Newsbite: Brit gets True Blood; Human Target drops; Merlin on Syfy; Caprica ratings

A brief roundup of some recent TV news stories that have my interest. Brit Morgan (who was fantastic on The Middleman) has joined the cast of True Blood as Debbie Pelt, which sounds like perfect casting to me. Morgan was overlooked on The Middleman, but I always thought she was by far the most natural performer on that short lived series. Incidentally, I know The Middleman only appealed to a niche audience, but it's a shame a British broadcaster never bought it. It would be a fun show for FiveUSA or the Sci-Fi Channel to air, don't you think?

Human Target fell in the Wednesday night ratings by 23% (7.8 million) to finish third in its 8pm hour, possibly because it didn't have the benefit of an American Idol lead-in this week. But I have to wonder, is the fact the show can be illegally downloaded after its Canadian premiere (two days before) having some affect, too? It's the kind of show impatient geeks are likely to target (pun intended, actually.)

Also, Syfy have acquired the second series of Merlin and will start broadcasting episodes from April. The first series ran on NBC last summer (the first British import to get a primetime US network airing in decades), but critical response was mixed and ratings low. Anyway, Syfy feels like a better home for this fantasy series, and Merlin's second year is a remarkable improvement over the iffy first, so I recommend it to any Americans who have yet to see it. And those who disliked the first series, too. Just keep in mind that the first episode isn't likely to change any negative opinions you have, so give it a few weeks to bed in.

Finally, the second episode of Caprica only managed to attract 1.4 million viewers to Syfy last Friday -- down 200,000 from the pilot, where the poor performance was blamed on the fact the premiere had been available on DVD/download beforehand and was competing with a Hope For Haiti telethon. So, is there just no appetite for Caprica? Is this a Stargate Universe-type situation, where fans of the fictional universe don't care about a show that's trying something different in the same "sandbox", and potential new fans feel it's not worth giving a try because of the assumed BSG "baggage"? Who knows. Maybe positive word of mouth will buoy Caprica's ratings, as it's getting good reviews.