TV Gossiper

(Credit: Michael Becker/FX)

Heidi and Spencer have been banned from E!, and pretty much everyone we love died this week, but we're trucking on without all of them. Here's your TV gossip, folks. R.I.P. Ed, Farrah, Michael and Billy.

5. "Virtuality" Fails as Experimental Movie
After silently snuffing the idea of making it a full-blown series, Fox aired the sci-fi pilot for "Virtuality" Friday night as a one-off movie. “Battlestar Galactica” scribe Ron Moore wrote the script and “Friday Night Lights” creator Peter Berg directed the two-hour episode, and though Fox was done with the idea, there were reports that other networks were showing interest in the well-reviewed show. Probably not anymore. "Virtuality" debuted to a paltry audience of only 1.8 million viewers, making last season’s suffering sci-fi fare "Dollhouse" and "Terminator" look like "Dancing With the Stars." Fans are already mounting a campaign to save the show, but that really doesn't say a whole lot these days.

4. FX Quietly Kills "Nip/Tuck"
There hasn't been much fanfare for the end of FX's aging hit "Nip/Tuck." After six years on the air, the saucy medical soap silently wrapped production on its final episode last week. Very odd for a show that once topped the network’s ratings and earned it a best drama Golden Globe. Weirdest of all: you're not going to be seeing that episode for possibly another two years. The final season of "Nip/Tuck" will be broken into two installments, with the final batch starting as late as 2011.

3. Potentially Unemployed "FNL" Gal Gets "Supernatural"
Likelihood of a future for Adrianne Palicki's Tyra Collette on "Friday Night Lights" just got a bit murkier. The actress is set to reprise her role of Sam’s girlfriend Jessica on the next season of “Supernatural” despite the fact that the character died in the first episode. Palicki—like several other recently graduated Dillon panthers—isn't guaranteed a spot on the show's already green lit fourth and fifth seasons. Her character’s college-bound closure and her new gig’s unknown number of eps could mean she's definitely moving on.

2. AMC Conspires For Third Series
Cable net AMC has already had great success with its first two original series, “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” and it’s not looking to slow down production. The network just ordered a full 12 episodes of “Rubicon.” The thriller stars Lili Taylor, James Badge Dale and Miranda Richardson, and follows a think tank analyst as she uncovers a global conspiracy that involves some sort of string-pulling secret society. No premiere date has been set.

1. Bryan Fuller Quits "Heroes," Series Destruction Now Inevitable
NBC's low-rated but highly DVRed flagship series has been on a downward spiral of suck since the first season concluded, but fans and TV aficionados thought "Heroes" might get a boost in quality when Bryan Fuller (of "Dead Like Me," "Pushing Daisies" and "Wonderfalls" fame) returned to the writers’ room. No such luck. Fuller jumped ship last week for reasons unknown, though we expect it had something to do with deep, deep frustration. Without a TV genius like him at the helm of the series’ make it or break it fourth season, this show's days are almost certainly numbered.