Good News: On the subject of the now-cancelled PUSHING DAISIES, ELI STONE and DIRTY SEXY MONEY, ABC president Stephen McPherson revealed that he “really loved the shows.” Bad News: Just not enough to give the respective showrunners enough time to craft proper series endings or to make room on the schedule to air their remaining episodes.
[Source]

Good News: NBC has given early season pickups to THE OFFICE, 30 ROCK and THE BIGGEST LOSER. Bad News: While the fates of LIFE, LIPSTICK JUNGLE, CHUCK and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS hang in the balance. [Source]

Good News: After far too long a hiatus, tonight marks the beginning of the end for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Bad news: It’s the beginning of the END! What the Frak are we all going to do when the show is over?

Good News: The CW has officially announced that GOSSIP GIRL showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are developing a spinoff that will chronicle the wild years of Lily van der Woodsen in Los Angeles circa 1980. With the Hollywood Reporting, well reporting that, “as in the original series, fashion, pop culture and music will be central to the spinoff.” Bad News: Fashion, pop culture and music…. does the CW remember the 80’s…. shudder. [Source]

Good News: According to NBC Primetime president Angela Bromstad, reports of LIPSTICK JUNGLE’s cancellation are greatly exaggerated. Bad News: Unfortunately the same can’t be said for SWINGTOWN, which CBS president Nina Tassler revealed was not coming back at yesterday’s Television Critics Association press tour stating, “We’re not going back to SWINGTOWN. At the end of the day the show was well executed, it was well received, the performances were great, the writing was great. It was a risk, we took it, and we’re proud of it.” [Source]

Good News: In the wake of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s departure, SNL has upped their female quotient by adding two female cast members, Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliot. Bad News: Both of whom we’re pretty sure are going to have a challenging time playing Michelle Obama. Paging the diversity police, anyone… [Source]

Good News: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER continues to make headlines. Bad News: By pandering to the worst of America’s television sensibilities and booking famous-for-nothings Kim Kardashian, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt for an upcoming episode. [Source]

If the show’s middling ratings are any indication, odds are fairly good that you probably glanced at the title of this post and thought to yourself, “LIPSTICK JUNGLE is still on the air?” To wit this TV Addict would like to respond. Yes, it is still on the air and you know what? I’d greatly appreciate if you’d give the show a shot.

Because what started out as a second-rate SEX AND THE CITY has quietly come into its own this season offering up… Oh who am I kidding? LIPSTICK JUNGLE is pretty much SEX AND THE CITY minus the foul language and gratuitous nudity. But what pray tell is so wrong about that?

I for one am enjoying the continuous adventures of Victory (Lindsay Price), Nico (Kim Raver) and Wendy (Brooke Shields) and would very much like to see them, well continue. So why not do your favorite TV Addict a solid and tune in (or Tivo) tonight’s brand new episode on NBC. (10PM, CityTV in Canada)

Career Misfire of the Week
After requesting to be released from his duties as President Laura Roslin’s right-hand man on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, actor Paul Campbell has unsuccessfully leveraged his upward momentum into a failed Bill Lawarence pilot for THE WB [NOBODY'S WATCHING] and a supporting role on the this week’s embarrassingly bad KNIGHT RIDER re-boot. Which begs our second question of the week. Who’s Mr. Campbell taking career advice from, Vincent Chase?

Ridiculous Plot Contrivance of the Week
If you ask us, the brains behind LIPSTICK JUNGLE laid it on a little too thick in an effort to ensure the sympathy vote went their series regular’s way. Not only did they turn Nico’s barely-cold-in-the-ground husband into an equal opportunity cheater [gasp!]. They gave him a baby on the way and made sure Nico discovered he already had one foot out the door [double gasp!]. What’s next? An untimely connection to Lehman Brothers? Could Nico’s husband really have been responsible for America’s recent economic woes? Stay tuned…

Favorite Dynamic Duo of the Week
Amidst the massive conspiracy that is well, massive dynamics — who’d have thought  the highlight of the series thus far would be the simple father/son dynamic between Peter and Walter Bishop. It’s almost as if the Gilmore Girls got sucked into the Twilight Zone.

Least Favorite Dynamic Duo of the Week
After last Sunday’s Emmys, theTVaddict.com thinks we uncovered the one thing that would anger BONES star David Boreanaz more than having Michael Ausiello ask another question about ANGEL. Getting paired with reality TV D-lister Lauren Conrad as a Emmy presenter. Aaawwkwward.

In celebration of NBC Universal finally deciding to get their head out of their collective arse come to their senses and return to the iTunes ecosystem, Apple and the Massive Dynamics-esque corporation known as General Electric have made the savvy decision to release some of our favorite shows in both Standard and High Definition for FREE. [Limited time and US iTunes Customers Only]

To download of some of your favorites shows like HEROES, THE OFFICE, 30 ROCK, LIFE, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, MONK, LIPSTICK JUNGLE, EUREKA and PSYCH, simply click here and incidently, kiss your free hard drive space goodbye. The HD files are huge!

The News: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’S Paul Campbell [Billy] will be joining the cast of KNIGHT RIDER as the head research tech at Knight Industries.
The Lowdown: Finally giving us a reason to tune in after February’s uber-disappointing two-hour car commercial.
[Source]

The News: Ex-FRIEND Matthew Perry has signed on to headline Peter Tolan’s [RESCUE ME] Showtime pilot THE END OF STEVE. A dark comedy revolving around Perry, who will play a local TV anchor who’s real-life personality is somewhat different than his cheery on-camera one.
The Lowdown: Could we BE anymore excited for the return of Matthew Perry to television? Umm… no.
[Source]

The News: Madchen Amick is returning to Central Park West, or more accurately, the Upper East Side to play a possible MILF for Nate [Chace Crawford].
The Lowdown: Already spoiling May’s finale tease that ‘S’ and ‘N’ might have lived happily ever after, at least for a little while. Way to go EW.
[Source]

The News: ALL MY CHILDREN’s Leven Rambin will join TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES this season as Riley, a new school friend of John Connor.
The Lowdown: And by friend, we naturally assume love interest. So place your bets now, Riley is (a) an undercover Terminator sent from the future, or (b) Terminated by a Terminator, thus kick-starting John’s transformation from brooding teenager to leader of the revolution!
[Source]

The News: Television icon Mary Tyler Moore will be joining NBC’s LIPSTICK JUNGLE for a multi-episode arc next season, playing Brooke Shields’ mother.
The Lowdown: Casting coup yes. But in all seriousness, how many fans in the younger demographic NBC so dearly covets really has an attachment to 70’s TV icon Mary Tyler Moore?
[Source]

The News: Former star of THE PRACTICE, Michael Badalucco will be one of a rotation of grad students filling Zack’s position while he does the Hannibal Lecter thing behind bars.
The Lowdown: An old grad student. Sound hilarious! Assuming we didn’t already see the same gag on HOUSE and GREY’S ANATOMY last year.
[Source]

The News: The revolving door at County General continues as actors Shiri Appleby, Julian Morris, Emily Rose and Victor Rasuk join the cast of ER for its fifteenth and final season.
The Lowdown: News that would excite us had we not stopped watching ER the day a helicopter crushed Dr. Romano to bits.
[Source]

The News: Ex-MEN IN TREES star James Tupper will be joining the cast of SAMANTHA WHO for at minimum three episodes, playing a love interest for Christina Applegate.
The Lowdown: Can we start the healing process now MEN IN TREES fan? Or are we all still bitter? What’s that… still bitter. Rest assured, we at theTVaddict.com understand. Seriously, three years later, we still won’t shut up about EVERWOOD being canceled.
[Source]

Fans of NBC’s LIPSTICK JUNGLE have completely fallen for Robert Buckley, aka Kirby Atwood, aka Nico’s hotter-than-hot man-on-the-side. He has charm, charisma, and isn’t hard to look at! In celebration of Lipstick Jungle’s first season finale, I spent some time chatting with Rob about the show, where he wants to see his character go, and the real reason he was upset that the writers went on strike.

I want to just start by saying that I have completely gotten hooked on the show in recent weeks, and I really like your character.
Robert Buckley: Oh thank you! It’s funny. I told everyone, all my friends who started watching it, stick with the show because it really picks up momentum. I think we’re seeing it now, a lot more people are tuning in and getting wrapped up in the storyline.

They’ve really started to flesh out the characters and you learn more about the characters that have been on the screen. I’m excited at the prospect of more episodes to come.
Hopefully so, we have the season finale, and we’ll know shortly if we’re coming back for a season 2.

Why did you want to play Kirby?
I really enjoyed the challenge. This guy is pursuing a married woman. It starts off being an affair and turns out to be a much deeper emotional connection. It’s really a tough sell to get America to root for the infidelity, to root for the affair. So I enjoy the challenge of, okay, how are we going to make people root for a woman cheating on her husband of 17 years. How are we going to get America to empathize with this woman risking everything just to be with this guy. That aspect of it was really exciting for me.

How much like Kirby are you in real life?
[Laughs] Well, I don’t go around pursuing married women and I don’t go to bars with a gigantic permanent marker in my pocket, so I wouldn’t say we’re too similar. He’s a very passionate guy in terms of his work and his love life. I can definitely relate to that. He’s very caring, I can relate to that. I would have some moral issues with his choices. Married women are off limits.

What’s it like on set?
I was a recast. I wasn’t part of the original pilot. By the time I came in, everyone had a chance to work together a little bit. By the time I came in, Brooke, Kim, and Lindsay had set the bar for really a very comfortable, friendly, casual vibe. There’s no ego or pretense. It’s very comfortable, just a great environment to do great work, and to form these bonds with the people that you work with. I was very nervous coming in because there are a lot of pros on this show, a lot of great actors, and it was such a relief to see how sweet everyone was, and how welcoming. Everyone was so accepting, and wanting to make it a comfortable experience. The ultimate goal for everyone is to make a great show.

What can you tell us about tomorrow’s season finale
It’s definitely going to leave you wanting more, definitely going to leave you crossing your fingers for season 2 because there are a couple of balls are still let up in the air, in terms of relationships and careers. There’s definitely a couple of twists. There’s an interesting turn with the Kirby/Nico relationship, that depending on your take on it you may or may not like. It’s a tough episode to end on. I know personally I was definitely left wanting more so hopefully America will feel the same way.

What would you like to see the future hold for Kirby?
I think it would be good for America to learn more about this guy. We’ve only got to see a little bit of his life in connection to Nico’s world. I think there is lots of other stuff oing on with him. It would be nice to sort of see, professionally, where he is going with his photography and where that’s going to take him. He’s already worked for 2 of the three women. It sort of makes sense that he’d start shooting Victory’s fashion line. What’s the next step, and seeing as he’s already worked for Nico and Wendy, as he becomes more prominent, is he going to continue working with them, is that going to make things awkward for him and Nico. So I think professionally, we’re really anxious to see where we’re going to go with him.

Why did you want to become an actor?
I have always enjoyed performing. I’ve always liked the rush of it, and enjoyed the attention. Growing up, in high school, I always thought it would be fun, and never did it. In college, I felt the same way. In my last semester I took an acting class and I loved it. I got bit by the bug you could say. I decided to myself that I would pursue acting for a year in LA if I didn’t get any of the jobs that I initially applied for. I ended up getting one of the jobs so I put the acting thing on the back burner. It just kind of kept eating at me. It was something that I knew I had to do, and try at some point. I finally was given the opportunity and I jumped. Left my job pretty fast. I met a woman at my cousin’s wedding on I think a Saturday, who encouraged me to pursue acting. I think I gave my notice on the following Monday. [laughs] I wasted very little time.

Who are some of your favorite actors or actresses, or who inspires you?
I love the work Robert Downey, Jr. he has such great range. He can play such dark depths, and he can be so funny and kill the joke. Bill Murray. I watch his stuff. In terms of actresses, ya know, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, I love their work. Barbara Stanwyck, throwing it back a little bit. Fred MacMurray. The obvious ones. I love Brando’s stuff, I love James Dean’s stuff, I love Paul Newman’s stuff. I’m just giving you a grocery list. [laughs]

I always do that, somebody says “what’s your favorite…” and I list 13 and tell them to pick one.
I did an interview and the guy asked me a few questions in a row, like what’s your favorite song, what’s your favorite movie. And with all of them, it’s terribly relative. Music for me heavily depends on my mood. If I’m in a good mood, I’m going to listen to something very different than if I’m in a self pity mood. Movies are the same way.

What do you watch on TV when you have downtime?
I’m in love with the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I’m such a huge, huge fan of that show. I have to say when the writers strike happened, I was upset about a lot of things, but one of the higher reasons on my list was that I was going to lose my Sunny. I was going to lose my Sunshine, figuratively and literally speaking. There’s an amazing new show on Thursday nights called Lipstick Jungle [laughs]. I’m a big fan of Family Guy. Sadly, I don’t get to watch nearly as much television as I would like to. I’m more of a Netflix guy.

What else do you have coming up, now that the Season finale is tomorrow?
We’re waiting with bated breath to hear on season 2, hoping we’ll be coming back. I’m leaving in a month to go shoot a film for Lifetime opposite Heather Locklear.

Oh nice.
Yeah, true story, so I’ll be shipping off to Hawaii and Canada to do that. We’ll just wait and see. Hopefully, I’ll be coming home to get ready to start packing again to go back to NY.

Do yourself a favor and tune into the season finale of LIPSTICK JUNGLE – you heard Rob, you won’t be disappointed and you’ll be begging for more the minute it’s over!

ELI STONE
ELI STONE has something for everyone. It’s the ultimate TV mash-up. Medical mystery, law, order, ghosts, visions, mythology, romance and EVERWOOD alumni Tom Amandes. Heck, it even has a weekly musical number for the few fans old enough to remember COP ROCK. All it needs now is a break. As if having an inoperable brain aneurysm wasn’t bad enough, does Eli really need to find himself unemployed come fall 2008? Show a little compassion by tuning into ELI STONE this Thursday following a brand new episode of LOST at 10PM on ABC.

LIPSTICK JUNGLE
Something unexpected happened when this TV Addict stuck around for LIPSTICK JUNGLE’s third episode. I found myself starting to like these characters. Aside from really cool names, Nico, Wendy and Victory have it all. Money, power, looks and fame. The only thing that’s missing are viewers. Which you can easily remedy by tuning into the season finale this Thursday at 10PM on NBC.

ALIENS IN AMERICA
Just because the CW eliminated its comedy department doesn’t mean the laughter has to die. ALIENS IN AMERICA is undoubtedly the funniest show you’re not watching. Don’t believe me? Check out last night’s installment as Son Justin [Dab Byrd] ends up playing opposite his Mom Frannie [Amy Pietz] in a community production of RENT. Awkward and embarrassing yes, but like every episode of ALIENS, it’s balanced perfectly with humor and heart.

LOST
So you’re probably surprised to see LOST on this list. But what’s even more surprising is that in its most exhilarating season to date, LOST continues to hemorrhage viewers. According to Variety, last week’s incredible episode set a record low for the show. Which can only mean one thing. America is officially dumber than a fifth grader. Smarten up! Don’t miss Thursday’s mid-season finale at 9PM on ABC.

The TV Addict has just learned that a current Broadway Belle (and personal TV Addict favorite) is expected to guest star in several upcoming episodes of NBC’s LIPSTICK JUNGLE. To find out who we’re talking about,

Currently starring on Broadway in XANADU, Kerry Butler, who wowed this TV Addict as both the original Penny in HAIRSPRAY and Belle in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is expected to appear in several upcoming episodes of LIPSTICK JUNGLE. Said our source close to the production, “She’s going to be on several episodes, playing basically an Eve Harrington type. Should be fantastic!”

Needless to say, the only thing that could get us more excited for this is if we knew who on earth Eve Harrington was?