[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. With the third season premiere of Chuck just around the corner, NBC has launched an online incentive called "Mission: Chuck Me Out," reports The Wrap's Josef Adalian. "Using the already existing Chuckmeout.com site, fans can sign up their Twitter, Facebook and MySpace campaign for the game," writes Adalian. "Then, every time they preach Chuck or get friends to watch a clip of the show or otherwise pimp the series, they'll earn points." The winner will have their photo used as one of Chuck's flashes on-air. ( The Wrap's TVMoJoe ) Comedy series Flight of the Conchords will not be returning for a third season, according to a statement released yesterday by the series' creators Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, and James Bobin. The Kiwi folk-rock band hasn't broken up, however. [Editor: seeing as the guys ended up back as shepherds in New Zealand, I didn't think there was much of

Things are looking about as grim as Murray's love life for fans of Flight of the Conchords today. Flight of the Conchords creators Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, and James Bobin have announced that there will not be a third season of their eponymous Emmy-nominated HBO comedy series, as first reported by The New York Times . Following months of speculation about the fate of the series, the trio announced their intentions not to pursue a third season of Flight of the Conchords on their official website : "We’ve noticed the less we say about the future of the show, the more people want to talk about it, so in an effort to reverse this trend we are today announcing that we won’t be returning for a 3rd season. We’re very proud of the two seasons we made and we like the way the show ended. We’d like to thank everyone who helped make the show and also everyone who watched it. While the characters Bret and Jemaine will no longer be around, the real Bret and Jemaine will continue t

Most Christmas specials have some sort of lesson to impart to their viewers, whether that's Rudolph accepting who is he (light-up red nose and all) or Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang learning the true (non-commercialized) meaning of Christmas. It's rare for me to add something to my yearly rotation of Christmas specials , but every now and then something new (2008's Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special) manages to become a new tradition. Traditions and lessons were the main thrust of last night's phenomenal episode of ABC's Modern Family ("Undeck the Halls"), written by Dan O'Shannon and directed by Randall Einhorn, which has made the leap onto my yearly holiday special rotation after a fantastic installment that threaded together three separate storylines into one perfect portrait about the blessings and curses of the holiday season. As Jay struggles to recreate his family's Christmas traditions and encounters resistance from Gloria and Manny

Was I the only one on the edge of my seat last night? Last night's season finale of Top Chef ("Season Finale, Part Two") found the final three chefs going head-to-head with the title of Top Chef and a cool $125,000 cash prize on the line. It was really anyone's game as all three remaining contestants have proven themselves not only worthy competitors but also talented and accomplished chefs in their own right. As always, it would all come down to one last challenge. The task seemed simple enough: cook a fantastic meal for the judges and a panel of esteemed restaurateurs with the bounty of Napa Valley at their disposal. But this is Top Chef and these three chefs are each killer competitors, so the three-course meal at Cyrus in Healdsburg (which is in Sonoma rather than Napa Valley but I'll let this change in locale slip by) quickly turned into a twist-laden multiple-course meal with multiple hindrances and curveballs. How did the three remaining chefs perform? An

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Former Wicked star Idina Menzel is in advanced talks to join the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring role when the series returns in March with its back nine episodes. Menzel, who will play the coach for the glee club's main rivals, Vocal Adrenaline, could potentially appear in all nine remaining installments this season. [Editor: personally, given the strong resemblance between Menzel and Lea Michele, I figured producers would get her to play Rachel's biological mother. Unless...] Menzel will also be joined by Spring Awakening 's Jonathan Groff who, as previously reported, joins Glee in a multiple-episode story arc and is slated to appear in five or six episodes this spring. ( Hollywood Reporter , Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, E! Online's Megan Masters has some details about what we should expect from Glee 's back nine episodes. "I don't know if Glee starts back after a s

Has FX finally found its companion for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ? All signs point to yes. FX has renewed freshman comedy The League for a second season, picking up the series for an expanded order of thirteen episodes. The announcement comes as The League wraps its first season tomorrow night. Season Two of The League , which is produced by FX Productions, is expected to launch in late summer 2010. (That's also when Season Six of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is also due to return. Hmmm...) "We’ve been very pleased with the creative and ratings trajectory of The League and believe it’s an excellent fit with our comedy brand,” said Nick Grad, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, FX Networks, in a statement. “Jackie and Jeff Schaffer are incredibly talented producers and the ensemble cast is fantastic. The performance of the show this season is reminiscent of Sunny in its first season.” The full press release from FX can be found below. FX

Only three chefs remain. With the season finale of Top Chef: Las Vegas set to air tonight, I'm curious to see just who you think will walk away the ultimate victor of this season of Bravo's deliciously addictive culinary competition series. (I'm still bummed that Jennifer Carroll is out of the running, however. Sigh.) Personally, my money is on Kevin. He's proven himself more than capable of not only dealing with the intense pressure of the competition but also staying true to his culinary ethos and style and his deceptively "simple" dishes have wowed the judges and diners alike throughout the course of the season. Of course, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio are both extremely talented competitors and either of them could create the winning dish. But I have a feeling that the sibling rivalry that's marked the competition so far could be their ultimate undoing. Will the Voltaggios cancel each other out? Are they more focused on beating one another than on beati