[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Good news for Community ; bad news for Parks and Recreation . The Futon Critic is reporting that NBC has opted to forgo repeats of Season Two of Parks and Recreation for the remainder of the summer, instead using the Thursday 9:30 pm timeslot for a second round of Community repeats. [Editor: While I applaud NBC for recognizing the potential of Dan Harmon's Community , I wish it weren't at the expense of Parks and Rec , which won't even return for its third season until "midseason."] Planned repeats for August 26th and September 2nd will instead be filled by Community episodes... which means that the airwaves will be Pawnee-free until the series returns at a to-be-determined point later in the season. ( Futon Critic ) SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that John Glover will return to the CW's Smallville to reprise his role as Lionel Luthor in a multiple-episode story arc on...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Sometimes the networks taketh and sometimes they give back. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO has had a change of heart about animated comedy The Life and Times of Tim , which it cancelled two months ago. The pay cabler has now reversed its position on the cult hit, ordering a third season of Tim , with ten episodes slated to air sometime next year. Media Rights Capital, the production company behind the project (along with Good Humor TV), attempted to shop Tim to other networks--including Comedy Central, Adult Swim, and TBS--but no buyer materialized... and now the project has headed back to HBO. [Editor: I'm relieved as I was really upset when I heard earlier this year that the series wasn't going to get picked up.] ( Deadline ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chris Vance ( Prison Break ) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Five of Showtime's Dexter ...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. To those of you who celebrated the Fourth of July, welcome back to work after a long weekend. (Sigh.) Javier Bardem ( Vicky Cristina Barcelona ) will guest star next season on FOX's Glee , according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello (and Dave Karger), who reports that the Academy Award-winning actor will appear as "a rock star who befriends Artie (Kevin McHale)." In fact, it was Bardem who approached Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy about dropping by the 20th Century Fox Television-produced musical-comedy when they worked together on Eat Pray Love . “We’re going to rock the house,” Bardem told Entertainment Weekly . “We’re going to do some heavy metal — Spanish heavy metal, which is the worst." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) TV Guide Magazine 's Will Keck writes that Brian Austin Green ( Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ) is weighing a potential role on ABC's Desperate House...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. This is a series I want to watch: Locke and Ben as cutthroat buddies. Well, sort of, anyway. TV Guide Magazine 's Will Keck is reporting that Lost 's Terry O'Quinn is shopping a bible for a series that would star him and fellow Lost cast member Michael Emerson, in which the duo would play suburban hit men who must balance their work and home lives. "I really hope this works out because Michael would be in his prime in this," O'Quinn told Keck. "We’d play kind of awkward partners." Michael Emerson, meanwhile, is more than open to working alongside Quinn again. "It’s very sweet of him," Emerson told Keck. "I’m all in favor of it. Any reason to work with Terry again." ( TV Guide Magazine ) The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan has an interview with Caprica stars Sasha Roiz and Alessandra Torresani about what's coming up on the series and how their characters fit into the lar...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada ( Rush Hour 3 ) has joined the cast of ABC's Lost in a recurring role for its sixth and final season. Details of Sanada's character are being kept firmly under wraps as is the number of episodes that he'll ultimately appear in. Sanada's casting comes on the heels of the announcement that Deadwood 's John Hawkes had signed on to the drama series as Lennon , the spokesperson and translator for a foreign conglomerate. Could these two roles be connected in any way, given Sanada's Japanese background? Hmmm.... ( Hollywood Reporter ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jayma Mays ( Glee ) will return to NBC's Heroes , where she will reprise her role as Hiro's former love interest Charlie in one episode of the superpowered drama series. But didn't Charlie die? Yep. "As the dying time-traveler zips back and forth through the ages to accomplish ...

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Cabler Syfy has ordered a 90-minute pilot for Zak Penn and Michael Karnow's action-adventure drama Alphas , which had been previously set up at ABC two season ago under the name Section 8 . Project, from BermanBraun Television and Universal Cable Studios, follows a team of agents who "possess hyper-developed neurological abilities" (read: superpowers). "What we loved about this idea is that it played into a new way of approaching the superhero genre: the idea of ordinary people who have one slightly extraordinary feature about them and are singularly not so special but together can do extraordinary things was very attractive," said Syfy EVP of original programming Mark Stern. Section 8 , which had a six-episode order from ABC, left the network post-writers' strike over creative differences before winding up at Syfy, which ordered it to pilot from the three projects in had in development. ( Hollywood Repo...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Looks like Kelly isn't going anywhere. Jennie Garth has signed a deal to reprise her role as Kelly Taylor on Season Two of the CW's 90210 , where she will appear in multiple episodes, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "Garth reappears in episode 3," writes Ausiello, "when Kelly gives Harry advice on how to deal with his, ahem , situation with Annie." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Elsewhere at the CW, Melrose Place continues to get more and more crowded. Nip/Tuck's Kelly Carlson (yes, Kimber!) has signed on to join the cast of Melrose Place this fall, where she will play a madam who "eventually entices Lauren (Stephanie Jacobson) to work for her as part of her prostitution ring." ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Parenthood 's Erika Christensen has booked a guest starring role on Season Two of FOX's Lie to Me this fall. Christensen will...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Hollywood seems more or less shut down already for the Fourth of July weekend, so just a few headlines this morning. The Beeb has confirmed that it will not be bringing back drama series Robin Hood for a fourth season. The series, which starred Jonas Armstrong in the title role, saw its viewership decline to roughly four million viewers during its third (and now final) season (compared to the 8.6 million who tuned in for the series premiere in 2006). For his part, Armstrong had made it clear that the third season would be his last, stating, "It's been a great thrill, a great ride, but you can't play one part forever." ( BBC News ) Hulu has announced plans to launch a UK-based online video service in September and has indicated that it is close to reaching content deals with local broadcasters after offering them equity stakes in the service as well as a share of advertising revenues. Rumors are swirling that Hulu ha...

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Syfy is developing a new incarnation of Alien Nation , the 1988 feature film that spun off into a FOX drama, with writer/executive producer Tim Minear ( Firefly, Drive ). The project, from Fox21, will tell the story of the partnership between a veteran police officer and an alien detective in the Pacific Northwest as the two races attempt to live side-by-side on Earth following the aliens' arrival and efforts to assimilate into human society. The new version will include a mythology that will unfold over time and will use contemporary issues, such as immigration, racism, terrorism, and paranoia, in its storytelling. "It's very much in keeping with what we've been looking to do -- find themes that are more than just hard sci-fi, something that feels contemporary and relevant and invites a broad audience in," said Syfy original programming EVP Mark Stern. "It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with fun...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Showtime has renewed period drama The Tudors for a fourth and final season. The series, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as England's King Henry VIII, will air ten episodes--all penned by series creator Michael Hirst--in spring 2010. ( Variety ) 24 executive producer Howard Gordon talks to Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider about the return of Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) to the FOX series. "Kim has been easily targeted and lampooned by fans, so we had to do it very carefully," said Gordon of Cuthbert's return. "Elisha was as sensitive to this as we were." Gordon, meanwhile, offers a few tidbits about the reason behind her return and about her relationship with Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider ) E! Online's Jennifer Godwin was on hand last night at the Paley Festival's panel for HBO's True Blood and has some answers about the Sooki...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. TNT has officially canceled freshman drama Trust Me , starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. The Warner Horizon-produced series, which launched with 3.4 million viewers and quickly lost much of that viewership, will not be returning for a second season. McCormack himself has already signed on to another project, ABC's untitled Tad Quill comedy pilot. The cabler, meanwhile, has three new series in the works: Ray Romano dramedy Men of a Certain Age , medical drama Hawthorne (formerly known as Time Heals ), and Deep Blue (formerly known as The Line ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) Showtime is now zero for four. The pay cabler has now opted not to order any of its four pilots to series in the last month, deciding over the weekend not to hand out a series order to Tim Robbins-created drama Possible Side Effects , staring Josh Lucas as a pharmaceuticals family scion. Previously, the network had shelved pilots Ronna and Beverly , The L Wo...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. NBC and DirecTV have reached a deal to renew drama series Friday Night Lights for two more seasons of 13 episodes each. Following the same model as the air structure this season, DirecTV will get the first window of the fourth and fifth seasons of Friday Night Lights before NBC airs them. Look for current cast members Taylor Kitsch, Matt Gilford, and Adrianne Palicki, who all play seniors, to potentially leave the series but the trio may reprise their roles on a recurring basis in order to wrap up their characters' storylines. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files , E! Online ) Lucy Lawless will star in Starz' upcoming gladiator series Spactacus: Blood and Sand , from executive producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, and Josh Donen. She'll play gladiator camp owner Lucretia, opposite Aussie series lead Andy Whitfield ( The Strip ). Project, which start shooting next month, is expected to air in January 2010. ( Variety ,...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Jason Dohring ( Veronica Mars ) and Minka Kelly ( Friday Night Lights ) have signed on to star in CW drama pilot Body Politic , from CBS Paramount Network Television. Dohring will play a Washington Post reporter while Kelly will play Hope, a young woman who leaves Michigan after the death of her mother to take a position in Washington in as a staffer for a senator (Tim Matheson), who has just been named Attorney General. Fans of Friday Night Lights shouldn't worry, however: Kelly's casting here doesn't signal the end of FNL as she was not set to return as a series regular next season but will instead turn up in Season Four in a multiple-episode story arc should the series be renewed. ( Hollywood Reporter ) ABC has confirmed that Ashley Jensen will leave Ugly Betty at the end of the season; it's no secret that the actress was "less than thrilled" when Betty moved production from Los Angeles to New York la...