Here is a special thread completely devoted to all television casting and development updates. Please feel free to comment and add the latest information for November, 2009.

Gregory Itzin returning to Fox's '24'

Actor set to reprise role as villainous ex-president

By Nellie Andreeva

One of "24's" favorite villains, former President Charles Logan, is coming back.

Gregory Itzin, nominated for an Emmy for his role on the Fox real-time drama, has signed for a multiepisode arc on the upcoming eighth season.

The disgraced former president last was seen during Season 6 flatlining en route to a hospital after being stabbed by his wife, Martha Logan (Jean Smart).

At the opening of Season 7, FBI agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) told Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) that Logan is alive and under house arrest, but he never was heard from again.

In the upcoming season, sitting President Taylor (Cherry Jones) reluctantly enlists Logan to assist with an escalating international diplomatic crisis.

"The opportunity for these two remarkable actors to share the stage was simply too compelling to pass up," "24" executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon said.

The eighth season of "24" kicks off with a two-night, four-hour premiere Jan. 17-18. Set in New York, it features a retired Bauer unwillingly drawn back into the action after learning of a plot to assassinate Middle East peacekeeper Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor).

Other new cast members include CTU rookies Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson and Freddie Prinze Jr., who join Wersching and veteran Mary Lynn Rajskub.

'Criminal Intent' has a new captain

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio joining USA's drama series

By Nellie Andreeva

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has joined USA Network's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," completing the casting transformation on the police procedural for its upcoming ninth season.

She will play the new captain taking over the Major Case Squad on the Wolf Films/Universal Cable Prods. series.

Mastrantonio's character, who comes from a working-class background, succeeds Capt. Danny Ross (Eric Bogosian), who headed the division for the past three years, following the departure of Capt. James Deakins (original cast member Jamey Sheridan).

Mastrantonio is one of two new faces on "L&O: CI" for next season, joining Saffron Burrows. The hires follow the exit of four regulars on the show: original stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe as well as Bogosian and new mom Julianne Nicholson, who is being replaced by Burrows.

With the departure of D'Onofrio, the cop drama is taking on a lighter tone. It centers on Jeff Goldblum, whose character Zach Nichols becomes the squad's top detective.

Mastrantonio is not a stranger to police procedurals; she has recurred on CBS' "Without a Trace."

Nicholson most recently starred in the CBS/Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Russell Girl."

McKellen enrolls in 'Academy'
Actor to star in half-hour mockumentary series

By CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Ian McKellen is going back to drama school, for television.

The thesp has signed to star in a half-hour mockumentary series, "The Academy," that is being shopped to U.K. and U.S. buyers by DLT Entertainment.

McKellen would play his fictional brother, Murray McKellen, who heads a run-down drama school, the Clapham Academy of Creative Arts, that is hoping to secure new funding through a docu on the school.

McKellen has been closely involved in the development of the series, which will be written and directed by Peter Hinton and produced by Humphrey Barclay. U.K. shingle 2act Prods. is co-producer with DLT. Other cast members set include Brit TV vets Jonathan Hyde, Sylvester McCoy and Frances Barber.

DLT topper Don Taffner Jr. was in Los Angeles late last month shopping the series to U.S. nets. Preproduction has begun on six half-hour segs. Taffner acknowledges that network deals have to come together quickly or McKellen will be unavailable to do the series, as he'll be committed to lensing "The Hobbit" starting in March.

DLT, which is based in Gotham but primarily produces for the U.K. market, recently secured a 22-episode, two season renewal for its longrunning BBC laffer "My Family."

"Southland" lives! Picked up by TNT, to air opposite "Jay Leno"
by Ken Tucker

"Southland" has found new life and the home so many of us had hoped it would. "Southland," cancelled by NBC when it scrambled its schedule to make room for "The Jay Leno Show" five nights a week, will air on TNT starting in January.

TNT announced this morning that it plans to re-air the series’ original seven episodes NBC broadcast, plus the six new hours that NBC ordered but chose not to air. Depending on ratings, TNT will order more. The cable network plans to run the tough cop drama Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. — opposite "The Jay Leno Show." “This is a perfect opportunity for us to introduce the series to new viewers,” said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, in a statement released today.

So what do you think? Can "Southland" thrive on the same station that brings us "The Closer," "Saving Grace," and other highly-rated scripted dramas? Is this a good decision?

Me, I’m looking forward to seeing how those dangling storylines involving the officers played by Regina King and Michael Cudlitz play out.

"Ugly Betty": Fisher Stevens to Play Betty's Landlord
by Natalie Abrams

Fisher Stevens will join the cast of "Ugly Betty" in the potentially recurring role of Mr. Z, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

The addition of Stevens ("Lost," "Early Edition") as Betty's sarcastic new landlord seems to indicate that Betty might be moving out of her father's home in Queens yet again.

The new season of "Ugly Betty" airs Fridays at 9/8c on ABC. Catch encore airings Thursdays at 7/6c on TV Guide Network.

Exclusive: "Lost"'s Naveen Andrews to Guest on "Law & Order: SVU"
by Mickey O'Connor

"Lost" star Naveen Andrews has signed on to film a guest spot on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU," TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

The details of his role are being kept under wraps for now, but the episode starts filming in the next week or so in New York.

Andrews, 40, plays Sayid Jarrah on ABC's "Lost," which is still shooting its final season in Hawaii. (A source tells us they're on Episode 6 of 18.)

Let's not jump to any conclusions though. "As with previous seasons, not all cast members are in every episode," says a studio rep. It's entirely possible that Andrews will finish his "SVU" gig and return to Hawaii to shoot more "Lost." But the timing does at least raise the question: Is Andrews, and thus Sayid, done for the season?

Before "Lost," Andrews was best known for playing a sensitive explosives expert who wooed Juliette Binoche in Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient."

Andrews' "SVU" episode will air in January 2010, right around the time that "Lost"'s sixth and final season premieres.

Tom Papa is NBC's 'Marriage Ref'

Reality series produced by Jerry Seinfeld

By James Hibberd and Matthew Belloni

Jerry Seinfeld has found his "Marriage Ref."

Comedian Tom Papa will star in NBC's reality series, where he will make judgment calls about marital disputes.

In each episode of the Seinfeld-produced series, couples present their case to a panel of comedians and celebrities. The panel then tries to convince the Ref which spouse is correct.

Papa has served as Seinfeld's opening act on tour, has had two stand-up specials on Comedy Central and is onscreen in "The Informant!"

"Marriage Ref" enters production in January and marks Seinfeld's return to the network that made him a household name, though his role will primarily be behind the camera.

'Doctor Who' star lands 'Rex' pilot

David Tennant will play a top Chicago litigator

By Nellie Andreeva

No longer will American TV audiences be asking doctor who?

Popular British actor David Tennant, best known for playing the title role in the BBC's long-running sci-fi series "Doctor Who," is set to make his American television debut as the title character in NBC's hourlong pilot "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer."

Written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson, "Rex" centers on Rex Alexander (Tennant), a top Chicago litigator who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.

David Semel, who directed the pilots for "Heroes" and "Life," has come on board to helm the comedic legal drama from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun.

He will also executive produce with veteran Barry Schindel (who is attached as showrunner), Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein. Leeds and Lampson serve as supervising producers.

NBC greenlighted the project in August, about two years after it was first developed, and had been trying to find a lead actor for several months until Tennant came along and nailed the part.

Tennant, a theater and TV actor, rose to fame playing the mysterious alien time-traveler at the center of "Doctor Who" for the past five years. His performance as the Doctor has been often rated as the top in the franchise's 46-year history.

Tennant's casting is reminiscent of the tapping of another established British TV actor with virtually no American TV experience, Hugh Laurie, as the lead on Fox's medical drama "House."

Tennant, who co-starred in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," recently signed with UTA. He's also repped by U.K.'s Independent Talent Group.

Kathy Griffin signs on to host ABC's new dance show
by Jennifer Armstrong

Kathy Griffin will host ABC’s new show "Let’s Dance," in which celebrity contestants will reenact famous routines. It will premiere at 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23, after the "Dancing With the Stars" performance finale. The five-episode run will allow three viewers’ choices and three judges’ choices to advance to the final performances, from which the voting public will pick the winner.

Kirstie Alley set to go unscripted for A&E
Actress ready open up life for reality series
by MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Kirstie Alley is set to join the docuseries ranks; thesp is close to signing on to star in an unscripted show for A&E.

Cabler has picked up 10 half-hour episodes of the untitled series, which is set to run sometime next year. The program will follow Alley as she struggles with weight loss while handling life as a single mom to two teenagers in Hollywood.

FremantleMedia North America is producing.

"Kirstie is exactly the kind of star A&E is drawn to," said A&E nonfiction/alternative programming senior VP Robert Sharenow. "Her personal life has been playing out in the media for years, but this will be the first time she'll be opening up her home to reveal her real life for the cameras."

Alley has come close, however -- in the scripted world. The actress played a version of herself in Showtime's "Fat Actress," a partly improvised 2005 series that was loosely based on her struggles with weight and attempts at finding work in Hollywood.

This time out, the show comes as Alley prepares to launch a weight loss program. According to A&E, Alley is also "producing a feature film, patenting multiple inventions, working hard to raise two normal Hollywood teenagers, taking care of eight ringtail lemurs and, on top of everything, looking for love."

Untitled Alley project will be exec produced by George Moll ("Rock the Cradle") and Alley; Sharenow and Colleen Conway will also exec produce for A&E.

Fox cooking up 'Masterchef'
Ramsay to co-produce cooking competition series
by CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Fox has given a series commitment to the long-running U.K. cooking competish series from Reveille. Gordon Ramsay, Fox's chef-in-chief, will co-produce through his domestic banner, and he'll have an on-air role on the show.

Fox is expected to order 12-15 hourlong segs of the series, with production to start in the near future. Fox confirmed that it cinched a deal with Reveille but declined comment on other details.

"Masterchef," owned by Reveille parent Shine Group, has aired on the BBC in various incarnations on and off since 1990. In the series judges winnow a pool of 132 culinary amateurs for the title of Masterchef. An Australian version of the show bowed in April and quickly became a mammoth hit for Network Ten.

For Ramsay, the Yank rendition of will mark his third skein on Fox. He's also the frontman of the elimination-style competish series "Hell's Kitchen" and the restaurant rehab series "Kitchen Nightmares." He's also set to host a live hourlong spesh, "Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live," for the net on Dec. 15.

Belushi, TV vets plot courtroom drama
ICM packaging series for actor post-'"Jim"
by MICHAEL FLEMING

Here's an unusual group of creative collaborators: Jim Belushi has teamed with Diane English and Barry Levinson for a prospective TV drama that would cast Belushi as a defense attorney character based on the lawyer and TV commentator Mickey Sherman.

ICM is in the process of packaging the series and hasn't brought it yet to studios and networks, but it would mark a switch for Belushi to drama after his long run in the ABC sitcom "According to Jim."

English, the "Murphy Brown" vet who wrote and directed the remake "The Women," teams with Levinson just as Showtime begins airing "Poliwood," the docu he directed about the convergence of celebs on the Democratic and Republican national conventions and its impact on the 2008 presidential campaign.

Sherman penned the memoir "How Can You Defend Those People?," and the idea is for Belushi to play a likable lawyer who defends the guilty and the innocent with equal vigor.

Levinson, who featured Sherman in a cameo in his film "Man of the Year," is best known on the TV front for exec producing "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Oz"; he most recently exec produced "The Philanthropist." Levinson directed HBO's upcoming Jack Kevorkian biopic "You Don't Know Jack," which stars Al Pacino as the controversial champion of euthanasia.

Exclusive: Blair Underwood returns to "Old Christine"
by Michael Ausiello

I see an Eric McCormack-Blair Underwood slugfest in "The New Adventures of Old Christine"’s future.

Sources confirm to me exclusively that Underwood has signed on to reprise his role as Christine’s former flame, Daniel (or as he’s referred to by his students, Mr. Harris) for one episode.

My educated guess? Underwood is being brought in to cause some trouble between Christine and her current beau, Max (played by McCormack). But I could be wrong. Doubtful though. I’m feeling pretty good about this one.

Underwood’s comeback is slated to air in December or January.

"Flight of the Conchords" might end soon
Jemaine Clement says a decision will be made in a month
by Alex Dobuzinskis

"Flight of the Conchords" star Jemaine Clement has said his offbeat HBO comedy series may not continue for a third season because it requires so much work, but a final decision will be made within a month.

Clement told Reuters that he needs to discuss the future of the show with his co-star, Bret McKenzie, and with the director of the series, James Bobin.

"It very likely might not" return for a third season, Clement said.

"It could come back in a shorter season or like a special," he added.

The largely autobiographical "Flight of the Conchords," an offbeat, cult favorite in the U.S., tells of two New Zealand bandmates named Jemaine and Bret who move to New York to try to make it in the music business.

The show began in 2007 and is based on Clement and McKenzie's folk parody band Flight of the Conchords. The second season ended this past spring on the U.S. network HBO.

This year, the show gained an Emmy nomination for best comedy series, but lost to NBC's "30 Rock." Clement also was nominated for best lead actor in a comedy series.

Clement, who took flight on a solo career last week starring in a new movie "Gentleman Broncos," said he and McKenzie are challenged to keep up with the work required for the show.

"We've got to write the series, but we've also got to write the songs, and just dividing your time into those two writing tasks is really tricky," he said.

Clement, who also told Reuters in January that Season 2 could be the last for "Flight of the Conchords," said its end would be "bittersweet" because "it's so hard" to produce.

"Flight of the Conchords" averaged 3.1 million viewers per episode last season, in-line with Season 1, HBO said.

"We've left their future entirely in their hands," said Nancy Lesser, a spokeswoman for the network. "We would love to have more, and we left an open door at HBO."

Last year, Clement and McKenzie's musical duo Flight of the Conchords won New Zealand's first Grammy since 1984, for their EP "The Distant Future." They won for best comedy album.

Colin Hanks revs up for 'Jack and Dan'

Joins Bradley Whitford in Matt Nix's action comedy

By Nellie Andreeva

Colin Hanks is set to topline "Jack and Dan," Matt Nix's new 13-episode hourlong series for Fox.

The straight-to-series project, which also stars Bradley Whitford, is produced by Fox TV Studios under the company's international co-production model.

It centers on Jack (Hanks), an ambitious, by-the-book detective whose habit of undermining himself has resulted in a dead-end position at the Los Angeles Police Department. Worse, he has been partnered with Dan (Whitford), a drunken, lecherous, wild-card cop who hangs onto his job only because of a heroic act years before.

Filming on the show, an action comedy in the tone of Nix's USA Network series "Burn Notice," is slated to begin early next year.

Hanks, who began as a regular on WB Network's sci-fi drama "Roswell," recently did an arc on AMC's "Mad Men." His feature credits include comedy "The House Bunny," "Untraceable" and "The Great Buck Howard."

He is repped by CAA and BenderSpink.

Janet Jackson to Discuss Brother Michael's Death on Prime-time Special
by Gina DiNunno

Janet Jackson will discuss her brother Michael's death on an ABC prime-time special later this month, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

"Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts will speak to the sister of the King of Pop for an interview that is scheduled to air Nov. 18 at 10/9c. (The Jackson special will pre-empt freshman series "Eastwick," which normally airs in the timeslot.)

Janet Jackson also has a new album, "Number Ones," which hits stores on Nov. 17. The 34-track collection includes Jackson's greatest hits, along with a new track titled "Make Me."

'Damages' adds two '24' veterans

Sarah Wynter, Reiko Aylesworth to recur on FX legal thriller

By Nellie Andreeva

Former "24" co-stars Reiko Aylesworth and Sarah Wynter will reunite on FX's drama series "Damages."

Both actresses have signed for recurring roles on the legal thriller's upcoming third season alongside new regulars Martin Short and Campbell Scott.

The plot line for the Sony TV-produced series is being kept under wraps but it is said to center on a financial scheme.

Wynter will play a mysterious "security specialist" helping a high-level assistant district attorney (Short) unravel the scam.

Aylesworth will play the wife of Scott's character, who is tied to the scandal.

Wynter and Aylesworth appeared together on Season 2 of "24." Aylesworth spent two more seasons on "24" and also recurred on NBC's "ER" and ABC's "Lost." She is repped by Gersh and MJ Management.

Wynter, who is coming back from a hiatus following the birth of her son, is repped by Paradigm and Mosaic.

Jennifer Beals celebrating 'Christmas'

'Lie to Me' star cast in Hallmark Channel's original movie

By James Hibberd

"Lie to Me" star Jennifer Beals has been cast in Hallmark Channel's original movie "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas."

The family film is about what happens when Santa Claus accidentally leaves the North Pole a day early and crash-lands on a family's roof.

The production has begun shooting in Toronto and is set to premiere next year on Hallmark Channel.

Since Showtime's "The L Word" concluded its run, Beals has co-starred in Fox's "Lie to Me" and appears in the upcoming feature "The Book of Eli."

"Night Before Christmas" is produced by Muse Entertainment; Michael Prupas, Rob Lee, James Orr, Jim Cruickshank and Joel S. Rice are executive producers.

Meryl Streep's daughter sets 'Gigantic'

Grace Gummer to play teen daughter of a celebrity couple

By Jill Sergeant

Meryl Streep's daughter Grace Gummer is set to star in a television drama about the chaotic life of being a Hollywood "It" kid, marking Gummer's first big break into the acting industry.

Gummer, 23, will play a 17-year-old daughter of a famous celebrity couple in "Gigantic," a fictional series for TeenNick described as a coming-of-age story among the Los Angeles elite that skewers star-making promotional machinery, Nickelodeon said on Wednesday.

Actor Joe Mantegna's daughter Gia, 19, who grew up in Los Angeles, will also star in the series, which is set to premiere on youth-oriented TeenNick in early 2010.

"Our audience loves celebrity and pop culture, and Gigantic gives them a unique, relatable teen perspective on a world they rarely get to see," said Marjorie Cohn an executive vice president at Nickelodeon.

Gummer is the third of Oscar-winner Streep's four children with husband Don Gummer. Streep, who lives in New York, has largely kept her children out of the celebrity spotlight, but Grace appeared on the New York stage in November 2008 in a dark comedy called "The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents".

Her older sister Mamie Gummer, 26, had small roles in the 2009 film "Taking Woodstock" and HBO mini-series "John Adams."