LL Cool J Reveals What's Hot About the New NCIS

• Jul 9, 2009 06:53 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

LL Cool J, NCIS: Los Angeles

Starting Sept. 22, NCIS fans will double their pleasure when CBS' high-rated procedural is followed by the series premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles. The much-heralded spin-off concerns the L.A.-based Office of Special Projects and its own team of Special Agents, led by Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Here, the man who famously rapped about "Going Back to Cali" reveals how he landed in Los Angeles this TV season.

TVGuide.com: That was quite a performance you gave at the CBS upfronts. [LL Cool J surprised the crowd with a rousing performance of "Mama Said Knock You Out."]
LL Cool J: Oh, thank you, man. I had a good time with that.

TVGuide.com: Had you been on the hunt for a TV gig?
LL Cool J: I had a deal with CBS for about three years, and we were looking for the right show. We tried a few things and they weren't really right, but when this opportunity came along, I met with [NCIS boss] Shane Brennan and we clicked instantly. It felt like the right thing. 

Get Mega Buzz scoop on NCIS: Los Angeles

TVGuide.com: Tell me about the first meeting between you and Chris O'Donnell. How did it go?
LL Cool J: Very, very ... read more

Tia Mowry on The Game's Possible Rescue: "The Show Would Be Taken to Another Level"

• Jul 8, 2009 05:33 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Tia Mowry, The Game

Tia Mowry credits The Game's vocal fan base for the BET Network's interest in resurrecting the canceled CW series for a fourth season.

"I never fully appreciated how impressive the fans can be and are, until there were rumors swirling that the CW was going to take us off the air," Mowry said not long after TVGuide.com reported that BET is trying to obtain rights to the half-hour comedy. "I put it on my Twitter almost every other day, saying how the Game fans rock and rule."

Review our round-up of season-finale cliffhangers 

The Game cast first learned of BET's interest in developing new episodes back in ... read more

Dollhouse's Season 2 Premiere: Good News, Disappointing News

• Jul 8, 2009 02:59 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Dollhouse

The Season 2 premiere of Fox's Dollhouse will be written and directed by the man himself: series creator Joss Whedon. The catch: You're going to have to wait an extra week to see it.

Fox has pushed back Dollhouse's return date to Friday, Sept. 25, to afford Whedon & Co. sufficient time to produce enough hours to kick off the season with at least three or four consecutive episodes.

See what Eliza Dushku has to say about Dollhouse's renewal 

An encore of the series premiere of Glee (yes, it's an all-new episode) will now air ... read more

It's a Done Deal: Christian Slater to Topline ABC's The Forgotten

• Jul 6, 2009 12:20 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Christian Slater replaces Rupert Penry-Jones

Christian Slater has signed on to The Forgotten, a new ABC crime drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, TVGuide.com has learned.

Read TVGuide.com's complete round-up of Fall TV news

Premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22 (leading out of the Dancing with the Stars results show), The Forgotten revolves around ... read more

Wentworth Miller's Latest Break? Law & Order: SVU

• Jul 2, 2009 03:40 PM ET
• by Adam Bryant

Wentworth Miller

Prison Break star Wentworth Miller will guest star in the Season 11 premiere of Law & Order: SVU, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

Miller, who spent years running from the police on Prison Break, will be on the other side of the law this time around. He will play a NYPD cop named Nate Kendal, who saves a rape victim and crosses paths with Benson and Stabler.

Check out some of TV's best male-female duos

Alas, Miller's run ... read more

Fall TV: Christian Slater in Talks to Front Bruckheimer Drama

• Jul 2, 2009 03:32 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Christian Slater

Film vet Christian Slater, who last fall played a superspy in NBC's short-lived My Own Worst Enemy, is in talks to front ABC's new Jerry Bruckheimer-produced crime drama.

In The Forgotten, Slater would fill the lead role of a former cop who heads up a team of amateur detectives. Among the character's baggage is the fact that his 11-year-old daughter was kidnapped three years prior.

Review our complete round-up of fall TV news

In the original pilot, the lead role was played by ... read more

NCIS Exclusive: Rocky Carroll to Pull Double Duty on Spin-Off

• Jul 1, 2009 11:00 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Rocky Carroll on NCIS

Rocky! Rocky! Fans of NCIS director Leon Vance will find the coming TV season to be twice as nice, as Rocky Carroll will pull double duty on CBS' NCIS and its spin-off, NCIS: Los Angeles, TVGuide.com has learned.

Carroll was promoted to series regular status on NCIS this past season, as Vance replaced the late Jenny Shepard as director. Moving forward, the actor tells TVGuide.com, "I'll be keeping my normal routine on the 'mother ship,' and I'll be doing at least six of the first 13 episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles."

Photo gallery: NCIS and other season-finale cliff-hangers

In a recent entry on his TVGuide.com celebrity blog, Carroll said ... read more

Exclusive: The Game On? BET May Save Canceled Series

• Jul 1, 2009 03:16 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

The Game

The BET Network could send The Game into overtime, in a deal that would pluck the canceled CW series from the ashes.

"BET is doing everything it can to acquire the rights to Mara Brock Akil's The Game," a source at the cable network tells TVGuide.com.

Review our wrap-up of season-finale cliff-hangers

With the entire cast on board for a fourth season, BET and CBS Television Studios are now trying to ... read more

FX Schedules Three Returns, Plans for New Comedy

• Jun 30, 2009 01:15 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck)

FX's fall schedule includes the return of three series and the arrival of one new comedy, the network announced Tuesday.

The lineup starts Sept. 8 with the return of Sons of Anarchy, which will now air on Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET.

The gritty motorcycle drama's first season topped the 18-34-year-old male demo for all of basic cable. Season 2's guest stars include Adam Arkin (playing a white supremacist) and Henry Rollins (as a deadly new threat to the SAMCRO motorcycle club).

Get Mega Buzz scoop on Sons of Anarchy's Mad Men spoof

Next up, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres ... read more

Contract Hit: Drea de Matteo Joins Desperate Housewives

• Jun 29, 2009 07:35 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

Drea de Matteo

Sopranos alumna Drea de Matteo is joining Desperate Housewives this season, and she's bringing a small mob of her own with her — in the form of a husband and a son.

De Matteo has been cast in a series regular role, an ABC rep confirms, ostensibly offsetting the loss of Nicollette Sheridan's Edie, who perished toward the end of Season 5. De Matteo's Bronx-bred Wisteria Lane newcomer arrives in town with a husband and 19-year-old son in tow.

Mega Buzz answers your questions about Housewives and more

Based on the arrival script for de Matteo's character, she's ... read more