On 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated), actress Nia Long gives heartfelt thanks to Whoopi Goldberg for advice she gave her when the two co-starred together in 'Made in America' in 1993.

According to Long, Goldberg said she had a definite future as an actress, but needed to toughen up and develop a "second layer of skin."

Nothing says "Happy Birthday!" like a visit from grandma. On 'Modern Family' that means Shelley Long is returning to the mix.

According to TV Guide, the 'Cheers' alumna will reprise the role of DeDe Pritchett in early 2011 to celebrate Lily's birthday on the hit ABC comedy. Look for Long's character to be as offensive -- if not more -- as she was at Gloria and Jay's wedding.

In other TV news ...

• Darren Criss is officially joining 'Glee' as a series regular. The breakout guest star has made just one appearance on the Fox series, but he's already created quite the fan following. "Darren has become such a sensation in one week, which I love. I think there's a hunger for him and a positive relationship role model." [AfterElton]

• Daniel Sunjata has been cast as a nurse on 'Grey's Anatomy.' The 'Rescue Me' star will play a nurse in the Dec. 2 episode. Sunjata's character is recurring and a potential love interest for Bailey. [Fancast]

• Nia Long is heading to 'Chase.' Long will play Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Randolph, a character set to be at odds with Jimmy Godfrey (Cole Hauser). The actress will first appear in mid-December. [TV Guide]

This week managed to be both boring and wonderful at the same time. In fact, 'American Dad' and 'The Cleveland Show' paralleled one another in this sense. Both had very strong lead stories featuring their respective fathers and sons, and both had rather dull back-up installments featuring the daughters.

What is it with Seth MacFarlane and female daughters? The fact that he can't find anything to do with Meg has become a running joke on 'Family Guy,' but he has the same problems with Hayley and Roberta.

Did you notice anything different about Roberta this week? Did she sound a little more like Sarah Chalke than Lecy Goranson (that's a 'Roseanne' joke for those paying attention)? That's because Nia Long, who's been the voice of Roberta thus far was replaced this episode by Reagan Gomez-Preston. I know, it's almost as shocking as when Darrin went from one Dick to another on 'Bewitched.'

A few more voices have been added to the cast of the Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show. The voice of the main character will still be provided by Mike Henry, who also gets an executive producer credit on the show.

Kevin Richardson from The Cleaner is voicing the character of Lester, a redneck neighbor of Cleveland. Interestingly, Mike Henry is a white man voicing an African-American while Richardson is African-American voicing a white man.

Also joining the cast is Sanaa Lathan who will play Cleveland's love interest Donna and Nia Long (pictured) who will play one of Donna's children, a rebellious teen named Roberta.

I suppose the success of this show will depend on the execution of it. It has to be similar enough to Family Guy to not alienate those fans but different enough to spark an interest. Cleveland Brown never struck me as a character who could carry his own show but maybe I'll be proven wrong.

(S03E11) My penis is already packed -- Denny Crane

Ah, there you are! We haven't seen each other in over a month and I thought you wouldn't come back. But here we are, together again, for a new episode of Boston Legal which was a pretty big spotlight for James Spader as Alan Shore, guest star Nia Long, and new cast member Gary Anthony Williams as Clarence/Clarice. That, and the never-ending sexual escapades at the Boston offices of Crane, Poole and Schmidt reached a new plateau.

Let's begin in a little town known as New Orleans.

Give credit to the producers of Boston Legal and Ugly Betty: they don't like to see an actor out of work. Even though both shows have ensemble casts just bursting at the seams they seem to believe there is enough room for one or two more people.

Over at Boston Legal Nia Long (Third Watch) has been signed on to do three episodes that will air later this season (or next, no date has been set). On the show she'll play Vanessa Walker, a meticulous associate from the New York office of Crane, Poole & Schmidt who requests the assistance of our dear Alan Shore. Didn't Jeffrey Coho and Claire Simms come from the New York office? I wonder if there will be any history between Walker, Coho and Simms (hey, that sounds like great law firm name).

Meanwhile, Christopher Gorham (Out of Practice) has now been promoted to recurring character on Ugly Betty. Gorham plays Henry, an accountant for Meade Publications who takes a liking to the lovely Betty Suarez. His next appearance will be in this evening's broadcast. Joel actually mentioned this in a previous post but I thought that I'd remind everyone.

Finally, the entire population of the state of Delaware has been added to the cast of Lost as another group of people living on the tropical island. Of course, being a proud citizen of the First State, I expect at least scale for my performance.