Remember back in February when we told you that Edie Falco was signed for a new dark situation comedy from Showtime about a harried nurse?

Well, they've started filming the show in New York and given it a tentative title, Nurse Jackie. What's more, the cast surrounding Edie includes some familiar faces.

Nurse Jackie will have a boyfriend and he will be played by Paul Schulze. The name may not be familiar, but the face sure is. Paul was Father Phil on The Sopranos, the priest who spent a lot of time with Carmella and had her thinking they were going to replay The Thornebirds.

On this Showtime series, he's Eddie and he works in the hospital in the pharmacy. That's important because reportedly Edie's character has a problem with drugs.

What's this, she's a female House? Could she be popping Vicodin as prodigiously as he does? Could anyone?

Other actors in the pilot are West Wing veteran Anna Deavere Smith as a hospital administrator, Mrs. Akalitus, Merritt Wever (NCIS) as Zoey, a young nurse working with Jackie, and Haaz Sleiman (Veronica Mars) a gay Muslim nurse.

The original scoop compared this comedy to Weeds, in particular, the way it's going to be filmed and the satiric tone. The latest bit also includes more about Jackie's character, saying that she "has an almost-clairvoyant ability to figure out what's wrong with her patients even before doctors can -- making her a much-sought-after commodity in the ER."

Caryn Mandabach, an experienced, Emmy-award winning showrunner, is executive producing. Her credits include Grounded for Life, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That '70s Show and The Cosby Show.

If Showtime likes what they produce, Nurse Jackie -- or whatever it's finally called -- could be on the air in Spring 2009, maybe sooner. Considering the quality of the talent, I think we'll see it sooner rather than later.