Casting Couch: Showtime Locks Three for Two Pilots

Showtime certainly isn't stuck in the weeds.

Cabler, which recently unveiled new series Dexter and announced its intention to make all eight hours of its upcoming second season of Sleeper Cell (entitled Sleeper Cell: American Terror) available on VOD the same day as its premiere, has cast three actors in two of its new pilots.

Peter Facinelli (Fastlane, Six Feet Under) and Beth Riesgraf (MTV's Undressed, and a.k.a. the future Mrs. Jason Lee) have been cast in drama pilot Insatiable, where they will play a husband and wife who are both named Sandy who were former Olympic figure skaters. Facinelli's Sandy will be an abrasive yet handsome jock who is confined to a wheelchair following a car accident, while Riesgraf's Sandy will be a recovering alcholic who is oblivious to her husband's cruelty and extramarital affairs. Series is set in a small town where everyone suffers from some form of addiction.

Meanwhile, Paul Hipp (Carnivale, Three Sisters) has been cast in the Darren Star-adapted US version of British series Manchild, where he'll play a married father who works at an ad agency. Like the UK version, this series will revolve around four male friends in their forties who are all suffering--not from addiction in this case--but from mid-life crises.