[Televisionary]

Yes, spring is finally here (or thereabouts, anyway), and that brings warmer weather and, very fortunately, a slew of new and returning television series. Over at The Daily Beast, you can check out my latest feature, "15 Reasons to Watch TV This Spring," which includes a look at such series as Mildred Pierce, Game of Thrones, The Borgias, The Kennedys, Camelot, The Killing, Body of Proof, Upstairs Downstairs, and returning series such as Nurse Jackie, The United States of Tara, Treme, Doctor Who, Top Chef: Masters, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and the NBC premiere of the final season of Friday Night Lights . What are you most excited about that arrives on the airwaves between now and May? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Hmmm, it appears that a father's love will drive men to do some horrific things in order to save their sons. On this week's episode of Fringe ("Os"), written by Josh Singer and Graham Roland and directed by Brad Anderson, I couldn't help but notice the parallels between Walter Bishop and Alan Ruck's Dr. Crick (itself a likely shout-out to DNA visionaries Watson and Crick), who was experimenting on wheelchair-bound subjects in order to find a way to help his son walk again. We've seen the consequences of Walter Bishop's actions and, as we're often told on Fringe , that long road to hell is paved with the best of intentions. Walter passed through the veil separating two universes in order to save Peter's life, but in that case, his love for his son, may have inadvertently destroyed two worlds as a result. And, like Walter, Crick crossed a number of moral (and legal) boundaries in order to save his son, to transform his life for the better. But i

"The age of false prophets is over." As we near the end of Big Love 's run next week, the notion of sacrifice hovers over the action, with each of the characters being forced to come to terms with their own personal divinity as they weigh the outcome of their actions. For every mother who strives to give their child a better life at the expense of their own happiness, there's another who puts their own insecurities and shame onto their offspring. It seems as though we truly can't even outrun out pasts, much less escape them. There's always a way that the past--whether it be a crazed gunman out for bloody vengeance, a corrugated iron washtub, or our formative experiences in childhood--manages to catch up with us. On this week's tension-laden episode of Big Love ("Exorcism"), written by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and directed by Adam Davidson, the past didn't so much as sidle up to the Henricksons as it did throw a bucket of acid in their faces, f

Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be long gone (sadly) and Doctor Who doesn't return for a few more weeks (darn!), but that doesn't mean that you can't smush the two together into something as fun as a jaunty bow-tie. In this case, this means mashing the familiar opening credit sequence of Buffy with the visuals of the Matt Smith-era Doctor and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), with a special appearance by Alex Kingston as River Song, of course. You can watch this lovingly crafted homage to both Buffy and Doctor Who below. Season Six of Doctor Who kicks off on April 23rd on BBC America.

It's Friday, which means a brand-new episode of FOX's Fringe is heading to your screens tonight. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, " Fringe Under Fire," in which I talk to executive producers Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman about Fringe , its renewal prospects, why science fiction dramas have proven tricky at the broadcast networks of late, lessons learned from Lost and Alias , and the show's innate philosophical leanings (something I've written a great deal about at this site). Also, Pinkner and Wyman answer eight burning questions about Fringe --from Olivia's powers and stepfather to the Observers, Sam Weiss, and Peter's doomsday device, and more--in the gallery-based sidebar . Fringe airs tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on FOX.

HBO has today unveiled the official poster for its upcoming launch of Game of Thrones , kicking off Sunday, April 17th at 9 pm ET/PT. Depicting Ned Stark (Sean Bean) on the Iron Throne, it's a stark (heh) use of imagery that highlights the violent nature of the show's plot and the war that threatens to overtake the land of Westeros. When men play at the game of thrones, who will win and who will pay the heaviest price? The poster's tagline? "You Win Or You Die." Fitting, no? You can check out a larger version of the poster below... Game of Thrones premieres Sunday, April 17th on HBO.

Welcome to the home of the world famous Julia Roberts... lawsuit. To the Paris of Indiana. Welcome to Pawnee. It was clear, as the cast and crew of NBC's painfully funny and wickedly sweet Parks and Recreation gathered on stage last night as part of the 2011 edition of the Paley Festival, that there's as much love for the series coming from the actors than there is coming from the audience. "I think this is the beginning of us being around for a long time," said Amy Poehler about Parks and Recreation reaching its stride. The numbers have climbed during the long-delayed third season, which made the move to the plum post- Office timeslot in January. Though Poehler was quick to poke fun at moderator Michael Ausiello of TVLine for issuing a backhanded compliment about the underrated first season of this winning comedy series. "It's a bit like saying that your baby used to be ugly and is now cute," said Poehler on reactions to Season One, which she termed