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LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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24 (FOX)/SONS OF ANARCHY (FX) - Sprague Grayden ("Jericho") has scored multi-episode arcs on both series. On the former, she'll recur as Olivia Taylor, the president's (Cherry Jones) daughter. As for "Anarchy," she's set as Donna Lerner, a biker's wife who puts pressure on her husband to stay away from the motorcycle club since his release from prison.
CHUCK (NBC)/SAMANTHA WHO? (ABC) - "Arrested Development" alum Tony Hale likewise has landed a pair of multi-episode arcs. On the latter, he'll play Andy Adams, Samantha's (Christine Applegate) new doctor. As for "Chuck," he set to appear as Emmett, an efficiency expert sent in by Buy More corporate who decides to stay on after realizing how poorly run the store is.
FINNEGAN (ABC) - Billy Zane has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about the organized crime/vice unit in Los Angeles, which is led by a tough female detective named (Teri Polo). He'll play Brian Clark, who's detailed via the casting notice as follows: "37-45, Male, same age or slightly older than the actress we cast for Finnegan, a smart, charming and WASPy-handsome guy's-guy, Clark is Finnegan's strongest ally, a Deputy District Attorney who rates as much respect in his own office as Finnegan does in hers. There's a friendly-tense relationship between the two of them: he's clearly willing to bend the rules to help her in her path to justice, but he's never willing to actually break the law; he calls her "Erin," she calls him "Clark"; he covers for her whenever he can, and works her cases first. All this is due to a simple reason: Clark is her ex-husband, and still hopeful for a reconciliation, though he understands better than anyone that her complicated personality and internal demons make relationships almost impossible for her." Domenick Lombardozzi, Jacob Vargas, Malachi Weir, Tasha Smith and Tzi Ma also star in the hour, which comes from ABC Studios, creator Trent Jones and director Gary Fleder.
FOURPLAY (ABC) - Rizwan Manji ("Charlie Wilson's War") has booked a role on the comedy pilot, about two men - Derek (Josh Cooke), who is straight, and Drew (Alan Tudyk), who is gay - who are lifelong best friends and business partners. He'll play Quan, their office's shy IT guy. David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are the executive producers of the project, which is based at Warner Bros. Television.
THE SIMPSONS (FOX) - The show's principal voice cast members - Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer - are all on track to sign new four-year deals with producer 20th Century Fox Television. The news, which was announced concurrently with the show's 20th season pick-up (read the story), will bring each actor's salary from the mid-$300,000 range to about $400,000. In addition, Castellaneta has been named a consulting producer where he'll now serve as a writer in addition to his voice duties. It's also believed only 20 of the usual 22 episodes will be completed as part of the season 20 cycle due to the lengthy negotiations.
WEEDS (Showtime) - Mexican actor Demian Bichir (Steven Soderbergh's upcoming "Che") is set to appear in nine upcoming episodes of the show's fourth season. He'll play Esteban, the mayor of Tijuana. It's not clear when his first episode will air.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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