[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Good news for Castle fans: ABC has picked up the Nathan Fillion procedural drama series for a full season of 22 episodes after the series has performed well in its Monday night timeslot against tough competition from CBS. The news comes on the heels of ABC picking up first year series Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Middle , and FlashForward for full seasons, leaving only Hank, Eastwick, and The Forgotten the only new series that haven't received back nine pickups. ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) I wonder if he saw this in his flashforward... Co-showrunner/executive producer Marc Guggenheim has stepped down from his position on the ABC sci-fi drama series FlashForward , leaving sole showrunning duties to co-creator David Goyer. "Because of Goyer's limited hands-on TV series experience, Eli Stone co-creator Guggenheim was brought in after the FlashForward pilot to help with the launch of the mystery dr

Earlier this morning, I indicated my belief that Harold Perrineau was the Lost cast member mentioned by E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos who wouldn't be returning for the series's sixth and final season. Over at the Los Angeles Times /Show Tracker site, I wrote a piece entitled "Is Harold Perrineau the 'Lost' Holdout," which--you guessed it--takes a look at whether Perrineau is the mystery cast member in question who has refused the producers' offers to return to the series next year. After ruling out other potential parties, it seems as though Perrineau's Michael Dawson won't be making another appearance on the ABC drama series, which makes me wonder just how Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will work around his absence. Do you agree with my sleuthing? Is Perrineau the likest suspect and why? Any other theories? Head over the comments section and have your say...

Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor is perhaps best known for his work in such diverse films as American Gangster, Dirty Pretty Things, Serenity, Love Actually, Redbelt, and Kinky Boots . The British actor has made a career of playing deeply complex individuals, from cross-dresser Lola in Kinky Boots to Dirty Pretty Things ' cab driver and former doctor Okwe. In PBS' gripping apartheid thriller Endgame , which airs Stateside this Sunday as part of the new season of Masterpiece Contemporary , Ejiofor, recently appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth, plays South African political figure Thabo Mbeki, a key player in secret negotiations between the African National Congress and the South African government that were brokered by Consolidated Goldfields. Remarkably these talks resulted in an end to apartheid in South Africa and Endgame , written by Paula Milne and directed by Pete Travis, dramatize the secret talks, which occurred at Mells Park, an estate in England. In addition to

Over the past three seasons, I've waxed enthusiastically about the charms of Bravo's unscripted series Flipping Out , which wraps up its third season tonight. Nominally about OCD-afflicted real estate investor Jeff Lewis and the quirky employees of his spec business, the series is in fact a deft portrait of a meticulous businessman and the eccentric individuals that he surrounds himself with. It also happens to be one of the funniest programs, scripted or unscripted, on television, thanks to the biting sarcasm of Lewis, the general awesomeness of his indefatigable right-hand-woman Jenni Pulos, and his surly housekeeper Zoila. While I find myself laughing aloud (sometimes until it hurts) each week, every now and then a rare beat of genuine emotion makes its way into the mix on Flipping Out , lending an aura of poignancy and heartache to an otherwise sunny (if, thanks to Jeff, stressful) series. I had the opportunity to watch an early copy of tonight's season finale ("Ba

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that one former castmember of ABC's Lost is holding out against a return to the series for its sixth and final season. "Sources close to ABC's Lost tell me that although most of the original cast—holler!—will be seen in some capacity for the show's upcoming season, one former Lost castmember has turned down an offer to return to the series," writes Dos Santos. "So who is it? Well, you know we can't name names in such cases, but suffice it to say that this is a person you'd assume would very much want to return to the series. According to my moles, offers went out to the original castmembers several weeks ago, and this particular Lost star decided to decline. While some of the other returning Losties have already filmed scenes, this Lost holdout has not been on the set or filmed anything for the series, according to insiders." And, oh, it's

Do we see the world as others see it? And do we see ourselves as others see us? These two questions form the basis of this week's sensational episode of AMC's Mad Men ("The Color Blue"), which revolved around Don's ongoing affair with Sally's former teacher, Suzanne Farrell, and Betty realizing that she doesn't know her husband at all. The question of perception first arises from a conversation between Don and Suzanne in bed as she recounts how an eight-year-old student asked if the way he sees the color blue is the same as she sees it. Don has a pat answer that speaks volumes about his leveraging of advertising to persuade people to believe one thing or another but it's a profound puzzle of a question straight out of the mouths of babes. Are we colored by our experiences? Do those perceptions, whether it be of color or character, shape our understanding of the world around us? Better still: what happens when the scales fall from our eyes and we see t

This week's episode of The Amazing Race featured a conversation about karma and several teams either profited or lost based on some the decisions they made on this leg of the race. Was it truly karma? Who knows, but it made for some captivating television. Head over to the Los Angeles Times /Show Tracker site, where you can read my reaction to last night's snow and sand-laden leg of the race, entitled " The Amazing Race : Dude, We're in the Desert." What did you think of the elimination? Glad to see these two leave? Have your opinions about Brian and Ericka changed? Who are you rooting for now? Head to the comments section to discuss.