TVSquad

Alyssa Milano's career resurgence continues (or begins, it depends on your perspective, I guess). ABC is expected to order 13 episodes of Romantically Challenged, a sitcom about a thirtysomething man dealing with his new girlfriend (Milano) and his needy best friend. If picked up, the series will air midseason on ABC, around the same time the network plans to premiere three dramas, Happy Town, V, and The Deep End.

This news comes almost a year after the network dumped Milano's last shot at a sitcom, Single With Parents. Romantically Challenged almost ended up on ABC's fall schedule, reportedly due to the strong buzz surrounding Milano's performance. But the network decided to push it back, presumably to make room for its other new comedies, including Bill Lawrence's Cougar Town and Hank, starring Kelsey Grammer.

I have to admit, I've been slightly obsessed with checking the mid-season replacement schedule over at The Futon Critic. You see, I've been waiting to find out when one of my favorite shows from last season, Reaper, would be coming back.

Finally, I need wait no more: The CW has finally announced Reaper's timeslot, and it's not half bad. Or, I guess it is half bad, depending on how you look at it.

First things first: it's not on Friday night, which is something I feared because CW's schedule is so wide open on that night. So that's good, right?

You see this picture? That's Christopher Egan in NBC's new midseason drama Kings. He'll be playing a David-like character -- as in David versus Goliath -- when the series debuts later this year or in early 2009. And in an interesting casting coup reported by EW's Michael Ausiello, Macaulay Culkin has been cast on Kings as King Silas' nephew. The king, by the way, is the formidable Ian McShane. Joel reported just how formidable McShane is at last summer's TCA.

Culkin is a long way from the adorable Kevin McAllister in the Home Alone movies, but he's still got that charismatic appeal.

Since Kings is all about power, as McShane's nephew who has been exiled from the kingdom and returns after David's success defeating the Goliath of the show -- a killer tank -- I can see him perhaps as a Mordred character. In other words, an antagonist with issues.

Culkin isn't the only name to join Kings in some capacity: Brian Cox, Miguel Ferrer, Leslie Bibb and Michael Stahl-David are also on board for guest arcs.

Almost a year ago we reported that James Todd Smith aka Ladies Love Cool James aka LL Cool J was making his return to television. The rapper-turned-actor's new drama, The Man, even seemed to be heading for the fall season lineup.

Then it disappeared from the radar into the deep, deep depths of the TV pilot abyss.

However, according to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS is close to inking a deal to add The Man to the midseason schedule.

I think the phrase "hit or miss" is appropriate when it comes to television and Jeffrey Tambor. He's been involved with some truly great series (The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development), and some not-so-great series (Twenty Good Years).

Now, Tambor is heading back to the small screen to star in The Captain, which was recently approved for a six-episode, midseason run on CBS. Tambor stars as a retired writer whose apartment building is soon occupied by a younger writer, played by Fran Kranz. The series also stars Raquel Welch, Al Madrigal, Valerie Azlynn and Joanna Garcia.

There's more casting news on Fox's mid-season drama Drive from executive producers Tim Minear, Ben Queen and Greg Yaitanes. Just as Nathan Fillion replaced the pilot's lead Ivan Sergei, actors Kevin Alejandro and Mircea Monroe have been brought into take over the roles of Winston Salazar and Ellie Laird, both participants in the underground cross-country race at the center of the show. Laird's credits are fewer and further between, but you'll recognize Alejandro from his recent appearances on Sleeper Cell and Ugly Betty as Justin's father Santos.

Most television shows get a casting shake-up between the filming of the original pilot and, should the show get picked up, its eventual run. It happens for all kinds of reasons - networks don't like a certain actor in a role, scheduling conflicts, etc. In the case of Drive, characters are reportedly being taken in a "different direction."

When Anna reported on CBS's schedule changes yesterday, she also mentioned that ABC is pushing back the premiere of the highly-anticipated comedy The Knights of Prosperity from its planned premiere on Oct. 17. Now, according to ABC, the show might not appear until mid-season, perhaps as late as January.

So the show must be having problems, right? Wrong, at least not according to the network. ABC thinks the show is so good that they want to promote it outside the craziness of this crowded fall season. "You really need to focus, you need to spend money and you need to surround the audience with these openings," ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson told the Los Angeles Times.

Have you noticed that there are some people in Hollywood who are able to keep their careers going, somehow staying in something resembling a spotlight, for years after they should have faded from the scene? You've got to give these people credit; without their determination, pluck, and do-anything-for-a-buck attitude, people like Kathy Griffin might have fallen off the face of the earth after a couple of years. In fact, I did a Five post about folks like this a few months ago.

David Spade was on that list. He's a funny guy, but never the most talented person in that hoary group of former SNLers. But he's been resourceful and scrappy enough to keep things going for more than 17 years. Which is the long way for me to say that Comedy Central has picked up Spade's The Showbiz Show for a third season, which will begin airing in February. In addition to his cable duties, Spade will have a role in the upcoming CBS mid-season comedy The Rules of Engagement. So, as you see, Spade just keeps on keeping on. I'd make an Energizer Bunny joke here, but it's not 1990, so I'll refrain.

Last week it was announced that The CW had passed on Aquaman, but now it looks like, officially, it's not dead yet. It is still in contention as a mid-season replacement. The superhero show is from the Smallville people, and many thought the show was a shoo-in to make the fall schedule.

And for those of you who were ticked that Reba had been canceled, it too might come back mid-season. So I guess all you Reba/Aquaman fans (can't wait for that crossover episode) will have just pray that one of the new shows does really badly.

Surely, you've seen the ads for NBC's big new midseason dramedy, The Book of Daniel? The one where the Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest talks to a bum-hippie Jesus about his drug dealing daughter and his gay son and the fact that his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law? You know, the one that looks like a piece of overcooked, self-conciously "quirky" Ally McBealist crap? As Adam pointed out yesterday morning, the American Family Association is even more excited about Daniel than I am, although for entirely different reasons; in fact, they're calling for NBC to cancel the show before it even airs. In a statement sent to their members, AFA said, "It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." They're asking their members to bombard the network with letters until they get their way. Meanwhile, NBC has fought back with a statement of their own, predictably insisting that if we try it, we might like it. "We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family," the network says. 

Hmmmm... an absurdly reactionary organization is trying to get an apparently crap show canceled before it debuts. That's just silly. Then again, it is, by all appearances, a crap show. What side to take?