Channel Surfing: Michael Phelps, Duchovny's "Californication" Problem, Pilot Casting, "Red Dwarf," and More

Good morning and welcome to your Friday television briefing. The weekend is just within our grasps now, so just a few more hours to go. I spent last night watching some pilots for ABC's recently announced series orders--including the Nathan Fillion-starring Castle and ensemble cop dramedy The Unusuals--so look for thoughts on those and more in the next few days.

Truth is sometimes just as strange as fiction: David Duchovny, who plays sex addict Hank Moody on Showtime's Californication, has entered a rehab facility to treat... sexual addiction. (People)

Shawn Hatosy (Public Enemies) has been cast in NBC's drama pilot LAPD opposite The OC's Benjamin McKenzie; he'll play Sammy, a newly married cop who is already having marriage problems. Elsewhere, Kristin Bauer (True Blood) has been added to the growing cast of HBO's one-hour comedy pilot Hung, opposite Thomas Jane and Jane Adams. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other casting news, Olympian Michael Phelps will follow his upcoming hosting duties on Saturday Night Live with a cameo on an episode of HBO's Entourage slated to air later this year. (I got the first two episodes of Entourage's upcoming fifth season--launching on September 7th--yesterday but won't get to watch until this weekend.) (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Ricky Schroeder, who recently appeared in A&E's miniseres The Andromeda Strain, will direct Sci Fi Channel telepic Hellhounds, about an ancient Greek warrior who battles the hellhounds of Hades in order to save his bride and bring her back from the Underworld. Pic will star Men in Trees' Scott Elrod and was written by Paul A. Birkett. It will be distributed by RHI. (Hollywood Reporter)

The cast of British cult comedy Red Dwarf will reunite for a series of four half-hour specials, according to a report, to be aired on digital channel Dave in 2009. (Digital Spy)

Vanessa Marcil (Las Vegas) has signed on to join the cast of NBC's Lipstick Jungle in a recurring capacity as Josie, an attractive music manager who offers Shane (Paul Blackthorne) a job scoring music on an indie film. And David Arquette has signed on to guest star on My Name is Earl as a stuntman whom Earl wants to cross off his list for sleeping with his girlfriend... but he suffers from short-term memory loss, which could be a problem for Earl. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC drama head Jane Tranter is said to be in talks to move to Los Angeles in order to oversee a new BBC Worldwide West Coast drama production division in 2009. In her role at the Beeb, Tranter developed such hits as Life on Mars, Doctor Who, Spooks (a.k.a. MI-5) and Cranford. She could also take BBC Wales drama head Julie Gardner (who executive produces Doctor Who) with her to Los Angeles as well. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NFL Football (CBS); America's Toughest Jobs (NBC); NFL Football; Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (ABC; 8-10 pm); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: Dateline (NBC)

10 pm: Swingtown (CBS); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

10 pm: Swingtown on CBS.

On this week's episode ("Surprise!"), Roger and Susan plan a surprise party for Janet but the celebration's results are more shocking than actually, you know, surprising.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season ...

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj...

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