In Tonight’s Performance, Jeremy Piven Will Look A Lot Like William H. Macy

· Broadway and Dan in Real Life star Norbert Leo Butz and William H. Macy have swooped in to save Speed-the-Plow, following Jeremy Piven’s abrupt departure due to an acute case of eight-shows-a-week-is-really-putting-a-damper-on-my-skank-banging-schedule-itis. [Variety]

· HBO has gone on a buying spree, picking up two more comedies—How to Make It in America, and Bored to Death, a hipster-noir starring Jason Schwartzman—hot on the heels of their Hung order. Cocaine Cowboys, meanwhile, from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, got a greenlight. There’s a joke about coke-dick in there somewhere, but we were raised better than that. [THR]
· Are you going into Cheno-withdrawal anticipating the final Pushed Daisy? She’s already lined up her next TV gig: co-starring in David E. Kelley’s new NBC drama, Legally Mad. She plays Skippy Pylon, “a brilliant but not entirely well attorney who is relentlessly cheerful with flashes of psychosis and often is mistaken for a teenager.” We’ve always thought Gloria Allred: The Early Years would make a great drama, and now we’re justified.
· The Newlywed Game has been resurrected by GSN, offering a “modern take” on the whoopie-making-quiz classic. Don’t worry, gay-marrieds. We have a feeling there’s a place for you at this table, too. [THR]
· Allen Shapiro has plunked down $US255 million for the TV Guide Network, which has “The Lisa Rinna Show” and “ponzi scheme” written all over it. [Variety]
· Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow has dropped out as The Green Hornet’s director “over creative differences,” but will still play Kato. [Variety]