• Good news came today for acclaimed NBC sitcom 30 Rock, which was planning to go on break for more than a month to make room for the “seriously?” sitcom Andy Barker, P.I. Now, Zap2It is reporting that new episodes of 30 Rock will return on April 5th and will switch time slots with Scrubs the following week. Rock, which I think is hilarious but haven’t had a real chance to watch, will air at 9 on Thursday nights, while Scrubs, which just can’t seem to catch a break, will air at 9:30. The two shows will then switch back on May 3rd, and if you’re as confused as I am….welcome to the club. We have jackets.
  • Arrested Development and Christopher Guest fans (read: everyone with taste) got the first new bit of news on The Thick of It this weekend. Oliver Platt signed on to play the chairman of the Party Committee in the series focusing on the staffers of a low-level Congressman. Thick of It, which is based on a British series, is executive produced by Mitchell Hurwitz, who created Arrested Development, and the 5th Baron Haden-Guest is directing the pilot.
  • I kind of hate Joshua Malina. I hated him on Sports Night, where he was a whiny little boy in the body of a man, and I hated him just as much on The West Wing, where he sold his soul to Gary Cole and then hooked up with a character almost as annoying as his Will Bailey, Mary McCormack’s Commander Kate Harper. Despite my only slightly unfounded hatred for Malina (born in New Rochelle, where in 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Brodview Avenue hill), I’ve got to grudgingly admit that he’s talented – and he will be bringing his talents to ABC this fall. Malina’s signed onto ABC’s pilot about four CEOs/buddies/members of the same golf club, alongside Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, and Christopher Titus (to which I say what?! He better be playing the CEO of an adult entertainment company.) The Hollywood Reporter describes Malina’s character as a pharmaceutical chairman, who is sweet but insecure. Sweet but insecure…where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah – in the description of almost every other character Malina’s ever played.
  • Eliza Dushku, late of Bring it On, Tru Calling, Wrong Turn, and…oh, I’m sorry. Is there something I’m forgetting? Yeah, yeah – the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star signed on as the lead of FOX’s pilot Nurses, which is Grey’s Anatomy: Bedpan Patrol. Dushku plays a woman fresh out of nursing school who takes a job at the hospital run by her father. Anyone want to guess what the odds are on this character having daddy issues? Anyone? Anyone?
  • Those muckraking rapscallions at Fox News are at it again! I’m not talking about Roger Ailes’ barely veiled threat to political candidates; I’m talking about their coverage of the latest “ripped from the headlines” event to hit the Law & Order multiverse. According to “sources” at the Broadway premiere of Talk Radio, Fox “reported” creator Dick Wolf is planning the first fictionalized version of the Anna Nicole Smith story since the “pop culture icon” died earlier this year for a very special Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s “number one fan,” original Buffy star Kristy Swanson, is slated to play the fake version of Anna Nicole Smith, and Saturday Night Live alum Jon Lovitz is in talks to play fake Howard K. Stern. I’ve raved before about Law & Order’s track record when it comes to glorious “ripped from the headlines” stories, but this could quite possibly be their finest hour. We’re talking a serious contender to Gary Busey as Fake Robert Blake, here, people.
  • Every update, it seems, I bring you more news regarding the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off centering on Kate Walsh’s neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery. And, like Why Is the Rum Gone?, I’m sick and tired of reporting on this show as “the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off centering on Kate Walsh’s neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery,” and I refuse to call it Montgomery’s Ward. So, in honor of three of its stars, this show shall be thusly known as Addison, Kellerman, and Benny until creator Shonda Rhimes says otherwise. Addison, Kellerman, and Benny picked up a few more regulars over the last few days– Merrin Dungey, of Alias fame, Amy Brenneman, aka the woman who got Neil McCauley killed (bitch!), and Chris Lowell, who I guess is on the now-sucktacular Veronica Mars. This “backdoor pilot” featuring all these lovely people will also serve as Grey’s Anatomy’s third season finale. (As always, THUD readers are encouraged to send alternate title suggestions to brendan.m.leonard@gmail.com)