[Televisionary]

HBO's Boardwalk Empire , Game of Thrones , Bored to Death and other TV shows have recently featured incest storylines or themes. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "TV Breaks the Incest Taboo," in which I examine this troubling trend in scripted programming. In 1990, Twin Peaks gave the world a nightmare vision into the seediness beneath the placid veneer of small-town America. But while one of the many puzzles embedded within Twin Peaks ’ narrative was the identity of the murderer of teen queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), the true secret lurking at the heart of the mystery was the incest and abuse suffered by Laura at the hands of her father, Leland (Ray Wise) and the psychic damage this secret caused his wife, Sarah (Grace Zabriskie). It’s a reveal so horrific, so destructive, that the creators represented it in terms of the supernatural, having Leland possessed by a demonic entity in order to explain the cruelty and lack of humanity that suc...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. It's official: that Michael Emerson/Terry O'Quinn hit man drama pilot from executive producer J.J. Abrams and writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec ( Alias, Happy Town ) is heading to NBC after the Peacock landed the rights to the pilot from studio Warner Bros. Television. The untitled project--which had a working title of Odd Jobs --stars former Lost adversaries Emerson and O'Quinn. Which means that your Dharma-branded fantasies of seeing John Locke and Benjamin Linus on television again might not be coming true exactly, but you may get to see these two in action side-by-side again. ( Vulture ) [Editor: Meanwhile, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva has some further details about Abrams' and Elizabeth Sarnoff's Alcatraz , which landed at FOX earlier this week with a pilot order. According to unnamed sources, the project is described as "a show about mysteries, secrets and the most infamous prison of all time:...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Former Friday Night Lights star Zach Gilford has joined the cast of ABC's midseason medical drama Off the Map , from executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Jenna Bans. TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams reports that Gilford will play Tommy, a physician who travels to a remote medical clinic in South America along with fellow doctors Lily (Caroline Dhavernas) and Mina (Mamie Gummer). (The series' other stars include Martin Henderson, Jason George, and Valerie Cruz.) Gilford's casting comes on the heels of the hiring of Rachelle Lefevre as a regular and the departure of Enrique Murciano, though ABC was quick to point out that Gilford won't be playing the same role that Murciano did, a spoiled and uptight plastic surgeon. [Editor: I'm chuffed to see Gilford--who we all know best as Saracen--head back to primetime.] ( TVGuide.com ) Not a moment too soon: HBO's long-running comedy Entourage will end next year, accord...

San Diego Comic-Con is upon us. Over at The Daily Beast, you can check out my latest feature, entitled "Angelina Jolie & Other Nerd Bait at Comic-Con," which rounds-up the 14 most anticipated--and thus buzzy--panels from both film and television. Among the standouts that are sure to be action-packed this year: Salt, True Blood, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Green Lantern, The Expendables, Being Human, Red, The Walking Dead, Tron: Legacy, Thor, Let Me In, Paul , all of WBTV's many shows, and the J.J. Abrams/Joss Whedon Visionaries panel, presented by Entertainment Weekly , among others. What are you most looking forward to and what panels do you think will live up to the hype? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that James Tupper ( Mercy ) has joined the cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy , where he is set to recur as trauma counselor Andrew Perkins, who is "brought in to help Seattle Grace recover from that nightmarish season-ending bloodbath" and who will appear in at least two episodes next season. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan has some dish on the casting--and recasting--going on at HBO's upcoming fantasy drama Game of Thrones . "Varys, the calculating spymaster for the king of Westeros, will be played by UK actor Conleth Hill," writes Ryan. "The role of Waymar Royce has been recast due to a scheduling issue. Jamie Campbell-Bower had played the role in the pilot but when the producers decided to do reshoots of his scenes, Campbell-Bower was unavailable. The role of Royce will now be played by Ro...

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Elijah Wood ( Lord of the Rings ) will star opposite Jason Gann in the pilot for FX's US adaptation of Aussie comedy Wilfred , about a man and his talking dog, the latter of which will be voiced by Gann, the original creator of the series. Project hails from writer David Zuckerman ( Family Guy ) and director Randall Einhorn ( The Office ). Production is slated to begin this summer. ( Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed ) Larry King will be hanging up his trademark suspenders this fall after 25 years as the host of Larry King Live in order to spend more time with his family. The Los Angeles Times ' Matea Gold and Yvonne Villarreal have a fantastic interview with King about his decision to leave CNN. "I said, 'I can't top this,'" King told the Times on Tuesday. "I'm not getting younger. I want more time with other things. It's time to go... The daily grind is tough. And there are aspec...

Warner Bros. Television today announced their full programming slate for San Diego Comic-Con 2010, taking place in just a few weeks now. Among the offerings, Warner Bros. Television will host panels for The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Fringe, Human Target, Nikita, Smallville, Supernatural, V (which I'll be moderating, in fact), The Vampire Diaries, Children's Hospital, Unnatural History, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, MAD , and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated . (Whew.) I can also now officially announce that the V panel I'll be moderating--which will feature Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Laura Vandervoort, Charles Mesure, Morena Baccarin, Scott Wolf and executive producers Scott Rosenbaum and Steve Pearlman--will be taking place Saturday from 2:30-3:15 pm in Ballroom 20. (Hope to see you there!) Earlier that day, be sure to stop by Ballroom 20 at 10 am for the Chuck panel, which will feature Josh Schwartz, Chris Fedak, Zachary Levi, Yvon...