[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. NBC has confirmed that they have passed on David E. Kelley's legal drama Legally Mad , which will not be going to series. Project, which starred Charity Wakefield, Hugh Bonneville, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Seda, Loretta Devine, and Kurt Fuller as the denizens of a quirky Chicago law firm, has a rather hefty multi-million dollar penalty against it, which NBC will have to pay out to Warner Bros. Television after making a series commitment to the project last year. It's not anticipated that the studio will shop the project to other outlets. In other pilot news, ABC comedy pilot Let It Go (a.k.a. The Bridget Show ), starring Lauren Graham ( Gilmore Girls ), is now believed to be "dead." ( Variety ) The Peacock is also said to have killed procedural drama Lost & Found , which starred Katee Sackhoff and Brian Cox. There were rumors that the Universal Media Studios-produced pilot was being shopped to USA but The Hollyw...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. It looks like Caprica will be heading to our screens sooner than we originally thought... or the two-hour backdoor pilot will be, anyway. Sci Fi Channel announced that it will make Caprica 's pilot available as a limited-edition DVD on April 21st with an uncut and unrated version, ahead of the series' 2010 broadcast launch. Additionally, the film will be available for digital download at select online destinations. (Having already seen the pilot, I can say that it will definitely please BSG fans while also offering a glimpse into a series that's vastly different than anything we've seen so far on Battlestar Galactica .) "Ever since fans first caught wind of the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica , they have been eagerly following its development," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming for SCI FI & Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. "We wanted to giv...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Just a few headlines to get through on this unprecedented and hopeful inauguration day. TV Week 's Blink has a sneak peek video at Chuck 's February 3rd episode which features Lost 's Dominic Monaghan playing eyeliner-wearing rocker Tyler Martin, a character rather similar to the drugged-up faded rock star he played on ABC's Lost ... though Charlie never mistook an apartment complex fountain for a urinal. ( TV Week 's Blink ) Danny Glover ( Brothers & Sisters ) will guest star later this season on NBC comedy My Name is Earl , where he will play Crab Man's lost-lost father Thomas in a storyline that reveals why Darnell has been in hiding all of these years. ( TV Guide ) Smallville showrunners Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin are said to be in talks with CW brass about overseeing the pilot remake of Melrose Place , following the departure of One Tree Hill executive producer Mark Schwahn from the project when...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. While everyone seems to be returning to work today (darn the end of holidays!), I'm still drowning in a pile of screeners and scripts, but c'est la vie. The big news this weekend, of course, was the announcement that 26-year-old Matt Smith ( Ruby in the Smoke ) would assume the mantle of the Eleventh Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who , replacing outbound series lead David Tennant, who will depart the series after appearing in four specials in 2009. ( Televisionary ) Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph has profiled Smith in an in-depth piece which ran today. Among the more interesting points: "Smith comes to the role without Tennant's in-depth knowledge of the series and describes the next six months as a "time to build this Time Lord…to learn the history of the show", which should give his interpretation freshness. His Doctor may also be boyishly mischievous – he spoke with relish of "the sense of mischief...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I spent last night watching the first three brilliant episodes of HBO's Big Love , kicking off next month, and was up all night thinking about the series. At least the weekend's finally here, right? Pushing Daisies ' Kristin Chenoweth has been cast as the female lead in David E. Kelley's new NBC legal drama, Legally Mad , from Warner Bros. TV. Chenoweth will play Skippy Pylon, a brilliant lawyer who is often mistaken for being a teenager who goes to work at her father's firm; Skippy is "relentlessly cheerful" but suffers occasional bouts of psychosis. "I could only picture Kristin playing this role," said Kelley. "I've wanted to work with her for a long time and can't wait to reveal her as someone who's completely mad." It's a perfect part for Cheno (I'll be reading the pilot script this weekend) and I'm happy to see her land on her feet after the cancellation o...