Channel Surfing: FX Renews "Archer," Team Darlton on "Lost" Partnership, Hiroyuki Sanada Speaks, Jim Belushi Suits Up for "Defenders," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

"Danger zone!" FX has ordered a second season of its animated action-comedy Archer, from creators Adam Reed and Matthew Thompson. The cabler has commissioned 13 episodes for the series' second season, which is set to launch next year. The order is up from the seven installments that comprised Season One of Archer. [Editor: while Archer started off rocky and is somewhat hit-or-miss, I'm actually quite enjoying its off-kilter madcap action now that the season is set to wrap in a few weeks' time.] (Variety)

The Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez talks to Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about their partnership on the show. And thanks to a video interview, you can get the words from Team Darlton themselves as they recount the events back in 2004 that lead to the duo forming one of Hollywood's strongest creative partnerships. (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

SPOILER! Meanwhile, TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an interview with Lost's Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays the mysterious temple master Dogen on the ABC drama series' final season. Look for the March 2nd episode to reveal more about Dogen's past. "I believe Dogen and Sayid will experience some kind of friendship in the end," Hiro told Keck. "Temples are built for peace and saving people." Hmmm... (TV Guide Magazine)

No, it's not a joke: former According to Jim star Jim Belushi has landed one of the lead roles in CBS legal drama pilot The Defenders, from writers/executive producers Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy and director David Guggenheim. Belushi will play Nick, described as "as Las Vegas attorney with marital and drinking issues." (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that the cast of FOX's Glee will perform at the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 5th, after being invited by First Lady Michelle Obama. "Rumor has it Mrs. O and her daughters are big fans of the show," writes Ausiello. "And since a White House gig is an offer that’s pretty darn hard to refuse, Glee’s producers did some lickety-split schedule rejiggering in order to honor the request." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

PBS' Masterpiece has signed a co-production deal with BBC Worldwide that will encompass several international co-productions, including a new production of period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' Sherlock--starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Graves--and three mysteries based on Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen novels starring Rufus Sewell. (Televisionary)

Pilot casting roundup: Jane Kaczmarek (Raising the Bar) and Adam Arkin (Life) have been cast in ABC comedy pilot Who Gets the Parents? (Also cast: Greek's Andrew West and Men in Trees' Derek Richardson); Leah Remini (The King of Queens) has landed a lead in ABC comedy pilot It Takes a Village; Zeljko Ivanek (Big Love) and Ian Anthony Dale (Taken) have joined the cast of NBC drama pilot The Event; Ben Koldyke (Big Love) has snagged the lead in NBC comedy pilot This Little Piggy; Romany Malco (Weeds) has been cast in ABC superhero drama pilot No Ordinary Family; Wayne Knight (Seinfeld) has been added to the cast of Ant Hines and Larry Charles' untitled CBS comedy pilot presentation; Olivia Munn (Attack of the Show) will star in NBC comedy pilot Perfect Couples; D.J. Cotrona (Dear John) has come aboard ABC cop drama pilot 187 Detroit; Julian Morris (24), Daniella Alonso (Friday Night Lights), and Kelli Garner (Lars and the Real Girl) have been joined the cast of Noah Hawley's ABC drama pilot Generation Y; Kaitlin Doubleday (Cavemen) will play one of the leads in FOX comedy pilot Most Likely to Succeed; Taran Killam (Scrubs) has joined the cast of ABC comedy pilot Freshmen; and Malcolm Goodwin (Leatherheads) has been cast in Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora's FOX drama pilot Breakout Kings. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lionsgate Television has signed a new two-year overall deal with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan that will keep her at the helm of Showtime's Weeds for a sixth season as well as develop other projects. First up is an untitled musical comedy for Showtime that Kohan is writing with Stephen Falk. "Having gotten to second base with Lionsgate in my former 'under the shirt but over the bra' deal," said Kohan, "it's a thrill to now be in bed with them and going all the way." (Kohan is also executive producing the studio's Epix drama pilot Tough Trade.) (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has a first look at Cynthia Watros' upcoming arc on FOX's House, where she will play the first ex-wife of Robert Sean Leonard's Wilson beginning April 19th. "There can be great comfort in the past," Leonard told Ausiello. "He wants his blankie. And there’s the extra benefit of familiarity and, in a way, a lack of drama." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedy Central has ordered six episodes of an untitled comedy showcase, from executive producers Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan, which will air this summer and will be hosted by Curb Your Enthusiasm's JB Smoove. (Variety)

Bristol Palin, eldest daughter of former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, is set to play herself on an upcoming episode of ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager that will air this summer. "Bristol Palin is the most famous teenage mother in America," said executive producer Brenda Hampton in a statement. "We're thrilled to have her join us, and I think she will bring additional attention to the issues facing teen parents that we've been exploring for a couple of seasons now." (via press release)

Cabler TLC has ordered a third season of docuseries The Little Couple, with 20 episodes set to launch in June. (via press release)

MTV has promoted Chris Linn to executive VP of MTV Production, where he will continue to oversee development and production of telepics as well as physical production and planning for pilots and series. Linn will be based in New York and will report to MTV programming chief Tony DiSanto. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Stay tuned.

Spies Like Us: An Advance Review of the Next Four Episodes of "Chuck"

Anticipation is running high for the return of NBC's action-comedy Chuck after three weeks off the air (thanks to the Olympics) and the unveiling of a romantic subplot that, er, may have rubbed certain fans the wrong way.

The public reaction to the last episode that aired ("Chuck Versus the Mask") took many people--including this critic--by surprise, not because the writers had once again managed to keep Sarah and Chuck separate but by the vehemence and venom being hurled at the series' producers and the installment's writer, Phil Klemmer. (It also had some fans clamoring for what would most certainly be a destructive boycott of the series itself, a terrible and foolhardy effort that would lead not to any plot direction changes but to an inevitable cancellation.)

I had the opportunity over the weekend to watch the next four superb installments of Chuck, which returns to the NBC schedule a week from today, and was extremely pleased by what I watched.

For one, the writers--especially "Chuck Versus the Fake Name" writer Ali Adler--are not only aware of some of the viewers' criticisms but deal with them head on, allowing the characters--including Chuck and Sarah themselves--to voice their own concerns about the burgeoning romances between Chuck and Hannah and Sarah and Shaw. With a wink and a nod, Adler gives the characters license to poke fun at our own expectations and hang-ups about on-screen romances with a nicely played self-referential zing.

I won't give any of the plot points of the next four episodes away--I made a promise to series creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak against spoiling anything--but I will say that even if you aren't a fan of the latest romantic permutations, these episodes still have quite a lot to offer, not the least of which is the series' trademark combination of action and comedy, which these episodes have in abundance.

Will Chuck and Sarah eventually end up together? Hell, yes. Are they clearly meant for one another? Yes, again. But any series looking to sustain itself over the long haul would have to be crazy to subvert the sexual tension between the leads by having them give into temptation and consummate their relationship. That's all the more apparent here, despite the very real discussion--both aloud and internally--that Chuck and Sarah have in these episodes. Just because two people are meant to be together doesn't mean that they should be together right now, especially when there are matters of personal duty and professional responsibility that are keeping them apart.

The push and pull of Sarah and Chuck's would-be relationship keeps things exciting and it keeps people coming back week after week to see just when the duo will succumb to their feelings. But, naturally, there are bound to be other romantic interests for both Chuck and Sarah along the way. Both of them are human and, if they can't be with the person that they love, they're clearly willing to take a chance with someone else in the short-term.

These next four episodes deal with the love quadrangle between Chuck, Hannah, Sarah, and Shaw but it's not the only thing going on within these gripping and suspenseful (as well as hilarious) installments, which deal in their own way with larger themes of of identity and self-definition.

There are some major game-changing plot developments that shake up the series not quite as severely as last season's Intersect 2.0 finale, but there are lasting consequences, particularly coming out of "Chuck Versus the Beard," the sensational episode written by Scott Rosenbaum and directed by Zachary Levi. The episode might just be one of my favorite episodes of Chuck to date and features some major changes for Team Bartowski.

Levi is amazing here as in the previous episode ("Chuck Versus the Fake Name"): funny, vulnerable, and unlike any way we've seen him before. (And, yes, that's a hint.) Very nicely played, indeed. Plus, the episode--which features The Sopranos' Tony Sirico--is a hell of a lot of fun and deals with emotional complexities of Chuck and Sarah's jobs in a very meaningful and interesting way and forces Chuck to rely on his own natural skills and abilities for a change.

Additionally, several of these episodes deal with our favorite spies' backstories. Both Sarah and Colonel Casey (in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac," guest starring Robert Patrick) get some very revealing subplots that fill in the gaps in their characters' respective histories and prove to be very, very illuminating, while the stakes are raised for a few series regulars as well. Look for several familiar faces to make some potentially life-altering decisions in this block of episodes. (That's all I'll say on the subject.)

And there's also a pivotal metaphorical crossroads for Mr. Bartowski himself, one that could change the landscape of the series as the season goes on. I can't say more without spoiling what is a fantastic episode ("Chuck Versus the Final Exam"), which has some extreme consequences for Chuck as well for as the team itself. (One hint: a sauna, a towel, and a sharp breeze play a role, as does a surprising but emotionally powerful twist.)

Given that the third season was originally meant to be just thirteen episodes, I'd anticipate some major shifts and reveals coming up in the two episodes following this arc... and I'm curious to see just how interrelated the first thirteen episodes are to the back six.

In any event, these episodes demonstrate the immense promise and potential of both Chuck Bartowski and Chuck itself, forcing the former to face up to some hard truths and take another leap into adulthood (and the spy world) and the latter to offer some major plot twists that will shake up the series in some very unexpected ways, as the battle with The Ring reaches its boiling point.



Chuck returns with new episodes on Monday, March 1st at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC.

The Road to Perdition: Acts of Vengeance and Forgiveness on "Big Love"

"I'm not that person that you think I'm becoming." - Bill

This week's stunning episode of Big Love ("Blood Atonement"), written by Julia Cho and directed by David Petrarca, featuring not only one of the most shocking moments so far on the series to date but also offered an exploration of the characters' innermost psyches by focusing on their past mistakes.

Both Bill and Joey have been beset by feelings of vengeance, but both carried them out in different ways. Bill has long attempted to escape the squalid filth and treachery of the Juniper Creek compound but far too often finds himself dragged right back in. He never chose to leave in the first place; that decision was made for him by Roman Grant and his father Frank Harlow and that moment has haunted him for the rest of his life. Joey, meanwhile, murdered Roman as an act of revenge for the death of Kathy Marquart and his quest for payback extends to the twisted Hollis Greene as well, even if it means placing his entire family at risk.

In other words: we can't escape our pasts, no matter how hard we try. Bill might have been pushed off the compound as a teenager but it's in his blood and he's connected to it via an invisible thread. Once flicked, he can't help but be drawn back into its clutches. But, as Bill discovers this week, we do have the power to forgive, to keep the past where it belongs--behind us--and not let it define us in perpetuity.

This week's episode was absolutely riveting and emotionally resonant as each of the characters made discoveries that challenged both their sense of self as well as the world around them. It also featured one of the very best Lois Henrickson scenes in existence (kudos to Grace Zabriski) and explored the nature of sacrifice, forgiveness, and family.

Bill and Joey. We can choose to forgive or we can choose to avenge. Sadly, each of the Henrickson brothers takes a different path this week, a choice that results in, yes, the freedom of the imprisoned bird smugglers in Mexico and the dismemberment of one Hollis Greene, but also in the scales being dropped from Bill's eyes: he sees truly now just what his expulsion did to his family and how the sickness of the compound has infected even his brother.

Secrets seem to be the Henrickson clan's stock in trade. Far too often one or more of them is going off on a little side mission, a scheme, that they keep from the others. I understand why Bill would want to keep Ben's kidnapping from his wives, given everything that has happened, the stresses of the campaign and the casino, and the sting of his own complicity in what happened. After all, if there hadn't been a misunderstanding between him and Ben in the first place, Ben wouldn't be in danger now. His rescue mission is an effort to shield Barb, Nicki, and Margene from the truth of what is going on in Mexico (he fakes a meeting with a lumber supplier in Seattle) but things are not quite as simple or as easy as Bill imagined.

For one, the situation in Mexico is already perilous. The drug war has resulted in frequent kidnappings, roadside hostilities are the norm, and the Greenes are walled up and have gathered quite the arsenal of weapons. The Mexican authorities can't risk going in guns blazing and yet Bill can't sit there and do nothing. It is, no pun intended, a Mexican standoff, made all the more dangerous by Joey's quest for revenge for Kathy's death. It's a path that places all of them in serious jeopardy as Joey's quest seems rooted in a self-destructive impulse that is at opposition with Bill's rescue efforts.

Bill is finally able to forgive Frank for what had been done to him all of those years earlier. Frank's confession to Lois--that Roman ordered him to expel Bill from the compound--offers a very different portrait of Frank than we've seen thus far; while he's still guilty, his sin wasn't greed or jealousy but allegedly cowardice, being unable to stand up to Roman Grant and being afraid of having everything taken away from him. Is it an excuse to dump your fifteen-year-old son on the side of the road? Hell no. But it does explain just what happened and why a little more, offering us a deeper picture of the Henricksons at the time and how the incident scarred everyone involved, from Bill to Lois, Joey, and poor, doomed Maggie. Bill could have left Frank to rot in that cell, to be punished by the Greenes, but he chose the path of forgiveness, choosing instead to rescue everyone. ("No one gets left behind this time.")

It's a moment of real progress and character development for Bill, especially after his speech about the "cesspool" of the compound to Joey. They may have been warped by their experiences, by what they've lived through, but there still exists in all of us the ability to change, to cast off our old patterns, and to offer a chance at redemption. But it's a path that's denied to Joey, who is more focused on making Hollis pay for what happened to Kathy than in freeing his family. His actions have irrevocably corrupted him; his soul has been broken by Roman's murder and his quest will only push him further into darkness.

But for Bill, there's a chance not to only make amends with Frank but also with Ben. In the moment of reunion between them, there is no animosity, no recriminations, only the unbreakable bond between a father and son, each realizing the love that the other has. Likewise, the scene at the episode's very end, in which the wives gather on the porch to welcome Ben home may have been silent but it was overflowing with unspoken emotion and a palpable sense of relief.

The Greenes. I dare say that this won't be the last time that the Henricksons cross paths with the Greenes. After all, Selma too chose to forgive (for now) and save Hollis' life rather than punish the Henricksons for their actions. She chooses life over death and destruction. That the act of vengeance would come not from Joey but from Lois was one of the episode's most delicious surprises. As she swung that machete down on Hollis and sliced off his right arm, Lois' single line of dialogue ("no one lays a hand on my son") was absolutely fitting. Bill was willing to sacrifice himself to save his family, to exchange his life for theirs. It's a father's duty and a son's honor, perhaps, an act of contrition designed to balance the scales.

But Lois isn't having that and Hollis laying his hand on Bill's shoulder, acting as his judge, jury, and executioner, was too much for Lois to handle. And she swiftly enacted her own judgment: lowering the blade and getting splattered with the results of her own blood atonement.

The Greenes won't let this go lightly. Hollis, who perceives himself to be the one true prophet, has been perhaps mortally injured by Lois. Does Selma get him to the hospital in time to stave off death? It's unclear, but if I were a betting man I would say that they'll be back...

Margene. My wife actually said to be during the episode's opening credits that it would be insane if Margene offered to marry Ana's fiance Goran... yet that's just the solution that Margene dreams up, allegedly to keep everyone happy: to keep Goran and Ana in the country and, most importantly, keep the baby here. (After all, we learn that the kid is most definitely Bill's, thanks to a paternity test.) But is that really Margene's sole concern? Is she doing this for Barb, Bill, and Nicki? Or is there something else at work here, something less altruistic and more selfish?

It's only fitting that Margene's solution should present itself just as the family is preparing to go public with their polygamist lifestyle... and Barb offers to have a home office set up for Margene in the new house. She's making moves to protect herself. In the event of an avalanche of negative publicity, Margene can distance herself from the family and use her paper marriage to Goran as proof that she's not connected in polygamy to the Henricksons. It's an easy out, a chance to keep the business she's worked so hard to create, but Barb and Nicki see right through this little plot.

However, they are too late to stop Margene from going ahead with marrying Goran. It might be a somewhat practical (if absolutely insane) solution to keep Goran and Ana in the country so that Goran can get his green card and become a doctor and keep the baby around but this is Big Love, so there will be some major complications. That Margene would go ahead with this plot without even consulting Barb and Bill speaks volumes about her desperation. I loved Barb's line about her "cope container" being full when she does learn about Margene's decision. This will end badly.

Barb. It's not just on the homefront where Barb has the wool pulled over her eyes. The situation at the casino has become untenable, with protesters waving guns and planting fake bombs on the premises. Worse, Barb and Tommy's efforts to get evangelical Ron Reed to disavow violence results in nothing less than a standoff. It's clear that they are on their own and that they are facing bigger opponents than they dare thought. In fact, everything that has happened has been set in motion by a cabal of power brokers: Marilyn, Senator Paley, and Reed are all in bed together, as Barb discovers by connecting the dots. But whether this scenario is an act of vengeance on the part of Marilyn or just business as usual remains to be seen.

Loved the scene between Barb and Tommy in which she asks why he came back to the reservation. While he says it was to help his father out after Jerry and Bill got the approval for the casino, there's something else going on, something "personal" that Barb senses, likely something to do with the death of Tommy's wife and kids. Over the past few weeks, I have to say that I've gained an appreciation for Adam Beach's Tommy; he adds a nice new dimension to the series and gives Barb a simpatico soul up at the casino.

Nicki and Adaleen. The week's biggest mystery has got to be that surrounding Adaleen's miraculous pregnancy, a discovery that comes just as Nicki learns that she has secondary infertility and an "unhappy uterus." While I doubted JJ's diagnosis of Adaleen's condition (after all, they've barely been married a week), a home pregnancy test confirmed that Adaleen is in fact with child. But... how? Adaleen isn't exactly young and even she was surprised when she learned about her pregnancy. Plus, the sudden vibrancy and optimism she is experiencing seem to coincide with JJ's miraculous hormone injections. There's got to be a connection between the two.

Worse still, Adaleen advises Nicki to go see JJ's son Roquet, a doctor who is apparently a cutting-edge pregnancy guru able to achieve the impossible. Which worries me to no end. There's something in the hormone compound that Roquet has prescribed for both Adaleen and Nicki, something that is tricking Adaleen's body into a false positive. But why? And for what end? And is this connected to why JJ had to leave Kansas so suddenly? What could possibly be gaining by tricking Adaleen into thinking she's pregnant? Hmmm...

The scarier possibility is that Adaleen is pregnant and was impregnated unknowingly with someone else's egg and that she is effectively a brood mare carrying someone else's child. But whose? And just what does Wanda know about this? What did she make JJ "promise"? And what could be so dark and nefarious that JJ is willing to blackmail his sister into silence?

The mind shudders to think.

All in all, an absolutely fantastic installment of Big Love that pushed the plot into overdrive. With only two more episodes remaining this season, things are about to explode for the Henricksons and I'm terrified to think of just what new and shocking twists series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer have up their sleeves. The wait until next Sunday is going to be torturous...

Next week on Big Love ("Next Ticket Out"), Sarah shakes up the family with an announcement; Nicki makes an all-out attempt to be the woman Bill wants her to be; Margene is put on the defensive when Bill questions her real reasons for getting married; Marilyn looks to bring down Bill as his campaign winds down; Barb jolts Nicki with news about Joey that Bill was supposed to deliver; a suspicious Bill looks for clues about J.J. in Kansas, while Adaleen finds them closer to home.

Ep. 42: Next Ticket Out - Preview

PBS' "Mastepiece" and BBC Worldwide Sign Co-Production Deal

PBS' long-running (and recently rebranded) Masterpiece has signed a co-production deal with BBC Worldwide that will encompass several international co-productions.

These will include a new production of beloved period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Graves), and three mysteries based on Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen novels starring Rufus Sewell.

"I'm so proud of this particular group of programs," said Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton in a statement. "These three series say everything about what Masterpiece aims to be: iconic, rich with wonderful actors, witty, literate, and timeless. I can't wait to see them all."

"These three co-productions offer a new spin on well-known, treasured stories and we're thrilled to be working with Masterpiece to bring them to life," said Matt Forde, EVP Sales & Co-Productions, BBC Worldwide, Americas. "A valued, long-standing production partner, our past collaborations with Masterpiece produced a number of critically acclaimed, award-winning-series--a testament to the success of our partnership."

As for me, I can't wait to see each of these. Upstairs, Downstairs will reunite Jean Marsh with Dame Eileen Atkins, Moffat will take on Sherlock and Watson in the present day, and Sewell will set off to solve crimes in sun-dappled Italy. Sounds like we're in for a real treat on all accounts.

The full press release from PBS can be found below.

MASTERPIECE AND BBC WORLDWIDE ANNOUNCE DRAMA CO-PRODUCTIONS, INCLUDING NEW UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS

Modern-Day Sherlock and Aurelio Zen mysteries starring Rufus Sewell also slated for production
Brighton, England--February 22, 2010-- MASTERPIECE on PBS and BBC Worldwide Sales and Distribution, Americas have announced a major co-production deal that includes a new production, with the BBC, of Upstairs Downstairs--one of the most-loved and honored television series of all time. Upstairs Downstairs will air in the U.S. in 2011 as part of MASTERPIECE 's 40th anniversary season on PBS.

The deal also includes Sherlock, a 21st-century spin on Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes novels, and three Aurelio Zen mysteries, adapted from the best-selling novels by Michael Dibden set in Italy.

"I'm so proud of this particular group of programs," says MASTERPIECE executive producer Rebecca Eaton. "These three series say everything about what MASTERPIECE aims to be: iconic, rich with wonderful actors, witty, literate, and timeless. I can't wait to see them all."

"These three co-productions offer a new spin on well-known, treasured stories and we're thrilled to be working with MASTERPIECE to bring them to life," says Matt Forde, EVP Sales & Co-Productions, BBC Worldwide, Americas. "A valued, long-standing production partner, our past collaborations with MASTERPIECE produced a number of critically acclaimed, award-winning-series--a testament to the success of our partnership."

An enormous success worldwide, the original Upstairs Downstairs won seven Emmys® during its run on MASTERPIECE THEATRE in the mid-1970s--including Best Actress for Jean Marsh, who will reprise her role in the new three-part series as Rose, the parlor maid. Dame Eileen Atkins, the co-creator of the original program, will also star. Screenwriter Heidi Thomas (Cranford) is setting the new Upstairs Downstairs in the same house at 165 Eaton Place in 1936, during the period leading up to World War II.

The thrilling new Sherlock series is a fast-paced, witty take on the legendary crime drama, now set in present day London and starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Atonement, The Last Enemy) as the eponymous detective. Martin Freeman (The Office UK, Hot Fuzz) plays his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson, and Rupert Graves (God on Trial, The Forsyte Saga) is Inspector Lestrade. Co-created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Coupling, Jekyll) and Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Crooked House), the iconic details from Arthur Conan Doyle's original books remain: same address, same names--and somewhere out there, Moriarty is waiting.

Rufus Sewell (The Eleventh Hour, Middlemarch, John Adams) will star as Italian detective Aurelio Zen in three episodes based on the popular mysteries by Michael Dibden. The series is being shot on location in Italy by Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind the acclaimed Wallander television series.

Upstairs Downstairs is a BBC/MASTERPIECE co-production; Sherlock is a Hartswood Films (Jekyll, Coupling) and MASTERPIECE co-production; Aurelio Zen is produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC in association with RTI (Mediaset Group), MASTERPIECE and ZDF with additional funding from BBC Worldwide, Ingenious and Lipsync.

Los Angeles Times: "Amazing Race: Don't Let the Cowboy Hat Fool You"

Looking to discuss the latest episode of CBS' fantastic reality series The Amazing Race?

Head over to the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker to read my latest piece, entitled "The Amazing Race: Don't Let the Cowboy Hat Fool You," where you can read my take on the latest episode, why the cowboys Jet and Cord are my new favorite team (and "the most magical people ever"), why you should always check what terminal your bus departs at, and more.

Sound off in the comments section and be sure to come back next week as I'll be discussing each episode of The Amazing Race all season long.

Next week on The Amazing Race ("Run Like Scalded Dogs!"), nine remaining teams depart the Pit Stop at Gruta de la Virgen in Puerto Varas, Chile on the third leg of a race around the world for one million dollars.

Channel Surfing: Sackhoff Lands ABC Pilot, FOX Circles Arnett/Hurwitz Comedy, O'Quinn Talks Smoke Monster, Kreuk Gets "Hitched," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Loads of headlines to get through today!

Former Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff (currently co-starring as Dana Walsh on FOX's 24) has landed the lead in ABC's untitled Richard Hatem drama pilot, which revolves around a female detective (Sackhoff) who teams up with a disgraced former cop who has been framed and gone underground. Together, they solve crimes and attempt to unmask the conspiracy that ensnared him. Sackhoff, who last season starred in NBC drama pilot Lost & Found, had received multiple offers this pilot season before deciding to jump into Hatem's drama pilot. Sackhoff's casting doesn't shed any light on a possible Day Nine of 24, with producers saying that she could take this role should it go to series, even if 24 returns next season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Want a frozen banana with that? FOX is said to be thisclose to giving a pilot order to an untitled single-camera comedy starring Arrested Development's Will Arnett, who wrote the script and will executive produce alongside Arrested's Mitch Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, as well as Eric and Kim Tannenbaum, Peter Principato, and Paul Young. Arnett will star as a wealthy Beverly Hills resident who falls in love with a woman who can't stand him. The project nearly didn't go ahead at all after Sony Pictures Television stepped away from the pilot, citing cost concerns, but Lionsgate Television has stepped in to provide the deficit financing. Once that deal closes, FOX is expected to order the project to series. [Editor: I already have the script so will let you know what I think.] (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Dan Snierson has a Q&A-style interview with Lost's Terry O'Quinn about playing the Man in Black and the smoke monster. "It’s fun to play," O'Quinn told Snierson when asked about playing ol' Smokey. "I mean, it’s just totally different from whatever John Locke was. Bad guys have better secrets. And if he’s a bad guy, he’s got a lot of secrets. And that’s what frustrates people. When [Sawyer] says, 'What are you?' and Smokey says, 'What I am is trapped,' okay--you don’t pursue that question. Everybody else will go, 'Well, what the hell does that mean? Who are you? Come on, man!' But we’re going to have to wait until another week to find that out." (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Kristin Kreuk (Chuck) and Jack Carpenter (Sydney White) have been cast as the leads in Josh Schwartz and Matt Miller's CBS comedy pilot Hitched, about a newlywed couple who deal with their friends and family after their wedding. Project, from Warner Bros. Television, will also star Eugene Levy. [Editor: clearly, Schwartz liked working with Kreuk during her Chuck story arc this season.] (Hollywood Reporter)

Ugly Betty's Becki Newton received no less than eleven pilot offers this season but ultimately settled on NBC's romantic dramedy anthology Love Bites, from writer/executive producer Cindy Chupack (Sex and the City). Newton will play Annie, described as "an optimistic, infectiously bubbly social worker who is a virgin," in the series' loosely connected stories about love, sex, and marriage. (Hollywood Reporter)

Pitch perfect casting alert! William Shatner (Boston Legal) will star in CBS multi-camera comedy pilot Shit My Dad Says, executive produced by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (Will & Grace). Shatner's attachment lifts the casting contingency on the pilot, which hails from Warner Bros. Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, Bill Pullman has come on board NBC comedy pilot Nathan vs. Nurture, where he will play Arthur, the biological father of Jay Harrington's titular character, a heart surgeon who reunites with his birth father and siblings. Project hails from Sony Pictures Television. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Saturday Night Live is nearing a deal with Betty White to host the live comedy show for the first time. But there is one caveat: White wouldn't host by herself but rather would appear as a part of a "Women of Comedy" episode that would include several other comediennes, including Molly Shannon and potentially Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Nicollette Sheridan (Desperate Housewives) has been cast as the lead in Ant Hines' untitled CBS pilot presentation, opposite Paul Kaye. Kaye will play a British sleazebag who moves to Los Angeles to reconnect with his estranged daughter after she has become famous. Sheridan will play the girl's stage mother. Elsewhere, Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives) has been cast opposite Virginia Madsen in ABC's dramedy series Scoundrels, based on Kiwi series Outrageous Fortune. He'll play the patriarch of a family of career criminals who is sentenced to a prison term, which prompts his wife (Madsen) to push her family onto the straight and narrow. (Hollywood Reporter)

More pilot castings: Rachael Leigh Cook (Psych) has taken the female lead in FOX comedy pilot Nevermind Nirvana; Sean Faris (The Vampire Diaries) has landed the lead in Amy Sherman Palladino's untitled Wyoming project for the CW; Jere Burns (Surviving Surburia) will star opposite Laurie Metcalf in FOX comedy pilot Strange Brew (also cast: Aya Cash, Skylar Astin, and Mo Mandel); and Charles Dutton (Oz), Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City), and Jeff Davis have joined the cast of TBS pilot Uncle Nigel, opposite Gary Cole and Matt Jones. (Hollywood Reporter)

Variety's Jon Weisman explores the graduation hurdles facing Glee, given its locked-in high school timeline. "From the moment it became clear the Fox musical comedy would survive its first season, another dilemma emerged," writes Weisman. "Set in high school, Glee now faces a ticking clock that some in its genre have found energizing, others confounding." Weisman looks at other series that have faced the same situation, including Friday Night Lights, One Tree Hill, Beverly Hills 90210, and Gossip Girl. (Variety)

Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City, Men in Trees) has joined Showtime's upcoming Laura Linney-led comedy series The Big C as an executive producer/showrunner. Also coming on board: Michael Engler as co-executive producer. (Hollywood Reporter)

Take with a (very large) grain of salt: British tabloid The Sun is reporting that Gavin & Stacey's James Corden has been cast in a role on Season Five of Doctor Who, citing an unnamed source within the production. (via Digital Spy)

ABC Family has renewed drama series Greek for a fourth season of ten episodes, set to air later this year. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jake McLaughlin (Crash) has been cast in an upcoming episode of ABC's Grey's Anataomy, where he will play Aaron, the estranged brother of Justin Chamber's Alex who arrives at Seattle Grace as a patient. "The family reunion is rather momentous," writes Ausiello. "This will mark the first time viewers will be meeting a member of Alex’s troubled clan." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has yanked reincarnation drama Past Life off of its schedule, effective immediately. The low-rated drama will be replaced on Thursday nights with new episodes of Kitchen Nightmares for the next three weeks and then repeats of Fringe beginning March 18th. (The latter returns with new episodes on April 1st.) FOX, for its part, says that it will air the remaining unaired episodes of Past Life at some point during the season, most likely during summer... but seeing is believing, really. (The Wrap's TV MoJoe)

Elsewhere at the network, FOX has given a pilot order to animated comedy Brickleberry, which revolves around a group of forest rangers at a struggling park. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Fox21, will feature the voices of Dave Herman, Tom Kenny, and Carlos Alazraqui. it is written/executive produced by Waco O'Guin and Roger Black of MTV's Stankervision. (Variety)

Lack of casting has prompted ABC to shelve its comedy pilot Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid, based on Howard Morris and Jenny Lee's book. The project was picked up to pilot in December but lack of movement have led ABC to roll over the project to next year's pilot season, at which time it could resurrect the project. (Hollywood Reporter)

And 20th Century Fox Television has pulled out of FOX drama pilot Worthy, leaving the status of the project up in the air. (Futon Critic)

Scripps Networks' Fine Living will morph into the Cooking Channel at the end of May and will present culinary-themed programming featuring the likes of Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse. (Variety)

NBC has teamed up with Procter & Gamble on two-hour telepic The Jensen Project, which would star Kellie Martin, Brady Smith, Patricia Richardson, and LeVar Burton. "Set in 1988, it revolves around 12 geniuses who move to an isolated spot in the Allegheny Mountains to form the Jensen Project," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. "For 20 years, the group spend their time inventing ways to fix the world's problems and then share their discoveries freely and anonymously with the world. But when a few decide to take their latest invention, cash in and make names for themselves, it launches a cross-country race as the others try to stop them." (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Everywhere and Anywhere: New "Doctor Who" Teaser Trailer Released

"Everywhere and anywhere. Every star that ever was... Where do you want to start?"

BBC One and BBC America have released a new one-minute teaser trailer for Season Five of Doctor Who, which is set to air this spring.

Featuring new series lead Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, who plays the Eleventh Doctor's first companion Amy Pond, the trailer depicts the duo cast into the time vortex, surrounded by some of the Doctor's most fearsome adversaries, including a Dalek, a Weeping Angel, a Smiler, and more.

Not to mention the classic Doctor "who?" pun.

You can check out the trailer below.



Season Five of Doctor Who will air this spring on BBC One and BBC America.

Sad Sacks (and Funny Guys): An Advance Review of Season Two of HBO's "The Life and Times of Tim"

Imagine a world where the very simplest of actions, the most basic of decisions, could produce a flood of absurd consequences.

You'd likely be too terrified to even step outside of your box-sized Manhattan apartment but for Tim, the hero and titular character of HBO's animated comedy The Life and Times of Tim seems to have not heeded the lesson that if you stick your hand in the flames, you're likely to get burned.

Season Two of HBO's cheeky The Life and Times of Tim begins tonight and finds Tim (voiced by series creator Steve Dildarian) attempting to get out of a slew of bizarre circumstances that he has found himself in by dint of being, well, Tim.

Whether it's his possible replacement at the nebulous company Omnicorp by a homeless man named Vince (guest star Tony Hale), thanks to his efforts to grow a beard, or suffering through a terrible revival of a 1940s play ("it's like an Arthur Miller play... only slower") so that his friend Stu (Nick Kroll) can score from pot from his drug dealer-turned-actor. (Hint: don't use "tickets" as a codeword for pot to buy some from a wannabe actor.)

Throughout it all, Tim wanders through life being painfully average yet finding himself in some rather extraordinary and unusual situations (witness his attempts to prevent a jilted pharmaceutical saleswoman from driving them both of the George Washington Bridge in a stolen car in an upcoming episode). The results are hysterical yet painful, much like that of HBO's other animated comedy launching tonight, The Ricky Gervais Show, which the pay cabler is airing back-to-back in a one-hour block of they-didn't-just-say-that-did-they? comic mirth.

All in all, The Life and Times of Tim will make you laugh... and make you thankful that your life isn't quite as bad as poor Tim's. At the very least, your job isn't in danger of being taken over by a manipulative homeless man. Or, perhaps, maybe it is...

Season Two Trailer

Season Two of The Life and Times of Tim begins tonight at 9:30 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Channel Surfing: Syfy Standing Behind "Caprica," David Tennant to Star in BBC One Drama, Maggie Q Suits Up for CW's "Nikita," "Bones," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Syfy's latest original series Caprica isn't going anywhere any time soon, according to the cabler's EVP of original programming Mark Stern in an interview with Airlock Alpha's Michael Hinman. "We're definitely with Caprica for the long haul," said Stern. "There's no question about it. We knew exactly what it was not going to be, that is an easily adopted show. It's not Battlestar Galactica, it's its own animal. And we definitely recognize that it's going to find its audience and it's going to grow its audience... We're certainly not sharpening the axe by any stretch of the imagination. We all really believe in the show, and it has a lot of potential." Set to air its fourth episode tonight, Caprica will air the first half of its freshman season (10 episodes) before taking a breather and returning in late summer, where it will be paired with another original series as a lead-in. [Editor: my best guess? Look for Caprica to be paired with Haven, the adaptation of Stephen King's "The Colorado Kid."] (Airlock Alpha)

David Tennant has been cast as the lead in Single Father, a four-part drama series for BBC One that is written by Mick Ford (Ashes to Ashes). Production is slated to begin next month on the BBC Scotland-produced drama, which revolves around a photographer and single dad who must raise his four children on his own and who falls in love with his wife's best friend. "I feel very lucky to have been sent this script," said Tennant in a statement. "When I read what Mick Ford had written I was desperate to be part of this project. And to be working with Red Production Company again makes me very happy indeed." (BBC)

Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III) has been cast as the title character in the CW's Nikita, from executive producers McG and Craig Silverstein. In this version (itself one in a long line of remakes and updates since Luc Besson's 1990 La Femme Nikita), Maggie Q will play "a new Nikita being trained to replace the original one after she goes rogue." Casting marks the highest-profile minority casting at the netlet in its four-year history. Elsewhere, Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace) has landed the lead in Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters' ABC drama pilot Cutthroat, where she will play Nina Cabrera, a Beverly Hills widow who runs a drug cartel. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Bones executive producer Stephen Nathan about what's coming up for Booth and Brennan on the FOX procedural drama series before the end of the season. "The season finale is taking shape now and it’s going to be quite a surprise," Nathan told Ausiello. "We literally are in the process of working it out. We’ve had this in our minds for quite a while, and it’s gelling now. It’s going to be a pretty big episode for us in terms of what happens to Booth and Brennan.... This one will be as big [as the Season Four ender] in emotional terms." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Former Wonderfalls star Caroline Dhavernas has landed one of the three lead roles in Shonda Rhimes' ABC medical drama pilot Off the Map. She'll play Lily, described as "a young doctor who deals with tragedy by moving to a jungle in South America to work in a free clinic." (TVGuide.com)

Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight) has been cast as one of the leads in CBS' untitled Hannah Shakespeare drama pilot, which is being executive produced by John Wells (ER). Lefevre, most recently seen on ABC's The Deep End, will play "a confident young doctor more comfortable in the field than in the office" in the drama, which revolves around a mobile medical team that travels the country helping those less fortunate who need extreme medical attention. Elsewhere, Meanwhile, Carrie Wiita (Reno 911!) and Andrea Savage (Dinner for Schmucks) have joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot The Strip, which stars Tom Lennon. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Harold Perrineau (Lost) will guest star on CBS' CSI: NY in April, in an episode where he will play a death row inmate who is trapped inside the prison during a riot and who has a major bombshell to deliver to Hawkes (Hill Harper). (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Pilot director update: Simon West (Human Target) will direct the pilot for NBC's vigilante drama pilot The Cape; Jace Alexander (Burn Notice) will direct ABC drama pilot Edgar Floats; Bronwen Hughes (White Collar) will direct ABC dramedy pilot Cutthroat; David Semel (Heroes) will direct the pilot for ABC superhero family drama No Ordinary Family; Yves Simoneau (V) will direct ABC drama pilot Matadors, Peter Horton (Grey's Anatomy) will direct ABC cop drama True Blue; Gary Fleder will direct ABC's untitled Richard Hatem crime drama; Bill D'Elia (Boston Legal) will direct David E. Kelley's NBC pilot Kindreds; Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) will direct NBC's untitled John Eisendrath legal drama (aka Rough Justice); and Ken Fink (CSI) will direct CBS drama pilot The Odds. (Hollywood Reporter)

Looks like Glee will be continuing into the summer. Or at least until June 8th, when it will wrap up its freshman season. FOX confirmed the finale date, along with those for Fringe and Bones (May 20th), House (May 17th), Human Target (May 5th), and several others. (Futon Critic)

SPOILER! TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has some details about what's in store for Season Seven of HBO's Entourage, which is about to begin production. "Vince will be working on a new big-budget film with lots of stunts and pyro techniques, requiring a stunt coordinator to help Vince (Adrian Grenier) through some dangerous scenes," writes Keck. "Meanwhile, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) will be starting up a new business venture, hiring three sexy girls named Sarah, Rachel and Abby to chauffeur the rich and famous around L.A. Of course, the girls would rather be working as actresses in Vince's new film." (TV Guide Magazine)

Rufus Sewell (The Eleventh Hour) will star as Italian detective Aurelio Zen in a three feature-length dramas for BBC One based on Michael Didbin's novels. (BBC)

In other UK news, Season Two of five-part mystery drama Five Days will launch on BBC One in March. It will star Suranne Jones, David Morrissey, Anne Reid, Hugo Speer, Bernard Hill, Derek Riddell, Nina Sosanya, Steve Evets, Ashley Walters, Shaun Dooley, Matthew McNulty, Navin Chowdhry, Shivani Ghai, Sacha Dhawan, Cornell John, Aaron Neil, Philip Arditti, Kerry Condon, and Chris Fountain. According to the press materials: "Five Days 2 is an atmospheric ensemble drama – a mystery which unfolds over the five most significant days of the police investigation into these two mysteries. It is set in the heart of urban Yorkshire – a melting pot of tensions and relationships within a multicultural landscape." (BBC)

HBO has already renewed its 12-episode freshman comedy series Funny or Die, which premieres tonight, for a second season of 10 episodes. (Variety)

Allison Janey (The West Wing) will guest star on USA's In Plain Sight in a two-episode story arc in which she'll play "a newly-appointed US Marshal for the district who butts heads with Mary (Mary McCormack)." Janey is especially in demand this season, with the actor scoring a co-starring role opposite Matthew Perry in ABC comedy pilot Mr. Sunshine and a recurring role in Showtime drama pilot Shameless. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that former Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith will guest star in an upcoming episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where she will play a former police officer. (TV Guide Magazine)

A&E has ordered a second season of docudrama Steven Seagal: Lawman, with 16 episodes set on tap. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Laugh Until It Hurts: An Advance Review of HBO's "The Ricky Gervais Show"

If you ever listened to Ricky Gervais' hilarious podcast, you know what to expect from HBO's newest animated offering, The Ricky Gervais Show. But even if you have, the series will still make you laugh until it physically hurts.

Featuring the voices of Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, The Ricky Gervais Show takes those podcasts and animates them, transforming the musings of Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington into something resembling a Flintstones cartoon, if Fred and Barney had a ridiculous naive friend and they all sat around talking bollocks and trashing him all the time.

Meet Karl Pilkington. He of the roundest head in the world, Karl is a very easy target for the savage wit of writing partners Gervais and Merchant (who together created The Office and Extras), who use the opportunity to pounce on anything remotely ridiculous emanating from Pilkington's mouth. Which, to be honest, is very thankfully most of the time.

Arranged ostensibly as a roundtable discussion, The Ricky Gervais Show finds the trio dissecting any number of things: fallacies that Pilkington has taken on board, naive viewpoints about the world, monkey- and nob-related news, and much more. (The regular "Monkey News" segment is a personal favorite and has been since Gervais and Co. started doing the podcasts way back when.)

The animated format allows for some fantastically funny visual puns as well as the ability to not only depict the gang chatting but also to take some imaginative journeys inside the mind of Karl Pilkington, journey up into a banana-dispensing rocket ship piloted by a trained monkey, or follow the gang on their adventures, which include riffs on just about everything under the sun. They also allow for some freshening up of the underlying material, so that if you have already heard these exchanges, they seem new and polished after undergoing animation.

The raucous and filthy-mouthed proceedings are absolutely hilarious. The first three episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show (which were provided for review) are hysterical as Pilkington talks about visiting a creepy, rundown estate owned by a friend (the best bit: the grocery list he encounters), Merchant discusses locker room etiquette, and Gervais can't help but bust out his trademark laugh and rip Pilkington's stories apart with gleeful abandon.

There's an easy wit to The Ricky Gervais Show as well as some gasp-inducing moments of pure, unadulterated comedic gold. The trick is to not watch the series while drinking a hot cup of tea... lest you end up doing a spit-take every other minute. But in the privacy of your own home, maybe that's just the thing for winding down the work week.

Promo

The Ricky Gervais Show premieres tomorrow night at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO.

UK Cinemas to Get 3-D "Doctor Who" Trailer

Lucky, lucky Brits.

Broadcast's Will Strauss is reporting that UK cinemas will show a special 3-D trailer for Season Five of Doctor Who, which features new series leads Matt Smith and Karen Gillan... as well as new head writer/executive producer Steven Moffat.

The 40-second trailer, which will be converted to 3-D from 2-D, will mirror a new Doctor Who promo spot set to run this weekend on BBC One (and which will be made available Stateside by BBC America). It's expected to begin running in cinemas across the United Kingdom (as well as "external promotional screening events") in March.

"Doctor Who is the appropriate vehicle for 3D," said a BBC spokesperson in a statement. "It just fits. It’s a great way to introduce and showcase the new Doctor to younger viewers."

Season Five of Doctor Who will launch this spring on BBC One and BBC America.

Channel Surfing: Ex-Castaway Returns to "Lost," NBC Targets "Nine Lives," Jay Harrington is "Nathan," CW Spies "Nomads," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen and Dan Snierson are reporting that Maggie Grace is set to reprise her role as Shannon Rutherford on ABC's Lost later this season in an unspecified number of episodes. "We’re really excited about having her back on the show," showrunner/executive producer Carlton Cuse told EW.com, "and we have a good story for her." Grace joins fellow former cast members Ian Somerhalder, Harold Perrineau, Cynthia Watros, and Rebecca Mader, all of whom are set to return to Lost this season. Sadly, Malcolm David Kelley will be the only original cast member not returning. [Editor: Grace has been the center of several conflicting reports about her possible return or non-return, so this confirmation should finally put those to bed.] (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Looks like Nine Lives found another one. The twelve-hour mini-series from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Les Bohem had been set up at Syfy back in 2007 but has now found another shot at NBC, where it will be rewritten as a direct-to-series project. Nine Lives, which will be executive produced by Spielberg, Bohem, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank, follows "a group of people who find a way to reunite with their loved ones in the afterlife through near-death experiences, but those journeys unleash an evil force." Could NBC be viewing this as a possible replacement for Heroes? Hmmm... (Hollywood Reporter)

Bad news for Better Off Ted fans: there's another nail in the series' potential coffin as series lead Jay Harrington has signed on to topline NBC comedy pilot Nathan vs. Nurture. Harrington will play the titular character, a heart surgeon who uncovers his biological parents and a group of low-aiming siblings. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, is written and executive produced by David Guarascio and Moses Port and directed by James Burrows. Harrington's casting is said to be in second position to Better Off Ted, but it's sadly thought unlikely that the ABC workplace comedy series will be renewed for a third season. (Variety)

The CW has ordered a pilot presentation for action-adventure drama Nomads from writer/director Ken Sanzel (NUMB3RS) and executive producers Ridley and Tony Scott. Project, which will be jointly produced by CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television, follows "a group of young backpackers who find a way to make some extra money by doing secret missions for the C.I.A." (Variety)

NBC has ordered single-camera romantic comedy pilot Friends with Benefits, which had previously been set up at ABC. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, (500) Days of Summer writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, and Wedding Crashers director David Dobkins, revolves around five friends in search of love who settle for friendships with benefits. (Variety)

Pilot casting round-up: Ben Rappaport has been cast as the lead on the NBC comedy pilot Outsourced; Donald Faison (Scrubs) has come on board CBS comedy pilot The Odds, where he will play a lead homicide detective; Autumn Reeser (Entourage) has joined the cast of ABC superhero drama pilot No Ordinary Family, where she will play a lab assistant; Todd Stashwick (The Riches) has been cast in ABC's untitled Dana Gould comedy, where he'll play a "former college football superstar now married with four kids and down on his luck"; and Natalie Martinez (Sons of Tucson) has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot 187 Detroit. (Hollywood Reporter)

Courtney Thorne-Smith has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on CBS comedy Two and a Half Men. She'll play Lindsay, described as "a girlfriend for Alan (Jon Cryer) who is a deeply neurotic, recently divorced mother of a rotten 16-year-old boy." (Hollywood Reporter)

While Top Gear isn't heading to NBC, it could still be headed for US screens... on the History channel. History is said to be in talks to acquire the US format for the hit British series, according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. (Hollywood Reporter)

Spike has ordered a pilot for single-camera comedy Back Nine, which will star John Schneider (Smallville) as a former U.S. Open champion who has hit rock bottom and "travels the country competing in small-time tournaments with Tiger, his sex-addicted longtime caddy, in order to qualify again for the PGA Tour." Project is written and directed by Jason Filardi and Mark Perez, who will executive produce with John Lynch. Miguel Nunez is currently in talks to come on board in the role of Tiger. (Hollywood Reporter)

Verizon FiOS subscribers will be the first to check out HBO's new online streaming service, HBO Go, which offers more than 600 hours of programming, while Comcast subscribers will be able to access the same programming via the cable provider's Fancast service. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will be able to finally see the Nathan Fillion-led ABC crime dramedy Castle, thanks to a deal between ABC Studios and UKTV crime channel Alibi, which has picked up the exclusive UK rights for the first two seasons of Castle. (Broadcast)

The CW is developing two reality projects, including an untitled docusoap from Ryan Seacrest Prods. that will follow celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson as she keeps celebrities fit. [Editor: While Anderson's client roster includes Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, and Courteney Cox, I'd be amazed if any of them opts to appear on screen.] Also in development: Lost Weekend, a scavenger hunt-style competition series from executive producers Brett Ratner and Justin Hochberg. (Hollywood Reporter)

Cable network TLC has reached an undisclosed settlement with Jon Gosselin for the breach of contract lawsuit they had brought against the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star. (Gosselin later countersued the network.) The terms of the settlement are being kept confidential. (Variety)

Nickelodeon has ordered a second season of kid-focused game show BrainSurge, with 40 episodes on tap for this summer. (Variety)

More layoffs at Sony Pictures Television in the current department: VP Debra Curtis and manager Rose Lee have been let go as part of a corporate restructure under which 450 employees will be let go from across all of Sony Pictures Entertainment divisions. (The sole remaining current executive? John Westphal.) Many are taking the layoffs as a sign that the studio will shift current responsibilities to the development teams. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Daily Show's Stewart Bailey has been named the new executive producer of NBC's latenight talk show Last Call With Carson Daly. He replaces David Friedman, who has left to take a position with CBS' The Early Show. (Variety)

Warner Horizon has signed a deal with John De Mol's Talpa Media to develop reality series for US broadcast and cable networks that are based on the shingle's Dutch formats. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Balancing the Scales: The Allegory of the Cave on "Lost"

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" - John Locke

Last night's powerful and evocative episode of Lost ("The Substitute"), written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Melinda Hsu Taylor and directed by Tucker Gates, focused on two very different incarnations of John Locke, one that has been co-opted by the enigmatic Man in Black and the other who never crashed on the island and therefore never gained his defining faith in the mysteries of the universe.

Last night's installment not only offered us a study of Locke in life and in death, but also provided some tangible answers about some of the series' most enduring mysteries, including the nature of the recurring numbers, the relationship between Jacob and the Man in the Black, and why these specific people have been brought to the island.

So, what did I think of last night's episode of Lost? Turn on some Iggy Pop, pour yourself a whiskey, hold on to that rope ladder, and let's discuss "The Substitute."

With the end of Lost fast approaching, I thought that last night's episode provided perhaps the single most illuminating episode in quite some time, paying off the promises made by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about answering some of the big questions that the five seasons of the series have kicked up.

One of the central conflicts within the series has been that between Jack's man of science and Locke's man of faith, a struggle in itself between free will and fate, and between coincidence and design. Did the castaways crash on this island for a particular reason? Were they called forth for a purpose? Is it part and parcel of their larger destiny?

John Locke has been a character at the heart of these discussions, a man who received the blessing of the island and was brought back to life by a spiritual resurrection that saw the island give him the returned use of his legs. This gift was proof of a larger miracle, the miracle of the island itself, and Locke was its central believer, the keeper of its mysteries, and the prime candidate for the role of protector.

It was, after all, no accident that these particular people ended up on the island. Jacob selected several of them, approaching them at difficult times in their life and bestowing his blessing with a touch. As we've already seen at the end of last season, Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid, Locke, and Jin and Sun each received a calling from Jacob (along with Ilana, it was revealed earlier this season, though she was specifically not touched by Jacob). It had been divined that these people would make their way to the island and had been claimed by Jacob as possible candidates.

Candidates for what exactly, though? We'll get to that in a little bit. Last week, I brought up Aristotle's Four Causes and this week it's Plato's teachings that hover over the action here this week on Lost, vis-a-vis his Allegory of the Cave. (Rather funnily, I discussed just Plato's Allegory of the Cave with The Prisoner screenwriter Bill Gallagher here in regard to the AMC miniseries, which also dealt with layers of reality, perception, and the subconscious.)

Plato had offered an allegory or metaphor for the clouding of perception as it relates to the world around us. Here's a very simplified breakdown of the allegory: a group of men are imprisoned within a cave and are forced to watch a series of shadows on the wall. These shadows are produced by a fire but the prisoners begin to describe the forms that the shadows take and begin to believe that they are real, given that they have no means of seeing the truth. Like the castaways, these prisoners are able to escape the cave but when faced with the reality of the world, they believe that the shadows are "real" and the objects that cast them are not. The sunlight would be blinding as the prisoners' eyes had grown accustomed to see in the darkness of the cave. But the prisoners would adapt and eventually see the truth of the world around them... and would then have to return to the cave to tell the others of the truth and to force their eyes open.

Hmmm... Like in the allegory of the cave, several of the castaways were imprisoned, released, and returned. Some of them still believe in the shadows and others are determined to reveal the foolishness of their beliefs. But this is Lost and some of those shadows are very, very real, and very dangerous.

Smokey. I thought it was a brilliant stroke to have the opening of the episode unfold from the perspective of the smoke monster. Lost, after all, deals quite a lot with the nature of perception, with the way that we view our pasts and our destinies. Only fitting then that the Man in Black/Smoke Monster would get an episode that begins with his journey through the island landscape as we see the world through his/its eyes, as it pauses outside Sawyer's old house at the Barracks (loved the reflection in the window) before finding a machete with which to cut down Richard Alpert.

It's interesting that the Man in Black feels the need to open Richard's eyes in particular... and that while he has no compunction about injuring Richard, he doesn't seem to want to kill him. He believes that Richard has been foolishly following all of Jacob's commands without knowing WHY, trusting in the shadows of the cave wall without seeing just who and what is casting them. But Richard, like Locke, is a man of faith, trusting in the instructions he's been given without needing to know the reasons behind them.

Which makes me wonder just how and why Richard Alpert has been kept alive this long and by whose hand. He has served Jacob faithfully for centuries and would appear to have been "recruited" by him to advise and guide the Others, a group of people who live on the island but who recently, through an as yet undisclosed reason, are unable to reproduce and therefore need to recruit new members to their ranks through other means.

Was Richard a former candidate turned chalice-bearer for Jacob? Had he too been selected by Jacob before he arrived on the island? Is he protected from action against him as seemingly the other candidates are? I'd say... no to both.

The Boy in the Jungle. Just who is it that Smokey sees in the jungle and why can't Richard Alpert see him? Answer: another incarnation of Jacob. Unlike the Man in Black, who appears to be confined to the island, Jacob exists in multiple incarnations and within multiple levels of time and space, able to appear on the island, off-island, and in various guises, such as the teenage boy (his arms covered in blood) glimpsed here and the old man that Locke saw within the cabin. Smokey can see him because he is aware of Jacob and has already seen him in various guises.

Sawyer, likewise, can see the boy because he had been visited by Jacob and had been blessed by him. (I'd also guess that the others whom Jacob had visited would also be able to see this presence.) Given that Richard can't, I'd therefore say that Richard isn't a candidate and didn't receive Jacob's "blessing." He isn't within the circle of protection that's afforded to those in Jacob's coterie.

Even more interesting is that Smokey appears to be quite afraid when the boy appears. Since Smokey has often been the one casting the shadows, isn't only fair that he's on the receiving end for a change? And couldn't it mean that some of the spirits we've glimpsed on the series might not be manifestations of Smokey but of Jacob? Hmmm...

What Can't He Do? Only fitting that the man wearing John Locke's skin should yell at the figure, "Don't tell me what I can't do!" But the response is in reference to the boy's statement that the Man in Black can't "kill him." So who is the him in this sentence? Sawyer, of course. The Smoke Monster has killed many people on the island but has never lifted a hand against those candidates whom Jacob selected. Given that Saywer is one of those candidates (and is protected by the numbers), he's untouchable and killing Sawyer is off limits to the Man in Black...

Yet the Man in Black DOES move to save Sawyer's life when he nearly falls off the rope and bamboo ladder on the cliffside. Could it be that he can't kill him but also can't let him die either? If that's the case, why is it so essential for the candidates to be protected within the Temple? Not because they'll be killed by the Man in Black but because they might be recruited by him?

Locke-X. While the Man in Black is using Locke's form on the island, we're also given a glimpse into another version of John Locke, one who never had the chance to claim his destiny. Returning from Sydney without having convinced the excursion company to allow him on the walkabout, Locke comes home to his fiancee Helen and some very different circumstances in his life. For one, Anthony Cooper doesn't appear to be the cause of Locke's paralysis as he had been in the other reality. (Otherwise, Locke wouldn't have been so open to inviting him to the wedding or their possible elopement, nor would Helen have suggested it in the first place.) It also appears that he never split from Helen and the two were planning their nuptials... and that he went to Sydney on the pretense of attending a conference and used his company's money to finance his airfare to Australia, where he promptly ditched the conference and attempted to go on a walkabout.

This fact is quickly discovered by the loathsome Randy, who fires Locke. But despite the fact that Oceanic Flight 815 never crashed, these castaways are still bound by invisible strings. While he ultimately decides not to call Jack for a free consult, Locke nevertheless crosses paths with two other would-be castaways in the form of Hurley, who owns the box company where Locke had been employed, and Rose, who oversees a temp agency (also owned by Hurley) where Locke is sent for a new job. (Rose, meanwhile, still has terminal cancer but is attempting to live the life she has left. It's a moment of epiphany for Locke when she reveals this.)

Locke is so focused on proving everyone wrong about his condition that he isn't thinking about what is right for him, what's suitable, and what will be worthwhile. The job that Locke eventually gets is that of substitute teacher. Given the episode title, it's not only a fitting employment prospect but also refers to several other current situations currently ensnaring John Locke in multiple realities. There's a man with his face running around the island but he's an impostor, a substitute. Likewise, Locke would have appeared to have been the prime candidate for ascending and replacing Jacob but his death has axed him from the running, leading the PTB to find a substitute, another candidate. Curious that.

I'm also intrigued by Locke's decision not to seek a cure for his condition. He wants Helen to accept him for who he is, in the state he's in, and says that he doesn't believe in miracles. It's a diametrically opposite position to the Locke in the mainstream reality and one that will likely have some severe consequences down the road.

Ben-X. The real stunner, however, is that Ben is a teacher at the school where Locke receives his substitute teaching gig. First of all, I think it's absolutely perfect that Benjamin Linus would be an anal European History teacher at a high school and would chastise his colleagues for not cleaning out the used coffee grinds from the machine. (How absolutely perfect.) But I am scratching my head about how Ben is in this reality as he should have drowned on the island when The Incident occurred as he wasn't one of the children aboard the submarine when it departed before The Incident. Hmmm... Could it be that Ben himself is somehow protected and that someone--or something--course-corrected in order to ensure that Ben would be alive within this divergent reality? Or is it that the castaways' actions produced many significant changes under the surface? Curious... Let's hope these two become fast friends.

Ben. The Ben in the other reality, however, offered a few words at the impromptu burial of John Locke in the little cemetery by the castaway's old beach home. (Interesting that the men here--Ben and Frank--were wearing white shirts, while the women--Sun and Ilana--had on black shirts. Balance, as always.) He admitted that Locke was a better man that he would ever be and that he had murdered him, an admission that doesn't seem to shock the others too much. Does anyone else feel that Locke and Ben were perhaps the two men most suited to taking over for Jacob and the Man in Black? Notice that he's less than forthcoming about the fact that he killed Jacob, instead pinning the blame on the Locke lookalike.

(Aside: am also intrigued by the fact that Ilana scooped up the ash that was left behind after Jacob's corpse went up in flames. Is this the same ash--the remnants of the protector--that they have been using to block out the Man in Black from certain locations?)

Sawyer. Poor Sawyer, meanwhile, ends up stuck with the Man in Black after he's been living in his own filth and swigging whiskey for days in the home he once shared with Juliet. But Sawyer's no fool and the Man in Black should know better than to con a con man; Sawyer knows straightaway that he's not John Locke and asks "what" he is. While he doesn't get an answer, he's willing to embark on a journey to get some answers about why he's on the island, even when he's warned otherwise by Richard Alpert. Loved that he pulled a gun on Fake Locke but I'm also glad that he didn't fire, given what happened to Ilana's team.

But the Man in Black would seem to share some qualities with Sawyer himself. He says that he was a man once too, a man like Sawyer, and that he too lost someone he loved. (Hmmm...) It would therefore appear that both Jacob and the Man in Black didn't always serve in their positions and had taken over for people before them. Which made me think once more of the corpses that have been described as "Adam and Eve." (Remember the black and white stones accompanying their bodies?) Were these failed candidates? Previous protectors whose bodies seemingly decayed at an infinitesimal rate over time? (Or, under the same circumstances, the loved ones of Jacob and the Man in Black?)

The Cave. On the edge of the island, there lies a cave (aha, Plato again!), which I thought might have been the home of the Man in Black but it's something else entirely. It's here that the MiB takes Sawyer to show him the truth about his purpose on the island and it contains a scale on which sit a large white stone and a large black stone but the scales are tipped over to the black side when the Man in Black throws the white stone into the sea, an "inside joke" that nonetheless could also represent Jacob's recent death at the hands of Ben. But the front room with its Libra-like scales isn't what he wants Sawyer to see... Rather it's the walls of the darkened cave behind, which contains many, many crossed-out names, some unknown and some quite familiar.

The Candidates and The Numbers. Among those not crossed out, several passengers aboard Oceanic Flight 815, including those who were visited by Jacob: Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, Kwon (though whether it was Jin or Sun is unclear), Hurley, and Locke. These individuals would seem to be candidates to replace Jacob, to take his place on the island and serve his purpose: to protect the island from harm, to keep the scale balanced and preserve the delicate relationship between good and evil. Jacob can travel off-island and wants to protect it; The Man in Black is bound to the island and wants to leave. Their cross-purposes once more create an equilibrium, maintaining the balance. Jacob's death however has tipped the scales towards the black. So, will one of these people succeed Jacob now that he's died? And what makes them more or less a better candidate than the others?

Each of the castaways whose names appear on the cave wall have a number assigned to them:

4 - John Locke
8 - Hugo Reyes
15 - James Ford
16 - Sayid Jarrah
23 - Jack Shephard
42 - Kwon

Those numbers, of course, correspond to the so-called cursed numbers that have encircled the story since the very first episode. The Man in Black said that Jacob had "a thing for numbers" and, interestingly, the names that are crossed out (other than Locke's, which the Man in Black draws a line through) correlate to numbers that aren't these cursed (or perhaps blessed numbers). Curious, that.

A few things jumped out at me here. For one, it's interesting that the Man in Black isn't sure whether Kwon refers to either Jin or Sun. I'm thinking that might be because it could refer to them as a single unit and that their duality represents a sense of balance, their fates inexorably bound together. Which could mean that something is intentionally keeping the two apart and that there was a specific reason why Sun did not travel into the past with the other members of the Oceanic Six, a reason that is connected with keeping the couple as separate as possible. There's also another possibility: that Kwon doesn't refer to them at all but rather their offspring, Ji-Yeon, who is also a Kwon... but isn't on the island. (Neither is Aaron, though, and I'd think he'd be a prime candidate.)

I'm also concerned by the fact that, despite Jacob contacting both Kate and Ilana in the same fashion as the others, neither of their names is glimpsed on the wall and neither has been given a number that correlates with one of Jacob's favored numbers. While the Kwon entry is vague and ambiguous, the other names all refer to men rather than women. It is possible that only men can act as substitutes for Jacob and the Man in Black once they are released from their obligations, despite the fact that Kate and Ilana were seemingly selected for a purpose by Jacob. Unless, of course, they have another position to fill... Ilana, as mentioned above, was visited by Jacob but not touched, which means she could be a foot soldier in his employ but not a candidate. But what does that mean about Kate? Hmmm...

Which brings us to the crossroads at the end of the episode. Sawyer can take one of three possible paths: he can do nothing and see how things turn out; he can take over for Jacob and protect the island (which the Man in Black says doesn't need to be protected); or he can leave the island with the Man in Black.

Sawyer chooses the latter, which makes me very nervous indeed because if leaving the island were simple, the Man in Black would have done so a long time ago and he would appear to be imprisoned here. Does he need the choice of one of Jacob's candidates in order to flee? And what would his arrive off of his floating island prison mean for the rest of the world?

All in all, a fantastic episode that provided some much needed answers to some central mysteries on the series and made me anxious for next Tuesday evening already. Especially intriguing: next week's episode marks the series' 108th hour. Given the importance of the numbers (which, as we all know, add up to 108), I can't help but feel that next week's episode will be a hell of a ride. Buckle up, Lost fans.

What did you think of this week's episode? What are your theories about what's going on? Agree or disagree with the above. Discuss.

Next week on Lost ("Lighthouse"), Hurley must convince Jack to accompany him on an unspecified mission and Jin stumbles across an old friend.

Countdown to New "Doctor Who" Trailer Begins!

The countdown to a new trailer for Season Five of Doctor Who, set to air this spring on BBC One and BBC America, is underway as the two networks today released a new promo image featuring new series leads Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.

The duo, who respectively play the Eleventh Doctor and companion Amy Pond, hadn't yet been pictured together in an official promotional materials released by the Beeb, so this new image (pictured above) is the first time that the co-stars are featured alongside one another. (Not to mention along with some other familiar Who entities, including a Dalek and a Weeping Angel.)

And the aforementioned new Doctor Who fifth season trailer will be unveiled this Saturday by BBC One and BBC America, so mark your calendars, dig out your bow ties, and get ready for another look inside Season Five of the sci-fi series.

[Editor: I cannot bloody wait!]

Season Five of Doctor Who will launch this spring on BBC One and BBC America.

Channel Surfing: CW Renews Five, Kripke Steps Down from "Supernatural," Dinosaurs (and Spielberg) at FOX, Montgomery and Blucas "True Blue," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

The CW has given early renewals to five of its series, including freshman drama The Vampire Diaries, reality series America's Next Top Model, and Gossip Girl, Supernatural, and 90210. However, not on the list are One Tree Hill, which has even odds at renewing, the ratings-starved Melrose Place, and newbie Life Unexpected, which has struggled in the ratings. (Variety)

There's a bit of a caveat to that early Supernatural renewal. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that creator/executive producer Eric Kripke will be stepping down as showrunner on the Warner Bros. Television-produced series, with executive producer Sera Gamble set to take over the reins next season. "Kripke will remain actively involved in the show — and not just in name only," writes Ausiello. "Although CW and Warner Bros. reps declined to comment, a Supernatural insider assures me that Kripke and his current co-showrunner, Robert Singer, will continue to function as hands-on executive producers." Kripke, meanwhile, is in the process of negotiating a new deal with the studio that will contain a "big development component." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

[Editor: Meanwhile, The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan spoke with Gamble via email about Season Six of Supernatural. "No, you will not be getting Apocalypse, The Squeaquel in Season 6 (that's hilarious)," Gamble wrote to Ryan. "We're climaxing that story this season. We've been working on the Season 6 storyline for quite some time, and we're very excited about it. We have lots of ideas, and are grateful for the chance to keep the show going. Please tell the fans that the writers say thank you! We so appreciate the support." You can read Ryan's full post about the situation here.]

Dinotopia, redux? FOX is said to be in discussions with Steven Spielberg and Peter Chernin about Terra Nova, a potential drama series about a family who travels back in time from 100 years in the future to prehistoric times, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, was written by Craig Silverstein and Kelly Marcel and would likely be ordered directly to series, given the expensive nature of the sets and SFX necessary to bring the prehistoric world to life. Should the project get the greenlight, Spielberg, Chernin, Silverstein, and Marcel would serve as executive producers, along with Katherine Pope, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank. (Variety)

[Editor: The Wrap's Josef Adalian, meanwhile, takes a look at why FOX shouldn't go ahead with the Terra Nova project by investigating Spielberg's less than stellar track record in the television series business. You can read his piece here.]

Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace) and Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) have been cast as the leads on ABC drama pilot True Blue. Project, from ABC Studios, revolves around a group of former best friends who went through the San Francisco Police Department together who now reunite to solve the murder of one of their members. Montgomery will play Katherine Miller, described as "the only female police captain in San Francisco, who was once married to another member of the team (Blucas), a detective." Pilot will be directed by Peter Horton. (Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

Taryn Manning (Sons of Anarchy) has been cast as a regular in CBS drama pilot Hawaii Five-O, a remake of the classic television series. Manning will play Mary Ann McGarrett, the younger sister of Detective Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin), who is said to have a "checkered past." (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that former Melrose Place cast member Colin Egglesfield will be guest starring on ABC's Brothers and Sisters in a storyline that is set in the past and which will offer younger incarnations of the Walkers. "Colin is now the frontrunner to fill the shoes of William Walker," writes Dos Santos. "As we previously reported, ex-original Beverly Hills, 90210 star Daniel Cosgrove was set to play Tom Skerritt's dearly departed dad, but once that didn't work out, Colin found himself employed once again." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Eugene Levy (Taking Woodstock) has been cast in CBS multi-camera comedy pilot Hitched, from writer/executive producers Josh Schwartz and Matt Miller (Chuck). Project, from Warner Bros. Television, revolves around a newlywed couple who are still learning about each other. Levy will play the husband's father, described as "a tracksuit-wearing four-times-divorced lothario." (Hollywood Reporter)

British production entity Working Title is entering the television business, launching Working Title Television, which will be a joint venture between the British indie and NBC Universal International and will be based in Los Angeles and London. Unit will be headed up by former NBC Universal Television executive Shelley McCrory; the first project from the venture is Cindy Chupack's NBC romantic comedy pilot Love Bites, with Marc Buckland (My Name is Earl) set to direct. (Variety)

Laurie Metcalf (Easy Money) has been cast in FOX multi-camera comedy pilot Strange Brew, from executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnik (Will & Grace) and Warner Bros. Television. Metcalf will play the matriarch of a family who runs a small brewery and has problems working and living together. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other pilot casting news: Nelson Franklin (The Office) has been cast as the lead in FOX comedy pilot Traffic Light, based on an Israeli scripted format about a group of friends who live together in a house; James Murray (Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire) has the cast of CBS drama pilot Chaos, about a team of rogue CIA operatives; and Joe Manganiello (One Tree Hill) has been cast as one of the leads in Craig Thomas and Carter Bays' CBS comedy pilot Livin' on a Prayer. (Hollywood Reporter)

FX has postponed single-camera comedy Louie, starring Louis C.K., to June, where it will be paired with drama Rescue Me. No exact launch date was given for either series but FX has indicated that Rescue Me will air at 10 pm ET/PT, followed by Louie at 11 pm. "Louie is a brilliantly funny and original series, and we are excited by the critical response to the show," said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks, in a statement. "Even though it is a drama, Rescue Me has always been regarded as one of the funniest shows on television and it will provide an outstanding, compatible lead-in for Louie. We successfully used Rescue Me as a lead-in for the majority of the first season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We believe in Louie and want to provide it with the best possible platform for success." (via press release)

As part of the company-wide layoffs announced at Sony Pictures Television, Jeanie Bradley will be leaving the studio. Bradley had most recently been EVP of programming for the studio and had overseen current duties on such series as FX's Damages. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

The Devil's Due: Family Ties on "Damages"

"You always said you were a terrible mother." - Ellen

This week's episode of Damages ("Don't Throw That at the Chicken"), written by Jeremy Doner and directed by Matthew Penn, ramped up the tension and offered some truly jaw-dropping plot twists this week, after last week's episode, which confined the action to the present day and focused mainly on Ellen's familial situation and the Danielle Marchetti/airport storyline.

Instead, last night's absolutely fantastic episode offered several tantalizing subplots and gave us some answers as well as moved Ellen and Patty closer together again, pushing Ellen into the orbit of the Tobin fraud case and back into Hewes & Associates (or, rather, Hewes & Shayes) and back on the couch with Patty, the site of oh so many plans and so many bitter memories.

The theme for this week's episode? Escaping the past expectations of ourselves and our parents. Perfectly fitting for a storyline that encapsulates Ellen's attempts to escape the blue collar atmosphere and problems of her New Jersey clan, Michael's inability to live up to Patty's dreams of him, and the fragility of the Tobin family and their future.

Five Months Later. The police reveal that Tom had drowned but there was no bloating so he couldn't have been in the water for that long and then his body was thrown into the dumpster. As Patty revealed to Detective Huntley, the last time Patty spoke to Tom, something was very wrong. The phone conversation occurred at the creepy mystery apartment and was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Interestingly, the apartment was clean and tidy when the phone call between Tom and Patty occurs. There are tons of files in the kitchen but they are neatly stacked in the kitchen, which means that someone--likely Tom's killer, who was at the door--was looking for something amid all of the papers, something that got Tom killed. Given Tom's interest in the Tobin case and his personal stake in locating the money that Louis Tobin secreted away, I have to believe that this place was dedicated to following the money and that Tom discovered something extremely dangerous, something that got him killed.

Also interestingly, the apartment would appear not to be a dumping ground for water bottles either. So why were the water bottles there when Detective Huntley investigates the scene? (Along with, one can't forget, bloodstains on the wall.) My theory: we know Tom drowned to death but wasn't in the water long enough to drown. So what if someone attempted to waterboard him for information? It would explain the presence of the water bottles while also explaining just why his corpse hadn't become bloated or water-logged. After all, one can drown without being thrown IN the water.

But there's another twist: Patty's phone call to an unknown caller either before or after her meeting with Huntley, a phone call in which she said: "I told you not to go through with it. I told you to stop! I told you to stop!" On the surface, it would appear to be some sort of admission of guilt about Tom's death--perhaps she had arranged for someone to extract information or place a hit on Tom--but I think that's not at all what she's talking about. I believe that she called Ellen to blame her for Tom's death and that the two of them were working on an independent investigation into the whereabouts of the Tobin fortune and someone learned about this and had Tom tortured and killed.

Patty did arrange for a hit on Ellen, true, but I don't think that KZK would go down this road again. Rather, I think the call is a bait-and-switch. Not a guilt-ridden call about Tom's death but a guilty conscience about not being able to stop Tom and Ellen after they were in over their heads. Which would mean that the conversation between Ellen and Tom's widow Deb in which Ellen asked her about who else knew about her Tom might not point to infidelity but something far more dangerous...

Joe. The police believed Joe's story that he was taking Danielle to the hospital, but it's apparent that had she gotten on that plane, she would have been dead. Leonard realized that he smelled alcohol on Joe's breath at Danielle's house and offered to get him back into a program. Louis' concerns about Joe and whether he can keep it together lead Leonard to make plans of a different kind: he contacted that shady security expert (Sarah Wynter) and tasked her company with shadowing Joe and seeing if he takes another drink.

Which would be creepy enough if that's all Leonard had charged them with but he clearly has bigger plans; should Joe be found guilty of drinking, the company is to kill him and arrange it to look like an accident. At first, I thought that the "you know what to do" conversation between Leonard and the Blonde Woman would lead to Joe being kidnapped (after all, he's been known to disappear for weeks at time while on a bender) but when there was no van present and the man following Joe was reaching into his inner jacket pocket, I realized just how desperate Leonard was to keep things ticking along smoothly. They would fake a mugging and kill Joe, silencing him and ensuring that the money could be dispersed without having a drunk running things.

But seeing the newspaper headlines about his father provoked Joe into action. He poured out the bottle of booze he had been drinking and decided to go see his father one last time. It's an action that saved his life at the very last second but also means that he got to his father's body before anyone else and discovered the package Louis had left for Patty.

The Deposition. Patty was able to convince Gates to postpone Louis' sentencing so that they can interview him one last time and see if they can use the information about Danielle Marchetti as leverage. Loved the scene where Ellen comes back to Patty's office for the first time this season to see that not much--other than the names on the wall--had changed.

Louis admitted to calling Danielle Marchetti on Thanksgiving evening but said that it had nothing to do with the fraud whatsoever, instead revealing that he had left his heart medication at Danielle's apartment earlier that day and had called her and told her to bring them over. Marilyn, standing next to him, freaked out when she found out that he was involved with Danielle. The reason why Louis wanted Danielle flown out of the country was, he claimed, to protect his family from further shame.

But Patty isn't naive or stupid and she quickly sees that Louis' weakness is his family. She knows that Louis wouldn't leave the future of his family in the hands of a drunk (Joe) or a twice-divorced basketcase (Carol). It clearly struck a chord with Louis, who called Patty the night before his sentencing. While Patty gets him off the phone, it seemed like Louis wanted to confess something to Patty. While he doesn't get the opportunity to verbally confess, Louis left her an envelope (likely containing a way to find the hidden money) next to his body before he kills himself. I had wondered just what a teacup was doing next to him when he was so obviously drinking alcohol and my question was answered when Louis added his doctor's tincture to his tea. Looks like justice won't be served after all and Louis Tobin got a one-way ticket to the afterlife ("I'm running") rather than prison.

His effort to do the right thing for a change, to save his victims rather than his family, were really an attempt to help Joe, to remove the burden of shared guilt, the shame of infamy. "I just want Joe to stop banging his head against the wall," Louis told Patty before he hung up. Sadly, I don't know that Joe will be able to do the right thing now that his father has escaped justice.

Ellen. Poor Ellen got sucked into her tawdry family drama once again when she confronted Carrie about the drugs she found in her bag and told her that she was cancelling the check she made out to her. Not surprisingly, Carrie denied that they were hers and said that they were Eddie's and that she needed the money for her baby. Is she telling the truth? Only a sucker would believe so. There's every indication that Carrie is using crystal meth and would have used the cash for another fix but she instead attempts to turn the tables on Ellen and make the situation more about Ellen's need to humiliate her. Don't you wish you had gone to stuck around in Manhattan instead of going home now, Ellen?

Gates, meanwhile, attempted to use Ellen to gain insight into Patty but made a misstep by blaming Sharp's handling of Danielle Marchetti's call for her to get involved with the Tobin case. When will people learn that Ellen has learned at the feet of the master manipulator? She knows when she's being used and it's just best to ask her to do something flat out than to spin her a poorly constructed lie, yet Gates, Patty, Tom--everyone, really--continue to see her as a patsy that can be positioned however they like.

It's an error that perhaps Ellen can use to her advantage. Patty invited Ellen over allegedly for the purposes of spending some time with her but Ellen believed that Patty invited her over to gain an ally in the DA's office. Patty countered that she just wants her company ("you need to learn to let go of work") but Patty Hewes doesn't do anything without an ulterior motive and Ellen knows her former mentor way too well to fall into her old traps.

Michael. Loved the reunion scene between Patty and her estranged son Michael, especially as I had been wondering if we'd see Michael this season at all, given that she booted him from the apartment last season after he announced his intention not to go to college and to move in with Jill. Here, Michael seemed to be the exact opposite of himself in Season Two: polished, poised, and wearing a suit and tie. There was an awkwardness between them that likely hadn't been assisted by their months of silence but Michael did give her a kiss. While their meal is completely civil, there was definitely a sense of something seething beneath the surface as Michael revealed that he had been in close contact with Phil these last few months and had even gotten some job pointer from his former step-father. While it clearly cut Patty to the core, she maintained her composure completely.

Michael, meanwhile, seemed to have gotten his life together. He's got an entry-level job now and is moving into adulthood, even without a college education... and he told Patty that he and Jill had split up. "It was just a phase," said Michael. "It just didn't work out." Patty's retort: "She seemed lovely." (Oh, Patty, you're no fool.) While Michael paid the bill for their meal, we quickly learn that he's still with Jill and living with her. Even better, he doesn't have a finance job but paints... and Jill is pregnant. So how much of his does Patty know? Her shifty smile as Michael told her about his life made me believe that she is keeping tabs on her son and knows all about the truth of his situation, seeing right through the fantasy he presented to his mother.

There was a nice parallel between the storyline between Patty and Michael and that of Louis and Joe Tobin, with each of the parents silently (or not so silently) expressing their frustrations with their offspring and their failure to meet up to their expectations of what they would achieve with their lives. Michael has drifted aimlessly, winding up in the arms of an older woman and turning his back on academics; Joe has once more succumbed to his alcohol addiction and placed the Tobin family's future in jeopardy.

As Marilyn told Louis, everything that Joe did--the drinking, dropping out of college (ding, ding)--was an effort to make Louis notice him, to see him, to get his attention for once. It's the same with Michael. I can't help but feel that if Patty had really seen Michael, he wouldn't have needed to do the things he did either (remember the grenade incident in Season One?) and that each and every one of his actions last season were a means for shaking Patty and saying, Look at me. Marilyn said that Joe told her as a teenager that he felt like a ghost and the real truth is that Michael fell into the same pattern with Patty, another headstrong, ambitious, career-minded individual.

But both of the scenes are juxtaposed with a sweet exchange between Joe and his son Kevin in the cornfields near his in-law's home. There's an idyllic aspect to the scene as the two discuss, in a roundabout way, the nature of good and evil ("Sometimes good people do bad things"), and Joe realizes that, despite what has passed between them, he does love his father... and that he wanted to be just like him. There's a real sense of loss and hurt evident in Campbell Scott's performance that defines Joe's character and informs his own mistakes, his own errors in life. Could it be that none of us truly ever grows up?

All in all, a fantastic episode of Damages that offered some answers and many, many questions as well as an exploration of the family dynamics of several households. My mind is buzzing with several theories about what is going on and, as great as this week's episode was, next week's installment is even better...

Next week on Damages ("It's Not My Birthday"), Patty Hewes squares off with the D.A. over access to Danielle Marchetti; Patty and Tom interview a candidate for the associate position at Hewes & Shayes; Ellen is approached by the candidate for insight into Patty.

Channel Surfing: Michael Trucco Finds "V," Amy Smart Lands CBS Pilot, Final Barbara Walters Oscar Special to Air this Year, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Given that it's the day after a US holiday, there are precious few headlines this morning but here's what we've got.

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams is reporting that Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica) has been cast as a guest star on ABC's sci-fi drama V. Trucco is set to appear in the April 13th episode as the enigmatic John May, the leader of the Fifth Column, a group of rebel Visitors who have been plotting to overthrow the leadership of the alien race. (TVGuide.com)

A slew of pilot castings: Amy Smart (Scrubs) has been cast in CBS' untitled medical drama from executive producer John Wells (ER) and writer Hannah Shakespeare (The Philanthropist) about a mobile medical team that travels the US and helps those less fortunate yet in need of serious medical attention. Smart will play Meg Cooper, "a tough nurse who stands up to the doctors and sleeps with one of them." Elsewhere, Michelle Borth (The Forgotten) has been cast as the female lead in ABC drama pilot Matadors, where she will play Juliana, described as "a talented lawyer who joins her father in the state attorney's office and embarks on a secret affair with Alex (Zach Gilford), an heir of the rival family who works at his father's firm." [Editor: casting is in second position to her role on ABC's The Forgotten, which has yet to be renewed or cancelled.] Also cast: Jonathan Scarfe (Raising the Bar), who will play Alex's brother, a defense attorney who is in for the money and glory rather than any sense of justice or morality. Brian Dennehy (Rules of Engagement) will star opposite creator Dana Gould in an untitled multi-camera comedy pilot for ABC; Dennehy will play Gould's father, a retired high school football coach. Finally, Sullivan Stapleton (Satisfaction) has been cast as the lead in CBS multi-camera comedy pilot The Odds, about a team of police officers in Las Vegas that solves outrageous crimes; he'll play Wade, the head of the homicide division who is bumped down after an IA investigation. (Hollywood Reporter)

This will be the last year that Barbara Walters hosts her Oscar night special. The final Barbara Walters Special will air the same night as the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7th; Walters has been hosting the special for 29 years but felt that she had begun to "feel like I've 'been there, done that.'" (Variety)

Wrestling franchise ECW will end its run today on Syfy and will be replaced February 23rd by NXT, a new hour-long series from World Wrestling Entertainment that will "pair up eight of WWE's current stars with rookies that come from Florida Championship Wrestling, the company's talent development camp in Tampa, Florida" and will feature "pros mentoring rookies, with egos often getting in the way, as they learn the ropes of competing in the ring in front of live audiences, creating characters and speaking on camera." (Variety)

Bravo executive Johanna Fuentes been hired by Showtime Networks as VP of corporate public relations. Fuentes will be based in New York and will report to Richard Licata. [Editor: Congratulations, Johanna! Glad it's public knowledge now!] (Hollywood Reporter)

UK satellite company BSkyB is said to be in talks with Virgin Media about acquiring the latter's TV channels business, which includes Living, Virgin 1, and a 50 percent stake in UKTV. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

A Terrible Foreboding: Psychic Damage on "Big Love"

"I'm damaged." - Nicki

"I think I can understand how difficult this must be, keeping a secret." - Bill

Last night's exquisite episode of Big Love ("Under One Roof"), written by Coleman Herbert and directed by Dan Attias, was the halfway point for the fourth season of Big Love and it built on the slow burn approach of the last few episodes to deliver a staggering and heartbreaking installment about the struggles of several characters, each of whom has attempted to overcome their imperfections to attempt to become worthy of the celestial kingdom they each hope to ascend to.

The quest for perfection and the damage done by the polygamist lifestyle the characters have been either born into or (in some cases) thrust into has always been lurking in the background on Big Love, but never has this intriguing theme been so perfectly explored than in last night's episode, which continues to haunt me the morning after it aired.

A sister's love, a lover's grief, a mother's fury, a husband's sorrow. All of these emotions bubbled to the surface in an episode that will mark a major turning point for the fourth season of Big Love, a tipping point in which the already fragile relationships explored this season might just come crashing down around them all.

"Under One Roof" paid off a number of long-standing plot points from the third season of Big Love as well as some simmering subpoints that exploded last night with boiling intensity: the return of Ana, now pregnant with Bill's child; Lura's suspicions of her husband Alby; the truth about Alby's feelings for Dale; Barb's fears for the future; the sealing of JJ and Adaleen; and the potential vengeance of the sadistic Greenes.

Nicki. Operating once again as Big Love's swirling maelstrom of emotion, Nicki provided the connective tissue between the domestic storyline unfolding at the Henrickson homes and the madness of the compound, where The Principle was once again twisted to ensnare a young girl in its patriarchal grasp. Realizing that her experiences on the compound have shaped her in some terrible ways, Nicki admits to Bill that she is "damaged" by what has happened to her. It's a huge admission for Nicki and major growth for her character; her manipulative ways, the darkness inside of her, what she has witnessed and been a part of have resulted in who she is today and this is the first time that Nicki really comes to terms with just who and what that is. While Roman was alive, I don't think we could have ever seen her so calmly and rationally realize what has been done to her.

But Nicki's sudden twinge of self-awareness also raises the stakes for her protection of daughter Cara Lynn: Nicki doesn't want the past to repeat itself and yet that's just what nearly happens here. Learning that Adaleen is about to be sealed to her ex-husband JJ, Nicki sets out for La Esperanza but there's a growing suspicion in her mind, a sympatico foreboding expressed by Wanda. History is repeating itself once more and Nicki must retrace her steps to the place where her soul was destroyed as she, then just a teenager, was sealed to JJ, a man twice her age.

What she discovers is horrifying and heartbreaking. Before his death, Roman had ordained that Cara Lynn would be sealed to a middle-aged man, Toby, and would become his seventh wife. And Adaleen, who had stood by and allowed Nicki to be sealed to JJ, is willing once more to let the same thing happen to her granddaughter because the prophet had willed it. In tearing Cara Lynn out of that hotel room and away from Toby and JJ, Nicki saves not just Cara Lynn, but also herself.

It's interesting too that Nicki would show up at the sealing ceremony wearing a side ponytail and a mini-skirt, casting off the modest clothing of her religion for something inimical, something shocking and tawdry. Is it an act of rebellion, the ultimate transgression for a belief system that enforces female repression? Or is it, as Nicki suggests, an element of her true self finally emerging from within the shell she has constructed out of a desperate attempt at self-survival?

Barb. While Nicki's eyes are forced wide open, she's not the only one grappling with the truth this week as Barb is forced to confront her husband's hypocrisy and her own, very valid, fears about the future. Bill has become so focused on winning the election and on exposing themselves that he's willing to jeopardize the very things that are meant to provide them with a means to live the future he so desperately wants for them. With Home Plus and the casino potentially in jeopardy, Barb realizes that the fears lurking in the back of her brain are overwhelming, no matter how she might put on a brave face. She wants to stand by her man but the crack in her voice as she recounts all of her fears belie more than just uncertainty about what they're doing and what they've all signed for.

It's further tested when she learns that she has been blind to her husband's behavior. His exclusion of her at the casino is made all the more apparent when she learns that she's been shut out of Marilyn's formal presentation; her position on the board being nothing more than a technicality, a ghostly whisper on a ledger. Ana's reappearance, however, does more to further weaken her perception of Bill, especially when she learns that Ana and Bill conceived this child out of wedlock and that Bill had a sexual relationship with Ana before they were sealed. (It's a behavior pattern that he established with Margene and which goes against every precept of their religion.)

Signing her name to the contract, effectively siding with the Flutes to hire Marilyn, is an act of independence by Barb. But I'm still not sure whether Barb is right to trust Marilyn. Bill's suspicions about the powerful Washington lobbyist may be founded in his personal dislike of Marilyn but there might just be something to his concerns as well. She sees the casino as a major cash cow, though it's the lifeline of both the Henrickson family and the Blackfoot tribe. Just what they'll be left with after Marilyn has picked over the corpse remains to be seen but I also worry about Bill's decision to "rebrand" the casino in Idaho. There are problems aplenty brewing there.

Margene. I loved that Margene joined Toastmasters and is now conducting seminars about her experiences as a single mother, something that Nicki takes great offense to, given the fact that Margene is neither single nor raising children on her own. The whole reason that Margene can be able to pursue her career and now these public speaking engagements is because she has two sister-wives to help cook, clean, and look after the children. Margene seems to relish the communal aspect of their marriage but, as Bill says, seems to want to throw away their relationship when it is convenient for her. Still, her fears about exposing the family as polygamists are valid ones; it could jeopardize everything they've worked so hard to achieve and Margene is not ready to say goodbye to her burgeoning career and the independence it's brought, nor her status in the community. Bill might not want to hide in plain sight but Margene doesn't want to be cast into the shadows, either.

Ana. I can't help but be suspicious of Ana. Yes, the Henricksons stumbled onto Ana in the restaurant and not vice-versa but she's being awfully secretive about a number of things. For one, she concealed her pregnancy from them but now is willing to accept financial contributions from Bill to care for their child, a decision she makes only after she learns that he's running for political office. After all, a sex scandal would make Bill quite a target and she offers him potential visitation rights in exchange for money, with a possibility for more in the future. She's got him over a barrel... and she doesn't tell him that she's engaged to another man. Which makes me wonder if the kid is even Bill's in the first place. After all, Ana did see someone while she was dating Bill and even had sex with him. Who is to say that he's not the father? Ana was particularly anxious that Barb not discover that someone else was at her place, after all and she's particularly keen as well that a lawyer draw up paperwork as quickly as possible. Not good...

The Smugglers. I was extremely wary of Lois, Frank, Ben, and Jodean's trip to Mexico, especially as this quartet is in way over their heads and the Henricksons don't even know that their teenage son is part of a bird-smuggling ring that has crossed the border into another country. Lois' efforts to cut out the middleman and take control of their own destiny is yet another foolhardy get-rich-quick-scheme on her part but, while her previous efforts have been motivated by self-preservation, this one seems slightly more altruistic as she wants to create a better life for Ben, offering him a place to live, a car, a chance to build a new family with her, Frank, and Jodean.

I loved that Jodean speaks fluent Spanish (have I mentioned that I love Jodean?) in addition to being Lois and Frank's de facto work mule, chauffeur, and general gopher. But I had a bad feeling about Don Dona, especially when he wanted to touch Ben's hair and seemed to be stalling when asked about the birds. Sure enough: they're set up by the Greenes, who show up at the market and kidnap them. It's a twist that I'm extremely nervous about (while also surprised that Selma was able to get out of prison, given what went down at the end of Season Three), given that no one knows that Ben is in Mexico... and the Greenes are pure, unadulterated evil and likely want payback against Bill Henrickson. They now have his son and his parents in their clutches and they have no compunction about killing.

But it's also Jodean's presence there that concerns me, seeing as her twin sister Kathy was intended to be forcibly sealed to Hollis Greene and killed when she fled the ceremony. Will Hollis take a liking to her lookalike?

Wanda. I'm also concerned that we're finally learning more about Wanda's madness, which seemed to return when her horrifically backwoods family showed up for JJ's sealing. Just what JJ has that belongs to Wanda remains to be seen but I wouldn't be surprised if she had a child out of incest. The creepy way that her father touched her (and called her "babydoll") gave me shudders and made me question whether there had been an inappropriate sexual dimension to Wanda's relationship to her family. Certainly, her response to Nicki when asked where Cara Lynn was ("She's in the nursery with the ponies") leads me to believe that Wanda is coming apart at the seams once more. Just where is Joey through all of this?

Alby and Dale. I was wondering just who had tipped off the trustees about the improper relationship between Alby and state trustee Dale and half-wondered whether Alby had done it himself in an effort to sell out his lover but this week's episode also showed the depth of Alby's devotion and love for Dale, as he goes so far as to buy an apartment for their secret rendezvous. So I was a little confused who else would have known about their relationship until we learn that the saboteur is none other than Alby's wife Lura herself. There have been signs that Lura knew more than she was letting on about Alby's extracurricular activities and last night demonstrated that Alby's wife is just as crafty and manipulative as he is. She follows him to the apartment, tells Bill about the affair (though Bill doesn't quite get it at first), and goes to see Dale's wife at home.

Are they the actions of a desperate wife or a woman scorned? Does Lura feel that she's been played the fool or is she trying to get Alby away from Dale in any way possible? For his part, Alby is clearly head over heels in love with Dale; he even (rather tragically) admits that he is in love with him on the phone. But for Dale, his relationship with Alby is eating away at him, even as he continues to fall for him. The portrait of Alby that Bill paints is a very different one to the man he's come to love: a dangerous sociopath prone to putting snakes in people's bed, stalking teenage girls, and attempting to murder his parents. But Alby attempts to dissuade Dale from believing the "lies," spinning his own version of reality in which he's misunderstood and persecuted.

Dale knows from persecution. He's lived his whole life tormented by his homosexuality, struggling to contain his true self (echoes of Nicki) and besieged by the church that is meant to be helping and saving him. His anger at the Mormon Church and Alignment for failing to do anything to help him was palpable, as was his shame when Bill admits that he knows about Dale's "homosexual affair" with Alby. It's a shame that he's lived with his whole life, through aversion therapy, electroshock treatment, group counseling. And it's a shame that he can't live with anymore. Prompted by the fear of exposure (echoes of the Henricksons) should there be an investigation, Dale hangs himself in the love nest that Alby has bought for them. It's a heartbreaking end to a man who grappled with his "imperfections" and who sought to be worthy of Heavenly Father, to see his true nature as a test to be overcome, a cross to be carried through this imperfect world.

Whether he knew that Lura has been to see his wife before he hangs himself or not is unclear. Did she tell Dale's wife about the affair? Is this knowledge too much of a burden for Dale to shoulder? Big Love has done a phenomenal job at offer a metaphor for persecuted minorities and for so-called alternative lifestyles. Never has the show dealt so honestly with the brutality and persecution experienced by gay Mormons than it did here, offering a heartbreaking end to Dale and Alby's love story and to Dale's conflicted life.

Bill. Dale used the phrase "tested" to explain his struggles in life and so too does Bill, who admits to Barb that he too had been tested and failed. In their own way, each of the characters struggles to become perfect but the series reflects the truth that each of us are imperfect creatures, each of us damaged by own experiences in life, unable to escape the past or anticipate the future. But while the wives are confused by Bill's vision of their future, by his latest testamony and calling, he reveals everything to them with a startling and heartfelt honesty.

The one roof of the title refers to Bill's endgame: a single home for all of the Henrickson clan to live in together, to be who they truly are without worry or care about society's disapproval. It's a utopia that Dale could never dream of achieving, an opportunity not to live in the darkness but to embrace life in the shining light of day.

Everything Bill has done, no matter how misguided or seemingly foolhardy, has been in pursuit of this goal. He knows the pitfalls of their religion, he knows that the Principle can be twisted by those who claim to uphold it for their own ends. The white-trimmed house, with its promise of unity, is an inversion of the squalid and backward world of Juniper Creek: it's not a compound, but rather a temple.

All in all, the very best installment of Big Love so far this season and a brilliant and heartbreaking episode that finds the Henricksons grappling with their imperfections and attempting to come out of their earthly tests worthy of their deity's grace and love.

What did you think of this week's episode? Is Ana attempting to get one over on Bill? Can Marilyn be trusted? What will Alby's reaction to Dale's suicide be? Is Lura safe from Alby's wrath? And will Bill's dream of one roof for his family ever come to pass? Discuss.

Next week on Big Love ("Blood Atonement"), Bill makes an emergency trip to Mexico after Lois and Frank’s latest smuggling escapade backfires; Nicki is jolted by a doctor’s news, but even more flummoxed by Adaleen’s shocking revelation; Margene offers up a potential remedy to keep Ana from leaving the country with her fiancé; Barb finds some disturbing answers after an incident at the casino.

Ep. 41: Blood Atonement - Preview

Los Angeles Times: "Amazing Race: Painting the Town Red"

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

Head over to my piece, entitled "The Amazing Race: Painting the Town Red," on the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site, where you can read my take on the season opener, map-averse beauty queens, the difference between Brazilian and Chilean money, interior painters, 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 and be sure to come back next week as I'll be discussing each episode of The Amazing Race all season long.

Next week on The Amazing Race ("When the Cow Kicked Me in the Head"), the ten remaining teams depart the Pit Stop at Palacio Baburizza in Valparaiso, Chile on the second leg of a race around the world.

Channel Surfing: Production Shut Down on "24", Kathryn Bigelow to Direct HBO Pilot, Ben Koldyke Talks "Big Love" and "Mother," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Just a few headlines to get through today, which is Presidents' Day here in the US. (If you're lucky enough to have the day off, get out there and do something fun.)

Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez is reporting that studio 20th Century Fox Television has temporarily suspended production on FOX's 24 in order to accommodate a medical procedure for series lead Kiefer Sutherland involving a ruptured cyst. Production on the series, likely in its final season, is thought to begin again in roughly a week and will not affect scheduling for Day Eight of 24. "While Kiefer Sutherland is frustrated to miss even one day of work, he and Fox decided together that it would be best to complete this minor elective procedure now as a precaution as opposed to six weeks from now when production wraps," said Sutherland's publicist Evelyn Karamanos in a statement. "He looks forward to returning to work next week." (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

Academy Award nominee Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) will direct HBO family drama pilot The Miraculous Year. Project, written and executive produced by John Logan (Any Given Sunday), revolves around a "charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer and his family in New York. Bigelow, who will receive an executive producer credit on the project, will direct the pilot but will not remain involved beyond that point, should the pilot be ordered to series. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

New York Magazine's Lauren Waterman talks with Big Love and How I Met Your Mother co-star Ben Koldyke about his simultaneous breakout performances on both an HBO drama and a CBS comedy... and why he still doesn't have a Wikipedia entry. [Editor: avoid this article if you haven't yet seen last night's episode of Big Love. But if you have viewed it, take a look at what Koldyke has to say about Dale's relationship with Alby.] (New York Magazine's Vulture)

Beau Garrett (Tron Legacy) has landed the female lead on CBS' untitled Criminal Minds spinoff, which revolves around a team of profilers who work outside of the FBI and report to Cooper (Forest Whitaker). Garrett will play Gina, described as "a tough girl and recent FBI recruit who is loyal to Cooper and the object of Mick's (Matt Ryan) flirting." (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to House executive producer David Shore about the relationship between House (Hugh Laurie) and Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). "Eventually, it’s going to happen," Shore told Ausiello. "This is the thing we’ve been dancing around — even before we knew we were dancing around it. They’re two very flawed people, but they’re two people that are very attracted to each other. I’m a Huddy fan, [too]. Just keep watching the show. It’ll happen eventually." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stephen Martines (The Closer) has been cast in a recurring role on the CW drama Vampire Diaries, where he will play "a bad-ass vampire named Frederick who is locked in the tomb where Katherine (Nina Dobrev) was once thought to be and is up to no good when released," according to The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva.

BBC One have commissioned a second season of Reggie Perrin, starring Martin Clunes. The revival of the classic 1970s comedy, which launched last year, will return this autumn for its second season. (Broadcast)

Spike is looking to compete with World Wrestling Entertainment's WWE Raw (airing on USA) by moving its own wrestling franchise, TNA Impact, to Monday night. As part of the deal, TNA Impact will air live telecasts every other week. (Variety)

Stay tuned.