The “Work Its” of the world notwithstanding, sometimes midseason is the perfect launching territory for a series too unique to fit on a fall schedule, and too full of potential to be submerged in a sea of September competition.  “Touch,” a new drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, represents a perfect example of this idea.  While we’ll never know if  “Touch” would have pulled away from fall’s freshman pack, its preview airing tonight at 9pm ET/PT on Fox ensures this latest series from “Heroes” creator Tim Kring  has a better-than-decent chance of getting the attention it deserves.

Certainly a portion of “24‘s” faithful will tune in to see Sutherland’s return to series television…  and as it turns out, 9/11 has a significant role in “Touch’s” pilot.   But viewers searching for shades of Jack Bauer won’t find much of him in Martin Bohm, a widower and single father struggling to raise his 11-year-old son Jake (David Mazouz) while still mourning a wife who died in the collapse of the Twin Towers. Bohm is stubborn and driven, but Sutherland’s portrayal grants him a level of fatigue and frailty his action hero rarely (if ever) displayed.

What has Bohm so emotionally frayed is Jake’s condition, which we discover has been incorrectly diagnosed as autism.  Jake has an obsession with numeric sequences and mobile phones, and even touching him makes him react with such force that people will have to “peel him off the ceiling,” his father explains.  The kid also has a habit of scampering up cell phone towers, and one climb too many draws the attention of  well-meaning social worker Clea Hopkins (Guga Mbatha-Raw).  Like his father, Hopkins  is concerned that Jake’s condition has closed him off from the world as we know it.

Naturally Jake is anything but disconnected from humanity, and viewers witness this through Jake’s internal narration and other perspectives, including the stories of people around the world that the boy will never meet but nevertheless are affected by his actions. Jake’s role as a hub of universal interconnectedness – vaguely explained by a somewhat kooky expert on the phenomenon (Danny Glover) – is fascinating to watch as the quilt of plotlines reveal themselves, and ever more inspiring when each disparate story comes together in end. Rare is the pilot that manages to be uplifting without getting caught in a sticky bog of maudlin sentiment, but the first episode of “Touch” pulls off that feat.

This in no way guarantees that the series will maintain all the strengths of its pilot, or that audiences will care enough to return each week to witness Bohm and son weave ever more wondrous webs of human connection around the globe. Even if one accepts the theories and possibilities that Jake’s gift grants those around him, there comes a point at which the ripple effect of his actions must be subject to constrictions and boundaries. Lacking a concrete definition of Jake’s condition means the writers can be free to explain away all kinds of twists and U-turns in the story without rooting them in absolute plausibility.

Those who remember what “Heroes” devolved into about, oh, one and a half seasons into its four-year run know what a huge problem that could be.  To borrow from Jake’s way of seeing the universe, this is a series that demands there be a distinct pattern leading us to a specific end point. From what we have seen of Kring’s previous work, he has not demonstrated great success in mapping out his various endgames.

For the time being, it’s enough that “Touch” gets off to a a strong start, and to hope that everything that works so well in the premiere consistently connects through future episodes.

As FX’s critically-acclaimed drama “Justified” returns for a third season, it will be very difficult for some fans to imagine the world of Harlan County, Kentucky, without its beloved and feared crime matriarch Mags Bennett. Margo Martindale‘s Emmy-winning role was so emotionally affecting that to call Mags a tough act to follow is beyond an understatement.

To meet that challenge this season, “Justified’s” executive producer Graham Yost is serving up not one, but two new crime bosses. Neal McDonough plays one of those heavies, a smooth-talking Detroit criminal named Robert Quarles. Quarles wears expensive suits and has a glaring white smile, and between that and his go-getter attitude, he is utterly frightening.

But he’s also a very different kind of villain than the ones we’re used to seeing Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) face on his home turf.  Raylan knew Mags, just as he knows the reputation of the third season’s other great antagonist Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, who previously co-starred with McDonough in Yost’s “Boomtown“).

Limehouse, who lords over an African-American community known as Nobles Holler, has a long history in Harlan and is a hospitable man, offering barbecue to his visitors before he doles out threats. Quarles, on the other hand, is unerringly polite but uninterested in pleasantries.

We sat down with McDonough at the recent Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour to get more details about his work on this season of “Justified,”* which kicks off tonight at 10pm ET/PT on FX, and to find out about his upcoming appearances as  Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan, one of the Marvel Universe’s better-known good guys.

(WARNING: This interview contains a minor spoiler about a subplot in an upcoming episode of “Justified.”)

IMDbTV: Your character is amazingly creepy.

McDonough: Yes,  and I didn’t realize how creepy he was until I saw the first episode the other night.  But it’s not so much that he’s creepy as much as he’s… I keep on saying this with the “Ds”: He’s despicable, he’s delectable, he’s delightful, he’s dastardly, he’s everything you would want as a character to play as a villain.

But I’m playing him as a hero. And in his mind, all of these other people are villains in the show, and I have to get rid of these bad guys.

Interesting.

The first time I introduce myself to these other actors in the show, I’ll just start giggling at them for no apparent reason. I can see, in their minds, that it puts them off, and it kind of stays with the character throughout the piece. It’s a lot of fun playing this guy.

The other thing that’s interesting about “Justified” is that, even though the story has protagonists and antagonists going at each other, in the preface to any conflict, there’s almost a Southern politeness about it. Your character is also very polite, but in a specific Northern way. Can you talk about the “carpetbagger” aspect of Quarles?

It’s great because I think that I’m the king. I graduated summa cum laude from Michigan, enjoy all of the great things – fine wines, foods – I’ve been bred really well. But I just have this horrible anger inside me, this temper and this rage that builds inside me and once in a while, it comes out. And when it does come out, it’s just deplorable.

It’s tough playing a guy like this, because I always want to infuse so much emotion into it. Before I do this horrible thing, my eyes just start to well up. There’s this really tight close-up of my face where I look really remorseful about what I’m about to do.

On that note, can you give any hints as to what’s to come for your character? (WARNING: Minor spoiler ahead!)

The things I do to this one boy in the series… I read the script and it says, “Quarles opens the door and sees pretty boy handcuffed to the head post.”  So I called (executive producer Graham Yost) immediately  and I asked, “So how pretty does this boy have to be?”  And he starts laughing. Then I asked, “Are you going to answer why this boy is here?” And he goes, “I’m not sure yet. I might not.” I said, “OK, great.”

Well, he actually did answer it and… it’s just awful.

(END SPOILER ALERT.)

Wow. You look like you feel awful about it right now.

I do! You know, when I do this I can always just say, “Well, it’s just fun, it’s entertainment.” But when I want to do it right, I really have to do it right. If you don’t have that remorse in a villain, it doesn’t work. You can’t play it like an android and not have any emotions. I think that’s what makes this role so chilling to play.

Is that something that Graham and (executive producer and author Elmore Leonard) inspired in you to do?

Graham doesn’t say boo. He’s come by the set once, maybe twice this year. He lets me just play… “In Graham I trust” has basically been my slogan for years. The stuff he wrote for me in “Boomtown” was just phenomenal, and the stuff he’s writing here is fantastic. I would love to see Graham write me another David McNorris, because I miss playing that guy…When you get to see the insides of a man’s soul, then you’ve got great television.

It seems that the villains from the first couple of seasons on this series, um, don’t come back.

Oh, I’m going end up in a slaughterhouse, or whatever, at the end of the season. I just heard, what is it called, “American Horror Story”? What a genius approach to have the whole cast gone after the first year and recast it for the second year. That’s genius, because you get to watch a whole new story. Like Graham has alluded to, if you have the same villain and he keeps staying around, he loses his shine. Even if they wanted to keep me around for another year or so, it wouldn’t make sense for the show. I don’t think they will. I think Graham is figuring out a beautiful way for my demise as we speak.

I understand that you’re going to reprise your Captain America role.

Yeah, they’re planning (to go into production for) Captain America 2 for the end of this year, because Marvel does one film at a time. So they’re going to do Thor 2 and as soon as Thor has wrapped, they’ll do Cap 2. Hopefully right after that, we’ll jump into Nick Fury because that’s the one I’m looking forward to more than anything.

Why is that?

Because it’ll be me and Sam Jackson. In the real Marvel universe, Dum Dum Dugan is Nick Fury’s right hand man.

…And  I just pray that they have a 1970s setting, because I want to see Sam Jackson with lambchops kicking people’s asses for Marvel universe. It would just be awesome. And to work with Sam would be a treat. We’ve become friendly over the years.

It sounds like you were a fan of the comic beforehand.

Absolutely.  I’m very well aware of the Marvel universe, and to be part of it is such a blessing. To go back to London and shoot there for four months, that was just a great year.

In his opening monologue as host of The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards,  Ricky Gervais joked that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had warned him that if he insults or offends anyone, “I’ll definitely be invited back next year!”

After tonight, we can’t say he won’t be asked to host again (he was back for his third go-round this year, wasn’t he?) but it became fairly obvious early on in the awards telecast that Gervais would rather be doing something else.  Anything else.

Rather than shocking his way out of a return invitation, Gervais took the route of safety and boredom. Where he landed memorable stinging jabs across the egos of Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. in past Globes shows, Gervais threw slow haymakers wrapped in velveteen cliches at targets including Kim Kardashian (“The Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton: A bit louder, bit trashier, bit drunker, and more easily bought!”);  Justin Bieber  (“The only way he could have impregnated a woman was by borrowing one of Martha Stewart‘s old turkey basters!”) Eddie Murphy, Ashton and Demi. Everyone’s done jokes about those celebrities, and from what we could see, none of them were in the audience.

If Gervais wanted to show us what he would be like without fangs, then mission accomplished. We vastly prefer you to be rude and unflinching. (See you on HBO in a few weeks!)

The bright spot to a Globes telecast helmed by a harmless and largely absent Gervais, however, was that it inspired a few stars to take up the entertainment banner in his stead.  Thus, Seth Rogen did his best to liven up the night by kicking off his Globes presenting gig with, “Hello, I am Seth Rogen and I am currently trying to conceal a massive erection” before referring to Globe-nominated “My Week with Marilyn” as “a hilarious comedy.”

Madonna smelled weakness and took a (self-serving) swipe at her lame introduction by Gervais, which tried to spin comedy out of her song  “Like a Virgin,” her hit dating back to the Pleistocene epoch.

“If I’m still ‘Like a Virgin,’ Ricky,” Madge cooed, “then why don’t you come over here and do something about it? I haven’t kissed a girl in a few years. On TV.”  The audience applauded, and the blonde braid of sinew and haute couture that gave us W.E. smiled proudly.

In case that didn’t do it for you, George Clooney gamely attempted to entertain the folks at home by calling attention to the size of  Michael Fassbender’s member while accepting his Best Actor Golden Globe for his work in the Golden Globe winner for Best Drama, The Descendants. It was a swing, and a… well.

Despite all of that, there were a few magical moments during The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards that stood out from the boredom and weirdness.

– It was touching to watch Sidney Poitier present Morgan Freeman with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Dame Helen Mirren co-presented, and flailed a bit as she attempted to sprinkle her dedication with a touch of comedy. No harm, though; she’s Dame Helen Mirren. But the most winning moment of that presentation was the “this-is-your-life-in-movies” clip reel that included a snippet of Freeman singing “I love to take a bath in a casket” from his stint on “The Electric Company.” It was a nice nostalgic touch, and Twitter went wild for it.

–”Downton Abbey“‘s Golden Globe proves HFPA voters actually do pay attention to quality miniseries and TV movies that aren’t being made by HBO. Even nicer was the acceptance speech by creator Julian Fellowes, who could be experiencing a massive explosion of ego right now but clearly is still grateful, humble and in awe at the culture’s fervent adoration for his work.

–Great to see “Homeland‘s” wins in the categories of Best TV Drama and Best Actress in a TV Drama, for Claire Danes‘s performance. Also nice to see Kelsey Grammer get a Globe for his work in “Boss.”  We have nothing bad to say about Laura Dern and Matt LeBlanc‘s wins for “Enlightened” and “Episodes,” but only because it’s a waste of energy to complain about the insanity of the Globes’s notoriously odd choices in individual comedy winners. (Except to say that Amy Poehler was robbed. Again.)

–The same holds truly for the wacky practice of lumping comedy, TV miniseries and movie supporting actors and actresses together in the same categories. However, we commend Peter Dinklage‘s classy mention of assault victim Martin Henderson at the podium. “Google him,” Dinklage advised, subtly using his platform to remind a worldwide audience that as much as he’s achieved, most little people are still struggling for equal treatment.

–Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy singing a duet while presenting the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie? Adorable.

We invite you to share your thoughts on the Globes telecast in the comments section. As always, you can view the full list of winners, as well as see red carpet photos and read the blow-by-blow recap of the show by visiting our Road to the Oscars section.

Celebrities plus alcohol often equals loose speeches and wacky behavior. Garnish that cocktail with the brash, unmuzzled comic sensibility of Ricky Gervais, and what do you get?

Another Golden Globes telecast destined to have tongues wagging on Monday morning.

The British comedian is back for a third round of hosting The 69th Annual Golden Globes,  airing live on NBC starting at 8pmET/5pm PT, and he’s already locked, loaded and ready to take aim at certain, um, subjects.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Gervais joked to TV reporters on Friday, during his appearance on behalf of his new HBO series “Life’s Too Short.” “You know, I end my career once a week if you read the press. Everyone says that’s the end. I only do things that could end my career now. That’s the fun. That’s my extreme sport.”

Here’s ours: IMDb will once again have live coverage of the event, including instantaneous updates of the winners, photos from the red carpet, and commentary on all of the fun. Starting at 5pm PT, keep the homepage open to see the list of winners from the moment they’re announced.  (Or, if you don’t want to know, avert your gaze.)

Smartphone users can view the list of winners on our mobile site, Android, and iPhone, and check out the Road to the Oscars section for the photos from the red carpet.

We’ll also be posting photos and award results on Facebook and @IMDb Twitter.  And as usual,  @IMDbTV will be the place for TV results and snark… which should be plentiful, based on what Gervais had to say on Friday.

“I’m not one of these people who thinks comedy is your conscience taking a day off. My conscience never takes a day off. I know what I’m going to say outside the odd ad lib. I can justify it and I stand by it, as I do every joke I did last year,” He said.  “And I don’t care. I don’t care what people think.”

We can’t wait.

In the meantime, check out our Road to the Oscars section to view photos of the nominees, trailers and clips from all of your favorite nominated films. You’ll also find photo galleries and lists from past awards seasons.

On Tuesday, ABC is hosting a comedy showrunner’s panel for reporters attending the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. Conspicuously missing from the list of names on that panel is Bill Lawrence, creator and executive producer of “Cougar Town.” Makes sense, considering that his show also is missing from the midseason line-up.  Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group, still has not assigned a premiere date to the third season premiere beyond saying it would likely return in March. (He told reporters that he expects to announce a specific date within the next few weeks.)

Meanwhile, Lee did announce dates for the midseason comedy “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” (9:30 Wednesday, April 11) and the new Shonda Rhimes drama “Scandal” (10 pm Thursdays, starting April 5) and explained that “Private Practice” is moving to Tuesdays at 10 from April 24 through May 15.

Needless to say, the continued delay of “Cougar Town’s” season premiere is making fans very nervous.

Having navigated the TV industry, and ABC in particular, for most of two decades, Lawrence decided to take matters into his own hands. On Monday night he hosted a cocktail party for TCA members to answer all of their questions about “Cougar Town’s” fate and get news (and spoilers) straight, no chaser, from the man himself.

Lawrence made it clear that his party-crashing party was not meant in any way to snub his employer ABC, saying that if he wanted to be on the showrunners panel he only had to call Lee and ask.

“But, why would I want to do that, and be up there acting like, ‘Hey, I’m so psyched to be here, with a giant question a mark!’? It also puts me in the position of being disrespectful to the ABC execs,” Lawrence said. “So I’m doing this event, and I’m footing the bill.”

We can only imagine what the final total was. A large crowd of critics showed up to drink and chat with Lawrence and the “Cougar Town” cast, including Courteney Cox, Busy Philipps, Ian Gomez, Dan Byrd,  and Christa Miller, all of whom were excited to talk about season three’s developments.  The “Cougar Town” folks believe in their show so much that they’re flying to cities all over the country to host watching parties with fans and stoke excitement for the new season. (Upcoming dates include Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas; follow @vdoozer on Twitter for details.)

Asked how he felt about the continued lack of a specific premiere date, Lawrence says he’s not worried. Besides, he understands ABC’s reasoning for keeping mum.

“I expect they had a date for the premiere,” Lawrence says, “but they’re not going to announce it because they expect the show will come on sooner.”

That is a veiled reference to “Cougar” possibly being called upon to replace the low-rated and critically reviled midseason comedy “Work It,” which debuted to soft ratings and is expected to shed even more viewers with the airing of its second episode. Lawrence didn’t refer to “Work It” by name — that’s not his style — but he knows where the next gap is likely to show up.

Besides, the real battle isn’t getting the show back on. That’s going to happen, and Lee confirmed it. At this point, the question is whether “Cougar Town” will be picked up for a fourth season.  Hence, the Cul-de-Sac crew’s viewing party tour.

Lawrence feels the difference between the show being picked up for another season and, well, a fate we’d rather not mention, is not insurmountable. “When I did ‘Spin City,’ the difference between being on and not, in the demo, was 4 or 5 million people. Now the difference is about 600,000,” he explained. “For us, it’s about turning the old core audience back on to the show by giving them good content.”

The cast and crew considers these events to be part of an unspoken contract with fans. In exchange for buying them free drinks, handing out “Cougar Town” swag and showing them a few episodes from the new season, they’re asking fans to 1.) watch it on the air when it returns; 2.) remind other fans that its coming back and urge them to watch it; and 3.) persuade five to ten new people to give it a shot as well.

He would not be paying for these grassroots promotions if he didn’t think it could work. And he truly believes it makes good business sense for ABC to pick up another season of “Cougar Town,” even though the network reduced this season’s order from the full 22 episode commitment to 15. In a word, syndication.  Lawrence frequently pointed to the fact that ABC owns the show, and stands to make more money if they make enough episodes to syndicate it.

“The bar is not very high on what number we have to do to be back,” Lawrence said. “I’d be truly bummed out and shocked if we didn’t make it.”

Lawrence also revealed details about what’s in store for the Cul-de-Sac crew in the upcoming season, so if you don’t want to know any specifics, stop reading now.

Last chance: SPOILERS AHEAD.

“Once we knew we were going to be a midseason show, which was early on, we shifted gears really quickly and made the first episode essentially like a third year pilot so that new people weren’t excluded,” Lawrence explained.  “It’s a big spoiler to tell you what happens in it, but it certainly eliminates all elements of any cougars. This is one show called ‘Cougar Town’ without any cougars in it.”

He followed this up by revealing specifics as to what happens:

– Jules (Cox) and Grayson (Josh Hopkins) are headed for the altar.

– Travis (Byrd) is going to spend a significant amount of time with a helmet on his head. Lawrence says that’s payback for Byrd refusing to cut his hair last season.

–Laurie (Philipps) is attempting to behave more like an adult, and is opening a bakery that specializes in whimsical cakes. It will be called Krazy Kakes by Keller. Note the unfortunate acronym.

–Andy (Gomez) is running for political office.

–Lastly, the romantic tension between Laurie and Travis will be resolved this season.

Bottom line?  Watch “Cougar Town” already, and keep a very funny comedy alive.

ABC Family president Michael Riley tossed a bone to fans of the late and underappreciated drama “The Nine Lives of Chloe King” on Monday morning, hinting that the cable channel is thinking about developing a TV movie based on the series.

“The Nine Lives of Chloe King” followed the adventures of a teenage girl who developed superpowers upon turning 16, forcing her to come to terms with her new abilities and use them to protect the people around her. It aired 10 episodes during the summer of 2011, capping off its initial arc with a number of key characters appearing to be dead, dying, imperiled, or slammed with game-changing revelations. (To read the synopsis of the series finale, click here.)

ABC Family reacted to that cliffhanger by canceling the show.

“Chloe King’s” cancellation may not have been all that surprising to anyone who took a look at its ratings. Fellow dramas “The Lying Game” and “Switched at Birth” became breakout successes during their first seasons, while “Chloe” struggled to grow its viewership. But there’s also the matter of fit: “Chloe” was a genre series joining a network buoyed to pop cultural significance by the soapy thriller “Pretty Little Liars,”  premiering alongside other series about fashionable teenagers facing various intrigues and twists.

Citing “Chloe’s” dedicated if small fan base, Riley told reporters that “we’re always looking at the intellectual property that we’re capitalizing on, and making sure that there’s opportunities for even more storytelling.” (Perhaps leaving viewers hanging was a good move, then.)

In a subsequent one-on-one conversation with Riley, he elaborated on his earlier announcement by explaining, “Obviously we know that the ‘Chloe King’ audience is very passionate…and knowing ‘Chloe King’ is still on the horizon is fantastic.”

It’s only fair to warn ‘Chloe King’ fans that the entertainment industry is full of tales of long-forgotten “in development” projects that never made it beyond the idea stage.

When we asked Riley if this announcement was akin to HBO assuring us that those “Deadwood” movies were definitely going to happen (and yes, we realize “Deadwood” is on a completely different level than “Chloe”… give us some credit ) Riley replied with, “I cannot honestly speak to that… All I can say today is that it’s in development, because that’s where it is: in development.”

All 10 full episodes of “The Nine Lives of Chloe King” can be viewed on IMDb. Click here to watch.

During the Fox executive session, entertainment president Kevin Reilly set critics back on their collective heels with this shocking, truly alarming news:

“Allen Gregory” has been canceled. So have previously announced plans for a “Glee” spinoff.

You were perhaps expecting definitive word on the fates of “Fringe,” “House,” or “Terra Nova“?  Ha. No such luck.

Reilly admitted to reporters attending Fox’s portion of the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour that executives have been actively avoiding coming to final decisions on all of these shows. Really, though, he’s just putting off the inevitable. His office will be bombarded by tons of baked custard mailed by irate “Fringe” fans if (or when) the bad news comes down. It’s going to be a heck of a carpet cleaning bill.

“I’m not quietly doing the soft cancel here, I’m just telling you where it stands,” Reilly continued, pleading with us to refrain from urging the letter writing campaigns to begin.

As much as he could, Reilly attempted to reassure “Fringe’s” devoted fans that he took pride in the fact that Fox did not drop the ball with the show too early, something the network has been criticized for doing to past genre programming. Having said that, he also added that “Fringe” has been consistently losing a lot of money on Friday nights and executives are going to have to take a hard look at whether the numbers are continuing to make sense.

“We’re not in the business of losing money,” Reilly reminded us.

On whether this would be the final season of veteran drama “House,” Reilly explained that he had yet to sit down with the show’s producers, but if this were to be its final season, he was certain executive producer David Shore would bring it to an ending that will satisfy fans.

As for “Terra Nova,” Reilly said the show was “an exciting bet to take,” and pointed out that in the larger scheme of things, it garnered better ratings than most new series. It’s also more expensive, hence his hesitation.

Following this string of non-news, Reilly did have something to tell us about “Glee.” He explained that New Directions’ seniors will be  graduating, but show creator Ryan Murphy will keep them with the show next season and has a few “cool” developments in store. (Meaning there may yet be a spinoff, in a sense. It’ would just be within the existing plot.) Reilly also specifically confirmed that Lea Michele is not going anywhere.

In other news…

–Fox is developing a slate of animated series, shorts and “user-adapted material” in the vein of Adult Swim. This will culminate in a block of Saturday late-night programming anchored by four shows, scheduled for a January 2013 debut. The unit developing this block, headed by former Adult Swim head of program development Nick Weidenfeld and producer Hend Baghdady (“Warren the Ape“), is also developing content for a new digital channel accessible via multiple platforms, including mobile apps, game consoles, Video on Demand and online, start later this year.

–During a panel for his new series “Touch,” Kiefer Sutherland said that he expects shooting on the theatrical version of “24” to begin in late April or early May.

–Fox also announced dates for the 11th season of “American Idol,” which has its two night premiere Wednesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 19.  Hollywood Rounds start on February 9. Semifinalists will be revealed on February 23, performing for the first time on the 28th and the 29th. The first vote of the season is revealed on March 1.

As for “The X Factor,” Reilly said that the show would experience a few tweaks between now and its second season and would not specifically confirm that dropping Steve Jones would be part of the tinkering. He did mention Jones by name, however, which is not a good sign.

–The 500th episode of “The Simpsons“, titled “At Long Last Leave,” airs Sunday, Feb. 19.

Among the many joys of attending various Television Critics Association press tours are the extracurricular celebrity encounters.

Such inadvertent run-ins usually remain part of each reporter’s private reserve of war stories, saved to share with friends over cocktails. Some, however, are just too good to keep, including the tale that produced the photo you see here.

During NBC’s day of press presentations, I happened to be walking through the lobby when I nearly crashed face first into a very muscular torso in a workout shirt.  When I say muscular, I mean “ripped like a WWE wrestler” muscular.  Looking up to step out of the way, I was shocked to discover said torso belonged to none other than Lenny Clarke, currently co-starring in NBC’s comedy “Are You There, Chelsea?”

Clarke’s weight loss isn’t news. In fact, the comedian has been a Weight Watchers spokesman for quite some time, and his “Rescue Me” character Uncle Teddy was downright lean by the finale.  But chances are that very few people have any idea of what’s hiding under those loose shirts. (Not even the show’s publicist knew.)

A few hours later, I ran into Clarke at NBC’s evening press event. Gentlemanly, sweet and outrageously funny, Clarke is as shocked at his 170 lbs.-plus weight loss* as everyone else is.  After a bit of conversation, I floated the idea that I should snap a photo of him posing like The Situation.

“I can do you one better,” Clarke said, producing his mobile phone. He scrolled through his album, laughed as he found the right shot, and e-mailed this ab fab photo to yours truly. “I’m 58 years old!” he said with a mixture of pride and astonishment.

Apparently the “Chelsea?” studio is very close to where “Two and a Half Men” is produced on the Warner Bros. lot, and Clarke has shared a few good times with “Men” star Ashton Kutcher. One of those get-togethers produced this picture.

(To be clear, I asked if I could post this shot on the blog and Facebook. Clarke’s reply was a jovial “I don’t give a s–t.”)

*UPDATE: According to a reliable source, Clarke’s latest reported weight loss tally is 192 lbs. And counting, we’re guessing.)

“Community” fans, you can breathe little easier.  Your show may be missing from the midseason line-up, but NBC assures us it  has not canceled.

Additionally,  Mariska Hargitay has NOT left “Law & Order: SVU.”

In fact, NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters, not only is Hargitay still on the show, she’s finally getting a love interest:  Harry Connick Jr., who joins “SVU” for a four episode arc.

Hargitay and Connick Jr. appeared together in a recorded video presentation for reporters attending the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, currently underway in Pasadena, California. For her part, Hargitay assured us that she was having “too much fun” to leave the long-running crime drama. Then she and Connick Jr. started to fake canoodle for our benefit.

Sadly, there was no such reassuring Jeff-Britta-Annie make-out video to soothe “Community” fans, who have a bit more to be concerned about.

Though Greenblatt apologized for failing to be clearer about “Community’s” fate when he left it off the midseason schedule, he did not mention a specific return date. When it does come back, he added, it will not be in the 8pm Thursday timeslot.  Nor would Greenblatt commit to a fourth season of “Community,” explaining that he had other pilots to consider as well as weighing the performance of the six comedies on the midseason schedule, in addition to a few critics haven’t seen yet.

Then there was this comment, in answer to a question about another NBC comedy: “I hope ‘Whitney‘ will be a long term player for us.”

Oh… oh dear.

Greenblatt, the man responsible for making Showtime the premium cable powerhouse that it is today, is still getting used to his position; he just joined NBC last spring. To his credit, Greenblatt didn’t just take on the task of saving a zeppelin in “mayday” mode. He’s also (so far) remained fairly honest and humble about it.

“We had a bad fall. Worse than I hoped for, but about what I expected,” Greenblatt admitted to reporters, also reminding us that NBC is a network with no decent lead-ins to launch new shows or strengthen underperforming but worthy veterans.

But the “Whitney” comment could be interpreted in a number of ways. Though “Whitney” was not technically part of Greenblatt’s imprint on the schedule — we’ll be seeing his selections from midseason onward — he appears to favor comedies built around specific stars as opposed to ensembles. Joining Whitney Cummings on the schedule is Chelsea Handler‘s upcoming “Are You There, Chelsea?” (premiering Jan. 11) and a previously announced project from Sarah Silverman.

NBC picked up five pilots before the holidays and plans to announce more pick-ups as soon as next week. The network desperately needs something to stick; Greenblatt pointed out that it’ll take four or five hits to start turning the tide which, for a network that barely has one, could be a monumental task.

But plenty of eyes will be on dramas launching in midseason, “Smash” in particular. The hope is that launching the musical drama with “The Voice” as a lead-in will give it the strength required to open successfully.

“Smash” may be a bit more in tune with what audiences want this season, too. As Greenblatt observed, viewers currently want escapism in the form of fairytale fantasies (such as ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and to a lesser extent, “Grimm“)… which explains why other shows like the critically-acclaimed “Prime Suspect” was a ratings disappointment.

Or, Greenblatt joked, “Maybe we should just blame the hat and move on.”