TVSquad

The other day was actor James Roday's birthday; on April 4, he turned 32. For the Texas born star of Psych, life is quite nice right now. Psych is coming back for a third season on USA this summer, and starting the other night, episodes from season two will be showcased on NBC. Oh, and he's dating Maggie Lawson, a.k.a. O'Hara, his co-star on the show.

There's a fine line between charming and obnoxious, amusing and annoying, cute and cloying, funny and trying too hard. James Roday veers close to the line. He's a daredevil of a comic actor, daring to be almost too much to take. But like other actors of his ilk, he succeeds in flying close to the sun, but never burning his wings. Like Jim Carrey or Robin Williams, James Roday is willing to push the comic envelope. So far, he's proved to me that watching him is always interesting, arresting and fun. While he may never reach the box office glory of Carrey or cop an Oscar like Williams, he's definitely going to be a TV star for today, tomorrow and down the road.

Michael Ausiello at TVGuide.com has been playing with his calculator, or maybe it was an abacus. Anyway, Mike has used some oh-so-creative math to add two and two together to get a major revelation on a CBS sitcom. Okay, here's the scoop. Mr. Ausiello has gotten an exclusive casting tidbit from How I Met Your Mother.

Alicia Silverstone, star of Clueless on the big screen, Miss Match on the small, has been signed for a series of episodes, a mini-arc.

Cordelia Chase has always been one of my favorite characters on Buffy and Angel; she was a great comedic relief. Since the end of Angel, I've tried to catch all of her TV guest appearances because I knew I was always in for a fun ride.

I watched her play a seer on Charmed, an opinionated young woman getting involved with an older man on Miss Match, a trophy wife and schemer on Veronica Mars, and, this week, play a member of the national chapter of Zeta Beta on Greek.

Charisma's roles have been entertaining but will Charisma Carpenter, the woman, be as fun to watch? We may find out soon as the word on the street is that she will be an apprentice on the celebrity version of NBC's The Apprentice.

After some rocky negotiations, Alicia Silverstone has agreed to play a role in a mid-season NBC comedy, The Singles Table. The series is about a group of people who bond when they keep getting put at wedding reception tables with each other because they're all dateless. Silverstone will play a doctor who realizes she has no social life.

This is actually Silverstone's third attempt at series television. You may remember she starred in the short-lived NBC series Miss Match in 2003 and she didn't make it on to television earlier this year with a failed pilot for ABC called Pink Collar. This time, however, we can expect to see her on television as NBC has already committed to airing the comedy at mid-season.

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More casting news: Silverstone, Coolidge, Dale join pilots

Alicia Silverstone agreed to play the lead role in an ABC comedy, Pink Collar, which is about women's relationships in the workplace. Silverstone was last on television during the short-lived Miss Match on NBC in 2003, unless you count the constant reruns of Clueless on cable. Silverstone had seemed to drop off the face of the earth until she popped up again this year in, of all things, Beauty Shop.

Further proof that Joey won't be returning next fall, Jennifer Coolidge, who plays the agent on Joey (and is wickedly funny), has been cast in the FOX comedy pilot, If You Lived Here, You'd be Home by Now. It's about a bunch of people living in temporary housing in L.A. Let's hope it gets a new name.

Other casting news: