AND FOR ITS NEXT GIMMICK...
... It's often said that networks have their hands up the asses of some of their stars, and in NBC and Community's case, that will literally be true! Except only sorta. The ratings-challenged show will do an all-puppet episode next month featuring guest-star Jason Alexander. Here's the description of the episode: "The study group takes a wild balloon ride that crash-lands in the woods and they end up spending a little time with a friendly mountain man (Alexander). As the study group recounts their adventure, which has left them all feeling a little awkward toward one another, Dean Pelton encourages them to speak about their experience with the use of puppets." Someone please defend this setup as an excuse to do a puppet episode, because I can't. [NBC via press release]
BUSINESS TIME
... Aspiring wizards of America, Syfy has put a series-finale date on the British import Merlin. Season 5 will come to a close for U.S. audiences on May 31. If you can't wait that long, you can get a time AND space machine and travel back to Christmas Eve in England when it ended there. Or you can be a dick and download it ILLEGALLY. *TV.com does not endorse the illegal download of shows, unless you really, really want it.* [Syfy via press release]
... Quick, tell your four-year-old niece that Disney has renewed Sofia the First for a second season and then tell her you bought her a pony but it died. Then say, "That's a lesson in good news/bad news." [Disney via press release]
... TLC is calling it quits on its long-running series What Not to Wear, which will air its tenth season starting this July. But if you're still unsure of what to wear, or what not to be in general, just watch Honey Boo Boo. [TLC via press release]
ONLY THE FINEST CASTING NEWS OF THE DAY
... Melissa McCarthy is hosting Saturday Night Live again, taking the April 6 slot. She was one of the more popular hosts last season, when she hosted in October of '11. [US Weekly]
... Angels in America Emmy-winner Jeffrey Wright is joining the Season 4 cast of HBO's Boardwalk Empire. He'll play Valentin Narcisse, a philanthropist who runs Harlem. [Deadline Hollywood]
... Fox's upcoming animated comedy Murder Police has cuffed two of its top cops. Or at least their voices. Jane Lynch (Glee) and Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) will play two of the cops in the workplace comedy starring Jason Ruiz's voice in the role of a neurotic detective. Lynch will voice a working mom who's also a detective, and Valderrama will play a reckless undercover cop. Murder Police will debut sometime next season, as Fox has already ordered 13 episodes. [Fox via press release]
... Kelly Preston, John Travolta's wife and two-time Golden Raspberry Award nominee for Battlefield Earth and Old Dogs, has grabbed the lead role in ABC's comedy pilot Keep Calm and Karey On. She'll play Karey (ohhhhh now I get it), a woman who raises her brother's kid after he's sent to prison. [Deadline Hollywood]
... Matthew Lillard will star in the NBC drama pilot I Am Victor. The show follows a divorce attorney (John Stamos) who has a unique take on relationships. Lillard will play Victor's best friend. Lillard and Stamos, the dream team we've all been waiting for! [Deadline Hollywood]
... Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anthony Head (he played Giles) has been cast in the second go-round of the CW pilot The Selection. The drama, based on the book of the same name, is set 300 years in the future and follows a young woman who is selected to be one of 25 suitors for the prince of La La Land or whatever it's called. Head will play the nation's king. [THR]
... The great Kurt Fuller has joined Fox's Friends and Family, a comedy pilot based on the British series Gavin & Stacey. Fuller (Supernatural) will play the father to the Gavin character, played by Jason Ritter (The Event). Also joining the cast is Reno 911's Kerri Kenney, who will play the mother of the Stacey character, played by Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls). You know that Ritter romanced Lauren Graham on Parenthood and is now romancing Bledel, and Graham and Bledel played mother and daughter in Gilmore Girls, right? Gross. [THR]
SUPER SAD NEWS
... Mary Tyler Moore Show star Valerie Harper has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Doctors have given her only months to live. The 73-year old, who also starred in Rhoda, previously battled lung cancer. [People]
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