TVSquad

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on some fresh casting for upcoming pilots. Here's what's happening:

David Cross (Arrested Development) and Erika Christensen (Six Degrees) have been added to the new comedy pilot for CBS starring Jason Biggs titled I'm in Hell. Biggs plays a Wall Street big wig sent to Hell on Earth after a fatal car crash where he's forced to live without the benefits of his swanky lifestyle. Cross will play a devil.

Lisa Tucker of American Idol will star in the primetime soap pilot Born in the USA. The series takes place in Philadelphia and focuses on the issues dealt with by blue collar families.

Here's some great news for you fanatics of the UCB/Comedy Central brand of "alternative" comedy: Comedy Death Ray, the popular Los Angeles comedy show, is coming to you in Web and audio form. The first CD (double CD!), produced through Comedy Central Records, will feature the likes of Patton Oswalt (King of Queens, Comedians of Comedy), Maria Bamford (Comedians of Comedy), David Cross (Mr. Show, Arrested Development) and Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Show, Best Week Ever). The album will consist of footage from the live show taped at the UCB Theater in Los Angeles and at the SF Sketchfest in San Francisco. It will come out this summer.

Comedy Death Ray will also produce shorts for the comedy broadband site Super Deluxe, including a comedic soap opera called "Lake Charles Lake."

You can read all about the new ventures on this thread over at A Special Thing, which also includes some insight from Comedy Death Ray co-creator Scott Aukerman, who developed the show five years ago with fellow actor and comedian BJ Porter.

From the 'I Told You So' department comes this shocker: NBC is refusing to show the portion of Madonna's concert where she crucifies herself on a giant, disco-style cross. As I reported in September, the network and Madonna had been feuding over what NBC wanted to edit out of the concert, but apparently both sides have come to an agreement and Madonna is allowing the crucifixion scene to be edited out. I'm kind-of surprised that Madonna would allow the editing to happen. She's always sold herself as provocative and cutting edge. Madonna says the crucifixion scene is actually part of an appeal to get audiences to donate to AIDS charities.

The (edited) two-hour concert, called Madonna: The Confessions Tour -- Live from London, airs November 22nd at 8 pm.

Surprise, surprise. NBC is reportedly getting cold feet over plans to air a Madonna concert in which she crucifies herself. The New York Daily News reports that NBC is being pressured by the American Family Association to censor the explicit portions of Madonna's concert. Of course, Madonna does not like to be censored and she is threatening to pull her concert off the air entirely. The crucifixion is in her Confessions tour and Madonna says the point of it is not to shock the audience, but it's a plea for people to help one another.