[Televisionary]

The ratings are in and ABC's new legal drama The Deep End tanked in the ratings. But, given the lackluster results, I am curious to know which of you out there watched the first episode of The Deep End . Just what did you thought of the series? (You can read my review of the original pilot episode, written last summer, here .) Did you find it engaging? Self-indulgent? Ridiculous? Did the presence of Matt Long, Mehcad Brooks, or Tina Majorino make up for one-dimensional characters and an effort to capitalize on the soapiness of Grey's ? And is there any way you would ever tune in again? Talk back here.

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Former Wicked star Idina Menzel is in advanced talks to join the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring role when the series returns in March with its back nine episodes. Menzel, who will play the coach for the glee club's main rivals, Vocal Adrenaline, could potentially appear in all nine remaining installments this season. [Editor: personally, given the strong resemblance between Menzel and Lea Michele, I figured producers would get her to play Rachel's biological mother. Unless...] Menzel will also be joined by Spring Awakening 's Jonathan Groff who, as previously reported, joins Glee in a multiple-episode story arc and is slated to appear in five or six episodes this spring. ( Hollywood Reporter , Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, E! Online's Megan Masters has some details about what we should expect from Glee 's back nine episodes. "I don't know if Glee starts back after a s...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. NBC is developing a US version of British crime drama series Prime Suspect , which starred Helen Mirren as the dogged and damaged Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison. The US version, which will be developed and written by Without a Trace 's Hank Steinberg, will be shot as a two-hour presentation and is the first effort of a multi-year deal between NBC and ITV Studios, the production arm of British terrestrial network ITV. "We want to carefully choose a couple of iconic titles this year to reinvent, and our intention is to create another classic television show from this brilliant original format," said NBC Primetime Entertainment president Angela Bromstad. "Hank Steinberg was key in helping us secure this project, and we are incredibly excited about this modern vision for the show." ( Variety ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former Smallville star Kristin Kreuk has been ca...

Every once in a while, a pilot comes along that has such a stellar cast that it's heartbreakingly depressing when the pilot itself isn't quite up to snuff. This development season that pilot would be ABC's The Deep End (formerly known as The Associates ... and before that Untitled Dave Hemingson Legal Dramedy), which has gathered together some fantastically diverse talent as Matt Long ( Jack & Bobby ), Tina Majorino ( Big Love ), Ben Lawson ( Neighbours ), Norbert Leo Butz ( Dan in Real Life ), Leah Pipes ( Life is Wild ), Billy Zane ( Samantha Who? ), Sherri Saum ( In Treatment ), Rachelle Lefevre ( Twilight, Swingtown ), and Clancy Brown ( Carnivale ). The Deep End , from writer/executive producer Dave Hemingson ( Kitchen Confidential ), follows the personal and professional goings on of a group of ambitious young law associates and their demanding bosses at a cutthroat Los Angeles law firm. The series, from 20th Century Fox Television, was originally developed as a ...