Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: Alex O'Loughlin Heads to "Hawaii Five-O," New Showrunners for "FlashForward," Molly Shannon Finds "Glee," "FNL" to End, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

It's official: former Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin, last seen in CBS' short-lived medical drama Three Rivers, has signed on to play Detective Steve McGarrett in CBS' remake of cop drama Hawaii Five-O, ending weeks of speculation. This is the third go-around for CBS and O'Loughlin, who will star opposite Lost's Daniel Dae Kim in the project, overseen by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Peter Lenkov. (The Wrap)

It might be a case of third time's the charm for ABC as well. The network announced a new set of showrunners for struggling freshman drama FlashForward, which had its episodic order cut down to 22 episodes. (At one time, the series was meant to air 25 episodes this season.) Co-creator Jessika Borsiczky, Lisa Zwerling (ER), and Tim Lea (Past Life) have replaced David S. Goyer as showrunners on the ABC Studios-produced series. (Goyer himself replaced Marc Guggenheim at the reins last October.) (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former SNL star Molly Shannon (she of the short-lived NBC comedy Kath & Kim) is joining the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring capacity. Shannon, whose first episode is slated to air in May, will play Brenda Castle, described as "the busty 45-year-old new astronomy teacher and badminton coach at McKinley High School who is both an alcoholic and a pill-popper," and who becomes the nemesis of Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ausiello is also reporting that the fifth season of Friday Night Lights will be the series' last, citing multiple sources. "Although an NBC rep insists no official decision on FNL’s future has been made," writes Ausiello, "I’m told the network has informed the show’s cast that they’re free to pursue other work after production on season 5 wraps in June." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS) has landed the lead role in FOX's untitled IRS comedy from executive producer Ron Howard, writer Brent Forrester, Imagine Television, and 20th Century Fox Television. Krumholtz will play "an IRS agent who attempts to find nobility in his work." (Variety)

In other pilot casting news, Freddy Rodriguez (Ugly Betty) has been cast as the lead on CBS drama pilot Chaos; David Strathairn (Temple Grandin) has been added to the cast of ABC drama pilot Matadors; Cole Hauser (K-Ville) will star in NBC drama pilot Chase; Ashley Austin Morris has joined the cast of CBS comedy pilot True Love; Keir O'Donnell (Paul Blart: Mall Cop) and Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield) were cast in ABC dramedy pilot Generation Y; Natasha Leggero (He's Just Not That Into You), Cedric Yarbrough and Dave Holmes have joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot The Strip; Ashley Williams (Dollhouse) and Shanley Caswell have been added to NBC's untitled Adam Carolla comedy pilot; and Sean Wing has been cast in ABC drama pilot The Whole Truth. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has given a second season order to reality series Shaq Vs., starring Shaquille O'Neal. (Variety)

Andrea Bowen (Desperate Housewives) will star opposite Greg Evigan (My Two Dads) in Hallmark Movie Channel telepic After the Fall. Also cast: Alicia Ziegler, Fiona Dourif, and Rick Malambri. (Hollywood Reporter)

Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous talkshow is staying put at NBC's O&O stations through the 2013-14 season, following the conclusion of a new deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Ailee said…
Molly Shannon on Glee? As a badminton coach and Sue Sylvester's nemesis? I LOVE it!

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns