[Televisionary]

Despite watching the premiere of Top Chef: New York last week (and offering up my advance review of the episode yesterday morning ), I couldn't help but tune in again last night to watch things heat up in the kitchen on my favorite culinary competition series. I'm thrilled that the producers wisely thought to set this season in one of the culinary capitals of the world: New York City (though I do wish that the producers had at least put up the cheftestants in Manhattan). It's about time that NYC was the backdrop for this series and I think that the producers will be able to lure in some first class talent for guest judges. But let's talk about the food. I'm hoping that others are with me in my decision to root for former dishwasher Eugene; despite having no formal training, this guy is a brilliant chef and shows innate ability and potential. Landing the unfamiliar assignment of Indian food, Eugene still managed to dazzle with a dish of Masala-rubbed lamb rack with

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I hope everyone watched the season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef , which nearly made up for yet another week without a new Pushing Daisies ... though from what I gather, there's going to be quite a lot of those come soon. Sigh. NBC has canceled freshman drama My Own Worst Enemy , which starred Christian Slater in the dual role of Edward/Henry. Series will wrap production after shooting its current episode, the ninth of the initial 13-episode order. No word yet on what NBC will substitute in the Monday 10 pm timeslot. ( Variety ) As for the fate of sophomore drama Lipstick Jungle , NBC has also given the drama the sack as well. Ouch. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Should Pushing Daisies be canceled tomorrow, creator Bryan Fuller says that the series' storylines will be wrapped up in comic book form. "The idea would be to finish out the season's story arcs in comic books," said Fuller, "to satisfy the fans and o

I've been on pins and needles awaiting some word from FX about when we'd next get to see Patty Hewes and Ellen Parsons tangle. The wait, Damages viewers, is finally over. Cabler FX has announced today that Season Two of the Emmy Award-winning legal drama/thriller Damages will kick off on Wednesday, January 7th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Cue me jumping up and down with glee.) FX has lined up thirteen new episodes for Season Two and the cast for the sophomore season includes Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, and Timothy Olyphant. Take a look at Damages ' Season Two promo, set to the music of Duffy's "Stepping Stone," below: I absolutely cannot wait for this sleek and serpentine series to return to the airwaves, even if I'll have quite the TiVo conundrum as it conflicts with both Bravo's Top Chef and ABC's Dirty Sexy Money (if the latter is still on at that point). In other news, FX has also announced that Nip/Tuck will return to th

I'll be the first to admit that this past season of Project Runway , the last one (barring any court interference) that will air on Bravo, was pretty dull and lifeless and yet I kept watching, if only out of habit. My real Bravo pleasure has always been the far superior culinary competition series Top Chef , which returns tonight with a brand new season based in New York. I had the opportunity to screen the fantastic season premiere of Top Chef ("Melting Pot") last week and have to say that the 73-minute opener contained more drama and tension than the entire last season of Project Runway . (Whew.) The production values are as high as ever, the judges just as opinionated, and the producers have cast talented chefs all eager for the chance to win the title of Top Chef. Many are arrogant (some outright condescendingly so, in the case of Stefan) but I can't help but shake the feeling that this is an extremely talented group of culinary dreamers right here. The stakes are

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I had a lovely day yesterday sorting through the many, many comments left by readers about this week's episode of Chuck and settled in for an evening that included a well lush episode of Gavin & Stacey and a brand-new episode of Fringe . NBC has renewed soap Days of Our Lives for an additional 18 months, a significantly shortened renewal when the previous deal had the Peacock picking up the long-running skein for five years. The new pact will keep Days on the air until September 2010 but there is a clause in the deal for an additional year-long extension if certain terms are met. ( Variety ) E's Kristin has a new 15-second promo spot for the upcoming fifth season of Lost with some new footage, including a shot of Locke seemingly with a compass embedded in his hand. Just what does it mean? Who knows but I'm happy to see some new shots in the mix. ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Dexter 's Desmond Harrin

You've already read my advance review of the next three episodes of Chuck from last week but I am curious to know just what you all thought of this week's episode ("Chuck Versus the Ex"), in which our would-be superspy ran head long into ex-girlfriend Jill (guest star Jordana Brewster) and confronted the reason behind loss of his "mojo" back at Stanford. Written by Zev Borow, who wrote last season's "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic," and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar ( Arrested Development, Super Troopers ), this week's episode is easily the best of the series to date, displaying Chuck 's full potential to blend action, comedy, and romance into one delicious, sugar-coated package. While I listed all of my reasons in my advance review , I'll say this: it gave nearly every single supporting character an opportunity to shine in a storyline that had Chuck, Casey, and Sarah investigating Jill's boss Guy LeFleur while Captain Awesome tra

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. While I watched this week's episode of Chuck yet again (and fell in love with it all over again) , I couldn't help shake the feeling that last night's episode of Gossip Girl was absolutely beyond ludicrous. Anyone else agree? ABC is allegedly making some changes to its midseason schedule, with Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice shifting to Thursdays at 10 pm, where it will air right behind Grey's . Meanwhile, the current timeslot holder, Life on Mars , will move to Wednesdays at 10 pm, where it will receive a hell of a lead-in from Lost . The Alphabet didn't comment on the leaked schedule, which it has yet to announce. Can we see ABC launching a Wednesday night around Pushing Daisies, Lost, and Life on Mars ... or does this once again signal a death knell for Daisies ? ( Hollywood Reporter ) Samaire Armstrong's Juliet Darling WILL be returning to ABC's Dirty Sexy Money after all. (Come on, I