[Televisionary]

Looking to do a spit-take with your eggnog this holiday season? FX's raucous and hysterical series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues to push the envelope in terms of good taste (and always manages to make this jaded critic roar with laughter in the process) via its new direct-to-DVD Christmas special ("A Very Sunny Christmas") that captures the absurd energy of the television series and then some. Without the cable network censors (lax, though they are) to hold them back, the creators/stars of Sunny push their unique brand of comedy even further with this outrageous Christmas special, which finds the gang attempting to get even with Frank for his tradition of giving himself the gifts that Dennis and Dee want each year and taking a stroll down memory lane as Mac and Charlie come to terms with some unpleasant truths about their own families', er, Christmas traditions. While I found the Christmas special utterly hilarious, it's definitely not for ever

Just in time for the holidays, BBC America has announced that it has acquired the US rights to the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special (which aired in the UK last year) and Season Three of Gavin & Stacey . (Yes, this news makes me as giddy as a small child opening presents on Christmas Day.) BBC America will air the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special, written by series creators James Corden and Ruth Jones, on Thursday, December 24th at 10 pm ET/PT. (You can read my review of the Christmas special, written earlier this year, here .) Meanwhile, the digital cabler has also announced that Season Three of Gavin & Stacey will be crossing the pond. BBC America will launch the comedy's third and final season in second quarter 2010. Exact airdate will be announced at a later date. The full press release from BBC America can be found below. BBC AMERICA ACQUIRES U.S. PREMIERES OF GAVIN & STACEY’S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL AND THIRD SEASON BBC AMERICA today announced the acquisition

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. ABC has reduced the episodic orders on several series, with both freshman dramas V and FlashForward getting cut down by an episode (to 12 and 24 total, respectively). V , which returns March 30th, will therefore have eight remaining episodes to air, while FlashForward will have 14 new installments when it returns on March 4th. Elsewhere at the network, ABC will launch seven episodes of legal dramedy The Deep End and comedy Romantically Challenged and eight hours of mystery series Happy Town . ( Futon Critic ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Orla Brady ( Mistresses ) has landed a key role on FOX's Fringe , where she will play the wife of Walter Bishop (John Noble) and mother of Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), described in casting breakdowns as "strong, smart, and likeable." Brady will appear in early 2010. [Editor: given Brady's age, it's highly probable that she'll be appe

I have to give ABC credit: they've definitely gone the distance in investing in comedy this season. Besides for their Wednesday comedy programming block (which houses the extraordinary Modern Family ), ABC has also carved out a small niche on Tuesday evenings, which tonight sees the second season return of workplace comedy Better Off Ted . I'm extremely pleased that ABC saw fit to renew Better Off Ted , especially after it burned off many of its freshman season episodes over the summer. And while I'd love it if it could somehow shift over to Wednesdays, I'm happy to have Ted , created by Victor Fresco, back where it belongs: on the airwaves. Season Two of Better Off Ted continues the winning formula of the first season, offering its audience a deliciously acidic take on the workplace comedy. Better Off Ted isn't just a standard-issue workplace comedy but rather subverts the form, setting its characters in a duplicitous and often dangerous multi-national corporation

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Elizabeth Banks ( Modern Family ) is heading to NBC's 30 Rock next, where she will recur in "at least four episodes," according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. Banks will reportedly play a love interest for Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy, which begs the question of just how this will affect Julianne Moore's multiple-episode story arc this season. Is there a love triangle brewing for Jack? ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Whedonverse alum Tim Minear has signed a new two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television, where he has been based as a writer-producer for the last twelve years. Under the terms of the deal, Minear will develop new projects for the studio as well as come aboard FX dramedy Terriers as an executive producer, alongside Shawn Ryan and Ted Griffin. Minear's attachment allows Ryan to focus on FOX's Lie to Me and new development. Fortunately, the deal a

Elisha Cuthbert ( 24 ) has joined the cast of ABC drama series The Forgotten, where she will appear in a recurring role. Cuthbert will play Maxine Denver, described in press materials as "a strong and successful Chicago professional who is forced to put her skepticism of 'amateur detectives' aside when The Forgotten Network begins investigating a case close to home." Her first episode is slated to air in February. The Forgotten recently received an additional five-episode order from ABC. The Forgotten , from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, stars Christian Slater, Michelle Borth, Heather Stephens, Bob Stephenson, Anthony Carrigan, and Rochelle Aytes.

With the holiday break just around the corner, it's the perfect time to take note of what's worked so far this television season and what hasn't. Over at The Daily Beast, I have a new article entitled "TV Report Card," in which I take a look at the 30 new (and somewhat newish) series that have premiered so far during the 2009-10 season, breaking them down into winners, losers, and draws as I investigate just why and how they work (or don't). Everything from Modern Family and NCIS: Los Angeles to Castle, Sons of Anarchy, V , and FlashForward (and even bottom of the barrel entries Hank and Brothers ) get discussed in-depth. What's clicked for you this season? What series didn't disappear fast enough? And which are you still on the fence about? Head over to the comments section to share your thoughts about the season so far.