[Televisionary]

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Hollywood Reporter 's Borys Kit and James Hibberd are reporting that Warner Bros. Television is in the process of acquiring television rights to Neil Gaiman's DC/Vertigo comic series "Sandman" with the view of adapting it as an ongoing television series. Among the contenders to tackle the project: Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. It's not the first time that Hollywood has courted the mythopoeic comic series: HBO nearly had a version in development at one time with James Mangold attached; Roger Avery attempted to get a feature film version off the ground in the mid-90s. It's still early days for the project as Kripke is said to be cautious about treading on such hallowed ground and attempting to translate the deeply complex and layered narrative for television. [Editor: Personally, I'd rather that Kripke and WBTV didn't: the plot of "Sandman" isn't a strict narrative in the traditiona...

Showtime's Matt Blank kicked off the festivities on Day Two of the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour by offering a look at what's coming up for their slate of original programming over the next six months or so. "Showtime continues to thrive in every part of our business," said Blank. "We received more 2010 Emmy nominations for our original series than any other premium cable network." Here are some highlights from the very brief session, during which Blank acknowledged the behind-the-scenes changes going on at the pay cabler, where Robert Greenblatt has stepped down and will be succeeded by David Nevins. Weeds comes back in August. Guest stars this season will include Richard Dreyfus, Alanis Morrissette, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Linda Hamilton, and Peter Stomare. The Big C , which launches on August 16th as well, will feature Idris Elba, Cynthia Nixon, and Liam Neeson, whose participation was announced earlier this week. Dexter 's latest sea...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Former Battlestar Galactica star Michael Trucco has been cast in USA drama pilot Facing Kate , where he will play the charismatic ex-husband to Kate, a former lawyer (Sarah Shahi) who leaves her job to become a mediator after the death of her father. Also cast: Virginia Williams ( Lie to Me ), who will play Kate's younger stepmother, a domineering woman who is desperate to hold onto her late husband's law firm. Bronwen Hughes will direct the pilot, which hails from Universal Cable Prods. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Desperate Housewives will offer a flashforward of sorts in their first episode after the December 6th cliffhanger that will explore several "what if" scenarios. "Two Wisterians featured prominently in the alternate reality sequences will be Gaby and Carlos’ youngest daughter, Celia, and Mike and Susan’s son, MJ," writes Ausiello. "I...

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...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. It seems like the stars are finally aligning. Producers on FOX's Bones are in talks with Zooey Deschanel to guest star on the procedural crime drama in December as the cousin of real-life sister Emily Deschanel's Brennan, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "We’ve been looking for an opportunity to get the Deschanel girls together," said Bones creator/executive producer Hart Hanson, "but Zooey’s rockin’ career kept getting in the way... We alluded to [her] having a cousin in Minnesota two seasons ago. I’d very much like to meet her in the Christmas episode." ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) As previously reported on this site, 20th Century Fox Television is teaming up with Columbia Records on a series of soundtracks for FOX's upcoming series Glee . The first release, "Glee: The Music, Volume 1," will contain seventeen tracks from the series' first seas...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. E! Online's Watch with Kristin is reporting that Dominic Monaghan will reprise his role as rocker Charlie Pace on ABC's Lost next season for three episodes. "Sources tell us exclusively that, yes, Dom's deal to reappear on Lost is done and that the original castmember is set to appear in three episodes in Season Six," writes Jennifer Godwin. "No word yet on the answer to the big question: Is Charlie alive? We'll have to wait until Lost returns to ABC in January 2010 to find out." ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Joey Lauren Adams ( Party Down ) has joined the cast of Showtime's United States of Tara for the series' second season. Adams will play Pammy, a barmaid who "has a history of picking the wrong guys," writes Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "Her luck changes the day she meets 'Buck' and falls head over heels in love." She'll appea...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. E! Online caught up with Lost star Matthew Fox in Monte Carlo, where he was on hand to attend the Monte Carlo Television Festival, and got the actor to tease some details about Lost 's sixth and final season. Fox, who said that Lost will end with "an incredibly powerful, very sad and beautiful way," went on to say " "I think it is going to be very satisfying and cathartic and redemptive and beautiful. I've talked to Damon pretty extensively and every time I talk to him it's sort of surprising how moving it is just to talk about it." As for the beginning of Season Six, look for the action to begin with the reveal of just what happened after Juliet seemed to detonate the hydrogen bomb, with Fox teasing, "It's very surprising and probably fairly confusing initially to the audience... Like a third of the way in [to the season] I would guess we are going to [settle] in one time frame and it...

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Elizabeth Mitchell ( Lost ) has been cast in ABC drama pilot V , a retelling of the cult 1980s sci-fi series. But before we start to mourn the passing of Juliet, it's worth noting that Mitchell will guest star in the sci fi pilot, from Warner Bros. Television, and not star in it, according to Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Meanwhile, Visitorsite.net has confirmed that Mitchell will play Erica Evans, a single mother and an FBI Counter-Terrorism agent. ( Visitorsite ) Editor's note: Having read the script, I can say with all authority that Erica is far from being a "guest star" in the pilot; in fact she's one of the lead roles and as intrinsic to the plot of the pilot episode as Jacqueline McKenzie's Diana Skouris was to The 4400 . In fact, she's the very first character we meet in the draft of the script I read... What this truly means for Eliz...

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Mark Valley ( Fringe ) has been cast as the lead in FOX drama pilot Human Target , from Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland, and DC Comics, about a "mysterious security freelancer who assumes the identities of those in danger, becoming the 'human target' for his clients." Pilot will be directed by Simon West. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight will depart the cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy , according to co-star James Pickens who told US Magazine that the duo would leave the series. "Yes, she is," said Pickens when asked if Heigl was leaving. "Wherever Katherine goes, I wish her nothing but the best." As for Knight, Pickens said, "He's going too. He just wanted to pursue other career paths." ABC, ABC Studios, and reps for Heigl and Knight had no comment. ( US Magazine ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello had some further news on this developmen...

Showtime's new dark comedy United States of Tara has a lot going for it. After all, it's created and written by Diablo Cody ( Juno ) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg (and based on an idea of his) and it stars Toni Collette ( Little Miss Sunshine ) as a suburban mother afflicted with dissociative identity disorder. (Read: multiple personalities.) It should be a shoo-in to inherit the crown passed down by Showtime's other dark comedy series Weeds . And yet something doesn't totally feel right. While United States of Tara is about one woman's journey to discover the disparate pieces of herself (quite literally), it is at its center a look at the pressures facing a suburban family grappling with their matriarch's disease. So why then is the series so lacking in, well, heart ? I had previously seen the pilot episode of United States of Tara before the producers recast the crucial role of Tara's daughter Kate (originally played by Portia Doubleday) ...

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. But is it The Pattern? The big news is, of course, the full season pick up for FOX's freshman drama Fringe , bringing this season's total to 22 episodes. "We're having a blast working on this show with this great team of producers and amazing cast," said FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly. "The series has really taken off creatively, and it's exciting to see that the audience is responding. We believe this is the first full season of many years to come." The pickup for Fringe marks the second full season order so far this year; last month, the CW ordered a full season of 90210 . To date, Fringe has ranked as the number one new series among adults 18-49 this season. ( Variety ) Pushing Daisies ' second season launch plummeted in the ratings, sadly. "Despite strong reviews, the return of Daisies (6.3 million viewers, 2.0/6) had the steepest drop of any show this fall, declining a ...