TVSquad

The networks are revving up a few new pilots, and they've hand-picked some ladies from the, um, lady garden ... of entertainment. Yeah. So, anyway:

First, Louise Lombard will play Judy in ABC's Judy's Got a Gun, about a single suburban mother who investigates suburban crimes. She'll balance work and family because balancing things is common in television land. Seriously, every season there are at least a dozen new shows that involve somebody balancing something and something else. You gotta have balance, you know.

Also, ABC has added Bridgette Wilson-Sampras to its upcoming adaptation of the film Mr and Mrs Smith. Wilson-Sampras will play a housewife with designs on John Smith, played by Martin Henderson. Jordanna Brewster will play Jane Smith.

Finally, look for Lucy Lawless in ABC's Football Wives, based on the popular UK series Footballer's Wives. I'm waiting for the end of adaptations of shows from across the pond and the obvious next step: an entire network with nothing but adaptations of series from Britain.

Miriam Shore has joined the cast of Swingtown, a series about wife swapping, and Fran Kranz has joined The Captain, a series about a famous filmmaker struggling with writer's block. Both of these series will air on CBS.

Yvonne Strzechowski has joined the NBC series Chuck, about a computer tech (Zachary Levi) who has government secrets downloaded into his brain.