TV News: "Lost" and "Scrubs" Casting News, Locklear Returns to "Melrose Place?"

- Well that didn't take long! Hot on the heels of the leak of a character description for a new Lost character, it was announced today that actor John Hawkes will be joining the show as the recurring character Lennon. The casting side described the character as "the spokesman/translator for the president of a foreign corporation" who's "far more powerful than his lowly position would seem to indicate." Hawkes is a veteran of shows including Deadwood and Eastbound & Down. [TV Guide]

- The three new regulars who will play the next generation of Scrubs doctors have been cast.  Dave Franco (yes, he's James Franco's younger brother and has also starred in Greek and Privileged), Michael Mosley (The Proposal) and Kerry Bishé (Virtuality) will be the new med students under the tutelage of series veterans Donald Faison and John C. McGinley. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Speaking of Scrubs, congrats to actress Sarah Chalke and her fiancé, who recently announced that they are expecting their first child! [People]

- Heather Locklear may return to Melrose Place. The erstwhile Amanda Woodward is now in talks to reprise her role on the rebooted series, which now stars Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. Several of Locklear's fellow cast members from the original series have also signed on, including Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett and Daphne Zuniga. [TV Guide]

- Syfy has reupped their new original series Warehouse 13, ordering a 13-episode second season of of the show. Evidently Warehouse 13 is the most-watched show in the channel's history.  [Variety]

- In some groan-worthy tv news, ABC is looking to turn both the '80s "Brat Pack" movie St. Elmo's Fire and the novel The Time Traveler's Wife into television series. A feature film version of The Time Traveler's Wife was, of course, was released into theaters last weekend.  Click here to read Pop Wench Radhika's review of the movie. [TV Guide and MTV.com]

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TV News: Gina Torres Gets "Gossip"-y, Lots of "Idol" Guest Judges, Marsters to Terrorize "Caprica"

- Gina Torres (who has, of course, appeared in everything from The Matrix Revolutions to Firefly to Angel) is joining the cast of Gossip Girl next season.  Torres will play Gabriela Abrams, whose daughter is the home-schooled Vanessa, in two eps next season but will have a recurring role throughout the series. [TV Guide]

- In the wake of Paula Abdul's departure, a whole slew of celebrities have been announced as guest judges on the upcoming season of American Idol. Confirmed guest judges to date include Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Katy Perry and Shania Twain. Why is it that only two of these judges have had respected music careers for more than a couple of years? [US Magazine]

- Oliver Stone and Showtime have announced that the controversial director will helm and narrate a 10-part documentary series titled Secret History of America. The series will revolve around events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history of the last 60 years"—events including the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, the Kennedy administration, the origins of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and America's changing role on the global scene since the fall of Communism.  The series is set to debut on Showtime in 2010. [Hollywood Reporter]

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- TNT has extended the summer leg of Leverage's second season by two episodes, one of which features Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Shark) in a guest starring role. It has yet to be seen if TNT will order up additional eps of the Timothy Hutton-starring drama, since this announcement leaves only six episodes on order for the winter half of the show's season. [TV Guide]

- James Marsters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame (also Angel, Smallville and Torchwood) will join the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica, during its freshman season on SyFy. According to EW's Michael Ausiello, Marsters will play Barnabus Greeley, "a dangerous terrorist leader . . . driven by desires both moralistic and carnal," for at least three episodes. [Entertainment Weekly]

- Michael Ausiello also shared another juicy bit of news— a casting side for a new, recurring Lost character. The search is on for a mid-30s to late-50s actor to play Lennon, who is described as:

Scruffy, edgy, charismatic, and slightly stir-crazy, Lennon can be deferential when it's called for. He's the spokesperson/ translator for the president of a foreign corporation. He's a wily negotiator, and far more powerful than his lowly position would seem to indicate.

I'm guessing Lennon is a translator for Sun's father, who is the head of Paik Heavy Industries. Do you agree or do you have another guess? [Entertainment Weekly]

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ABC Puts Out Call for Original LOST Theme Song

Aspiring musicians, songwriters and Losties have been invited to create the "ideal" LOST theme song in a new contest from ABC. The winner's song will be used in a "mock main title sequence" in a video that will be shown at San Diego Comic-Con in a couple of weeks.

LOST panels at Comic-Con have an established track record of surprises -- such as exclusive video clips that further the show's mythology and unannounced appearances by show stars like Harold Perrineau ("Michael Dawson) and Matthew Fox ("Dr. Jack Shephard") -- so the winning music will most likely debut at this year's panel and not in the dealer's room. The LOST panel is held in the main convention hall which holds close to 7,000 people (and I can vouch that the hall is always packed to the gills during the LOST presentation).

The music track must not be more than 60 seconds in length and, according to the official rules, will be judged on originality, musical talent, "coolness" and "Jacob"-worthiness. The submission deadline is July 16 and the contest is open to US residents only. For more information, visit the official contest site. [ABC.COM]

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TV News: Spielberg Pursuing Wylie, Exec Producer Talks Flash Forward, More Monaghan Rumors

- According to EW's Michael Ausiello, Steven Spielberg wants Librarian and ER alum Noah Wylie to star in his upcoming alien-invasion pilot, a project that was announced at the TNT upfronts. The show would be set six months after evil alien forces overwhelm Earth, and Wylie would be "the leader of a ragtag group of citizens who try to bring down the aggressors." [Entertainment Weekly]

- Marc Guggenheim, executive producer for the fall sci-fi drama Flash Forward wants fans to know that the new series won't drive them nuts for years the way Lost has. Flash Forward "begins when every person on Earth blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, during which time each as a vision of his or her future six months from now."  The ABC show boasts an impressive cast including Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Courtney B. Vance.  Click here to read the interview with Guggenheim. [SCI FI Wire]

- Speaking of Flash Forward and Lost, after the rampant speculation sparked by an ABC promo, the latest rumors have Dominic Monaghan joining the cast of Flash Forward a couple of eps into the show's first season and possibly making a return to Lost as the erstwhile Charlie Pace. [E! Online]

- A&E has officially cancelled The Beast, the gritty cop drama starring Patrick Swayze. Swayze has earned kudos throughout the industry for delivering a hard-nosed portrayal of the lead character while battling pancreatic cancer in real life. [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- The One Tree Hill role that was originally intended for Brian Austin Green has gone to Robert Buckley (Lipstick Jungle) after a deal with the 90210 alum couldn't be reached. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Primeval, a UK-produced show that airs on SciFi in States, has been cancelled after three seasons. [SCI FI Wire]

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TV News: Digital TV Transition Looms, Colbert Overseas, Monaghan Returns?

- President Barack Obama is encouraging Americans who haven't prepared for the June 12 shift to digital TV to take action before the deadline hits. Consumers who use television sets that rely on an antenna to receive a signal need to purchase a converter box or sign up for cable or satellite television before the 12th. [Reuters via Yahoo! News]

- Stephen Colbert is "going commando" for four days, broadcasting The Colbert Report from Iraq starting tonight and ending Thursday. Colbert will be "Bob Hoping" (his words) during the week, with 450 US troops in the audience each night. [ColbertNation.com]

- Cashing on the recent interest in "cougars," ABC's All My Children will pair up Dancing with the Stars alums Susan Lucci (Erica Kane) and Cameron Mathison (Ryan Lavery) this summer. Of course, this doesn't tell AMC fans whether Mathison will be taking his shirt off more often as a result . . . [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- Speaking of DWTS alums, this season's runner-up Gilles Marini will play a potential love interest for Rachel Griffiths' character, Sarah Walker, next season in a multi-episode arc on ABC's Brothers and Sisters. Marini can also be found on the small screen in 2010 in a villianous, multi-ep arc for nip/tuck's final season. [Variety][E! Online]

- Lost fans were buzzing this weekend over a new ABC promo featuring Dominic Monaghan, who played the doomed Charlie Pace on the hit supernatural drama. In the promo, Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey jokingly tells Monaghan "you're so dead" during a foosball game, to which Monaghan replies, "Actually, I was." Turns out that the Lord of the Rings star won't be returning to Lost, but will be joining a different ABC drama as a full-time, regular cast member. The network won't release the name of the show yet, but speculation abounds. Watch the promo below and then cast your vote to tell us what show you think Monaghan is joining. [E! Online]

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