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Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch continues his busy year by signing on to Parade's End, a joint venture between HBO and the BBC that will produce a five part mini-series adapted from Ford Madox Ford's epic four part novel of the same name. The novel is set in Edwardian England and covers the time before, during and just after World War I. Cumberbatch has taken the lead role of Christopher Tietjens, whose journey begins in a comfortable and privileged life that is rocked by the war. His character is pretty typical of the era, he has the values you would expect from a top civil servant but as the country takes a drastic change so does Tietjens. War is not the only unstable factor in Tietjens life as he has a pretty rocky marriage, his wife Sylvia is representative of the new age as she is reckless and arrogant and will be played by Rebecca Hall (The Town, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon). This reunites the actors who appeared together in the 2006 film Starter For 10 (I

In this round of Real Housewives related news, the Salahis are still fame hungry, the franchise sets its sights on Canada, and the season finale of The Real Housewives of Orange County is upon us, which means we will finally see the Tamra Barney vs. Jeana Keough smackdown we've been almost literally dying to see. The Salahis Just Don't Know When To Quit In a strange turn of events, the Salahis of the now defunct Real Housewives of D.C. are still trying to renew their 15 minutes of fame. According to The Daily Caller , the "alleged" White House Gatecrashers are now filming their own reality show, which at this point in time is not attached to any network, so it's best to say that they might be shopping this pilot of their around for a bit. After a failed attempt at landing a gig on VH1's Celebrity Rehab, Michaele Salahi has also dropped a single called "Bump It" last month, which I haven't heard and possibly (if the good Lord is willing) will

During last year’s upfronts, one of the projects that immediately caught my eye was NBC’s Love Bites, an hour-long romantic comedy anthology that was to be Becki Newon’s return to TV after her four year stint on Ugly Betty. From reading press releases and checking out promo material, it seemed like a smart, sincere show about love told in an interesting format. Unfortunately, the show seemed to be pretty doomed from the beginning, shifting to midseason for Newton’s pregnancy, having its episode order slashed from 13 to 9, being left off the midseason schedule (along with The Paul Reiser Show and Friends with Benefits), and originally being left off the summer schedule before a last minute slot on Thursdays at 10:00. But was it worth the wait? I have to say, I really enjoyed the premiere and I’m down to watch the rest of the series. What immediately stands out about the show is its format, as the premiere was three interlinking stories with a common theme (tonight’s was “first” wi

Jimmy Fallon hosted last year (and, for the life of me, I can't remember whether or not he was good), but this year Glee star Jane Lynch will be hosting the 2011 Emmy Awards, which will air on Fox on Sunday, September 18. Considering Lynch is one of Fox's stars, this isn't a surprising choice, although the Academy of Television Arts & Science definitely wanted her as well after she appeared in the Jimmy Fallon opening number last year. “Jane was my first – and only – choice as the host for this year’s Primetime Emmys, and I am glad she said ‘yes,’” said executive producer Mark Burnett. “She has incredible comedic timing, and is a charismatic, talented actress whose energy leaps off the screen and stage. I am thrilled and excited to have her as our host.” Lynch is a good choice, I think. She's definitely funny. She's personable. She's very talented. My only concern is that they don't play up the Sue Sylvester from Glee schtick. If they can mana

Frankly, I'm a little concerned for the state of my current favorite soap opera. It's recently been announced that Ingo Rademacher (Jasper Jax) and Tyler Christopher (Nikolas Cassadine) have been let go from the show, although apparently Jax's character will be left open to return in the future. Granted, Jax is being a little annoying lately about custody of Jocelyn, but I've been watching these guys on General Hospital since I was a teenager. Are these departures signs that ABC might be gearing up to cancel the long-running soap opera? Or is it just a matter of trimming the budget to ensure it keeps running? That being said, the show must go on. ABC has released a trailer for General Hospital that would suggest a possible future relationship between Carly and Shawn. Originally, Shawn was hired by Jason to protect Jocelyn and Carly. While Carly's warmed up to him, Jax doesn't like the fact that he represents a constant threat to Jocelyn and has done wha

When it comes to picking television shows, you need to choose carefully. You need to pick a show you can get behind, one that you can rely on. It's like choosing a girlfriend, albeit one you only see for an hour a week. It has to be a show you can stand proudly behind, saying "That's my show!" when it wins awards or gets a smattering of critical adoration. It needs to be a show you can tell your friends about, one that you can bring home to your parents. For me, Fringe is that show. And it all goes back to the writing staff of the show, headed up by the wonderful Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman. I trust them more than I trust any other writing staff on television, bar none. That's a pretty big claim, and one I don't make lightly. What does it take for a TV writing staff to gain my trust? The answer is both simple and complex: the show needs to be something I can rely on. It needs to be a show that's consistently amazing, week after week, while at the same ti

Fox is probably banking on The X Factor becoming the next American Idol, which would have the network dominating reality television for the fall. They're giving people every opportunity to try and audition for the show. If you can't make it to an audition city, you now have the option to audition through YouTube. Starting today, through June 9, solo artists and vocal groups ages 12 and up can submit their audition video at youtube.com/theXfactorusa . Here's a few official rules to follow when putting together your audition video: it must be 2 minutes in length, including a 30 second introduction. The introduction should cover who you are and you should explain why you have the "X Factor". Songs should be performed a cappella. The videos will apparently remain private and will only be viewed by The X Factor team/judges. Fox says that the YouTube audition videos will be judged like the live auditions. Further instructions and terms can be found on the Y

The fifth season of Burn Notice will be premiering on USA Network on June 23. Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Coby Bell, Bruce Campbell, and Sharon Gless will all be returning for the fifth season and now, thanks to EW , we've learned about two guest stars who will appear. The first is Gavin Rossdale. As in, Gwen Stefani's husband and the lead singer of Bush. Rossdale will be playing a villain named Armand, a wealthy and powerful man who travels all of the world to oversee his "projects". When Fiona asks him for help he agrees, but only if she'll reciprocate by helping him with a major heist. This is not the first time the musician has acted. He appeared in the movie Constantine as the character Balthazar, and in an episode of Criminal Minds. Rossdale will be appearing in episode 5.08, and will be joined by David Dayan Fisher, who has a recurring role on NCIS. Fisher will play a ruthless mercenary in the episode. Don't miss the season 5 premier