[Televisionary]

BBC America has today announced the acquisition of two comedies series, The Inbetweeners and Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show . Both series, which are each comprised of twelve episodes, are slated to launch later this year on the digital cabler. The Inbetweeners originally aired on E4 and Channel 4, while sketch comedy Katy Brand's Big Ass Show aired on ITV2 in the UK. Music fans should especially take note of The Inbetweeners, which features music from such acts as The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Cure, and Feist, among others in its first season. The official descriptions for the two series from BBC America can be found below. THE INBETWEENERS - U.S. PREMIERE Written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris - who were involved with Peep Show , The 11 O’Clock Show and The Flight of the Conchords - The Inbetweeners offers a painfully funny take on the squirming humiliations of teenage life. Will’s parents have just divorced an

When Sci Fi's Battlestar Galactica ended in March, many fans mourned the loss of one of television's most compelling and intelligent series. Fortunately, the folks at Sci Fi (soon to be renamed Syfy) are giving fans a bit of a belated Easter present today, as the network (via Universal Studios Home Video) releases the 90-minute pilot for Caprica on DVD. Caprica , the prequel to Battlestar Galactica , is set approximately 50-odd years prior to the events in the Battlestar Galactica mini-series and is slated to air as a new series on Syfy beginning next year. However, rather than force fans of Battlestar Galactica to wait at least eight months to see the next (or is it former?) chapter in the BSG saga, Syfy is giving fans the opportunity to watch the backdoor pilot for the series now. I've already offered my glowing review on the pilot episode of Caprica here , so I wanted today to take a look at the DVD's assorted extras and bonus features. In addition to the gorge

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan talks to Joss Whedon about Dollhouse 's chances for a second season in a massive new Q&A. "I assumed it was dead in the water because the network was refusing to air the thirteenth [episode]," Whedon told Ryan about Dollhouse . "Not refusing, but just not interested. I assumed that meant the bell tolled for us. And they made a point of calling and saying, 'That is not what it means, and we'll keep you posted. I think they want it to succeed. I think they're getting it. They need it to succeed enough for them to pay for it. So I'm oddly hopeful but I'm also ready for anything." ( Chicago Tribune 's The Watcher ) NBC is in talks to pick up an untitled comedy project that will star former Will & Grace lead Debra Messing, who last appeared in the USA series The Starter Wife . The comedy project, written by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott (

"True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach Yesterday, I joined a sold-out crowd at the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight in Hollywood to see Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller introduce a Paley Festival screening of the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies , which ABC will finally air (after a delay of several months) beginning at the end of May. On hand to send off Pushing Daisies with Fuller were series stars Chi McBride (who jokingly said that they would be giving out "torches and pitchforks" in the lobby after the screening) and a tearful Ellen Greene, who said that as much as the audience loved these characters, the actors who played them loved them even more. And love them we did. I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I got misty-eyed watching the exquisite final episode of Pushing Daisies , which manages to both offer closure for those of us who were utterly devoted to the whimsical series while also leaving things open-ended enough for Ful

Last week, I told fans (via Twitter ) of both Life on Mars and the series' sequel Ashes to Ashes to be sure to tune in to Saturday's installment of Ashes to Ashes on BBC America . The most recent episode ("Charity Begins at Home") offered several intriguing twists in the ongoing story of DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), a forensic profiler from 2008 who was propelled backwards to the year 1981 after being shot at point blank range. As Alex tries to figure out how to get home, she's increasingly faced with the prospect that she might be seconds away from dying in the present day and that her entire life in 1981 might be a series of puzzles that her psyche, at its shuts down, is presenting to her. This week's episode of Ashes to Ashes featured the gang at Fenchurch East Police Station attempting to solve a robbery involving prominent fundraiser Gil Hollis (Matthew Macfadyen of Spooks , who is also Hawes' real-life husband), a mustachioed OCD sufferer who s

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. With May Upfronts only a few weeks away, there are an awful lot of series that are on the bubble for renewal next season. Chuck , which airs its penultimate episode of the season tonight, is definitely on the bubble, with its return hindered by the lack of real estate now that NBC will use the 10 pm hour next fall for a nightly Jay Leno talk show and by the numbers for midseason replacement Southland . There's a slightly better chance for Medium to return, however. ( Life is expected to be cancelled, as is Kath & Kim .) FOX's Dollhouse is said to have a 50/50 shot at coming back. CBS' Without a Trace and Cold Case are said to have a 50/50 shot at a renewal, things are looking brighter for The Unit after the network asked Shawn Ryan for a fifth season bible, while Eleventh Hour is thought unlikely to return. At ABC, Better Off Ted, Castle , and The Unusuals could get a second go-around as the network is said to be

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 took an early look at HBO's Grey Gardens , a dramatized version of the cult 1973 documentary film, which stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, offered an early look at the trailer for the next Doctor Who special entitled "The Waters of Mars ," and reviewed Skins: Volume 2 on DVD . I also took a second look at NBC's new comedy Parks and Recreation , explored my love for new comedies Better Off Ted , The Mighty Boosh , and Party Down , shared news about the Pushing Daisies comic book , Joss Whedon talking about the potential fate of FOX's Dollhouse , and FOX's cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles , and caught up with Nel's Stephen and Helen from BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing . All this and discussions about