Casting Couch: Toni Collette Travels to "United States"

Talk about a casting coup.

Showtime has cast Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) in comedy pilot The United States of Tara, from executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Diablo Cody (Juno).

Collete will play the titular character, a wife and mother who suffers from severe dissociative identity disorder, in the dark comedy.

Series would revolve around Tara and her working class husband and children as she attempts to deal with her multiple personalities, which include a teenage girl and an adult male biker, that emerge during times of stress.

"When you're casting a show that requires an actress to not only play one complex character but in this case several, the road begins and ends with Toni Collette," said Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt of the casting.

To me, this project just got a hell of a lot more interesting now that my favorite girl from Porpoise Spit got involved with it.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown (CW; 8-10 pm); 20/20 (ABC); Next Great American Band (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: Moonlight (CBS); Friday Night Lights (NBC); Women's Murder Club (ABC)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); Las Vegas (NBC); Men in Trees (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8-11 pm: BBC America.

If you happen to be staying in after a long work week, why not do it in true Anglophile style with back-to-back episodes of The Office, Little Britain, Absolutely Fabulous, Mighty Boosh, and Catherine Tate Show?