TV News: Dollhouse Premiere Moved, SCI FI Is Now Syfy, Small Screen Casting News

- Fox has pushed back the Dollhouse fall premiere by one week. The show's second season will now being on September 25. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Cable channel SCI FI has rebranded itself as Syfy, with the tagline "Imagine Greater." A major motivating factor for the new identity is that "sci fi" cannot be trademarked as a brand name. A spokesman at the relaunch event emphasized that the rebrand is intended to make the channel more accessible to a wider, non-sci-fi fan audience. [SCI FI Wire]

- Kal Penn (whose character on House was dramatically and abruptly killed off last season) began his new government career on Monday. Penn is now working for the Obama administration as an associate director with the White House Office of Public Engagement in DC. In this capacity, Penn (who will be using his given name of Kalpen Modi) will serve as a liason between the administration and the arts and the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. [UPI]

- In Desperate Housewives news, Andrea Bowen will be returning to the cast as a regular next season, reprising her role as Susan Mayer's (Teri Hatcher) daughter Julie. Maiara Walsh (Cory in the House) has also been added to the cast as a regular after her two-episode stint last season as Carlos Solis' (Ricardo Chavira) niece and a thorn in Gaby Solis' (Eva Longoria Parker) side. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Prison Break's Wentworth Miller will guest on Law & Order: SVU for one episode next season. Miller will play an NYPD police officer who crosses paths with the show's main characters. [TV Guide]

- Speaking of one-off guest roles, Rumer Willis will join the 90210 crowd for one ep as "a punky lesbian named Gia" who works at the West Beverly High newspaper with some of the main characters. [Los Angeles Times]

- Christian Slater is taking over the lead role in The Forgotten, a new crime drama set to premiere on ABC in late September. Brit actor Rupert Penry-Jones was originally set to play lead character and former lawman Alex Donovan. [TV Guide]

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TV News: Galactica Reunion on 24, De Matteo Is Newest Housewife, Alien Nation Reboot

- The 24 casting news keeps coming. Actor Callum Keith Rennie ("Leoben" from Battlestar Galactica) will join fellow Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff on the upcoming season of the Fox action drama. [SCIFI Wire]

- Emmy Award-winner Drea de Matteo is taking up residence on Wisteria Lane during the sixth season of Desperate Housewives. De Matteo will play the "Italian matriach" of the new family on the block. [Associated Press via MSN]

- Hilary Duff has signed on for a multi-episode stint on The CW's Gossip Girl. Duff will play Vanessa's new roommate, a movie star who enrolls at NYU to get a taste of "normal" life.
[TV Guide]

- SCI FI Channel (which becomes SyFy on July 7) is looking to reinvent the Alien Nation franchise with the help of writer/producer Tim Minear (The X-Files, Angel, Dollhouse). A story about a group of extraterrestrial refugees struggling to integrate on Earth, in the '80s and '90s the original Alien Nation focused on a human police detective and his alien partner and partner's family.  The new series would be set roughly 10 years from now when the "aliens have multiplied to a population of about 3.5 million and would live in their own communities, analogous to the North African ghettos in France." [SCIFI Wire]

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SCI FI Channel Announces Its Comic-Con Panels

SCI FI Channel has released the schedule of panels it will be hosting at San Diego Comic-Con later this month.  The schedule covers a wide range of their original programming and the talent from those shows, including Edward James Olmos and Esai Morales from Battlestar Galactica and Caprica; most of the cast of the newest installment in the Stargate franchise, Stargate Universe; and Sanctuary stars Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne.

Schedule from SCI FI Channel as follows:

Friday, July 24
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Stargate Universe Ballroom 20. A new chapter of the Stargate saga begins with the all-new original series Stargate Universe. Join stars Robert Carlyle, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith and Ming-Na alongside series co-creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper.

11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Ballroom 20. The present meets the past as the makers of Battlestar Galactica deliver the highly anticipated original series Caprica and the two-hour event, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. This is your chance to get the inside scoop on these exciting projects and see two generations of Adamas on stage together for the first time. Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson sit down with Caprica star Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Olmos (Admiral William Adama) to reveal the truth about these two new chapters in the mythology of Battlestar. Moderated by Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times.

3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Eureka Room 6BCF. Eureka is back this summer with all new episodes, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo) and Jaime Paglia (executive producer/co-creator) are stopping by to let you in on the fun. Moderated by Josh Gates, Destination Truth.

8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. SCI FI Screening Room 6DE. See Warehouse 13 and Eureka on the big screen. Join SCI FI for an exclusive screening of the next all-new episodes of the summer's two hottest series, along with best of clips from Ghost Hunters.

[bxA]Saturday, July 25
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Sanctuary Bayside Hilton Indigo Room. Before Sanctuary returns for an all-new season, don't miss your chance to go inside the action and behind the scenes. Join stars Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus) and Robin Dunne (Dr. Will Zimmerman) as well as executive producers Martin Wood and Damian Kindler for an exclusive conversation about one of television's most innovative shows. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Warehouse 13 Room 6A. Join stars Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer), Joanne Kelly (Myka Bering), Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen) and Allison Scagliotti (Claudia Donovan), along with Jack Kenny (executive producer/show runner) and David Simkins (executive producer) as they reveal confidential information about America's most classified secret. Moderated by Michael Logan, TV Guide.

Tickets for San Diego Comic-Con are sold out, but don't forget that Pop Wenches will be live blogging from the event! [SCIFI Wire]

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