Time for a TV news round-up now…..“Masters of Sex,” the upcoming Showtime series starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, looks to have bagged itself a new recurring cast-member. Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Bridesmaids”) already has established a recurring role in “Rules of Engagement” and more recently “Modern Family,” but she’s now set to do the same in "Masters of Sex" in which she’ll play the only female doctor in a male-dominated hospital, who will also serve as both a competitor and mentor for Lizzy Caplan’s character. Showtime have already given the show a 12-episode order, with it due to debut later this year on September 29th.
After being granted a stay of execution by AMC, “The Killing” is gearing up for a third 12-episode season with production due to get underway in Vancouver next month. With a couple of notable cast members including Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton not returning, the show will need to add a few new faces, and the first of those will be Elias Koteas. The Canadian actor will star as the ex-partner of homicide detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos), a well-respected and intense cop with a secret. The third series will focus on the investigation into the disappearance of another teen girl, but this time the mystery will be resolved over the course of the single season.
Good news for Rob Corddry. He’s bagged the lead role in ABC’s new single-camera comedy pilot, “Spy.” The pilot is based on a British television show of the same name which aired on Sky1, and bagged its lead actor Darren Boyd a BAFTA and a British Comedy Award for his performance in the same role. "Spy" will focus on Corddry’s Tim, a well-intentioned father of a highly intelligent son who also happens to be his complete opposite, prompting him to inadvertently take a job at the Secret Service in order to prove his worth as a father. Corddry has had a lot of success with Adult Swim’s “Childrens Hospital,” had three films at Sundance earlier this month, and will soon be seen in a key role alongside Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer in “Warm Bodies.”
And finally, following on from the recent success of the History Channel’s three-part miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys,” starring Bill Paxton and Kevin Costner, NBC will try and replicate that success after giving a pilot order to the identically titled but relocated to the modern-day “Hatfields & McCoys.” The drama has been created by “Eagle Eye” scribe John Glenn and will be produced by Charlize Theron and ABC Studios. A development deal for the show was struck last June after History’s show averaged 13.8 million viewers over its three nights, and the now ordered pilot is set to take place in Pittsburgh where a startling death will re-ignite the old feud between the two titular families. The show is being developed at the same time that History are developing their own reality series which will feature descendants of the two families.