[Televisionary]

Call it a case of growing pains... or sibling rivalry. I can't help but wonder what exactly is going on at ABC's Brothers & Sisters , the freshman drama starring Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Balthazar Getty, Dave Annabel, and Sally Field as the only-on-TV-are-these-people-related Walker family of not so sunny California. (Ron Rifkin and Patricia Wettig also star.) When the behind-the-scenes drama on a series seems more intense than the actual show itself, that's a sign for alarm, especially as fall premiere dates seem to be looming ever closer. First, there were the well-publicized cast changes . Jonathan LaPaglia and Betty Buckley were voted off the island; replacing them are Matthew Rhys and Sally Field. Okay, post-pilot cast changes/additions are always to be expected and nine times out of ten they're really for the best. (Just look at the original Willow on the pilot presentation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer if you don't believe me.) News leaked out

Fans of CBS's reality series The Amazing Race can finally put faces to the names of the series' latest players. CBS has finally released photos and full bios for its contestants for the latest installment of The Amazing Race franchise, set to premiere September 17th in its new timeslot of Sundays at 8 pm. While the teams were previously announced , check out CBS.com for updated information, photos, and background on the team members. But if you're too lazy to do that, below are the brief team descriptions that were announced at last month's Television Critics Association panel: Vipul Patel, 29, and Arti Patel, 26, of Windermere, Florida; the first Indian-Americans on the Race. Erwin Cho, 32, and Godwin Cho, 29. Brothers from San Francisco. Tom Rock, 39, and Terry Cosentino, 45, a gay couple from New York City. Kellie Patterson, 22, and Jamie Hill, 22. Friends from Columbia, South Carolina. Lyn Turk, 32, of Birmingham, Ala., and Karlyn Harris, 32, of Helena, Alabama. F

Fans of BBC's Spooks --or MI-5 as it's known here in the States--need not wait any longer to find out what happened with their favorite British spy group after this long hiatus. A&E has announced that it will premiere MI-5's fourth season beginning with a two-part special kicking off on 15 September at 11 pm ET/PT that will deal head on with agent Danny Hunter's, um, untimely end at the conclusion of last season. So set your TiVos and catch up with Adam Carter & Co... because it might be another few years before you get your next chance.

In life, there are many apt metaphors that relate both to food and losing. That's how the cookie crumbles... No use crying over spilt milk... If you can't stand the heat, get out of the -- Okay, viewers of FOX's Hell's Kitchen get that last one better than anyone, especially after last night's performance from Virginia and Co. It was obvious from the start that Heather, even after a few gaffes, would make it to the final rounds but I am still stunned that her competitor for an executive chef gig at the "billion dollar" Red Rocks Casino in Las Vegas was the flirtatious Virginia. It came down to a battle of wills between sous chef Heather, my personal fave during the entire competition, and salad chef Virginia, whose gift-from-the-gods palate didn't quite match up to her weak kitchen skills or lack of leadership. You couldn't have chosen two more disparate individuals, as evidenced from the menus, decor, and attitude of their individual Hell's K

Fans of Showtime's Weeds who don't, you know, actually want to pay for Showtime can catch the second season premiere online. MSN Video has pacted with the pay cabler to stream Weed' s entire season premiere episode ("Corn Snake") online for one week, after it premieres on the network Monday. Additionally, short clips from the Mary-Louise Parker-led dramedy will be available online throughout the second season, but there are no current plans to offer any other full-length episodes. So catch your hit now while you still can. And, who knows, you might just be willing to pony up that extra money for Showtime.

AMC to Get "Mad" Cabler AMC has greenlit its first original one-hour drama, Mad Men , about the professional and personal lives of Madison Avenue advertising execs in the early 1960s, ordering 13 episodes from executive producer/writer Matthew Weiner (The Sopranos) and studio Lionsgate ( Weeds ). According to an article in Variety , production begins in April in New York City. Series will star Jon Hamm ( We Were Soldiers ), January Jones ( American Wedding ), Elisabeth Moss ( The West Wing ), Vincent Kartheiser ( Angel ), Christina Hendricks ( Kevin Hill ), and John Slattery ( K Street ). " Mad Men centers on thirty-something Don Draper, creative director for the Sterling Cooper ad agency, which hawks everything from cigarettes to political candidates. Pilot episode centers on Don's fight to keep a major tobacco account from leaving the agency while juggling his increasingly complicated romantic life." Weiner wrote the script when he was on staff on the CBS s

I am not usually a talk show kind of guy. While I get the appeal of Conan, Leno, and Letterman, I usually find the entire format a bit rigid and more than a little overly PR-ified (for lack of a better word). Celebrity comes on, promotes latest film/TV series/diet pill/exercise regimen, the host cracks a few jokes, and everyone is on their merry way. So it's a pleasure then to spend a Friday evening with The Kumars at No. 42 , a hybridization of the sitcom/talk show format, with some improvisational comedy thrown in for some extra spice. This series is unlike any talk show that I've ever seen, blending together the comic highs of the sitcom, with the interactivity of a talk show. Plus, the "Kumars" themselves are hilarious, portraying deliciously funny characters that instantly disarm the celebrity they're interviewing and usually wind up sending them into paroxysms of laughter. It's a novel conceit that has no real corollary here. (The closest thing I could t