Channel Surfing: Psych Has a Twin Peaks Experience, HBO Orders Apatow/Dunham Pilot, SNL, Modern Family Casts Cam's Mom, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

I'm not even a Psych fan and this made me blissfully happy. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that USA's Psych is staging a Twin Peaks-inspired episode that will also feature original cast members Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn, Dana Ashbrook, Catherine Coulson, Ray Wise, Lenny Von Dohlen, and Robyn Lively. Um, yes please. The episode, co-written by series star James Roday, will air sometime this fall and will revolve around "a quirky Northern California town that has been rocked by the death of a high school student." Sound familiar? Coulson will even play a "mysterious Woman with Wood," a tongue-in-cheek take on her Log Lady from Twin Peaks. Sign me up. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO has given a pilot order to an untitled comedy written/directed by 24-year-old Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture) and executive produced by Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner. Project, which will also star Dunham, revolves around "the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20's" and will feature autobiographical elements from Dunham's own life. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Parks and Recreation leading lady Amy Poehler will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 25th, with Katy Perry serving as musical guest. Season 36 has added four new players to the mix, including Taran Killam, Paul Brittain, Vanessa Bayer, and Jay Pharoah (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

[Editor: Will Forte, as widely reported, will not be returning to SNL this season. Jenny Slate, who made headlines for the F-bomb heard 'round the latenight world, is also "not expected to return," according to Variety's Michael Schneider.]

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Celia Weston (Desperate Housewives) has beat out Delta Burke, Dianne Wiest, and Kathy Bates (along with others) to play Barb Tucker, the mother of Emmy Award winner Eric Stonestreet's Cam, on ABC's Modern Family. Weston is expected to turn up around the holidays for a visit this season. (TV Guide Magazine)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Alan Ritchson will reprise his role as Arthur "AC" Curry on the final season of the CW's Smallville during November sweeps. "AC was last seen in season 8, when his secret identity was discovered by LuthorCorp," writes Ausiello. "I’m told the Justice Leaguer will resurface in this season’s ninth episode." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

MTV is getting back into the live daytime game with new daily countdown show The Seven, according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd, who reports that the show, which will launch September 27th, "presents seven stories that MTV viewers need to know, from Hollywood news, music, sex and fashion to other topics." Project, which will also feature interviews and musical performances, will be executive produced by Steve Tseckares. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Nevins has announced his first piece of development business since he took over as president of Showtime. The project in question is an adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel "The Wishbones," which Perrotta himself will adapt for the pay cabler. Warner Bros. Television-based project, which will be executive produced by Perrotta and John Wells, revolves around a small-time wedding band with plans of rock n' roll stardom. Wells is no stranger to Showtime: his next series, a US adaptation of UK drama Shameless, is set to launch early next year on the channel. [Editor: Having seen the pilot for the US Shameless--twice, no less--and been raving about it for months since, this is one to keep an eye on.] (Variety)

Don't look for Marc Cherry to pull out the stops this sweeps on ABC's Desperate Housewives. Cherry told TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck that the soap will get back to basics this season and ditch the gimmicks. "I'm not doing another big gimmicky natural disaster this year; I'm trying something different," Cherry said. "My big cliffhanger right before we take our Christmas break will have to do with Paul Young. He has a plan for destroying the neighborhood. There will a shocking cliffhanger that effects everyone's lives, and then right before February sweeps, we're going to kill off one of our characters." (TV Guide Magazine)

HBO has acquired rights to Martin Scorsese's documentary Public Speaking, which focuses on writer Fran Lebowitz and which will air on the pay cabler in November. (via press release)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that FOX's Bones will feature an episode that's loosely inspired by dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance, as Booth and Brennan tackle a case involving street performers. Episode will feature a guest appearance from So You Think You Can Dance Season Four runner-up Stephen "tWitch" Boss, who will play a murder suspect. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has renewed culinary competition series Masterchef for a second season. (Variety)

Despite the rumors swirling that Simon Cowell will step down from the UK X-Factor in order to focus his attention on the upcoming US launch of the format, his reps have told The Hollywood Reporter that "no decision has been made." (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: David Tennant Crowned "Rex" for NBC, Naveen Andrews to Guest on "Law & Order: SVU," Ramsay Brings "Masterchef" to US, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Looks like the TARDIS has deposited the Doctor on our shores. Outbound Doctor Who star David Tennant has signed on to topline NBC's legal dramedy pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. Tennant, who departs from Doctor Who at the end of the year, will play the titular character, Rex Alexander, a Chicago lawyer who suffers from crippling panic attacks who begins coaching his clients on how to represent themselves in court. Project, from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun, is written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson and will be directed by David Semel, who executive produces with Barry Schindel, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun, and Gene Stein. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lost's Naveen Andrews will guest star on an upcoming episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Details on his role are being kept firmly under wraps, though it's known that his episode is slated to air in January. (TVGuide.com)

FOX has ordered roughly twelve to fifteen episodes of a US adaptation of British culinary competition series Masterchef from Reveille, One Potato Two Potato, and executive producer Gordon Ramsay, who will likely also appear on the series, possibly as its host. The format is still under discussion but it's thought to likely resemble the Australian version of Masterchef more than the BBC version of the series; hundreds of amateur chefs are invited to audition for a slot on the series which then becomes an American Idol-style elimination-based competition. (Variety, Broadcast)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams interviews V star Scott Wolf about his role on ABC's new iteration of the classic 1980s mini-series. "When we meet him and see his first encounter with [Anna], the leader of the Visitors, he's put in a position where he's forced to either give up the opportunity of a lifetime or compromise himself in a deep way," said Wolf of his character Chad. "You come to understand why Chad is wired the way he is. On the surface, Chad is not necessarily the best guy. He's very ambitious, but I think the thing that makes him really complicated and fun to play is that he's ambiguous. There's a sense that he's a little up for grabs. In a larger way, he represents an idea, in terms of how much faith should be placed in our media figures. It asks the question: Is that a good idea? Or is it potentially dangerous?" (TVGuide.com)

Mark Mylod (Shameless) has will direct the pilot of the US adaptation of British drama series Shameless for Showtime, Warner Horizon, and executive producer John Wells. (William H. Macy is attached to star.) Elsewhere, Clark Johnson (Lights Out, The Wire) will direct TNT drama pilot Delta Blues, which is executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov and hails from Warner Horizon as well. (Hollywood Reporter)

Both projects hail from Warner Bros. TV and its cable division Warner Horizon.

Jim Belushi, Diane English, and Barry Levinson have teamed up to develop a drama project that would star Belushi as a defense attorney based on the real-life lawyer Mickey Sherman. Project, currently being packaged by ICM, has yet to be pitched to studios or networks. (Variety)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has broken her vow of silence about the Heroes cast member who is getting the axe this season on the NBC drama series. Said actor only found out about the character demise by reading about it in a script... (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TNT's run of Season One of Southland could feature bonus, never-before-seen footage that had been cut out of NBC's broadcasts. "It’s my understanding that the actual episodes will have more airtime on TNT, so I believe they will be going back in and [adding] content," series star Michael Cudlitz told Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "They’ll have the opportunity, and, in my opinion the need, to open up the [initial seven] episodes a little bit." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC will produce two additional episodes of reality series Shark Tank using already shot footage, bringing the total of unaired episodes in its stash to five installments. It's unclear when ABC will air these episodes or if the network plans to renew the series for a second season. (Variety)

HBO is developing a telepic based on Steve Knopper's nonfiction book "Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age," about the rise and crash of the US recording industry from the 1970s to the present day. Victoria Stewart is attached to adapt and Bob Cooper will executive produce. (Hollywood Reporter)

Robert Wagner has been cast as the father of Michael Weatherley's Tony DiNozzo on the 150th episode of CBS' NCIS, set to air in January. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedian Tom Papa will host NBC's upcoming reality series The Marriage Ref, from executive producer Jerry Seinfeld. Series, which is slated to air in midseason, has couples involved in marital disputes "present their case to a panel of comedians and celebrities." (Hollywood Reporter)

Kathy Griffin will host ABC reality competition series Let's Dance, in which celebrities will perform famous pop dance routines. The series, from FremantleMedia North America, is set to launch Monday, November 23rd at 9:30 pm. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Fisher Stevens has been cast in a potentially recurring role on ABC's Ugly Betty, where he will play Mr. Z., Betty’s "dry, sarcastic new landlord." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stay tuned.