Dayton, Ohio is about 500 miles from the northern Mississippi boarder. In terms of dialect, it's even further, according to Dayton native Allison Janney. Janney was on 'Good Day LA' (weekdays, 7AM PT on FOX) to talk about her new movie 'The Help,' and the Mississippi accent she had to wrangle for the role of Charlotte.

Janney noted she was at least from the southern part of Ohio. "I love working on accents," she said. "We had a great dialect coach who went down ahead of time and recorded like thirty women's voices, and I got to pick. I'd listen to them and go, that sounds like Charlotte."

The voice she wound up choosing was the mother of one of the film's producers. "I loved the way she said, 'Skeetah!'" she said. "I just loved it." Anyone can do a generic southern accent, but there are specific regionalisms, and Janney was sensitive to that. "They don't cotton to bad Hollywood southern accents," she said. Especially if they are your producer's mother.

Andy Cohen snuck a "Christmas in July" theme in just under the wire Sunday on 'Watch What Happens Live' (Thursdays and Sundays, 11PM on Bravo), decorating the set with a Christmas tree, garlands and a Santa hat on a Snoopy statue. In keeping with the theme, Cohen played a game he called "Ghosts of Christmas Past" with guests Allison Janney and John Benjamin Hickey, with an assist from Julie Chen.

Chen asked the guests questions, and they had to hold up a paddle showing either "true" or "false." It got personal when Chen asked if Hickey had ever dated Cohen. Hickey stumbled over his answer. "Is there an in between?" he asked, and then held up "false." Chen confirmed it was actually true.

(S03E02) In its third season, 'In Plain Sight' has become one of the best dramas on cable. In a pool that includes 'Mad Men,' 'Burn Notice,' 'Breaking Bad' and 'Justified,' to name a few, that's some damn good company.

Granted, 'In Plain Sight' isn't as lofty as some of those others, but the characters are sharp, the writing is excellent for this genre, and it's a show that you can look forward to watching each week. Try saying that about some network dramas. More on tonight's episode and remembering when Hello, Kitty rings were cute, after the jump.

Spring is definitely on the way, and not just because we'll be spring forward with the clocks this weekend. No, it's on TV that spring is busting out all over. 'Army Wives' is returning with a new season, 'Glee' is coming back to finish this season, even 'Friday Night Lights' will finally commence on NBC -- after already having a complete run on DirecTV. One of the premieres that's got me intrigued is the March 31st 'In Plain Sight' on USA Network.

Last night during 'Burn Notice,' there were promos for 'In Plain Sight' and it got my heart pumped just to hear Mary McCormack's voice again. Hooray, Mary's back. And so is 'In Plain Sight,' one of the most improved series on cable in its sophomore run last season. The new season kicks off on March 31 on USA Network, and 'In Plain Sight's' lined up some big stars as guests.

The top of the list is Allison Janney. They're not saying if it's more than a single episode -- here's hoping -- but Allison will be a playing a "newly appointed U.S. Marshal who clashes with Mary." If you remember Janney and McCormack in the last couple of seasons of 'The West Wing,' this should be a great reunion.

You could say that most people's interest in a new comedy from Friends' star Matthew Perry called Mr. Sunshine, would be pretty high. He's a popular actor. Friends was a popular show. People reacted favorably to Courteney Cox's new comedy Cougar Town... You see where I'm going here.

Well, the interest meter just moved up considerably because West Wing Emmy-winner Allison Janney will co-star with Matthew in Mr. Sunshine. Mr. Sunshine is an ABC pilot they'll be filming, and it's about a guy who reaches his 40th birthday and wonders if he can continue just getting by on his charm and nonchalant style.

Mr. Sunshine is set in San Diego, where Perry's character manages an aging stadium. Janney is playing Crystal Cohen, the lady in charge of the place. That's right; she's Matthew's boss.

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actresses of the decade.

Television has always been good to the ladies. Actresses have flourished in dramatic series, and in the past decade, we've seen some amazing performances. There have been lawyers, cops, a U.S. president, nurses, doctors, judges, mothers, daughters and even a real housewife from New Jersey whose husband was in the waste disposal business.

Many of these women have already been honored with Emmys and Golden Globes... and now they get the recognition of TV Squad.

Here, then, without further vamping, the best dramatic actresses of the past ten years:

The cast is quickly coming together for the upcoming Showtime adaptation of 'Shameless.'

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that actress Emmy Rossum will star in the drama series, opposite William H. Macy. She'll play 18-year-old Fiona, who must care for her five younger siblings while her mother is AWOL and her father (Macy) battles alcoholism.

Produced by 'Southland''s John Wells, the series, set in Chicago, is based on the BAFTA-winning U.K. dramedy, and will reportedly revolve around the current economic recession.

Any of you who were slavishly devoted to 'Sports Night' -- the late, great dramedy that exposed the comic timing and acting chops of stars like Felicity Huffman and Peter Krause early in their careers -- good news! Series creator Aaron Sorkin (who also produced a little somethin-somethin called 'The West Wing') tells TV Guide he's coming back to TV with a series that promises to tread the same juicy, fast-paced behind-the-scenes turf as 'Sports Night.'

The catch? That's also the same turf he covered on another series, 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,' which, while also late, is not particularly lamented by anybody.

'It's going to be what turns out to be the third in the trilogy of TV shows that take place behind the scenes of a TV show, but this will be a different kind of TV show,' Sorkin told the site. "That's all I can let out of the bag right now."

One of the perks of having a top twenty show is that it often gets you a deal to make another show. Such is the case for Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, creators of Two and a Half Men. CBS is looking at an untitled comedy from the pair starring Allison Janney (West Wing), who has a talent holding deal with the network. There are no details on the show yet, but given the creators and the involvement of Janney, I'd give it a better than average shot at moving forward.

In other comedy news at the Tiffany Network, they have ordered a pilot for a show called Fugly. Written by My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia, the show tells the story of three not so attractive sisters who pool their money to get one of them an extreme makeover. The plan is for the three of them to then take advantage of the sister's good looks. It's an interesting premise, and I think Garcia could do a lot with it, but I suspect a name change is coming if the show actually makes it to air. I can't see the management mucky mucks at CBS actually putting a show called Fugly on their schedule.

[ via cynopsis ]