[Televisionary]

It's official: AMC has announced that they will not be renewing Rubicon for a second season. The series, produced by Warner Horizon Television, premiered in early August on AMC. AMC made the following statement about the cancellation: " Rubicon gave us an opportunity to tell a rich and compelling story, and we're proud of the series. This was not an easy decision, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a phenomenally talented and dedicated team." I do have to say that I'm surprised by the decision, given that when I met with AMC President and General Manager Charlie Collier and Joel Stillerman, senior vice president of original programming, a few weeks back for a feature for The Daily Beast , they seemed more positive about a possible pickup, telling me that a decision would be reached in the next few weeks. It was. Rubicon , despite its much publicized launch numbers (at the time the highest rated original series launch for the netwo...

Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Rubicon. Those titles are intimately familiar to any television devotee and cabler AMC, the home to those groundbreaking series, is about to launch their fourth original series this weekend with The Walking Dead . Over at The Daily Beast, I examine AMC's success, speaking to the channel's top executives--president/general manager Charlie Collier and SVP of original programming Joel Stillerman--as they dive headfirst into the horror genre with Sunday's The Walking Dead . The piece, entitled "AMC: Television's Hottest Network," contains a discussion with Collier and Stillerman covering AMC's brand, their programming decisions, and the future and challenges for the basic cable network as well as topics such as the fate of Rubicon , next year's crime drama The Killing , and much more.

While you can read my feature piece on AMC's conspiracy thriller Rubicon here , I thought I'd also offer my brief thoughts on the first four episodes of the drama itself. I found Rubicon --which stars James Badge Dale, Miranda Richardson, Lauren Hodges, Arliss Howard, Jessica Collins, Dallas Roberts, and Christopher Evan Welch--an intriguing glimpse behind the curtain of the intelligence community, where the focus wasn't on dashing Jack Bauer types but rather the analysts who are forced to pull together information and offer suggestions to an array of agencies on supported actions. It's this specifically that provides the series' fourth episode--the best of the initial installments--its emotional heft, as the analysts at API are forced to content with a weighty moral decision that will impact the lives of countless people. However, while there's a biting intelligence to Rubicon (which was created by Jason Horwitch and now overseen by Henry Bromell), it's n...

Looking to dive deeper into AMC's new conspiracy thriller Rubicon ? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest feature, entitled " Rubicon 's Paranoid TV," where I talk to showrunner Henry Brommel and stars James Badge Dale and Miranda Richardson about the AMC drama and place in within the context of both 1970s conspiracy thrillers like The Conversation, All the President's Men, Klute, The Parallax View , and Three Days of the Condor and our current political climate post-9/11. Rubicon premieres Sunday evening at 8 pm ET/PT with a special two-hour launch (which includes the pilot that received its own sneak peek a few weeks back) on AMC.

"Not every conspiracy is a theory." AMC will offer a sneak peek of its new conspiracy drama Rubicon this Sunday evening, immediately following the season finale of Breaking Bad , before officially launching the Warner Horizon Television-produced series in August. The series, which is executive produced by Henry Bromell, stars James Badge Dale, Miranda Richardson, Dallas Roberts, Jessica Collins, Christopher Evan Welch, Lauren Hodges, and Arliss Howard as follows an intelligence analyst who finds himself caught up in a dangerous conspiracy that uses a four-leaf clover as a calling card. Just what is the shadowy fourth arm of the government? Who are these men and what is their purpose? And will Will Travers (James Badge Dale) be able to uncover proof to expose them before he finds himself in mortal danger? Find out when Rubicon launches... The trailer for Rubicon can be viewed in full below. Following Sunday's sneak peek, the official series premiere of Rubicon will air...

Looking to set your TiVo season pass this summer before you head out on vacation? Or sticking around and wondering just what's worth watching (or at least checking out) this summer? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my piece entitled, "19 Reasons to Watch TV This Summer," where I break down 19 new and returning series airing during the sweltering season, including HBO's True Blood AMC's Rubicon and Mad Men , Bravo's Work of Art and Top Chef: DC , FOX's Masterchef , Syfy's Haven , USA's White Collar , TNT's Memphis Beat and Rizzoli & Isles , BBC America's Being Human , and a lot more. Check out the gallery to read descriptions of the series and then head to the comments section to discuss just what you're most excited about this summer.

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television update. It's official: Julia Stiles ( The Bourne Ultimatum ) has signed on to appear in ten episodes of Showtime's serial killer drama Dexter next season. Stiles will play "a mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) in the wake of the death of his wife," according to Showtime. Production on Season Five of Dexter gets underway this month and is expected to premiere this fall. [Editor: any guesses on just who Stiles will be playing and just what her relationship is to Dexter? Let the speculation begin.] (via press release) Could pop superstar Lady Gaga be heading to Doctor Who ? If writer Gareth Roberts has his way, she would be. While Gaga hasn't signed on to appear in an episode of Who , Gareth maintains in an interview with OK! Magazine that he has already thought out a plotline for the "Bad Romance" singer to appear in. "She is no stranger to dressing up and ...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Break out the carrot and raisin salad (and mix up some fry sauce)! HBO has renewed drama series Big Love for a fifth season, with ten episodes set to air next winter. The long-running drama series has been on a roll of late, with ratings up 13 percent among viewers this season and some well-earned awards recognition, with Chloe Sevigny walking away with a Golden Globe for her performance as Nicki. "We've taken the show deeper and darker over the last couple of seasons," said executive producer Mark V. Olsen, "and we're overjoyed that HBO has come along with us." Production is expected to begin on Season Five in June or July. ( Variety ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos and Jennifer Godwin have an interview with V and Lost star Elizabeth Mitchell. "I feel really bad for Juliet all the time," Mitchell told E! "I feel like, you know, karmically, maybe she's due, because when she was a...

Welcome to your Wednesday television briefing. AMC has handed out a twelve-episode series order to political thriller Rubicon , starring James Badge Dale, Miranda Richardson, Lili Taylor, Dallas Roberts, and Peter Gerety. Series, from Warner Horizon, writer/executive producer Jason Horwitch ( Medical Investigation ), and director Allen Coulter ( Six Feet Under ), revolves around an analyst (Dale) of a top-secret government think tank "whose work leads him to uncover a clue that points him toward an unfolding global conspiracy." Series, which will be shot in New York, is expected to launch in 2010. "The pilot is beautifully done and we are very, very excited to move forward with the series," said Joel Stillerman, SVP of programming and production at AMC. "It's a major challenge to find the right balance to take that into a serialized drama format, where you have to pose more questions than are answered but do it in a way that is still satisfying to the audie...