The stars are aligning for pilot season! Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti and Mike O'Malley have all landed key roles in network pilots.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Emerson has landed the lead role in CBS's 'Persons of Interest,' reteaming him with 'Lost' mastermind J.J. Abrams. The pilot from Jonah Nolan follows an ex-CIA agent who teams with a billionaire, played by Emerson, to fight crime in New York City. Abrams is on board as executive producer.

Emerson was previously attached to star in a lighthearted spy series with fellow 'Lost' veteran Terry O'Quinn, but the script was not turned around in time for pilot season.

In other casting news ...

• Christine Lahti will play the lead in 'The Doctor,' CBS's new medical drama pilot. Lahti will play a mom and doctor who reconnects with her grown child at the family's medical practice. [Entertainment Weekly]

• 'Glee' breakout star Mike O'Malley has joined the cast of Fox's 'Family Album.' The Emmy-nominated actor will play a dad who embarks on an epic family vacation. Each season would feature a new vacation. [Vulture]

• Amber Benson is returning to 'Supernatural.' The 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' actress will reprise the role of Lenore, a good vampire. [Zap2It]

[Editor's note: 'Law & Order: SVU' has never been a show to shy away from touchy subjects. In the Nov. 17 episode, 'Gray,' Detectives Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) meet a young woman who claims to have been the victim of date rape by her classmate. The case becomes muddled when its revealed that the two had been drinking and partying the night of the alleged rape.

The women of 'Law & Order: SVU' -- Mariska Hargitay, Christine Lahti (ADA Sonya Paxton) and Allison Siko (Kathleen Stabler) -- spoke out about rape, the staggering statistics and what needs to be done about these crimes. Without further ado, Mariska Hargitay ...]

This episode is one that is very close to my heart. Given that rape is the most common violent crime on campuses, it is likely that someone you know and love was a victim of sexual violence during college. Its true for me -- people I care deeply about were raped in college. So many of the letters I receive from fans are from women who were raped in college. In fact, we know that one out of four female students will be sexually assaulted before she graduates.

Is Liz Lemon finally getting lucky in love? 'The View' co-host and frequent '30 Rock' guest star Sherri Shepherd tweeted that she was on set of the NBC comedy with Matt Damon and Tina Fey.

"OMG!! I'm on set @30 Rock next to Tina Fey & MATT DAMON is sitting behind me! I went over & said hi - think I just got pregnant! Jamal Damon," Shepherd said on Twitter.

Damon appeared in the season 4 finale as Carol, a pilot who connects with Fey's character Liz Lemon.

First she did a twirly hug, then made an odd, slurry joke about a kitten, spoke at a rate of about one word per minute and seemed to have her own personal hype man ('Precious' director Lee Daniels). And what did we do while we watched Mariah Carey's acceptance speech for Breakthrough Actress at last weekend's Palm Springs Film Festival?

We winced. We cringed. Then we watched it again.

Carey's, uh, loosened speech was the first genuinely awkward moment this award show season, but there were many actors, filmmakers, and musicians before her who've heard their name called, stepped to the podium, and made things a little weird for everyone.

Every once in a while, a show creeps up on the American public and really captures its imagination. Unfortunately, a lot of times that show is in a terrible timeslot on a tiny little network struggling to survive. Such was the case with Jack & Bobby.

I'd like to think people didn't just automatically assume that this was a biopic about the Kennedys, though it certainly was playing with that notion intentionally by choosing that name. At its core, the show was simply another teen drama; the kind The WB had built a network around by the fall of 2004.

But it was also something more than that. It was an in-depth examination of the genesis of an American hero. How can someone go from being an ordinary person with ordinary problems into the most powerful man on the planet? While Jack and Bobby were typical all-American brothers, it was one of their destiny to rise to the seat of President of the United States by the mid-21st Century. That's the destination. Jack & Bobby was the journey.

Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing Law & Order: SVU back for the 11th season without the two stars that have anchored the show, there's good news. Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have re-signed with SVU. They pair agreed to stick with NBC's top-rated Neilsen drama for two more seasons.

Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.

Last night's episode of Studio 60 wasn't bad, now that I've had an overnight to think about it; it had its cringe-worthy moments, and the traditional "Sorkinalogue" got in the way of the funny a few times. I still don't think Harriet and Matt have any chemistry. It had a lot of good moments, though, especially the "Jack and Jordan argue over a reality show" storyline.

But what struck me was that the fictional Vanity Fair reporter, Martha O'Dell (who is apparently modeled after one of Sorkin's old girlfriends, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd) was getting this interesting and probing information from the people on the show and she wasn't recording the interviews or even taking any notes.

(S01E05) So let me get this straight. Sting has been around so long that he can just decide to make an album of songs based on the writings of a 15th century poet, play it with a lute (!), and get a guest star gig on a major network TV show? Nice. I can't wait for the day when Keith lets me write just about obscure game shows from the 1960s, in Latin.

I was wondering if Sting was going to play one of his classic songs after he played his new song at rehearsal. I wasn't the only one: Harriet says the same thing at the end to Matt, and he tells her that he wasn't going to but Matt asked him to play it and he did. (Oh, and curse you NBC once again for tricking us into thinking that Matt and Harriet were going to get back together. Damn previews!)

(S01E04) Unlike many people, I like the Harriet Hayes character. And I like the way that Sarah Paulson is playing her. It's a distinctive performance: very precise in her delivery, graceful, even when she's yelling about something or irritated. And she's a very religious person, but one that's on a late night show doing satire. I don't see anything wrong with what she's doing or how she's written. I actually find the way she acts really believable. I know people like Harriet Hayes.

Having said that, I didn't really enjoy the opening scene of this show. I thought that (for the most part) Matt and Harriet had made up an episode or two ago. And I thought the argument (Matt's upset that Harriet gets a signed bat from a pitcher) was a little too forced, and I thought the Matt and Harriet love plot was going to take over the entire show. But then something happened in this episode, around the 19 minute mark, like something snapped and the episode started to soar, started to click, and showed how dramatic the backstage goings on at a TV show can be.