Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is bringing a sexy new pilot to HBO, according to Variety.
The Oprah Winfrey Show to end in 2011
Oprah's Harpo Films has made a deal with the premium cable network to create an hourlong series about...
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J.J. Abrams
J.J. Abrams, the creator of Alias, Felicity, Lost and Fringe, will slide back into the director's chair for Undercovers, a new NBC pilot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
NBC wins bidding war for J.J. Abrams' new series
Abrams, who is also executive-producing the married spies project, hasn't directed a TV pilot since the blockbuster, two-hour opening salvo of Lost in 2004. About a year later, he segued into directing such films as Mission: Impossible III and the Star Trek reboot.
Abrams' other TV directing credits include a 2007 episode of The Office and an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2006...
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Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry's hotly sought-after new comedy pilot ended up in the hands of ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Check out other familiar TV faces with new shows
The deal for the untitled comedy is said to include penalties if the pilot doesn't make it to series, almost guaranteeing that the project will get a green light, THR reports. The Friends alum will star in, co-write and executive-produce the project, which will be produced by Sony Pictures TV.
Perry will play a self-involved manager of a second-rate sports arena who begins to re-evaluate his life on his 40th birthday...
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Hawaii Five-O
CBS has given a pilot commitment to a modern version of classic 1970s cop series Hawaii Five-O, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The redo comes from Fringe co-creators and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and CSI: NY executive producer Peter Lenkov. Kurtzman and Orci are creating the story with Lenkov, who will write the script. All three will executive produce.
CBS first tried to launch a Hawaii update last year with Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero. The original series ...
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Laura Linney
Multiple Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy winner Laura Linney will give series television a try in Showtime's new half-hour series about cancer, the cable channel announced.
See photos of Linney throughout her career
The series, tentatively titled The C Word, will also be executive produced by Linney, who stars as a suburban wife and mother who explores the emotional ups and downs of a cancer battle. She is, however, able to find the light side of the dark situation.
"Cancer is not usually the subject of half-hour comedy, but Laura saw what we did in this complex show," Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, said in a statement. "She will no doubt make this character both heartbreaking and disarmingly funny, and we're thrilled that she has chosen this show for her foray into series television."
Linney earned Emmys ...
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Will Arnett
Will Arnett will re-team with the creative forces behind Arrested Development for a new Fox comedy series.
The project, which will be written by Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely and Arnett, has received a script commitment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Arnett will also star as a Beverly Hills man who falls in love with tree-hugging woman who can't stand his lifestyle.
See photos of Arnett on Arrested Development
The trio most recently worked together on Fox's short-lived animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up.
Arnett played ...
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Piper Perabo
Piper Perabo has landed the lead role in Covert Affairs, a USA Network spy-thriller pilot expected to be ordered to series later this month.
Perabo will play Annie Walker, a top-shelf CIA trainee who excels at every skill, says the Hollywood Reporter.
Review all of TVGuide.com's casting news
The next key role to be filled is that of ...
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James Caan and Mandy Patinkin in the original Alien Nation
Sci Fi Channel, which on July 6 will relaunch as SyFy, is developing a new take on the 1988 movie Alien Nation. Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly) will pen the series.
Previously adapted in 1989 as a short-lived Fox series (succeeded by five TV-movies), Alien Nation follows a human cop and his alien detective partner, against the backdrop of Earth's begrudging assimilation of ETs banished from their home world, where they served as slaves. The original film starred James Caan and Mandy Patinkin (sporting a prosthetic scalp).
Check out photos of the sexiest sci-fi stars
"It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny mixed with big, giant scary," Minear told ...
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Tim Roth and Kelli Williams, Lie to Me
Fox, which is set to announce its complete fall plan at its May 18 "upfront" presentation and just recently renewed Fringe, has proactively filled in a few more blanks.
The network on Tuesday ordered a second, 13-episode season of the midseason entry Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth and Kelli Williams.
Lie to Me will undergo one change for its sophomore run ...
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Lauren Graham, Alex O'Loughlin and Katee Sackhoff
With ABC, CBS, Fox and the CW holding their upfront presentations during the week of May 18 — and NBC set to reveal the rest of its own 2009-10 plan on May 19 — the pilots for a slew of prospective series are getting their final looks.
Among the surprising let-downs? NBC took a pass on David E. Kelley's Legally Mad — and owes Warner Bros. TV a seven-figure penalty payment for doing so. It also turned down Dick Wolf's Lost & Found, a cop drama starring Katee Sackhoff.
Though there has been talk in the trades that NBC might avoid the Legally Mad penalty by instead granting Warner Bros.' Chuck a pick-up, the action-comedy's creator ...
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