What the hell is going on here? Have we entered the bizarro world? Is up now down? Has black become white? Was The Simpsons canceled after the first three episodes while The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer went on to become the longest running and most award winning series in the history of television?

Variety reports that while the big four networks are cutting back on their sitcoms and dramas for more reality fare, cable networks have been ramping up their dramas, comedies and dramadies and are now in a position to compete for some real ratings.

And it's not just in quantity where cable has tipped the scales.

Josh Lucas has been working in the film and TV industry since 1990, but he first came into my line of vision with 2002's Sweet Home Alabama, where he traded barbs with Reese Witherspoon. He shot to the top of my list with 2006's Glory Road, a great film in which he played Don Haskins, the Texas coach who shepherded an all-black team to the NCAA championship.

Now I'll get to see more of Lucas, because he's been tapped to star in Possible Side Effects, a Showtime drama pilot written and directed by Tim Robbins.

The show centers on the Hunts, a dysfunctional family running a pharmaceutical company enmeshed in controversy. Lucas will play Max Hunt, who tries to keep the family and business together as the drug industry falls under more and more scrutiny.