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CBS ordered a pilot for new multi-cam show Zarna, the network announced Tuesday.

The show will star stand-up comedian Zarna Garg as “a proud immigrant woman who’s been raising her American born kids on Indian values.” But, the logline continues, “now that they’re getting older, it’s time for her to focus on her own American dream.”

Garg also serves as writer and executive producer, with Darlene Hunt as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Mindy Kaling and Jessica Kumai Scott will also executive produce via Kaling International, along with Kevin Hart, Bryan Smiley and Mike Stein of Hartbeat. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.

Garg released an Amazon comedy special, One in a Billion, in 2023. She also appeared as herself in this year’s Jonathan Groff- and Karan Soni-led A Nice Indian Boy. She has nearly one million followers on TikTok, where she’s known for her comedy sketches.

It’s hard to imagine a time when Ted Danson wasn’t on TV. After all, he spent a whopping 11 seasons playing Sam Malone on Cheers, six years as Dr. John Becker on Becker, and, more recently, took on the part of a 6,000-foot tall tentacled fire demon who's taken on the form of a 6-foot-2 silver fox in The Good Place.

Not to mention the fact that he regularly popped up on Curb Your Enthusiasm, effortlessly inhabiting what was perhaps his greatest role to date: Ted Danson.

Now Danson has a brand new show coming out: A Man on the Inside. While it may sound like the title of a self-help book written by Tobias Fünke, it’s actually a new Netflix comedy that reteams Danson with The Good Place and Parks and Recreation producer Mike Schur.

A Man on the Inside is reportedly an adaptation of The Mole Agent,...

Kathleen Dolan, a set decorator on Blue Bloods, is honored with a dedication in season 6 episode 16. Dolan played a crucial role in shaping the aesthetic of the show in season 5 with her set decoration work. With a career spanning various TV shows and movies, Dolan's creative contributions left a lasting impact.

Kathleen Dolan was a set decorator on Blue Bloods, and she has an entire episode dedicated to her in season 6. Blue Bloods ends its run after 14 seasons and throughout the long-running police procedural, a huge ensemble of characters has appeared. They are supported by an even larger team of below-the-line crew members who, though may only be recognized by hardcore fans who stick around for the credits, are critical to the success of the series. In season 6, episode 16, "Help Me Help You", a dedication card to Kathleen Dolan appears in the credits.

In the episode, both Erin (Bridget Moynahan...

Eyebrows were raised this week when it was revealed that longtime producing partners Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham had parted ways, particularly as their latest series, HBO’s “Camping,” is set to premiere this fall.

Konner was on hand at HBO’s Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday, while Dunham was not. But despite the fact that they didn’t share the stage, Konner said the split was amicable: “We feel super lucky to have had eight amazing years and we just wanted to do different things,” she told reporters. “There’s no drama there. It’s just work. It’s just the creative process.”

Later, HBO programming president Casey Bloys reiterated that explanation to IndieWire. “It’s a creative marriage, and I think they just wanted to move in different directions,” he said. “It’s not a shock, it’s pretty amicable and I think they wanted to focus on different things.

Now that “Girls” has ended for good — on our TVs, if not in our hearts — the Tribeca Film Festival will revisit the show once more with a panel on Tuesday.

Here’s a description for the panel:

6:00 Pm: Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner Talk with America Ferrera

(Tribeca Talks: Storytellers)

Initially discovered for her original voice in breakout film “Tiny Furniture,” Lena Dunham has since gone on to win a Golden Globe for her performance in “Girls,” which was created by Dunham and is helmed by Jenni Konner, whose other work includes the series “Help Me Help You”. The duo also co-founded the media brand Lenny, home of the feminist weekly newsletter Lenny Letter (LennyLetter.com). In a can’t miss conversation with America Ferrera, Dunham and Konner will discuss “Girls,” the industry, and the highs and lows of their careers.

“Girls” starred Dunham as Hannah, a 20-something writer...

What this week’s The Night Of lacks in plot development, it more than makes up for in terms of nameless dread and nagging questions — and I say that as nothing but a compliment.

RelatedGame of Thrones‘ George R.R. Martin on Emmy Noms: ‘Outlander Was Robbed’

As Naz struggles to follow the One Simple Rule for Helping His Eczematous Lawyer — not spilling any more precious beans to the “Subtle Beast” Det. Box — he samples a pu pu platter of holding-cell horrors, suffers an expected (but devastating) blow in court, and finally gets shipped off to Rikers Island. (And if...

Rodney Rothman is a spectacularly funny guy, and yet I'd wager that many of the audiences who have laughed their faces off at a joke he wrote have never heard his name. That will most likely change after the opening of what Universal is calling Untitled Zach Galifianakis/Bill Hader/Seth Rogen R-Rated Comedy, which Rothman is directing from his own original script. I've known Rothman for a while now. We first met on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and right after that, I tracked down his book, Early Bird: A Memoir Of Premature Retirement. He was a writer for Late Night With David Letterman when he was 21 years old, and at 24, he was promoted to head writer. That's the job he left before writing Early Bird, but he didn't stay unemployed for long. He wrote some episodes of Undeclared and Committed. He tried to get an Early Bird TV show off the ground.

Recently, CBS dropped the new,official synopsis/description for their upcoming "Blue Bloods" episode 16 of season 6. The episode is entitled, "Help Me Help You," and it turns out that we're going to see some dramatic and interesting stuff take place as Erin's past mentor is doing things that prompt her to take issue. A very loud City Council Speaker and Frank go head to head over a broken window policy, and more! In the new, 16th episode press release: Linda Asks Danny And Baez To Help Her Co-worker Who Is Dealing With An Unstable Ex-husband. Press release number 2: Linda will end up asking Danny and Baez to help her co-worker who is having trouble with her angry ex-husband. Also, Erin is going to have to figure out how to handle her former mentor, a judge who has been handing down unfair sentences since the recent death of his wife,...

Analyze this: Ted Danson will play a psychiatrist in an episode of American Dad. EW has learned exclusively that the Cheers vet, who currently stars in CSI, will voice the role of "Dr. Ray," a shrink that Stan visits in the wake of a near-death experience. And we do mean shrink. "He introduces Stan to the concept of miniatures, and Stan is so caught up in the idea that he uses CIA technology to shrink himself into the miniature world where it’s all safe and protected," executive producer Matt Weitzman tells EW. Danson is not a psychiatrist, but...

You might remember him from A Haunted House 2, but those unfamiliar with comedian Gabriel Iglesias would do themselves a big favor if they checked out The Fluffy Movie. It marks his first ever concert film and was shot at a recent show he did in San Jose.

In the film, Iglesias gets deep as he shares with his dedicated fans the struggles he has been going through as of late. He talks about dealing with diabetes and how he had to change his ways or die an early death, his relationship with his stepson, and about coming face to face with his father whom he has not seen in a couple of decades. While it may seem like a drama from that description, I assure you that this movie has a lot of big laughs from start to finish.

It was a lot of fun talking with Iglesias when...

Mary Steenburgen begins her arc on Justified this Tuesday as Katherine Hale, the widow of a crime boss Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns) had worked for — not Theo Tonin — and a woman whose opinion Duffy clearly values. Though she’s been out of the business for a while, Katherine remains, as executive producer Graham Yost says, “as sweet as a mint julep and as lethal as a copperhead.” Steenburgen seconds that. “The character is very Elmore Leonard-like in that she’s full of surprises and you don’t ever really turn your back on her,” she says. How soon might we see her strike?...

HBO's hot new comedy Girls garnered an impressive five Emmy® nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing in it's debut season. Created by and starring Lena Dunham, who also executive produced along with Emmy winner Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids) and Jenni Konner (Help Me Help You), Girls takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s. The series follows the lives of four twenty something's - Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna - who are trying to figure life out. They've been living in New York for a couple of years, but they're still not sure what they want - from boys, from each other, from themselves. And things aren't getting any clearer. The answers aren't...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Dec. 11, 2012

Price: DVD $39.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $49.99

Studio: HBO Home Entertainment/Warner Home Video

HBO‘s acclaimed comedy TV show Girls was nominated for five Emmy Awards for its first season, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

The show stars relative newcomers Lena Dunham (The Innkeepers), Allison Williams (TV’s American Dreams), Jemima Kirke (Tiny Furniture) and Zosia Mamet (TV’s Parenthood) as twentysomethings trying to figure out life while living together in New York City and sharing their humiliations and, though fewer, triumphs.

Dunham created Girls and executive produces with Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids) and Jenni Konner (TV’s Help Me Help You).

The show won an Emmy for its casting and was nominated for directing, the pilot’s script by Dunham and Dunham as lead actress.

The DVD comes with a bunch of special features:

“A Conversation With the Girls”“A Conversation With Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow”five audio commentaries with Apatow,...

HBO's hot new comedy Girls became one of the most acclaimed new shows of the television season solidifying its creator Lena Dunham as the comic voice of her generation. In its debut season, the show garnered an impressive five Emmy® nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing. Created by and starring Lena Dunham, who also executive produced along with Emmy winner Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids) and Jenni Konner (Help Me Help You), Girls takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s. The series follows the lives of four twenty something's - Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna - who are trying to figure life out. They've been living in New York for a couple of...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Dec. 11, 2012

Price: DVD $39.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $49.98

Studio: HBO/Warner

Lena Dunham (ctr.) and pals Jemima Kirke (l.) and Zosia Mamet make it happen in Girls.

HBO’s wildly popular comedy TV series Girls: Season One became one of the most acclaimed new shows of the spring, 2012 television season, solidifying its creator/star Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture) as the comic voice of her generation and garnering an impressive five major Emmy nominations in the process.

Girls takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s living in the ever-hip New York City borough of Brooklyn. The series follows the lives of Hannah (Dunham), Marnie (Alison Williams, TV’s Will & Kate: Before Happily Ever After), Jessa (Jemima Kirke, Tiny Furniture) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet, TV’s Mad Men) as they try figure out what they want...

Sunday, April 15 is a momentous day on the calendar this year. Not because of taxes. Not because we appear to be trembling on the precipice of spring. Because a program called Girls premieres on HBO that night at 10:30 p.m. written, directed by, and starring Lena Dunham, that tells the honest truth about female friendship when we're in our 20s; a truly unvarnished look at all the blood, sweat, and tears incumbent in such relationships. Make no mistake -- all three bodily fluids are there.

Judd Apatow (whose producing credits include Bridesmaids, Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Jenni Konner (In the Motherhood, Help Me Help You) are co-producers. Bruce Eric Kaplan (writer and co-executive producer on Six Feet Under) and Ilene S. Landress (executive producer of a little show called The Sopranos and also of Mildred Pierce) are co-executive producers. In addition to Dunham herself,...

Squarely in the category of “things about to air that you haven’t heard nearly enough about” is HBO‘s Girls. It looks to be quite the clever piece of fun, and premieres April 15th, and both of those ought to mean that you’d know the show inside and out by now.

Well, the show has a new poster, so I figured it’s about time to give you some info. By the way, if you haven’t seen Tiny Furniture, do so. If you have, be more excited for this show.

New Comedy Series Girls, Created By And Starring “Tiny Furniture” Filmmaker Lena Dunham, Debuts April 15, Exclusively On HBO

Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna are trying to figure life out. Theyʼve been living in New York for a couple of years, but theyʼre still not sure what they want – from boys, from each other, from themselves. And things arenʼt getting any clearer.

Washington, Dec 12: Watch it. If you like it, you pay for it. If you don't, you get your money back! That's the offer made by an India-born doctor, who also dabbles in film making, for his third movie released on DVD.

'It's no gimmick,' says 43-year-old Ravi Godse, a top internal medicine specialist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about his film, 'Help Me Help You', a low budget comedy that raises the question whether people should help those who don't wish to be helped.

After a doctor is told he has only six months to live, he sets out to try to improve the life of six of his friends. But he ends up creating more trouble.

NBC has bought Kept Men, a multi-camera comedy from writers-actors Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, members of the Broken Lizard comedy filmmaking group behind such movies as Super Troopers and Beerfest. Heffernan and Lemme will write the project, which tells he story of two friends who become supported by their respective wives after their business closes down. They also will executive produce with 3 Arts. Apa-repped Heffernan and UTA-repped Lemme just wrapped photography on The Babymakers with Olivia Munn and Paul Schneider. Additionally, NBC is developing a U.S. version of the Australian black comedy series Laid, from BermanBraun. Ali Rushfield (Help Me Help You) will write the script for the project, which was brought to NBC and BermanBraun by Jeremy Fox and Kary Mchoul of Digital Rights Group. It centers on a woman whose ex-boyfriends/one-night stands start dying under suspicious circumstances, prompting her to launch an investigation with her...

Pittsburgh — Dr. Ravi Godse is on call nearly 24/7 as a top internal medicine specialist in Pittsburgh, but he so loves writing, directing and starring in movies that he wants other people to love them, too.

And he is so convinced you'll love his third independent film being released on DVD on Tuesday, "Help Me Help You," that he's offering a money-back guarantee and a personal, e-mailed apology if you don't.

"These days, we are too busy and the money's too tight," said Dr. Ravi, as he likes to be called in person and as the recurring character in his films. "That's why I thought the apology was heartfelt. It's like, `I'm sorry, guys, that I couldn't entertain you.'"

Godse began making movies in 2004 and "Help Me Help You" is the first to see a limited release in theaters. It's being released on DVD by Monarch Home Entertainment and sold through Amazon and elsewhere,...

NBC's new comedy "Whitney" has recast the role of Whitney Cummings' mom.

Jane Kaczmarek, a multiple Emmy nominee for her work on "Malcolm in the Middle," will play Cummings' several-times-divorced mother in the series, Deadline reports. She steps in for Beverly D'Angelo, who played the part in the show's pilot. Kaczmarek will reshoot those scenes and go on to have a recurring role on the show.

Kaczmarek earned seven Emmy nominations on "Malcolm" -- one for every season it aired -- for playing harried mom Lois. She also co-starred in ABC's short-lived comedy "Help Me Help You" in 2006-07 and TNT's drama "Raising the Bar" a couple seasons back. She guested on FX's "Wilfred" earlier this month and has done voice work on several episodes of "The Simpsons."

"Whitney" premieres at 9:30 p.m. Et Thursday, Sept. 22.

Michael Cotter brings zombie humor to life in “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night,” the big screen adaptation of the globally popular Italian comic book series by Tiziano Scalvi. Cotter has been making a name for himself in Hollywood with recurring roles on such TV shows as “Scrubs”, “Help Me Help You” (starring Ted Danson), and most notably as the tech guy, Lewis Slocombe on the series “Shark” opposite James Woods; and additional TV credits include: “Criminal Minds”, “How I Met Your Mother”, and “Las Vegas.”

This Northwestern University grad has starred in dozens of commercial campaigns, including currently airing spots for Ace Hardware, Chase and OnStar.Cotter talks about his fun times on the set to other projects, past and present. Check out my latest Versus with actor Michael Cotter.

Brian S- First off, how cool was it to get to be a part of a comic book turned movie like Dylan Dog?...

Filed under: TV Replay

On 'The Rachael Ray Show' (weekdays, syndicated), Ted Danson admitted to stealing clothes from a short-lived series. In fact, he revealed, one of the articles he's wearing during his interview with Rachael Ray had been pilfered from that very show.

Danson neglected to mention the name of the show, but he said it only lasted a handful of episodes. After some extensive IMDb research, we think the show he's talking about was 'Help Me Help You,' which aired for 14 episodes on ABC in 2006. After the series completed its run, Danson helped himself to his character's wardrobe.

 

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HBO is picking up some "Girls."

The cable network has given a series order to a show about young women in New York, but any "Sex and the City" comparisons should probably stop there. Rather than celebrating the fabulousness of women in their 30s, "Girls" will be about "the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s."

Lena Dunham, who received a bunch of critical kudos and three Independent Spirit Award nominations for her indie film "Tiny Furniture," created the show and will also star. She's executive producing with Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up," "Freaks and Geeks") and Jenni Konner ("Undeclared," "Help Me Help You"); "Sopranos" veteran Ilene S. Landress is a co-exec producer.

"Lena Dunham quickly established herself as an important young talent with her first feature film," HBO Entertainment president Sue Naegle says. "We are thrilled to team up with her and fellow...

Martin Scorsese's gothic psychological thriller Shutter Island grossed $294 million worldwide, remains on the awards-season bubble, and persists at year's end as a divisive critical flashpoint. So why is it among L.A. Times critic Betsy Sharkey's most "overlooked" films of 2010? "Director Martin Scorsese's dark and devious brain tease is as much a conversation as a movie," Sharkey writes. "[...] Instead of tying up loose ends, he keeps unraveling them so by the time he drops the big one, you should be good for hours of post-cinema parsing. See it with a friend." Funny, I thought we all... had? Anyway, I'm curious: Help me help you help her understand. [Lat]...

Dean Pelton played by Jim Rash

When gay advocacy groups tally the number of gay characters in prime time, they may not know quite what to do with Craig Pelton, the bald, skinny Greendale Community College leader on NBC’s Community (8 Pm Thursday).

“As he says, gay is probably an over-simplification,” said series creator/executive producer Dan Harmon of the recurring character.

The show’s Wikipedia page describes Dean Pelton as bisexual, and more than anything, he’s probably a fool above and beyond whatever sexual identity viewers ascribe to him. In the show’s Halloween zombie episode, Pelton gleefully agreed that he was too stupid to orchestrate a complex caper.

And yet Community's writers have left plenty of clues pointing to the character’s queer sexuality, as well as a fair number that seem designed to confuse the issue. At times, he seems as sexually ambiguous as the weirdly androgynous school mascot,...

Jack Black is going deeper and deeper into the TV world. As part of his deal with production company Reveille earlier this year, the "Nacho Libre" actor would be producing a half-hour animation called "Tiny Monsters" which is now developing under Fox.

"Monsters" was tentatively brewing as "Little Bitches" before the title was erased from the script. According to NY mag, the cartoon is about junior-high mean girls. Alexandra Rushfield, who created ABC's short-lived comedies "Help Me Help You" and "In the Motherhood" has been tapped to write for the pilot. No release date has been set up yet.

It is also unknown whether Black would voice a character in the series. He has had such experience in several installments of "Kung Fu Panda" and an episode of "The Simpsons".

Black is executive producing along with his Electric Dynamite partners Ben Cooley and nm3339192 autoPriyanka Mattoo[/link] as well as Reveille's Carolyn Bernstein.

When Showtime ordered the pilot for "The Big C" in 2009, it was going by another name: "The C Word." An unnecessarily crude double entendre for a series about cancer, it seemed like another easy joke for a network with a history of uneven comedic offerings.

Backpedaling ensued. And the less aggressively titled "The Big C" was picked up for a full season, with its classy ad campaign highlighting the series' greatest assets: Laura Linney and her remarkable ability to carry any project on her capable shoulders.

Not that "The Big C" needs to lean on Linney. The well-cast star is in service of the series' enviable ensemble and unfamiliar premise -- a whimsical take on the anguish and joys of Cathy Jamison, a woman just dealt a terminal Melanoma diagnoses.

The first episode skirts every cliche of medical drama. Cathy's tests, diagnosis and realization of her condition all happen off-screen,...

Animal Fair chats with Glee's most entertaining actress, Jane Lynch The riotous Jane Lynch, best known for her role as deliciously horrible cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester in the smash hit Glee -- as well as show-stopping performances in Christopher Guest's movies A Mighty Wind, Best in Show and For Your Consideration -- sat down with Animal Fair to give the doggie dish! Fans loved her in the breakout comedy, 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Jane's guest-starring roles including appearances in Help Me Help You, Boston Legal, The West Wing, Arrested Development and Two and a Half Men are enough to elevate an episode's quality by a factor of infinity. Recently wed to Dr. Lara Embry, Lynch is enjoying fame, family and the company of her four-legged friends. Animal Fair: Tell us about your family of pets. Jane Lynch: Olivia (named after recent Glee...

hollywoodnews.com: The New Fall Schedule Features All-Drama Lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and All Comedies on Thursdays, Plus Unscripted Programming into Compatible Dramas on Tuesdays and Fridays New Comedies Include “Friends With Benefits,” “Outsourced,” “Perfect Couples, “Love Bites” and “The Paul Reiser Show.”

New Dramas Are “Undercovers,” “The Event,” “Chase,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” “Outlaw,” “The Cape” and “Harry’s Law”; And New Alternative Show “School Pride”

NBC announced today its 2010-11 primetime schedule that is highlighted by five new comedies, seven new drama series and one new alternative program, including shows from such innovative hit-makers as J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer and David E. Kelley, among others.

The high-quality series include new comedies such as “Outsourced,” Love Bites,” “Perfect Couples,” “Friends With Benefits” and “The Paul Reiser Show.” The new dramas are “The Cape,” “Harry’s Law,” “Outlaw,” “Undercovers,” “The Event,” “Chase” and “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”

The schedule...

Chicago – NBC announced their fall schedule and fans of “Heroes,” “Law & Order,” “Trauma,” and “Mercy” will shed a tear while on-the-bubble shows like “Chuck,” “Parenthood,” and “Community” will return with “Parks and Recreation” coming back later in the season. Most notably, the peacock network filled the now-vacant five hours of programming after “The Jay Leno Show” debacle with eight new fall shows and five more scheduled for midseason.

NBC has called in the starpower to help save the sinking network, bringing in new programs by J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer, and David E. Kelley with recognizable TV veterans like Blair Underwood, Jimmy Smits, Laura Innes, and more.

The network has scheduled their fall 2010 season with thematic evenings. Mondays and Wednesdays will feature drama, Thursdays will be all comedy, and the rest of the week will include reality leading into similar dramas.

Jeff Gaspin, Chariman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment said, “This new...

"Outsourced" is NBC's new addition to its Thursday comedy lineup, as it joins "Community," "30 Rock" and "The Office" in the fall.

The show stars Ben Rappaport (off-Broadway's "The Gingerbread House") as Todd Dempsey, an American novelties company manager who learns that he's being transferred to India to run his company's outsourced operations.

Rizwan Manji ("Privileged"), Sacha Dhawan (BBC's "Five Days II"), Rebecca Hazlewood (BBC's "Doctors"), Parvesh Cheena ("Help Me Help You"), and Anisha Nagarajan (Broadway's "Bombay Dreams") are the members of Dempsy's off-shore team; Diedrich Bader ("The Drew Carey Show") and Jessica Gower (Network Ten's "The Secret Life of Us") additionally star.

Check out these preview clips below and let us know what you think. Can "Outsourced" keep up with the hilarity of the other Thursday night comedies? "Outsourced" will air Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Et, according to NBC's recently-released night-by-night schedule.

Follow Zap2it and Zap2it...

HollywoodNews.com: NBC has given series pickups for its 2010-11 season to the dramatic thriller “The Event,” the comedy “Outsourced” and the romantic anthology series “Love Bites.”

The announcement was made today by Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

“Each of these three series reflects a unique point of view and distinct style of quality that fits perfectly with NBC’s dedication to rebuilding the schedule,” said Bromstad. “These series showcase excellent writing and casting, and represent the kind of scripted programming our network and studio are committed to producing.”

“The Event” is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, “The Class”), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, “Disturbia”), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers,...

NBC has given series pickups for its 2010-11 season to the dramatic thriller The Event, the comedy Outsourced and the romantic anthology series Love Bites. They all sound like show that will not make it passed a season but that is just me. The Event sounds kinda cool but the other ones do not appeal to me at all, which they will be the ones to stay while mine will cake out at half a season.

The announcement was made today by Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

“Each of these three series reflects a unique point of view and distinct style of quality that fits perfectly with NBC’s dedication to rebuilding the schedule,” said Bromstad. “These series showcase excellent writing and casting, and represent the kind of scripted programming our network and studio are committed to producing.”

The Event is an emotional high-octane conspiracy...

Good news for fans of Ugly Betty's Becki Newton, Parenthood's Jason Ritter, and Gilmore Girls' Scott Patterson! NBC has given early pickups to three new series — the dramatic thriller The Event (starring Lauren Graham's former TV squeezes Ritter and Patterson), the comedy Outsourced, and the anthology series Love Bites (starring Newton). Keeping reading for the official series descriptions... * The Event is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Parenthood's Jason Ritter), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.

This week, the Pop Culture Club took on Bored to Death, HBO’s new comedy about a novelist who tries to break out of his post-breakup stasis by becoming a private investigator. In other words, it’s Raymond Chandler plus Woody Allen times Wes Anderson. The scene in which Jason Schwartzman takes a belt of whiskey to appear tough in a bar and then wheezes and nearly spits it up is straight out of Allen's Play it Again, Sam; the whiny, affectless, overconfessional dialogue is all Anderson. Set in Brooklyn, Bored to Death seems to be written solely for people who look and act exactly like the characters: self-absorbed, immature, overeducated thirtysomethings cozily snuggled up their own asses. I know this type, as I live in Brooklyn and walk among them. Ten years ago I was one of them, which is why I both feel close to the show, and...

While you're out shopping in stores today, you could see some of the talent from cancelled TV shows. Others may be hard at work on shows like 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Samantha Who?, and Damages. Those keeping busy include William H. Macy (Sports Night), Rob Thomas, Ken Marino and Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars), Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks), Adam Scott (Tell Me You Love Me), Jane Lynch (Help Me Help You), Lizzy Caplan (The Class), Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), David E. Kelley (Boston Legal), Matt Lanter (Commander in Chief), Tracy Pollan (Family Ties), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Stacked), Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie), Dean McDermott (Tori & Dean: Inn Love), Rena Sofer (Just Shoot Me!), Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Enterprise), Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), Billy Zane (Twin Peaks), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), and Wendy Diamond (Greatest American Dog).

Remember on Bewitched when Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent?...

More pilot season coverage

ABC has greenlighted four more projects: one-hour cop presentations "Castle", "The Unusuals" and "Finnegan" and half-hour family pilot "Bad Mother's Handbook" from "Help Me Help You" creators Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield.

"Castle", from ABC Studios and Beacon, is a drama penned by feature writer Andrew Marlowe ("Hollow Man") that centers on a horror novelist who is consulting for the NYPD Homicide department. Marlowe is exec producing with Beacon's Armyan Bernstein and Laurie Zaks.

"The Unusuals", from Sony Pictures TV, is a dramedy set at a New York police precinct. Noah Hawley ("Bones") penned the script and is exec producing with Peter Tolan.

"Finnegan", from ABC Studios and writer Trent Jones ("Threat Matrix") , focuses on the organized crime/vice unit in Los Angeles, which is led by a tough female detective. Jones is exec producing with Francie Calfo.

"Handbook", from ABC Studios, is a single-camera comedy written by Konner and Rushfield that centers on a 32-year-old woman too busy taking care of her 16-year-old daughter and 48-year-old mother.

Help Me Help You creators/executive producers Jenni Konner and Alexandra Rushfield have inked a rich blind two-script deal with ABC TV Studio.

Under the high six-figure pact, the duo will pen two projects, most likely a single-camera half-hour comedy and a comedic hour.

Multiple TV studios were seeking to land Konner and Rushfield, who opted for a two-script deal rather than an overall pact to accommodate their busy feature slate.

Konner and Rushfield said they had a "great experience" working with ABC executives on Help Me and that factored in their decision to go with the network's sister studio.

We love the ABC TV Studio team, Rushfield said. "They have been very supportive and they make the shows that we love."

Added Konner, "We connected with them creatively."

But what ultimately sealed the deal? "The silver passes to Disneyland," Konner quipped.

Konner and Rushfield started off in features and made their first foray into TV to work on Judd Apatow's Fox comedy Undeclared.

Two consecutive blind-script deals with Regency TV led to the 2005 Fox comedy pilot Pool Guys and Help Me.

After working in the half-hour format for the past several years, Konner and Rushfield said they would love to also try a one-hour comedy, to "let scenes breathe a little more" and have more time to hit the emotional notes on the show.

Tim Meadows has joined the cast of TBS' upcoming series The Bill Engvall Show as a regular.

The multicamera domestic comedy stars Engvall as a family counselor whose own family could maybe use a dose of counseling. Nancy Travis stars as his wife who is trying to make sure their three children turn out all right.

Meadows will play Engvall's character's friend, a doctor.

The project was written by Engvall and Michael Leeson, who executive produce with J.P. Williams.

Saturday Night Live alum Meadows recently did a multiepisode arc on ABC's Help Me Help You. He is repped by APA and Brillstein-Grey.

NEW YORK -- NCIS pushed past House in viewership to lead CBS to a win Tuesday in the measure although House overwhelmingly took the demo to give Fox a primetime win in adults 18-49.

NCIS averaged 17.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. It was the night's top show in viewership and also won the 8 p.m. hour for CBS against relatively light fare including ABC's The Grinch That Stole Christmas (11 million, 3.9/11), NBC's Friday Night Lights (5.7 million, 2.3/6) and Fox's Standoff (5 million, 1.9/5).

The 9 p.m. hour was all House (16.1 million, 6.5/17), which beat up on CBS's The Unit (13.5 million, 3.7/10) as well as a repeat Law & Order: Criminal Intent (7.4 million, 2.1/5) plus the faltering ABC sitcoms Big Day (4.9 million, 1.8/5) and Help Me Help You (3.5 million, 1.4/3).

The CW averaged only 2.3 million viewers and a 0.9/2 in the demo with a repeat Gilmore Girls before falling even further with an hourlong telecast of the Family Friend Awards ( 1.7 million, 0.6/2).

It looks like "The Doctor is Out" at ABC. The network is readjusting its Tuesday night schedule and its little surprise that the new Ted Danson comedy has been sent packing.

Help Me Help You was an offbeat sitcom about best-selling author and therapist Dr. Bill Hoffman (Cheers' Ted Danson) and his therapy group of misfits. The patients were ably played by Dear John's Jere Burns , Charlie Finn, Jim Rash, Darlene Hunt, and Suzy Nakamura. Ironically, Dr. Bill was probably more eccentric and self-obsessed than his collection of quirky patients. It didn't help that he had to cope with his 22-year old daughter (Lindsay Sloane), his ex-wife Anne (Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek) and her ever-sympathetic boyfriend Kenny (Thomas F. Wilson).

The quirky sitcom debuted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 on ABC. It followed the hugely successful Dancing with the Stars. Help Me drew an estimated 8.5 million households that night...

NEW YORK -- NCIS pushed past House in viewership to lead CBS to a win Tuesday in the measure although House overwhelmingly took the demo to give Fox a primetime win in adults 18-49.

NCIS averaged 17.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. It was the night's top show in viewership and also won the 8 p.m. hour for CBS against relatively light fare including ABC's The Grinch That Stole Christmas (11 million, 3.9/11), NBC's Friday Night Lights (5.7 million, 2.3/6) and Fox's Standoff (5 million, 1.9/5).

The 9 p.m. hour was all House (16.1 million, 6.5/17), which beat up on CBS's The Unit (13.5 million, 3.7/10) as well as a repeat "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (7.4 million, 2.1/5) plus the faltering ABC sitcoms Big Day (4.9 million, 1.8/5) and Help Me Help You (3.5 million, 1.4/3).

The CW averaged only 2.3 million viewers and a 0.9/2 in the demo with a repeat Gilmore Girls before falling even further with an hourlong telecast of the Family Friend Awards ( 1.7 million, 0.6/2).

The Bernie Mac Show creator Larry Wilmore is back in business with Regency TV and Fox with a new single-camera comedy.

The Wilmore half-hour is one of 20 projects on Regency's development slate this season, which also includes projects from writers Jill Soloway, P.K. Simonds and Nicholas Stoller, comedian Jessi Klein and feature writer-producer Allan Loeb.

In the tradition of Regency, home of such popular comedies as Malcolm in the Middle and Bernie Mac, the company's 2006-07 development skews toward half-hours.

"I really want comedy to come back," Regency president Robin Schwartz said of the genre, which has struggled recently to launch new hit series. None of this fall's new half-hour series, including Regency TV's well-received Help Me Help You, have been picked up for a full season yet.

In the saturated drama field, Regency is using a targeted approach with strong character-driven shows, Schwartz said.

ABC has ordered four additional scripts of What About Brian.

Meanwhile, NBC has pulled freshman drama Kidnapped off the schedule.

As a midseason entry last season, Brian had received an initial order of 13 episodes for its sophomore season.

Brian, from Touchstone TV and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Prods., has held on to more than 80% of its demo lead-in from The Bachelor but has regularly finished third in the Monday 10 p.m. slot. However, on Oct. 16, the relationship drama edged NBC's star-studded Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip for the second place in the hour among adults 18-49.

Freshman ABC series Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters have been picked up for a full season. All other scripted ABC shows with initial 13-episode orders except Six Degrees-- The Nine, Help Me Help You and Men in Trees -- have been given orders for four additional scripts.

Four more new series -- ABC's Help Me Help You, The Nine and Men in Trees and NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip -- have received orders for additional scripts.

The ABC shows have been picked up for four more scripts, while Studio 60 has been given an order for three additional scripts.

Meanwhile, ABC has reduced the order for the midseason drama Traveler from 13 to eight episodes, including the pilot.

Ordering additional scripts of new series in lieu of an early full-season pickup has become the norm for the Big Four networks this season.

Only five freshman series -- NBC's Heroes, CBS' Jericho and Shark and ABC's Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters -- have been given back-nine orders so far this season. That is half of the 10 new shows picked up for a full season at the same point a year ago: CBS' Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother and Ghost Whisperer, Fox's Bones, The War at Home and Prison Break, NBC's My Name Is Earl and Surface and ABC's Commander in Chief and Invasion.

NEW YORK -- Chris Carpenter may have zipped through Detroit's lineup to win Game 3 of the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was no match for the heavy hitter that is ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Dancing blew through the competition Tuesday to become an all-star in primetime in both key audience measures. The show averaged 20.7 million viewers and a 5.4 rating/14 share in adults 18-49, Nielsen Media Research said Wednesday.

Fox's coverage of St. Louis' 5-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers -- giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series -- couldn't compete with such aspiring hoofers as Mario Lopez and Jerry Springer. The game averaged 15.6 million viewers and a 4.8/13 in the demo, with its overall ratings down 7% from the extra-innings battle in last year's World Series Game 3 between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.

While Dancing was in line with its season-to-date average, it lost a little spring in its step from last week's 21.5 million and 6.0/16 in the demo. The Ted Danson sitcom Help Me Help You (10.6 million, 3.2/8) showed a slight week-over-week improvement from its previous 10.3 million and 3.1/8.

Only ABC counterprogrammed against the World Series, though NBC at 8 p.m. had a new episode of Friday Night Lights (6.3 million, 2.6/7) that fell from last week's 6.5 million and 2.7/7. CBS ran repeats of NCIS (11.7 million, 3.0/8), The Unit (9.8 million, 2.9/7) and Criminal Minds (9.1 million, 2.9/8). A repeat of NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" (10.7 million, 4.0/11) beat ABC's original Boston Legal (10.5 million, 3.1/8) but was behind the World Series.

NEW YORK -- Chris Carpenter may have zipped through Detroit's lineup to win Game 2 of the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was no match for the heavy hitter that is ABC's Dancing With The Stars.

Dancing blew through the competition to become an all-star in primetime in both key audience measures, total viewership and adults 18-49. Dancing averaged 20.6 million viewers and a 5.3 rating/14 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Fox's coverage of the 5-0 rout of the Tigers -- giving the Cardinals a 2-1 series lead in the best of 7 -- couldn't compete with aspiring hoofers like Mario Lopez and Jerry Springer. The game averaged 14.5 million viewers and a 4.5/11 in the demo according to the only estimates available Wednesday. It's likely that those numbers could change when final data is released later Wednesday, since it doesn't take into account time-zone viewing. Fox's telecast built from 12.7 million viewers at 8:30 p.m. to 16.7 million at 9:30 p.m. before fallling to 13.5 million as it was clear the Cards were likely to notch another win.

While Dancing was in line with its season-to-date average, it lost a little bit of spring in its step from last week's 21.5 million and 6.0/16 in the demo. The Ted Danson sitcom Help Me Help You (11.1 million, 3.3/8) showed a week-to-week improvement from its previous 10.3 million and 3.1/8.

Only ABC counterprogrammed against the World Series, although NBC at 8 p.m. had a new episode of Friday NIght Lights (6.3 million, 2.6/7) that fell from last week's 6.5 million and 2.7/7. CBS ran repeats of NCIS (11.6 million, 2.9/8), The Unit (9.8 million, 2.9/7) and Criminal Minds (9.1 million, 2.9/8). A repeat of NBC's Law & Order: SVU (10.5 million, 3.9/10) beat ABC's original Boston Legal (10.4 million, 3.1/8) but it was behind the World Series on Fox.

NEW YORK -- Dancing With the Stars led ABC to victory Tuesday night in two key measures, even with NCIS providing strong competition between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ABC won the night in viewers (15.1 million) and the adults 18-49 demographic (4.3 rating/11 share), according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. CBS came in second place in both measures, with 13 million viewers and a 3.6/10 in the demo. The night's top show was Dancing, which averaged 20.1 million viewers and a 5.6/15 in adults 18-49 between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. But it couldn't help Help Me Help You (9.8 million, 3.0/8), which declined at 9:30 p.m. in viewership though it remained tied with last week in the demo. Meanwhile, CBS didn't roll over and play dead, getting competitive numbers from NCIS (15.8 million, 3.8/11) at 8 p.m. and The Unit (13 million, 3.6/9) at 9 p.m. However, both were down from last week's levels.