Channel Surfing: Edie Britt to Leave Wisteria Lane, Getty Not Gone for Good on "Brothers & Sisters," Glau Discovers "Big Bang Theory," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Edie Britt will leave Wisteria Lane at the end of the season. Nichollette Sheridan's rep confirmed to Extra that the actress will depart ABC's Desperate Housewives after the current season. "Yes, [it's] confirmed," said Sheridan's rep. "Nicollette had a great time on the show and is looking forward to her next project." (Extra)

Balthazar Getty is not leaving ABC's Brothers & Sisters for good, according to co-showrunner Alison Schapker, who says that the actor will leave Los Angeles in the nineteenth episode but return before the season finale. "Balthazar is taking time off from the show right now because we felt that character was really on a downward spiral and you see him really go on it," said Schapker. "In almost trying to be his dad, he's destroyed by it, and he has lost everything by the end of the year. Tommy is in no way permanently gone. This is just the logical end to this year's story. What we'd like to do is bring him back next year in a different way." (Los Angeles Times)

ABC handed out greenlights to six comedy pilots, including Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) and Courteney Cox's Cougar Town, about a 40-something mom with a 17-year-old son; an untitled Kelsey Grammer comedy from Warner Bros. written by Tucker Cawley (Everybody Loves Raymond) about a former Wall Street hotshot who loses his job and returns to his hometown; Dreamworks and ABC Studios' The Law, starring Cedric the Entertainer, about LAPD reserve police officers; multi-camera ensemble comedy Canned, from writer/executive producer Kevin Etten and ABC Studios, about a group of friends who all lose their jobs on the same day received a showrunner-contingent order; Planet Lucy, based on the Fiona Neill novel "Slummy Mummy," about an accident-prone woman who tries to raise three kids while attempting to reclaim who she was before motherhood from writer Gaby Allen and executive producer Jamie Tarses, received a cast-contingent pilot presentation order; and an untitled comedy strring Christian comedian Anita Renfro, from Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount and writer/executive producers Rob Hanning and Amy Welsh, which received a pilot presentation order. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter)

CBS ordered a pilot for crime procedural I Witness, from writer/executive producers Pam Veasey and Trey Callaway (CSI: NY) and CBS Paramount Network Television, about a former professor-turned-detective who uses her "psycho-physiological skills" to solve crimes. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere at the Eye, pilot orders went out to medical drama The Eastmans, from writer/executive producer Margaret Nagle (Side Order of Life) and Warner Bros. TV, about a family of doctors, and romantic drama Confessions of a Contractor, from writer/executive producer Richard Murphy, EXPs Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Jeff Okin, and Paul Green, and 20th Century Fox Television, about a successful contractor. (Hollywood Reporter)

USA has canceled romantic dramedy The Starter Wife and said in a statement that the series' December 12th season finale would serve as a "satisfying conclusion" to the series. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Pilot helmer alert: Alex Graves (Fringe) will direct NBC's sci fi drama pilot Day One; Gary Fleder (October Road) will direct ABC's two-hour supernatural mystery pilot Happy Town; Mark Tinker (Private Practice) will direct Shonda Rhimes' ABC pilot Inside the Box; and Marc Buckland (My Name is Earl) will direct ABC's untitled Tad Quill comedy pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Alex O'Loughlin (Moonlight) will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS' Criminal Minds, in which he'll play a serial killer. O'Loughlin's episode is slated to air in April. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

BBC One has commissioned a sixth season of drama Hustle and expects to return the series to the air in 2010. Hustle's current season, which featured Adrian Lester, Robert Vaughn, Robert Glenister, Kelly Adams, and Matt Di Angelo, wraps today in the UK. "We are really pleased with the way that series five has been received, it's always difficult to maintain a drama's following when you've been off air for a period of time," said Hustle creator Tony Jordan. "Having a fabulous actor like Adrian Lester back in the fold has really helped. I've already got some great ideas for series six, so I can't wait to get cracking on the scripts." (BBC)

Elsewhere at the Beeb, Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Brian Cox, Eddie Izzard, Jason Priestley, and Vanessa Redgrave have been cast in mini-series The Day of the Triffids, based on John Wyndham's 1951 novel, which was previous adapted for television in 1981. Mini, from Power, will air later this year on BBC. (Variety)

ABC has quietly renewed reality dating franchise The Bachelor for another season, the franchise's fourteenth, and has begun casting on the next installment. (TV Week)

The Bachelor will also get an extra hour this season as ABC has announced that it has ordered a one-hour special, which will air the night after the season finale. It's going to be shocking," said creator Mike Fleiss. "The end of this series is the best we've every had." (Hollywood Reporter)

Comic legend Carol Burnett will guest star on an episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where she will play a former prima ballerina who becomes enmeshed in the murder of a young couple. Burnett's episode is slated to air March 17th. (via press release)

You can't fight synergy: Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) will guest star as herself in an upcoming episode of CBS' The Big Bang Theory, set to air March 9th, in which Leonard, Sheldon, Wolowitz, and Raj discover Glau is traveling aboard their train to San Francisco. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.