[Televisionary]

Welcome to (a very early edition of) your Monday morning television briefing on the first day of the 2009 network upfronts. In a surprising twist, FOX has renewed drama series Dollhouse for a second season. Dollhouse , which secured a thirteen-episode order from the network, is expected to remain on Friday evenings next season. Variety 's Cynthia Littleton writes, "The 20th Century Fox TV fantasy drama starring Eliza Dushku has delivered modest but consistent ratings on a low-trafficked night, thanks to Whedon's built-in fan base." It's believed that the renewal was secured after the studio agreed to drastically reduce the series' budget and accept a significantly lower license fee. Just what that decision will mean for the writing staff and cast of Dollhouse remains to be seen. ( Variety ) Good news for Bones fans (even those irked by the season finale's twist): FOX and studio 20th Century Fox Television have signed a deal to renew Bones for not one b...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Still reeling from last night's season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy ? Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive interview with series creator Shonda Rhimes about some of the shocking plot twists in last night's season ender. Responding to rumors about whether Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight wanted off of Grey's Anatomy and how this impacted their characters' fates, Rhimes said simply, "I don't think there are any coincidences. I think Katherine's stated publicly that she's happy to stay. I think that there have been lots of rumors about TR, but TR's never said anything. Take from it what you will." Rhimes also discusses the fates of Izzie and George, Mer and Der's wedding day, Jessica Capshaw, and a host of other Grey's related issues. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) FOX has given a series order to supernatural drama Past Life (formerly kn...

Yesterday's FOX panel at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour wasn't filled with too many surprises (did we really need to find out what Kiefer Sutherland's exercise regimen entails?) but there were a few revelations in store for attendees, most of which came from FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly. (Those of you who were following my Twitter feed during the panel can attest to some shocking/funny/bizarre moments throughout the day, including when Reilly described NBC as "the crazy ex-wife that I can't get away from." Those of you who weren't following the feed: shame on you!) Chief among the revelations: Reilly claiming that the network would "let [ Dollhouse ] play out for 13 episodes" and that FOX would end Prison Break at the end of this season. "Creatively, the show is just played out," said Reilly. "Creatively, everybody feels enough stories were told. We want it to finish strong and not just gimp out ...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. This being a scant two days before Christmas, there aren't many television-related headlines to discuss but rest assured there are still quite a few. Oh, what's occurrin'? The big news is, of course, that Ruth Jones and James Corden have announced-- from Barry Island , no less--that they will write a third season of their hit comedy Gavin & Stacey . The third season, which had been commissioned by the BBC earlier this year, had been in doubt when Jones and Corden said that their schedules were a bit too full at the moment to write the next season of the romantic comedy, which airs in the States on BBC America. While pesky details like actor availability still have to be worked out, it's fantastic news that we'll get to see more of Nessa and the gang from Barry and Essex before long. The Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, meanwhile, will air tomorrow night on BBC1. ( BBC News ) Doctor Who executive produce...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. This being the week of Christmas, look for the television programming news to be light but we do have a few headlines to discuss. I spent the weekend catching up on some screener-viewing (episode 203 of Damages , for example) and preparing for the hols this week. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has a sneak peak clip of Joss Whedon's latest drama, Dollhouse , which launches Friday, February 13th on FOX. In the two-minute clip, Echo (Eliza Dushku) has her imprinted memories wiped by Fran Kranz's Topher, who then engages in a philosophical discussion about the nature of his work with Echo's handler Boyd (Harry Lennix). Does it make you rethink your position on the series? Are you more or less excited to see it now? ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) The Guardian has a brand-new interview with the oh-so-talented cast of British import comedy Gavin & Stacey , including James Corden and Ruth Jones (...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I hope everyone watched the season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef , which nearly made up for yet another week without a new Pushing Daisies ... though from what I gather, there's going to be quite a lot of those come soon. Sigh. NBC has canceled freshman drama My Own Worst Enemy , which starred Christian Slater in the dual role of Edward/Henry. Series will wrap production after shooting its current episode, the ninth of the initial 13-episode order. No word yet on what NBC will substitute in the Monday 10 pm timeslot. ( Variety ) As for the fate of sophomore drama Lipstick Jungle , NBC has also given the drama the sack as well. Ouch. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Should Pushing Daisies be canceled tomorrow, creator Bryan Fuller says that the series' storylines will be wrapped up in comic book form. "The idea would be to finish out the season's story arcs in comic books," said Fuller, "to satisfy the fans and o...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. While I watched this week's episode of Chuck yet again (and fell in love with it all over again) , I couldn't help shake the feeling that last night's episode of Gossip Girl was absolutely beyond ludicrous. Anyone else agree? ABC is allegedly making some changes to its midseason schedule, with Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice shifting to Thursdays at 10 pm, where it will air right behind Grey's . Meanwhile, the current timeslot holder, Life on Mars , will move to Wednesdays at 10 pm, where it will receive a hell of a lead-in from Lost . The Alphabet didn't comment on the leaked schedule, which it has yet to announce. Can we see ABC launching a Wednesday night around Pushing Daisies, Lost, and Life on Mars ... or does this once again signal a death knell for Daisies ? ( Hollywood Reporter ) Samaire Armstrong's Juliet Darling WILL be returning to ABC's Dirty Sexy Money after all. (Come on, I...

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I suffered through some sweltering heat here in Los Angeles last night and watched the latest lackluster episode of 90210 and a fantastically taut episode of Fringe (more on that in a bit). CW has given a put pilot commitment to drama The Graysons , based on the pre-Boy Wonder life of Batman sidekick Robin before he dons the mask and cape (a la Smallville ). Drama, from Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and Chuck/Supernatural executive producer McG, will follow Dick "DJ" Grayson in a new take on the iconic character. (In the original comics, Robin was the orphaned son of a high-flying trapeze artist family who was taken in by Bruce Wayne and trained to be Batman's sidekick.) Series is viewed as a potential replacement for Smallville , should this be final season, or as a companion piece if Smallville is renewed. Studio Warner Bros. Television also hopes to use this development to pro...

Sara lives! Lucky attendees of the Prison Break panel at Comic-Con were treated to two very exciting sights, even though series lead Wentworth Miller was a no-show. The first was a look at the first act of Prison Break 's fourth season, launching this fall, and the second was seeing Sarah Wayne Callies herself, last seen on the series tied to a chair as the captive of the sadistic Gretchen... before her head was mailed to Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell). What a difference a year makes. Last year, Callies was on her way out of Prison Break , killed off-screen, but now she's making her triumphant return to the series in a story arc that will give the actress an extremely meaty, emotionally complex role to sink her teeth into. As for the story behind Sara's, er, resurrection, we learn in the opening act of Prison Break 's first episode this fall that Gretchen didn't actually kill Michael's love Sara, who managed to escape Gretchen's clutches. With no leverag...

FOX giveth and it taketh away. Thus was the moral yesterday when FOX announced that it had officially ordered a fourth season for crime drama Prison Break , with 22 episodes expected for the 2008-09 season. The news of an official pickup came after Prison Break writer Nick Santora spilled the beans on the renewal on his MySpace blog . While this past season's 13 episodes had Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) trapped inside Panama's bleak Sona prison, Season Four will find him and brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) on the run once again, with Michael out for revenge against the people who brutally murdered his lover, Sarah Tancredi. Production will relocate for Season Four from Dallas to Los Angeles; the series had been based in Chicago during its first season as well. Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for Amy Sherman-Palladino's struggling comedy The Return of Jezebel James , which starred Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, and Scott Cohen. After two weeks of disas...

New prison. New break. For those of you anxiously awaiting next week's season premiere of Prison Break , I may have quite the little video treat for you. I wasn't the biggest fan of Prison Break over the past two seasons but watching the absolutely brilliant promo from British network Sky One for the launch of the action drama's third season may have just made me a jail house convert. Seriously, though, have you ever seen such a beautifully atmospheric promo for a series like this one? (Just look at that fire.) Robert Knepper's T-Bag may have managed to creep me out in the past but I honestly think that the combination of his venomous drawl and Massive Attack's haunting "Angel" might just keep me awake tonight. For those of us on this side of the pond, Prison Break launches in the US on September 17th at 8 pm on FOX.

Casting on Season Three of FOX's crime drama Prison Break has kicked into high gear. Just a few days after announcing the casting of Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (who will play a shadowy government agent named, yes, "Betty Crocker") and Robert Wisdom, FOX has added two more actors to the mix, both of whom will play integral roles in the drama's third season, set in Panama. British actor Chris Vance ( All Saints ) will play an enigmatic character named Whistler, a fellow prisoner at SONA Prison, where Michael has just been incarcerated. (No blueprint-heavy tattoos for him.) Meanwhile, Danay Garcia ( CSI: Miami ) will play Whistler's Panamanian girlfriend, Sofia. With Michael and Whistler being held captive at a prison, and Sofia and Linc on the outside, expect each pair to team up to launch an escape or, uh, prison break. Both actors have been hired as series regulars on Prison Break 's third season, which kicks off this fall.