TVSquad

Some quickie news from Showtime, presented by entertainment president Bob Greenblatt:

• Ilene Chaiken is developing a spin-off for The L Word, which will feature a yet unspecified character from the original show, whose upcoming season will be its last. There will be an open-ended plot in the season finale that Chaiken will continue online, then pick up if the spin-off comes to pass.
• Two more 13-episode seasons of Weeds have been ordered.
• A seventh season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has been ordered, making it Showtime's longest-running show.
• A reality/documentary show called Lock 'N Load has been ordered; it's filmed in a gun shop, and it shows the various people who purchase guns and "exploit their right to bear arms," according to the press release.
• Two new pilots have been ordered and filmed. The United States of Tara, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Diablo Cody, stars Toni Collette as a suburban mother with multiple-personality disorder. John Corbett stars as her husband (yes... it's a comedy). The other pilot is tentatively-titled Nurse Jackie. It stars Edie Falco as a New York City nurse with a painkiller addiction who sometimes crosses moral lines to help her patients (no... it's not a comedy). Tara will begin airing in winter 2009, and Jackie will begin airing in late spring or early summer.
  

(S04E05) Weeds turned a corner with this episode. This week marked the true beginning of Nancy's new life. She owned up to her mistakes, made amends to her friends and family, and admitted the obvious: she was a lousy drug dealer. While it took Nancy several seasons to realize the truth about herself, Guillermo figured it out in a few episodes and gave her a new job.

(S04E04) Nobody mourns like the Botwins. I can't decide whose behavior was the least appropriate; there certainly were a lot of contenders. Lenny's countdown was extremely insensitive, and his actions throughout the episode didn't do him any favors, either. I'll save the specifics for after the jump, but he made Nancy's Andy-ditching look like an act of kindness. Not cool, BotWinBig, not cool.

Here come two more lists of the ten actors and actresses that are finalists for Emmy nominations in the supporting comedy categories. As with the other awards, there are some surprises on the list, and some notable omissions. For the ladies, the headline is that last year's winner, Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), didn't make the cut. Surprise finalists include Conchata Ferrell (Two And A Half Men) and Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live). I don't mind seeing Conchata on the list because she is consistently funny on the show, but I don't know that there is enough to her role for her to actually garner a nomination when you consider the competition.

On the other side of the coin, the defending champ, Jeremy Piven (Entourage), is back. None of the boys over at SNL managed to make the leap from Variety to Comedy that Poehler did.

As the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tries to whittle the submissions down to actual nominees, it's interesting to take a look at who has made it to the semifinals. It's not a nomination, but it's one step away. Today comes word of the finalists for best comedy actress and best supporting drama actor. There are some surprises.

Chief among those for me is Sarah Silverman. I honestly hadn't even considered her in the running. I'm not much of a fan, but I do like that she is being considered for the simple fact that the base the nominees are drawn from can always use some expansion. And if she is the most surprising inclusion, the most surprising snub just might be Teri Hatcher. Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman all made the cut, but not Hatcher. Ouch. The rest of the finalists, and the supporting actors from a drama, after the jump.

(S04E03) What a relief! Now that we've ditched the dead weight (sorry, Bubbie) Weeds can finally get down to business. The Agrestic and Ren Mar worlds are slowly coming together, which should please the Doug fans. Some familiar faces are making their way to Nancy's new home, and that could mean trouble for her.

Former Weeds co-star Romany Malco is developing his own series and testing it out on YouTube viewers. Malco decided to create his own character after his Weeds role was written out of the show. He's leaving Conrad Shepard behind and moving on to the role of Tijuana "T.J." Jackson.

Malco described Tijuana Jackson as an ex-convict living under house arrest. Under a strange, "only on TV" legal arrangement, T.J. stays out of jail by supporting the three women that live with him. The women also happen to be prostitutes and T.J.'s employees.

If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that they're ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter to win:

Futurama - The Beast with a Billion Backs

Weeds - Season Three

Just head on over to the post links above, read through the rules, and make the applicable comment there (not here!). We'll notify the winners next week.

Good luck!

Fans of Full House mark your calendars! Famous twin Mary-Kate Olsen, who recently appeared in a few episodes of Showtime's Weeds, will guest star on ABC's hit sitcom Samantha Who?

The 22-year-old actress will appear in one episode of the good-versus-evil series starring Christina Applegate this fall. Right now, there are no plans to have the actress return for more episodes.

Slight spoilers about Mary-Kate's role on SW? coming up!

(S04E02) The season premiere took us to a new town, and "Lady's a Charm" gave us a look into Nancy's future as a drug trafficker. There's room for improvement, that's for sure. This week we learned more of the Botwin family history, got a brief and depressing Yiddish lesson, and, for the first time, I heard the word "schlimazel" outside the context of Laverne & Shirley.

The "Little Boxes" theme is gone for good. Instead, we got a quick shot of the Mexican border. I'll miss the old song, but it no longer fits with the show's new setting. I can't decide if I like the music-free credits, or if a different theme song would have been a good idea. What song would suit Weeds now that it isn't set in the suburbs?

The giveaways continue today! Not only are we giving away some Futurama DVDs, but we've got five copies of Weeds - Season Three on DVD for five lucky, random commenters. The DVD is already available in stores.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, June 27 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Weeds began it's fourth season Monday night on Showtime and showrunner Jenji Kohan told E! Online that she's thinking about doing a Weeds spin-off. The possible spin-off would focus on Conrad's story and take place in a pot club. Kohan explains that it was time to split up Nancy and Conrad but she still felt like Conrad's story was compelling: "I love those characters; I just think those relationships wore themselves out, and I wanted to be true to where the characters were. Truthfully, Heylia and Nancy had nothing more to say to each other. Conrad and Nancy weren't going to be the loves of each other's lives, so it was time to move on."

As for the style of the spin-off, Jenji Kohan has a good idea of what she wants the show to look like. "I'd shoot it sort of fake reality-show style. It could be pretty like The Hills!," she says. While The Hills is indeed a "pretty" show, I think comparing the Weeds spin-off to The Hills is a downgrade for me. I'm just going to pretend it didn't happen.

The fourth season of Weeds began on Monday night, and the comedy's season premiere earned Showtime record ratings. With 1.3 million viewers, "Mother Thinks the Birds are After Her" is officially the most-watched season premiere of any Showtime series to date. Weeds broke the record formerly held by the season two premiere of Dexter, which had one million viewers.

Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl also brought in a significant audience. The drama earned 949,000 viewers, setting a record for the highest-rated series premiere on the cable network. The L Word's series premiere was the previous record-holder.

(S04E01) So, the Botwins are beach people now. The opening credits gave us one last look at Agrestic/Majestic before taking us to Ren Mar, Nancy's new home. We spent a lot of time getting acquainted with some of Judah's relatives, Lenny and Bubbie. I'm a little squeamish when it comes to serious health issues, so Bubbie already gives me the creeps. Weeds used Dean's serious injury to get some laughs last season, and now we're dealing with someone in a vegetative state. I'm repulsed, yet intrigued. Welcome back, Weeds!

Mary-Louise Parker was forced to wear a cast to Sunday night's Tony Awards ceremony. The actress broke a toe while filming a love scene on Weeds. The injury occurred when she hit her foot on a bed frame. It was only the first take, but Parker completed the scene. The footage will have to be used in an upcoming episode. The fourth season of the Showtime comedy premieres tonight.

Devoted fans are familiar with Nancy Botwin's various affairs--Alejandro, Peter, Sullivan, and, most recently, Conrad. The question is, who is she hooking up with this season? Romany Malco and Tonye Patano were phased out of the show, so it probably isn't Conrad. Any guesses? Warning: spoiler-related speculation after the jump.