Channel Surfing: Campbell Scott Briefed for "Damages," Temporary Production Shutdown on "V," Details of Kristin Chenoweth on "Glee," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Campbell Scott (Royal Pains, Six Degrees) has signed on as a series regular for Season Three of FX's serpentine legal thriller Damages. No details were immediately available about just who Scott will be playing next season on the Sony Pictures Television-produced drama series, which will return to production next month for a January 2010 premiere. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC's sci-fi drama V is set to take a two-week creative break, with filming to temporarily shut down for a two week period beginning next Wednesday. However, the move won't impact the November 3rd launch date, involve any staff changes, or, writes The Wrap's Josef Adalian, affect "the six episodes its planning for the fourth quarter." For its part, studio Warner Bros. Television wouldn't give any details about the exact reason behind the decision to shut down for two weeks but said that they want to "take advantage of our November premiere to maximize creative opportunities and deliver the audience the best show possible." Adalian says that insiders have indicated that the shutdown stems from the studio's desire to allow the writing staff time to write future scripts and get them to the same level of quality as the pilot. (The Wrap's TV MoJoe)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin has the scoop on the upcoming guest star turn by Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth on FOX's Glee, where she will play April Rhodes, who is described as "quite the alcoholic and bad influence on the glee club members" who joins the club after Rachel (Lea Michele) drops out. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) has been cast in a recurring role on NBC's Chuck next season while Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has signed on to appear in a multiple-episode story arc on FOX's Dollhouse, along with Alexis Denisof (Angel), Jamie Bamber (BSG), Keith Carradine (Dexter), and Michael Hogan (BSG). (Televisionary)

Christian Clemenson (Boston Legal) has been cast in at least two episodes of CBS' CSI: Miami next season, where he will recur as a medical examiner on the long-running procedural crime drama. (Hollywood Reporter)

Laura Linney (John Adams) is set to topline Showtime dark comedy pilot The C Word (a working title) about a woman battling cancer. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, is written and executive produced by Darlene Hunt (90210) and is slated to be shot this fall. (Televisionary)

The trades are reporting that HBO has optioned Jeffrey Eugenides' novel "Middlesex," which it will develop as an ongoing series. However, this was reported back in early July by Broadcasting and Cable, details of which can be found here.

A&E Television Networks has acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services following the closing of a deal in the works for several months. Under the terms of the agreement, Lifetime will fall under A&E Television Network management, with president/CEO Abbe Raven remaining as the head of the company, with Lifetime's Andrea Wong reporting to Raven, as will A&E's Bob DiBitetto and History's Nancy Dubuc. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season ...

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj...

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