[Televisionary]

It's been with much enthusiasm that I've been following the career path of Australian comedian/writer Chris Lilley , the creator of the sensational mockumentary comedy series Summer Heights High , which originally aired in Australia last year, earlier this year on BBC Three, and launched Stateside last night on HBO . (I watched the eight-episode series shortly after it aired in Australia and have been gushing about it ever since.) I had the opportunity to speak with Lilley while he was in Los Angeles as part of his promotional tour of the US for Summer Heights High and was immediately struck by just how vastly different the real-life Lilley is from the three characters he portrays on Summer Heights High . Soft-spoken, articulate, and calm, Lilley couldn't be more at odds with the hyperactive Jonah Takalua, the bitchy Ja'mie, or the egocentric Mr. G. It's the Mr. G character in fact who has been with Lilley the longest; Lilley first created the failed actor/arrogant

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I hope you all tuned in to the launch of HBO's new comedy series Summer Heights High ; I've already seen the series several times but tuned in once again (it's just that funny) and also caught upon Skins (how cute was Chris' drawing of him and Jal?) and The Amazing Race . Kate Walsh's Addison Montgomery will return to Seattle Grace... at least as part of a multiple-episode crossover story between Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice that's scheduled to air during February sweeps. ( TV Guide ) FOX has delayed the start of animated comedy The Cleveland Show , a spinoff of Family Guy , until next fall. But the network has also ordered an additional nine episodes for Cleveland , bring its episodic total to a full 22 for the 2009-10 season. If that weren't enough Cleveland -centric news, Arianna Huffington has been added to the cast. ( Variety ) Less than four months after premiering, NBC's Knight Rider

Televisionary is proud to be a member of the TV Blog Coalition. At the end of each week, we'll feature a roundup of content from our sister sites for your delectation. This week, I offered up some tantalizing spoilers as I took an advance look at the next three episodes of NBC's Chuck , including Monday's episode, which is the best of the series to date. I also waxed ecstatic about HBO's latest comedy offering, Australian comedy series Summer Heights High (which I've now seen twice in full), announced the return date for ABC's Lost , and discussed FOX's decision to stick Joss Whedon's Dollhouse in a Friday night timeslot . Elsewhere in the sophisticated TV-obsessed section of the blogosphere, members of the TV Blog Coalition were discussing the following items... Buzz rounded up some of her favorite TV production company logos and slogans, like "Bad Robot" and "Sit, Ubu, Sit." ( BuzzSugar ) Sandie shared some pictures from her set v

Lost is found. ABC has finally announced a launch date for the fifth season of white-hot Televisionary obsession Lost . The Alphabet will launch Season Five of Lost on January 21st, returning the J.J. Abrams-created series to Wednesday evenings. (It aired on Thursdays at 10 pm this past season.) Even better news for those too tired (or in my case) old to make all the way to 11 pm: ABC has moved the series back to a 9 pm timeslot. (Whew.) It will, however, air opposite FOX's new crime drama Lie to Me , starring Tim Roth, but, thankfully, that's what TiVo was invented for. Season Five will kick off on January 21st with a three-hour event: at 8 pm, there's a one-hour recap of what's already happened on Lost to date; at 9 pm, a one-hour season premiere; and at 10 pm, another brand-new episode. Subsequent weeks will air in the 9 pm hour. That sound you hear? It's me jumping up and down with glee at finally having a date to look forward to. I'll be counting down th

It looks like there's still life left in, well, Life . The NBC crime drama--which stars Damien Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Adam Arkin, Brent Sexton, and Donal Logue--was granted a stay of execution today as the Peacock opted to order a full season of Life with an additional order of the back nine episodes. Created by Rand Ravitch, Life (now in its second season) was believed by many insiders to be on the bubble despite positive critical traction. "This unique crime drama continues to offer consistent and compelling stories each week," said Teri Weinberg, Executive Vice President, NBC Entertainment, in a press release. "We love Life and are thrilled that we get to see more of these characters and amazing new cases." Stay tuned.

I don't often urge you to tune in to a particular series unless I feel it's in your best interests to do so, that your lives will be improved by watching a certain series or that it will open you up to new outlooks or perspectives. That time has rolled by again as HBO prepares to launch Australian comedy series Summer Heights High on Sunday evening. Back in March, when HBO announced that they had acquired the mockumentary series --created, written by, and starring the incomparable Chris Lilley ( We Could Be Heroes )--I jumped with joy as I had had the opportunity to watch the entire eight-episode run of Summer Heights High last year, shortly after it aired in Australia... and I urged each and every one of you to tune in when the series aired in the States. Cut to today, two mere days before HBO bows the very first episode of Summer Heights High . Trust me when I say that your lives will never be the same after watching Lilley tackle three disparate characters: bitchy private

I can't tell you how happy it makes me that 30 Rock is back on television after a far-too-long hiatus. I reviewed the second episode of 30 Rock 's third season a few weeks back (you can read my original review here ) but I once again tuned in last night to catch "Believe in the Stars" for a (gulp!) third time because I just can't get enough of its wickedly absurd humor. Last night's episode, written by Robert Carlock, brought us something that series creator/star/writer/producer/multiple-hat wearer Tina Fey has been trying to do for the better part of a year: get Oprah Winfrey on 30 Rock . A Herculean task, given Winfrey's busy schedule, but not only did Fey manage to pull it off but Winfrey was so winsome, so funny, and so kooky that it meshed beautifully with the rest of the episode's bizarro charms. And I have to say that I'm happy that it wasn't actually Oprah whom Liz was sitting next to on that flight, but rather "spunky little twee