TVSquad

Recently, I hepped you to news that Leonard Nimoy would be appearing in JJ Abrams' Star Trek XI, but that William "Captain kirk" Shatner would not.

The full cast will be announced at Comic Con, which kicks off later this month, so until then we can only speculate on what Nimoy's role will be, if indeed all this Web scuttlebutt is true.

That's Dirty Sexy Money, an upcoming drama on ABC, just to clarify. I didn't want you to think the U.S. Mint was printing up a new type of currency with Dan Rather on the bill in place of one of the presidents.

Although, that would be interesting. "Give me seven quaraters and two pennies for a Rather," you would say. The Rather would be worth $1.77 for some reason.

The new Flash Gordon series for Sci Fi begins shooting in Vancouver next month, and they've found their lead role: Eric Johnson. Most of you will know Johnson from his role as Whitney Fordman on Smallville.

Johnson is not the only one coming to the project from Smallville. Rick Rosenthal, who also helmed episodes of the series, is directing the first two episodes of Flash Gordon, which are being written by Peter Hume (Charmed). Hume is also executive producing along with Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr., who earlier worked on the Legend of Earthsea miniseries.

The new series is expected to debut sometime in August. Other roles have not yet been cast. Earlier reports on the series claimed it would be lighter in tone than other shows such as Battlestar Galactica, but not quite as campy as earlier versions.

In January, I mentioned that SciFi would, most likely, be developing a Flash Gordon series. Well, they've found their Flash Gordon, and twenty-two episodes have been ordered, so keep your eyes peeled for the show this July. Flash Gordon, which began as a comic strip in the '30s, has been adapted into just about every medium save for wax cylinder recordings. SciFi's plans are to create a show that's lighter in tone than its other series, such as Battlestar Galactica, but not quite as campy as previous incarnations.

CinemaBlend writes that Christopher Showerman, who has previously appeared in movies such as the made-for-video George of the Jungle 2 and Frankenbabe, is being considered to play Flash in the new series.

The lovely Jordana Brewster has been selected to star in the ABC adaptation of the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt movie Mr and Mrs Smith. The pilot will take place six months after the movie ends, with the married assassins being all romantic and stuff while still trekking across the globe and killing people for hire.

Brewster has been in demand this season for several other pilots. She was last seen on the movie screen in the films Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and The Fast and the Furious.

According to IMDb, Doug Liman, who also directed the 2005 film, will also direct the pilot episode. There's no word yet on who will play John Smith. In fact, it's not even absolutely clear if Brewster will be playing Jane Smith, though all reports seem to be making that assumption.

Thanks to Wild Bill for the tip.

Vivica A. Fox will be joining the cast of Curb Your Enthusiasm for the show's sixth season, which kicks off next year. According to Hollywood Reporter, there's not much information, though information points to Fox playing the member of a black family who moves into the David's home after a natural disaster. So there you go, Vivica A. Fox will be playing a black woman, and frankly, I couldn't be happier. I was starting to grow tired of seeing her constantly playing an elderly Chinese man.

The storyline is meant to spoof the events of Hurricane Katrina, as well as race relations. I imagine we can look forward to Larry saying something incredibly inappropriate. The article doesn't mention whether Fox's character will stay on the show or whether she'll only be part of this specific storyline.

Professional bullshit artist psychic and non-clipper of fingernails Sylvia Browne will be appearing in a three-episode arc on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless starting December 7. Browne will be playing herself. There's no word on what exactly her role will entail, and I won't know afterward either, because I'm not going to watch the damn thing. Still, I have to say that placing Browne in a fictional setting does kind of make sense, considering everything that comes out of her mouth is fiction anyway.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed in this post are solely those of the author, and not those of TV Squad's parent company AOL, which conducts all its business deals with the dead through the new AOL Instant Crop Circle Messenger and Digital Ouija Board. Remember, just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't stay in touch.

[via James Randi]

Jane Kaczmarek, who played mom on Malcolm in the Middle, and who should be kept on TV as long as she has the ability to stand and recite her lines, may have a recurring role as Ted Danson's wife on the new series Help Me Help You, which I mentioned back in March and which was recently picked up by ABC. Kaczmarek will appear in the pilot episode as Danson's wife, and there is talk of bringing her back for other episodes. Heck, I hope they give her a fulltime role, as she's one of the most impressive actresses I've seen on TV in a long time. She played one of the best moms on TV, and her occasional role as a judge on The Simpsons always cracked me up.