The TV Addict 

According to super-scooper Michael Ausiello (seriously people, how does he do it?) actress Helen Hunt really wasn’t that mad about taking over Maura Tierney’s role in PARENTHOOD. So much so that talks between her representatives and NBC have broken down with the role now being offered to GILMORE GIRLS Lauren Graham.

[OCTOBER 9, 2009 UPDATE] According to Ausiello, “a source inside Graham’s camp confirms that her deal to join Parenthood has just closed! Woo-hoo!”

You’ve read his take on the most promising fall shows and least promising ones. Now, in what we promise is our final look back at the Network’s UpFront offerings comes our very own Ken Tucker in-training Aleks Chan, with a look at the shows that fall somewhere in-between.

ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS)
After the horridly ill-conceived COURTING ALEX, Jenna Elfman returns to the small screen as Billie, a San Francisco film critic who hooks up with a younger guy and – surprise – gets pregnant. Pregnancy as a premise hasn’t always worked, and the clips don’t really provide much hope that AOP will be any different, but Elfman is one deft comedienne, so if anything, it’ll be tolerable. 

EASTWICK (ABC)
Also known as Charmed Lipstick Housewives and the City. Based on the John Updike novel about three women (Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, and Jamie Ray Newman) who are imbued with magical powers, it looks as tawdry and superfluous as I remember CHARMED ever was – not that there’s anything wrong with that.  

Read the rest of this entry »