Two Guys and Girl grad Nathan Fillion has been cast as the lead in Firefly, Joss Whedon's futuristic space Western series for Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Firefly — which already has a 13-episode commitment from the network — is set 400-500 years in the future. In other TV casting news, Donnie Wahlberg has signed on to star in the NBC's cop pilot Boomtown.
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Monster's Ball star Halle Berry will make a cameo on The Bernie Mac Show on Feb. 13, TV Guide Online has learned. Here's the sitch: Bernie jokes to a talk show host that he'd hook up with Halle Berry if he were ever widowed. This causes his angry wife Wanda (Kellita Smith) to have a nightmare about Bernie attending her funeral — with Berry as his date!
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ABC is overhauling its Monday night schedule beginning March 4, adding a second weekly edition of My Wife and Kids at 8 pm/ET, followed by the return of The Wayne Brady Show at 8:30 pm/ET. At 9 pm/ET, new quizzer The Chair will replace the celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Regis can still be seen on Thursdays) and, as previously reported, Once and Again will reclaim its old 10 pm/ET timeslot. In other scheduling news, the WB will move Glory Days to Mondays at 9 pm/ET beginning March 11; the struggling series will temporarily replace Angel.
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Ally McBeal alum James LeGros — who romanced a transsexual on the Fox dramedy — appears on the March 7 episode of Friends, TV Guide Online has learned. He scores a date with Lisa Kudrow's Phoebe, only to annoy her with sleazy trash talk... Undeclared creator Judd Apatow is producing a new comedy pilot for Fox titled Life on Parole, about a parole officer who becomes best buds with one of his charges, according to The Hollywood Reporter. — Michael Ausiello with Daniel R. Coleridge and Sabrina Rojas Weiss
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The redneck romantic comedy Waking Up in Reno, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Patrick Swayze, Charlize Theron and Natasha Richardson, has been put to sleep again. After several postponements, Miramax was finally poised to release the ill-fated movie on Feb. 22 in select theaters. But this week, the studio changed its mind and delayed the film's opening yet again. "[February] is a crowded time in the marketplace, and we thought the film would have a better chance for success later in the year," Miramax spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik tells TV Guide Online. Based on the yawns and misplaced giggles at a recent industry screening, however, we think Waking Up might remain in hibern
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American Pie's John Cho doesn't mind the raunchiness of his WB buddy comedy, Off Centre — airing Sunday at 9 pm/ET — but admits that episodes about flatulence and STDs don't appeal to his parents. "Sometimes," he tells TV Guide Online, "I say, 'Mom, Dad, you might want to miss that one.'"
The L.A.-based actor and musician thanks exec producers — and Pie directors — Paul and Chris Weitz for casting him as lovable loser Chau opposite the gross-out comedy's Eddie Kaye Thomas and Sean Maguire. "I don't think I've ever met a person with that abundan
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The duo behind HBO's Mr. Show — Bob Odenkirk and David Cross — have posted a fan appeal on their website, lamenting New Line Cinema's apparent shelving of their comedy Run Ronnie Run. Odenkirk tells TV Guide Online they hope fan response will sway New Line execs: "We are trying to convince people whose names we don't even know to release the film." Ronnie co-stars Jack Black and Ben Stiller and was tentatively set to debut this year.
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Chicago police are investigating whether R&B singer R. Kelly had sex with an underage girl and videotaped it. The 26-minute tape was sent anonymously to the Chicago Sun-Times last week. Talk about bad timing: Kelly will be part of today's opening act at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Kelly's attorney insists the video is a forgery.
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A teenager was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly breaking into pop diva Janet Jackson's dressing room during a concert at New York's Nassau Coliseum. Mario Backman, 19, allegedly stole stuffed animals, an FDNY cap and some letters. He was charged with third-degree burglary and released without bail. Speaking of unruly fans, Steven Spielberg has been granted a restraining order against a man who allegedly broke into the überproducer's DreamWorks office on Jan. 11.
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