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LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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BACK (CBS) - "Scrubs" co-star John C. McGinley has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Richard Miles (Skeet Ulrich), a man who returns home to discover he was reported missing eight years earlier, after September 11. He'll play Tom Barnes, the new husband of Richard's then wife (Sherry Stringfield) who's actively involved in raising her two troubled teenagers. Mark Pellington is helming the CBS Paramount Network Television-based hour from a script by Dean Widenmann. DB Woodside also stars.
BONES (FOX) - The network has reportedly commissioned six additional scripts of the veteran drama, a sign the series is on track for a fifth season. 26 episodes are already set to be completed for its current fourth season, six of which were filmed as part of its WGA strike shortened third season.
THE EASTMANS (CBS) - Jacqueline Bisset ("Nip/Tuck") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a dysfunctional family of doctors. She'll play the clan's mother, an emergency-room nurse. Margaret Nagle is behind the hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television.
MELROSE PLACE (The CW) - Colin Egglesfield ("All My Children") and Stephanie Jacobsen ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") are the latest additions to the much-ballyhooed "Melrose" revival. He'll play Auggie Kirkpatrick, an avid surfer who works as a sous-chef at a hot restaurant while dreaming of one day working for himself; while she's set as Lauren Bishop, a med student at UCLA living a double life as a high-end call girl. The pair join previously cast Michael Rady, Katie Cassidy, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Jessica Lucas. Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin penned the pilot scripts and are executive producing for CBS Paramount Network Television. Davis Guggenheim is directing.
STATE OF ROMANCE (NBC) - Steve Howey ("Reba") has been tapped for the male lead on the comedy pilot, about the "Pride and Prejudice"-esque relationship between Emily (Lindsey Broad) and Mike (Howey), who meet awkwardly on a plane. Also signing on are Grace Rex as Emily's best friend Regina and Zoe Lister Jones as Regina's sister. Barbara Wallace and Tom Wolfe created the half-hour, which is set up at Universal Media Studios.
THIS LITTLE PIGGY (ABC) - Andrea Parker has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about two adult siblings who move in with their eldest brother and his wife. Parker will play said wife in the ABC Studios-based presentation, which comes from co-creators Brian Bradley and Steven Cragg.
UNTITLED ROBERT WUHL PROJECT (HBO) - Comedian Robert Wuhl is developing a new comedy at the pay channel as part of his long-running development deal with the network. The project, about a father and son who run a big Madison Square Garden-type arena in New York, is being co-written by Wuhl and fellow "Arli$$" alum Seth Greenland with Wuhl directing and executive producing. Mosaic Media's Sam Hansen will also serve as an executive producer with Greenland as a co-executive producer.
V (ABC) - Lourdes Benedicto ("Cashmere Mafia") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, a re-imagining of the 1980s mini-series about an invasion of aliens known as Visitors. She'll play Valerie Holt, the girlfriend of Morris Chestnut's character. Meanwhile, Visitorsite.net reports Logan Huffman has been cast as Tyler Evans, the son of Elizabeth Mitchell's character, Erica. Also signing on in guest/potentially recurring roles: Jesse Wheeler as Brandon, Tyler's best friend; Laura Vandervoort as Lisa, a Visitor whom Tyler and Brandon befriend while touring a mothership; Alan Tudyk as Dale Maddox, Erica's partner at Homeland Security; and David Richmond-Peck as Georgie, the leader of an anti-Visitor resistance group. Scott Peters is behind the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which Yves Simoneau is directing.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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