The Weekly Round-Up for May 2 to May 6

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

The USA Network Fairly Legal has been renewed for a second season with 13 episodes. But there is rumor that the show could undergo creative changes in the new season.

Lifetime has renewed Army Wives for a sixth season.

Bones has been renewed for a 7th season on FOX.

BBC has confirmed that no more episodes of the popular Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures will be made, but that the six episodes completed WILL be aired. This is due to the shocking and sudden death of series lead Elisabeth Sladen.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Dylan McDermott (The Practice and Dark Blue) has been cast as the male lead in the FX drama pilot American Horror Story from Glee co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. He will star opposite actresses Connie Britton and Jessica Lange. Meanwhile relative newcomer Taissa Farmiga (kid sis of Up in the Air star Vera Farmiga) has been cast as the troubled offspring of Connie Britton and McDermott’s character and actor Evan Peters (Invasion and One Tree Hill) has landed the series regular role of Tate, a patient of McDermott’s character. The cast of this pilot also includes Jessica Lange and Denis O’Hare (True Blood). The premise of this pilot is still under wraps, though.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Casting announcements have been made for the upcoming Hallmark Channel movie called William & Catherine: A Royal Romance, which will debut on August 27 at 9 PM. Jane Alexander will play Queen Elizabeth while Victor Garber (Alias) will play Charles, Prince of Wales and Jean Smart (Samantha Who?) will play Camilla Parker Bowles. It was already announced that newcomer Alice St. Clair will play Catherine (aka Kate) and Dan Armbroyer will play William.

CONDOLENCES

Legendary actor Jackie Cooper passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88. He is best known for his roles as a child actor in the films Skippy and The Champ; but he went on to become a successful TV star in the 1950s, a top television studio executive in the ’60s and an Emmy Award-winning director in the ’70s.

Actress Sada Thompson (the TV series Family) has passed away.

Tony-winning playwright (West Side Story and Gypsy – among others) Arthur Laurents has passed away. He was 93.

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Thompson, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Laurents. Condolences are extended to all of their families, their friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE….

CASTING SCOOP

Actress Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that will be loosely based on the recent Broadway debacle Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. She will play the Julie Taymor-esque director Amanda Reese.

Wrestler-turned actor Big Snow (aka Paul Donald Wight Jr.) will appear in an episode of Burn Notice when it returns on June 23. He will appear as Griffin Black, a low-IQ lowlife who works as a hired hand for more dangerous foes.

Recently retired WWE superstar Edge will visit the Syfy series Haven in the potentially recurring role of Dwight, a longtime resident of the spooky town and close confidant of Luke’s late father. Season 2 of the supernatural series premieres Friday, July 15 at 10 PM.

Actor Jim O’Heir (Parks and Recreation) will pop appear as a rich, tightly wound public figure during the second season of TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles.

Actor Raymond J. Barry (Justified) will show on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, playing the role of dad to Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe).

Actor Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Drop Dead Diva, playing a law student with everything going for him who is about to get married. Then, just before the wedding, his fiancé gets trampled by a bunch of bridezillas at one of those off the rails bridal gown super-sales. Jane (Brooke Elliott) takes their case against the store. The Lifetime series will be back on June 19 at 9 PM.

Actor Seth Gilliam (The Wire) will guest star on the May 17 season finale of The Good Wife as a man on trial for killing a judge.

Actress Molly Ringwald (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Psych, which will be back with new episodes this fall. She will play a nurse at a mental hospital who Shawn suspects is abusing her powers.

Actress Jacqueline Bisset will appear in a multi-episode arc on Rizzoli & Isles, which returns on July 11 at 10 PM on TNT. She will play Constance Isles, Maura’s elegant adoptive mother who is a brilliant art historian. Her first episode will air in early August.

Actor Jonathan Silverman will have a guest appearance in an upcoming episode of White Collar, which returns with all new episodes starting on June 7. He will play a bad guy who is working with a black widow.

NOTE: The weekly calendar and the box office news will appear separately this week.

Have a great weekend!