Tea Cozies, Tweed, and Murder Most Foul: An Advance Review of "Marple" on PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery"

The sunshine might be more intense than ever this summer, but it's also the perfect time to curl up with a good mystery, or four in this case.

This weekend, PBS' Masterpiece Mystery launches the first of four fantastic new Miss Marple feature-length mysteries, based on the spinster detective character created by Agatha Christie.

Stepping into the role for the first time is the superlative Julia McKenzie (Cranford), who replaces Geraldine McEwan as the titular sleuth following McEwan's retirement after the third season of Marple, which airs in the UK on ITV.

McKenzie is pitch perfect as the perspicacious Jane Marple; she might look like an elderly spinster but her tweed suits and constant knitting belie the keen mind of a true detective in every sense of the word. The four installments presented here--"A Pocket Full of Rye," "Murder is Easy," "They Do It With Mirrors," and "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"--might seem like tea cozy mysteries but the crimes they depict are anything but civil, resulting in countless poisonings, stabbings, and strangulations. Yes, the tea might always be freshly brewed here, but the body count is climbing just the same.

The four Marple mysteries airing over the next four Sundays represent a virtual Who's Who among British television actors. Every episode is positively overflowing with recognizable faces. The first installment alone ("A Pocket Full of Rye") features Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks, Little Dorrit), Rupert Graves (V for Vendetta), Liz White (Life on Mars), Lucy Cohu (Torchwood: Children of Earth), Kenneth Cranham (Valkyrie), Anna Madeley (Brideshead Revisited), the late Wendy Richard (EastEnders), and a slew of others.

Subsequent episodes feature Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Last Enemy), Lyndsey Marshal (Rome), Hugo Speer (Echo Beach), Anna Chancellor (Suburban Shootout), Jemma Redgrave (Bramwell), David Haig (The 39 Steps), Russell Tovey (Being Human), Natalie Dormer (The Tudors), Sean Biggerstaff (Cashback), Hannah Murray (Skins), Richard Briers (Monarch of the Glen), Georgia Moffett (Doctor Who), Rafe Spall (A Room with a View), Joan Collins (Footballers' Wives), Brian Cox (Kings), Nigel Terry (Spooks), and Penelope Wilton (Doctor Who).

Whew.

As for the mysteries themselves, they are engrossing, gripping affairs where nothing is typically as it seems. Unlike Agatha Christie's professional sleuth Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple often stumbles into murder most unwittingly and isn't the person every typically turns to in order to solve a real stumper of a crime. But that's Marple's greatest strength, really: that by appearing to be nothing more than a harmless old woman asking questions, she's often able to draw out answers that the police wouldn't be able to. After all, she hardly seems a threat and her request to enter your confidence seems innocent enough. But nothing escapes Marple's keen gaze: a look, a smudge on a will, a newspaper in a train carriage. Poirot might be the professional, but our Miss Marple is always at work.

The four installments--directed by Charles Palmer, Hettie Macdonald, Nicholas Renton, and Andy Wilson respectively--are beautifully shot and the action moves at a quick clip as the bodies start piling up. McKenzie's performance is enchantingly nuanced: her subtle interrogations, raised eyebrows, and looks of concern add up to a brilliant portrayal of a woman still very much in her prime.

One interesting footnote: the final installment, "Why Didn't They Ask Evans," is based on an Agatha Christie novel but it didn't actually feature Jane Marple; instead it focused on a pair of amateur sleuths, Bobby Attfield and Frankie Derwent (portrayed by Sean Biggerstaff and Georgia Moffett here), who team up to solve a mystery when a dying man issues a series of enigmatic last words. Screenwriter Patrick Barlow injects Marple into the plot, giving her not only the climactic scene in which she unmasks the killer but also allows her to gently guide these sleuths not only through the mystery but also to coupledom.

It's a happy ending to Six by Agatha, which PBS calls "a festival of murder" scripted with wit and insight by the grand dame of crime herself Agatha Christie. If you're looking for rain-slicked mansions by night, mysterious deaths of all kinds, and, yes, a lot of tea sipped out of bone china, Marple is very much the series for you.

After all, there are far worse ways to spend a hot summer's eve than with the murder, mayhem, and mystery of this magnificent Miss Marple.

Masterpiece Mystery's Miss Marple begins Sunday, July 5th at 9 pm ET/PT. Check your local listings for details.

Channel Surfing: Christian Slater Gets "Forgotten," Emerson Says No Happy Ending for "Lost," Piper Perabo Engages in "Covert Affairs," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Christian Slater (My Own Worst Enemy) is in talks to topline ABC drama series The Forgotten, from Warner Bros. Television and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer. If the deal closes, Slater would replace Rupert Penry-Jones, who appeared in the original pilot episode as a former cop whose daughter was kidnapped and went missing. Another role--that played in the pilot by Reiko Aylesworth--is also being recast. The series is set to launch Tuesday, September 22nd at 10 pm. (Hollywood Reporter)

Don't look for the series finale of Lost to feature a happy ending, according to series regular Michael Emerson. "I don't think Lost will have a happy ending," Emerson told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "It's the end and I think we are going to start seeing more casualties. I would put money on major characters being killed. I believe it will be a sad ending to the show -- or at least bittersweet. I think it will definitely be a series finale for grownups." And Emerson is still trying to make sense of this season's finale. "I killed Jacob... maybe... probably," mused Emerson. "It isn't like we haven't seen plenty of other people be killed and somehow come back. And what does it mean if I did kill him? I Who the hell was he anyway? Obviously, Ben wanted a father. So much of our show is about bad fathers. It is one of our biggest themes. And Jacob disappointed in those final moments. And maybe Jacob made it easy for him. Maybe that was all meant to happen. Is it all ordained? Maybe. And for that matter, can Jacob even be killed? Stay tuned is my response." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Piper Perabo (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) has been cast as the lead in USA's espionage drama pilot Covert Affairs, which has yet to receive a firm greenlight from the cabler (though a pilot order is expected in the next few weeks). Perabo will play Annie Walker, a CIA trainee who joins the agency while still recovering from a relationship with an ex-boyfriend who is of special interest to her spymasters. The search is on to cast male lead Auggie Anderson, a blind tech expert. Project, written by Matt Corman and Chris Ord, comes from Universal Cable Prods. Perabo last year starred in ABC drama pilot The Prince of Motor City. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan raves about BBC America's upcoming Torchwood: Children of Earth and talks with series creator Russell T. Davies about what viewers should expect from the five-episode third season "event" and promises more to come in the next few days. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Hilary Duff is joining the cast of CW's Gossip Girl next season in a multiple-episode story arc, where she will play Olivia, an incognito movie star who enrolls at NYU in order to live a simpler life and becomes Vanessa's roommate... and gets romantically entangled with Dan Humphrey. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) is said to be in talks with CBS and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to host the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in September. (Variety)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that there will be not one but two Farscape panels at San Diego Comic-Con later this month. The first, scheduled for Friday, July 24th at 10:15 am, will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series and will feature creator Rockne O'Bannon, executive producer Brian Henson, and stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black. The second will focus on the Farscape series of comic books. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Meanwhile, A&E Home Entertainment yesterday announced that they are releasing the entire series of Farscape as a repackaged "series megaset" featuring all four seasons of the series in November. (via press release)

ABC is developing reality competition series The Fast and the Funniest, which follows stand-up comedians as they travel around the country completing various tasks and performing at stops along the way. Series is described as a cross between "Last Comic Standing and The Amazing Race." Casting is underway on the series, which hails from Keep Calm Prods. and executive producers Page Hurwitz and Javier Winnik. (Variety)

Four pilots--ABC's Solving Charlie, This Little Piggy, and Romantically Challenged and CBS' House Rules--remain in contention for midseason slots on their respective schedules after cast options were extended on the pilots. Options on Alyssa Milano, Kyle Bornheimer, and Kelly Stables on Romantically Challenged have been extended; on Solving Charlie, Jimmy Wolk, Dakota Goyo, Brad Henke, and Dania Ramirez have stayed on; on This Little Piggy, only options on Andrea Parker and Rebecca Creskoff have been extended; and on House Rules, most of cast will remain on board, including Zoe McLellan, Eion Bailey, Kristin Bauer, Tawny Cypress, Anna Chlumsky, and Denzel Whitaker. (Hollywood Reporter)

Rocky Carroll will appear in both NCIS and upcoming spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles next season as NCIS director Leon Vance. Carroll is set to appear in at least six episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles' initial thirteen-episode commitment and remains a series regular on NCIS. (TVGuide.com)

NBC will air its two-episode docuseries The Wanted, which centers on "an elite team with intelligence, unconventional warfare and investigative journalism backgrounds as they hunt suspects such as Mullah Krekar, the founder of terrorist organization Ansar Al Islam," on Monday, July 20th and Monday, June 27th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Variety)

Seminal 1990s dramedy Ally McBeal is finally coming to DVD, according to Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch, who writes that both the first season and the entire series are available for pre-order at Amazon. (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Discovery Channel has given out a series order to unscripted series The Colony, in which ten strangers will spend two months inside an abandoned warehouse complex without electricity, running water, or contact with the outside world and must build a functioning society following a fictional major catastrophe. Series, from Thom Beers Original Productions, is set to launch Tuesday, July 21st at 10 pm. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Stay tuned.

The Insatiable Viewer: Not All Food Shows Are Created Equal

Now is a very good time to be a television-loving foodie, with several networks other than stalwarts Food Network or PBS devoting air time to culinary-themed programming. In fact, it's safe to say that cuisine as a whole has entered the general zeitgeist in a way that it couldn't really have done before the public's embrace of reality programming.

But there's a rather large caveat: not all food programming is equal. While television offers a bountiful cornucopia of culinary series, there's still a large difference in the quality of these programs, not to mention a staggering range of subjects being covered. There are docusoaps that focus on cake-makers, competition series pitting chefs against each other, old fashioned cook-offs, food-focused travel series, and product spotlights.

While I'd never be able to offer up a comprehensive discussion of all of these series (they are too numerous to even contemplate as a whole), I thought I'd take a look at a few members of the current crop of culinary programs and offer my thoughts about how each stacks up to the competition, with Bravo's Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, Food Network's Chopped, BBC America's Gordon Ramsay's F Word, and FOX's Hell's Kitchen.

So, sit back, grab yourself a plate of something tasty, and let's get cooking.

Top Chef (Bravo)

Top Chef really is the mirepoix of culinary programs today: that essential base that makes all others possible. And likewise, the cabler has taken this base to build an entire Top Chef franchise, which kicked off last month with spin-off Top Chef Masters. The conceit of Top Chef is simple: pit a group of ambitious chefs against one another for a cash prize and a chance at fame and fortune.

I remember when Top Chef first launched, there was concern that the audience wouldn't eat it up in the way that they did the network's own Project Runway. After all, it's hard to experience food visually in the same way that it is fashion on the runway. Wrong. Just look at the sheer number of food magazines, cookbooks, and food-themed memoirs to know that consumers have an insatiable appetite for all things food-related.

Produced by Magical Elves, Top Chef is a stylish and slick production that puts the emphasis squarely on the competitors' dishes, discussing strategy and flavor profiles with equal relish. It helps that the judges are a band of the culinary world's most celebrated stars: chef/restaurateur Tom Collichio, Food & Wine editor Gail Simmons, and a revolving door of arbiters that has included at times chef/memoirist/novelist/TV personality Anthony Bourdain, Ted Allen (who now hosts Food Network's own Chopped), journalist/food critic/Truman Capote manque Toby Young, and many, many others.

Several seasons down the line, Top Chef has remained essential television viewing for any self-respecting foodie, fusing the world of reality competition with the rigorous and demanding world of high cuisine. The casting is always impeccable, the chefs are always forward-thinking and creative, and the stakes are always high. Seeing these up-and-comers put through their paces each week with both a short-form Quickfire Challenge and a longer, more complex Elimination Challenge is a real treat, offering viewers the opportunity to see the chefs adapt, plan, react, and execute dishes under an array of difficult scenarios. The results are as delicious as the dishes they present.

Grade: A

Top Chef Masters (Bravo)

Any discussion of Top Chef would have to involve that of its recent offspring, Top Chef Masters, which launched a few weeks ago on Bravo and has sated the appetite of many a Top Chef fan eager for the return of their favorite series. While the series didn't start off with quite the confidence and poise of its predecessor, recent episodes have shown the series finding its footing and developing into its own tasty dish. Like Top Chef, the spin-off series puts its contestants through both a speedy Quickfire Challenge and a more structured Elimination Challenge, but this time around the contestants are boldfaced names from the restaurant business competing for charity.

Which gives the contestants more to prove (bragging rights are even more essential here) but also takes the series away from its original format. Given that there are twenty-four world-class chefs involved with the series (each with their own demanding schedules), Top Chef Masters pits four of them against each other a week, with the winners moving on to the champion round. While it makes for some high-stakes drama--if you don't win, you're off the series for good--it also loses some points for inconsistency. Each week presents a new batch of chefs, so it's hard to root for anyone in particular as we're not seeing them on a regular basis and each subsequent week brings in a fresh crop of competitors.

Still, this is a minor quibble. Top Chef Masters has proven itself compulsory culinary television viewing and has successfully tweaked the format of its forebear, offering up a different grading rubric that allows the Quickfire results, the individual judges, and the diners equal weight. When dealing with such celebrated chefs as the Top Chef Masters players, it's a nice change, though I do flinch when the results are read out from lowest to highest score, eliminating much of the drama there. Still, it's a meal I look forward to savoring each week.

Grade: A-

Chopped (Food Network)

I was intrigued when Chopped launched earlier this year on Food Network, given that it featured former Top Chef judge Ted Allen as a host and promised to put professional chefs through the ringer by forcing them to cook a three-course meal using mystery ingredients, with one chef eliminated--or "chopped" in parlance--after each course. Sort of like a Quickfire Challenge with bite, no?

Sadly, I have to say that I'm disappointed by this Top Chef wannabe. Perhaps it's the fact that poor Ted Allen is so woefully underused and offers nothing whatsoever to the proceedings. He doesn't taste the food nor act as a judge and is typically reduced to offering up some painfully scripted (and oftentimes rhyming) introductions and segues. Sure, he will occasionally lean over a competing chef's station and inquire about what they're doing but it feels stilted and out of place. There's no running commentary a la Iron Chef and, hell, even Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi has some input on the judging.

The concept is intriguing but it's the execution that's definitely lacking. It doesn't help matters that (A) the set is dark and oppressive and feels like it's being shot in someone's too-small Manhattan apartment and (B) the judges seem awkward and icy cold, offering very little in the way of constructive feedback and remaining completely unknowable to the home audience. There's very little personality at play on the judges' table and nothing they say is particularly memorable or exciting.

Which is a problem when there are going to be numerous comparisons to Top Chef. (The cabler also offers the Top Chef-esque Search for the Next Food Nework Star.) I've given Chopped, now in its second season, several opportunities to wow me but the results haven't been enough to keep me excited about this lackluster program. This is one course I'm more than happy to send back to the kitchen.

Grade: C+

Gordon Ramsay's F Word (BBC America/Channel 4 UK)

British import Gordon Ramsay's F Word (which airs on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom) has to be one of the most controversial and fun food programs ever to run on US television. The reason many people seem to find it frenetic and overstuffed is the very reason that I love it so much: it's a magazine-style food program with recurring segments that are blended with competition (kitchen brigades compete for a chance to cook in one of Ramsay's restaurants), behind-the-scenes (Ramsay raises sheep, pigs in his back garden!), reportage (Janet Street-Porter investigates foie gras production), celebrity interviews (Ramsay faces off with a celebrity of the week in a recipe challenge), how-to (Ramsay shows you how to simply prepare these dishes at home), and grassroots campaign (this season shows Ramsay offering tips on how to cook healthier meals). Whew.

It's a heady brew of travelogue, cooking show, competition, celebrity, practical how-to, and behind-the-scenes that I find absolutely intoxicating. Ramsay is also in his element here and it's easy to see his innate passion for cuisine rather than the bluster and bullying he seems to throw on in some of his other reality programs. Is there a lot going on? Hell yes. But it's always interesting, always hilarious, and always informative. And that to be is the hallmark of a great culinary series.

Grade: A-

Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

And then there's Hell's Kitchen. What started out as a fun and fiery culinary competition series has devolved into a freak show where the contestants--cast for their oddities, eccentricities, or abrasive personalities--attempt to work on the line in a Hollywood restaurant where they are overseen and browbeaten by Ramsay himself.

What sets this program apart from the others is that the contestants usually can barely boil water much less prepare palatable food for the diners. Which is a shame as it could be a great series about life on the line but instead its become trainwreck television. Seeing Ramsay scream at someone with precious few knife skills or professional experience isn't exciting or amusing, it's downright depressing.

I watch culinary television series because I want to be dazzled by chefs' inspiration, creativity, and passion for what they do. If I felt like Ramsay were training these contestants to become professional chefs (look at Jamie Oliver's amazing docuseries Jamie's Kitchen for that instead), that would be one thing. But instead, the entire affair feels cheap and exploitative, not to mention overtly sensationalized.

There's no way that I'd go anywhere near Hell's Kitchen these days for viewing, not to mention eating. And that's a real problem for a culinary series, which should be aspirational not nauseatingly vapid. It's clear that Ramsay is playing a part here for the cameras, which is a shame when you watch F Word or Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (or its US counterpart on FOX, Kitchen Nightmares) and you see the passionate, inspirational side of Ramsay. Sadly, Hell's Kitchen makes me lose my appetite completely.

Grade: D

And there you have it. I am curious to know, however, what culinary-themed television programs you're watching. Are there any that should have been on this list? Any that you can't live without? Any that you're hungry for week after week? And which ones should be binned? Discuss.

Channel Surfing: Syfy Discovers "Alien Nation," ABC Falls for "Defying Gravity," "Castle" Novel Out Next Month, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Syfy is developing a new incarnation of Alien Nation, the 1988 feature film that spun off into a FOX drama, with writer/executive producer Tim Minear (Firefly, Drive). The project, from Fox21, will tell the story of the partnership between a veteran police officer and an alien detective in the Pacific Northwest as the two races attempt to live side-by-side on Earth following the aliens' arrival and efforts to assimilate into human society. The new version will include a mythology that will unfold over time and will use contemporary issues, such as immigration, racism, terrorism, and paranoia, in its storytelling. "It's very much in keeping with what we've been looking to do -- find themes that are more than just hard sci-fi, something that feels contemporary and relevant and invites a broad audience in," said Syfy original programming EVP Mark Stern. "It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny and mixed with big, giant scary," Minear said. "I love serialized stuff, but this is also a cop franchise. That Starsky and Hutch/Lethal Weapon buddy cop comedy is absent from TV right now." (Variety)

ABC has acquired Fox Television Studios' thirteen-episode international drama Defying Gravity, which will air on Canada's CTV, Germany's ProSieben, and the BBC. Project, which stars Ron Livingston, Laura Harris, Christina Cox, Malik Yoba, and Florentine Lahme, follows eight astronauts from five different countries in the near future who are on a six-year mission through the solar system. (Try not to get it confused with FOX's own Virtuality.) Defying Gravity, which will air on ABC this summer, is written/executive produced by James Parriott (Grey's Anatomy) and executive produced by Michael Edelstein, Brian Hamilton, and Michael Chechik. (Hollywood Reporter)

Viewers of ABC's mystery series Castle now have a new way to interact with the series. The network is teaming with Hyperion to publish a stand-alone mystery novel, entitled "Heat Wave," written by the series' lead character Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion)--or a ghostwriter at any event--and will publish chapters of the book each week beginning August 10th, leading up to the second season premiere. Hyperion, meanwhile, will publish the full novel on September 29th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Liza Minnelli and Delta Burke are set to guest star in Lifetime's upcoming dramedy series Drop Dead Diva, where they will play sisters in an episode slated to air September 20th. Minnelli will play "a psychic who takes her sister (Burke) to court after she opens a competing psychic shop directly across the street from her store," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The premiere of HBO's comedy series Hung drew 2.8 million viewers, making it the most watched series launch in two years, since John From Cincinnati, which aired after the series finale of The Sopranos. Lead-in True Blood also attracted 3.7 million viewers in its first airing this week, a number which surges to 5.1 million with encore presentations... and to a staggering average of 10.8 million viewers on all platforms (linear, HBO On Demand, and DVR). (via press release)

FX has announced launch dates for Season Two of Sons of Anarchy on September 8th, Season Five of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on September 17th, and the sixth and penultimate season of Nip/Tuck in October. (Televisionary)

Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle will NOT be guest starring on ABC's Ugly Betty, despite rumors to the contrary. ABC has officially shot down stories that Boyle would play herself in an upcoming episode of Betty. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Elsewhere at ABC, the network has quietly ended its burn-off run of comedy In the Motherhood. The Alphabet will instead program two back-to-back episodes of Samantha Who on Thursdays. (Futon Critic)

Trevor Donovan (Days of Our Lives) has been cast in Season Two of the CW's 90210, where he will play Teddy, a charming tennis prodigy and movie star scion who is clearly being earmarked as a potential love interest for Annie (Shenae Grimes). His first appearance is slated to air on September 8th, the date of the series' second season premiere. (TVGuide.com)

SOAPnet is developing a US adaptation of BBC Worldwide reality series Bank of Mom and Dad, in which women in their 20s and 30s move back in with their parents and give up control of their expenses to their parents and money consultant Farnoosh Torabi. Series launches September 30th at 10 pm ET/PT. The cabler also ordered ten episodes of reality dating series Holidate, in which two women swap cities to pursue relationships in the other's hometown; series will kick off on July 29th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Variety)

Syfy announced their Comic-Con plans, which includes panels for such series as Caprica/BSG: The Plan, Sanctuary, Warehouse 13, Eureka, and Stargate Universe. (Televisionary)

WE will spin-off a new wedding-themed channel, drawing programming from the cabler's stable of wedding-related programming such as Bridezillas, Platinum Weddings, Amazing Wedding Cakes, and My Fair Wedding. WE, meanwhile, will become more parenting-oriented with the emphasis placed squarely on such programming as The Mom Show, Raising Sextuplets, and Adoption Diaries. The new channel is set to launch in August on Cablevision's platform. (Broadcasting & Cable)

MTV has renewed reality series 16 & Pregnant for a second season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Comic-Con Update: Syfy Announces Panels, Talent For SDCC Next Month

After weeks of anticipation (and speculation), Syfy has finally announced which series they will be bringing down to San Diego Comic-Con next month.

The cabler will be offering panels based around Caprica and telepic Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Eureka, Sanctuary, Warehouse 13, and Stargate Universe.

Additionally, Syfy will be taking over the Hard Rock Cafe and will re-brand the eatery as Eureka’s own “Cafe Diem” for entire breadth of the convention. Cafe Diem will be the focal point for many of Syfy's planned activities throughout the convention.

The full press release from Syfy can be be found below, along with dates and times (and descriptions) of each of their panels.

SCI FI FEATURES FAN FAVORITE SERIES AND STARS
AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 2009

New York, NY – June 30, 2009 – In keeping with its longstanding tradition of hosting some of Comic-Con’s most popular, crowd-pleasing events over the years, SCI FI Channel will once again feature some of its biggest hits – as well as its highly-anticipated new series – at this year’s Comic-Con International, held July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center. Fans will have the opportunity to see their favorite SCI FI stars and get the answers to all their burning questions at each of the Channel’s star-studded panels, including Warehouse 13, Eureka, Sanctuary, Stargate Universe, and Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.

In addition, SCI FI will take over a restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel, re-branding it as Eureka’s “Cafe Diem” for the duration of the convention. The fictional local hot spot heavily featured in the popular dramedy, Café Diem will be the hub of all SCI FI activities during the week.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, July 24

10:30 AM-11:30 AM Stargate Universe
Ballroom 20
A new chapter of the Stargate saga begins with the all-new original series Stargate Universe. Join stars Robert Carlyle (Dr. Nicholas Rush), Brian J. Smith (1st Lt. Matthew Scott), Elyse Levesque (Chloe Armstrong), David Blue (Eli Wallace), Alaina Huffman (1st Lt. Tamara Johansen), Jamil Walker Smith (Master Sargeant Ronald Greer), and Ming-Na (Camile Wray) alongside Brad Wright (Series Co-Creator) and Robert Cooper (Series Co-Creator) as they take you through a gate you’ve never seen before.

11:45 AM-12:45 PM Caprica / Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Ballroom 20
The present meets the past as the makers of Battlestar Galactica deliver the highly anticipated original series Caprica and the 2-hour event, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. This is your chance to get the inside scoop on these exciting projects and see two generations of Adamas on stage together for the first time. Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson sit down with Caprica star Esai Morales (Joseph Adama), and Battlestar Galactica’s Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama), director of The Plan, to reveal the truth about these two new chapters in the mythology of BSG. Moderated by Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times.

3:15 PM-4:15 PM Eureka
Room 6BCF
Eureka is back this summer with all new episodes, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo), and Jaime Paglia (Executive Producer/Co-Creator) are stopping by to let you in on the fun. Don’t miss your chance to see one of Comic Con’s most entertaining panels. Moderated by Josh Gates, Destination Truth.

8:30 PM-10:30 PM SCI FI Screening
Room 6DE
Warehouse 13 & Eureka will premiere every week this summer on SCI FI, but only Comic-Con fans can see them on the big screen. Join SCI FI for an exclusive screening of the next all-new episodes of the summer’s two hottest series, along with best of clips from Ghost Hunters.

Saturday, July 25

12:30 PM-1:30 PM Sanctuary
Bayside Hilton Indigo Room
Before Sanctuary returns for an all-new season, don’t miss your chance to go inside the action and behind the scenes. Join stars Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus) and Robin Dunne (Dr. Will Zimmerman) as well as Martin Wood (Executive Producer) and Damian Kindler (Executive Producer) for an exclusive conversation about one of television’s most innovative shows. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

2:15 PM-3:15 PM Warehouse 13
Room 6A
This summer, the unknown has an address in the new original series, Warehouse 13. Join stars Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer), Joanne Kelly (Myka Bering), Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen), Allison Scagliotti (Claudia Donovan), Jack Kenny (Executive Producer/Showrunner) and David Simkins (Executive Producer) as they reveal confidential information about America’s most classified secret. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

Café Diem Hours of Operation:
Wednesday, July 22nd 6:30am-midnight
Thursday, July 23rd 6:30am-midnight
Friday, July 24th 6:30am-3am
Saturday, July 25th 6:30am-3am
Sunday, July 26th 6:30am-10pm

FX Announces Return Dates for "Sons of Anarchy," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Nip/Tuck"

Ending several months of rumors, FX has now officially announced the launch dates for its returning series Sons of Anarchy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and nip/tuck.

Season Two of Sons of Anarchy will kick off on Tuesday, September 8th at 10 pm ET/PT. The second season of the Charlie Hunnam-led series will feature guest turns by Alan Arkin and Henry Rollins.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns for a fifth season of madcap adventures on Thursday, September 17th. The twelve-episode season will air Thursday nights at 10 pm ET/PT.

nip/tuck returns for its sixth and penultimate season of ten episodes in October (specific date TBA). Guest stars next season will include Vanessa Redgrave, Rose McGowan, Mario Lopez, Barry Bostwick and Gilles Marini.

Additionally, the network will also launch an as-yet-unannounced new comedy series as a companion to It's Always Sunny on Thursday evenings. (I'd assume, then, that the poorly-received Testees won't be back for another go-around.)

The full press release from FX, announcing the launch dates, can be found below.

FX SETS FALL SCHEDULE

Sons of Anarchy Returns Tuesday, September 8
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Comes Back Thursday, September 17
nip/tuck’s All New 6th Season Returns in October
FX Plans to Launch a New Original Comedy Series This Fall
September-December Features Premieres of Blockbuster Movie Titles

LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2009 – FX, home to critically acclaimed and award-winning original series, has set its fall schedule with the return of three of its hit original series kicking off with the sophomore season of the drama Sons of Anarchy on September 8, followed by the comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on September 17, and season six of nip/tuck which begins this October. FX also has plans to launch a new original comedy series this fall to pair with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In addition to the return of original series, this fall the network features a slate of blockbuster feature film premieres including Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four & The Silver Surfer, Spiderman 3, and Live Free or Die Hard.

Sons of Anarchy returns for its second season (13 episodes) on a new night, Tuesday, beginning September 8 at 10 PM ET/PT. Starring Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman, Sons is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores the notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (SAMCRO) desire to protect its livelihood and the town of Charming, Calif. from outside influences. New guest stars this season include Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins. The first season of Sons of Anarchy averaged 1.2 million Men 18-34 demo on a weekly cumulative basis, making it the #1 scripted show in basic cable in that demo and its cume of 1.9 million Adults 18-34 ranked #3.

The fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (12 episodes) will run Thursdays at 10 PM ET/PT for crude, controversial, outlandish, and downright hilarious comedy starting on September 17. Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito star as the self-centered owners of Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia who will do just about anything, no matter how reprehensible, in attempt to better their own situation. The fourth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was #1 in both M18-34 (1.1 million) and A18-34 (1.8 million) on a weekly cumulative average for all live-action scripted comedies in basic cable.

nip/tuck will return for its sixth and penultimate season in October and will consist of 10 new episodes. Starring Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon as Los Angeles plastic surgeons, the new season will include guest stars Vanessa Redgrave, Rose McGowan, Mario Lopez, Barry Bostwick and Gilles Marini. nip/tuck's 5th season was FX's highest-rated original series with an average weekly audience of 5.1 million A18-49 and 6.5 million total viewers.

No Brief Candle: John Barrowman Claims "Torchwood" Punished by the Beeb

Torchwood: Children of Earth star John Barrowman has lashed out at the BBC for "punishing" the Doctor Who spin-off series as it moved from BBC Two to BBC One with the third season, when its episodic count was reduced from a traditional thirteen to a leaner five episodes.

Barrowman made the comments in the latest issue of the UK's Radio Times, which hit newsstands today, just a few days before the launch of Torchwood: Children of Earth in the United Kingdom.

Unlike in previous seasons, Torchwood: Children of Earth is being stripped five nights a week in an "event" format by both BBC One and BBC America in the States.

"I'm going to get a little political and I'll probably get into trouble for it, but... we were the most successful show on BBC3, ever," Barrowman told Radio Times. "We moved to BBC2 because the ratings were so good; the ratings were great again and we were beating shows that had been on BBC2 for a long time. The decision was made to go to BBC1 – and then we were cut. From 13 episodes down to five."

"The five episodes, the miniseries as I call it, are incredible – I have no doubt about that – but personally, I felt like we were being punished," said Barrowman. "Other shows move from BBC3 and 2 to 1, and they don't get cut. So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves."

Torchwood creator and lead writer Russell T. Davies, however, refuted any claims of being punished by the Beeb.

"Part of us thought, 'We could do another 13 episodes, we've learnt how to do that, and the second series was better than the first.' But why not change it?" Davies told Radio Times. "I know if this was America, they'd try to keep it going for seven years, doing the same thing every week. And BBC America, who show Torchwood, are furious that we've changed the format. But they're not our paymasters. It's the British audience we make these for. And I don't think audiences are remotely lost by a change in format."

And, for their part, the BBC certainly didn't want to "punish" Torchwood either.

"We wanted to create a powerful sense of event when the show came to BBC One and so talked with the show makers about a story that could run over five consecutive days," said a BBC spokesperson in a statement. "This [...] is something very special that we hope viewers will enjoy."



Torchwood: Children of Earth launches Monday night on BBC One in the UK and Stateside on July 20th on BBC America.

TV on DVD: "Secret Diary of a Call Girl Season Two"

Fans of Showtime's imported British drama series Secret Diary of a Call Girl might want to check out the second season on DVD, which is being released today.

After all, Season Two of Secret Diary of a Call Girl finds Hannah, a.k.a. high class call girl Belle (Doctor Who's Billie Piper), branching out onto her own while juggling all matter of problems, not least of which is her confused relationship with best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg), a flighty protege named Bambi (The Beautiful Life's Ashley Madekwe), and the prospect of genuine happiness with boyfriend Alex (Dead Like Me's Callum Blue).

The only problem is that Hannah hasn't quite gotten around to telling Alex, a dashing doctor recently relocated to London, what she does for a living. (Or who she does, really.) Season Two of the witty and provocative series finds Hannah living a double-life once again, lying to Alex even as she falls for him and trying to work up the courage to reveal to him who she really is.

While Season One established Hannah/Belle and the nighttime world she inhabits, Season Two of the Lucy Prebble-created drama delves deeper into Hannah's psyche, exploring whether this educated and ambitious young woman can hold down a so-called "normal job" or if her alter ego "Belle" and her prostitution really do not only define her but satisfy her. The season also features one of the most horrifically intense and gut-wrenching scenes on the series to date--I won't reveal what it is--which packs an emotional wallop and threatens to derail Hannah and Alex's relationship altogether.

Despite being deep into pregnancy, Piper once again shines as Hannah/Belle, offering a performances that's equal parts sly candor and sleek, seductive charm. Despite her shortcomings, you really do root for Hannah to find happiness, security, and love even as she makes a number of mistakes in personal and professional life. Adding the pressure this season is the aforementioned Bambi, who wants to emulate Hannah's success as a high-end call girl even as she can't quite wipe away the Cockney accent or brashness that define her. Madewke is absolutely fantastic as the well-intentioned but oblivious Bambi and the duo slip into a comfortable love-hate relationship that eventually resembles something akin to friendship.

The two-disc DVD box set includes all eight episodes from Season Two of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which aired Stateside earlier this year, as well as some special features including a "Billie on Belle" interview with Billie Piper and webisodes.

All in all, Season Two of Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a must have for fans of dark comedy, sly relationship drama, and British humor. Despite some oddly sagging installments in the middle of the eight-episode season, Piper's winning performance alone makes it the worth the price of admission.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season Two is available today on DVD with a suggested retail price of $29.98. Or pick it up in the Televisionary store for just $19.49.

Channel Surfing: Drea de Matteo Moves to Wisteria Lane, Meloni and Hargitay Return to "Law & Order: SVU," Showtime Axes "Brotherhood," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Sons of Anarchy's Drea de Matteo (best known as The Sopranos' Adrianna) is joining the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives next season as a series regular, reports Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. De Matteo will play "the matriarch of a new Italian family," writes Ausiello. "Casting is underway for her landscape designer husband and their tightly wound son." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay WILL be coming back to NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit next season, after all. The duo have finally signed deals that will keep them in the lead roles on the NBC drama series for the next two seasons and will be paid just slightly less than $400,000 per episode. Neal Baer also closed a deal to remain on board the series as showrunner and Christine Lahti (Jack & Bobby) has signed on to guest star in the first four episodes of next season's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as an ADA, while Stephanie March will appear in at least ten episodes next season. (Variety, Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Showtime has confirmed to E! Online's Watch with Kristin that it has canceled drama series Brotherhood and will not be returning the series for a fourth season. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

My Name is Earl creator Greg Garcia has landed a put pilot deal at FOX for an untitled single-camera comedy about a 25-year-old man who has a one-night stand with a woman on death row for murder and then has to raise the resulting baby with his family. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, will be written by Garcia. (Variety)

SCI FI Wire spoke to Edward James Olmos and Grace Park about what to viewers should expect from Battlestar Galactica prequel telepic The Plan, which Olmos directed. "What their plan was, I think that's a big surprise," said Olmos. "Finding out what the plan was and how it was structured and how close they were to completing it." Park said that there's more than meets the eye with The Plan. "[There is more than] the obvious, which is what was the Cylon perspective," said Park. "If they had a plan, what their plan was, what it entailed. I think besides that, [The Plan shows] probably how alike or unlike humans they really are." (SCI FI Wire)

CBS is launching seven-episode reality competition series There Goes the Neighborhood, in which eight suburban families are enclosed by a twenty-foot wall in compete for a cash prize of $250,000, on Sunday, August 9th. (via press release)

Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live) has been upgraded from guest star to series regular on ABC comedy The Middle, where he plays car salesman Bob, a co-worker and friend to Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton). He'll next be seen in IFC's three-part Bollywood Hero. (Hollywood Reporter)

SOAPNet has renewed Canadian drama Being Erica for a second season of twelve episodes that is slated to air early next year, according to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider. "Sources say the next season will find Erica (Erin Karpluk) learning more about the dynamics of time travel," writes Jennifer Armstrong, "and will reveal more about her enigmatic psychiatrist, Dr. Tom (Michael Riley)." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

VH1 ordered three new series including an eight-episode untitled reality project starring Salt-N-Pepa's Sandra "Pepa" Denton as she looks for love after a "self-imposed romantic and sexual dormancy," an untitled eight-episode project starring TLC's Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas as she also looks for love, this time with the help of relationship expert Tionna Smalls, and an untitled ten-episode docusoap featuring Frank "the Entertainer" Moresco from I Love NY as he looks for love and tries to move out of his parents' basement. The cabler also renewed Celebrity Fit Club for a seventh season and Sober House with Dr. Drew for a second season. (Variety)

Danneel Harris will reprise her role as Rachel Gatina in at least seven episodes of the CW's One Tree Hill next season after she was written out of the series in Season Five. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.

Sex and Candy: Life, Death, and Dating on "True Blood"

"And then there she was/Like double cherry pie..."

I had the opportunity to watch the first four episodes of Season Two of True Blood a few weeks back but I've been rewatching the episodes as they're airing on HBO so that I don't forget any of the plot twists.

I don't know about you but I thought that last night's episode of True Blood ("Scratches"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Scott Winant, was the best of the season so far.

It's a good thing I did tune in again as it contained one of my favorite scenes of the first four episodes, the sultry entrance of Jessica (the intoxicating Deborah Ann Woll) at Merlotte's to the delicious tune of Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy," one of the most seductive and memorable sequences to unfold on the series to date.

Woll's Jessica is a sight to behold. Other actresses may have made her little more than a spoiled brat turned nocturnal killer, but Woll infuses her with equal parts churlish spite and intoxicating innocence, making Jessica one of the most compelling and unpredictable characters on the series.

That Jessica is so quickly drawn to the sweet sincerity of Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack) is just the icing on the cake. Jessica is a creature of extremes. Freed from the cloistered morality of family life and from, well, the mortal coil as a whole, she's experiencing sensations she's never felt before. Did she go to Merlotte's to feed? Perhaps. More likely, she did it because there was no one--no parents, not her maker Bill--to tell her not to. The petulant pounding on the sitting room piano becomes a full-blown act of rebellion: a girl in a yellow dress walking into a bar looking for something.

Is it trouble she's after? She won't find it with Hoyt. She's initially drawn to the throbbing vein in his neck but something else takes over: the teenage girl inside of her who's never even been kissed. Thrust into the vampiric demimond, she's running before she can walk. And then there's Hoyt. He's just looking for a nice girl and he's attracted to her smile. So much so that he can't help but walk over to her and sit down at her booth.

And, after watching them meet cute at Merlotte's and then move on to some heavy petting at Bill's house, something tells me we're seeing the beginning of a full-out vampire/human Romeo and Juliet-style love story that's different from that of Bill and Sookie. Could Jessica's rebellion be to follow in Bill's footsteps and fall in love with a human? Or is there nothing but heartbreak ahead for Jessica? Bill's anger at her (he does throw her across the room) after discovering her with Hoyt speaks volumes about their relationship. Is Jessica his rebellious daughter that needs to be controlled? Can he keep her from harming the residents of Bon Temps? Or does he need to let her make her own decisions and mistakes?

Bill and Sookie have problems of their own, of course. Not least of which is the thing that attacks Sookie in the woods and rips open her back. Just what is this thing? Was it stalking Sookie or was it just a case of Sookie being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Hmmm... As for what this bull-headed creature is, it not only mortally wounds Sookie but also poisons her with a paralytic drug (rather like that of a Komodo dragon) that will enable the creature to track her down and wait to strike.

Those gashes of course look rather like those on Daphne's back in fact. And Daphne did arrive on the scene very unexpectedly, showing an interest in Sam Merlotte that goes beyond that of the professional. As we saw in last night's episode, she follows him to the lake and then prepares to jump into the water (right after Sam's transformation from dog back into naked man). So are we meant to believe that Daphne was also a victim of this creature? And, if so, is she marked for death or has she escaped its clutches? Or is she in its thrall?

As for what the creature is, I think we only need to look at that sculpture in Maryann's house, which rather resembles the horns of the creature in the woods. Maryann has a marked interest in Tara, an interest that is threatened by Sookie and her influence over her friend. Could it be that Maryann is removing the competition? Hmmm...

And what is up with the disappearing pig? Tara saw it by the side of the road before her car accident and Andy Bellefleur saw it in the doll's house at Maryann's Bacchanalia before it vanished seconds later. So what is the pig? And how is it connected to Maryann's abilities? Is it a sort of viral attack, making the viewer more susceptible to her powers? Or something else altogether?

I was equally enthralled and grossed out by the scene in which the diminutive Doctor Ludwig (Marcia de Rousse) treated Sookie's condition and pulled out the nail from her back. Utterly, utterly disgusting, no? But it showed some real physical stakes here for Sookie and further developed the underworld that are characters live in. That there is a human doctor who treats vampires and others is an intriguing concept that further pushes the world of True Blood into new directions.

I figured that Sookie would owe Eric for his hospitality and, you know, saving her life and all. Still, didn't think that Sookie would stand up to Eric after reading Ginger's mind and learning that poor Lafayette was chained up in the basement. (I love that Sookie didn't flinch when Eric came at her all fanged out.) Nor that she would demand five thousand dollars (which Bill then doubles) and Bill as her traveling companion if she goes to Dallas for Eric, along with Lafayette's release. This girl has tenacity and grit, something Eric seems to admire "in a breather."

As for Lafayette, he wants to try and forget that his imprisonment ever happened, something that's easier said than done. The look of horror and dawning realization that passes across his face as he enters his home after his ordeal is heartbreaking. It's as though a shadow has been cast over Lafayette and I wonder if he'll be able to truly recover from what he's experienced the past few weeks. Certainly, it will make him think twice about getting involved with vampires again...

And then there's Jason, whose inner conflict about his beliefs is severely tested by the Fellowship of the Sun and the Newlins. After coming clean about what happened to Eddie and Amy, Jason wants to leave, believing that God doesn't have a purpose for him after all, but he's stopped by Sarah (Anna Camp), who reveals that she too once sided with the vampires, even marching for their equal rights. Very interesting... I can't help but feel the sexual tension between Jason and the Newlins, particularly in that dinner scene, and wonder just what they have in mind for Jason Stackhouse.

All in all, a fantastic installment that allowed the supporting characters some major growth as their individual plotlines flourished. I can't wait to see just what Alan Ball and Co. have up their sleeves for Jessica, Tara, Sam, Daphne, Lafayette, and Maryann, not to mention a riveting plot with Sookie, Bill, Eric, and what is going on in Dallas. Looks like there's a storm brewing on the horizon, folks...

In two weeks on True Blood ("Shake and Fingerpop"), Bill, Sookie, and Jessica reluctantly head to Dallas to carry out Eric’s vampire-reconnaissance mission but encounter a surprise at the airport; Jason is annointed by the Newlins for a higher calling; Maryann throws Tara a birthday party at Sookie’s house; Sam postpones his departure and connects with Daphne; Lafayette finds himself drawn back into Eric’s orbit.

Talk Back: FOX's "Virtuality"

I'm really bummed that more people didn't tune in to watch Friday night's broadcast of Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor's superlative two-hour pilot for Virtuality, directed by Peter Berg.

You read my advance review of the gripping and haunting two-hour pilot of FOX's Virtuality but, now that it's aired, I am curious to hear what you think. (Missed the two-hour pilot? You can watch the whole thing at Hulu.)

According to Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed, "The two-hour premiere of Ron Moore's sci-fi pilot drew only 1.8 million viewers and received a 0.5 adult demo rating -- tying ABC's "The Goode Family" as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network Friday night and putting Fox into fourth place for the evening."

What I'm wondering is: why didn't more of you tune in to watch what was one of the more original and unique projects to come along in a long time? Were you put off by the twisty subject matter? Or was it the fact that it seemed pretty unlikely that it would go to series? Did you DVR the pilot and save it for later?

For those of you who did tune in, I'm wondering what you thought of Virtuality overall. Were you intrigued by its through-the-looking-glass-and-down-the-rabbit-hole exploration of reality in its various incarnations? Did you spark to the characters and their virtual worlds? Was your interest piqued by the enigmatic Green Eyed Man? Did you pick up that Billie Kashmiri's alter ego was singing a Japanese rock version of The Munsters theme song?

And, most importantly, would you have watched a Virtuality series?

Talk back here.

Talk Back: HBO's "Hung"

Ah, the death of the American dream.

You read my advance review of the first four episodes of HBO's Hung, which premiered last night after True Blood, but now that it's aired, I'm curious to know what you thought of the Dmitry Lipkin/Colette Burson-created dramedy series.

Did you buy Thomas Jane as a sad sack high school basketball coach and fallen golden boy forced to rely on his, er, sizable endowment in order to make ends meet? Did you think that he and Tanya (Jane Adams) would have fallen into bed and into business together as quickly as they did? Do you think their Happiness Consultant idea has any chance of survival in these tough economic times? Did you wonder whether Ray and Jessica (Anne Heche) were ever happy together?

And, most importantly, will you be tune in again to watch another episode?

Talk back here.

Channel Surfing: "Supernatural" Finds Its Lucifer with "Lost" Star, Peregrym Strikes "Copper," ABC's "Lost" to Run 18 Hours Next Season, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Mark Pellegrino (Lost) has been cast in CW's Supernatural next season, where he will play none other than Lucifer himself. Pellegrino, who will recur on Supernatural next season, is expected to first appear on the series' September 10th season premiere. Meanwhile, don't look for him to give up his other role: that of Jacob on ABC's Lost, which he could easily do as well given his recurring status on Supernatural. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Missy Peregrym (Reaper) has been cast as the lead in Canadian police drama Copper, which will air Stateside on ABC. Peregrym will play Andy McNally, "a newly minted cop fresh from the academy and the daughter of a homicide detective" who "is anxious about her first day on the job, which doesn't go as well as she had wished." Series is described as "Grey's Anatomy set in the world of rookie cops." ABC closed a deal to acquire 13 episodes of the series in April. (Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, Lost is getting slightly longer next season. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced via Twitter that the ABC drama will increase to 18 hours for its sixth and final season, including both a two-hour premiere and a two-hour finale. (Twitter)

Producer Craig Piligian (American Chopper) has snagged rights to the life of airplane repo man Nick Popovich, which he plans to develop into an unscripted series that he will shop to cable networks including Discovery Channel or Spike. Popovich travels the globe to repossess airplanes and other huge-ticket items from owners who have defaulted on their regular payments. ""Every case is different," Piligian told Variety. "Maybe it's a small airline in Scandinavia that bought a 747. He has to figure out how to get past airline security and grab the plane. He plans it like a military operation. Sometimes he's in disguise. Often it gets a little hairy." (Variety)

T.J. Ramini (Desperate Housewives) has been cast in Day Eight of FOX's 24, where he will play Tarin Karoush, an associate of the character played by Anil Kapoor. (Hollywood Reporter)

Australian residents will be able to watch the upcoming season of Torchwood, entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth, within a few hours of its broadcast in the UK. UKTV will be airing the five episodes over consecutive nights day-and-date with the BBC One broadcast in the UK beginning Monday, July 6th. Torchwood: Children of Earth will be airing Stateside on BBC America beginning July 20th. (Digital Spy)

NBC has secured the rights to an edited-down one-hour version of Martin Bashir's 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which it will air tonight as part of a Dateline NBC special. (Variety)

Charlie Siskel has been named executive producer/showrunner on Comedy Central's Important Things with Demetri Martin, where he replaces Beth McCarthy-Miller as the series' production relocates from New York to Los Angeles. Additionally, Siskel will serve as executive producer on Showtime's upcoming six-episode Marc Wootton sketch comedy series, which he will produce alongside Wootton (High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman). (Hollywood Reporter)

As you heard here last week, Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer has signed on to direct the FX dramedy pilot Terriers. (Variety)

Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) and director Howard Deutch (My Best Friend's Girl) are teaming to develop dramedy pilot A Town Called Malice, about a former rock star who returns to her hometown with her estranged teen daughter after her husband melts down on stage during a concert and the duo must rebuild their lives together. No network is attached. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Link Tank: TV Blog Coalition Roundup for June 26-28

Televisionary is proud to be a member of the TV Blog Coalition. At the end of each week, we'll feature a roundup of content from our sister sites for your delectation.

This week, I offered an elegy for ABC's canceled The Unusuals and offered advance reviews of FOX's Virtuality, BBC America's Doctor Who: The Next Doctor, NBC's The Philanthropist, the return of ABC's Better Off Ted, and the first four episodes of HBO's Hung.

I also discussed the latest episode of Bravo's Top Chef Masters and news of AMC's latest series order for thriller Rubicon, had several updates on the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International schedule, interviews with Virtuality co-creator Ronald D. Moore and the cast and crew of Torchwood: Children of Earth, and offered new trailers for NBC's upcoming series Community, Trauma, and Parenthood.

Elsewhere in the sophisticated TV-obsessed section of the blogosphere, members of the TV Blog Coalition were discussing the following items...

• With network TV ratings on the decline, Buzz wondered if you — yes, you! — are watching less TV this Summer than usual. (BuzzSugar)
• This week, Sandie interviewed Rutina Wesley who plays Tara on HBO's True Blood. (Daemon's TV)
• Scooter pays tribute to Michael Jackson. (Scooter McGavin's 9th Green)
• Other than So You Think You Can Dance, Vance didn't have much time to watch TV last week because he was out in the park watching Twelfth Night starring Anne Hathaway, Raul Esparza (Pushing Daisies), Audra McDonald (Private Practice), Hamish Linklater (New/Old Christine) and more. (Tapeworthy)
• After this week's episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Sara has the irresistible urge to become BFFs with Kathy and Paula Deen. (TiFaux)
• Eric is so glad that Lafayette is back for season two of True Blood and even happier to find out how he gets out of imprisonment this week. (TV Fanatic)
• This week, the TV Addict took a closer at the CW's unexpected midseason treat, LIFE UNEXPECTED (The TV Addict)

Exit Planet Dust: An Advance Review of FOX's Gripping Two-Hour Event "Virtuality"

"I'm alive/And I'm alone/And I've never wanted to be either of those." - Chemical Brothers

It's rare that a network ever airs a pilot that it doesn't intend to order to series, much less one that has engendered quite so much support from viewers ahead of its broadcast.

And yet that's just what FOX is doing tonight with the gripping and sensational two-hour pilot for sci-fi drama Virtuality, from creators Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor of Battlestar Galactica fame. (You can find an exclusive interview with Michael Taylor here and a write-up of a press call with Ron Moore here.)

Virtuality, gorgeously directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) is a mind-bending, acid-trip exploration of deepest space and the innermost recesses of the human heart. Deftly combining space-set action with reality television, Virtuality seeks to answer some eternal questions about the nature of reality itself. What is real? What's fantasy? And what happens when we're able to smudge the lines between the two?

The crew of interstellar craft Phaeton is toeing that very line. We meet the motley inhabitants of this metal tube as they approach a major turning point on their ten-year journey to a distant star. Via the reality-show-within-a-show Edge of Never that documents their every move, we're told that their journey of exploration to investigate the possibility of life has become a journey of survival as back on Earth, environmental conditions have deteriorated to the point that the planet will be uninhabitable within a century. This news reaches them just as they arrive at the go/no-go point: the last chance they have to reevaluate their course. Will they turn around and come home? Or, armed with this information, will they continue on a ten-year round-trip journey to Epsilon Eridani and back?

In his play "No Exit," Jean-Paul Sartre posited that hell is other people. Imagine then the hell of being trapped on a space ship with just eleven other people for a decade. Fortunately, the crew of the Phaeton has an escape route of sorts, their virtual reality modules which allow them to step outside the mundane drudgery of their existence and experience, well, anything that they can dream up. Some choose to use this for extreme sports, some for relaxation, others as war games, but some discover that they can use these modules to explore their innermost dreams and fears.

Commander Frank Pike (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) uses his module to play Civil War-era war games. That is, when he's not conducting a virtual affair with microbiologist Rika Goddard (Sienna Guillory), who just happens to be married to the reality show producer/psych officer Dr. Roger Fallon (James D'Arcy). Pilot Sue Parsons (Clea Duvall) escapes the darkness of space for the surf or a bike ride down the side of tree-lined mountain road. Wheelchair-bound second-in-command Dr. Jimmy Johnson uses it to experience ice-climbing and, well, walking. Meek computer scientist Billie Kashmiri (Kerry Bishe) is a rock star/Alias-style superspy. Others still use it as means to come to terms with some hard truths, such as Dr. Jules Braun (Erik Jensen) and Alice Thibadeau (Joy Bryant); the modules offer them the facade of being able to change their circumstances, to erase the past and start again, to achieve the things that life prevented them from holding on to.

But all is not well in outer space.

Besides that one of their number--crew physician Dr. Adin Meyer (Omar Metwally)--has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, there's paranoia brewing among the crew that the information they are being fed from mission control may not be totally true. And there are other pressing issues, such as that affecting their precious virtual reality modules. What appears at first to be a computer glitch is wrecking havoc on their virtual lives, introducing a seemingly autonomous and free-willed character (Jimmi Simpson) into these fictional worlds. Even more troubling is that this green-eyed man seems hell-bent on killing them all, going so far as to rape one them during a virtual session.

What follows is both a taut thriller and a philosophical potboiler as the crew debates whether or not to shut down the virtual modules and whether what happens in these fictional realities qualifies as "real." It's a canny means for Moore and Taylor to explore the fragile definitions we have for reality and each of the characters has a motivation for either wanting to believe or not that their virtual lives are just as real as the ones they experience in the so-called waking world.

The questions that Virtuality asks are ones that affect each and every one of us, who filter our perceptions of the reality of our own world through the prism of the endless streams of cable news networks, so-called reality television series, and our own fallibility. Is shooting someone in a video game actually murder? If you sleep with someone other than your spouse in a dream, has an affair been consummated? The answer is that our realities are so malleable that it's hard to separate physical truth from emotional truth.

These would be merely intriguing themes if they weren't brought to life so skillfully by Virtuality's superlative cast, from Coster-Waldau's epiphany-receiving Commander Pike, D'Arcy's arrogant Roger Fallon, and Duvall's embitted Sue Parsons (who herself conceals a secret to unlocking her brusque demeanor) to supporting characters like Jose Pablo Cantillo and Gene Harber's sparring gay couple Manny and Val and Nelson Lee and Joy Bryant's romantic couple Kenji Yamamoto and Alice Thibadeau. Each member of the cast gets an opportunity to shine brightly in the two-hour pilot and a slew of compelling subplots emerges for each of them.

The jaw-dropping and beautiful direction, by Peter Berg, also has to be commended. There's an awe-inducing scene, in which the crew of the Phaeton engages in a slingshot maneuver, that's set to the Chemical Brothers' haunting song "Alive Alone" (featuring vocals by Beth Orton) that needs to be seen to be believed. It rivals--if not tops-- many of the most cinematic sequences in today's feature films and imbues the action with an innate humanity and passion. (Confession: I watched it five times as I was so completely sucked into the beauty of the scene.)

True, Virtuality isn't flawless. There are some niggling points that stick out when watching the pilot, such as why Roger Fallon, the psych officer on an interstellar crew, would also be a producer of a reality television show with a stake in the series' profitability in lieu of a producer who didn't also have to care for the psychological well-being of the crew of a multi-billion dollar mission for survival. Additionally, it still bothers me why the argument between the crew was whether the VR modules needed to be shut down completely or left the way they are (even with murder and rape occurring against the users' will), rather than someone--like computer genius Billie--also exploring a possible on-site software fix in the meantime.

But these are minor complaints when faced with the sheer pleasure of watching something truly innovative and unique unfold on screen. Virtuality's two-hour pilot gives us a glimpse into a series that might have been. What we see through the looking glass then is a gripping series that's not afraid to ask hard questions, to play with our perceptions, and to challenge its characters--and its audience--to take a leap of faith.

The final five minutes or so set up what looked to be a darkly compelling journey of self-discovery and darkly spellbinding drama. Even if this groundbreaking series doesn't continue past this airing, the trip down the rabbit hole--no matter how brief--is definitely worth it. So do yourself a favor and plug into the riveting Virtuality tonight.



Virtuality airs tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on FOX.

Allons-y: Sonic Screwdrivers, Steampunk Robots, and Heartbreak on "Doctor Who: The Next Doctor"

It seems only fitting that the final Doctor Who specials starring David Tennant (who will leave the series at the end of the year) should be airing on BBC America.

There's a sense that the legendary sci-fi series is finally coming home and I think that as the series is so quintessentially British that it only makes sense that it should be airing on the most British of networks, BBC America. The channel is using the first two of the five David Tennant Doctor Who specials as the linchpin for the launch of its HD simulcast channel next month. Said launch will coincide with the US premiere of Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead on July 26th and spin-off Torchwood: Children of Earth the week earlier.

But before all that, there's Doctor Who: The Next Doctor, which aired on BBC One in the UK last Christmas and airs tomorrow night on BBC America. It stars David Tennant as the Doctor, still reeling from the events of the Season Four finale, in which companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) sacrificed her memories in order to save the universe. Alone and shaken, the Doctor arrives in the Victorian era just in time for Christmas... and, when he meets a man claiming to be the Doctor (David Morrissey), catches a possible glimpse at a future incarnation of himself.

Back when Doctor Who: The Next Doctor originally aired in the UK last winter, there were rumors swirling about just who (no pun intended) would be taking over the mantle of the Doctor when David Tennant departs the series. Since then we've learned that Matt Smith will be replacing Tennant as the Doctor but that doesn't diminish the mystery and frisson as the Doctor comes face to face with his possible future self.

(Aside: You can read my spoiler-laden review of Doctor Who: The Next Doctor from January here.)

It's fantastic to witness an on-screen reunion between Tennant and Morrissey, who starred together in the deliciously surreal musical-murder-mystery limited series Blackpool (which aired Stateside as Viva Blackpool). The duo are so well-matched and are both such consummate and brilliant actors that the screen crackles every time they appear in frame together.

While Tennant's Doctor quickly falls back into his old patterns when faced with danger (madcap action, anyone?), Morrissey offers a somber counterpoint to Tennant's more manic Doctor that is absolutely haunting and heartbreaking. There's some nice emotional mirroring going on here as the two men (or is it one?) come to terms with what they've lost and how they process that loss in their hearts.

Likewise, the superb Dervla Kirwan (Law & Order UK) turns in a wrenching performance as the embittered Mercy Hartigan, a woman so driven by rage and vengeance that she bears no relation to her namesake. Her story is proof positive of how we open ourselves up to corruption when we lose sight of our innate humanity. Yet, there's a fantastic twist to Mercy's story that speaks volumes about how the downtrodden can be underestimated time and time again.

While Doctor Who: The Next Doctor is a fairly lightweight and breezy Who installment, there is a kernel of emotional truth lurking beneath the surface as the Doctor comes to terms with his eternal loneliness. The last member of a dead race, he's constantly being left behind by those he chooses to keep as his traveling companions, who inevitably "break [his] heart", whether because they leave because they have to, they meet someone else, or they "just forget" him. It's a touching and bittersweet reminder of Donna's sacrifice, Rose's exile, and Martha's choice to move on.

And, as I said in my original review of Doctor Who: The Next Doctor, the knowledge that the Doctor's heart(s) can break just as easily as our own "is perhaps the beauty of Doctor Who as a series: a reminder that, no matter how far we travel, we cannot ever escape our essential truths, no matter how hard we try."





Doctor Who: The Next Doctor airs Saturday, June 27th at 9 pm ET/PT on BBC America.

Channel Surfing: David Tennant Talks End of "Doctor Who" Run, Jeri Ryan Finds "Leverage," Noah Wylie to Battle Aliens for Spielberg and TNT, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has an absolutely fantastic interview with Doctor Who star David Tennant on the eve of BBC America's airing of last Christmas' Doctor Who special "The Next Doctor." Among the topics of discussion: the end of his run on the legendary British sci-fi series, the truth behind the all-Doctors reunion rumors (false, says Tennant), and what's next for the actor (Poliakoff's Glorious 39), among other things. "I'm all finished," said Tenannt of his run on Doctor Who. "Three or four weeks ago, I filmed my last scene. So it's over. Still a long time to go before they're all broadcast, though, so I'm still clinging on for a bit. But yeah, it's done. It was very emotional, very exciting. We managed to go out with some of the best scripts I had in four years. So it was a real treat." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Jeri Ryan (Shark) has been cast in a recurring role on Season Two of TNT's drama series Leverage, where she will play "Tara, a smart-ass, street-wise con woman whom Sophie (Gina Bellman) calls on for help and who gets sucked into the Leverage family." (Hollywood Reporter)

It's official: Noah Wylie has signed on as the lead in TNT's untitled sci-fi pilot from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Robert Rodat. Project is set in a future where most of humanity has been wiped out by an alien incursion; Wylie will play the leader of a small human resistance force who are attempting to overthrow the occupying aliens. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Privileged star Joanna Garcia has joined the cast of CW's Gossip Girl for a four-episode story arc next season, where she will play Bree Buckley, "an irreverent, slightly evil Miss America-type who hails from a conservative Southern family" who becomes romantically entangled with Chace Crawford's Nate Archibald. Garcia's first appearance on the series is set to air on September 14th. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Flashpoint returns to CBS will new episodes on Friday, July 17th at 9 pm. The network ordered a third season of the Canadian co-production last month. (Futon Critic)

Meanwhile, CBS has teamed up with its affiliate stations to launch a marketing plan tied around the crucial 10 pm timeslot, which has been named Project LENO (that's, ahem, Late prime Enhanced News Opportunity). The network is offering affiliates at 10 pm "tool kit" including "sponsorable broadcast spots, Web banners and radio spots, as well as behind-the-scenes vignettes" and CBS is also offering "an affiliate swap spot to promote the 10 pm hour." (Variety)

NBC announced their fall premiere dates yesterday, with most series--except 30 Rock--launching in the two week period between September 14th and September 26th. The Peacock will roll out its comedies Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community on September 17th (30 Rock, which returns October 15th); The Biggest Loser will launch on September 15th; Heroes returns with a two-hour premiere on September 21st; Trauma kicks off on September 28th; Parenthood and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit debut on September 23rd; Southland and Law & Order will launch on September 25th, followed the next night by Saturday Night Live. (via press release)

BBC Worldwide and WGBH will co-produce a new Emma mini-series starring Atonement's Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, and Jonny Lee Miller and a sequel to Cranford that will star Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Eileen Atkins, Jonathan Pryce, Tim Curry, and Tom Hiddleston, both of which will air stateside on Masterpiece Classic next year. (More info on Cranford 2 can be found here.) Additionally, WGBH has partnerned with BBC on Framed, an adaptation of Frank Cottrell Boyce's children's book, and two-parter Small Island, based on Andrea Levy's novel about an ambitious Jamaican woman (Naomi Harris) in London after WWII. And the PBS affiliate also acquired three BBC productions: a remake of The 39 Steps starring Rupert Penry-Jones and Sharpe's Peril and Sharpe's Challenge, which star Sean Bean. (Variety)

The N will launch thirteen-episode original comedy series The Assistants, about four Hollywood assistants working for a high-profile producer, on July 10th at 8:30 pm. Series was ordered in November 2007 but the cable network hadn't been able to find a spot for the series on the schedule. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Comic-Con Update: Warner Bros. Television Group Announces Panels, Talent For SDCC Next Month

After weeks of anticipation (and speculation), Warner Bros. Television Group has finally announced which series they will be bringing down to San Diego Comic-Con next month.

All of the usual suspects--Chuck, Fringe, Supernatural, Smallville, and The Big Bang Theory--will be in attendance along with new series from the studio including V, Human Target, Past Life, Eastwick, and Vampire Diaries and animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Additionally, Warner Bros. Entertainment (WBE) will once again have a nearly 3,000-square foot, two-story booth right on the convention floor and will naturally be giving away those exclusive and ubiquitous Comic-Con Bags.

The full press release from Warner Bros. Television Group, along with dates, times, and locations (as well as full descriptions) of their panels can be found below.

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION GROUP RETURNS TO COMIC-CON IN 2009 WITH STAR-STUDDED LINEUP
FEATURING A RECORD 11 SHOWS

Stars and Creators of “The Big Bang Theory,”
“Chuck,” “Eastwick,” “Fringe,”
“Human Target,” “Past Life,” “Smallville,” “Supernatural,” “V,”
“The Vampire Diaries” and “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” Descend on
San Diego for Panel Sessions, Media Appearances and Autograph Signings

Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Two-Story,
Nearly 3,000-Square Foot Booth to
Host Signings, Video Game Demos and Numerous Giveaways,
Including the Studio’s Exclusive Comic-Con Bags

BURBANK, Calif. (June 25, 2009) – Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) returns to Comic-Con International: San Diego in 2009 with a star-studded lineup featuring a Studio-record 11 series that will be showcased in panel sessions, screenings, media appearances and autograph signings throughout the convention. For continuing info on the Studio’s plans at Comic-Con, please follow us on Twitter @TheWBdotcom. WBTVG will also be launching a Con-related website at www.TheWB.com/ComicCon, coming in July.

Series and selected stars and creators (*) scheduled to attend include:

• “The Big Bang Theory”: Johnny Galecki (“Roseanne”), Jim Parsons (“Garden State”), Kaley Cuoco (“Charmed”), executive producer Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men”) and more
• “Chuck”: Zachary Levi (upcoming “Alvin and the Chipmunks”), Yvonne Strahovski (upcoming “I Love You Too”), executive producer Josh Schwartz (“Gossip Girl”) and more
• “Eastwick”: Rebecca Romijn (“X-Men”), Lindsay Price (“Lipstick Jungle”), Jaime Ray Newman (“Veronica Mars”) and more
• “Fringe”: Anna Torv (“The Pacific”), Josh Jackson (“Shutter”), John Noble (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”) and more
• “Human Target”: Mark Valley (“Fringe”), Chi McBride (“Pushing Daisies”), Jackie Earle Haley (“Watchmen,” “Nightmare on Elm Street”) and more
• “Past Life”: Kelli Giddish (“Damages”), Nicholas Bishop (“Above the Law”), Ravi Patel (“Scrubs”) and executive producer David Hudgins (“Friday Night Lights”)
• “Smallville”: Erica Durance (“House of the Dead”), Justin Hartley (“Gemini Division”), Cassidy Freeman (“Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee”) and more
• “Supernatural”: Misha Collins (“24”), Jim Beaver (“Deadwood”), executive producer Eric Kripke and more
• “V”: Elizabeth Mitchell (“Lost”), Scott Wolf (“Party of Five”) and executive producers Scott Peters (“The 4400”), Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”) and more
• “The Vampire Diaries”: Ian Somerhalder (“Lost”), Paul Wesley (“Killer Movie), Nina Dobrev (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”), executive producer Kevin Williamson (“Scream”) and more
• “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”: Voice of Batman Diedrich Bader (“Surf’s Up”) and more

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION GROUP CONFIRMED
COMIC-CON PANEL DESCRIPTIONS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009

Special Sneak Peek Pilot Screenings – Comic-Con and Warner Bros. Television proudly present exclusive pilot premiere screenings of some of the most buzzed-about new TV series of the 2009–2010 season – Human Target, The Vampire Diaries and V – as well as an exclusive preview trailer for additional upcoming shows. Ballroom 20

Based upon the popular DC Comics title and starring Mark Valley (Fringe), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), the highly anticipated Human Target is an action-packed thrill ride about a mysterious private contractor who will stop at nothing, even if it literally means becoming a human target, to keep his clients alive. Executive produced by McG (Terminator Salvation), Jonathan Steinberg (Jericho), Brad Kern (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Kevin Hooks (Prison Break) and Peter Johnson (Supernatural), the series is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television. Human Target will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FOX, beginning in January.

Already one of the most talked-about new shows of the upcoming season, V is a thrilling reimagining of the groundbreaking miniseries, starring Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Morris Chestnut (Boyz n the Hood), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Lourdes Benedicto (24), Logan Huffman (America), Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), with Morena Baccarin (Firefly) and Scott Wolf (Party of Five). Scott Peters (The 4400), Jace Hall (The Jace Hall Show), Steve Pearlman (Related) and Jeffrey Bell (Angel) are the executive producers for HDFilms in association with Warner Bros. Television. V will premiere in midseason on ABC.

Writer/producer Kevin Williamson (the Scream movies) is back with The Vampire Diaries, an edgy and romantic new drama in which two vampire brothers – one good, one evil – are at war for the soul of one girl. Based upon the best-selling book series of the same name by L.J. Smith, the show stars Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Paul Wesley (Everwood), Ian Somerhalder (Lost), Steven R. McQueen (Everwood), Katerina Graham (17 Again), Sara Canning (Smallville), Candice Accola (Supernatural), Zach Roerig (Friday Night Lights), Kayla Ewell (Entourage) and Michael Trevino (The Riches). Williamson, Leslie Morgenstein (Gossip Girl) and Bob Levy (Gossip Girl) are the executive producers for Bonanza Productions Inc., Outerbanks Entertainment and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. The Vampire Diaries will air Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT this fall on The CW, premiering September 10.

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009

10-11 am: Batman: The Brave and the Bold Screening and Q&A – Gotham takes over San Diego as Diedrich Bader (Surf's Up), the voice of Batman, returns to Comic-Con alongside executive producer Sam Register (Teen Titans), producer James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), producer and story editor Michael Jelenic (The Batman) and voice director Andrea Romano (Superman Doomsday). Fans can catch the world premiere screening of the upcoming “Mayhem of the Music Meister” episode – featuring the voice of Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as the Music Meister – and enjoy a lively discussion and Q&A with the show’s dynamic creative team. From Warner Bros. Animation, Batman: The Brave and the Bold airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network. Batman: The Brave and the Bold Volume 1 will be released on DVD August 25. Room 6DE.

1-2 pm: The Big Bang Theory Screening and Q&A – Bazinga! Your favorite scientists and girl-next-door are back as The Big Bang Theory returns to Comic-Con with a special screening and a Q&A with the show's creators and stars. Come chat with executive producers Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men) and Bill Prady (Dharma & Greg), as well as series stars Johnny Galecki (Roseanne), Jim Parsons (Garden State), Kaley Cuoco (Charmed), Simon Helberg (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) and Kunal Nayyar (NCIS). From Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television, The Big Bang Theory airs Mondays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season is released on DVD September 15. Ballroom 20.

2:15-3:15 pm: Past Life Pilot Screening and Q&A – Past Life makes its debut at Comic-Con with a screening of the pilot episode and a Q&A with the show's creator and stars. Come talk with executive producer David Hudgins (Friday Night Lights) as well as series stars Kelli Giddish (Damages), Nicholas Bishop (Above the Law) and Ravi Patel (Scrubs) and learn more about this fast-paced emotional thriller in which a gifted psychologist and former detective must work together to unravel mysteries that must be solved in both the past and the present. From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television, Past Life will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT midseason on FOX. Room 6A.

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2009

10-11 am: Chuck Screening and Q&A – Chuck returns to Comic-Con! Join executive producers and co-creators Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) and Chris Fedak, along with series stars Zachary Levi (upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks), Yvonne Strahovski (upcoming I Love You Too), Joshua Gomez (Without a Trace), Ryan McPartlin (Super Capers), Mark Christopher Lawrence (The Pursuit of Happyness), Vik Sahay (This Is Wonderland), Scott Krinsky (The O.C.), Sarah Lancaster (Everwood) and Adam Baldwin (Serenity) for a Q&A to discuss season three and screen an exclusive retrospective highlight reel. Plus, don't miss a special surprise from some of your favorite characters! Produced by College Hill Pictures, Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television, Chuck airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Ballroom 20.

10:15-11:15 am: Eastwick Pilot Screening and Q&A – Be among the first to see the pilot of the highly anticipated series Eastwick. Based on the John Updike novel and the hit film The Witches of Eastwick, this sexy and bold comedic drama centers on three young witches whose powers are awakened when a mysterious man moves to town. Be careful what you wish for – the perfect man truly may be the Devil! Join series stars Rebecca Romijn (X-Men), Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle), Jaime Ray Newman (Veronica Mars) and Paul Gross (Due South), along with creator/executive producer Maggie Friedman (Related) and director/executive producer David Nutter (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as they answer questions from the audience after this exclusive sneak peek. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, Eastwick will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT this fall on the ABC Television Network. Room 6A.

2:45-3:45 pm: V Pilot Screening and Q&A – Already one of the most talked-about new series of the upcoming television season, catch a special screening of the pilot episode of V, a reimagining of the groundbreaking miniseries, followed by a Q&A with stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Morris Chestnut (The Cave), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Morena Baccarin (Firefly) and Scott Wolf (Go), along with executive producers Scott Peters (The 4400), Jeffrey Bell (Alias), Steve Pearlman (Related) and Jace Hall (Chadam). From HDFilms in association with Warner Bros. Television, V will premiere midseason on the ABC Television Network. Ballroom 20.

4-5 pm: Fringe Screening and Q&A – Fringe cast members Anna Torv (upcoming The Pacific), Josh Jackson (Shutter) and John Noble (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) return to Comic-Con along with consulting producers Alex Kurtzman & Robert Orci (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and executive producers Jeff Pinkner (Lost) and J.H. Wyman (Keen Eddie) for a Q&A with fans and an exclusive video presentation. Join the discussion of this critically acclaimed thriller, which explores the ever-blurring line between science fiction and reality, where hybrid monsters tear through sewers, thieves walk through walls and portals open to worlds unknown. From Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, Fringe will air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT this fall on FOX, premiering September 17. Fringe: The Complete First Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray™ Hi Def September 8. Ballroom 20.

4:45-5:45 pm: Human Target Pilot Screening and Q&A – Join Human Target stars Mark Valley (Fringe), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) along with the show's executive producers Jon Steinberg (Jericho), Brad Kern (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Peter Johnson (Supernatural: Origins Comic Book Series) for an exclusive Q&A and a screening of the highly anticipated pilot based on the popular DC Comics title about a mysterious agent for hire who assumes different identities, literally becoming a human target on behalf of his clients. From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television, Human Target will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning in January 2010 on FOX. Room 6BCF.

6-7 pm: The Vampire Diaries Pilot Screening and Q&A – Join The Vampire Diaries stars Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Paul Wesley (Killer Movie) and Ian Somerhalder (Lost), along with executive producer/writer Kevin Williamson (Scream), writer Julie Plec (Kyle XY) and executive producer Bob Levy (Gossip Girl), as the series makes its Comic-Con debut with a screening of the much-talked-about pilot and a Q&A. This edgy and romantic new drama, in which two vampire brothers – one good, one evil – are at war for the soul of one girl, is based upon the best-selling book series of the same name. Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly will moderate. From Bonanza Productions Inc., Outerbanks Entertainment and Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios, The Vampire Diaries will air Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT this fall on The CW, premiering September 10. Room 6BCF.

SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2009

10:30-11:30 am: Smallville Screening and Q&A – Comic-Con favorite Smallville returns, as showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson join cast members including Smallville’s Lois Lane – Erica Durance (House of the Dead) – Justin Hartley (Gemini Division), Cassidy Freeman (Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee) and others (yet to be announced) to talk about the year ahead, answer fan questions and give an exclusive sneak peek at clips from season nine. Award-winning comic book writer, Emmy®-nominated film and television writer/producer, and Smallville alum Jeph Loeb (Heroes) will moderate the session. From Tollin/Robbins Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, Smallville will air Fridays at 8:00 p.m. this fall on The CW, premiering September 25. Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray™ Hi Def August 25. Room 6BCF.

11:45-12:45 pm: Supernatural Screening and Q&A – Join Supernatural stars Misha Collins (24) and Jim Beaver (Deadwood), creator/executive producer Eric Kripke (Boogeyman), and executive producers Ben Edlund (Angel) and Sera Gamble (Eyes) for an exclusive sneak peek at footage from the highly anticipated fifth season premiere of this thrill-ride series. They’ll also answer questions from the audience and show a portion of the special features from the upcoming fourth season DVD release. Produced by Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television, Supernatural airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, premiering September 10. Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray™ Hi-Def September 1. Room 6BCF.

Stay tuned.

Dreamers and Schemers: An Advance Review of the First Four Episodes of HBO's "Hung"

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"

With the economy tanking and pink slips becoming an ubiquitous confetti in cities across America, it's no surprise that many creators are mining the potential death of the American dream for dramatic potential.

Throughout his career, writer/executive producer Dmitry Lipkin has succeeded at showing the dark side of that dream. In his short-lived (albeit much missed) FX series The Riches, Lipkin used a family of Travelers, the ultimate modern society outsiders, as a means for exploring just what materialism and suburban trappings meant to the psychic landscape.

In Hung, the new HBO series Lipkin co-created with Colette Burstein, the subject of the American dream looms large. This time, the focus is on Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane), a down-on-his-luck Michigan basketball coach/high school history teacher whose life is literally falling down around him. Besides for a thankless, underpaid job at his high school alma mater (where he returned after an injury sidelined his pro sports career) , Ray has got a shrew of an ex-wife to deal with (Anne Heche), two sullen teenagers (Charlie Saxton and Sianoa Smit-McPhee), and his lakeside family home catches fire in the middle of the night, leaving the family more or less homeless.

I had the opportunity last week to watch the first four episodes of Hung (the first of which is directed by Alexander Payne) and was struck by the spiral of despair that Ray finds himself in as he circles the drain, a situation that accompanies the realization that his life hasn't amounted to its full potential. It's a path that leads him to first to a self-help seminar overseen by the oily Floyd Gerber (Seinfeld's Steve Hytner) and later into the bed of local poet Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams), a frizzy-haired free spirit with a dream of launching Lyric Bread, a line of baked goods with works of poetry baked right in.

That these two aren't compatible romantically is a given. Ray is a fallen golden boy with an ego as big as his, well, physical endowment; Tanya is a strong-willed modern woman in touch with her sexuality whose dreams remain squarely out of reach. Her idea for Lyric Bread is so cerebral and just plain out of touch with reality but that hasn't stopped Tanya from dreaming big. Just as The Riches found humor and pathos in the workplace setting, here too does Hung, setting daydreamer Tanya as a legal office temp, a drone copyproofing endless contracts in a neverending routine of drudgery.

That these two would decide to form a partnership and set up shop as a prostitute and a pimp is one of the main plot points of Hung's pilot episode, though it takes a while for the duo to come to this conclusion, as obvious as it is to the rest of us. Which is one of the problems with Hung as a whole: the plot twists are so conspicuous that they can be seen a mile down the road.

It's clear from the very start that Ray will have to use his member as his most marketable "tool," and when he shocks the seminar's attendees by stating this fact, I cheered for the painful awkwardness of the situation. But that's the problem: the ensuing scene unfolds strictly within Ray's imagination and not reality, where he spins a yarn about being a vintage car enthusiast. And yet I couldn't help but wonder why Lipkin and Co. didn't go all out and actually have that conversation unfold rather than play it out in Ray's mind. I wanted to see his classmates' reactions, their looks of shock and horror and perhaps amusement. I wanted Ray for once to be honest.

This misstep is one of the series' downfalls. I kept hoping for some pathos-laden humor to rear its head, but Hung plays it safe in more ways than one. Ray is presented as little more than a sad-sack to the point that it's hard to root for him when everything he does (whether setting up a tent in the backyard to urinating in the lake) drags him further down. His journey should be hilarious (in a trainwreck sort of way) but it's often presented extremely matter-of-factly.

Likewise, one can't help but believe, given the series' title and its placement on pay cable, that Hung is going to be extremely provocative but it's actually quite a chaste program as a whole. Given Ray's physical, uh, dimensions and his new line of work, one could imagine that this could push the envelope, even for HBO but the result is fairly tame, even by basic cable standards.

I couldn't help but picture Aaron Eckhart in Thomas Jane's role and wondered just what he would be able to do with this picture of wounded masculinity. Still, Jane brings a quiet power to Ray that's at odds with his bruised and battered ego, a lived-in quality that shows the signs of too many battles with ex-wife Jessica (Heche) and too much worry stemming from his maladjusted kids. As Tanya, Adams gives the poet-turned-temp the wide-eyed glimmer of hope that eternal optimists have even at the worst of times, turning Tanya from a human punching bag (witness her relationship with Rebecca Creskoff's insane Lenore) into the living, breathing embodiment of thwarted potential, making her a kindred spirit with Ray.

Still, despite a slow start and a defined lack of humor, Hung does show some major improvements by the third or fourth episode, where Jane's Ray and Adams' Tanya share some emotional--rather than physical--intimacy (witness Tanya's handling of a missing wallet) and Ray finally embraces his new prozzie gig, seeing the value of Tanya's viral marketing, its female-friendly positioning as Happiness Consultants, and the service he's providing to some sex-starved women. The turning point comes a little too soon as Ray finally fulfills his contract with an older married woman (The Riches' divine Margo Martindale); he's a little too slick, a little too smooth considering his apprehension (and possible psychosomatic reaction to meeting his client in the flesh).

That said, there's still a sweetness to the moment where Ray realizes that these women--average housewives that they are--may be just as disenchanted as he is. Despite having wealth and privilege, they are just as discontented with how their lives turned out as Ray is and perhaps he is giving them more than just sex. Perhaps he's giving them a dream.





Hung premieres Sunday evening at 10 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Offal Hard: Chefs Stomach Street Food on "Top Chef Masters"

Was it just me or was last night's episode of Top Chef Masters ("Offal Tasty") the series' very best yet?

In every sense, last night's installment was the closest we've gotten to approximating the tension, drama, and conflict that's evident in every single minute of Top Chef itself. Helping matters in this direction was the flawless casting in this episode, which saw four vastly different master chefs--Frontera Grill's Rick Bayless, Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards Grill, Pikayo's Wilo Benet, and Ludo Bites' Ludovic Lefebvre--tangle in the kitchen.

The clash of larger-than-life personalities added a spark that was somewhat missing from last week's Lost-themed episode, which was a more somber affair. Here, there was the arrogance of Rick Bayless, the fanatical passion of Ludovic Lefebvre, the quiet precision of Wilo Benet, and the humility of the graceful Cindy Pawlcyn. In order words: amazing casting that added a fire to the competition.

I'll admit that I was rooting for Cindy Pawlcyn to win. I'm a huge fan of Cindy's cooking and a frequent visitor to her restaurant Mustards in Napa Valley. (In fact, I was just there last week for the restaurant's 26th birthday.) She's known for big flavors, fantastic ingredients, and food so good you have to restrain yourself from licking the plate.

Quickfire Challenge. I loved that last night's Quickfire had the master chefs preparing color-based dishes... which were then judged by some food stylists and photographers, people who know not only how food should taste but also how it should appear, presentation-wise. Color-based cooking is no easy feat. Most dishes succeed because they offer a combination of flavors, textures, and colors. An all-red dish then doesn't excite so much as it steamrolls you with crimson. Still, I have to say that I thought the chefs did extremely well under the severe time constraints, though Ludo seemed to be cracking under the pressure just a little bit.

Cindy offered up a sunshine-hued dish of sweet corn and cheese grits topped with a yellow vegetable curry and fried corn tortillas that offered a study in textures and flavors. Ludo's dish--steak tartare with watermelon, red onion, and red beet gazpacho--was ruined not by the lack of the tomatoes but rather by the late addition of that ghastly blood-colored gazpacho over the tartare; the effect looked like a duck had been ex-sanguinated over the dish. Wilo accidentally left the ring mold on his smoked salmon tartare with coconut milk, brunoise of carrots, and tomato paste, but the diners seemed to love it once they removed the silver ring. Rick Bayless' verdant roasted vegetables, mole verde with tomatillos, green chilies, and pumpkin seeds were hands down the favorite dish of the judges, offering a subtlety and panache that seemed to be lacking in the other dishes.

While Wilo walked away with the top spot (despite the ring mold fiasco), it's no surprise that Bayless did as well as he did. However, green might have been the easiest color to work with, offering Bayless a slew of vegetables to choose from and an association with crispness and freshness. Far more difficult were some of the other colors to work with, but still a pretty impressive display of skills and techniques all around.

Elimination Challenge. If the chefs thought they could rest on their laurels from the Quickfire, they were dead wrong as the elimination challenge, I thought, was one of the toughest on the series so far. The four chefs would draw knives to determine their offal-based proteins, which would then be transformed into street food which the chefs would sell to tourists at Universal City. Ouch.

I consider myself a major foodie but the thought of offal often turns my stomach. (No pun intended.) That said, I would have eaten any of the remarkable dishes that these talented chefs turned out in this episode. Offal is a tough sell for most diners, let alone tourists at Universal City, so I think that all four of them did an incredible job masking some of the, uh, more forward flavors of the offal and creating dishes that satisfied and tantalized with equal measure.

Cindy cooked up a hot and spicy menudo with tripe and lime that the judges felt played it a bit too safe, offering an underseasoned soup that lacked the heat and passion of Pawlcyn's well-known dishes. (Damn.) Ludo was all over the place once again, delaying the serving of his dish due to the fact that he wanted it piping hot; he offered a pig's ear quesadilla with chorizo pinto bean puree, lime aioli, and smoked paprika. I thought Ludo did a damn fine job, considering that pig's ear is a tough ingredient, probably the toughest of the offal they had to work with this week. He smartly cooked the ear in a court-bouillion, though I'm not sure I would have combined said ear with the stringy cheese. Still, Ludo was very canny about the delivery system for the pig's ear, creating a dish that pleased the customers more than it did the judges, it seemed.

Rick drew the knife for tongue, an ingredient he was thoroughly familiar with, and created chorizo, bacon, and tongue tacos with tomatillo guacamole and pickled onions. The judges raved about the taco, declaring it a superb mouthful that gleefully combined flavors and textures and drew some acid from the guacamole and onions in order to cut through the fat. Wilo adapted the traditional tripleta into a beef heart, ham, and chicken tripleta in a pita pocket with a spicy mayonnaise sauce that won over the judges and he was extremely crafty about substituting the pita for the more traditional baguette; it offered a cup-like shape that held up well to the onslaught of ingredients.

I knew that Bayless would walk away the ultimate winner here, as much as I would have liked to have seen one of the other chefs make it onto the champion round instead. Still, both challenges played to Bayless' strengths and he was able to infuse both dishes with his trademark Mexican flavors and spice.

What did you think of this week's episode? Would you have eaten these dishes knowing that they contained what they did? Did you change your opinion about offal as a result? And who do you think should have won this week's elimination challenge? Discuss.

In two weeks on Top Chef Masters ("Magic Chefs"), the next four chefs find themselves manually challenged when they must cook an egg with one hand tied behind their backs; a magical-themed Elimination Challenge sees Neil Patrick Harris presiding as guest judge.