TV News: 24 Casting News, Dexter

- Fox's 24 has been busy casting for the hit show's eighth season. Freddie Prinze Jr. is joining the cast as Davis Cole, "a recently returned Marine who runs CTU Field Ops and wants to follow in Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) footsteps." Additional 24 casting includes Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) as a Middle East leader, Nazneen Contractor as Kapoor's daughter, Chris Diamantopoulos as the president's new chief of staff, John Boyd as a CTU systems analyst and Jennifer Westfeldt as a journalist. So how many episodes will Prinze last before his character suffers a painful death 24-style? Leave a comment below with your best guess! [Hollywood Reporter]

- Showtime hit Dexter is adding a new regular cast member for its fourth season. Veteran actor John Lithgow will play the Trinity Killer, so named because of his penchant for killing in threes. The Trinity Killer's real name is Walter Simmons, who is "an unassuming, mild-mannered suburbanite who has been living a dual life as one of America's most prolific and deadliest serial killers" and has avoided capture for almost 30 years. [E! Online]

- Right on the heels of Tuesday's Doctor Who news, BBC America announced that it will air the five Doctor Who specials that wrap up David Tennant's stint as the 10th Doctor. The series' Christmas special, "The Next Doctor," will air in the US on June 27 at 9PM. The second special, "Planet of the Dead," will air in July. Air dates and times for the final three specials have not yet been announced. [Variety]

- SCI FI Wire has an exclusive interview with Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) discussing his work on the upcoming BBC/NBC production Merlin. In the reimagined Arthurian legend, Head plays the evil King Uther who rules over Camelot while Merlin and not-yet-king Arthur are still teenagers. Season one of the 13-part drama premieres in the US on June 21 at 8PM on NBC. Season two of the BBC series is already in production. [SCI FI Wire]

- Jay Leno closes out his last week as the host of The Tonight Show with Billy Crystal (who was Leno's first guest when he became the permanent Tonight Show host) and Prince as tonight's guests and incoming Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien and James Taylor on Friday night. Leno has hosted the last night talker since taking over for Johnny Carson in 1992. The comedian's next project will be The Jay Leno Show, a one-hour comedy show for NBC that will air weeknights at 10PM starting in the fall. [NBC.com]