EmilyRose

Adam Kane, who directed episodes of 'Heroes' and 'The Mentalist,' is diving back into genre TV with Stephen King's 'Haven.'

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the director has singed to helm the pilot for Syfy's upcoming supernatural series, based on King's novella, 'The Colorado Kid.'

The project, which centers on an FBI agent investigating a murder in a creepy town in Maine, has snagged Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, Eric Balfour and Richard Donat for key roles. Rose, who chatted with us about the show last week, plays the agent who, she said, is also trying to solve a personal mystery that's "driven her whole life."

'Haven' has some strong ties to the 'The Dead Zone,' the last TV show adapted from King's work. Show producers Shawn Piller, Lloyd Segan and Scott Shepherd are all 'Dead Zone' vets who guided that series through six respectable seasons on USA. Time will tell if 'Haven,' which is also being pitched to networks abroad, will have a similar shelf life.

The series is set to premiere later this year.

Stephen King stories practically never get turned into weekly television shows. Adaptations have almost always been done as theatrical or television movies or mini-series, and only one has gone the weekly series route: 'The Dead Zone'. At least that lasted a good six seasons. The eight-episode 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes,' which was based on eight short stories, sort of counts, while the planned adaptation of the epic book 'Under The Dome' might get a 10- to 12-episode cable run. Neither of those, however, had or has long-term potential.

Set to begin shooting in April and hit the airwaves in July, Syfy's 'Haven,' inspired by the King novella 'The Colorado Kid,' aspires to become only the second King adaptation in regular TV series form. Perhaps it will generate a paradigm shift?

According to star Emily Rose, who spoke to AOL at last week's Syfy Channel Upfront, there are 13 episodes of 'Haven' planned for season one, and she hoped it might extend beyond that.

'That '70s Show' alum Laura Prepon is eyeing a return to television with a co-starring role in ABC's 'Awkward Situations for Men.' Prepon has signed on to play Danny Wallace's wife, Meg, in the comedy series, about a British TV personality who has trouble fitting in when he moves to America. Meg, meanwhile, sets up at a smoothie shop run by her former fling, played by Matt Letscher. It sounds like it'll be just as awkward for the women, too. [Hollywood Reporter]

More casting news after the jump.

The modern poster-child for a show that's "gone too soon" is Jericho. The impassioned fans buried CBS under a ton of nuts, which got the show renewed for a shortened second season. Your mileage of the quality of that season may vary, but the fact remains that the fans did something none of these internet campaigns today will be able to.

What people don't realize is that when Jericho came back for the second run, the ratings weren't any better than when the first season ended. So when they cancel your favorite show and you start mailing in bizarre objects and setting up your web petitions because "it worked for Jericho," remember that the networks remember Jericho as well. They remember that it failed to find a sizable audience twice.