If you just can't wait until Sept. 22 for the return of "The Office" sans Steve Carell, NBC has a preview clip teasing the arrival of James Spader, who was introduced in last season's finale as the enigmatic Robert California. Dunder Mifflinologists, take note: California is not replacing Michael Scott; he appears to be the executive in charge of picking Scott's successor as regional manager, who could very well come from the current cast.

What this preview illustrates is Spader is going to bring a completely different vibe to "Office." As Angela astutely observes, California's reserved, chilly demeanor is the very antithesis of the kind of mopey antics Scott constantly engaged in to get attention. Or as Phyllis Lapin more succinctly puts it regarding California: "He scares the s**t out of me."

Vin Scully told fans watching the Dodgers-Rockies game tonight that he would return to broadcast Dodger games in 2012, his 63rd season behind the mic with the team. 

As he has in recent years, Scully will call Dodger home games and road games in Colorado and west of the Rockies.
 
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, you and I have been friends for a long time,” Scully told the Prime Ticket audience. “But after a lot of soul searching and a few prayers, we’ve decided that we will come back with the Dodgers for next year. God’s been awfully good to me, allowing me to do the things I love to do. I asked him one more year at least and he said okay.”
 
Scully’s 62 years of service are the longest of any broadcaster with one team in sports history. Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, he has broadcast three perfect games, 19 no-hitters, 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games.  

"Men of a Certain Age" exec producer Mike Royce posted a warm thank you note from himself and exec producer/star Ray Romano to the members of the movement to save "Men of a Certain Age," in the process telling them that all options to revive the former TNT series had been exhausted.

Hi folks,

Sorry I haven't been in touch. Unfortunately there's been nothing to report. And at this point, since we want to be straight with you guys, I have to tell you that we've kind of reached the end of the road. Hard to admit, but it's true.

If you can think of a network, we called them. Of course, "Men of a Certain Age" doesn't really belong on certain networks. But we called them too. We called everybody. We tried online, satellite, alternate content providers, corporate sponsorship, Taxi TV, filmstrips ... everything. We've exhausted every possibility and then some.

I was certainly hoping — actually, naively expecting a different outcome. I thought somebody would pick us up. Ray and I feel strongly that there are places where "MOACA" would not only be an excellent fit, but a home run. But we couldn't persuade others to see it that way. And at a certain point, you gotta move on.

Sure, a miracle could still happen somehow. So please don't "unlike" this page or unsign the petition. It's still good to be able to show the world how much you guys care about the show.

We can't thank all you enough. So many of you have worked your asses off to help us find the show a home. To see the support continue to pour in now weeks and weeks later is really incredible.

It's also hard to express how grateful we are to the awesomely talented 200+ people who made the show. The cast and the crew were not only the best but made it a joy to come to work each day.

And we also want to thank TNT. I know it's natural to look at it like "they're the ones who cancelled it," but a more accurate viewpoint is "they're the ones who put it on." Honestly, the notion that a show about the lives of three 50-year-olds was on television at all in this day and age is a miracle. It shouldn't be, but it is. On top of that TNT gave us the rare opportunity to do the show the way we wanted.

The end result is, we're proud of the work, proud of the critical response and mostly proud that the show seems to have secured a deep place in people's hearts that isn't always reached. Like some of you, we feel a little like we've lost a friend. But the good news is, the 22 episodes live on. They even end in a good place (if too soon).

So think of us as not as a cancelled show but a "mini-series by accident."

Because really that's our biggest hope: if you are a fan, turn other people on to it. We want it to live on. Hey, for better or for worse, the ratings tell us there are plenty of people out there who haven't seen "Men of a Certain Age." We hope they check it out.

Thanks, and see you on the hill.

— Mike Royce & Ray Romano

Above is a sneak peek at powerful Lifetime's breast cancer anthology project "Five," with segments directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris.

 The ensemble includes Patricia Clarkson, Rosario Dawson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Holloway, Jennifer Morrison, Kathy Najimy, Bob Newhart, Annie Potts, Tony Shalhoub, Jeffrey Tambor and Jeanne Tripplehorn, who plays the oncologist who ties all five parts together.

Lifetime showed the trailer at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in July (right, exec producer Marta Kauffman with Tripplehorn, Clarkson and Spheeris), but it has not been available online.

"Five" premieres Oct. 10.

Previously: Lifetime's 'Five' looks like can't-miss project

ABC says nothing out of the ordinary happened in repsonse to a mini-controversy that brewed today in which The Weinstein Co. co-chairman Harvey Weinstein accused the network of censorship for refusing to air the above ad for feature film "Our Idiot Brother," which opens in theaters Friday.

ABC confirmed that it told Weinstein Co. it would need to make edits to the 30-second commercial before it would be accepted, but said the requests were in line with its standards.

"The ABC Television Network approved and accepted multiple spots for "Our Idiot Brother," and has aired spots for this film," ABC said in a statement. "The network did not accept spots that violated our long-established ad guidelines."

The ad in question has aired on other cable and broadcast networks, Weinstein Co. said in a statement. An early scene in the ad shows Paul Rudd's title character jokingly pretending to urinate by squeezing a juicebox near his crotch, and near the end he says, “I broke down and went and smoked with a kid who lives across the street from me.”

In announcing the release of a new online trailer for the film, Weinstein said, "We'd like to dedicate our new red band trailer for 'Our Idiot Brother' to censorship everywhere." Not that this was exactly a textbook definition of censorship, but anyway ...

While a sexy new ad campaign for "The Good Wife" is sure to intrigue those who weren't wise to the CBS series in its first two seasons, every little bit will help to get more viewers on board. So the Eye is taking the unusual step of programming a half-hour special, "The Good Wife: A New Beginning," with the intent of providing some backstory for those who aren't acquainted with the series. "Beginning" will air Sept. 4, a few weeks before "Wife" will premiere on Sunday having switched over from its Wednesday time slot.

It's a terrific idea considering "Wife" has serialized storylines, the TV equivalent of a double-edged sword: While these plot intricacies hook a subset of viewers who will hang on every twist, there's probably an even bigger pool of viewers who don't go along for the ride because if you haven't watched from the beginning, the show is impossible to follow. The "Beginning" special will provide the kind of recap that allows viewers to jump in midway and still understand what's going on.

ABC has used this strategy previously with "Lost," another series with plot convolutions impenetrable to the uninitiated. We've also seen some serialized cable dramas try a variation on this technique earlier this year by posting online an entire series' worth of episodes in order to let viewers catch up. That didn't help TNT's "Men of a Certain Age," which has since been canceled, but AMC may have gotten a slight boost when it did same for "The Killing."

That said, a recap special is probably a smarter hook than just opening a series' vaults, which is asking viewers to make a considerable time investment. If "Wife" sees a nice audience lift as a result of its own special, don't be surprised if we see this practice become more common in the future.

Announcing the launch of its digital studio last month, AMC hailed the creator of its debut production, Peter Glanz, as "an original filmmaker with a very unique voice." After the Tuesday premiere of "The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks," you have to wonder if Woody Allen would agree (on AMCTV.com and Hulu).

"Banks" occupies the blurry middle ground between homage and wholesale theft by borrowing so liberally from Allen that Glanz could hardly be considered original or unique. The title character, played by Adam Goldberg, is classic Allen: an artistic, self-centered womanizer who has a taste for young girls like the teenager he beds in the opening episode.

But if that isn't quite "Manhattan" enough, Banks is accompanied by all the trappings of an Allen dramedy, including shooting in black and white, suit-and-tie fashion, bone-dry narration, jazz soundtrack and of course, a therapist (Jeffrey Tambor) to which Banks can spill his rotten guts.

Nakedly derivative or not, "Banks" is an odd concoction for the less rarefied world of online video. It's a contrast drawn sharp every time ads for violent videogame "Rage" precede and interrupt  an episode of "Banks." It's a jarring reminder of which style of entertainment truly reigns on the Web.

If there's a unique attribute to "Banks" it's Goldberg who doesn't channel Allen so much as brew his own distinct dark cloud of neurotic madness. Then again, it's something Goldberg has done in so many other productions that it doesn't feel that fresh here, either.

Give Glanz this much credit: "Banks" is rendered as ultra-stylized as a "Mad Men" episode; let's hope he can get a directing assignment out of this. But as for conjuring up an original, unique world, "Banks" proves he's not exactly Matthew Weiner.

Bravo has an incredibly difficult decision to make regarding how to re-edit "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in the wake of Russell Armstrong's suicide Monday. Though he was a fairly marginal character in terms of screen time, his wife, Taylor Armstrong, is one of the series' stars, and her marital strife with him was to be a prominent storyline in the second season, just as it was in the first.

Whether Bravo deserves it or not, the perception exists that this show contributed to the mindstate that led to this man's suicide. That's why the network needs to proceed ever so cautiously. Just because a lawsuit from Armstrong's estate is unlikely given the show's participants sign contracts that give the network permission to do just about anything with footage doesn't mean Bravo won't lose a verdict in the court of public opinion.

As Bravo Media president Frances Berwick wisely indicated this morning, the network simply can't air the series as is. It has to demonstrate moral restraint of some kind or risk backlash, maybe even advertiser pullout. And let's not forget the Comcast factor. The new parent company for NBCUniversal runs a clean shop. They aren't going to go for anything too sordid.

While that might lead you to believe they'll just pull the entire season, Comcast is also a business. If such a move were to blow too big a hole in Bravo's ad-revenue projections, they'll figure out a way to make the show work with the right editing.

And so the show probably will go on. That's not as courageous as it might sound; the morbid truth of the matter is that the suicide functions as a bonanza of marketing. People who have never even watched the show before may now tune in out of curiosity. Bravo needs to figure out a way to both satisfy that curiosity but not act as if they are doing exactly that. That means somehow addressing Russell in the season premiere but not overdoing it.

The most obvious move is for Bravo to remove Russell from the series. That's not as simple as it seems though. They can't just edit him out because they are still left with his wife. Is there a material difference to excising his image but still allowing the wife to reference marital troubles at every turn? Not really, but removing him is at least a symbolic nod to sensitivity. If they keep him in there will be endless howling from Armstrong's family and lawyer that will make Bravo look bad.

Removing her and him -- really getting rid of the storyline entirely -- could be just as tricky because there are probably hours of scenes completely unrelated to the storyline in which Taylor is there.

That's still a possibility though because she can in effect be demoted to a lesser role on the show; she'd be in plenty of innocuous scenes but not carry her own storyline. This may become entirely feasible especially if some of the other new women on the series who aren't quite featured players on the show yet, including Brandi Glanville and Dana Wilkey, have enough unused footage to tap them for full-time status.

All these considerations are prompted by the prevailing impulse to eliminate any trace of this sordid episode from our collective memory banks. But perhaps that's not necessarily the way to go here.

While it might seem most tasteful to simply wipe away any reference to spousal abuse from "Housewives," is it really? If you're an advocate for this issue as Taylor Armstrong has been in the past, what kind of message does it send to bury footage that can illuminate the problem? She and the network would get points for courage and high-mindedness while still satisfying the tabloid undercurrent that would drive viewership.

Perhaps the best way for Bravo to deal with it is to concentrate the Armstrongs' storyline into just one or two episodes and present them as "special" episodes on the important subject of spousal abuse. Run it with a public-service announcement tacked to the end.

That way the network can capitalize on the macabre interest the Armstrongs would draw to the series without having that tone take over the entire season. Get it out of the way, then shift gears, returning "Housewives" to its regularly scheduled frothiness.

Whatever the network chooses to do, it's going to take some editing so the chances of "Housewives" sticking to its Sept. 5 premiere date are slim. But Bravo may not want to push the "Housewives" premiere too far off into the future and risk seeing interest cool in the Armstrongs, which in our short-attention-span culture, is a certainty.

At the very least, Bravo has to have Taylor Armstrong in its corner supporting whatever decision is made. Having a grieving widow complain publicly would be about as bad as this could possibly play out.

On paper, they make a good pair: Hulu, the innovator in video distribution, together with Morgan Spurlock, the innovator in docu-style programming.

That's why it's so disappointing that the filmmaker just doesn't deliver with his latest production, "A Day in the Life," which happens to be Hulu's first original series.

A 22-minute examination of 24 hours in the life of a famous figure, the show has a title that leads one to believe it's going to be classic Spurlock: a fresh look at a subject by way of a clever premise. That's what he did so brilliantly by gorging himself with McDonalds to explore the perils of fast food in his documentary "Super Size Me." Or when he explored two cultures by having individuals from different walks of life switch lives in the FX series "30 Days."

But "Life" is just lifeless. Spurlock getting a day with a compelling personality should mean extraordinary access and intimacy. But judging from the opening episode with Virgin mogul Richard Branson, Spurlock doesn't even come close.

It's not like Branson isn't just begging for deeper treatment, something that digs behind the omnipresent facade of the bright-toothed pitchman. Is he just a figurehead or does he truly have control of his sprawling empire? What's his personal life like? Is that blonde shag a wig??

But "Life" telegraphs in its opening seconds it has no ambitions beyond being anything but the kind of breezy propaganda that Branson might as well have on heavy rotation in the lobby of his headquarters. He's seen in the back of his car explaining via voiceover that he had spent the previous day trying to rustle up billions fo dollars for a major transaction and topped that off with a dinner at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth and President Obama.

Why couldn't have Spurlock's cameras shown up that day!?

Instead we have the non-privilege of watching Branson smile his way through a day-long press junket of sorts in Chicago where he's on tap to tout Virgin Airways new flight routes. As he charms publicists and journalists ad nauseum he turns to the camera and says, “After a while, you’re going to be fed up with the interviews. You’re just going to see the same thing time and again.”

If Branson understands the boredom being foisted upon Hulu viewers, why didn't Spurlock? One can only hope "Life" has more in store in subsequent episodes, which feature everyone from musician will.i.am to ballerina Misty Copeland.

John Lasseter will exec produce "Pixie Hollow Games," a new animated special to premiere on Disney Channel this fall.

Disney Channel stars Brenda Song, Jason Dolley, Tiffany Thornton and Zendaya will provide voices, alongside Megan Hilty of NBC's upcoming musical series "Smash." Bradley Raymond will direct the special, which sprung from the multiplatform Disney Fairies franchise and will feature an Olympic-style competition among the fairies.

In the pic above, Hilty's Rosetta is on the left, while Song's Chloe is on the right.

In other Disney Channel news, BBC preschool series "3rd & Bird" from Josh Selig and Little Airplane Prods. ("The Wonder Pets") will premiere on Disney Channel on Sept. 26. The initial Disney run will have 25 episodes plus a holiday special. Disney Channel acquired the show in April 2010.

That the new Fox series "In the Flow With Affion Crockett" didn't exactly burst out of the gate Sunday with its premiere episode should not come as any surprise. With some animated reruns as a lead-in and seemingly zero marketing, "Flow" was lucky to get just 2.5 million total viewers. Dumped by Fox in the netherworld that primetime becomes in late August, the scheduling of "Flow" tells you all you need to know about the faith the network has in the series (none).

Maybe Fox was trying something counterintuitive here. Typically, a network hires a brand-name performer to lure audiences in. But as someone who is largely an Internet sensation to date, Crockett may prompt curiosity as to how a  relatively unknown comedian manages to get his own sketch-comedy show on a broadcast network.

But the conceptual strategy behind "Flow" makes sense. In a world of increasing ratings parity between a broadcast and cable series, why not try to rip off a series that worked exceedingly well for Comedy Central--"Chappelle's Show"--and put it on a network that made urban comedy work back in the 1990s, with "In Living Colour."

This would be a good time to level charges of reductive racism--oh, just because Crockett is black, he should be compared with "Chappelle's" and "Colour?" Well, yes. It's abundantly clear that "Flow" was modeled on the "Chappelle" format, with pretaped sketches introduced by Crockett in front of a studio audience, and A-list cameos from the hip-hop world including Russell Simmons and Snoop Dogg. Crockett has the same amiable charm as Chappelle, and the same taste in comedic targets.

That said, Crockett smartly addresses the elephant in the room in the second episode of "Flow" by lampooning Chappelle himself. The sketch has Crockett pretending he reached out to Chappelle for his blessing to do his own show, only to encounter the former Comedy Central star smoking amid a field of marijuana plants, offering paranoid warnings like, "Have fun making shows with the white devil!" 

 Even with the content restrictions that come with being on Fox, "Flow" doesn't have that confined vibe so many broadcast shows give off when they try to be racy. Imagine what Chappelle would have been like were he on Fox.

Of course, that inevitable comparison becomes the problem. Crockett is not the second coming of Chappelle. But Crockett is talented enough that had Fox bother to promote and schedule "Flow" as if they gave a damn, this series could have had a chance.

After spending so many years playing a character making his way through the  harshness of Hollywood, who could blame Adrian Grenier for wanting to do a little good in the world?The "Entourage" star is one of the backers of an unusual new website attempting to harness the forces of social media to foster a little peace, love and understanding. AOK.tv (Acts and Observations of Kindness) allows users to share their good deeds in hopes of encouraging others to do more of the same--think of it as a virtual version of "Pay It Forward." Grenier is involved through his website SHFT.com. How many more digital ventures does this guy have to rack up before we start making Ashton Kutcher comparisons?

Major League Baseball released its postseason schedule today, and in doing so revealed that it was eliminating non-travel off days that had been created to give more games primetime exposure on TV.

The marginally compressed schedule will mean that there are more games played on the same day in the two rounds before the World Series. For example, there could be as many as four games on Oct. 4, a Tuesday.

The MLB playoffs will begin on a Friday (Sept. 30) for the first time since the 1915 World Series. Division series games for both the American League and National League will air on TBS, with its sister networks picking up any overflow or simultaneous games.

TBS also has the National League Championship series, while Fox has the ALCS and then, starting Oct. 19, the World Series. A potential Game 7 of the World Series is scheduled for Oct. 27, a Thursday.

Jennifer Lopez will return to “American Idol’ as a judge with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson, exec producer Nigel Lythgoe stated.

Lythgoe spoke about Lopez in a radio interview with “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest (link via TV Tattle).

“I believe we’re still waiting for the official announcement, but I am delighted to say that all three judges, along with the brilliant host of ‘American Idol,' (are) back for the next season,” Lythgoe said.

A Fox spokesperson did not comment. In June, Lopez said in a BBC radio interview that she was "on the fence" about her return, though folks at Fox seemed confident when asked about Lopez at the recent Television Critics Assn. press tour.

Comedy-baseball rennaissance man Ken Levine passes along this failed TV pilot from 1979, "A Dog's Life," starring Barney Martin (aka "No. 1 Dad" from "Seinfeld") and Charles Martin Smith.

Sure, it didn't make it to series, but its very existence — even coming from Norman Lear's shingle — shows how much TV times have changed, especially in the talking-dog genre. (Then again, based on a couple of fall pilots for this year, perhaps I should rethink that ...)

Just last week  at the TCA press tour, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler expressed her interest in reviving the variety genre on primetime TV. Little did she know someone in her own company was doing just that...but it's probably not quite what she had it in mind.

CBS corporate sibling Showtime just bowed "Pauly Shore's Vegas Is My Oyster," which as you will see in the truly NSFW trailer above, bills itself as a contemporary take on this ancient genre. I'd suggest showing an edited version on CBS during these dog days of summer, but "Oyster" would probably be cut down from 90 minutes to about 9 seconds once the broadcaster's standards and practices division got done with it.

With profanity and porn stars aplenty, "Oyster" will air on Showtime throughout August. Make sure to send your petition to have Shore take his show to CBS c/o Nina Tassler, who will no doubt love the idea.

Post-nomination Emmy preview coverage has launched at Variety, continuing over the next two weeks. Here's what posted at Variety.com/Emmy Central over the weekend:

-- Why we might be in a golden age for ensembles on TV (by Glenn Whipp).

-- An examination of why broadcast networks can do so well (6 for 6) with comedy series nominations and so poorly (1 for 6) with drama (by David Kronke). 

-- PBS says its 43 Emmy noms signify excellence, not elitism (by Tatiana Siegel).

-- A network-by-network Emmy nominations roundup (by Lauren Zima).

-- While some series have ditched main title montages, others take considerable pride in them — for good reason (by Karen Idelson).

-- Why the nominees for guest stars so often seem like anything but guests (by Susan Young).

-- Capsules on the guest star nominees in drama (by Susan Young) and comedy (by Lauren Zima).

-- A look at the importance of art direction to TV series (by Bob Verini).

-- Making makeup work on a budget (by Karen Idelson).

-- Nonfiction cinematography has a wide range of nominees but striking results (by Gregory Solman).

We'll have more Emmy preview stories day after day, so keep watching ...

A few minutes into the TCA panel discussion for the upcoming syndicated strip "The Chew," the show's producer, Gordon Elliott, was interrupted by a journalist in the audience. He had opened the session by posing a question to one of the show's hosts, Daphne Oz, about what qualified her to host the show.

"We're the ones who ask the questions," the critic sniffed. Chastened, Elliott smiled politely and let the questions start coming.

Perhaps Gordon made the faux pas because being in front of an audience and bright lights made him lapse into the job he's better known for: host of 1990s syndication fixture "The Gordon Elliott Show." He's gone on to enjoy a successful career behind the camera as head of Follow Prods., the company behind Paula Deen's shows on Food Network. 

But assuming the role of interviewer in a room full of interviewers wasn't even his biggest mistake. At 6"7", Elliott loomed large both literally and figuratively over the "Chew" personalities at the center of the show.

Only three members of the "Chew" roundtable came to TCA to woo the crowd, and all of them were thoroughly upstaged by Elliott: Oz, a chef whose qualifications include being the daughter of another syndie star, Dr. Oz., and having been fat as a teenager; Clinton Kelly, who is better known as a fashion expert as host of TLC's "What Not to Wear," and Carla Hall, a former "Top Chef" contestant who was easily the most dynamic of the trio. (Not present at TCA but also in the cast are Mario Batali and Michael Symon).

If ever there was an ABC show that needed to prove its potency, it's "Chew," which has the misfortune of being the first of two lifestyle shows ABC Daytime is rolling out in the coming months to replace soap operas "All My Children" and  "One Life to Live." That puts "Chew" square in the crosshairs of the millions in those soaps' cult followings. The best way to convert some angry fans might have been to get some positive buzz going.

Instead, the "Chew" crew saw all the oxygen in the room get sucked up by Elliott, who gives new meaning to being a big personality (one of his legs seemed larger than Oz's entire body). When your producer is a more compelling presence than your on-air talent, putting them together on the same stage only makes them look worse by comparison.

Seriously, it's not that hard to find.

Nicki Minaj's brief escape from her top on "Good Morning America" has caused plenty of hubbub around the web (the Parents' Television Council is predictably upset); the performer showed more than cleavage on live television this morning during the ABC morning show's broadcast of her concert (part of a "GMA" series) in Central Park.

No word yet on whether the FCC will be assessing a fine, but the network was pretty quick on the draw with an apology: 

"Although we had a five-second delay in place for the Nicki Minaj concert on GMA , the live East Coast feed of the concert regrettably included certain fleeting images of the performer that were taken out of later feeds of the broadcast in other time zones," said an ABC spokeswoman in an emailed statement "We are sorry that this occurred."

Here's a nipple-free interview with Minaj from shortly after the segment:

Unlike a number of Showtime series, "Homeland" does not wear its quirk on its sleeve.

Bowing on Oct. 2 after the season-six premiere of Dexter, "Homeland" presents a complex drama - with a multidimensional character for star Claire Danes, to be sure - but in measured tones. 

Tension, rather than craziness, is its calling card. My first impression of it, based on a not-for-review copy of the pilot, was that it was a more accessible version of AMC's "Rubicon," another post-9/11 drama (that I quite enjoyed, for what it's worth) filled with intrigue but even more mental gymnastics. 

Time and again, conversation about "Homeland" at the Television Critics Assn. press tour today (an early morning session that allowed Danes, Damian Lewis and Morena Baccarin to fly back to Charlotte, N.C. to resume shooting the show) returned to how television was a superior medium to tell this kind of story.

"I'd say one thing movies can't do is offer stories like this the breadth and complexity they deserve," exec producer Alex Gansa said, adding that the heart of the series was "psychological."

Danes, coming off Emmy and Golden Globe victories for HBO's "Temple Grandin," didn't hesitate to stay on the smallscreen.

"I have not read a character this compelling in a movie script in quite some time," said Danes. "I just gravitate to the most interesting work, and this was impossible to ignore.

"She is incredibly bright at times - dangerously bright - and formidable and focused, even compulsive, even myopic. She is also very sensitive and vulnerable. That juxtaposition is interesting."

The panel itself wasn't without its humor. Lewis, who plays an American soldier tortured by Al Qaeda (and suspected by Danes' character of being a "Manchurian Candidate"-like turncoat) said he didn't mind filming his harshest scenes.

"I have a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old - it's like a morning," Lewis joked. "I oddly enjoy it. I was being peed on a few mornings ago."

Danes, meanwhile, was asked if it was going to be weird to be launching this gritty drama while beauty ads featuring her played on television.

"I'm going to trap those terrorists with my very long lashes," Danes said with a laugh.

Sarah Michelle Gellar said at the Television Critics Assn. press tour today that CBS' interest in airing "Ringer" was sincere, but in the end she was relieved the upcoming drama ended up on the CW.

Gellar said that CBS entertainment prexy Nina Tassler "loved the show" and indicated that Tassler recruited Gellar rather intensely for it. Gellar herself was not sure she was ready to return to TV, before doing a 180 and realizing how much she missed it.

Still, questions lingered about how well the youth-skewing drama with serialized elements would fit with CBS programming.

"The audience that CBS does cater to - 'Will they respond to the show?' - was in the back of my mind," Gellar said.

"We got a phone call from Les (CBS prexy/CEO Leslie Moonves) saying, 'I have the same fears you do. What do you think about putting it on the CW, where we're revamping?'

"I thought about it, (and) it made sense. It was almost a relief for us. We knew we could tell more of the stories we wanted to tell on that network."

Gellar added that CBS "has these huge numbers, and there's always a concern that if you can't hit that number, you don't have the same time to develop a fanbase that you can get in a smaller network. Honestly, I truly believe it's a blessing, and our fear was always, 'Do we fit in at CBS?' The answer was, we know we fit in at the CW."

Gellar also confirmed she would make a guest appearance on "All My Children," not as her original character, before the soap leaves ABC in September.

A lifetime filled with formulaic medical shows has left me avoiding the genre like malaria. But after hearing Neal Baer discuss "A Gifted Man" at TCA press tour Wednesday, I'm willing to give this CBS series a chance.

The "Gifted" executive producer began his TV career on NBC's long-running "ER," but he made clear he plans to steer clear of rehashing similar territory even as he gives this well-worn genre another go.

"This show will take us to places you haven't been before in a medical series," Baer promised.

Though the show seems to be marketed as a romantic drama with a supernatural twist, "Gifted" will offer a topical take on American health-care issues. The show's setting will move back and forth between the high-toned world of concierge medicine in which star Patrick Wilson's character operates and the gritty environs of the free clinic inhabited by his ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle) who returns to his life after a 10-year absence.

"It's the first show of his kind to show the 'Upstairs/Downstairs' of medicine," said Baer, who pledged to explore the issues that affect the 50-60 million Americans who don't have health care.

"Gifted" will also present an opportunity for Baer to explore the distinctly un-"ER" world of alternative medicine, and how it intersects with issues of faith and ethics.

But Baer did liken "ER" to "Gifted" in one crucial regard: its leading man. Baer cited the NBC drama's first hunk-in-residence, George Clooney, to Wilson. If the actor can bring even half the appeal that the man who went on to become one of Hollywood's reigning eminences, "Gifted" just might be the Rx for CBS viewers. 

By MICHELLE WEISS
The winner of “The Glee Project” will receive a guest starring role in the Fox mothership show.

Or maybe not.

According to exec producer Michael Davies, “Glee” chieftan Ryan Murphy “wouldn’t keep someone that he couldn’t write for.”

Clearly that would be bad news for the folks at the NBCUniversal cabler who have heavily promoted that the winner could become the next Chris Colfer or Lea Michele.

Davies then backtraced a bit, adding, “This isn’t a reality TV show for Ryan, this is a project to cast for ‘Glee.’”

Casting director Robert Ulrich, who acts as a mentor for the group, presented a glimmer of hope for all the contestants, even those who don’t land the big prize: “I will keep them in mind for everything else I do.”

Davies said he has received no official word from Oxygen if “The Glee Project” will return for a second season, but casting and budgeting talks have already begun.

By STUART LEVINE

Versus is no more.

Peacock has officially made the move in changing the name of its cable entity to NBC Sports Network. New moniker is a significant part of a rebrand that the net hopes will give the channel better footing with sports giant ESPN.

Official change won't take place until Jan. 2, where a new logo will also be go into effect.

"This allows us to completely align the brands that we have, including our regional sports networks," NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus (pictured left) told Variety.

NBC Sports Network's most valuable property is the National Hockey League, which the the Peacock has exclusively. The league, which saw strong ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs, just recently reupped with NBC on a 10-year deal. Cabler, in conjunction with the broadcast side, also telecasts events associated with horse racing's Triple Crown as well as tennis and other sports.

Move now tells viewers, as well as Madison Avenue, that the Peacock is being aggressive in joining its sports properties together. The alignment also alerts sports leagues, as ESPN has done with ABC, that live events can be televised on any number of platforms. That makes pitches from NBC more attractive.

Lazarus knows comparisons to ESPN are inevitable, but he said it's a bit unfair to say the two cablers should be on an even playing field right now, and hopes auds feel the same way.

"They've had a 30-year head start," he said, "and they have the events they have and we have the events we have."

NBC Sports Network does not yet have sports programming airing on a 24/7 basis. Acquiring programs to round out its schedule is a major objective. The next big property up for grabs is the PGA tour, which will be available for bidding next year.

While Lazarus will be spending countless hours making sure NBC Sports Network can rise in the ranks, the broadcast side will remain the cash cow for the net. "Sunday Night Football" is the Peacock's top-rated primetime show and the net is expecting huge ratings when the NFL season begins Sept. 8 in a Thursday night game between the New Orleans Saints and world champion Green Bay Packers.

Also, Lazarus can look forward toward the Super Bowl. The most-watched program of the year, this year's biggest game airs Feb. 5, followed by the season two premiere of the net's hit reality show "The Voice."

Further taking advantage of the NFL's popularity, the NBC Sports Network will launch studio show "NFL Turning Point" -- an analysis of the previous week's games. Show will air at 6 p.m. weekly.

Lazarus said he was never overtly concerned the recently ended lockout would have wiped out the entire season. If however, the work stoppage did stretch into 2012, "Sunday Night Football" analyst Cris Collinsworth said the net had a contingency plan.

"We were going to show 'Heidi,'" he joked, referencing last 65 seconds of a climactic1968 playoff game between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders that was pre-empted in order to air the kidpic.

The NFL Network has picked up more than 500,000 new customers in Los Angeles and has expanded its reach to 60 million overall, thanks to a new carriage deal with Charter.

In the agreement announced today, Charter will also carry the NFL RedZone channel in time for the start of the 2011 NFL regular season.

NFL RedZone, produced by NFL Network, bounces from game to game on Sundays to go live principally when teams are inside an opponent's 20-yard line and close to scoring.

Lucy Liu has joined TNT's "Southland," credited as a special guest star but with designs on her appearing regularly.

Liu will appear throughout the cop drama's fourth season, premiering in January, as a member of the Los Angeles Police Department. She recently completed filming "The Man with the Iron Fists," scheduled for release later this year.

"Southland" represents Liu's biggest TV series commitment since playing attorney Nola Lyons on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" in 2008-09.

For the first time in New York City, Al Jazeera English is on the air for 23 hours a day. The Qatar-based news net reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable and Regional News Network, allowing AJE to sublet RNN's cRISE, formerly a Spanish-language cabler. The deal gives AJE a distribution of 2 million homes in the New York region.

Since the beginning of the Arab Spring revolutions, AJE has been in the spotlight. The network has very limited U.S. distribution, bt commentators watching the unfolding uprisings in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere compared AJE favorably to other English-language networks, lauding the depth of its coverage. Until recently, the easiest way for most New York viewers to catch AJE programming was the live stream on the english.aljazeera.net website, but now viewers have a new outlet available to them - television.

Verizon FiOS viewers will be able to partake of the net's content in the coming days, as well. Interestingly, AJE hasn't shut down its web feeds on local ISPs, presumably opting for saturation over monetization at this early stage.

"This launch has been fueled by viewer demand," said AJE managing director Al Anstey. "We are already part of the media landscape here (...) We get more web traffic from New York than any other city on earth."

It's a period of change for cable news: CNN's much-discussed new focus on hard news puts Al Jazeera in competition with the much larger cabler as it continues to dig into the Middle East; the Qatari net also has an uphill battle ahead of it if Anstey & co. are serious about expanding coverage in America to include politics. 

That would seem to be the case: "Ever since our establishment, we've been committed to coverage of America and New York with a large bureau and team of journalists based in the city," Anstey said in that same statement today, so AJE will have to dig in. But given the limited number of players in the TV news game today, more competition may ultimately mean good news for viewers.