The networks have announced 39 new series for 2012-2013, spanning virtually every kind of drama (procedurals, serials, thrillers) and comedy (family, workplace, romantic). [...] while new X Factor judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato threaten to dominate the media's attention this fall, even they may be no match for Dr. Zaius, the monkey M.D. on NBC's Animal Practice, or the drippy aliens on ABC's The Neighbors. Other big names headlining new shows are Friday Night Lights and American Horror Story star Connie Britton in ABC's musical Nashville; Friends' Matthew Perry in NBC's comedy Go On; and ER's Anthony Edwards in ABC's mid-season drama Zero Hour. CBS' Elementary, a modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes, stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu; NBC's thriller Do No Harm takes the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and transports it to a present-day medical setting; NBC's Hannibal looks at the early days of the Silence of the Lambs serial killer; The CW's The Carrie Diaries is based on Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City prequel; Arrow gives a new spin on the origins story of DC Comics character Green Arrow. "Everyone ought to take a look at the full pilots before evaluating whether comedy is back," says one studio executive. CBS is hot on Partners, from the creators of Will & Grace (and based on their own friendship); Fox could have a hit with its post-New Girl entry The Mindy Project; NBC hopes to charm with the monkey at the heart of Animal Practice; and ABC is going high-concept with the aliens on the post-Modern Family show The Neighbors. (It's similar to how NBC ended Chuck this year.) "Fringe producers pitched just a great, propulsive 13-episode conclusion," Fox's Reilly says of giving the show a final hurrah.

There's no better way to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend than logging some serious quality-viewing time on the sofa watching endless hours of TV. Check out a selection of the many holiday-weekend marathons the networks have planned: Love Kills (4 p.m.-6 a.m. Sunday, Investigation Discovery) Criminal Minds (Noon-4 a.m. Monday, A&E) Deadliest Catch (9 a.m.-3 a.m. Monday, Discovery) Freaky Eaters (5 p.m.-6 a.m. Monday, Discover Fit & Health) Nightmare Next Door (9 a.m.-10 p.m., Investigation Discovery)

Unfortunately, as the daughter of the late nobleman, Sansa is too valuable as a political-marriage prospect to be released from her engagement. The gently bred teenager hasn't buckled, however, despite repeated physical and emotional abuse. On Sunday's episode (9/8c, HBO), the epic Battle of the Blackwater will take place between the forces of those loyal to Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and those loyal to his uncle, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). There's that horrifying scene where Joffrey is pointing a crossbow at Sansa. [...] when the cameras start rolling, it has a very tense atmosphere about it. [...] she really hates Cersei, but ... she can't help feeling that Cersei has been through this before, because she went through the exact same thing with King Robert. Turner: I think definitely that was kind of the turning point in their relationship because Sansa's always kind of loathed Cersei for what she's done, keeping her prisoner. Spring TV eye candy Even though Sansa seems to sort of get that she has a role she's supposed to play, every now and then she shows bits of rebellion. Does she have a death wish? Because she just can't really bear it any more. There also seems to be sort of a complicated relationship between Sansa and The Hound (Rory McCann). Well, I think it kind of mirrors Sansa and Cersei in the way that The Hound has been a victim of bullying by his older brother. [...] that kind of mirrors Sansa's story line with Joffrey. [...] he feels very protective of her, I think, and he doesn't want anything like what happened to him to happen to Sansa, because she's still very vulnerable in terms of physicality. Because I was expecting a lot of "I hate you"s. But that never really came around.

ABC's Canadian cop show returned last night and we gotta say, this thing deserves more than a summer fill-in slot. For its third-season premiere, the series - about recent police-academy graduates cracking crimes and yeah, hooking up - trotted out William Shatner for a guest spot as a drunk driver who winds up leading the 15 Division to a twisted kidnapping case. Being Shatner, there was a fair share of over-the-top dramatics, but the frequent flares of comedy, and the super-likable ensemble (particularly Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith) more than made up for those moments.

Mantegna, who will return as co-host of Monday's National Memorial Day Concert on PBS with fellow CBS star Gary Sinise, is also actively working with America Wants You!, a new initiative that encourages corporate America to hire men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Check out a list of Memorial Day Weekend TV marathons "When you meet people who've had a lot of military training, they're America's finest," Mantegna tells TVGuide.com. Mantegna says hiring vets is an easy way to give back to those who have dedicated themselves to protecting our country. "At least by increasing the awareness, [we're] letting people know to be sensitive to it," He says. See photos of Mantegna Mantegna, who says he has lots of military connections in his family, says his support of the troops grew stronger once he became involved with PBS' National Memorial Day Concert 11 years ago. When the stuff hits the fan, those are the guys that are called upon to do the dirty work. Pieces of this issue may even make it onto Criminal Minds. Because of his character Rossi's military background on the show, Mantegna had pitched a story idea even before he became involved with America Wants You! "We already have the bones of the story line, and I am fairly assured it will be happening this coming season," he says.

Blossom alum Jenna von Oy has given birth to a baby girl, People reports. Gray Audrey was born on Monday in Nashville, weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces. [...] much so, that the hospital nurses washed it, brushed it, and put a bow in it on the first day!

The cast of The Vampire Diaries reacts to season finale, shares hopes for Season 4 In the video below, Wesley talks more about the brothers' relationship and recalls his favorite episode from this season.

The series premiere of ABC's venture into singing competition shows bowed to 6.7 million viewers and a 1.7 in the adults 18-to-49 demographic Thursday. While it beat So You Think You Can Dance in viewership, Duets was down almost 30 percent in the demo from Wipeout's performance last year. Duets is about giving people a chance Fox won the night in the demo with Dance, which drew 6.2 million viewers and a 2.4, down 27 percent from last summer's premiere. The series finale of Awake rose 30 percent to 2.8 million viewers and a 0.9. The Big Bang Theory (R) 8.2 million (2.3); Rules of Engagement (R) 6.2 million (1.7) Duets is about giving people a chance Other Links From TVGuide.com So You Think You Can DanceThe OfficeAmerica's Got TalentRules of EngagementThe Big Bang TheoryThe MentalistThe Vampire DiariesRookie BluePerson of InterestAwakePerez Hilton All AccessDuets

From puppies to ponies, stars aren't afraid to show off their furry friends. Check out our gallery to find out which former Girls Next Door star uses her ferret as a floor mop, how Blake Lively has turned her pooch into a prankster, or just enjoy some cute overload as Hollywood's hottest stars cuddle up to their cutest co-stars yet.

Lifetime is in the early stages of developing Clarice, a drama based on the Clarice Starling character that earned The Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster an Academy Award for best actress. [...] Hannibal, from Bryan Fuller, won't include the Clarice character, and instead focuses on the relationship between Hannibal and FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy). The Silence of the Lambs was published in 1988, and the movie adaptation hit theaters in 1991.

The 27-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean actress is engaged to musician James Righton, People reports. The couple, first spotted publicly together in April 2011, was introduced by fashion correspondent Alexa Chung.

The new X Factor judge reportedly walked off the set of the Fox reality singing competition after a contestant apparently butchered her song "Hold It Against Me," TMZ.com reports. [...] Spears was quick to shoot down rumors that she had walked off in a huff. #Britneywalksoff??? LOL was just taking a little break people.

[...] it was quite the opposite of a sunny morning for Law & Order: SVU's longtime captain, Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), when he woke up with blood on his hands and a dead prostitute in his bed in the chilling final moments of the season finale. Cragen's shocking discovery followed an episode that saw the special victims unit get entangled in the war between the heads of two escort services (House's Peter Jacobson and Grey's Anatomy's Brooke Smith). After a 16-year-old escort was found mysteriously murdered at a high-profile bachelor party gone awry, the team kept digging until they figured out it was part of a bigger rivalry. Benson and company uncovered enough evidence to put away, Delia, one of the two bosses, but her lawyer warned of the inevitable fallout to come. Carissa waited outside the precinct for Amaro and looked ready to come forward with the details about the case, which now included the murder of the governor.

Strong (whose character, Mary Alice Young, committed suicide back in the Housewives pilot) also stars in TNT's upcoming Dallas revival. Says Schleiff: "As the distinctive voice of Desperate Housewives, one of television's all-time great dramas, Brenda's narration of Blood Relatives adds an emotional depth to an already compelling series."

Phillip Phillips' coronation as the new American Idol, the melodramatic shenanigans on Revenge - when a plane explodes off-camera, don't believe what you hear on the local news - and even a surprise twist (SPOILER ALERT) on Modern Family, making that at least two unexpected pregnancies for the night. Namely, the one show available for preview: TBS' charmless, witless new buddy comedy Men at Work (10/9c), populated by vaguely familiar guys you've seen on better shows - hey, it's the curly-haired guy from That '70s Show, and the comic-book hunk from The O.C., and the creep who killed Tara on Buffy, and the security dude from Las Vegas. Men at Work is junk of the most disposable nature, a sex-obsessed comedy set at a phony-even-by-sitcom-standards magazine, where four guys sit around hardly working as they try to cheer up the mopey buddy who's just been dumped, while they dump on the one guy who's got a steady girlfriend (whose attempts to get him to talk dirty in bed backfire) when they're not busy prowling for the next casual hook-up and, of course, making jokes about their junk. Shows like this make me sad - but not as sad as bearing witness to a lost opportunity, such as NBC's riveting and mesmerizing thriller Awake, which airs its final episode (10/9c) outside the regular season. Awake has been a tremendous showcase for Jason Isaacs as the tormented, sympathetic hero, who spends this episode tracking down the conspirators while the police department is busy chasing him. Two more programming notes: ABC's Canadian summer import Rookie Blue, a sappier Southland, returns for a new season (10/9c), with guest star William Shatner chewing the scenery with gusto as a drunk driver whose secret helps back-from-suspension rookie Andy (Missy Peregrym) find redemption. ...