[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Looks like we're at the halfway point for AMC's Mad Men , at least according to creator Matthew Weiner. Speaking at last week's National Association of Broadcasters, Weiner stated that he would like to wrap up the period drama after six seasons as he couldn't see the series, produced by Lionsgate Television, going past that point. [Editor: Personally, I think that this is a good thing as an end date would allow Weiner to not only go out on a high note but begin planning the back half of the series' run while knowing just when it will end, much like Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had requested an end date for Lost /] ( The Weekly Blend via The Wrap's Weekly Blend ) Elsewhere at AMC, The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that Breaking Bad is likely to be back on the cabler for a fourth season, following news that executive producers were told that the series is ready for a renewal. However, there is curren...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I had a fantastic time at the Community panel last night at the 2010 William S. Paley Television Festival (followed by some late-night carousing with some other TV types). But onto today's headlines, of which there are many. Outbound Brothers & Sisters star Rob Lowe will be heading to Pawnee. Lowe has signed on to appear in multiple episodes of NBC comedy Parks and Recreation later this season and his contract, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, calls for him to appear on the Universal Media Studios-produced series next season. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, Fancast's Matt Mitovich has details about just who Lowe will be playing this season, thanks to an interview with Parks and Recreation executive producer Mike Schur. While Schur--who likened Lowe's participation as "the perfect fit" for the series--was tight-lipped when it came to details about Lowe...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that NBC will today begin streaming already aired episodes of Chuck on its website. For now, the installments include the original pilot episode and the entire second season of Chuck , which is being released in batches of five episodes at a time. Chuck is currently slated to return to the airwaves in March. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams is reporting that Desmond Harrington ( Dexter ) will reprise his role as Jack Bass on the CW's Gossip Girl later this season. "I will be back this year," Harrington told Abrams. "I think it's episode 15 or 16 where I show back up. It's fun playing Uncle Jack... I think, if anything, I am there to screw that kid's life up basically," Harrington says. "I think he might be, out of all the most evil characters the show has ever had on it, the most evil cha...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Could Buffy be heading back to the big screen... sans Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, or any of the supporting talents that made the franchise a success? Sadly, yes, in what appears to be shaping up as one of the worst ideas of the year. Executive producers Fran and Kaz Kuzui, along with Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Doug Davison are said to be developing a reboot of the Buffy franchise. (Fran Rubel Kuzui directed the original Buffy feature.) However, said project would not involve characters like Willow, Xander, Angel, or Spike (or, indeed any of the above elements) and would instead focus on a new slayer and would kick off a new franchise. The producers are currently meeting with writers and have not reached out to Joss Whedon about any involvement with the project. ( Hollywood Reporter ) David Tennant will star opposite Elisabeth Sladen in two upcoming episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures ...

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. While everyone is buzzing about the possible SAG strike, I hope you all tuned in to last night's episode of Chuck , the final piece of the three-part Jill storyline. Life on Mars co-creator Ashley Pharoah has praised the US version of the series, calling it "marvelous." In New York to receive an International Emmy for best drama for the original UK version of Life on Mars , Pharoah was pleased that the producers had changed the mythology of the series for the US audience and that the studio had moved the action from LA (where it was based for David E. Kelley's original pilot ) to gritty New York City. "They're changing the mythology, which I think is all right," said Pharoah. "It has to be different. Otherwise everyone just goes on YouTube and sees how it ends." ( Hollywood Reporter ) Just how would a SAG strike affect a television industry still recovering from the crippling 100-day WGA str...

Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I hope that most of you decided to stay in last night and watch the premiere of FOX's new J.J. Abrams project Fringe ; I watched the second episode of 90210 and was decidedly less-than-impressed again. Sigh. If you did miss Fringe , fret not: FOX will be reairing last night's series premiere on Sunday evening at 8 pm... along with a sneak peek at the first four minutes of Episode Two, as well as an extended scene from feature The Day the Earth Stood Still (the Keanu Reeves version, natch) and a preview of the two-hour 24 movie 24: Redemption . ( Variety ) Regardless of how Fringe did in the ratings last night, it will have done significantly better than the launch for HBO's vampire drama True Blood from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball. The pay cabler only drew 1.44 million viewers to the series premiere of True Blood , significantly less than the axed John from Cincinnati did in its initial outin...

If there's one word for Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, it's... cute. The Sarah Jane Adventures launched Friday night on Sci Fi with a 90-minute installment and I was curious to see how the Doctor Who formula (alien plots are counteracted by human or human-and-Time Lord pairs) would be applied to this new series. After all, Torchwood modified the familiar Doctor Who story by injecting it with heaps of darkness and sexuality. In Torchwood , there are never any happy endings, no one ever gets a day off or a holiday to the other side of the universe, and the would-be saviors of humanity are forced to focus on work rather than the significant relationships in their lives. The Sarah Jane Adventures takes the opposite tack, bringing a lightness and youth to the war against alien invaders and simplifying the plots significantly. I realize that I am not within the ideal demographic for this British series but I can't help but shake my head at Sci Fi's decis...