[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that FOX will not be renewing sophomore drama series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a third season. While the network has declined to comment on a cancellation, saying that they won't be announcing their fall schedule until May 18th, Ausiello has several unnamed insiders stating that the series is dead. "It's done," said one source. "Everyone has pretty much known for a couple of weeks." Ausiello was told by one network insider, "Consider it canceled." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) As previously reported, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and Gary Jones will reprise their roles from various Stargate franchise series in Sci Fi's upcoming series SGU: Stargate Universe. Also joining them in providing a guest starring role on the first season of the spin-off series is Amanda Tapping, who will reprise

Longtime readers of this site know of my near-obsession with British culinary competition series Last Restaurant Standing , currently airing its second season on BBC America. Fans of the series will know how much I adored Season Two contestants Helen and Stephen, who ran family-style restaurant Nel's and were eliminated from the competition in last week's episode . While I had a feeling that this supportive and determined couple would unfortunately not end up becoming partners to restaurateur Raymond Blanc, I couldn't help but be charmed by their can-do spirit and innate confidence. I had wondered just what Helen and Stephen had gotten up to since the second season of Last Restaurant Standing had wrapped, so imagine my surprise when I received the following message from Stephen himself. "Hi Televisionary This is Steve from Nel's. Been loving your blogs and reviews of the show. Now it seems that we have been eliminated from the show in the US its safe for me to com

Dear NBC, I'm writing to you to beg you to come to your senses and renew the hilarious and gripping action comedy series Chuck for a third season. Besides for continuing to support this fantastic series, truly unlike anything else on television right now, and encouraging others to watch this brilliant show, there's nothing more I can offer you except my promise that I'll watch Chuck every week, as long as you continue to order more episodes. (I'd offer to name my first-born after the series' main character but even I won't go that far.) Last night's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Kill"), written by Scott Rosenbaum , was a prime example of how the series manages to smash together a host of storytelling genres into one inspired package. Once again, the writers have managed to offer something for everyone: death-defying stunts (Chuck gripping a Fulcrum agent out of a fifteen story window), romantic entanglements (Chuck is forced to turn

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Showtime has renewed period drama The Tudors for a fourth and final season. The series, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as England's King Henry VIII, will air ten episodes--all penned by series creator Michael Hirst--in spring 2010. ( Variety ) 24 executive producer Howard Gordon talks to Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider about the return of Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) to the FOX series. "Kim has been easily targeted and lampooned by fans, so we had to do it very carefully," said Gordon of Cuthbert's return. "Elisha was as sensitive to this as we were." Gordon, meanwhile, offers a few tidbits about the reason behind her return and about her relationship with Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) E! Online's Jennifer Godwin was on hand last night at the Paley Festival's panel for HBO's True Blood and has some answers about the Sooki

Doctor Who 's Easter special, entitled "Planet of the Dead," aired Saturday night in the UK on BBC One and pulled it a fantastic 8.7 million viewers overall. Below you'll find the trailer for the next Doctor Who special featuring David Tennant, entitled "The Waters of Mars." The trailer doesn't spoil anything for "Planet of the Dead," so don't worry if you haven't yet seen the Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts-scripted special from last weekend. What "The Waters of Mars" does offer is a glimpse at what promises to be a spine-tingling Doctor Who episode that likely will feature more terror than humor next time around. "The Waters of Mars," written by Russell T. Davies and Phil Ford, will star David Tennant and Rome 's Lindsay Duncan. It's expected to air sometime in November on BBC One, just prior to the final two interlocking Doctor Who specials featuring David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, which are slat

Even monosyllabic cynic Effy would agree: the provocative and daring Skins is really unlike anything on American television today. I've waxed ecstatic enough about the British teen drama since it launched Stateside last year, but I have to say that I enjoyed the series' sensational sophomore season even more the second time around. Skins: Volume Two , which contains all ten episodes of the series' second season (along with a host of extras), is available for purchase on DVD starting tomorrow and, thanks to the kind folks at Warner Home Video, I was able to get an early look at the DVD box set. Season Two finds the gang in Bristol reeling from the bus accident at the end of the first season that has left Tony alive but not exactly the same person he was before. Nicholas Hoult turns in an astonishing performance as Tony Stonem as he's forced to relearn everyday activities like tying his shoes or speaking after his accident while remaining staunchly independent; in watchi

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. TNT has officially canceled freshman drama Trust Me , starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. The Warner Horizon-produced series, which launched with 3.4 million viewers and quickly lost much of that viewership, will not be returning for a second season. McCormack himself has already signed on to another project, ABC's untitled Tad Quill comedy pilot. The cabler, meanwhile, has three new series in the works: Ray Romano dramedy Men of a Certain Age , medical drama Hawthorne (formerly known as Time Heals ), and Deep Blue (formerly known as The Line ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) Showtime is now zero for four. The pay cabler has now opted not to order any of its four pilots to series in the last month, deciding over the weekend not to hand out a series order to Tim Robbins-created drama Possible Side Effects , staring Josh Lucas as a pharmaceuticals family scion. Previously, the network had shelved pilots Ronna and Beverly , The L Wo