[Televisionary]

Apartheid is an ugly word, conjuring up images of racial segregation and hatred from a time in the not-too-distant past of South Africa. PBS' new political thriller Endgame , which airs Sunday evening as part of the public broadcaster's Masterpiece Contemporary wheel, dramatizes not the plight of the common South African man and woman under the draconian decree of apartheid but rather the machinery operating behind the scenes to bring an end to apartheid once and for all. Written by Paula Milne ( Second Sight ) and directed by Pete Travis ( Vantage Point ), Endgame revolves around a series of secret talks between the ANC and the South African government brokered by Consolidated Goldfields, a multi-national company with vested financial interests in South Africa. The talks took place at an estate in England, far away from the violent rebellion in South Africa, and despite the risk in bringing together these enemies, the open lines of communication actually did bring about stun

Just a quick reminder to tune in to tonight's series premiere of White Collar , which airs tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on USA. You can read my advance review of the pilot episode , which I called "effervescent and engaging." Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay are perfectly matched as reluctant partners and the entire series crackles with style and retro charm. So don a fedora, pour yourself a scotch, and settle in for the first episode of what promises to be a fun and witty series about capers, coppers, and custom suiting. White Collar airs tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on USA.

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Good news for Party Down fans! Kristen Bell and Jane Lynch will reprise their roles as Uda Bengt and Constance Carmichael respectively on Season Two of Starz comedy Party Down , which will launch next year on the pay cabler. Bell is set to appear in one episode of the comedy and Party Down star Adam Scott revealed that Henry and Uda are dating while Lizzy Caplan's Casey is seeing someone else. Uh-oh. Lynch, meanwhile, is set to appear in the second season finale, where the Party Down staffers cater... her wedding. ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Angie Harmon ( Women's Murder Club ) has been cast as the titular character in TNT's mystery pilot Rizzoli , where she will play Jane Rizzoli, a detective who teams up with a medical examiner (as yet uncast) to solve crimes in Boston. Project, from Warner Horizon, is based on Tess Gerritsen's novel series and is written by Janet Tamaro. Harmon's casting lifts the c

Ah, Restaurant Wars. My favorite Top Chef elimination challenge got even more heated last night with a showdown between the two teams that had to be seen to be believed. While you read my advance review of last night's episode of Top Chef ("Restaurant Wars") , now that the episode has aired, there are still a few things left to to discuss that I couldn't until now. For one, I was completely shocked to see just how poorly the blue team performed in last night's badge of honor challenge (or to quote Tom Colicchio, "badge of courage"). Was it overconfidence? Nerves? Lack of support from front of house? Or all of the above, really? I'm not entirely sure what went down in the blue team's kitchen in their upscale eatery, Mission, while I was certain that everything would implode in the red team's kitchen, especially with confrontation between the Voltaggio brothers an inevitability and the fractious paring of Eli and Robin. So what exactly happen

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Loads of television-related headlines to get through today! Futon Critic is reporting that FOX has pulled Dollhouse from its November sweeps lineup. The Joss Whedon-created series will air its episode this Friday, after which the Friday lineup will be filled with repeats of House and Bones . ( 'Til Death and Brothers will also go on hiatus after this week.) Dollhouse will then return in December where it will air back-to-back episodes on December 4th, 11th, and 18th. It's unclear when FOX will air the remaining three episodes from Dollhouse 's thirteen-episode commitment. No return dates for 'Til Death or Brothers were indicated. ( Futon Critic ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks to former Lost star Harold Perrineau about the recent rumors that he wouldn't be returning to the ABC drama series this season along with the other original cast members of Lost . The reason, says Perrineau, is not that he&

There are few series more stressful (in the best possible way) than Bravo's culinary competition series Top Chef . And there are few challenges that are more stressful that that of the pressure-intensive Restaurant Wars, a highlight of each and every season in which the chefs are split into two groups of four and told to open a restaurant in a matter of hours, planning everything from the menu to the decor and service. On other series, this could be the culmination of the entire season, but on Top Chef , it's the halfway point, with the eight remaining chefs forced to not only participate in a team challenge (with their individual dishes either making or breaking their continued participation in the competition) but also to work their station, stay true to their vision, feed a dining room full of hungry customers, and turn out inventive, imaginative, and delicious dishes. It should be a cakewalk for these talented chefs, many of whom work on the line professionally, but it'

And just like that, Season Three of Flipping Out came to a close last night. Not with a bang but with Jeff walking off of Ryan's property during Chloe's third birthday party, with what seemed like a heavy heart. I already alluded to much of the action in Flipping Out 's third season finale ("Baby Boom") via my advance review of the episode , but now that the episode has aired, I can speak a little more freely about what actually went down this week. I do feel for Jeff. Given the recent problems in his relationship with business partner Ryan Brown, Jeff is beset by a swirl of change in his professional and personal life: Ryan and his family might be moving to Santa Barbara, Jeff could be selling his own home, and there's a sort of biological clock ticking over the action, a sound that's all the more loud thanks to Jett's news that his girlfriend is expecting a baby. Granted, Jeff isn't one for tact. (That's certainly apparent from the last thre