[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. The mystery behind Parks and Recreation 's early renewal, said to be due to a production-related issue, has been revealed: star Amy Poehler is pregnant again and the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy will film its third season early in order to accommodate Poehler's pregnancy. "We'll continue production of Season Three as soon as production of season two concludes," an NBC spokesperson told E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos. "And we'll be back next season with new episodes." Which means: Season Three will launch this fall and the cast and crew will likely take a hiatus later than usual... and it means that Poehler's Leslie Knope will not be pregnant on the series. ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) TV Guide Magazine 's Will Keck is reporting that Diane Farr ( Rescue Me ) has been cast in an upcoming episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives "as a character who interacts wit

"If you live your life based on what's going to happen, before you know it your life is over." - Charles Ingalls This week's episode of Lost ("Recon"), written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso and directed by Jack Bender, placed its focus squarely on James "Sawyer" Ford as the one-time con man embarked on what might just be his most ambitious and dangerous double-cross ever as he attempts to play two very different men against each other. Will his gambit pay off? Will he be able to escape the island? Should anyone ever take Sawyer at his word? We'll have to wait to find out. But before his latest stratagem kicks into place, Sawyer was sent on a mission of great importance, one that forced him to retrace his steps and return to a place he hoped he would never have to see again, a place that awakened feelings long thought dead, and he came face to face with someone who is either the savior or the villain in the final battle to come. So what

It's time for some Instant Dharma. Last night, I had the extreme pleasure of being invited on AOL's weekly Lost -centric show Instant Dharma , where I joined host Maggie Furlong and IGN's Dharma Initiative-jumpsuited Matt Fowler to discuss this week's episode of Lost ("Recon"), where we talked about--SPOILER!--Sawyer's many cons, Charles Widmore's return to the island, Smocke's mommy issues, and much more. You can catch my appearance on this week's episode of Instant Dharma below. Lost airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Just curious to see how many of you tuned in last night to watch the series premiere of FX's drama Justified . While you read my advance review of the series premiere ("Fire in the Hole") and subsequent episodes , now that the first episode has aired, I'm curious what you thought of the episode. Did it live up to the hype? Did you enjoy the typically Elmore Leonard blend of action, comedy, and Western tropes? What did you think of Timothy Olyphant's performance as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens? And of the cast as a whole? (I ask thinking specifically of Walton Goggins' amazing turn as Boyd Crowder.) Surprised by the ending? What do you make of Raylan's anger issues and his relationships with ex-wife Winona and possible love interest Ava? And, most importantly, will you be tuning in again next week? Talk back here. Next week on Justified ("Riverbrook"), Raylan tracks an escaped prisoner desperate to reunite with his former wife and a hidden fortune

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Former White Collar co-star (and The Middleman star) Natalie Morales has landed a recurring role on NBC's Parks and Recreation , according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. Morales has signed on to Parks for a multiple-episode story arc in which she will play Lucy, described as "a smart and funny busgirl at a local Pawnee bar." [Editor: Hollywood Reporter 's Nellie Andreeva, meanwhile, indicates that Morales will be appearing "in at least two episodes," the same ones that are set to feature guest stars Rob Lowe and Adam Scott.] ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files , Hollywood Reporter ) The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan is reporting that Caprica executive producer Jane Espenson--who previously wrote for Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer --will write a script for HBO's upcoming fantasy drama series Game of Thrones , based on the George R.R. Martin nove

The Wild West represents the untamed heart of darkness within every man, a place whose lawlessness was inimical to the spirit of possibility that existed in its great expanse. A place where anyone could reinvent themselves if they had the grit to do so. But the line between maintaining the law and executing justice and falling prey to the violence and depravity of the untamed wilderness wasn't an easy one to walk. To keep the criminals at bay, a lawman often had to use the villain's tools of the trade: he had to be every bit as deadly and cunning as the men he was after. In FX's sensational new drama series Justified , based on Elmore Leonard's Raylan Givens character (first seen in the novella "Fire in the Hole"), the figurative embodiment of that 19th century Western lawman is U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), a man who lives by a strict moral code that finds him meting out punishment that's every bit as savage as the fugitives, neo-Nazis, a

"Consider this the carrot. Believe me, you don't want the stick." - Patty Damages has done a phenomenal job at keeping secondary and tertiary characters spinning within the orbit of Patricia Hewes, the ruthless and Machiavellian litigator who seems to view mere mortals as nothing more than pawns in her latest grand scheme, whether that be her partner Tom Shayes, her former protege Ellen Parsons, or her own son. In fact, Patty's modus operandi seems to be to push reality into line with her expectation of it. When people don't behave how she anticipates, it throws off her entire worldview. On this week's episode of Damages ("I Look Like Frankenstein"), written by Daniel Zelman and directed by Chris Terrio, two people from Patty's past returned to the series with some emotional baggage as well as efforts to free themselves from the, well, damages that they suffered at the hands of Patty Hewes. Even as Michael Hewes attempted to build a new life fo