ABC, NBC pilots set '80s invasion

ABC has given a pilot order to a new take on NBC's 1980s miniseries about an alien invasion. Meanwhile, NBC's comedy pilot "Lost in the '80s," originally picked up as director-contingent, has firmed up its order with the hire of "Confessions of a Shoaholic" helmer P.J. Hogan. Full story

'Trauma' makes two NBC medical pilots

NBC is serious about finding a successor to departing medical drama "ER." A day after the network greenlighted "Mercy," an hourlong pilot about the lives of three nurses, it handed out a director-contingent pilot order to another medical drama, "Trauma." Full story

ABC, NBC pick up drama pilots

Three modern-day witches and three hospital nurses have entered the fall 2009 fray as ABC and NBC handed out pilot orders to dramas "Eastwick" and "Mercy," respectively. Full story

Kurt Fuller joins NBC's 'Legally Mad' pilot

Kurt Fuller has joined the cast of David E. Kelley's hourlong pilot for NBC's "Legally Mad" and has been tapped for a three-episode arc on the CW's "Supernatural." In addition, Assaf Cohen has been added to USA Network's 90-minute pilot "Operating Instructions." Full story

Tony Robbins heads to NBC

NBC has teamed with "The Biggest Loser" producer Reveille for a new unscripted project starring self-help guru Tony Robbins. The network has ordered a pilot presentation from the life transformation show, which will feature Robbins helping people in distress -- some who are just down on their luck to others who suffer from personality disorders. Full story

Two for NBC's 'Lost & Found'

Josh Cooke has been tapped to co-star in NBC's drama pilot "Lost & Found," which Michael Engler has come aboard to direct. Meanwhile, Jessica St. Clair has joined ABC's midseason comedy series "In the Motherhood" as a regular. "Lost & Found," from Wolf Films and UMS, centers on Tessa (Katee Sackhoff), an offbeat LAPD detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment to the basement to work on John and Jane Doe cases. Full story

Joan Cusack's TV queue adds two

Joan Cusack has lined up two TV projects, developing a comedy at NBC set in the world of psychiatry and starring opposite Mae Whitman in the Lifetime original movie "Acceptance." The NBC project, which she is co-creating with the network and Universal Media Studios, will be based on an original idea of Cusack's. John Markus ("The Larry Sanders Show") is serving as writer/executive producer, while Cusack will produce with Julie Yen. Full story

NBC orders competitive dance show

NBC is putting some Olympic-style competition back in primetime with a new dance series from the producers of "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance." The reality program will feature professional dancers from eight countries exhibiting different performance styles. "Lord of the Dance" Michael Flatley will host, and Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller will executive produce. Full story

Hilary Duff flocks to the Peacock

NEW YORK -- Hilary Duff will soon become a fixture on NBC. The former Lizzie McGuire has signed a talent and development deal with NBC. The network said it will come up with a new series for Duff to star in, though it offered no details on what that might be. n addition, the network said Friday that Duff will appear as a guest in several other NBC series over the next year, but there were no details. Full story

'Positions' for Jim Herzfeld, NBC

"Meet the Parents" and "Meet the Fockers" co-writer Jim Herzfeld is returning to his sitcom roots with "Changing Positions," a multicamera comedy project at NBC that shares some similarities with "Fockers." Produced by UMS and Dutch Oven, "Positions" centers on a Wall Street guy in his late 30s who loses everything and is forced, along with his wife and their teen kids, to move in with his parents -- a wealthy, very sexually active couple in their mid 50s who live in a large compound in the Hollywood Hills after amassing a fortune making (and starring in) instructional sex videos in the 1980s when they also invented the "standing O" position. Full story