Second Take: ABC's "FlashForward"

Remember yesterday how I mentioned that second episodes are the true test of a series and how they can be a better gauge of an ongoing series' strengths and weaknesses than than the pilot?

I went into last night's episode of FlashForward ("White to Play"), written by David S. Goyer and Marc Guggenheim and directed by David S. Goyer, really wanting to like the series, despite some reservations I had about the pilot episode (which I reviewed here) and some of the narrative and casting choices. But I always go into a second episode with an open mind as it offers the writers an opportunity to tweak some issues than may not have worked as well as possible in the series opener.

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed.

I'm not jumping off the FlashForward train just yet but I continue to have some serious issues with the series and last night's installment did little to quell these feelings.

For one, I'm still not engaged at all with Joseph Fiennes' Mark Benford. There's an iciness to Fiennes' performance that's hard to get past and I'm not really feeling much warmth or charisma emanating from him. Which is a shame as Benford is nominally the lead character in an ensemble cast but for two episodes now he's the least interesting element of the story. (I'm far more captivated by Christine Woods' Janis Hawk and during commercial breaks half-imagined what the series would be if she were our entry-point to the action.)

Second, I was nearly ripping out my hair from the extraneous exposition and constant flashbacks to last week's episode. Yes, I understand that this is the second episode and the network wants to make sure everyone is aware of every little nuance but to repeatedly show us what we saw only a week ago had little subtlety or finesse. Instead, it served to frustrate me beyond belief that the network views its audience as simpletons who need to be told exactly what's going on at every second. I hated it when Fringe did this for the majority of its first season and I hate it when FlashForward does it here. Given that ABC has shown the pilot episode twice already and promoted the hell out it (and it's available for streaming and download in several locations), I think we can dispense with the constant reminders of what happened last week and focus on this week's plots, okay?

There's an odd tonal inconsistency to FlashForward that's off-putting to say the least. Given the grimness of its overarching cataclysmic plot, it's beyond strange to me to see the action go off the rails with gross-out humor. It was bad enough in the pilot episode with Wedeck's bathroom-set flash-forward but to see that play out here and have it escalate with a urine-soaked mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was jumping over a line that didn't need to be crossed. And then there was the over the top scene of person of interest D. Gibbons, her cupcakes, and her bizarre phone conversation, which culminated in her semi-comically shoving a cupcake into her gob. Yes, there's a place for some humor to lighten the tone but when it comes out of left-field and is so broad, it's completely disconcerting and out of place.

There's still some clunkiness to some of the dialogue and the plotting. It was completely predictable that the female Sheriff Benford and Noh encounter in Pigeon, Utah would wind up dead within the hour after she tells Noh that, like him, she saw nothing in her flash-forward. (Dun dun dun.) Though I was weirded out that Noh said that she told him this "five minutes" before she was killed, even though that scene took place during the day and her murder--at the hands of the faux D. Gibbons--took place at night. Strange. And would D. Gibbons really have gone to the trouble of not only rigging the toy factory with a huge quantity of explosives but also rigging the dolls to sing "Ring Around the Rosie" when the motion sensors were activated? Really? Besides for a need to protect his work--and the fact that he was awake during the mass blackout--this mystery man also has a need to creep out potential intruders as well?

Once again, questions of fate versus free will come into play. Benford burns Charlie's friendship bracelet after he's questioned by Noh about whether he wants the future to happen... but it seems fairly obvious that Charlie will just make him another. I am, however, more intrigued by Olivia's dilemma after she comes face-to-face with Lloyd Simcoe, the man in her vision with whom she appeared to be in a romantic relationship in the future. Sonya Walger nails the combination of curiosity and fear that Olivia would be experiencing but her attempts to see if daughter Charlie recognizes Lloyd backfire somewhat, though it's clear that Charlie does know Lloyd's injured son Dylan.

As I said before, I'm not giving up on FlashForward just yet but this episode didn't reel me in either. I'll be curious to see whether next week's episode shows any signs of improvement but if the series keeps on doing what it's doing, it doesn't take a flash-forward to see that I'll be losing interest rather quickly.

Next week on FlashForward ("137 Sekunden"), Mark and Janis travel to Germany to speak with an imprisoned Nazi who claims to have knowledge about the blackouts, and an anonymous tip leads Demetri to believe his deepest fears about his future; Aaron pleads with Mark to help him get the approval to have his daughter's body exhumed in order to re-test her DNA and confirm the identity of the remains.

Channel Surfing: NBC Slices "Day One" to Four Episodes, James Franco Checks into "General Hospital," NBC Lands J.J. Abrams Spy Drama, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

NBC has announced that it has decided to slash the episodic order for its midseason sci-fi drama Day One to just four episodes, scheduling the series as a four-hour event mini-series rather than a thirteen-episode season. It's believed to be a cost-cutting measure as the decision will allow NBC to evaluate the mini-series' performance and ratings before committing to an ongoing series. News comes as Day One, which is slated to launch after the Olympics, has already shot two episodes and creator Jesse Alexander is said to be prepping the final two installments, which will wrap up storylines as well as leave some plot points intentionally dangling for a potential series order the following season. (Variety)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin is reporting that James Franco is set to the join the cast of ABC daytime soap General Hospital for two months. (Yes, seriously.) He'll appear in a multiple-episode story arc beginning with the November 20th episode that finds Franco portraying a mysterious new character who arrives in Port Charles and gets entangled with thug Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). According to sources, Franco took the gig because he "wants to do everything" in his career and, according to SoapNet, approached the series' producers about a role. He'll appear for work one day a week, when he will shoot several episodes for General Hospital at a time. "We are thrilled to announce that James Franco will play an integral part in a lengthy run on General Hospital this fall," General Hospital executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. "It's an honor that an actor of James' caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time in Port Charles." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin, SoapNet)

NBC has won the bidding war for the untitled J.J. Abrams-executive produced spy thriller after outbidding rivals ABC and CBS. Pilot script, about two spies who are married, was written by Abrams and Josh Reims and will be produced by Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot. (Variety)

Despite earlier denials, Comcast has announced that it is in talks with General Electric to form a new joint venture that would encapsulate NBC Universal. The new venture would be controlled by Comcast with a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal and would be overseen by Comcast, who plan to merge their cable holdings--including E!, Style, G4, Golf Channel, etc.--into the venture. Deal requires that Vivendi give up its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Comedy fans rejoice: HBO has come on board to co-produce Chris Lilley's newest series, Angry Boys, an exploration of what it is like to be a man in the 21st century. As in Lilley's other series Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes, he will portray multiple roles as well as write the scripts for the twelve episode mockumentary-based comedy series. "There will be new characters and lots of surprises for the audience, and I'm really excited about having a longer-running series to work with," said Lilley. (Editor: I'm already anxious as I am obsessed with Summer Heights High.) Production on the series begins later this month in Australia. (Variety)

Showtime is developing single-camera comedy pilot Mouthpiece, from Fox Television Studios and writer/executive producer Carol Liefer (Seinfeld). Project, which would star Marlee Matlin and Mario Cantone, is set at a high-powered law firm. Elsewhere, Liefer has set up You and Me and He, a multi-camera comedy project at CBS about a recently divorced woman who enters a same-sex relationship only to discover that she is pregnant with her ex-husband's child. That project, which has a script commitment, hails from Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has given a script order to drama Midnighters, based on Alloy Entertainment's novel series about a group of people, each born at midnight, who have the ability to access the 25th hour of the day in order to fight crime. Project, from Warner Bros. Television and Ally, will be written by Chad Hodge (Runaway), who will executive produce with Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Nick Chinlund (Desperate Housewives) has been cast in CBS' The Mentalist as the father of Simon Baker's Patrick Jane. Chinlund's first appearance on the series is set for November 12th, when he will first appear "in a series of circa '80s flashbacks that promise to shed light on Jane's early days as a carnie freak." The younger Jane will be played by Chris Brochu in the flashbacks, which will recount Jane's days as a circus psychic. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Josh Lawson (Chandon Pictures) has been cast opposite Alyssa Milano and Kyle Bornheimer in ABC's midseason comedy Romantically Challenged, where he replaces Eric Christian Olsen who played the role in the original pilot episode. Elsewhere at ABC, Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell) has joined the cast of drama series FlashForward, where he will play the nemesis to Joseph Fiennes' Mark Benford. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comedy Central has ordered a pilot for comedy Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down, based on the 2006 indie film about the romantic adventures of a group of urban twenty-somethings. Luke Greenfield is attached to direct. (Hollywood Reporter)

Filming of the octoplets on TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 has been shut down following the filing of a cease-and-desist order by Jon Gosselin. In a statement, the cabler said that production would remain on hold "pending further conversations" between the Gosselins, though they were quick to point out that filming of persons other than the eight children would continue. The filing comes on the heels of the announcement that the reality series would be relaunched as Kate Plus Eight and that Jon Gosselin's participation would be curtailed. (Variety)

FOX and 20th Century Fox Television have extended options on the cast of single-camera comedy pilot The Station, which will remain in contention for a series order while producers tweak the pilot. Series, from executive producer Ben Stiller, follows a group of CIA operatives, including Justin Bartha, John Goodman and Whitney Cummings, working in Central America on a mission to install a new dictator. Elsewhere, CBS and ABC Studios have again extended the options on the cast of drama pilot House Rules, including Zoe McLellan, Eion Bailey, Kristin Bauer, Tawny Cypress, Anna Chlumsky, and Denzel Whitaker. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK digital network Living has acquired the rights to ABC comedy series Cougar Town, which it will launch next year. (Broadcast)

FOX has acquired the US rights to UK game show The Cube, in which contestants have to complete a number of physical challenges in a set period of time. If the concept sounds familiar, it's because NBC recently announced its own reality competition series, Perfect 10, which features more or mess the same premise. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Expansion and Contraction: An Advance Review of Syfy's "Stargate Universe"

Confession: I've never watched Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis, other than a few episodes here or there.

So it wasn't with any real familiarity with the Stargate, er, universe (other than vague reminiscences of the Kurt Russell/James Spader feature film) that I watched the gloomy three-hour series premiere of Stargate Universe, the newest iteration in the fifteen-year-old franchise which seems hell-bent on being as broadly accessible to the mainstream population as possible.

Taking some visual clues from the darker Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Universe tells the story of a disparate band of survivors who are thrust through one of the titular gateways and discover themselves trapped on an ancient spaceship on a course to some distant location among the stars. While searching for a way home (said ship is on a one-way course that can't be changed), they must band together to find a way to survive and create a new home for themselves under some remarkable and unexpected circumstances.

If that sounds a bit like the original logline for ABC's Lost, you'd be correct. There's definitely the sense that the series' creators, Robert Cooper and Brad Wright, were looking to imbue this series with the feeling of Lost in space. There's the group of strangers thrust together, several life-threatening situations (they must quickly find a way to fix the air system aboard the Ancient vessel), and a good deal of death straight off the bat. And, yes, it does recall the situation at the very start of Syfy (or Sci Fi as it was known back then) series Battlestar Galactica. Like BSG, Stargate Universe is a series with a dark color palette and a ship that's filled with shadows and sharp angles.

But the similarities really end there. Battlestar Galactica used the genre to make clear political statements about everything from terrorism, genocide, war crimes, identity, gender, sexuality, and the occupation of Iraq, holding up a dark mirror to our own society and offering some gripping metaphors for the issues we face today. The series also featured some memorably flawed and original characters who were immediately recognizable as more than just stereotypical ciphers.

The same, sadly, can't be said for Stargate Universe. Or at least, its opening installments anyway. For the most part, the survivors of the nebulous attack on the Icarus base who find themselves aboard the spaceship are rather one-dimensional. Even after three hours, it's hard to have any real sense of the characters in terms of anything deeper than: hero, hotshot, or hottie. The third hour, which airs on October 9th, attempts to graft a backstory onto the action for Brian J. Smith's Matthew Scott but the result is a bit of a muddled attempt to introduce religion into the mix as well as offer a seemingly divine solution to their current plight. The rest of the characters don't even have the benefit of this ham-fisted backstory; after three hours, I don't yet even have a grasp of their names or purposes, much less any defining characteristics.

Note that I said "for the most part" earlier. Robert Carlyle turns in a gripping performance as the enigmatic Dr. Nicholas Rush, an expert in all things Ancient who seems to have a shadowy agenda that's vastly different than the rest of the group. He's imperious, cutthroat, and seems to stand apart from the fray while calculating just how expendable each of them is. In a series that's attempting to be gritty, he's the one character that lives up to those efforts, a complex puzzle of a man, haunted by his past and willing to make the unpopular choices that no one else dare make.

Meanwhile, David Blue is perfectly cast as computer geek Eli Wallace, a civilian drafted into this mission after he correctly solves an otherworldly mathematical proof that unlocks the stargate's mythic ninth chevron. As Eli, Blue brings some levity to the situation and is clearly set up as the audience's entry point to the action and the franchise as a whole.

But the duo are the notable exceptions rather than the rule on the series. Not helping matters is some flat dialogue and a bizarre decision on the part of the writers to enable the survivors to communicate with Earth by having some out-of-body experiences that allow them to control people back on Earth via some Ancient technology. It's a bit of an easy way out in my opinion and seems there for the sole purpose of allowing some familiar faces in the Stargate franchise to interact with the survivors and shift some of the action out of space and back to the more relatable planet Earth.

Ultimately, Stargate Universe is gloomy without being truly gritty; rather than being hard-hitting, it looks to eject some of the campy, humor-based tone of its predecessors and instead infuse it with some faux seriousness. Fans of the franchise might just lap this up but for someone who's always been a bit wary of the Stargate franchise, I find myself less than captivated with the initial blast-off into space.



Stargate Universe kicks off on Friday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on Syfy.

Second Take: ABC's "Modern Family"

Second episodes of new series are always tricky.

While the pilot gives both the network and viewers an idea of what the series will be encapsulated into a single episode, second installments are often hit-or-miss as they represent the everyday norm of the series: they're produced on smaller budgets with less time to write scripts, rehearse, and shoot. So when they work just as well as the pilot, there's a sense of relief for all parties involved.

Last night's episode of ABC's hilarious and heartfelt comedy Modern Family ("The Bicycle Thief"), written by Bill Wrubel and directed by Jason Winer, didn't stray into the pitfalls of the second episode curse, instead delivering an episode that was overflowing with humor and heart and serviced the characters in beautifully touching ways.

Given my feverish love for this series, I was curious to see just how the second episode would affect me and I'm happy to report that I am just as completely enamored of Modern Family after seeing the second installment as I was after watching the pilot, oh, about ten times. (It's worth noting, however, that "The Bicycle Thief" wasn't intended to be the second episode of the season. I'm not sure when we'll see the original second installment, entitled "Coal Digger," down the line.)

This week's episode once again juggled several storylines at the same time, with Jay attempting to spend time with step-son Manny as he talks about his Superman-like dad, Cameron and Mitchell taking Lily to a play group and attempting to fit in, and Phil attempting to teach Luke a lesson about bicycle ownership.

First off, I have to heap praise onto Ty Burrell. His Phil could be a stereotypical "cool" dad type but Burrell imbues him with just enough self-awareness to make him beautifully realistic and never strays too far into cartoon territory. Here, Phil finds himself captivated by a gorgeous new neighbor (much to the dislike of Claire) and learns a valuable lesson about not letting your eyes or bicycle wander. (The entire thievery lesson was hilarious and recalled George's life lessons on Arrested Development, albeit without the use of a one-armed man.) The way that Phil attempted to get one over on Luke came back to haunt him in several, hysterical ways, not least of which was when he had to grovel to the store clerk for insurance, run away from some vengeful youths, or explain to Claire just what he was doing in his beautiful neighbor's bedroom... or why he lied about it in the first place.

Once again, the brilliant Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson manage to steal the show, with a storyline in which they attempt to fit in with the straight parents in Lily's new playgroup by toning down their flamboyance. (Or, okay, with Cam dialing down his dramatic personality.) The look of genuine fear on Mitchell's face as he realizes that Lilly isn't "grabbing and scooting" added a layer of additional poignancy to this lovingly crafted series as it perfectly captured that abject terror or parental anxiety. Contrasting Mitchell's panic was Cameron's gleeful and jubilant dance at the end of the episode when he let go of his "straight dad" facade and became himself again, dancing with joy and showing us all how he makes his horsey go.

Fatherhood in its many incarnations was the underlying theme of the episode and the most emotional moment came between Ed O'Neill's Jay and Rico Rodriguez's Manny. After exchanging some heated words after their Gloria-enforced quality time went awry, Jay learns that Manny's father isn't turning up to take him to Disneyland but can't tear himself away from the craps table. Knowing that Manny will be gutted, given his undying love for his allegedly mythical and heroic father, Jay tells him that he won't be coming but does the noble thing: he pretends that Manny's father sent a limo for them and that, rather than going to Napa with Gloria, they all head to Disneyland together. It's a selfless act of paternal love that proves more than anything that, despite their differences, Jay does love Manny and will protect him, even from finding out that his father is a deadbeat. If that isn't a testament of love I don't know what is.

Best line of the evening: "I just stole a baby's intellectual property." - Mitchell

All in all, a beautifully realized episode of the best new series on television that continues to mine the rich tapestry of familial life for both laughs and genuine moments of emotion. As Phil might say, Modern Family, I tip my cap to you.

What did you think of this week's episode of Modern Family? Did it live up to your expectations from the pilot? And how soon will it be before ABC gives us what we want and picks up the back nine? Discuss.

Next week on Modern Family ("Come Fly with Me"), Jay reluctantly takes son-in-law Phil out to fly his new model airplane -- that is until a maneuver goes awry; Gloria volunteers to take Alex dress shopping; Claire has an unexpected heart-to-heart with step-brother Manny.

Strangers with Candy (and Booze): Kristin Chenoweth Belts It Out on "Glee"

Can Kristin Chenoweth be on Glee every week? Pretty please?

Last night's episode of Glee ("The Rhodes Not Taken"), written by Ian Brennan and directed by John Scott, saw the diminutive former Pushing Daisies star guest star as former high school singing sensation April Rhodes, a woman now reduced to squatting in a bank-owned home and working her way through a box of wine on her lonesome.

Three credits shy of graduating high school, the boozy and flirtatious April is lured back into the spotlight of McKinley High glee club by a desperate Will, who needs to replace Rachel now that she's skipped out on the club to focus on stardom with a leading role in a Cabaret production. But Finn has his own plot to get Rachel back in glee, though he has some less than altruistic motivations for doing so.

Still with me?

I thought that Chenoweth knocked it out of the park last night and fit in beautifully with the quirkiness of Glee. Was it a little unbelievable that the, uh, slightly older April would be willing and able to return to high school just so that Will could find a star-quality singer to propel the club to regionals? You betcha. But that was also part of the loopy charm of the episode itself, calling to mind Comedy Central's Amy Sedaris-led series Strangers With Candy, yet Chenoweth made the episode all her own by dint of her own magnificent voice and star wattage.

The sequence where she managed to win over each of the members of New Directions, from plying Kurt with box-grade Chablis and vintage muscle magazines, instructing Mercedes and Tina in the art of shoplifting, and, uh, seducing Puck was absolutely hysterical (as was her introduction to a speechless Will) but Chenoweth more than proved her singing chops with some show-stopping numbers that made me wish that she'd stick around for longer.

Likewise, I wish that the bowling alley bar duet between Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison on Heart's "Alone" would have gone on longer as it was so fantastic yet all too brief. "Alone" is a tricky song to pull off and make it your own yet Chenoweth did just that. (I'm hoping that somewhere there's a full-length version of Chenoweth and Morrison's song.)

But there was also a hell of a lot of other amazing music in this episode, from Lea Michele and Chenoweth's stunning "Maybe This Time," to the gang on Carrie Underwood's "Last Name," and the poignant and soul-stirring take on Queen's "Somebody to Love."

While the episode didn't quite tug on the same heartstring's as last week's gorgeously produced Kurt-centric episode, "The Rhodes Not Taken" was more than enjoyable, offering as it did some further developments between Finn and Rachel, a new tangle in the Will-Teri-Emma love triangle, and some powerful musical numbers. I'm not sure what ever happened to Figgis' insistence that the club only sing from a list of pre-approved tracks (anyone care to fill me in on that dangling plot thread?) and I didn't totally buy Rachel backtracking back to glee after she was given total creative control over Cabaret by Sue.

But these are minor quibbles when faced with the awe-inspiring talents of Lady Cheno and the kids, especially when the latter aren't electronically enhanced (as they seemed to be in the rehearsal scene at the start of the episode). I think the series works best when these musical numbers are elaborate fantasy-based set pieces ("Maybe This Time") or stage-set numbers (as in "Somebody to Love") rather than in the rehearsal process. But it's the former that the most imaginative and revealing. After all, what high schooler hasn't lived their life to a secret inner soundtrack? By erasing the line between reality and fantasy, these inner monologues reveal a great deal about the singer and the song. And at the end of the day, is that not what Glee is all about?

Missed last night's episode or just want to watch it again? Worry not, as you can watch "The Rhodes Not Taken" in full right below.



Next week on Glee ("Vitamin D"), Will challenges the kids to a healthy dose of competition with boys against girls in a mashup showdown; Terri takes a job as the school nurse, despite having no medical experience, to keep an eye on Will; Ken makes Emma a life-changing offer.

Channel Surfing: J.J. Abrams Back in Spy Game, Aylesworth Briefed for "Damages," FX Orders "Terriers," "Lights Out" to Series, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that J.J. Abrams is returning to the spy business with a new potential series project with writer/executive producer Josh Reims (Felicity, Dirty Sexy Money) and executive producer Bryan Burk that is the subject of a heated bidding war with several broadcast networks including ABC, NBC, and CBS. The untitled project, from Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot, follows a husband and wife who work as spies. According to Adalian, the script is described as a "fun romp" in the style of classic television spy adventures. (The Wrap)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Reiko Aylesworth (24, Lost) has been cast in Season Three of FX's legal drama Damages in a recurring role. Details about who Aylesworth--who starred in the original pilot for ABC drama series The Forgotten--will be playing are being kept firmly under wraps. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FX has given series orders to dramas Lights Out and Terriers, ordering thirteen episodes of each series. Fox21's Terriers, which stars Donal Logue as a former cop who launches an unlicensed private eye firm with his best friend (Michael Raymond-James), is set to debut in Summer 2010. It was created and will be executive produced by Ted Griffin and Shawn Ryan. Lights Out, from Fox Television Studios and FX Prods., stars Holt McCalleny as a former boxing champ who tries to support his wife and children. Series, from creator Justin Zackham, executive producer/showrunner Warren Leight, and executive producers Phillip Noyce and Ross Fineman, will launch in late 2010. That series will undergo some casting changes from the pilot episode, which had been tweaked by Leight. (Hollywood Reporter)

Rumors swirled yesterday that Comcast was in talks to acquire part or all of NBC Universal for $35 billion, but Comcast was quick to shoot down a report on The Wrap, saying that it was "inaccurate." (Editor: not untrue but inaccurate. Hmmm.) What is clear, however, is that the two companies are in talks of some kind as the deadline looms in the next few months for former Universal owner Vivendi to decide what to do with its remaining 20 percent ownership stake in the company, said to be in the neighborhood of $4 billion. Stay tuned on this one. (Broadcasting & Cable, Variety)

USA has given a cast-contingent pilot order to legal drama Facing Kate about a divorced lawyer in San Francisco who leaves her job as an attorney to become a mediator. Project, from Universal Cable Prods., is written by Michael Sardo, who will executive produce with Steve Stark and Russ Buchholz. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Megan Masters speaks with Modern Family star Ty Burrell about what's coming up on the ABC comedy series, including this little doozy: "Jay likes to fly model airplanes, so Phil goes out to fly [them] with him, and Jay gets fed up with Phil yacking on, so that goes sour." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Bravo is developing three new series around some of its most memorable stars, including Real Housewives' Bethenny Frankel, Project Runway's Christian Siriano, and Top Chef's Fabio Viviani. Frankel's as-yet-untitled series, from Shed Media, will follow her as she looks for love and grows her business as a natural foods chef. Siriano's series will follow the flamboyant designer as he opens a shop and promotes his clothing line. Viviani will star in Fabio: A Catered Affair, which will follow him and his business parter Jacopo Falleni as they look to "expand their restaurant and catering business in Los Angeles." The latter two projects hail from Magical Elves. (Variety)

Guest stars aplenty for ABC's Ugly Betty. E! Online's Megan Masters is reporting that Christie Brinkley will join the cast of the dramedy this season as rival fashion editrix Penelope Graybridge while Shakira will guest star as herself in a November episode of Ugly Betty that finds the Mode staffers overseeing a photo shoot in the Bahamas. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC Family has given pilot orders to two comedies. The first, an untitled multi-camera comedy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, will see the duo play a "a political dynasty wild child-turned-politician who takes in her teenage niece and pre-adolescent nephew when her sister goes to prison and her brother-in-law flees. She turns for help to Jack (Lawrence), who, desperate for a job, moves in and becomes the family's "manny.'" (Whew.) That project is from writers Bob Young and David Kendall, who will executive produce with Melissa Joan Hart, Paula Hart, and Joey Lawrence. The second greenlight went to an untitled single-camera comedy from writer/executive producer Michael Jacobs about a father who gets laid off from his architecture firm who "begins to mentor his underdog middle daughter, while his veterinarian wife shares a closer bond with their Type A older daughter." (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS Studios International has closed deals to bring several of its new series to the UK, with rights deals in place for NCIS: Los Angeles at Sky1 and The Good Wife and Accidentally on Purpose at Channel 4. Sky1 will launch NCIS: Los Angeles on October 21st while The Good Wife will bow on on More4 and Accidentally on Purpose on E4. (Broadcast, Variety)

R.J. Cutler's reality single Actual Reality has signed a co-production deal with Evolution Media under which Evolution will co-produce the nonscripted projects that the company has at MTV, Bravo, TruTV, and Sony Pictures Television and will have a first-look option at any new projects that Actual Reality develops. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Battle Royale: Jeff Versus Ryan on "Flipping Out"

It had to happen, really.

The tension between Jeff Lewis and sometimes business partner Ryan Brown has been building all season long and things got more than a little heated on last night's episode of Bravo's addictive reality series Flipping Out ("Irreconcilable Differences"), in which Jeff confronted Ryan about his allegedly "shady" business dealings.

The confrontation, which went down in the final minutes of the episode, followed an hour where Jeff pulled some rather telling passive-aggressive maneuvers towards Ryan, disregarding his father's advice to cut the cord between the two but also not quite giving Ryan the opportunity to defend himself against Jeff's silent accusations.

Who is at fault? It's really difficult say. Obviously, Flipping Out follows Jeff Lewis around on a daily basis and not Ryan Brown, so it's easy to side with Jeff because it's his perspective that we're seeing here. But let's look at the supposed evidence.

So far, the most damning pieces of evidence against Ryan are those sponsored links to Brown Design on Google. Regardless of whether Ryan can say that he's just being a "smart businessman," there's something underhanded about sponsoring links to your design firm to pop up when people are searching for Jeff Lewis.

Is it smart? Sure, it's diabolically clever but it's also toeing a very narrow ethical line between acceptable and shady behavior because it's quite possibly--or probably--taking business away from Jeff. Ryan claimed that he doesn't say that it's not Jeff Lewis' office that callers have reached because it isn't. But people searching for Jeff Lewis who stumble onto the Brown Design site might call thinking the calls would get to Jeff. Or, assume so anyway, just as Ryan assumes that he needn't ask people who they are looking for.

And then there's Santa Barbara. Ryan is debating whether or not to move north and open up a second office as he's flooded with business from Santa Barbara, a fact that has Jeff very suspicious, coming on the heels as it does of the magazine layout featuring Jeff's house at Valley Oak... which contains barely any mention of Jeff's role in the design of the place.

The confrontation itself was painful to watch. Jeff might talk a big talk about being tough as nails but the guy is sensitive underneath his hard exterior and it was clear to see just how much hurt and anguish he was experiencing bringing up these difficult topics. Old wounds hurt the most, after all.

It's impossible to say right now who is telling the truth. Ryan makes a point about Jeff cutting him out of his life altogether if he doesn't believe him, which I think he meant as a sincere expression of his honesty and loyalty but which Jeff interprets as a sign of guilt. As for how they left things, it's not good, to be honest. Ryan storms out of the house, Jeff is tearing up and this friendship and business partnership may have been ripped asunder forever. Trust is, after all, a very fluid, funny thing. Once it's gone, all bets are off.

Whose side are you on in this conflict? Is Jeff right to be suspicious about Ryan or is he just being paranoid? Discuss.

Next week on Flipping Out ("Pledging Allegiance"), Jeff faces setbacks with his Buena Park contractor while Ryan makes commitments.

Flipping Out Preview: Money In, More Money Out:



Flipping Out Preview: Jenni's Alter-Ego:



Flipping Out Preview: In Bed with Vlad:

Breaking: Showtime and BBC Pact on Matt LeBlanc Comedy Series "Episodes"

Penance for Joey perhaps?

Showtime and BBC Two have joined together to co-produce new comedy series Episodes, set to star Matt LeBlanc (Friends).

The single-camera comedy series, which received a six-episode commitment from Showtime and BBC Two, revolves around a British couple whose smash-hit British skein is adapted into a "dumbed-down" US sitcom starring Matt LeBlanc (who will play himself).

Project, which is slated to air next year on Showtime, is created by David Crane (Friends) and Jeffrey Klarik (The Class) and will be executive produced by Crane, Klarik, and Hat Trick's Jimmy Mulville. Production is slated to begin this autumn in London and Los Angeles.

"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," said Showtime president of entertainment Bob Greenblatt in a statement. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake. This show complements our eclectic and critically-acclaimed line-up of half-hour comedies beautifully."

The full press release from Showtime, announcing the series order, can be found below.

MATT LEBLANC MAKES FRIENDS OF SHOWTIME & BBC IN SITCOM SATIRE

Six "Episodes" of Comedy-Within-a-Comedy to Premiere in 2010

LOS ANGELES, CA – (September 30, 2009) – "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc and creators David Crane ("Friends," "The Class") and Jeffrey Klarik ("The Class," "Mad About You") have teamed up on a fresh new send-up of the television business entitled EPISODES, a single-camera comedy series about a British couple whose hit UK show is turned into a dumbed-down American sit-com starring LeBlanc (as himself), it was announced today by SHOWTIME President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt.

Crane and Klarik created the series and Jimmy Mulville will also serve as executive producer through his successful Hat Trick production company ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?," "The Kumars at No. 42", "Worst Week"). EPISODES, a co-production of Showtime and the BBC, will begin shooting the six episodes in London and Hollywood this winter for a 2010 debut on SHOWTIME and BBC Two.

"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," says Greenblatt. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake. This show complements our eclectic and critically-acclaimed line-up of half-hour comedies beautifully."

"Jeffrey and David have a great idea -- I love it," said Matt LeBlanc. "I am really excited to be working with Showtime and the BBC. And I am so glad I got the part, seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating."

When a successful British husband-and-wife comedy team are lured by Hollywood to produce a new version of their hit series for a stateside audience, they're initially thrilled at the prospects. But they soon realize what the American execs have in store for their precious show – including replacing the erudite British lead with the quintessential comedy star, Matt LeBlanc – and begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the TV business. Before long it's clear that not just the couple's show is at stake, but perhaps even their marriage.

Television veterans Klarik and Crane will draw upon their storied experiences in the network wars and behind-the-scenes "too many cooks" tinkering to bring to life a vivid collection of characters trying to hold onto their sanity in an insane world. Klarik and Crane said: "To work with either Showtime or the BBC on this project would have been terrific. To have both involved is more than we could hope for. We feel like we have found the two perfect homes for this show."

"It is very exciting to be making this wonderful production for Showtime and the BBC," added producer Mulville. "Both networks have an outstanding portfolio of exciting and innovative comedies, and it is an honor to be included amongst them. The scripts are brilliantly funny, and with Matt LeBlanc playing a hilarious version of himself, EPISODES promises to be one of the treats of 2010."

Channel Surfing: CBS Mulling "Criminal Minds" Spin-off, John Simm Talks "Doctor Who" Send-Off for Tennant, Kevin Zegers Hears "Gossip" Call, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

CBS is said to be developing a potential spin-off from its crime drama series Criminal Minds that will be created by showrunner/executive producer Ed Bernero and executive producer Chris Mundy, the latter of which will write the script for the potential spin-off which will air as an episode of Criminal Minds later this season. No concrete details are available but the series is thought to revolve around a new team of FBI agents, rather than focusing on any of the existing Criminal Minds characters. (Hollywood Reporter)

John Simm (Life on Mars), who returns to Doctor Who to reprise his role as The Master this winter, has said that David Tennant's swan song on the British sci-fi series is a "brilliant send-off" for Tennant and the Tenth Doctor. "It'll be a brilliant send-off for Mr Tennant," said Simm. "Last time I did it it was such fun to do. It was wonderful to be asked back and to be in the very, very last one. To go head-to-head with him was a really honour. It was lovely to be asked. It was a great, great experience. We had such fun doing it. Hopefully it'll come across." (BBC News)

Kevin Zegers (The Jane Austen Book Club) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on the CW's Gossip Girl as the potential love interest for Taylor Momsen's Jenny. Zegers will play Damien, "an international bad boy who somehow gets tied up with the likes of little Jenny Humphrey—-who is, in fact, the new Queen Bee." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) will write the pilot script for an untitled FOX supernatural dramedy, said to be in the style of Shaun of the Dead, about "a group of dysfunctional siblings who are forced to live together in the family's haunted house after their father dies." Project, from executive producers Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Ruggiero and studio 20th Century Fox Television, has received a script order from the network. (Variety)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth who guest stars on tonight's episode of FOX's Glee as April Rhodes, a former classmate of Will's who has a certain thing for younger men. "This part is like nothing I've had the chance to do on TV," said Chenoweth of April. "She's very happy when drinking to ease her pain. I also sing in three very different styles, which is always fun and challenging." (TVGuide.com)

FOX has given a pilot presentation order to an untitled animated project from Robot Chicken creators Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Tom Root that will revolve around various characters at home and at high school and will feature traditional, rather than stop-motion, animation. Project hails from 20th Century Fox Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that the two-hour pilot for Syfy's Caprica, which launches in January, is hitting the film festival circuit, with airings planned for the San Diego Film Festival as well as the Woodstock Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival in October. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

TLC will relaunch its brand-defining reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight as just... Kate Plus Eight. The newly retitled series will be relaunched on November 2nd and will focus on Kate Gosselin as the single mother of eight children. But don't count Jon Gosselin out just yet; he's set to continue to make appearances on the series, albeit "on a less regular basis." The cabler is also said to be developing a new series for Kate Gosselin for 2010. (Variety)

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Drop Dead Diva) have received script commitments for two projects at FOX and NBC. The FOX project, a legal drama entitled Laney Sparrow, will be written by Dana Calvo (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) and hail from 20th Century Fox Television. The NBC project, dramedy Inside Mary Baxter, is set in a women's prison; that script will be written by Maria Maggenti (Without a Trace), who will executive produce with Zadan and Meron. (Hollywood Reporter)

Billie Piper (Doctor Who), Theo James (Untitled Woody Allen Film), Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval), Sue Johnston (Waking the Dead), and Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) have been cast in BBC One drama Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, based on Mellor's stageplay about a young mother who calls in love with a Polish neighbor and its dangerous consequences over a thirty-year period. Project, from Rollem Productions, will air next year. (BBC)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a two-year overall deal with Cold Case executive producer Greg Plageman, under which he will continue to oversee the CBS drama series with Jennifer Johnson and develop new projects for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will get a chance to watch Warner Bros. Television's new sci-fi series V (which is airing Stateside on ABC), following a deal between the studio and NBC Universal Global Networks that will see the Scott Peters-executive produced series air on the UK's Sci Fi, as well as the midseason drama series Human Target. (Broadcast)

History Channel has ordered several new reality series, including Extreme Trucking, a spin-off of its Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, Madhouse, and Sliced. (Hollywood Reporter)

Camryn Manheim (The Practice) has been cast in Lifetime telepic Pregnancy Pact, opposite Thora Birch and Nancy Travis. She'll play a local nurse who alerts the school to the rising rate of teen pregnancies. Telepic is slated to air in early 2010. (Variety)

Jason Priestley will star in Canadian pay TV comedy Meet Phil Fitz, about a "morally bankrupt" used car salesman who "walks a fine line of acceptable behavior on the lot." Project, from writer/executive producer Sheri Elwood (Defying Gravity). E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film and Television, and Big Motion Pictures, will air on Movie Central and the Movie Network in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

AMC Announces Launch Date for Limited Series "The Prisoner"

Cabler AMC has announced that its six-hour limited series event The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan, will launch on Sunday, November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT.

The cabler will air three two-hour installments over three consecutive nights, with subsequent installments airing on Monday, November 16th and Tuesday, November 17th.

In this remake of the classic British cult series, Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) plays Number Six, a man who finds himself the unwitting titular prisoner of The Village, a strange and surreal settlement overseen by the nefarious Number Two, played by Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings). The Prisoner also stars Jamie Campbell-Bower (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Number 11-12, Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) as Number 41-5, Lennie James (Jericho) as Number 147, and Ruth Wilson (Suburban Shootout) as Number 313.

The Prisoner was written by Bill Gallagher (Conviction) and directed by Nick Hurran (Little Black Book).

Here's how AMC describes the six-hour limited series:

"The Prisoner tells the story of a man, "Six" (Caviezel), who wakes up to find himself inexplicably trapped in a mysterious and surreal place, The Village, with no memory of how he arrived. As he frantically explores his new environment, he discovers that Village residents are identified by number, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. The Village is controlled by one man - the sinister and charismatic "Two" (Ian McKellen). Throughout the series, "Six" and "Two" are locked in a battle of wits, as "Six" challenges the oppressive nature of The Village and struggles to learn the truth behind it."

AMC's nine-minute clip reel for The Prisoner, shown this summer at San Diego Comic-Con, can be found below.



The Prisoner launches November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT on AMC.

First Look: Syfy's "Riverworld"

Looking for a sneak peek at Syfy's new mini-series Riverworld, starring Dollhouse's Tahmoh Penikett? You're in luck.

Distributor RHI has released the first trailer for the mini-series (itself a backdoor pilot for an ongoing series), which also stars Laura Vandervoort, Mark Deklin, Peter Wingfield, and Alan Cumming, among others. The project was written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe (The Dresden Files) and directed by Stuart Gillard (90210).

Here's how Syfy described the four-hour mini-series:

"Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica/Dollhouse) and Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) star in Riverworld, based on the popular award-winning series of novels by Philip Jose Farmer. Penikett stars as Matt Ellman, an American war zone reporter who has witnessed the worst of humanity first-hand yet still grasps on to an optimistic spirit. When a suicide bomber kills both Matt and his fiance Jessie, played by Vandervoort, they awaken, separated in a mysterious world where everyone who has ever lived on Earth, seems to have been "reborn" along the banks of a seemingly endless river.

Determined to locate Jessie, Matt joins forces with a 13th century female samurai warrior named Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen) and American novelist Sam 'Mark Twain' Clemens (Mark Deklin). Together they sail upriver in search of its source, and to discover where they are and who put them there. Alan Cumming (Tin Man) guest stars as the mysterious 'Caretaker.' Riverworld (Airdate 2010) is produced by Reunion Pictures and is shooting in Vancouver, BC. RHI will distribute internationally."

The roughly two-minute trailer for Riverworld can be viewed below.



Riverworld is slated to air in 2010 on Syfy.

Talk Back: Series Premiere of NBC's "Trauma"

I'm curious to see how many of you out there tuned in last night to watch NBC's new medical drama series Trauma.

I didn't review Trauma--possibly because I couldn't find anything nice to say about it--but I am wondering what those of you thought who happened to tune in to the series opener last evening.

Did you like the series' combination of feisty, flawed characters and things going boom? Were you sucked in my the catastrophic opening minutes' footage of that downed helicopter? Did you like the chemistry between the actors or was it sideswiped by the explosive production values? Or did you find the whole thing incredibly bombastic and forced? Or a wee bit dated?

More importantly, will you tune in again next week for the second episode?

Talk back here.

Channel Surfing: "Primeval" Rescued from Extinction, Sonnenfeld Suits Up for Super-powered Comedy, Stephen King Finds "Haven," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Sci-fi drama series Primeval has been saved from extinction thanks to an unprecedented international co-production deal between Impossible Pictures Limited (IPL), ProSieben, BBC Worldwide (BBCW), ITV, and UKTV. Under the terms of the deal, thirteen new installments of Primeval will be produced for 2011 (the thirteen episodes will comprise two seasons). BBC America will step in to take on a full co-production credit and UKTV will become a first-time investor. Adrian Hodges will again oversee the creative direction of the series, which will feature the return of stars including Hannah Spearritt, Andrew Lee Potts, and Jason Flemyng. "Primeval is one of BBC AMERICA's all time top ten shows and we're thrilled to be co-producing the new season," said BBC America SVP of Programming Richard de Croce. "It’s an innovative deal securing the future of an innovative show - and we can’t wait to bring it back to U.S. fans." (via press release)

Barry Sonnenfeld (Pushing Daisies) is attached to executive produce and direct an untitled multi-camera ABC comedy series about an overworked mother who finds a special suit that grants her super powers. Project, from ABC Studios, will be written by Laura House and executive produced by Sonnenfeld and Stu Bloomberg. (Variety)

Stephen King has signed a deal with independent studio E1 Entertainment to adapt his 2005 novella "The Colorado Kid" into a one-hour drama series entitled Haven, which will revolve around a small town in Maine "where cursed folk live normal lives in exile." But then those curses rear their ugly heads, FBI Agent Audrey Parker is sent in to keep the supernatural forces at bay. Sam Ernest and Jim Dunn will write the pilot script and Scott Shepherd (The Dead Zone) has signed on as showrunner and will executive produce with Lloyd Segan Shawn Piller, John Morayniss, and Noreen Halpern. E1 has already committed to producing 13 episodes of the series, which was previously in development at ABC during the 2008-09 season, and is said to be in talks with several foreign broadcasters about co-production deals. (Variety)

CBS has given a script commitment plus penalty to an untitled project from executive producers Craig Wright (Dirty Sexy Money), Mark Burnett, and Roma Downey. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, follows a lawyer who gets a second chance at life by the ghost of his ex-wife after a near-fatal accident. Wright will write the pilot script for the project, which was the subject of a bidding war. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has ordered eight one-hour episodes of reality competition series Perfect 10, in which contestants will have to compete ten seemingly innocuous tasks in 60 seconds. Project, from Universal Media Studios, will be executive produced by Craig Plestis and Tim Puntillo. The network hopes that people will play along at home and NBC will post demonstrations of 50 of the series' games on a web site before the series' launch, which is thought to be in midseason. (Hollywood Reporter)

Omar Miller (Transformers) has joined the cast of CBS' CSI: Miami as a series regular. He'll play Walter Simmons, described in press materials as a "Louisiana native and art theft specialist who transfers over from the night shift to join Horatio's team." Miller's first appearance is slated for the Monday, October 5th episode. (via press release)

Syfy has ordered six episodes of supernatural reality series Ghost Hunters Academy (formerly known as Ghost Hunters: College Edition), which the cabler will launch on Wednesday, November 11th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

TLC has ordered eight one-hour episodes of docusoap BBQ Pit Masters, which will dissect the "cutthroat world of competing grillers." Series, from Original Media, is slated to launch December 2nd. (Variety)

Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Chris Carmack (Drop Dead Diva), and Zoe McLellan (Dirty Sexy Money) will star in Lifetime Movie Network telepic Deadly Honeymoon, based on the real-life disappearance of groom George Allen Smith. Glau and Carmack will play Lindsey and Trevor Forrest, newlyweds who get caught up in a partying and sex-fueled honeymoon after crossing paths with a group of Eastern European passengers on a cruise. Telepic is written by Ron McGee and will be directed by Paul Shapiro. (Hollywood Reporter)

RDF Media Group has named SVP Karrie Wolfe as its "chief emissary" for the shingle's RDF Rights division, where she will oversee the acquisition of US formats and set them up at broadcasters worldwide. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Disney Channel has ordered eight additional installments for Season Three of Wizards of Waverly Place, bringing the total order to 86 episodes. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

The Fainting Couch: Gilded Cages on "Mad Men"

Not all prisons have bars.

This week's episode of Mad Men ("Seven Twenty Three"), written by Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and directed by Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, proved that power is an arbitrary construct and that we can fool ourselves into believing that we have control over our lives when in actuality, we're victims of causality and subject to the whims of others.

Don Draper believes himself to have power over Bertram Cooper and Roger Sterling so long as he doesn't sign a contract. Without his signature on a piece of paper, he's free to throw tantrums and retain some semblance of authority over his two partners. After all, he can walk at any time. He's not married to the company or to Cooper and Sterling. One false move and he can take his considerable talents elsewhere. Which is the very definition of power, no?

Except that Don Draper has been backed into a corner. The deal with Connie Hilton should have been cause for celebration but it's brought Don nothing but aggravation and exasperation. First from the partners and Hilton's lawyers, who want Don locked into Sterling Cooper for three years... and then from protege Peggy Olson who asks to be placed on the Hilton assignment and gets an earful from a wrathful Don.

Don's never been one to keep it in his pants, sexually or professionally speaking. Just as he's attracted to the notion of bedding Sally's latent hippie teacher Miss Farrell, so to force him to sign away his freedom is like asking the world to stop spinning. Despite his protestations, some things never change.

But while Don believes he can stonewall Cooper and Sterling and make the contract issue just magically go away, he doesn't anticipate two things. For one, I don't think Don ever expected Roger to turn to Betty for assistance in getting Don to sign the contract. I thought that this was such a breach of confidence and propriety, especially given the tenuous nature of Roger and Don's relationship at the moment and the fact that we shouldn't forget that Roger once hit on Betty in her home. It was beyond the pale, really. Is it Betty's anger towards Don that seals the deal in the end? Hardly. As Betty says, Don will do whatever Don wants to do, regardless of the consequences. (Look at the way he casually swigs from his glass while driving and picks up a couple, only to be attacked and robbed by them. Again: power is mirage.)

And that's typically the case but this time there's a sword of Damocles dangling over Don's head in the form of Bert Cooper. In a fantastic payoff to a dangling plot thread from Season One, Cooper reminds Don that he knows the truth about his identity, dropping a hint about his assumption of Don Draper's life and stating that it really wouldn't be him signing that contract anyway. Checkmate, Don.

I'm glad that Pete's reveal about Don came back into the story at such a crucial moment for Don. And it is an utterly crucial moment, with the title of the episode reflecting the date that Don signs away his freedom to Sterling Cooper.

It may also be the date of Don's undoing. In his castigation of hungry Peggy Olson, he propels her quite literally into the arms of Don's enemy, Duck. While Peggy wasn't initially open to Duck's overtures (even going so far as to attempt to return his gift of an Hermes scarf), Don's rage towards her proves that she needs to plan for her own future, for her own freedom from Sterling Cooper. The question, however, is whether Duck wants Peggy for herself--for her mind and her body--or whether she is merely an instrument to be used against Don in Duck's ongoing vendetta.

I knew that it was Duck that Peggy was in bed with in the opening minutes of the episode and wish that we hadn't gotten those non-linear glimpses of Don, Peggy, and Betty at the start of the episode. The reveal of the two of them in bed together would have been shocking enough without us waiting for it at every turn. I'm extremely concerned about Peggy's future. There's been no real sign that Duck intends to honor his offers of success (he turns down her request for a copy chief position) and their dalliance further clouds the issue. Or could it be that with that very moment, Peggy has gained the upper hand? That remains to be seen.

Likewise, Betty is drawn back into the orbit of Henry Francis, an adviser to the governor whom she turns to for... Well, the cover story is that she is speaking on behalf of the Junior League and opposing a water tank on the site of the reservoir but really she's addicted to the sense of frisson that she experiences from stepping outside of her role as wife and mother, relishing the sensation of being an attractive conquest to a powerful man.

Despite the encroaching women's movement on America, Betty is drawn backwards in time to an even more restrictive time, to the Victorian era, where women were so physically and socially strained that, feeling overwhelmed, they often had to lie down on fainting couches. It's Henry who recounts the purpose of the fainting couch but it's Betty who purchases it and puts in right in front of the hearth, which her designer described as the "soul of the home." If that's true, then what should we make of Betty's decision to include a symbol of male domination and feminine control in the very heart of her familial home? Is it a subversive gesture or an independent one, reinforcing her desire to step outside the bonds of marriage? Hmmm...

Next week on Mad Men ("Souvenir"), Don takes Betty on a business trip; Pete helps a neighbor in his building.

Whiskey-A-Gogo: Secrets and Scars on "Dollhouse"

Just a few quick words about Friday night's season premiere of Dollhouse, which saw the series return for a miraculous sophomore season, only to plummet to its lowest ratings yet.

You read my advance review of the second season opener of Dollhouse ("Vows"), written and directed by Joss Whedon, but now that the episode has aired, we can talk about some of the specific plot points from the installment.

And, in this case, it's the premiere's storyline involving Amy Acker's physically and emotionally scarred Whiskey/Claire Saunders that has piqued my interest more than any other, despite the appearance of Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber as shady businessman Martin Klar and Whedonverse alum Alexis Denisof as Senator Daniel Perrin.

I'm still not entirely sure why Adelle would allow Paul Ballard to use Echo on an engagement to entrap Martin Klar or how Ballard was able to pay for the engagement. Or why Klar was such a powerful emblem of the failures he experienced as an FBI agent that he would want to take him down now. Just odd, really. It seemed like an excuse for a bait-and-switch with Echo's marriage to Klar but it begged the question about just how long this assignment lasted if there was time to arrange not only a first meeting between Echo and Klar but an entire courtship and engagement. But those are questions for another day, perhaps.

I made the point in my advance review that while Echo is the nominal lead character on the series, she and Eliza Dushku are often upstaged by some of the other, more interesting and three-dimensional elements of the series. In this case, it's Amy Acker's Whiskey who provides the focal point of the series and fleshes out Whedon's overarching themes of identity, self-awareness, and actualization.

Forced to come to terms with the fact that her life as Dr. Claire Saunders is nothing more than fiction created by Topher Brink, Whiskey is in a state of emotional freefall. Desperate to cling to some real emotion, she ricochets from thoughts of vengeance (seducing Topher) to violence (her hand lingering far too long on that scalpel while treating Echo). Is she looking to punish Topher and Echo... or to punish herself?

And Acker manages to pull off every excruciating emotional beat of that transformation, beautifully rendering a portrait of a soul in absolute chaos. What if we learned that the life we're leading is a massive lie? That the way we feel, think, hell, breathe was designed by someone else? You'd want to rip your own heart out, really, and Acker conveys the agony she's experiencing while making Whiskey painfully sympathetic. In a series that's filled with wirework, stunt fighting, and geek-chic technology, it's the small moments in Acker's performance that give Dollhouse its true heat and heart.

I thought that there was a gorgeous poignancy in the scene between Acker's Whiskey and Harry Lennix's Boyd, a scene which recalled their possible future relationship (as depicted in the unaired "Epitaph One" episode) but also turns that scenario on its head somewhat. Whiskey's been cut up by a psychopath, given the personality of a dead man, and been imprinted with the fears of an agoraphobic. She's essentially trapped in the Dollhouse between life and death, between a lie and the truth.

Her decision to remain Claire Saunders but run is a telling one. Is the life we know better than the life we don't? As bad as things are, couldn't they be worse? And wouldn't escaping to her former life be as much of a lie--if not more--than remaining Saunders and remembering? It connects to her insistence that her scars not be repaired. Claire/Whiskey wants to remember, she wants to suffer, she wants a visible reflection of the turmoil in her soul.

Likewise, the queasy seduction scene between Acker and Fran Kranz not only deepened Whiskey's character but also Topher's as well, giving me the first scene of the series where I was actively engaged with Topher as a character and saw him less as a quippy Whedon manqué and more of a deeply shaded individual with his own demons to battle. Uncomfortable, apt, and self-destructive, really.

Best line of the episode: "My whole existence was constructed by a sociopath in a sweater vest. What do you suppose I should do?" - Whiskey

Whedon has said that Acker will appear in three episodes this season as Whiskey/Claire and I'm anxious to see just what he has in store for Acker's character after she's attempted to flee the confines of her spa-like prison. For me, Whiskey remains one of the more interesting and intriguing elements of the series and I'll be extremely sad to see her go after her storyline wraps up. Still, it's in this subplot that Dollhouse has achieved some of the depth and potential that it promises, scars and all.

Next week on Dollhouse ("Instinct"), Echo is imprinted as a mother with a newborn baby but takes too strongly to motherhood as a result of Topher's modifications; Adelle pays November a visit; Senator Daniel Perrin ramps up his investigation into the Rossum Corporation.

"The Amazing Race": I Survived a Japanese Game Show

Looking to discuss the two-hour season premiere of CBS' fantastic reality series The Amazing Race?

Head over to my piece, entitled "The Amazing Race: I Survived a Japanese Game Show," on the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on the season opener, wasabi bombs, duck herding, anger-prone contestants, the poker players' scheme, and much more. (The piece itself is a post-air story that follows up Friday's piece about five reasons why you should tune in this season to The Amazing Race.)

Sound off in the comments section.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm": The C Word

Looking to discuss the latest episode of HBO's painfully funny comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Head over to my piece, entitled "Curb Your Enthusiasm: The C Word," on the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on the latest episode of the Larry David-created series ("Vehicular Fellatio") and discuss your feelings about the episode, which I thought was one of the funniest--and most painful--to date.

Thought Larry was crazy to concoct a plan to get Loretta to break up with him? Wish he wouldn't have agreed to pay for Dean's broken glasses? Astounded that Dr. Trundle beat Larry mercilessly with a copy of her "Walking Out on Cancer" book?

Sound off in the comments.

Channel Surfing: ABC to Air "V" in Pod Form, CW Kills "Beautiful Life," Marc Cherry Talks "Desperate" Reveal, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

ABC has confirmed that it has now altered its launch plan for sci-fi drama series V, which is set to premiere November 3rd. The network has decided to air just the first four installments of the Warner Bros. Television-produced series and then place V on hiatus until after the Winter Olympics. The news comes as a surprise as the series, which is written and executive produced by The 4400's Scott Peters, has enjoyed extremely positive buzz from critics and from Comic-Con audiences who screened the pilot episode earlier this summer. However, both Warner Bros. Television and ABC were quick to point out that the episodic order for V hadn't been shortened; series is still set to air 13 installments. (Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker)

The first official cancellation of the fall season is here: The Beautiful Life, we hardly knew ye. The CW has confirmed that it has axed The Beautiful Life after just two episodes, which plunged to just 1 million viewers in its second outing. Series, which was executive produced by Ashton Kutcher, had been filming its seventh episode when the crew received word to shut down on Friday. The series has been pulled from the schedule and its timeslot will be filled by repeats of Melrose Place beginning this Wednesday. (Hollywood Reporter)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry about the resolution to last May's wedding cliffhanger, which was revealed in the opening minutes of the series' sixth season premiere, which aired last night on ABC. Cherry says his decision about which woman Mike would marry "plays better for this season's mystery" and gives the jilted woman a hell of a storyline as well. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A&E has canceled drama series The Cleaner after two seasons. The series, which starred Benjamin Bratt as a professional interventionist, wrapped its second season earlier this month. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan talks with new Lie to Me showrunner Shawn Ryan about what's coming up on the second season of the procedural drama series, which kicks off tonight on FOX. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Crista Flanagan (Mad Men) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's new comedy series Hank, where she will play Dawn, the wife of David Koechner's Grady. She replaces Melissa McCarthy (Samantha Who?), who dropped out of the series in order to take a role in romantic comedy feature film Life as We Know It. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The CW has ordered eight episodes of an untitled reality series that will follow the life of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer, whom some may recall appeared on-screen on the CW's Gossip Girl. Project, from executive producer Andrew Glassman, will follow "Mortimer, currently embroiled in a high-profile divorce, as she hits the New York scene." (Variety)

Production has begun on the third and final season of Life on Mars sequel series Ashes to Ashes, which will air on BBC One in early 2010. "Everyone has their own theory about who Gene Hunt is, and why Alex Drake and Sam Tyler ended up in his world," said executive producer Jane Featherstone. "Alex's journey is nearing its end and Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have planned a fabulous finale. We're now at the point where we can finally reveal some of the answers and we can't wait to hear what the fans think about it all." (BBC)

As if he weren't animated enough already. Gordon Ramsay is the basis for a new stop-motion animated series entitled Gordon Ramsay, At Your Service from Canadian production company Cuppa Coffee, which will be pitched next week at Mipcom in Cannes. Project, which is currently seeking a writer, will focus on the hot-tempered celebrity chef and television personality. (Broadcast)

TBS has canceled comedy series The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons. (C21)

Charlie Cox (Stardust), Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money), and Gillian Anderson (Bleak House) have been cast opposite William Hurt and Ethan Hawke in TeleMunchen's big-budget Moby Dick telepic. Cox will play Ishmael; Sutherland will play Father Mapple; Anderson will play Elizabeth, the wife of Captain Ahab (Hurt). (Variety)

Annie Potts, Kim Zimmer, Drew Seeley will star in Hallmark Channel telepic Freshman Father, about a Harvard student who finds himself in a shotgun wedding and must juggle school and parenthood. Project, slated to air in 2010, is written by Bill Wells and directed by Michael Scott. (via press release)

BermanBrauun has hired former Fox Television Studios executive Jerry Longarzo as the head of business affairs. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Sweet Little Dolls: An Advance Review of Season Two of "Dollhouse"

I was largely on the fence about the freshman season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.

Conceptually, I felt that there were some fascinating ideas about identity and perception embedded in the series' overarching concept but I felt that these concepts were often let down by some fundamentally flawed execution on a weekly basis. In other words: I wanted to love the series but I found time and time again that I couldn't. Perhaps it was the regular occurrence of plot holes large and numerous, making Dollhouse resemble something akin to Swiss cheese.

The unaired thirteen episode of Dollhouse's first season, entitled "Epitaph One," did manage to change my feelings about the series; it offered a much darker and edgier version of Dollhouse and imbued the series with a strong throughline and narrative purpose. Given that the episode never aired in the US (and is still only available to screen on the Season One DVD boxset or on iTunes), it will be interesting to see as time goes on how "Epitaph One" reshapes the narrative direction of the series.

I was extremely curious then to watch Dollhouse's second season opener ("Vows"), written and directed by Joss Whedon, to see if they learned any lessons from "Epitaph One" or the series' uneven first season.

So what I did I think of "Vows" then? Let's discuss.

For one, I still find Eliza Dushku the least interesting element of the series, which is a bit of a sticky wicket as she is the series' nominal lead. However, she's largely outshone each week by the supporting actors, particularly Dichen Lachman, Enver Gjokaj, Amy Acker, Harry Lennix, and Olivia Williams, and that trend continues in the second season opener.

While Lachman is relegated to the sidelines in this installment (very sadly, though Sierra does get a corker of a tiny scene with Ivy), Acker gets some major attention in this episode, which largely focuses on the fallout from Claire Saunders learning at the end of last season that she's actually an Active named Whiskey. The A-storyline might revolve around Echo's latest engagement (which involves her marriage to a shady arms dealer played by Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber), but it's Claire's story that packs more punch, emotionally anyway, as she's faced to come to terms with the truth about her identity. I won't say how this plays out exactly but I will say that it involves tormenting her "maker" Topher (Fran Kranz) and ties in somewhat with echoes of a Boyd/Claire relationship glimpsed in the "Epitaph One" post-apocalyptic storyline.

It's a shame that Acker isn't a series regular on Dollhouse (she'll instead co-star in ABC's abysmal mystery drama series Happy Town) as Claire brings a stark fragility and depth to the series. Acker has excelled throughout her career at playing brilliantly complex individuals and her Claire/Whiskey is no departure from this formula. Armed with the knowledge about her lack of identity in "Vows," Claire is even more dangerous, fierce, and resourceful. Whether she's out for vengeance or self-awareness, I'll let you discover for yourselves tonight.

Echo and Tahmoh Penikett's Paul Ballard are meant to be the audience's entry point into the world of the Dollhouse, but both of their characters are so distant--and Paul Ballard in particular so chilly and vacant--that it's hard to get a grasp on them or feel much compassion for their situation.

That situation gets even more trippy in the season opener as there's an unexpected twist to Echo's engagement that I didn't see coming, even as I can't quite work out some of its implications. We're meant to feel that there's a connection between them that defies identity and logic but I still don't feel it a season in. Part of that, I think is that Ballard is so unlikable and unsympathetic that it's difficult to wrap your head around their, uh, complicated relationship.

Bamber is fantastic as Martin Klar, a wealthy financier who weds Echo but whose business is just a front for international arms trading. It's a nice change of pace to see Bamber portray a villain for a change (and with his native British accent as well!) and he carries off the role with aplomb. While we only catch a quick scene with Alexis Denisof's Senator Daniel Perrin in the first episode, I'm intrigued to see just where this storyline will go; he seems hell-bent on bringing down the Dollhouse (too bad Ballard didn't know him during the first season) but I can't help but question his motives. Hmmmm...

All in all, "Vows" is an intriguing start to a season that will either broaden Dollhouse's fanbase or keep it limited to its cult audience on Friday evenings. I'm hoping that the dramatic tension of "Epitaph One" can continue to infuse the series with a new purpose and a strengthened mythology and that Whedon and the series' writers continue to focus more on the supporting characters, transforming the series into more of an ensemble drama with Dushku's Echo at its core rather than The Echo Show. Which, in my eyes anyway, isn't the Dollhouse I want to be playing in.

Dollhouse premieres tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on FOX.

Lures and Traps: Night of Desirable Objects on "Fringe"

Don't ever turn your back on a hole in the ground when there's a psychotic mutant killer on the loose.

Last night's episode of Fringe ("Night of Desirable Objects") offered the sort of X-Files tinged suspense that's been missing from FOX for quite some time, even as the solution to the central mystery itself--the truth behind the disappearance of several people in a small Pennsylvania town--was obvious about two seconds in.

This week's installment, written by Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman, had the team leaving the relative comforts of their lab to trek over to Pennsylvania to investigate the aforementioned disappearances. While this is nothing new for a series that has its characters embarking on various investigations on a weekly basis, it was perhaps the first time that newly appointed team leader Peter Bishop took up the reins and sent the team out without getting a dossier or briefing from Broyles.

Yes, proactiveness is the word du jour for the Fringe Division this season and it's nice to see the gang breaking their own pattern and being less reactive in the face of bizarre phenomenon. It's a nice change of pace and one that gives both Peter and Broyles much more to do than stand around and wait for something awful to happen.

While the procedural plot itself was extremely predictable--as soon as Andre Hughes appeared underground, I knew that he was covering up for a family member and as soon as it was mentioned that his wife and baby died during childbirth, I knew it was the son--the episode itself had some nice moments (the police car dropping through the earth, the creepy scarecrow scene in the cold open) and a few emotional beats that were distinct from the overarching plot.

Meghan Markles' Agent Jessup still doesn't nothing for me and I feel like we're supposed to find her possibly spiritual quest for answers enthralling but it instead bores me to tears. I don't even believe she had any dialogue this week but her character has remained even more of a nonentity that Astrid so far.

As for Evil Charlie, I'm concerned about the direction that this is going. After all, the shapeshifter from "over there" didn't know anything about Charlie Francis before he assumed Charlie's shape, so I'm not quite sure how he's pulling off slipping into Charlie's life quite so easily. Surely, Charlie's wife (whom we saw in the first season) is suspicious about her husband and why he doesn't seem to know anything about his life, no? Or am I quibbling? I do love the typewriter scenes between here and over there as the injured shapeshifter continues to receive his instructions but I'm not sure why he didn't just kill Olivia and get it over with before she remembers? But, given the episode's ending, now his employers seem to want Olivia to know just what William Bell told her. Hmmm...

There were some genuinely beautiful moments between Walter and Peter this week. As they investigate a case of a father protecting his son at all costs, it stirred up all sort of unresolved feelings between the Bishops. And seeing that lure--the night of desirable objects--in Sheriff Golightly's office reminded Peter of that fishing trip they never took and how he had bought that lure for that purpose. (Loved Walter's reply asking if "the young man" had given Peter the lure.) Given the slow reconciliation that's going on between the two, I have to wonder about when the truth about Peter's identity will emerge as it's likely to shatter any hope of a renewed relationship between Bishop pere et fils.

Likewise, Olivia is tormented by the fact that she can't remember just what happened to her or where she went but wonders--to Evil Charlie, no less--that maybe her mind doesn't want her to know and is intentionally suppressing those memories in order to keep her safe. (As in safe from him, perhaps.) But she also must come to grips with the fact that she's returned from over there a changed woman. She's seemingly enhanced--with super-sonic hearing--but we all know from experience that these gifts likely come at a cost.

A cost which Nina Sharp is hoping that Olivia can avoid by consulting an associate of hers, a "specialist" named Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan), who helped her through some rocky times of her own. Just who is Weiss? That's a mystery for another day but he works at a bowling alley and is expecting Olivia. Something tells me Weiss is no mere bowling alley clerk but an important figure who could hold the answers to unlocking Olivia's memory.

What did you think of this week's episode? Was it as strong as the season opener? How long will it be before Evil Charlie makes his "coffee ice cream" slip-up? Discuss.

Next week on Fringe ("Fracture"), Peter, Walter, Olivia, and Broyles investigate an incident in Philadelphia where a bomb blew up inside a train station but left no trace of any explosive device; uncovering links to a classified military project, Olivia and Peter head to Iraq.