[Televisionary]

With the return of Justified, Downton Abbey , and Shameless , and the launch of Touch, Luck , and others, I take a look at what’s coming to your TV this winter over at The Daily Beast, in my latest feature, "What to Watch on TV This Winter." (To get right to my thoughts on the 18 shows included and bypass the intro, you can click here .) January brings some fresh opportunities for the broadcast and cable networks to try and lure you back with new and returning programming. Among the highlights: costume drama fiends will be lined up for the Jan. 8 return of British drama Downton Abbey; FX’s Justified returns for a third season of Kentucky shootouts on Jan. 17; HBO’s cult comedy Eastbound and Down returns on Feb. 19; auteurs David Milch and Michael Mann unite for HBO’s Luck, launching Jan. 29; and Kiefer Sutherland returns to television with Fox’s Touch, which will get a preview broadcast on Jan. 25. (It officially premieres on March 19.) Absolutely Fabulous, the outrageou...

I'm not in San Diego for this year's Comic-Con (marking the first year in about six that I haven't traveled south for the annual pop culture confab) for a number of reasons. However, Televisionary correspondent Lissette Lira was on the scene to offer her report on Thursday's TV Guide panel as well as some photos from the fan-favorites sessions. * * * All in all the TV Guide panel was a bit of a mixed bag. While it was great fun seeing such an eclectic group of stars share the stage together, there were so many participants that everyone wound up getting a bit short-changed in the process. Nonetheless, there were still a few memorable highlights, including Zach Levi passionately voicing his agreement with a fan about the need for the TV ratings system to be changed. Levi vowed to write more about the subject on the website Nerd HQ which he was promoting with his baseball cap. Levi also spoke about his hope that CHUCK fans will b...

J.J. Abrams' Super 8 falls into some of the same traps as his other projects, setting up expectations of mysteries it can't possibly fulfill. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled " Super 8 : Stop Being So Secretive, J.J.," in which I offer a memo to Abrams and discuss why the director needs to move on. And, just in case you haven't yet seen Super 8 , I'll offer up the following caveat. WARNING: Contains spoilers! What do you think? Has J.J. Abrams outgrown the mystery box? Does he need to stop cloaking his projects in such shrouds of secrecy that audiences come to expect the delivery of a major twist or surprise reveal that he's setting himself up to fail? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Hollywood Reporter 's Borys Kit and James Hibberd are reporting that Warner Bros. Television is in the process of acquiring television rights to Neil Gaiman's DC/Vertigo comic series "Sandman" with the view of adapting it as an ongoing television series. Among the contenders to tackle the project: Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. It's not the first time that Hollywood has courted the mythopoeic comic series: HBO nearly had a version in development at one time with James Mangold attached; Roger Avery attempted to get a feature film version off the ground in the mid-90s. It's still early days for the project as Kripke is said to be cautious about treading on such hallowed ground and attempting to translate the deeply complex and layered narrative for television. [Editor: Personally, I'd rather that Kripke and WBTV didn't: the plot of "Sandman" isn't a strict narrative in the traditiona...