Televisionary

Calendar Man: Observations on Last Night's Phenomenal Episode of "Fringe"

2009-11-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

Oh, Fringe, I've missed you.

Last night's episode of Fringe ("August"), written by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner and directed by Brad Anderson, was to me the absolute ideal installment of the sci-fi procedural series. Despite being a close-ended plot about the disappearance of a young woman, it provided answers to some of Fringe's most enduring mysteries so far and broadened out the mythology of the series and the character's inner lives to boot.

Plus, the series was firing on all cylinders, using each of its characters to their best effect: placing Olivia and Peter in the field in pursuit of the suspect, Walter and Astrid in the lab, and Broyles in an advisory capacity (and good to see they realized he'd still be injured after last week's events; nice continuity!).

So what did I think about the episode? Let's discuss.

As I mentioned earlier, I was head over heels in love with this week's installment, which showed that the series, which had struggled in its first season to find a working balance between the serialized and the procedural, can make the format work for them and not against them. While the plot was nominally about the kidnapping of an art student by the mysterious Observer, it quickly became a story about the choices we make, the bonds we have, and the emotional core of our beings, whether we're a determined FBI agent, a grieving father, or an otherworldly creature.

Playing of a comment made earlier in the series about there being "more than one of everything," the series introduces a novel conceit: there's more than one of the Observer. (We also previously saw a child-like version of one them living underground.) While The Observer has been traditionally played in the series by Michael Cerveris, this episode reveals that there would appear to be at least a coven of them in Boston alone. Like Marvel's omnipresent (and follicularly challenged) Uatu The Watcher, these Observers are instructed (by whom? for what purpose?) to keep a watch over events and never interfere; as a result, they exist outside of time, unfettered by constructs about the past, present, and future that we take for granted.

That directive to observe and not to interfere has been broken before and is broken again with this episode. The Observer known only as August (veteran British actor Peter Woodward) kidnaps a Christine Hollis (Jennifer Missoni) but not everything is as it appears: he doesn't want to kill her but is trying to save her. His effort means that Christine doesn't board a plan bound for Rome, a plane that goes down in the ocean, killing everyone aboard. So why does he save her? That's where things get really interesting.

August's actions put him in direct conflict with the other Observers, who know that Christine was marked for death. Given August's involvement has created an anomaly in the timeline, they move swiftly to "correct" it, drawing in grizzled assassin Donald Long (Paul Rae) to eliminate Christine and push events back into place. (Loved that Donald carries a portable dot matrix printer with him; nice touch.)

But August knows that the Observers have gotten involved before: our Observer moved to save Peter and Walter Bishop when their car went off the road into the frozen lake. But the coven admits that this was only to correct a mistake that they had made. So just what was that mistake? Allowing Walter to take Peter from "over there"? Or was there something else that made both of them "important" enough to intervene and keep them alive? Just what happened on that road? And what mistake did the Observers make that forced them to push the timeline back into place? Hmmm....

So it's not surprising then that August would leave a series of clues for Walter Bishop to find, clues that propel him to rendezvous with August, who asks Walter for his help. Knowing that the Observers will kill Christine, he needs to make her "important" so that they will spare her life. Finding loopholes is Walter's specialty after all; he wasn't limited by the confines of physics when he, grief-stricken, made the decision to steal someone else's child, a choice that haunts him to this day. (It's why he believes the Observer wants to see him, so terrified is he of losing Peter.)

And August does make a noble sacrifice in order to preserve Christine's life, after he twice crosses paths with her, the first time after the Oakland earthquake that kills Christine's parents. In the moments after the quake, the young Christine leaves an indelible mark on August's soul and he keeps her childhood teddy bear safe for her until he can return it. He makes a trade: his life for hers. Olivia and Peter are unable to stop Donald Long from shooting August (or rather he allows it to happen this time) and August knows that his death will secure Christine's life.

As he bleeds to death in the car, August tells his fellow Observer that the reason he wanted to save Christine was that he was in love with her. It's a nice twist as the Observers are meant to be inherently emotionless, detached from humanity, unable to process feelings and having no need for them. But love awakened something in August, a need to protect the thing he felt for, no matter what the consequence. In allowing himself to die, he made Christine "important." As the other Observer says (almost sadly), Christine was responsible for the death of one of them. She is and will forever be important.

There are always consequences. Walter advises August of that in the diner and he knows inherently that it's true. Even if you don't pay the price now, the cost of your actions will always catch up to you in the end. The sadness with which Walter touches Peter's face on the staircase at the end speak volumes about the fear with which Walter lives. He knows that Peter will get his answers, will find out the truth about who he really is, and the thought of losing his son for a second time terrifies him to no end.

Those answers are coming. Broyles believes that Peter was able to fire the last charge in the Observer's otherworldly gun but that's not the case; Peter was able to use it because he is from "over there," a fact that August is all too aware of when he hands him his weapon. It's only a matter of time before Peter learns the truth of where he came from and the lengths to which Walter went to reclaim his son from death itself.

Olivia, for her part, does get her day off with Ella at the amusement park and she challenges herself to overcome her fears and ride the rollercoaster with her niece. It's a moment of lightness and innocence, the last rays of sunshine before the darkness falls. They are observed. Two of the Observers watch Olivia without a hint of emotion. Things are going to get bad for Olivia Dunham; they already see this and these moments of levity and joy may be the last she experiences.

I'm intrigued with just where this plot is going. We know that Walter, Peter, and Olivia are key players in the coming war and that the Observers are there to watch as these events unfold. Just what parts they'll play as the battle begins remains to be seen. But things are definitely going to get very bleak for our Fringe Division stalwarts and I can't wait to see just where Fringe's writers take the plot next. I'm along for the ride, no matter what twist lies ahead.

In two weeks on Fringe ("Snakehead"), the Fringe team investigates incidents involving bodies with unnatural creatures attached to it; Olivia, Peter and Broyles discover that the case is linked to a dangerous organization involved in drug smuggling.

Channel Surfing: "Lost" Returns in February, "Chuck" Kicks off in January, NBC Orders more "Trauma," and More

2009-11-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

ABC yesterday announced the premiere date for the sixth and final season of Lost, which will return to the lineup on Tuesday, February 2nd with a two-hour premiere (preceded by a one-hour clip show) before setting into its new timeslot of Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT the following week. (Televisionary)

Lest they be outdone, NBC yesterday announced the premiere date for Season Three of the much-missed action comedy Chuck, which will kick off its third season with a three-hour two-night event on Sunday, January 10th. The following night, Chuck moves into its regular timeslot of Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT. Sadly, Julia Ling's Anna won't be back for Season Three, a fact that Warner Bros. Television confirmed to me yesterday afternoon. (Televisionary)

NBC has unexpected ordered three additional episodes of struggling freshman drama Trauma. After the holiday hiatus, that will leave the Peacock with six unaired episodes of Trauma. No announcement has been made about just where or when NBC will slot these installments. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin, Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Oprah Winfrey will announce that the end of the daily syndicated talk show will arrive on September 9th, 2011 following the end of the series' 25th season. But it's not the end of Oprah, as Winfrey will move the talk show to the cabler OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which she owns with Discovery Communications. (Hollywood Reporter)

Don't hold your breath waiting for the next Aaron Sorkin series. Following a report by TV Guide Magazine that the West Wing creator was working on developing a series set behind the scenes of (yet another) television series. Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider instead says those statements were rather premature. Or as Sorkin's rep put it bluntly, "There is nothing to discuss at this point." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Garth Ancier will step down from his position as president of BBC Worldwide America in March after serving in the role for three years. Ancier, who made the decision voluntarily, will stay on at the company as a "nonexecutive director" as well as hold onto his seat on the board of BBC Worldwide America. No word on his replacement as of yet though possible contenders include Jane Tranter. "We have achieved a great deal over the past three years, but now feels the right time to transition to a new role where I can really help BBC Worldwide shape its strategy," said Ancier. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sam Hennings (Cold Case), Robyn Lively (Saving Grace), and Leonard Earl Howze (Barbershop) will star opposite Jason Lee in TNT's drama pilot Delta Blues, from executive producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov and Warner Horizon. (Hollywood Reporter)

VH1 has ordered a second season of reality competition series Scream Queens, from Lionsgate Television. The winner of the second season, set to air in 2010, will land a role in the studio's next Saw film. (Variety)

Sam Shepard (Brothers) has been cast in Epix Nashville drama pilot Tough Trade, from Lionsgate Television and executive producer/showrunner Jenji Kohan (Weeds) and creator Chris Offutt. Shepard will play the patriarch of a Nashville music family "whose penchant for drink, debauchery and divorce has left them morally corrupt and on the verge of bankruptcy." (Hollywood Reporter)

UK viewers will have the opportunity to watch freshman drama Trauma and another chance to catch Syfy's Warehouse 13 (it aired in its first window on Sci-Fi UK), following a deal between NBC Universal International Television and satellite channel Virgin1. Both will launch next year. (Broadcast)

Circle of Confusion has signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Production/management company already has several projects in development, including an adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis' Powers at FX (with Sony Pictures Television attached), The Descendants at FOX from writer Ed Brubaker, which is described a "new twist on a cop show," and Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead at AMC. (Variety)

Alicia Witt, Markie Post, and Frances Fisher have been cast in Hallmark Channel telepic Backyard Wedding. Pic is written by Nina Weinman and will be directed by Bradford May. (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV has hired E! executive Steve Tseckares as SVP of special programming and production and former HGTV executive James Bolosh as VP of series development, reporting to Liz Gateley. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Chuck Me, It's Real: Launch Date for Season Three of "Chuck" FINALLY Announced

2009-11-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

You've been demanding it.

Yes, true believers, Season Three of Chuck finally has a start date.

NBC today announced that Chuck will return on Sunday, January 10th at 9 pm ET/PT with two back-to-back episodes (comprising an awesome two hour season premiere).

But that's not all. Chuck will then be back the following night (January 11th) with a brand-new episode in its regular timeslot of Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT. (Whew. I was worried NBC would move Chuck to a new timeslot altogether.) Which means, a three-hour, two-night spectacular of Chuck goodness.

Guest stars on tap for the third season of Chuck include Angie Harmon, Brandon Routh, Steve Austin, Kristin Kreuk, Armand Assante, Robert Patrick, and Vinnie Jones.

"Josh (Schwartz) and Chris (Fedak) and the writing team are doing a great job this season, and we think the loyal fan base for this show will be happy to see it back on the NBC schedule," said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement.

Happy now, Chuck fans?

The full press release from NBC, announcing the Chuck scheduling, can be found below.

'CHUCK' RETURNS TO NBC ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 10 WITH ALL-NEW MISSIONS AND ACTION-PACKED BACK-TO-BACK PREMIERE EPISODES BEFORE MOVING TO REGULAR DAY AND TIME (MONDAYS, 8-9 P.M. ET) BEGINNING JANUARY 11

'CHUCK' GUEST STARS INCLUDE ANGIE HARMON, BRANDON ROUTH, ROBERT PATRICK, KRISTIN KREUK, ARMAND ASSANTE, STEVE AUSTIN AND VINNIE JONES

In Addition, Special Two-hour Episode of "Heroes" to Be Broadcast on Monday, January 4 (8-10 p.m. ET) Before Series Moves to Its New Time Slot of Mondays (9-10 p.m. ET) Starting January 11

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – November 19, 2009 – NBC's action-comedy series "Chuck" returns to the NBC lineup on Sunday, January 10 with all-new missions and two action-packed, back-to-back original episodes in its season premiere (9-11 p.m. ET) before the series -- starring Zachary Levi in the title role -- moves to its regular day and time (Mondays 8-9 p.m. ET) beginning January 11.

In addition, "Chuck" returns with guest stars galore in its third season. These include: Angie Harmon (NBC's "Law & Order"), who will play Sydney, an enemy operative; Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns"), who is set to play CIA Agent Daniel Shaw; Robert Patrick ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day") will play Colonel Keller, a soldier and spy from Casey's past; Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville"), who will portray Hannah -- a potential love interest for Chuck; Armand Assante ("Judge Dredd") as dictator Premier Goya, who is the target of an assassin; Steve Austin ("WWE Smackdown!") will portray Hugo Panzer, who becomes entangled in Chuck's first solo mission; and Vinnie Jones ("Snatch") will play Carl Stromberg, an arms dealer.

In other programming news, a special two-hour episode of "Heroes" will be broadcast on Monday, January 4 (8-10 p.m. ET) and then the series moves to its new time slot of Mondays (9-10 p.m. ET) starting January 11.

"Josh (Schwartz) and Chris (Fedak) and the writing team are doing a great job this season, and we think the loyal fan base for this show will be happy to see it back on the NBC schedule," said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

In "Chuck," the world's nerdiest secret agent is back in the one-hour action-comedy series. Chuck Bartowski (Levi, "Less Than Perfect") continues as the Buy More electronics store computer geek, who unwittingly becomes the government's most vital secret agent. Chuck is transformed into the Intersect 2.0 after another data download into his brain. This time, he not only knows government secrets, but he is also well equipped with deadly fight skills. Chuck has the potential to become a real agent, but he has one problem -- his emotions. Now he faces the battle of keeping his emotions in check in order to protect himself and the people around him.

The ever stoic Colonel John Casey (Adam Baldwin, "My Bodyguard") returns with partner Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski, "Gone"), one of the CIA's top agents and Chuck's dream girl. As Chuck assumes his new role as the Intersect 2.0, Casey and Sarah need to protect him but also help him become the agent he is destined to be.

Also starring are: Joshua Gomez ("Without a Trace") as Morgan Grimes -- Chuck's best buddy; Sarah Lancaster ("What About Brian?") as Chuck's ever-supportive sister Ellie; Ryan McPartlin ("Living with Fran") as Devon Woodcomb (also known as "Captain Awesome"), Ellie's husband. Chuck's Buy More team consists of Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence, "The Pursuit of Happyness") and the Nerd Herd, which includes Lester (Vik Sahay, "Time Bomb") and Jeff (Scott Krinsky, "The O.C.").

Fans of "Chuck" can catch up on full episodes from the series' recent second season, watch original web series and share with fans on the official "Chuck" website on NBC.com.

"Chuck" is co-created and written by Josh Schwartz ("The O.C., "Gossip Girl") and Chris Fedak, and is executive-produced by Schwartz, McG ("Charlie's Angels," "We Are Marshall"), Fedak, Allison Adler and Matthew Miller. "Chuck" is produced by College Hill Pictures, Wonderland Sound and Vision, in association with Warner Bros. Television.

"Lost": The Final Season Begins...

2009-11-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

The final season of Lost finally as a start date.

ABC will launch the sixth (and sadly last) season of Lost on Tuesday, February 2nd at 9 pm ET/PT. in a two-hour season premiere following a one-hour clip show at 8 pm that will get viewers up to speed on the the last five seasons.

Following the premiere, the series will move into its regular timeslot of Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT.

Are you happy with the new timeslot? Glad that there will be something to watch on Tuesday nights at 9 pm in the winter? Talk back.

The full press release from ABC, announcing the scheduling of Lost's final season, can be found below.

ABC ANNOUNCES THE PREMIERE OF THE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON OF “LOST,”
WITH A SPECIAL ALL-NIGHT EVENT ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

ABC announces the premiere of the sixth and final season of “Lost,” with a special all-night event on Tuesday, February 2. A recap special will kick off the night from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET, followed by the much anticipated two-hour premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m.

The series will then air in its regular time period – Tuesday nights from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET – beginning the following week, on February 9.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O’Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

“Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost,” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Gold Medals: Culinary Olympics Put the Chefs to the Ultimate Test on "Top Chef"

2009-11-19T07:53:00.001-08:00

"Welcome back."

No truer words were ever spoken than on this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Culinary Olympics") in which the five remaining chefs faced their toughest challenge--a scaled down mini-version of the famed Bocuse d'Or--before getting cut down to the four chefs who would travel from Las Vegas to Napa for the season finale.

To say that anything was possible is a gross understatement. It literally came down to the wire as the judges decided which of the five was the most relatively weak. To make it this far is no small feat in and of itself, especially given the caliber of chefs this season (overall, anyway) and it was clear that the judges had quite a lot of affection for each of the remaining competitors.

Likewise, this week's installment was also a reminder of just how innately talented each of the remaining chefs is. I can't think of another season where all five remaining chefs were at the same level of skill as they are here. I don't think that the producers would have given them a Bocuse d'Or-like challenge if they didn't think the contestants were up to the challenge.

So how did they perform? Let's discuss.

First, I have to begin by saying how pleased I was that Jennifer got it together this week and was able to put aside her nerves, her exhaustion, or whatever it was that was preventing her over the last few weeks from succeeding in the competition. Her fall from grace was swift but she was able to step it up this week and get back to the Jen we all know and love, delivering confident, thoughtful, and deeply layered (quite literally this week) cuisine.

I'm not quite sure just what went wrong with Jennifer over the course of this competition but it was clear that something was distracting her from focusing on the individual challenges. Whether that was a time issue (she herself indicated last night that she's not quite as swift as the other remaining competitors) or just sheer and utter exhaustion from being put through a physical, mental, and emotional ringer, we'll likely never know.

So when Padma told Jennifer, "welcome back," and did so with a genuine smile, it was a joyful return of the Jennifer Carroll from the early days of the season. I think the taste of Jennifer's seafood ballotine pleasantly surprised Padma in the same way that it did those of us watching at home: it announced that a confident and level-headed Jennifer had returned to Top Chef and that the slips of the past few weeks had been uncharacteristic and wouldn't happen again. In other words: whew.

For their Quickfire Challenge, the chefs were tasked with creating a ballotine, a complicated preparation which essentially means layering a deboned protein inside of protein... inside of protein. (The apex of such a preparation might be the vaunted turducken, in which turkey is stuffed with a duck, which is itself stuffed with a chicken.) But with only ninety minutes, none of these chefs would be insane enough to attempt something as complex as that with the limited time they had.

Here's what they prepared:

Bryan: rack of lamb and Merguez sausage wrapped in caul fat with a medley of purees
Eli: bacon-crusted Scotch egg with a six-minute egg center
Jennifer: calamari steak, scallops, salmon, shiitake, and shiso with rice noodle salad
Kevin: cornmeal-fried fillet of catfish with scallop and shrimp
Michael: "poultry terrine" of chicken with turkey and bacon mousseline

Michael complained that they were never told to actually create a ballotine, but somehow the other four chefs seemed to understand the directions of the Quickfire and delivered dishes that met the brief. Michael did not; his dish was essentially exactly as he described it, a poultry terrine. Which looked beautiful and likely tasted sinfully good but it wasn't what the judges asked for. Bryan's dish looked good but I think he overdid it with the amount of purees on the plate; sometimes less is more and more is just... more.

Eli's Scotch egg looked incredible and he managed to get that six-minute egg just right; he's stuck to his guns this season and produced food that's true to himself and his down-home culinary ethos. I'm glad that he hasn't thrown that out the window to suddenly start cooking in a classical French style or something. The same holds true for Kevin. While his catfish was deemed overcooked, he wasn't defeated or deflated by the criticism and maintained that it was a matter of personal taste.

But it was Jennifer's elegant and refined seafood ballotine that won over the judges, and rightfully so. Due to the use of the calamari, unless it was perfectly cooked, it could have been a rubbery mess of a dish but Jennifer executed it perfectly and walked way with a sizable advantage in the elimination challenge, earning herself an extra half-hour of cooking time.

As for the Elimination challenge itself, I was glad to see that the producers weren't letting the final five contestants rest on their laurels, instead forcing them to compete in a pared-down version of the grueling Bocuse d'Or competition. They'd have to prepare a dish of protein paired with two exceptional accompaniments, all of which would have be served up tableside after being transported to the judges--who included The French Laundry's Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Paul Bocuse, and others--on traditional mirrored platters. And, oh, the winner would get $30,000 and an amazing opportunity, to boot.

I have to say that I was impressed overall with the concept of the dishes overall, even if the execution of the majority of them was found wanting. Granted, this was a difficult challenge of the highest order and there were a lot of moving parts to get under control and the stress of cooking for some extremely respected chefs would have added an additional layer of pressure to the proceedings as well.

So what did the individual chefs offer up? Let's take a look.

Bryan: parsley-crusted lamb loin, lamb shank crepinette with garlic chip, and orzo au gratin with sheep's milk cheese
Eli: sausage-wrapped lamb loin, carrot puree with ras-el-hanout and yogurt foam, and tomato-piquillo canape
Jennifer: unilaterally-cooked salmon and caviar, shrimp flan and black truffles, celery root square and shiitake
Kevin: poached lamb loin, sherry-glazed beet and asparagus in sunchoke cream, red chard
Michael: salmon with cauliflower chickpea tart and zucchini tzatziki

I was a little confused by the judge's reaction to Bryan's dish. At first, they seemed very pleased with the thought and concept behind the dish, even though some of the execution was a little shaky but they seemed to appreciate some of the technical skill he showed with the garnishes (such as that garlic chip). But later at judges' table, they suddenly seemed to be of the mind that the dish wasn't good after all. Huh? What happened in between there? I think he could have gone a little more high-end than the orzo au gratin, which was his play on mac and cheese, but I thought the crepinette looked beautiful and the dish showed cohesion and thought behind it. Bizarre.

Eli's dish, I knew, would land him at the bottom. He did a terrible job of carving that lamb tableside and the fact that he left way too much fat in the loin made it unappetizing and difficult to eat. Which is a shame as his accompaniments looked fantastic. That yogurt cream alone, with the ras-el-hanout-spiced carrot puree was one of the better accompaniments of the night. But I had a feeling that he would be the one to pack his knives and go.

Jennifer, despite having an extra half-hour, still could have done with some more time in this challenge. Her salmon wasn't very evenly portioned, so some pieces ended up being cooked perfectly, while others were overcooked. And her shrimp flan suffered from the same problem: some of the portions were executed perfectly while others weren't, resulting in quality inconsistencies from judge to judge. I do think that her platter was the best looking of the evening and she turned out a gorgeous looking plate. It was just the details that she needed to pay a little more attention to.

Kevin's dish was simple but that was the point: he let the flavors and the quality of the ingredients speak for themselves. I don't think he played it safe at all, as Gail suggested. He decided to sous-vide the lamb loins, which was something he had never done before and he managed to coax a hell of a lot of flavor out of that red chard. Kevin's always been about the ingredients and a rustic simplicity but that's hard to pull off, much less under intense pressure.

As for Michael, I'm not sure what went wrong here. Perhaps it was arrogance or overconfidence. But he delivered one of the most underwhelming dishes of the evening. Sure, it was executed well overall but that cucumber and tzatziki accompaniment was an underseasoned mess and the entire dish lacked any cohesion, despite his efforts to somehow link them with a Mediterranean theme, which sort of fell apart once you looked at the individual elements on the plate. An odd performance, to say the least, as this was really his challenge to lose, given his style of cooking and his technical abilities.

But ultimately, it was Kevin who was crowned the winner of this challenge and earned himself $30,000 along with the chance to compete with the US Bocuse d'Or team, which is a rare honor in itself. And I wasn't surprised when the judges opted to send Eli home. I will admit, however, that I got a little teary-eyed watching Eli cry and say goodbye to his fellow competitors.

Only four chefs remain going into the first part of the season finale. Happy with the Final Four we long ago predicted would ascend to the final rounds? Which chef will emerge victorious? Who will be the next fall before the last challenge? Discuss.

In two weeks on Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Season Finale, Part One"), the contestants leave Las Vegas behind to travel to Napa, where they will complete in challenges (including one aboard the Napa Wine Train) that will winnow them down from four to three before the final competition.

Channel Surfing: Critical Darling "Parks and Recreation," NBC to Give Away Restaurant Chain, Brooke Shields Heads to "The Middle," and More

2009-11-19T06:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin explores just how the executive producers of NBC's Parks and Recreation were able to turn their struggling comedy around in its second season to become a critical darling, as she speaks with creators Greg Daniels and Mike Schur and series lead Amy Poehler. "Her struggle throughout the series is trying not to become jaded," said Poehler of Leslie Knope. "Can she fight feeling like she'll never be able to change anything? Will she get caught up in political gain in a way that will make her lose track of why she started in the first place? Ultimately, we do want her to succeed -- and I love that! -- but in really small ways and with very little power. I love that too. I'm a sucker for pathos." (Los Angeles Times)

NBC is giving away a restaurant chain. Yes, you read that correctly: the Peacock has ordered a reality competition series, with the tentative title of United Plates of America, in which the grand prize is the opportunity to launch a chain of restaurants. Series, from Top Chef producers Magical Elves, will have a group of contestants "compete to impress a panel of wealthy investors from the cooking and business world," with "challenges [that] will test competitors' savvy on such subjects as their restaurant's concept, menu and marketability and their ability to manage staff," according to the Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. No word on airdate yet or who the panel of experts will be, though the winner's restaurants will open in four US cities on the night of the season finale. Series is executive produced by Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Brooke Shields will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's The Middle, where she will play a nemesis of Patricia Heaton's Frankie. "She’s a single mother with four sons that terrorize the neighborhood," an unnamed insider within the production tells Ausiello. "Everyone wants to stay on her good side. Patricia’s character tries to keep the peace." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lauren Stamile (Grey's Anatomy) is set to return to NBC's Community in a multiple-episode story arc where she will reprise her role as Jeff's statistics professor and his would-be lover (last seen in the Halloween episode). Click over to read Megan Master's interview with Stamile and Joel McHale if you want to learn just what's going on between their two characters. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

In other Community-related news, TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Community's always lovely Yvette Nicole Brown about what's coming up on the NBC comedy for her character Shirley. "It's been amazing," said Brown when asked about Community's full season order. "Every week we're finding out that more and more people are watching. We're like, "Really? We got five more people? Awesome!" We're looking at it as a grass-roots movement and every bit by bit we're going to keep growing. Slow and steady wins the race, so we're tortoises, maybe not hares." (TVGuide.com)

The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced for August 29th on NBC. And, yes, it's been shifted into August to avoid clashing with the Peacock's Sunday Night Football. Nominations for the Emmys will be announced on Thursday, July 8th. Mark your calendars. (Variety)

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin talks with Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd about Owen's relationship with Sandra Oh's Cristina, among other topics. "I don't think the PTSD thing is over for Owen," said McKidd. "I think we're going to see more of that. The thing about post-traumatic stress disorder is that you can learn to manage in your life, but you can never fully get rid of it. I think that is going to come back to haunt him. I would hope, I don't know, but I would hope that we're going to see and deal with it in a very different way than he did last year. He was in denial about this thing that he had last year, and now he knows fully that he has this thing, and that is part of the process. I want to see that. I want to see him deal with it again but in a much more reformed way because that is the true journey of post-traumatic stress disorder." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Diana-Maria Riva (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) has been cast opposite Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford in FOX's cop drama Jack and Dan, where she will play Lt. Katerine Anderson, the cops' boss and a former partner of Dan (Whitford). Meanwhile, Tim Matheson (Burn Notice) will direct the pilot for the 13-episode series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comedy Central has ordered six episodes of John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, a standup comedy series to be hosted by John Oliver (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) which will feature such comedians as Janeane Garofalo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brian Posehn, Nick Kroll, and Kristen Schaal. Series is slated to launch January 8th at 11 pm ET/PT. (Variety)

Pilot casting alert: Kiele Sanchez (Lost) and Carlos Gomez (Weeds) have been cast opposite Matt Passmore in A&E drama pilot Sugarloaf, from Fox Television Studios and writer Clifton Campbell. Sanchez will play Callie, a nurse and single mom who works at a pizza place to pay for school, who becomes the love interest for Passmore's Jim, a former Chicago cop kicked off of the force who moves to Florida and joins the state police. Gomez will play "Jim's golf partner, friend and colleague, a forensic medical examiner." (Hollywood Reporter)

Return dates for ABC Family's stable of series: The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It are set to return to the schedule on January 4th, while new episodes of Greek kick off on Monday, January 25th. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has renewed Real Time with Bill Maher for an eighth season. (Variety)

BBC has confirmed that the title of the Doctor Who Christmas special is "The End of Time, Part One." It's the first time since the relaunch of the series that a two-parter would be given the same episode title. It's expected that the second half of David Tennant swan song on the series will air in the UK on New Year's Eve. (Digital Spy)

Cabler G4 has ordered ten half-hour episodes of reality series Campus PD, which will follow college campus police officers in five American college towns. Series will debut on December 9th. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Stay tuned.

Alpha and Omega: Writer Bill Gallagher Discusses the End of AMC's "The Prisoner"

2009-11-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Wondering just what screenwriter Bill Gallagher intended with the ending of AMC's six-hour miniseries The Prisoner, which wrapped its run last night? You've come to the right place.

I caught up with Gallagher a few weeks back when I interviewed him for a piece about The Prisoner and asked him some particular questions about the ending to the series (which I won't reveal here lest you haven't watched it yet).

What did Gallagher reveal about the ending of the reimagined Prisoner? Just what was The Village? Read on...

Televisionary: The episode titles seem to sharply recall some of the titles from the original series. What attracted you to the episodes you reference? (The western-themed "Living in Harmony" or the Doppelganger-oriented "The Schizoid Man" for instance?)

Bill Gallagher: Well, to be honest about that, that wasn’t my idea and that came really late in the process. It came when we were cutting the episodes and someone said, wouldn’t it be fun to pick up on the titles of [the original]? I hadn’t given each episode a title; I had just numbered them. So that came at a late hour. I thought it was lovely, it was a really nice idea and in fact the episodes do fit with those titles. That wasn’t my idea and it came late in the process. It wasn’t something I set out to do, that’s what I’m saying.

Televisionary: One major departure from the original--among several other notable examples--is that Number Two is played by one individual, rather than multiple actors. Was this a conscious decision made during the script process or in terms of the production itself?

Gallagher: Do you know, that was one of the first decisions I made. One of the things I love about the original is that it was a series driven by ideas. Each episode was driven by a big concept and the whole idea of a new Number Two every week and the drama of the repeated battle between Number Six and Number Two. Each week, Six peels off the new Number Two and, because that series was about an invisible system that governs people and that system bringing a new Number Two each week, that was all great. I didn’t want to repeat what they did. And my approach with writing anything has always been to start with character and moral dilemmas.

So I knew very early on that I wanted a Number Two and this Number Two would do battle with Number Six across the whole series and then given that then I start to ask, who is this Number Two? What is the moral quicksand in his life? What brought him here? And I wanted the whole thing to have stakes for him, to matter to him, not just at the level of a conflict but at the level of a man and his soul. So I gave him a family and part of his story is that his son doesn’t understand the nature of The Village. One of the strands of the series is Two’s family coming to terms with the nature of the world that they live in. My approach to story is not to build but to dig. So I wanted to create this man that was interesting, that we were intrigued by, and then keep digging for more.

Televisionary: Can you speak about some of the larger issues you were interested in exploring, such as knowledge, truth and self-awareness? Were you influenced at all by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?

Gallagher: It’s interesting you say that. I wasn’t consciously going for that but I can see why you say that. I don’t sit down in that way and try to consciously say that I am going to make some meaningful reference. I start with the character, I start with the story, and ultimately what I did was split it into episodes and I wanted to do an episode about love, about education, an episode about family, and episode where Number Six’s brother turns up so is it his real brother? Is it not? Is it something that they’ve done to him?

Those are things that I wanted to address episodically. I like to start small. I wanted to write a story about the family for Six so rather than immediately setting a path for myself for some great mechanical, thematic approach, I just gave him a brother. So I start small and I go looking for where this takes me and then within the story of a man and his brother—is it my brother? Is it not my brother?—I then go looking for the things I like. They might interest you or they might interest my neighbor or be of interest to anyone who watches it and then through that... That’s my approach to universality. It’s to start small and then go looking rather than to start with Plato. Because if I started with Plato, I wouldn’t write a word; it would scare me to death.

Televisionary: How did you envision the ongoing struggle between Six and Two in your version of The Prisoner? Does it come down to obedience and resistance?

Gallagher: Absolutely. The word I use for it is assimilation. You know that the objective of The Village is to assimilate Number Six into becoming a villager. His objective is to resist but in resisting he is convinced that he alone knows the truth. Everyone around him tells him that there is The Village and only The Village, he only claims to know the existence of our world, another world, another place, as they call it in the series.

But I am immediately interested in doubt. The given is, of course, Number Two is going to try to crush Number Six and of course Number Six is going to fight back but what if each of them doubts themselves and what if that doubt creeps into the series? It would be really simple to give Number Six conviction and to stick with it but what if he starts to doubt himself? What if he’s wrong? And what if, bit by bit, the evidence starts to stack up against him. I thought that would be really interesting to write that and that’s where I started and that’s where I went. I think any political or ideological or philosophical argument is for me much more interesting when the protagonists doubt themselves. So that became a major driving force in writing in the series for me, giving those doubts.

Number Two rules this world, created this world, and what if he doubts himself? Why does he doubt himself? What is it that would make this man begin to wonder about his own morality? And without giving anything way that doubting has in it the resolution of the series. And where we get to at the end of the series begins with that doubt. If that makes sense.

Televisionary: Should we view the ending as a sense that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and that if we don’t learn from our own history, we’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes? After all, 313’s tear seems to indicate that Six will make the same errors that Two did...

Gallagher: The decision that Two makes at the end about the sort of inheritance of The Village comes from the beginnings of his doubts, what he’s been doing to his wife, and why he’s doing it. Am I right to be doing this? And the cost of it all. It’s a story about family and a man’s own conscience and for me that’s the politics of the series.

Televisionary: It’s at its heart about moral relativism; Two honestly believes what he’s doing is helping these people though there’s an undercurrent of nihilism and darkness.

Gallagher: ...If we can sympathize with Number Two, if we can see him struggling, if we can at times believe that this man thinks what he is doing is utterly for the good, then for me that has tension in it and drama in it. And is much more interesting to me than a two-dimensional ogre who rules by violence and terror.

In one sense, all saviors believe that they are the only bearer of the common good and on the other side what if there genuinely is something within them that has the impetus to do something for others? It’s about finding where the drama is. If Two is evil and that’s where his decisions are made, then the drama is over. The drama begins if (A) we ourselves are complicit in that and (B) if the man doubts and struggles. That’s what’s interesting to me to write.

Televisionary: The towers that the Dreamers see in the desert do seem to bear an eerie resemblance to the Twin Towers; was this intentional and is it intended to invoke a 9/11 reference?

Gallagher: It wasn’t. I honestly didn’t sit down and say let me make that reference. It came more from mythology and the passages through mythological journeys and the gates that you pass through and those images. This is mythological image in the distance which is the way out of here. Having said that, as I writer, I would be kidding myself if I put two towers in a series and then pretended that it didn’t have a reference. I can honestly say that I didn’t intentionally invoke that but, having done it, it’s kind of unavoidable...

Televisionary: How was Helen able to tap into people’s subconscious? Did they drug their victims with a biochemical compound?

Gallagher: Yes, I came across this thing that Carl Jung said which I had in my head for ages about levels of consciousness. Jung said we commonly accept nowadays the idea of the unconscious, we commonly accept that there are two levels of consciousness, so if we accept that there are two levels of consciousness, why can’t there be more? And that fascinated me because then The Village is a layer of consciousness... In turning that layer of consciousness into a story, how do we do this? It was always a combination of chemical compounds. You have that scene where 11-12, the son, takes the pills to be examined at the Clinic and the contents are unknown and some are not known and some are chemical compounds that have not yet been invented. That was just a simple sci-fi notion to get us to this Jungian idea of layers of consciousness. You asked me a very simple question and I gave you twenty minutes of answer; that’s a very Bill Gallagher moment right there.

Televisionary: Given the fact that The Prisoner is only six episodes, did you feel any pressure to create something as symbolic or open-ended as the original series’ ending (“Fall Out") or did you want to tie up the central mysteries somewhat neatly?

Gallagher: ...I thought what could be the most dramatic thing is that Number Six inherits The Village and takes on the mantle of [Two]; everything he’s fought against, he now becomes. He says, we could do it differently. I found it to be such a difficult and painful place to get to and ambiguous, even. So I set out to get there and the final episode itself did morph and change. I had other ideas in there but that place that we finally get to, that was something I was clear about from early on. How we get there, I had to work on. But where we got to, I always had a sense of.

Twitter Discussion: TV Teens

2009-11-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

Over on Twitter this morning, one of the main topics of TV-focused conversation is the dearth of well-crafted and three-dimensional teenage characters on television.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan raised an interesting question about why teen characters are often so unlikable, to which I replied that television writers are often too quick to paint them as brash and unpredictable rather than develop them as full-blown characters with strengths and weaknesses.

The initial conversation stemmed from a dislike on the part of many of V's Tyler Evans (Logan Huffman), who seems in the series purely to advance a subplot and not because his character's participation in the overall story (yet anyway) has made an indelible mark. It's especially noticeable given the strength of the series' female characters, particularly those played by Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin.

But the real question is: why are teens given short shrift when it comes to characterization?

There are some very notable exceptions, of course. Series like Freaks & Geeks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Wire, and Gilmore Girls (among many others) have painted their teen characters with deep brushstrokes, rendering them as full realized as adult characters. And Mad Men's pre-teen Sally Draper has as much of an inner life as the deeply flawed adults on Matt Weiner's period drama.

So, why are some series' teens just so impossible to like? Is it as TV Guide Magazine's Damian Holbrook suggests, "They're written by adults who either hate teens or don't remember being one"?

We tend to like characters who have flaws so why don't TV teens get as much love and depth as we'd like them to? Which writers excel at creating and writing for teenage characters? And which ones shouldn't be allowed to write for anyone under 21? Discuss.

Los Angeles Times: "V: Ignorance is bliss"

2009-11-18T07:39:00.001-08:00

What did you think of last night's episode of ABC's V, the series' third?

Head over to the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site to read my take on last night's episode ("A Bright New Day"), written by Diego Gutierrez and Christine Roum, and discuss just what you thought of this week's installment.

Personally, I thought it was a huge step up in terms of quality over last week's slightly lackluster installment and ramped up the tension and drama while also giving us some very intriguing plot twists... which I won't reveal here.

Would be curious to know what people thought, especially if you were at all on the fence about V after last week. So talk back either here or at the LA Times!

Next week on the fall finale of V ("It's Only the Beginning"), Erica works with the Fifth Column to uncover a biological threat they suspect the Visitors have been plotting; Anna meets with a special guest while overseeing the investigation into the murder of a V; Chad does a segment on the V Healing Centers, demonstrating their amazing medical abilities, but then finds himself conflicted by some of his findings.

Channel Surfing: Jason Lee Mired in "Delta Blues," Fred Willard Drops By "Modern Family," Gretchen Mol Strolls on HBO's "Boardwalk," and More

2009-11-18T06:45:00.001-08:00

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) has been cast as the lead in TNT drama pilot Delta Blues, where he will play Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and lives with his mother. Pilot, from Warner Horizon and Smokehouse Pictures, is written by Liz M. Garcia and Joshua Harto and will be directed by Clark Johnson, who will executive produce with George Clooney and Grant Heslov. (Hollywood Reporter)

Proving that the series' casting directors have inherited the comedy casting mantle from Arrested Development and 30 Rock, Fred Willard (Back to You) has signed on to guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's Modern Family, where he will play the father to Ty Burrell's Phil. [Editor: look for Willard to turn up, oh, before the end of the calendar year.] (Fancast)

Gretchen Mol (Life on Mars) has joined the cast of HBO's upcoming period drama Boardwalk Empire in the recurring role of Gillian, a showgirl in 1920s Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Elsewhere, Sarah Burns (I Love You, Man) will star opposite Laura Dern in HBO's untitled Mike White comedy pilot, where she will play a workplace friend to Dern's Amy, described as "a self-destructive woman who has a spiritual awakening and becomes determined to live an enlightened life, creating havoc at home and work." (Hollywood Reporter)

Pilot casting alert: Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) will star opposite Radha Mitchell in A&E drama pilot The Quickening, where he will play a homicide detective who was married to Mitchell's bipolar detective Maggie Bird. Elsewhere, Ethan Embry (Vacancy) has joined the cast of USA legal drama pilot Facing Kate, where he will play the brother to Sarah Shahi's Kate who gave up a promising legal career to be a stay-at-home dad. (Hollywood Reporter)

Will Arnett will guest star on NBC's Parks and Recreation later this season. (Televisionary)

Syfy has quietly announced that it will air direct-to-DVD film Battlestar Galactica: The Plan on Sunday, January 10th at 9 pm ET/PT. And the cabler has confirmed that Caprica will be airing in the Friday at 9 pm ET/PT timeslot, followed by repeats of Warehouse 13 at 10 pm. (Futon Critic)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that, unless the series sees a ratings spike by the spring, it seems likely that this will be the last season for ABC's Ugly Betty. Citing an unnamed mole within the production, Dos Santos writes, "The writers have accepted that this season may be the last and are brainstorming endings now, just in case. The big question is: Who will Betty end up with? The writers room is deeply divided." Those three candidates include Freddy Rodriguez's Gio, Eric Mabius' Daniel, or Chris Gorham's Henry. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Daniel Radcliffe will lend his voice to The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror XXI, where he will play Edmund, a child vampire that Lisa falls in love with in a parody of the Twilight franchise. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that four former cast members of Melrose Place will reunite later this season on the CW revival series, with Heather Locklear, Josie Bissett, Daphne Zuniga, and Thomas Calabro set to appear in a scene together at the iconic apartment complex. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ITV has announced the cast for the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot, once again starring David Suchet as the titular Belgian detective. Joining him in the adaptation of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express will be Dame Eileen Atkins, Barbara Hershey, Hugh Bonneville, and Samuel West. No airdate has been given for the telepic, but it will follow the four upcoming Poirot films Appointment with Death, The Clocks, Three Act Tragedy, and Hallowe'en Party. (BBC News)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that the two-part Justice Society storyline on the CW's Smallville has now been combined into a seamless two-hour event movie entitled Smallville: Absolute Justice, which will air on February 5th. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

CTV has renewed supernatural drama The Listener for a second season, despite the Canadian series' cancellation at NBC. Series, produced by Shaftesbury Films, will air in Canada on CTV and Spaced and internationally on Fox International Channels but currently has no US outlet. (Variety)

Jeri Ryan (Leverage) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace) have been cast in Lifetime Movie Networks horror telepic Secrets in the Walls, about a woman who discovers that her dream house in the suburbs is haunted. (Variety)

Graham King has launched a television division of his GK films shingle and hired former Lionsgate TV international executive Craig Cegielski as president of the new GK-TV division, which will "focus on programming with strong international appeal in an effort to capitalize on the growing appetite at U.S. nets for international co-production and co-financing deals." [Editor: Congrats, Craig!] (Variety)

The Wendy Williams Show has been renewed for two more seasons on Fox TV stations, keeping the syndicated talker on the air through the 2011-12 season. (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV has acquired domestic television rights to the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It, following a deal with Sony Pictures Television under which the cabler and its channel siblings will be able to air the film in 2011 in a six-year window. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Not an Illusion: Will Arnett Heads to "Parks and Recreation"

2009-11-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

Good news: Will Arnett is coming to Pawnee.

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has confirmed with NBC that Amy Poehler's real-life husband Will Arnett will guest star on an upcoming episode of Parks and Recreation, where he will play an MRI technician at the local hospital.

Dos Santos asks which character ends up in the hospital but my answer is that it needn't be that any of the characters is in need of an MRI in the first place. After all, Rashida Jones' Ann works in said hospital and would therefore be a colleague of Arnett's character.

What do you think? Will, er, Will Arnett find himself right at home in Pawnee? Wish he'd bring a cassette of the "Final Countdown" along?

UPDATE: Looks like Arnett's Parks and Recreation episode will air in January, most likely on January 14th.

ABC's "V": What Do You Predict Will Happen Before the Hiatus?

2009-11-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

We're halfway through V's current run on ABC (the back nine episodes are slated to air after the Olympics), so with two episodes remaining--including tonight's at 8 pm ET/PT, I am wondering just what you think will go down over the next two weeks.

Unlike the first two episodes, I haven't yet seen tonight's installment of V, so I am as much in the dark about what will happen just as much as you are. But I am curious to know just what viewers of the alien invasion drama WANT to see happen tonight and next week and what you think WILL actually happen.

Among the questions up for debate: Just what is Anna's plan and will we find out what the Vs want from Earth's inhabitants? Will Chad fall under her spell? Will Ryan be able to keep Valerie safe? Will Dale come gunning for Erica? Is the old priest a Visitor in disguise? Will Tyler brush his hair?

Discuss... and, as always, no spoilers, just pure conjecture.

On tonight's episode of V ("A Bright New Day"), Chad reports from the Peace Ambassador Center as 100 diplomatic visas are being issued to the first wave of American Visitors, with Anna getting the first, but not everyone agrees with the decision; Erica tracks a death threat while paired with a V officer; Ryan begins reaching out to his old friends to build up opposition forces and help fight off the Visitor invasion.

Channel Surfing: Lindelof Teases Season Six of "Lost," Justin Theroux Heads to "Parks and Recreation," Morris Chestnut Talks "V," and More

2009-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin caught up with Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse last night at the DVD release party for Star Trek to see if they had any clues about what viewers should expect for the sixth and final season of Lost. "The questions that count will be answered, and the questions that the fans don't want answered won't be answered, but I think what they're looking for is a real sense of resolution, particularly on a character level," said Lindelof. "Who's going to live, who's going to die, who's going to hook up with who, why were they all brought here in the first place, was it arbitrary, is there meaning behind it? That's the kind of stuff [we] have to answer, or [we] should be prepared to get rocks thrown at [us]." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Justin Theroux (John Adams) is joining the cast of NBC comedy Parks and Recreation in a recurring role, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Theroux will play a friend of Rashida Jones' Ann who becomes a love interest for Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope. His first episode will air in early 2010. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to V star Morris Chestnut about his role in the alien invasion drama and whether Visitor traitor Ryan will be organizing an anti-V group called the Fifth Column as in the original miniseries. "For those who don't know, it's like an army of traitor aliens on Earth to fight against the actual Vs," Chestnut told Abrams. "The Fifth Column got together before and things happened so bad before, people don't want to get back into the fight. Ryan is trying to get people together for the Fifth Column and hopefully they will be back together." (TVGuide.com)

Mad Men's Abigal Spencer has joined the cast of the David Tennant-led NBC dramedy pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, where she will play Lindsey Speers, the fiancee of the titular character (Tennant) and a lawyer at Rex's law firm. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Jennifer Morrison about her departure from FOX's House. "I find the entire situation sort of confusing," she said. "I don’t know anything about anything. That’s the thing. Everyone expects me to have an answer and there’s no answer to have because there’s... no answer." Likewise, E! Online's Jennifer Godwin tried to get some answers from Morrison as well, such as whether she is still a series regular on House. "I'm still a series regular, technically," she admitted. "I really don't know. All I know is that I don't know. And they keep making it very clear to me that I don't know. I feel bad [because I wish] that I had an answer for people. But, uh, anything could happen I guess." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Orlando Jones (Rules of Engagement) has landed a guest role on FOX's House, where he will play Marcus, the estranged brother of Omar Epps' Foreman and an incarcerated convict. Jones' episode, which has already been shot, is slated to air in February. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) has joined the cast of TNT's drama pilot Rizzoli, where she will play Angela, the mother of Angie Harmon's Rizzoli. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has given a script order to comedy Assisted Loving, about a gay man who, after the death of his mother, sets out to find his father love. Project, from Sony Pictures Television, is a family affair: Jay Tarses and his son Matt Tarses will write the script and executive produce with Matt's sister Jamie Tarses. (Variety)

Los Angeles Times' Maria Elena Fernandez talks to Heather Locklear about her return to Melrose Place, the struggling revival series on the CW. Producers hope that the return of Locklear's iconic Amanda Woodward spark a ratings surge... and the series' writers do address just where Amanda's husband Peter is. "They do address it, but you can't blink," Locklear told Fernandez. "You'd think Amanda would be a little more content on that island and change, but she really couldn't stand it. She is who she is and she had to get off that island. She's a girl who needs to be in the middle of the action. A woman, actually. Amanda is a woman now." (Los Angeles Times)

A&E has ordered seven one-hour episodes of unscripted series Bob Saget's Strange Days, in which the comedian will explore America through some offbeat groups including biker gangs, mail-order brides, Amish teens, and survivalist cults. Project, from Tijuana Entertainment's Troy Searer and John Foy, is set to premiere sometime in 2010. (Variety)

Melissa McCarthy (Samantha Who?) will guest star in an upcoming episode of ABC's Private Practice, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, who writes that McCarthy will play a pregnant patient of Chris Lowell's Dell in an episode slated to air in January. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Chris Elliott has been cast as the lead in live-action comedy pilot Eagleheart for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, where he will play the star/creator/executive producer of an action series (also entitled Eagleheart) who is described as "a veteran action star past his prime who uses the show as a soapbox for his right-wing politics" who becomes enmeshed in a battle of wills with a television executive. Elsewhere at the network, Nate Corddry (The Invention of Lying) has been cast as one of the lead voices on animated series Horrorbots. (Hollywood Reporter)

Nickelodeon has ordered single-camera comedy pilot Summer Camp from writer Peter Barsocchini (High School Musical) and director Lev L. Spiro. As the title suggests, the plot will revolve around a sleep-away camp. Production on the pilot, from Reveille and E1 Entertainment, is slated to begin later this month. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Janollari is said to be in talks with MTV to join the network in a senior development role, likely landing the title of SVP. The former WB Entertainment president is thought to be likely to report to Tony DiSanto, though what such a move would mean for MTV series SVP Liz Gateley isn't immediately clear. (Variety)

Comedy Central is said to be in talks with former New Line executive Kent Alterman about joining the network as the head of original programming, which would have Alterman succeeding the outbound Lauren Corrao. The catch: Alterman first needs to be released from a producing contract with FOX's feature film division. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Culinary Catastrophe: An Advance Review of Bravo's "Chef Academy"

2009-11-16T08:00:00.001-08:00

I'm not quite sure what to make of Bravo's newest culinary competition series Chef Academy, which launches tonight.

I'm a huge foodie and Top Chef might just be one of my life's main obsessions but I couldn't work up any appetite for the soggy and tasteless Chef Academy, which plays as a budget chain knock-off of the glossy and well-edited Top Chef.

Chef Academy revolves around hotheaded French chef Jean Christophe Novelli, a Columbo-obsessed Michelin star winner who moves to Los Angeles with his pregnant fiancee to open up a West Coast outpost of his celebrated London-based Novelli Academy Cookery School. I could have perhaps gotten behind a docudrama that focuses on Novelli's efforts to get his Venice, California cooking academy off the ground but that's not the route that Chef Academy's producers go, instead transforming it into a reality competition series as Novelli selects nine students for his academy and attempts to transform them into chefs.

And that's where things get truly unappetizing. I'm a little confused why Bravo would themselves attempt to duplicate the success of Top Chef with a lesser version of what is essentially the same series but with the sort of pretense and irritating charmlessness of FOX's Hell's Kitchen. Here, Novelli does his best Gordon Ramsay impersonation, attempting to goad the contestants into screwing up, throwing bowls on the floor, and just basically showing that all television chefs have to be arrogant and pompous bullies to get on camera.

Which would be bad enough if the series itself didn't seem so predictably staged. A full ten minutes of auditions for the aspiring chef academy participants could have been interesting if it hadn't been so blatantly obvious in every respect which of the aspiring chefs would make it through to the series itself. And I posit that the producers may have even gone so far as to stack the deck by roping in some stringers to "audition" for Novelli's omelet-making challenge. Yes, there are a few people appearing on camera that I have to wonder about.

But that's a quibble in the face of the opening episode's major and glaring missteps. For one, the pacing is plodding. Later on, Novelli challenges the nine contestants to prepare their signature dish but rather than have all of them bustling about the kitchen at the same time, the producers instead have each one prepare their dish separately, one after each other, and then serve the finished plate to Novelli. The result is a plodding sequence that seemed interminable and lacked any sense of energy, pacing, or tension.

Additionally, the aim of the academy--and the series by extension--is wholly unclear. Some of the participants have professional culinary backgrounds while others can't seem to cook very well at all. I'm not sure what was accomplished by making the playing field so wildly uneven. Was the point to further the careers of the pros (as Top Chef does) or to take untrained civilians and transform them into accomplished chefs? The latter would have been rather interesting to see and would speak a good deal about just what Novelli Academy Cooking School is able to accomplish.

But by having the contestants' culinary abilities vary so wildly, it dilutes any clear-cut tension in the competition. Top Chef succeeds because--in theory, anyway--each of the participants are professionals who know what they're doing. I'm not sure what's gained by having a housewife compete against a classically trained chef. It's odd and it's offputting to say the least. Either the participants should be total novices or they shouldn't. But to mix them up with pros seems foolhardy on the part of the producers.

Additionally, the entire elimination process is wonky. Rather than getting sent home for a terrible dish, each of the students has to fail three of Novelli's tests before they get cut from the competition and sent home. Um, what? Again, there's a lack of thought about tension, pacing, or drama... which seems to infect the entire series as a whole. It's lacking heat and flavor, despite Novelli's attempts to upstage the students with some overly dramatic tantrums and bowl-flinging.

Having tasted the first episode of Chef Academy, I can say that I won't be coming back for seconds. This is one dish I'll gladly send back to the kitchen.

Chef Academy premieres tonight at 11 pm ET/PT on Bravo.

Talk Back: AMC's "The Prisoner"

2009-11-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

"I am not a number, I am a free man!"

You've had the chance to read my advance review of the six-hour miniseries version of The Prisoner on AMC as well as my interviews with the series' stars Jim Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen and screenwriter Bill Gallagher and production designer Michael Pickwoad, but now that the first night of AMC's three-part miniseres has aired, I'm curious to see what you thought.

Did you fall under the surreal spell of The Prisoner? Were you captivated by the nefarious Village? Did Sir Ian McKellen steal the show? What did you make of Six's struggle for individuality in a topsy-turvy world designed to force him into assimilation? Curious to see what's happening? What are your theories about what the Village truly is? Are you finding the plot engaging, confusing, or plodding?

And, most importantly, will you stick around to watch Nights Two and Three of The Prisoner?

Talk back here.

Tonight on The Prisoner ("Anvil" and "Darling"), Six agrees to spy for Number Two; 313 fears that her gift could become problematic; 11-12's secret is unearthed; Six meets a woman who reminds him of someone from his past life; a natural disaster strikes the Village, leaving its inhabitants mystified.

Sunday Night Television: HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Amazing Race"

2009-11-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

Looking to discuss last night's episodes of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and CBS' The Amazing Race?

Head over to the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site where you can read my takes on both episodes, including last night's "Table Read" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (complete with a parody on Michael Richard's controversial 2006 comments) and what will likely come to be known as the pixelated crotch episode of CBS' The Amazing Race.

Be sure to head to the comments section to weigh in on both episodes.

Channel Surfing: Alyssa Milano Moves into "Castle", Kevin Murphy Bumped to Showrunner on "Caprica," Wilde Talks "House," "Fringe" Sneak Peek, and More

2009-11-16T06:39:00.001-08:00

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Alyssa Milano has been cast as a guest star on ABC's Castle, where she will play a former love interest of Nathan Fillion's Richard Castle with whom he reconnects on her wedding day. "Castle reconnects with Kyra (Milano) on her wedding day and sparks fly," writes Ausiello. "Beckett (Stana Katic) picks up on the obvious connection between the two of them, setting up a fun little love triangle." Milano's episode is slated to air in early 2010. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives) has been promoted to executive producer/showrunner of Syfy's Caprica, where he joins fellow executive producers Jane Espenson, Ron Moore, and David Eick. Murphy was originally hired as a co-executive producer on the Battlestar Galactica prequel series and will now serve as the day-to-day showrunner on the series. (Hollywood Reporter)

TVGuide.com's Gina DiNunno talks to House star Olivia Wilde about the medical drama's current season, which some shakeups at Princeton-Plainsboro. "This season, the writers have been all about taking risks," said Wilde. "It's Season 6, which means you really have license to try things. They're doing these unpredictable things, and one was having House bring back the old team. It was a result of House being in a mental institution and coming back, so I think if we went back to business as usual immediately, viewers would get frustrated. So I think it's cool they're shaking things up. And it's great because I got to take a little break!" (TVGuide.com)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has a sneak peek at the first three minutes from this week's Observer-centric episode of FOX's Fringe. Meanwhile, FOX is pulling out of the stops for a viral campaign this week based around the Warner Bros. Television-produced series. In other words: keep your eyes peeled for Observers everywhere. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, Variety)

NBC has given a pilot presentation order to an untitled comedy from writer/director/executive producer Larry Charles and executive producer McG, which studio Warner Bros. Television is calling a "prototype" for what the actual series would be. Project revolves around a group of small town sci-fi-obsessed fanboys who convene to shoot their own episode of a cancelled series. (Variety)

George Segal (Entourage, Just Shoot Me) has been cast in TV Land's multi-camera comedy pilot Retired at 35, where he will play the retired insurance executive father of a Manhattanite who moves to the Florida retirement community where his father lives. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC One has commissioned comedy Big Top, starring Amanda Holden (Wild At Heart), John Thomson (Cold Feet), Sophie Thompson (A Room With A View), Ruth Madoc (Little Britain), Bruce Mackinnon (The Catherine Tate Show), and Tony Robinson (Blackadder). Series, created by Daniel Peak, follows the performers and managers of a traveling circus. (BBC)

Adult Swim fans will be able to create their own DVDs via an online initiative at AdultSwimShop.com, where fans can select 110 minutes of episodic television as well as the disc's menu and artwork and be shipped the created-on-demand disc for just $20. The Custom DVD scheme launches with 100 episodes of such series as Robot Chicken, Lucy, Daughter of the Devil, and others. (Hollywood Reporter)

Hasbro Studios has landed its first project as is developing a My Little Pony series for the nascent joint venture cable channel launched by Hasbro and Discovery. (Hollywood Reporter)

Tyler Perry's comedy series Meet the Browns, which airs on TBS, has already cleared 70 percent of the country for a September syndicated launch following a similar pattern established by House of Payne. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

It Takes A Village: An Advance Review of AMC's "The Prisoner"

2009-11-13T07:39:00.001-08:00

The Prisoner, which ran for just 17 episodes in the late 1960s, has remained an enduring example of how original and groundbreaking the medium of television can be, giving the world a surreal and often nightmarish exploration of the battle between the free will of the individual and the oppression of a tyrannical regime.

It was a bit of a gambit then that AMC, in concert with UK terrestrial network ITV, would seek to remake the Cold War-tinged The Prisoner for a contemporary audience. This Sunday, AMC will launch the first two hours of its miniseries version of The Prisoner (subsequent installments air on Monday and Tuesday), written by Bill Gallagher (Conviction) and directed by Nick Hurran (Bonekickers).

Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ) plays Six, a man who discovers that he is in The Village, an all-encompassing world within the desert where nothing is as it seems. His appearance there is a mystery as is Six's own past; it appears that he works for a shadowy corporation whose specialty is surveillance from which he has rather unexpectedly resigned. (He does so in the opening credits with a flourish of a spray paint can.) Finding himself a prisoner of a world he doesn't understand, he attempts to return to New York but The Village's shifty inhabitants claim that there is no such place as New York. The Village is all that there is and Six can either conform or he can die.

Six quickly finds an adversary in the Village's diabolical overseer, Number Two (Lord of the Rings' Sir Ian McKellen), and The Prisoner works most effectively when it is viewed as a series of climactic and tension-laden showdowns between Six and Two, a Machiavellian dictator whose tools of oppression range from manipulation to torture. But Two is more than mere mustache-twirling silent film villain and McKellen imbues him with a compelling cocktail of horror and humanity. Whereas the classic Prisoner's Two served as the (quite literally) ever-changing face of a tyrannical bureaucracy, the miniseries broadens Two's backstory to include a teenage son 11-12 (Sweeney Todd's Jamie Campbell Bower) and a comatose wife M2 (Rachael Blake) and surrounds Two in an aura of perpetual mystery.

The rest of the cast includes Lennie James (Jericho) as cabbie/family man 147 who quickly befriends Six, Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre) as doctor and love interest 313, and Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) as the enigmatic Lucy, as well as a series of changing Village players, each of whom seems to have their own agenda for wanting to either ensnare or free Six. (And, yes, it gets much easier as you go along to keep track of all of the numbers.)

The Prisoner offers an incisive look at a society in which fear and paranoia have corrupted everyone's outlook; children are taught advanced surveillance techniques; cameras are secreted into every nook and cranny, and everyone is either being watched or doing the watching. It's clearly intended to pick up on our own post-9/11 fears of terrorism and suspicions of just what our neighbors are up to next door. But there's also a distinct lack of danger for Six there for some reason. Even as the plot moves between The Village and Six in New York, I never got the sense that his life was really remotely in jeopardy, which is a real problem for a thriller that's meant to thrive on tension and peril.

It's McKellen who elevates The Prisoner, though his presence quickly overshadows that of Caviezel's Six, even as the plot goes off the rails after the first few promising installments. While the reimagined Prisoner is visually dazzling (with a few sequences that managed to knock my socks off), the overall sensation is one of style over substance in the end. While there are some novel twists as well as some tongue-in-cheek shoutouts to the original series here (along with some unexpected humor), The Prisoner doesn't quite work in the end. It's a dizzying mix of metaphors and messages that become increasingly muddled as the six-hour miniseries wears on.

While the original Prisoner ended on a rather ambiguous note, the reinvented Prisoner does provide concrete answers in the end, solving several mysteries that comprise the series' central mythology. But my main issue is that the series itself is at times so focused on the ego of the individual and on our society's over-indulgent love of the self that the battle between Six and Two never gels into anything resembling a universal struggle.

There are some nice moments, some tense showdowns, but there's also a hell of a lot of narrative and thematic messiness going on here, particularly as the plot wears on over the final two hours. While the original Prisoner has managed to withstand the test of time and remain a true television classic in every sense of the word, I don't believe that this reimagining will manage to pull off the same feat. Ultimately, by the time you reach the plodding final hour, this might be one miniseries that you--like Six himself--are looking to escape at all costs.

The Prisoner begins Sunday evening at 8 pm ET/PT on AMC.

Point of Impact: "Collision" Fails to Hit Its Mark on PBS' "Masterpiece Contemporary"

2009-11-13T07:15:00.001-08:00

Not every single British limited series can hit it out of the park, unfortunately.

Following closely on the heels of the superlative and gripping thriller Place of Execution, the ambitious Collision--which launches Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary strand and is currently airing across the week in the UK on ITV1--doesn't reach the dizzying heights or emotional sucker punch of Place of Execution.

Written by Anthony Horowitz and Michael A. Walker, the five-part Collision (which will air in two installments in the States) circles the aftermath of a fatal highway road accident, which leaves several parties dead or injured but which manages to derail the lives of everyone even tangentially involved, from the police detective investigating the cause of the crash to a Happy Chef waitress whose workplace was just down the road from the site of the fatal accident.

As its narrative unfolds in a series of shifting perspectives, Collision seeks to bring to life each of the characters who were on the scene the day of the accident, flashing backwards to reveal just what they were doing before the fateful crash that unexpectedly intertwined their lives. It's an ambitious conceit but one that the writers aren't quite able to bring to fruition, unfortunately.

Not helping matters is that we really don't get a sense of each of these people despite spending five hours with them reliving the crash and the moral and ethical boundaries they opt to cross both before and after the accident. While the plot meanders between household tragedy to corporate espionage, the characters remain rather one-dimensional and it's difficult to care much for any of them. The series seeks to peel back the layers of these characters and give us some hidden depth as well as shocking twists but several of these can be seen a mile down the road. (In particular, one such twist will come as no surprise to anyone who watched The Wire.)

Anchoring the piece is Douglas Henshall (Primeval), who plays Detective Inspector John Tolin, who is himself recovering from a personal tragedy nine months earlier which should make him the absolute wrong person to be investigating a series of collision fatalities. His dogged persistence to get to the bottom of the crash, as well as uncovering a host of other non-related mysteries related to the victims, is meant to be Collision's throughline but it gets muddled in a storyline about forgiveness, both personal and otherwise, as well as romantic subplot with traffic cop Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield).

As the investigation gets underway, it kicks up a number of crimes and misdemeanors along the way and ensnares dozens of characters, some of whom are played by such notables as Dean Lennox Kelly, David Bamber, Lenoard Crichlow, Lucy Griffiths, Clair Rushbrook, Paul McGann, Phil Davis, and many, many others. Some of these plots lead somewhere bleak, while others seem to cul-de-sac along the way.

While I applaud the filmmaker's ambition and drive to tell a story this large and complex, Collision doesn't seem to quite add up to the sum of its parts, leading to an overall feeling of vertigo, ennui, and, if I'm being honest, a bit of road rage as well.

Collision airs its first part Sunday night at 9 pm ET/PT as part of PBS' Masterpiece Contemporary. Check your local listings for details.

Channel Surfing: Minnie Driver to "Modern Family," Jeffrey Tambor Opposite David Tennant in "Rex," ABC Circling "Charlie's Angels," and More

2009-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Minnie Driver (The Riches) has landed a plum guest role on ABC comedy Modern Family, where she will play "a friend and former co-worker of Claire’s (Julie Bowen). The two reconnect after years of being out of touch and things are not exactly how they remembered." Driver's episode is slated to air in January. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) will star opposite David Tennant in NBC's legal dramedy Rex is Not Your Lawyer, where he will play the psychiatrist of the panic attack-prone titular lawyer (Tennant) who is described as "a specialist in anxiety disorders who himself suffers from them and who also becomes romantically involved with Rex's mother." David Semel will direct the pilot, written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC is said to be close to handing out a pilot order to a contemporary remake of Charlie's Angels, with Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) attached to write and executive produce the new project, which hails from Sony Pictures Television. Also attached to executive produce: Leonard Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, and Nancy Juvonen. (Variety)

Syfy has quietly cut back the episodic order of Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica by one episode, bringing the total to 19 installments. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

ABC has given a script order to a comedy pilot based on Howard J. Morris and Jenny Lee's book "Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid," which will focus on a couple with the failed marriage behind them who are looking to make it work the second time around. Morris and Lee will adapt their own book, with Morris and Elliot Webb attached as executive producers. (Variety)

Maggie Friedman, the executive producer of the newly cancelled supernatural drama Eastwick, has clarified remarks that she made to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello about being "furious" about the axe falling on her series. "The other day, when we were discussing the cancellation of Eastwick, I misspoke in the worst possible way," wrote Friedman. "The word 'furious' was poorly chosen by me. You had said to me that 'the fans are understandably furious' and so I agreed that I was too, but the truth is, I’m not. I see that word now in print attributed to me and it’s very painful, because it seems to imply I am angry with ABC and nothing could be further from the truth. They treated me really well. I am not the least bit furious, with anyone. That’s simply not the kind of person I am. Yes, I’m sad about the show being cancelled, because it was creatively fulfilling and tons of fun to make and an amazing group of people, but I’m not angry." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

SPOILER! E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos and Megan Masters are reporting that there's going to be a rather revealing love scene between outbound Melrose Place stars Colin Egglesfield and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz coming on the nighttime soap before the duo depart the series. "Things get pretty violent and kind of crazy," Egglesfield told E! Online. "Auggie ends up hitting the bottle and falls off the deep end a little bit." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

The CW is developing medical drama series HMS, about a group of promising medical students at Harvard Medical School which is being described as a younger Grey's Anatomy. Project, from Warner Bros. Television is written and executive produced by Amy Holden Jones (Mystic Pizza) and co-executive produced by Heroes star Hayden Panettiere. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Casino Royale: Breakfast in Bed on "Top Chef"

2009-11-12T07:42:00.000-08:00

I have to give the producers of Bravo's addictive culinary competition series Top Chef some major credit: they know how to apply just the right pressure on the contestants to have some of them take risks and succeed while others crack under the strain.

This week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Strip Around the World") was no exception and, at this point in the competition, I would expect nothing less from the reality series' challenge organizers than some seriously arduous challenges that put these chefs through their paces. After all, the point of a reality competition isn't to create an easy environment for success but to force contestants to succeed beautifully in spite of the many obstacles being thrown at them.

This week found the chefs preparing breakfast in bed for Padma and the always lovely Nigella Lawson... and they would have to do so under a tight deadline and in a remarkably cramped kitchen that only allowed two of them to cook at a time. Later, they had to use specific casinos as inspirations for a dish served to 175 people at a party. These were some pretty damn tough challenges, I have to say, and some of them came through with flying colors while others... Well, let's just say that they didn't quite hit the jackpot.

So how did the chefs perform this week? Let's discuss.

No discussion of this week's episode can start without me saying how incredibly, profusely, and ecstatically happy I am that Robin was sent packing this week. Every now and then there is a contestant who is so woefully underqualified to compete with the rest of the pack but who, through sheer luck or just not being quite as bad as someone else that week, manages to stick around way past their sell-by date. This season that was Robin.

I have nothing against Robin personally though her on-screen persona left a lot to be desired; she came across as an abrasively verbose person who couldn't articulate her concepts or follow through on their execution and she managed to rub just about every single person the wrong way during her stay in the competition.

I've been outspoken about my distaste for certain contestants but never has a Top Chef participant proven him- or herself so unworthy of being there as Robin. She should have been eliminated any number of times but managed to make it to the Final Six. Yes, the Final Six. I honestly think that if she had managed to squeeze past elimination again this week (which would have resulted in either Jennifer or Eli going home), I would have followed through on an earlier threat and thrown my television out of the window.

But I am getting ahead of myself with respect to this episode, which had the chefs creating a take on breakfast in bed for Padma and Nigella Lawson, who arrived in Vegas jetlagged after a flight from London. In matching robes and nestled under the blankets in two double beds at the Venetian, Padma and Nigella were looking for something inventive, restorative, and delicious. Did the chefs deliver?

Let's take a look at what they made:

Bryan: four-minute egg with vanilla beurre fondue, crab, asparagus, and soft corn polenta
Eli: fried egg reuben benedict with thousand island hollandaise sauce
Jennifer: "S.O.S." creamed chipped beef with toast and potatoes
Kevin: steak and soft-scrambled eggs with creme fraiche, aged cheddar, and green onions
Michael: huevos Cubana with banana puree, rice, bacon, and arugula salad
Robin: blintz with goat cheese, caramelized pineapple and blueberries

I think Bryan would have probably won this challenge... if he hadn't sabotaged himself with that vanilla beurre fondue; I have to admit that I would have been put off that as well, given that it was juxtaposed with the savory crab. I thought that Eli and Kevin both pulled off superlative dishes here with both of them offering a new take on American classics. Ultimately, Nigella awarded Eli the win for his inventive take on a reuben, translated for breakfast.

A brief aside: I'm extremely worried about Jennifer. Her performance this week once again followed her late trend and she once again managed to sink to the bottom of the pack after performing so strongly in the first half of the competition. I don't know if it's nerves, exhaustion, or stress but I haven't been impressed by any of her dishes these last few weeks and I find that utterly heartbreaking. I keep hoping that she'll turn it around the following week but she's consistently now performed rather poorly the last three or so installments. If she has any reserves of energy, inspiration, and strength, I'm hoping she can tap into them ASAP.

Sigh.

For their elimination challenge, the chefs were assigned a specific casino on the Vegas Strip and told to explore their location for an inspiration for a dish they would have to prepare for 175 hungry diners at a rooftop party at the World Market Center. Interestingly, this was the first time I believe that we didn't see the chefs head to Whole Foods to pick out produce and protein for their dishes, instead cutting straight to them at the Top Chef kitchen beginning their prepwork. Odd, that.

Some of the chefs took to the task and created dazzling sophisticated and intriguing dishes while others weren't quite able to get a handle on what was being asked of them. And there was a lot going on after all: preparing 175 dishes and serving them is no small feat into itself, much less when said dish has to be inspired by a casino's motifs, mood, and theme.

Thus, the six remaining chefs offered up the following dishes:

Bryan (Mandalay Bay): escabeche of halibut with bouillabaisse consomme, parsley coulis, and garlic chips
Eli (Circus Circus): caramel apple peanut soup with popcorn raspberry froth
Jennifer (Excalibur): New York strip steak with red wine reduction, beets, truffles, and herbs
Kevin (Mirage): sugar-and-salt-cured wild Alaskan sockeye salmon with compressed napa cabbage and cucumber and tomato water
Michael (New York, New York): boneless chicken wing confit with curry and blue cheese disc
Robin (Bellagio): panna cotta

It was no surprise that Kevin and the Voltaggio brothers ended up placing in the top half. Each of their dishes was a masterpiece of concept and execution, thoughtful, playful, and sublime. I selected Kevin as one of my two players to watch in the very first round of this season and I'm glad I did; his dishes are refined without being ascetic, comforting without being messy. (Despite what disparaging comments the seemingly jealous Michael would make about them.) Likewise, Bryan seems to excel at the elimination challenges while never quite being able to pull off successful performances in the Quickfires; here his dish is controlled and elegant but also exuberant and self-assured. I'm not quite sure what the hell judge Toby Young was trying to say about Michael's food (was it just me or did he call his dishes "effeminate"?) but the judges did award Michael the top prize this round for his deconstructed take on Buffalo wings, done in true Michael Voltaggio style. Well done.

As for the three chefs landing in the bottom, that wasn't a surprise either. Eli's dish was a mess in terms of concept and execution and he didn't do himself any favors by adding caramelized white chocolate to the soup, which only served to make even MORE grainy than it already was. I don't disagree with Nigella who said that she was terrified to take a bite as it sounded absolutely revolting. Additionally, Eli seemed to not quite get a bead on any inspiration from Circus Circus in the first place; rather than throw together traditional circus fare, this was his opportunity to create something spectacular and raucous. But, alas... Jennifer didn't fare any better with the Excalibur; granted, medieval cuisine is a specialty than few can pull off these days but she did miss a trick by not using spices like mace to create an ornate and astounding carnivorous dish.

And then there was Robin... While the other chefs attempted to use innovative techniques and high-end ingredients, Robin created... a panna cotta. A rubbery one at that which used far too much gelatin and rendered itself about as sumptuous as a hockey puck. Even if she had been able to pull off the stained glass-effect sugar glass (and that was a rather huge IF), it wouldn't have elevated the dish at all.

Ultimately, it was well past due that Robin should be the one to pack her knives and go and I'm glad that the judges finally saw fit to cull her from the pack. Only five chefs remain going into the final elimination challenge. Which four will make it to the finals and who will be the next to get cut? Discuss.

Next week on Top Chef ("Culinary Olympics"), the five remaining chefs participate in an elite cooking competition established by notable French chef Paul Bocuse and are tasked with creating a ballotine in an extreme tight time frame; Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Bouchon stops by as this week's guest judge.

Channel Surfing: FOX Sends "Dollhouse" to the Attic, ABC Axes "Hank," Syfy Blasts into "Outer Space," and More

2009-11-12T06:35:00.001-08:00

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

It's official: FOX has canceled Joss Whedon's metaphysical drama series Dollhouse. The series, which is currently in production on this season's eleventh episode, will finish production and the network is currently expected to air all thirteen installments of the low-rated Friday night drama beginning December 4th. Whedon himself posted on Whedonesque about the cancellation news (which didn't come as a surprise to anyone tracking the ratings) and said, ""I don't have a lot to say. I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again. I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking," he wrote. "Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear. Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again." (Hollywood Reporter, Whedonesque)

ABC has canceled struggling Kelsey Grammer comedy series Hank and has yanked it off of the schedule, effective immediately. The network will instead use the Wednesdays at 8 pm timeslot to air a mix of comedy specials and holiday specials. There are five unaired episodes of the Warner Bros. Television-produced Hank on the shelves and it's not clear whether any of these installments will air. News comes after the network opted not to pick up supernatural drama Eastwick for its back nine, while the rest of ABC's Wednesday lineup--Modern Family, The Middle, and Cougar Town--have all been picked up for full seasons. (Variety)

Syfy has ordered five half-hour episodes of hybrid animated comedy Outer Space Astronauts. Series, from executive producers Russell Barret, David O. Russell, and Scott Puckett, will follow "eight military misfits who journey to the far reaches of the galaxy on board the O.S.S. Oklahoma" in a style that will blend both live-action as well as 2D and 3D animation techniques. It's slated to launch on December 8th. "Syfy fans have never seen animation quite like this before," Syfy EVP of original content Mark Stern told the Hollywood Reporter. "Out of the basement and mind of show creator, Russell Barrett, he's delivered a funny and fresh take on the future of underground and homegrown animation today." (Hollywood Reporter)

Martha Plimpton, Lucas Neff, and Olesya Rulin have been cast in FOX single-camera comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, from writer/executive producer Greg Garcia. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, follows Jimmy, a 25-year-old man (Neff) who is forced to raise his infant child with the help of his quirky family after the mother, with whom he had a one-night stand, ends up on death row. Plimpton will play Jimmy's no-nonsense mother. Michael Fresco is attached to direct. (Hollywood Reporter)

Author Ray Bradbury has signed a deal with indie producers White Oak Films to develop The Bradbury Chronicles, a six-hour miniseries based on six of his short stories. No network is currently attached to the project, which will be executive produced by Bradbury, John Dayton, Merrill Capps, Todd Klick, Cory Travalena, and Dale Olson, with Bradbury himself adapting his own work. (Variety)

Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls) and Stephanie Childers (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) have been cast in ABC Family's untitled Michael Jacobs single-camera comedy pilot, where Cohen will play an unemployed architect who "begins to mentor his underdog middle daughter, while his veterinarian wife (Childers) shares a closer bond with their Type-A older daughter." Elsewhere at ABC Family, Troian Bellisario and Ian Harding will star opposite Lucy Hale in drama pilot Pretty Little Liars. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has given a series order to Mark Burnett-produced game show Our Little Genius, in which child geniuses, ranging from six to twelve years old, are given the chance to put their knowledge to the test and earn cash prizes. "In television, we often showcase kids who are incredible singers, actors or dancers, so it's high time we give the spotlight to kids with incredible brains," said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, in a statement. "The kids on this show are ridiculously smart, and with its unique appeal to both parents and children alike, I think Our Little Genius is one of Mark Burnett's most compelling creations yet." (via press release)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a new three-year overall deal with Old Christine creator Kari Lizer, under which she will develop projects for the studio as well as remain on board Old Christine as executive producer, should the series be picked up by CBS for a sixth season. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has confirmed its plans for its musical competition series The Sing-Off and will strip the series across a single week beginning Monday, December 14th. Series, from Tenth Planet Prods., Outlaw Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Television, will launch with a two-hour installment and air double-length episodes on Tuesday, December 15th and Wednesday, December 16th before wrapping up with a two-hour finale on Monday, December 21st. It will take a breather on Thursday, December 17th, when NBC airs a two-hour primetime Saturday Night Live Christmas special. (Variety)

BBC Two has acquired UK rights to Showtime's dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, which it plans to launch early next year. (Variety)

Elsewhere at the British terrestrial network, Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser will star opposite Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), Emma Pierson (Little Dorrit), and Jerry Hall (Calendar Girls) in a BBC Two adaptation of Martin Amis' novel Money, a "comedic tale of excess, greed and flawed ambition set at the beginnings of Eighties capitalism." Production begins this month on the two one-hour installments, written by Tom Butterworth and Chris Hurford and directed by Jeremy Lovering. (BBC)

Broadcast's Robin Parker takes a look at the new production models emerging as American and British comedy writers join forces, with several Atlantic-crossing series such as David Cross' The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and Matt LeBlanc-led Episodes becoming a reality. (Broadcast)

CurrentTV pinkslipped 80 full-time staffers yesterday in the company's Los Angeles, London, New York, and San Francisco offices as the cabler moves from a shortform content strand to a more traditional television network model, with its schedule likely to be filled mostly by acquisitions. (Hollywood Reporter)

TruTV has ordered reality series NFL Full Contact, which will offers viewers a behind-the-scenes-look into the inner workings of the football league and focus on key personalities within the sport. Series, from executive producers Steve Sabol and Anthony Horn, will launch on February 8th. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Tripping the Rift: "Torchwood" Season Four In the Works

2009-11-11T08:55:00.001-08:00

Good news for fans of Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood! (I count myself among their oh-so devoted number.)

TV Guide Magazine is reporting that development of the series' fourth season may begin as early as January, according to a report by TV Guide's Ileane Rudolf, who speaks with Torchwood creator Russell T. Davies.

“The recession has hit British television, but fingers crossed, it will be a go," Davies told Rudolph. "We expect things to start to move in January. We’ve got great ideas for the show. I think there’s a further lease on life for many years to come, but certainly for a [fourth season]."

Fans should also rest assured that John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness will be back for a fourth go-around, even if no airdate or episode count have been reported.

Los Angeles Times: "V: Upsetting the Apple Cart"

2009-11-11T07:25:00.001-08:00

Looking to discuss last night's episode of ABC's alien invasion drama V? Head over to the Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker site to read my take on the series' second episode ("There Is No Normal Anymore") in a piece entitled "V: Upsetting the Apple Cart."

Lots to discuss including some very intention shout-outs to creator Scott Peters' last series, The 4400, new reveals involving several of the characters, and a rather interesting ending, to boot.

Did you enjoy the second episode? Was it as good as the pilot? Are you sticking around for the ride? Or waiting to watch the first four episodes after the Olympics (when V returns with new episodes)? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on V ("A Bright New Day"), Chad reports from the Peace Ambassador Center as 100 diplomatic visas are being issued to the first wave of American Visitors, with Anna getting the first, but not everyone agrees with the decision; Erica tracks a death threat while paired with a V officer; Ryan begins reaching out to his old friends to build up opposition forces and help fight off the Visitor invasion.

Channel Surfing: Robert Patrick Targets "Chuck," Love "Pentagon" for "Glee," "Lost" Finds Former "L.A. Law" Star, and More

2009-11-11T06:58:00.001-08:00

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Given that it's Veteran's Day, there are but a few headlines to get through this morning.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Robert Patrick (The Unit) has been cast in an upcoming episode of NBC's Chuck, where he will play Col. Keller, described as "a mysterious figure from Casey's past." He's slated to appear about halfway through the series' third season in a Casey-centric episode entitled "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Glee star Chris Colfer about tonight's episode of Glee ("Wheels") and the romantic permutations coming up on the FOX musical dramedy series. "It's very incestual," Colfer told Abrams about the glee club's romantic entanglements. "There's love triangles right now, but there's soon to be love pentagons and hexagons. I get added on to the [Puck-Quinn-Finn-Rachel] quadrangle. We go full force: When Kurt fell in love with Finn [Cory Monteith], why he's in love and what he plans on doing. There's a flashback and it's pretty funny." (TVGuide.com)

Former L.A. Law star Shiela Kelley has been cast in the sixth and final season of ABC's Lost, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Kelley is set to recur as Kendall, described as "an intellectual beauty with a sharp edge to her wit who is caught committing corporate espionage and has to lie her way out." Hmmm... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jennifer Morrison confirmed her departure from FOX's House on an episode of the syndicated talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show, which is slated to air today. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper have been cast in CBS' latest Hallmark Hall of Fame telepic When Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story, which is slated to air later this season. Ryder will play Lois Wilson, the wife of alcoholic Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, who went on to co-found Al-Anon. Project, produced by E1 Entertainment, is written by Camille Thomasson and William Borchert (based on the latter's book) and directed by John Kent Harrison. (Variety)

Bravo has ordered a sixth episode of unscripted series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. The ten-episode season, in which "Kathy will continue traipsing around the globe with Team Griffin, her mother, a box of wine and maybe even Levi Johnston," will begin production in January. (People)

Food Network has ordered five episodes of reality competition series Worst Cooks in America, in which two teams of would-be chefs prepare a meal for a group of food critics, with one contestant going home each week. Series, hosted by Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan, will launch on January 3rd. (Variety)

Mitch Ryan (HBO's The Pacific) has been cast in a recurring role on the CW's One Tree Hill, where he will play Alexander, "a handsome pro surfer-turned-young mogul." (Hollywood Reporter)

FearNet has commissioned a series of five-minute webisodes entitled Post Mortem with Mick Garris as the multihypenate sits down with horror writers, directors, and actors. Series will be available online, on demand, and on mobile platforms beginning in December. (Variety)

Stay tuned.