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Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from American Horror Stories season 3, episode 2.

American Horror Stories season 3, episode 2 explores the dangers of artificial intelligence, reminiscent of Black Mirror with a twisted ending. Gwyneth Paltrow voices Daphne, a highly advanced digital assistant, who becomes obsessed with the protagonist, played by Reid Scott. The talented but small cast showcases the mix of loneliness from a pandemic and the overbearing control of a digital assistant, resulting in deadly consequences.

American Horror Stories is back with its third season of terrifying tales, including one episode containing a talented cast of actors playing characters trying to cope with yet another pandemic. Episode 2, "Daphne," tells the story of a man who receives a highly advanced digital assistant named Daphne whom he forms a strong connection with (just don't call her "Alexa"). It's a tale as old as time — man meets robot, the robot becomes obsessed with him...

The "Getting Lost" series is about a Lost newbie's attempts to watch all five seasons of the show for the first time, just as the sixth (and final) one rolls along.

What I Watched on Week 6: Season 2, Episodes 9-15 ("What Kate Did", "The 23rd Psalm", "The Hunting Party", "Fire + Water", "The Long Con", "One of Them" and "Maternity Leave")

At many points in the past few weeks I thought destiny is playing a hand with my Lost watching.  Fine, I still am not able to keep track of all of the small details, but honestly that isn't the priority right now.  I'm thinking of the way the episodes I watch always immediately answer the questions I leave floating when I write my weekly dispatches on this side of the Internet.

Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have teamed with TV scribe Erik Shapiro to develop a comedy project for Touchstone Television. Shapiro caught the attention of Zadan and Meron, the Emmy-winning duo who made their first foray into series television last year with the ABC sitcom It's All Relative, with a comedy script he developed last year at Touchstone about an older woman and younger man whose decision to marry wreaks havoc on both of their families. The specifics about the new project with Zadan and Meron are still being hammered out, Shapiro said. "I had a great development experience last year at Touchstone working with (executive vp) Julia Franz," Shapiro said. "They were great to work with, and I'm fortunate to be back there again."...

Touchstone TV is beefing up its talent roster, signing deals with Peter Dinklage, Lenny Clarke and Eddie Cibrian. For Clarke and Cibrian, the pacts mark a reunion with the studio. Clarke starred in Touchstone TV's comedy series It's All Relative last season, while Third Watch co-star Cibrian toplined the studio's 2003 drama pilot The Street Lawyer. Dinklage was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his lead role in The Station Agent. His feature credits also include Elf and Human Nature. He is repped by SMS Talent. Clarke, who also co-starred on ABC's comedy The Job, is a recurring on FX's Rescue Me. Cibrian, who spent five years on the NBC drama Third Watch, has been seen on the big screen in But I'm a Cheerleader and Say It Isn't So. He will next co-star in the horror movie Cave. Cibrian is repped by CAA.

Up-and-comer Dave Annable and Maggie Lawson have been tapped as the leads in Fox's midseason comedy pilot Spellbound. Spellbound, from Warner Bros. TV, centers on a modern-day male witch (Annable) who falls in love with a mortal woman (Lawson). The project from Rob Greenberg and Suzanne Martin was first developed as a pilot for NBC last year with Richard Ruccolo and Andrea Anders playing the leads. Annable, onscreen in the feature Little Black Book, is repped by the Gersh Agency and manager Sue Leibman. Lawson, who starred on ABC's comedy It's All Relative last season, was most recently seen in ABC Family's original movie Love Rules this summer. She is repped by Ro Diamond and Steven Jang at SDB Partners and Ellen Meyer Management. In other Fox casting news, Maz Jobrani and Ryan Belleville, who guest starred in the pilot for Related by Family, have been upped to regulars on the comedy series slated for a January launch.

Writer-producers Larry David, David E. Kelley and David Milch are among the nominees for the 2003 Honors Awards of the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors. In the producing category, David of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm is joined by Gerry Abrams, the It's All Relative duo of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and the former team of Six Feet Under producers Robert Greenblatt, now Showtime entertainment president, and David Janollari. In addition to Kelley and Milch, the writing field includes Bill Blinn, James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, while director nominees are Robert Butler, Dan Curtis, Rod Holcomb and Jay Sandrich. The winners will be made public Jan. 16.

Reid Shane has been promoted to executive vp production at Paramount Network Television. Shane, upped from senior vp production, will continue to oversee physical production for all Paramount TV series, pilots and longform programming, including CBS' JAG and Navy NCIS, NBC's Frasier, ABC's It's All Relative and UPN's Enterprise and Girlfriends. "Reid has been a key member of Paramount for more than seven years," Paramount Television Prods. president Garry Hart said. "This promotion recognizes the tremendous job he has done."...

Friends, Romans, countrymen: ABC is about to head back to the world of Emperor Augustus. The alphabet has ordered eight one-hour episodes of Empire, a limited series about the rise of Gaius Octavius, who became the first emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. The historical epic is scheduled to shoot on location in Rome in the spring for a bow sometime during the 2004-05 season. Touchstone Television is the sole distributor, although a producing partner will likely be added later. Empire was created by screenwriter Tom Wheeler, who will serve as executive producer. Also on board as executive producers are Chip Johannessen (24, The X-Files) and the producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who are executive producers of the ABC comedy It's All Relative and also recently executive produced the controversial CBS/Showtime movie The Reagans.

ABC won the first two hours of primetime Wednesday in the key adults 18-49 demographic but NBC narrowly won the night on the strength of Law & Order. ABC fared well with its 8-9 p.m. comedies My Wife & Kids (11.6 million viewers, 4.7 rating/13 share in adults 18-49), and 8:30 p.m. freshman It's All Relative (10.3 million, 4.6/12). At 9 p.m., ABC's Bachelor: The Women Tell All special brought in a healthy 12.4 million viewers and 5.6/14 in the demo. But NBC took over at 10 p.m. when stalwart Law & Order raked in 19 million viewers and 6.7/18 in 18-49, crushing the competition from ABC's Karen Sisco (7.2 million, 2.8/8) and CBS' 48 Hours Investigates (9 million, 2.8/7).

In one big swoop, ABC has given full-season pickups to six of its seven new series, including all four comedies. The back-nine orders for Hope & Faith, I'm With Her, It's All Relative and Married to the Kellys mark the second consecutive season in which ABC has picked up all of its freshman comedies. "It's a nice day here," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said. "Our comedy department has done just an amazing job building a truly formidable comedy schedule." The network's batting average also has improved on the drama side. ABC has picked up two of its three series --10-8 and Threat Matrix -- versus the quick demise of all three freshman drama series in fall 2002. The remaining new drama, Karen Sisco, has received an order for four additional scripts, and talks are under way between the networks and the show's producer, Universal Network TV, for a potential episode pickup.

In a vote of confidence for its new comedies, ABC has ordered four additional scripts each from Hope & Faith, I'm With Her, It's All Relative and Married to the Kellys. Meanwhile, after a promising ratings spike Tuesday, NBC has ordered five additional scripts from freshman comedies Whoopi and Happy Family. CBS has ordered six additional scripts from new drama Joan of Arcadia, and Fox has ordered three additional scripts from its upcoming midseason drama series Still Life. The script orders bode well for the freshman shows as they often are a precursor to additional episode pickups. If ABC gives back-nine orders to Hope & Faith, I'm With Her, It's All Relative and Married to the Kellys, it would mark the second year in a row that ABC has picked up all its new comedies for a full season.

Fox was hot on Wednesday with its coverage of baseball's post-season playoffs which proved stiff competition for fledgling series on rival networks. Fox's primetime airing of the Chicago Cubs' 12-3 victory over the Florida Marlins in Game 2 of the National League playoff series was a strong draw in total viewers and the adults 18-49 demo that built steadily throughout the night, though reliable rating estimates for the live game coverage won't be available until later today. ABC's The Bachelor and NBC's Law & Order posted solid numbers at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., respectively, but the extra competition from baseball in the 10 p.m. hour made it slow-going for the second outing of ABC's Karen Sisco and the third airing of CBS' new drama The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H., according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. In the opening hour of primetime, ABC's new 8:30 p.m. sitcom It's All Relative got off to a respectable start, relative to its lead-in. Relative averaged 10.2 million viewers and 3.9 rating/11 share in the adults 18-49 demo, compared to 11 million viewers and 4.2/13 for ABC's 8 p.m. anchor My Wife & Kids.