By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist
***
TOP STORIES
• Fox’s The X Factor is undergoing more judging shakeups. Although the reality singing competition added Britney Spears and Demi Lovato this season, judge L.A. Reid is departing the series following the finale.
• Dreams do come true! Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) will host NBC’s Saturday Night Live on Jan. 19.
• In the aftermath of the tragic Newtown, Conn., shooting, TLC wisely delayed the premiere of its one-hour special Best Funeral Ever. Can we rename TLC (The Learning Channel) to NSC (Nothing is Sacred Channel)?
• The third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, debuting March 31, will be bigger (and hopefully better) than ever. All of the 10 episodes will be a little longer than usual, and as co-showrunner Dan Weiss explains, “There’s almost another full episode’s worth of extra minutes spread across the season.”
• Following the success of Pitch Perfect, star Rebel Wilson is set to host the MTV Movie Awards on April 14.
SHOW BIZ
• Director and producer Bryan Singer (Fox’s House M.D.) will develop and executive produce a reboot of The Twilight Zone for CBS. It will be the third TV reboot of the series, which originally aired from 1959 to 1964.
• USA Network’s Psych just got an eighth, and possibly final, season.
• BBC America is embracing its inner nerd: The network ordered a 10-episode season of The Nerdist, a variety and comedy talk show based on Chris Hardwick’s (AMC’s The Talking Dead) podcast and website.
• FX’s The League is back in the game, as the comedy received a fifth season.
• ABC is developing a comedy surrounding the life of Justin Bieber. The pop star will executive produce the series, which is “about a future pop star’s awkward teenage years and his unorthodox family.”
• Martin Scorsese (The Departed) will direct and produce a HBO documentary focusing on former U.S. president Bill Clinton. The film will “explore the perspectives of the country’s 42nd POTUS on history, politics, culture and the world.”
• Starz could have a good drama on its hands: The network is working on Turf, a series about the creation of hip-hop as a result of gang violence in 197os Bronx.
• Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance will dance its way through a 10th season.
• Amazon is working on six new comedies, which are based on pitches received in a recent contest. Once all of the pilots are complete, they will be available on Amazon’s Instant Video service, and viewers can vote for the ones they want to become series. It’s the survival of the fittest — or The Hunger Games of TV shows.
• MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show will return for a second season.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
• File this news under “awesome sauce”: Jason Schwartzman (Moonrise Kingdom) will guest star on an episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation. He will play the owner of Pawnee VideoDome, the city’s video store, which he wants to be labeled a historical landmark.
• Wendell Pierce (HBO’s The Wire and Treme) is joining Michael J. Fox‘s upcoming NBC comedy. Pierce will play Fox’s boss in the untitled series.
• It’s a Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC) reunion! Bradley Whitford will show up on Matthew Perry’s new NBC comedy Go On, and they may or may not be in a hot tub together…
• Julianne Moore will put her Boston accent to use again by making her way to NBC’s 30 Rock. Nancy (Moore) and Jack (Alec Baldwin) forever!
• Ashley Fink, aka Lauren Zizes, is coming back to William McKinley High School. She’ll return for one episode, which airs Jan. 24.
• It’s a Married… with Children reunion, too! David Faustino, who played Ed O’Neill’s son on the FOX sitcom, will appear in an episode of ABC’s Modern Family. However, the two won’t actually share any screentime, as Faustino will portray Claire’s (Julie Bowen) former classmate, whom she runs into at a college reunion.
• In perfect casting news, Rose McGowan (The WB’s Charmed) will depict the younger version of Cora (Barbara Hershey) on ABC’s Once Upon a Time.
• Another player has been added to ABC’s S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot: Chloe Bennet (ABC’s Nashville) will step into the role of Skye, “a confident woman who is slightly obsessed with superhero culture and the shadow organizations that exist within it.”
• After appearing on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother, Abby Elliott (NBC’s Saturday Night Live) will hang out with another crew in a big city by guest starring on ABC’s Happy Endings.
• Out with the old, in with the new: After letting go of Amanda Setton and Stephen Tobolowsky and downgrading Anna Camp to a recurring part, Fox’s The Mindy Project has added Beth Grant, who plays Nurse Beverly, as a series regular.
• In a surprising turn of events, Michael Kors will not be a judge throughout the 11th season of Lifetime’s Project Runway. Instead, fashion designer Zac Posen will take his place.
RUMOR MILL
• Claire Danes (Showtime’s Homeland) and Hugh Dancy (NBC’s Hannibal) welcomed a son, Cyrus Michael Christopher Dancy, Dec. 17. Not only is that child probably beautiful, but you know he has a good cry face.
• In regard to the accusation that several events of Homeland‘s second season were implausible, co-showrunner Alex Gansa responds, “Our first year on the air, honestly, go back and look at some of those episodes. The necklace. The couple buying the house under the airport. It was just as pushed and just as absurd, if you really look at it objectively. This is my theory: It’s the natural urge. We were put on a pedestal this year and all of sudden there is much more intense scrutiny and that natural tendency is like: can we knock someone off the pedestal?”
• Rosie O’Donnell (FX’s Nip/Tuck) may step in for Sharon Osbourne on NBC’s reality competition America’s Got Talent.
• It wouldn’t be “Rumor Mill” without revealing Gossip Girl, right? So long, The CW’s Gossip Girl.
SNEAK PEEK
• Ready for season two of HBO’s Girls? The guys of Girls (Adam Driver, Christopher Abbott, Alex Karpovsky and Andrew Rannells) tease the upcoming season.
• Meanwhile, season two of HBO’s Enlightened returns alongside Girls Jan. 13. This year, Laura Dern has to choose between Luke Wilson and Dermot Mulroney … so it’s pretty much the 2005 film The Family Stone.
• Celebrate the return of ABC’s Revenge with these pics from the Jan. 6 episode!
• With only four episodes left, Fox’s Fringe is preparing for “The Final Battle.”
• Shakira and Usher are ready to take the stage on NBC’s The Voice. Check out the promo for season four.
FRIDAY FUN
• Charlie Brown as FX’s Louie makes so much sense. Happy holidays from two of TV’s saddest everymen!