Ricky Gervais on The Office?

At the HBO presentation for Ricky Gervais' new self-titled animated show at the TV Critics' Association conference, Gervais revealed that there have preliminary talks about him making some kind of appearance this season on the American version of The Office.

Speaking of that show, which Gervais of course originated back in the UK, he says that it would be a "huge mistake" for him to go back and revisit that series in its original British form, but that maybe there's a slight glimmer of hope that he might someday return to making more of HBO's Extras, which he says he believes still has "a little bit of legs to it."

The Ricky Gervais Show -- an animated version of his hugely popular series of radio podcasts debuts on HBO on February 19 at 9PM. And of course, catch Gervais as the host of The Golden Globe Awards this Sunday night, January 17 at 7PM Eastern on NBC.

Eric, Julia, and Marriage Equality

I couldn't believe when I came across this video on YouTube, with two of my favorite TV stars of all time. Please -- back in 2004, I would not rest until I got the assignment to write a book about Eric McCormack, and now have threatened the lives of my fellow editors at CBS Watch! magazine if any of them attempts to sidle up to Julia Louis-Dreyfus before I do.

Now, to see them both together, not only being their funny and gorgeous selves (yes, I'd go both ways for them) but advocating for marriage equality? I'll admit it -- I think I just messed myself a little.

Happy Town vs Twin Peaks

At today's TCA, critics who have seen clips of ABC's upcoming series Happy Town began the session by comparing the show, set in a seemingly idyllic Minnesota town bedeviled by the serial killer "The Magic Man," to another ABC classic, the early '90s show Twin Peaks.

According to executive producer Scott Rosenberg, some similarities may be intentional, since exec producer Josh Appelbaum and others on the show are huge fans of the show; Rosenberg, he admits, was not. "So if you think it's too much like Twin Peaks, blame them. If you think it's not enough like Twin Peaks, blame me."

Rosenberg says he's actually more a Stephen King fan -- "Salem's Lot was a huge book in my childhood like Twin Peaks was to them," he explained. "So it's like a stem cell smush of Salem's Lot and Twin Peaks. No one did better that small town thing like [King did] with Castle Rock."

Appelbaum and Rosenberg were also the creators of two other failed series, Life on Mars and October Road, "which for some reason you people hated more than anything. We were treated like Michael Vick," Rosenberg joked. But as even he admitted, in that series, "there wasn't a lot of incident. It was just a small town world. But we loved that world, the small town and the sense of community. So we thought, 'Let's do October Road, but where shit happens.' That should be our tag line actually. 'October Road, where shit happens.'"

That shit, the producers went on to explain, won't include Peaks' predilection for weird midgets and supernatural phenomena. As Appelbaum explains, "Twin Peaks was very much set in a world that was wholly bizarre. Happy Town is much more the real world. there are dark corners to all of that. there are certainly surreal moments that pop up, but it's very grounded in the real world."

The producers reveal that they created Happy Town -- set in the fictional town of Haplin, MN but filmed in Port Hope, Ontario -- upon realizing that "there isn't a scary show on TV that doesn't fall into 2 categories. There's 'forensic porn,' which is bodies and women being abused, or vampires. And we realized, 'What about doing a show that's scary but very earthbound and grounded in reality?'"

Lauren German's character's Henley is our entry point into Haplin, and seems from the clips to be soon in jeopardy due to the Magic Man, whose terror reign had seemingly ended years before but has now begun anew. "There are a ton of entry points into the show," Appelbaum explained. If you're into romance, or crime, the show will hook you in.

And unlike with Twin Peaks, he promises that the core Magic Man mystery will have a satisfying conclusion, within the show's first season. "'[Who Killed] Laura Palmer extended into the second season, but we will answer the question of who is the Magic Man in the final moments of the first season. It's all about playing fair with the audience." And unlike say a show like CBS' Harper's Island -- of which Appelbaum says he was a fan -- Happy Town is prepared for a season 2 even beyond that revelation. "That doesn't mean that the rest of the ensemble will [learn the killer's identity.] It's a shocking revelation, and will turn the show on its head in a big way. It will have cataclysmic repercussions for the town."

Also on the panel: series stars Geoff Stults, Amy Acker, Steven Weber and Sam Neill, who revealed how, even as the cast filmed in the frigid Canadian outdoors last March, the show's producers kept a tight hold on all the show's secrets. "None of us knew whether we were bad guys or good guys so we had to keep things ambivalent." And as far as the identity of The Magic Man, that was kept "on total lockdown."

We won't learn the identity of the Magic Man anytime soon, either; ABC has not yet scheduled the debut of the show's 8 episodes.

ABC Loves Castle

Speaking of shows ABC President Steve McPherson is high on, he surprised me today by specifically mentioning Monday night's Castle, a fun and lighthearted detective comedy starring hunky Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, now in its second season.

Castle, it turns out, is ABC's highest rated show in repeats. Who knew?!

So, one critic asked, does that mean Castle will survive and see a season 3?

"We're really excited about it. The Alyssa Milano episodes are just terrific. They're really finding their stride. [Creator] Andrew Marlowe has done great job of growing those characters. And I hear so much anecdotal support for the show, it's great."

ABC shows at least a little bit of love to Ugly Betty

When asked today about whether ABC still has faith in Ugly Betty, the network's president Steve McPherson gave a qualified show of support. It's still a show they believe in, he says, but they have to find the right time slot for it.

When Eastwick was cancelled this fall, viewers clamored for Betty to be rescued from a deadly ABC Friday time slot, and moved to Wednesdays at 10. ABC acquiesced -- but ratings have still not been good. McPherson theorizes that that's partly because by the time the move happened, some of the Wednesday comedies leading in to Betty were in repeats, and so didn't provide their strongest levels of support.

McPherson said that he does hope that Wednesday, with Betty at 10, will eventually have good flow in the ratings. And he does, he added, think that light drama/comedy is an opportunity that could really work at 10 o'clock. So although he didn't quite come out and reassure us that Betty would survive into the fall of 2010, it's at least a show of support and patience.

ABC renews The Middle, Modern Family & Cougar Town

BREAKING NEWS: ABC's Steve McPherson has announced today season 2 pickups for its 3 successful Wednesday comedies, The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town. It's great news for fans of these three fabulous new comedies -- and for the shows' producers, who didn't already know. In fact, "the shows are finding out from your blogs right now," McPherson joked.

"Creatively it was a wonderful fall. Hats off to my comedy team and drama team," the ABC President said. As for Wednesday, "it was quite a challenge launching a new night. But we're really excited where we ended up with that. It gives us a foothold in comedy, and we intend to grow that."

Speaking of footholds in comedy, I asked McPherson about the network's lame launches of Scrubs and Better Off Ted this season, and how they seem to have thrown those shows to the wolves the moment they didn't magically electrify ABC's moribund Tuesday schedule.

McPherson stressed that the network is not "burning off" Scrubs and Ted, and admitted that outside of Wednesday, any comedies airing on the network would end up being their own "island," which is a distinct competitive disadvantage. I also asked why neither Scrubs nor Ted was given the deceased Hank's time slot, and McPherson countered that repeats of The Middle and Modern Family have done great for ABC, and will until such time as the network finds a suitable replacement. In the fall, he added, the network had assessed Scrubs and Ted and had decided that neither would fit well into Wednesday. (I strongly disagree -- plus, they thought Hank, a more traditional multi-camera comedy, fit well among those other 3 shows? Hey, but that's what the man said.)

I followed up by asking if, after their runs end this month, Scrubs and Ted could be considered euphemistically "on hiatus," or more bluntly, "cancelled." According to McPherson, no decision has yet been made, and will be made only then. It doesn't sound promising, but here's to hoping that the rest of ABC's spring pilots yield a few comedies which could be combined with Scrubs and Ted to form a new night, much like the network did this year on Wednesday.

Lost Hearing About Lost?

Good news for people like me who didn't catch Lost from the beginning, and by the time the buzz built, felt it was too late to catch up. Today at the TCA, one of the show's executive producers Carlton Cuse announced that, preceding the debut of the show's 6th and final season on February 2, ABC will air a one-hour special recapping the show's first 5 seasons. The thought of that elicited giggles from critics, who could not imagine summing all of the show's legendary twists and turns so succinctly. "It's all in 43 minutes, and it's really done pretty well," Cuse enthused.

The show's upcoming ending is something which co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof says includes a "final image" which they've had in mind for years. And, once ABC "allowed" them, as he worded it, to work towards an end date, the writers have been able to concoct a final season which crafts a satisfying story, rather than staying a few seasons past the show's welcome.

As Evangeline Lilly, aka Kate, admitted from the stage, filming the show's finale will be bittersweet, because the cast has spent six years "in the jungle, growing up together, and growing up in front of all of you." But, as the cast really does spend its time trapped together on an island, where, she explains, you can't just run off to Vegas for a weekend escape, she does also feel like the end of the show may be a big "golden horizon" of opportunity.

In either case, before the actors go their separate ways, Lost's final season will be a reunion of sorts, Lindelof announced, as some of the show's departed stars like Harold Perrineau and Cynthia Watros return. Also on today's panel were Emilie de Ravin, Michael Emerson, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim and Terry O'Quinn -- but not Matthew Fox, who of course will return as Jack. Perhaps he's off somewhere, living out the actions he read in Faraday's journal to keep flight 815 from crashing in the first place.

Lost airs its recap special on February 2 at 8 PM, followed by the 2-hour season premiere at 9 on ABC.

150 Episodes and Going Strong

Tonight, NCIS hits a true milestone as the show broadcasts its 150th episode. Think about it: most shows, NCIS included, produce a typical 22 or 23 episodes per season. So it takes about 7 years on the air to get to this point -- and by then, most shows are in decline. But what's so amazing about this CBS ratings powerhouse, now part of a new CBS killer Tuesday night lineup, is that NCIS just keeps on growing.

In tonight's episode, called "Flesh and Blood," an assassination attempt on a foreign prince hits too close to home for DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) when his father (none other than venerable TV star Robert Wagner!) is linked to the case. Check it out tonight (Tues., Jan 12) at 8 PM Eastern/Pacific on CBS.

Well, Better Off Ted ain't going to Fox...

I just asked Fox President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly about whether Fox, which he says is looking to get deeper into the comedy business, would ever considering rescuing worthy comedies from other networks -- specifically, ABC's neglected Better Off Ted.

"We're going to create our own shows," he answered.

Oh well... there's always NBC (?!)

Simon Cowell announces final season on Idol

At today's TCA Executive Session, FOX President Kevin Reilly and Chairman Peter Rice brought out Simon Cowell to announce breaking news: the 2011 launch of a U.S. version of his international hit talent contest, The X Factor.

X is currently shown in 17 countries worldwide, with a global audience of more than 500 million, and is the #1 TV entertainment format in Europe. The show, Cowell says, has no upper age limit for contestants, and so it receives over 250,000 applicants each year. ("You could literally be 100 years old -- so Paula [Abdul] could audition," Cowell joked.) In order to accommodate huge numbers like these, and to secure the judges for the U.S. version -- which by the way, Cowell says, will definitely not include Paula -- Fox and Cowell have agreed to hold off the debut to 2011, but will begin putting the show together now.

As a result, Cowell says, he is announcing that this upcoming season of American Idol will be his last, because he doesn't feel that he can do both shows simultaneously. To add a bit of ceremony to the proceedings, Rice produced a contract for Simon to sign on stage, noting that Fox and Cowell had come to their agreement to launch the show at 11:30 this morning -- merely an hour ago.

As to how the new reality show will affect Fox's schedule, Reilly says that decisions haven't been made about moves to other reality shows, but he envisions a schedule where Idol airs in the spring, X Factor in the fall, and So You Think You Can Dance in the summer.