Before you ask, that's not a typo; yes, the S in the middle of the misspelled word is capitalized. As f

Longtime readers of this site know that I'm completely, utterly obsessed with Damages and, with the season finale just around the corner, I can't get each and every plot twist out of my head. So it was with great pleasure that I got to chat with Damages ' Tate Donovan about the series, his feelings about his character Tom Shayes, and his hopes for Season Two, which still hasn't been ordered by cabler FX. As for the likelihood of that second season order, don't look to Donovan for any confirmation. "We're hoping," said Donovan. "We’re definitely hoping." (You and me both, Tate.) "When I was first reading the final script I was like so impressed how they set up the second season (if there’s going to another season)," said Donovan. "They’ve set it up in a way that you cannot wait to see next season. It’s really cool what they’ve done." While that's an intriguing enough notion to ponder a bit, onto the Q&A... Q: I’m

Well, okay, they didn't quite promise there wouldn't be any onion rings, but the executive producers of Lost have revealed that they do know what the final scene, not to mention the final on-screen image, of the mind-trippy series will be. (Please no snow globe, please no snow globe.) Thanks to the innovative order Lost received from network ABC (that's three seasons, with sixteen episodes per season), producers have been able to intricately plot the next three years of the series, without the fear of being as prematurely terminated as, say, Naomi was in the season finale. "Yes, we do know what the last image of the show is," said Carlton Cuse, "and it won't be a black screen!" "We always knew the ending," Damon Lindelof admitted. "We just didn't know how much time to take before we got there. So, yes, it still completely fits with where we're at in the storytelling right now." Lost 's fourth season kicks off in Febr

The stars of ABC's short-lived action thriller Traveler have been doing pretty well for themselves. Matthew Bomer has turned up in a recurring role on NBC's Chuck , where he plays Bryce Larkin, a duplicitous rogue CIA agent responsible for the theft of the Intersect. Meanwhile, Traveler 's other lead, Logan Marshall-Green, has been cast as the lead in NBC's police drama pilot Blue Blood . Marshall-Green, who has also appeared on The OC (remember Ryan's brother Trey?) and 24 , will star in the drama pilot, about rookie NYC police officers assigned to the local beat. Marshall-Green will play Ed, a rookie cop and Harvard graduate. Just what is he doing on the force? You'll have to watch to find out. Blue Blood , from 20th Century Fox TV, is written by Neil Tolkin ( The Emperor's Club ) and directed by Brett Ratner ( X-Men: The Last Stand ). Pilot is based on Ed Conlon's memoir, "Blue Blood," about his eight years on the New York City police forc