[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Nathan Fillion fans, rejoice! ABC yesterday announced that it had ordered a full third season for procedural drama Castle , picking up the Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic-led series for a full season of 22 episodes. The pickup came a day after Castle hit a ratings high (14.5 million total viewers and 3.7/10 in the key demo) and as well as broke a record for scripted series at ABC on Mondays at 10 pm ET/PT and its best key demo ratings in the timeslot since 2001. (via press release) Meanwhile, The Wrap's Josef Adalian has a quick Q&A with ABC chief Steve McPherson about Castle 's renewal. "We all believed, on both the production side and the network side, we believed in the creative on this show from the get-go," McPherson told Adalian. "We loved the casting, we loved Andrew (Marlowe, executive producer) and the work he was doing on the story-telling. It's a great story of patience. It's good to se...

Good morning and welcome to your Monday television briefing. Steven Moffat, who has taken over the reins at Doctor Who from Russell T. Davies , has said that he wouldn't rule out a feature film spin-off of Doctor Who so long as it didn't interfere with production on the series itself. "It would be good to see it in the cinema so long as it was great and fantastic," said Moffat, speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. "But a film is on [for] 90 minutes and that is not as important as the series. But so long as it doesn't get in the way of the show we could do it. If it got in the way of the show that would be appalling." The series itself has already had two feature spin-offs in the 1960s: Doctor Who and the Daleks and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD , both of which starred Peter Cushing as the Doctor. ( The Guardian 's Organ Grinder ) There's a fantastic interview with J.J. Abrams about his new FOX drama Fringe and about ...

It's always sad when you watch a botched pilot of a script that you really, really loved and are just wholly disappointed by what you see. In this case, I'm talking about the pilot episode for FOX's supernatural drama The Oaks , which wasn't picked up to series. Last I heard, studio 20th Century Fox Television was attempting to shop the project to other networks, but I would be surprised if anyone picks it up after what I've seen. (You can read my original review of the pilot script here .) It's not that there isn't an interesting story there because there is. I was utterly captivated by David Schulner's gorgeously nuanced script for The Oaks , which tells the story of three very different couples living in the same house in three different decades: there's twenty-something couple Mike (Matt Lanter) and Sarah (Shannon Lucio) who have recently weathered the death of their young daughter and have fallen apart as a couple; middle-aged blue collar paren...

Whither Gina McKee? That's the question on my mind after learning of the latest two cast additions on FOX's supernatural drama The Oaks . Michael Rispoli ( The Black Donnellys ) and Romy Rosemont ( Prison Break ) have been cast in The Oaks , which started production on its pilot last Monday in Pasadena. Neither creator David Schulner nor executive producer/showrunner Shawn Ryan, both not performing writing or producer duties as part of the WGA strike, have been involved with the shoot. According to The Hollywood Reporter , the final cast decisions were made by executive producer Gina Matthews. Rispoli and Rosemont will play a married couple with two children in 1988 in the FOX series about three couples linked in time by a spirit that haunts the home they share in three different time periods. Rosemont replaces British actress Gina McKee as Molly. Allegedly, the 1988 portion of the series will be taken "in more comedic, blue-collar direction." Hmmm. That's really...

In an interesting twist, FOX has decided to cast relatively unknowns in its new drama series, The Oaks , the first project from newly installed network president Kevin Reilly. (For my review of the pilot script, click here .) The Oaks , written by Tell Me You Love Me 's David Schulner and directed by Dexter 's Michael Cuesta, has secured the talents of two British actresses for its diverse cast of characters. The project revolves around three couples--in 1968, 1988, and 2008--who all live in the same house and are connected through the decades by a restless spirit and a mystery which haunts their home. Gina McKee, best known for her feature roles in MirrorMask, Notting Hill , and Croupier , will play Molly, a frazzled mother of two children in 1988 whose marriage to gruff Frank has fallen into a passionless state. She will next be seen in Atonement , opposite Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, and Vanessa Redgrave. Sienna Guillory ( Eragon ) will play Jessica, the ...

FOX has had a rather auspicious day, securing three actors as leads for its new supernatural drama The Oaks , from writer David Schulner ( Tell Me You Love Me ) and director Michael Cuesta ( Dexter ). The Oaks revolves around the intertwined stories of three couples in three different decades--1968, 1988, and 2008--who live in the same house; their stories are connected by the house's possible haunting. It's a fascinating and compelling conceit that mines both the supernatural and the quotidian, in the form of each of the couples' relationship issues. (For my exclusive review of the pilot script for The Oaks , click here .) In the first casting notice for the drama pilot, which goes into production in November, FOX has locked the acting services of Shannon Lucio, Matt Lanter, and Bahar Soomekh. Shannon Lucio ( The OC ) and Matt Lanter ( Commander in Chief ) will play Sarah and Mike, a young married couple in 1968 who grieving after the death of their young daughter, Ameli...

Ask and ye shall receive. That's always been my motto and there's a reason why it's true. In this case, I'm talking about the script for FOX's just-announced new series The Oaks , the first series order for newly installed president Kevin Reilly, which will pit The Shield creator Shawn Ryan on a network series that's... high-concept, to say the least. By Monday afternoon, I had gotten my greedy hands on David Schulner's script for The Oaks and eagerly devoured the supernatural/relationship drama. It's ambitious, layered, and eerily suspenseful; nothing like it currently exists on network television (in the States, anyway). It certainly doesn't feel like a FOX series, but I think that's Reilly's intention: to steer the audience away from those stereotypes of what makes a FOX series just that. The quick 411 on The Oaks , which comes from 20th Century Fox Television : it's about three married couples who live in the same house in three di...

Ah, how fast they grow into the job. Recent hire Kevin Reilly, late of NBC, has planted his first seed as the new FOX entertainment president, ordering a series that every major network in town has been vying for over the past few weeks. The project, The Oaks , was given a series commitment by Reilly, along with a substantial seven-figure penalty. (Ouch.) Series, from writer David Schuler (HBO's Tell Me You Love Me ) is a high-concept relationship drama with strong supernatural elements; it will revolve around three couples who live in the same house during three different time periods (1967, 1987, and 2007) who are linked by enigmatic spirits who haunt the building. Reilly was quick to hire a high-profile showrunner to oversee The Oaks , snagging The Shield creator Shawn Ryan to executive produce, and hiring Dexter 's Michael Cuesta to direct the pilot and exec produce. Production on The Oaks ' pilot will begin in November. Given the general near-hysteria looming over LA...