The news that 'Mad Men' star Elisabeth Moss has signed on to star in upcoming new drama 'Top of the Lake' has led Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC network, to pull out of the project.

It had reportedly pledged around $600,000 to the miniseries on the assumption that the lead character, an Australian police officer, would be played by an Australian actress.

An ABC spokesman told the 'Herald Sun': "We went into this with the understanding the lead actor would be an Australian. But when that could not happen, we removed ourselves from the deal."

The spokesman added, "We love Elisabeth Moss, but she's not an Australian. We have a fine calibre of Australian actors available and we would have preferred to see one of them in the role."

We're still not sure when NBC's '30 Rock' will return to our screens (fingers crossed for early midseason), but when it comes back, expect an extra injection of hilarity from Mary Steenburgen.

According to EW, Steenburgen will guest-star as Charlotte, the "highly spirited and attractive" mother of Elizabeth Banks' character, Avery.

In her multi-episode arc, expect to see WASP-ish Charlotte going head to head with Jack (Alec Baldwin).

Hit the jump for more casting news.

Yesterday brought a bit of an unexpected but pleasant surprise: an opportunity to speak to Elisabeth Moss, who was doing interviews to promote the DVD release of 'Get Him to the Greek,' which comes out on Sept. 28. Check out a clip of Moss talking about her audition here!

But, this being TV Squad, my concentration was on that other thing Moss is known for, namely her Emmy-nominated role on 'Mad Men.' The fourth season has been a big year for Moss and her character Peggy Olson; Peggy is growing up before our eyes, asserting herself as a woman and a professional in the 1960s workplace. And she held her own opposite Jon Hamm in the pivotal episode 'The Suitcase' two weeks ago, where Don and Peggy spend a night together exploring their friendship and themselves at the same time.

During our brief talk, I asked Moss about that episode, about what her perspective has been on what Peggy's going through this season, and how many times she and Hamm had to cry while shooting 'The Suitcase.'

Even though this week's 'Mad Men' (Sundays at 10PM ET on AMC) had a bit of a meandering manner to it -- outside Allison's righteous knickknack throw at Don, that is -- the last fifteen minutes brought up why dramas like this show and others of its ilk suck viewers in. You never know when an event that's going on in the show's present can dredge up an incident from the show's past. Emotions can still be raw, and when they bubble to the surface, the knowing viewer can nod along with the character, feeling what they felt.

That's what I felt when Peggy found out that Pete Campbell's wife Trudy (played by the always lovely Alison Brie) was pregnant. When she got the card that was passed around the office, the look on her face spoke volumes: Only she and Pete know that this is going to be Pete's second child, not his first, and she wonders what might have been if Pete stayed with her instead of staying with Trudy.

But the episode ended with a glance that made me think that Peggy's starting to move on from that, five long years later.

For the next few days, I'll be listing the Emmy nominees in the major categories and giving you picks and possible dark horses. Feel free to agree, disagree, and make your own picks in the comments.

Let's start with an interesting mix of the safe and the new: the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama category.

Nominees:
Christine Baranski, 'The Good Wife'
Rose Byrne, 'Damages'
Sharon Gless, 'Burn Notice'
Christina Hendricks, 'Mad Men'
Elisabeth Moss, 'Mad Men'
Archie Panjabi, 'The Good Wife'

Who will win: The Academy just loves, loves, loves Christine Baranski. Sure, she only won once, for 'Cybil' in 1995, but she's been nominated six times since then, including twice this year (she got a guest actress nod for playing Leonard's mom on 'The Big Bang Theory'). And now that she's nominated in the drama category for the first time, they'll jump at the chance to give her the statuette. Even though she did a good job as ice queen law firm honcho Diane Lockhart in 'The Good Wife,' the Academy will likely just give her the award because she's an old friend.

It wouldn't surprise me if most of the actors on 'Mad Men' ended up in commercials at some point. It's a show about advertising, so you sort of associate them with ads and commercials.

At least two 'Mad Men' actors, Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss, are featured in commercials circulating right now. Hamm is the new voice for Mercedes-Benz, taking the baton from Richard Thomas (John-Boy on 'The Waltons'), who served as the car company's voice-over talent for the past four years.

In a Media Decoder story, Stephen Cannon, vice-president for marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA in Montvale, N.J., calls the new campaign "a nice re-fresh of our voice," adding that Hamm has "a terrific, very resonant voice with a lot of gravitas to it." He also notes that Hamm will help Mercedes-Benz "reach out to a younger, more vibrant audience."

What do you look for in a DVD set? Are you the type of person who expects to see a lot of extras (commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, bloopers, deleted scenes, documentaries, etc) because DVDs allow us to have all of those things and it would be a ripoff for the consumer if we didn't get them? Or are you the type of person who is just happy to have the actual episodes to watch over and over again whenever you want and you don't really care about the extras?

You're in the middle? What a politician.

I lean towards the former for newer shows and towards the latter for older shows. Though I would love to have commentaries and features for older shows, I realize that's not always possible. I ask this because the DVD set for the third season of AMC's 'Mad Men' has cast and crew commentaries for every single episode. Let's take a look at that feature and everything else in the set.

Yesterday, Brad told you about how the 'Mad Men' powers that be are figuring out how to improve their chances at the Emmys. It was strange to think that a show as successful as 'Mad Men' was angling for a way to get more awards, but there is a reasoning behind the strategy. You see, even though 'Mad Men' has consistently been honored for the show and the writing and direction, the actors -- Jon Hamm, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, etc. -- have been shut out. That's irksome. Not one Emmy for acting. Plenty of nominations, but no wins.

The producers behind 'Mad Men' are trying to maximize their potential Emmy nominations and wins. They have decided to reposition last year's nominee Elisabeth Moss from best lead actress to best supporting actress.

The move kind of makes sense, particularly given the strong performance January Jones gave at the end of last season. The emotional drama between the soon-to-be-divorced couple of Don and Betty Draper is likely to take more of the show's spotlight rather than the affairs of Peggy Olson (and I mean "affairs" literally).

Admittedly, it's kind of sad that the producers have to do this sort of political maneuvering in order to improve their chances of winning an Emmy, particularly since Peggy Olson is such a cute character. While the show centers around Don Draper, 'Mad Men' has more of the feel of an ensemble show and it has some excellent acting talent. Perhaps the Emmys should create a new category for "Best Cast." 'Mad Men' would be sure to win that one.

The 'Mad Men' may still be the power players in their '60s TV land universe, but it's the Mad (Wo)Men who are plotting to take home more Emmys this fall.

Last year, Jon Hamm, a.k.a. Don Draper, was the show's Outstanding Lead Actor nominee, with John Slattery winning an Outstanding Supporting Actor nomination for his role as Roger Sterling. But among the show's scene-stealing female cast, only Elisabeth Moss earned an Emmy nod, an Outstanding Lead Actress nomination for her role as Peggy Olsen.

This year, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Moss will submit her name in the supporting actress category, paving the way for a potential lead actress nomination for January Jones and her work as desperate housewife (and soon-to-be-ex) Mrs. Don Draper.

Some of these "let's combine one show with another show" ideas never quite come together because the cast of one show doesn't necessarily fit into the cast of the other show, but this pic that puts the cast of Mad Men into Star Trek: TNG uniforms is pretty funny and clever. Pete Campbell makes a great Wesley Crusher (at least I think he's supposed to be Wesley - if not, he should be).

[via Pop Candy]

Things are heating up this season in Pawnee, Indiana. E! Online reports that the 'Parks and Recreation' team have Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, accidentally getting involved in a sex scandal that derails her plans for a city Santa's Village. Producer Mike Schur says, "There are rumors swirling about another city councilman scandal -- who was disgraced by cave sex in the 'Practice Day' episode -- and Leslie ends up getting photographed with him at a bar late at night by a tabloid newspaper."

As if that isn't enough, Leslie and Dave the Cop don't stand the test of time. "We were so lucky to get Louis C.K.," says Poehler of her character's love interest, "but he's starting his own show."

Luckily, it has just been confirmed by Entertainment Weekly that 'Parks' fans will see that role filled by none other than Poehler's real-life love, Will Arnett. Of course, Poehler and Arnett have worked together many times, including on 'Arrested Development' and in films such as 'Blades of Glory' and 'Monsters vs. Aliens.' So it's only natural that Arnett would stop by 'Parks.'

Arnett's arrival on the show will coincide with that of Justin Theroux who will, incidentally, also vie for Leslie's heart.

With thoughts of Arnett and Poehler teaming up again, we brainstormed some other real-life couples whose pairings would translate well to the small screen.

You've read Allison's review and Joel's take on the Mad Men season finale, and I'd just like to add that I think it was the best episode of any TV series I've seen in years. Brilliant, dramatic, funny, even exhilarating. Here's a behind the scenes look at the episode, including interviews with Matthew Weiner and the cast.

(S03E12) "The whole country's drinking." - Pete, to Trudy

When Joel talked to Mad Men creator and writer Matthew Weiner last month, he wouldn't say when or how the show would deal with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. We all knew it was coming, since last week's episode was set on Halloween, but I actually thought it would happen in the season finale. But they addressed it tonight.

They say November 22, 1963 is the day America changed, and I would say that the lives of the people in and around Sterling Cooper changed too, in various ways and for various reasons.

Be on the lookout for a number of famous guest stars to appear on your favorite shows this season. Check out a round-up of some recently-announced apppearances:

• Actor/producer Jerry O'Connell is set to star opposite his real-life wife Rebecca Romijn on the season's final two episodes of Romijn's ABC hit 'Eastwick.' O'Connell will play Kat's (Jaime Ray Newman) new neighbor, Colin, who isn't what he appears to be. Husband and wife have worked together twice before, with O'Connell making a brief appearance on 'Ugly Betty' and Romijn guest-starring on O'Connell's short-lived comedy 'Carpoolers'. [Entertainment Weekly]

More casting news after the jump ...