Showtime's first lady of comedy, Nancy Botwin, will be back with all new 'Weeds' episodes starting Mon., June 27 at 10PM. She's not alone: Laura Linney will be back in her Golden Globe-winning role on 'The Big C' the same day at 10:30PM.

Deadline Hollywood reports both programs will have 13 episodes. 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' will return for an 8-episode final season on April 7 at 10:30PM and reality series 'The Real L Word' returns June 5 at 10 PM for 9 episodes season)

Among the series premieres is Lisa Kudrow's 'Web Therapy' on July 19 at 11PM and 'Gigolos' on April 7 at 11PM.

In other TV news ...

• Ashley Judd has officially signed to star in ABC's 'Missing.' Judd will play Becca Winstone, a former CIA agent who travels to Europe to track down her missing son. [Deadline Hollywood]

• 'Deadliest Catch' will premiere April 12 at 9PM. Season 7 will see Josh and Jake Harris try to prove to the crew that they can handle operating the Cornelia Marie. Watch a NSFW trailer at the source. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Christina Hendricks will appear on Bravo's 'Top Chef Masters.' The 'Mad Men' actress will be part of a 'Mad Men'-themed challenge. [Entertainment Weekly]

His 'Damages' character, Tommy Shayes, may have gotten whacked earlier this year, but Tate Donovan's career is alive and kicking.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the veteran actor, who's had a hand in several seminal TV series, including 'The O.C.' (as problem-plagued pop, Jimmy Copper) and 'Friends' (as real-life ex Jennifer Aniston's crush, Josh-u-a), has been tapped to star in an ABC pilot called 'No Ordinary Family.'

Part of me wants to smile when reading this news but the other part of me wants to scratch my head. Nikki Finke says that Warner Brothers is doing a big-screen remake of the late '50s/early '60s hit show '77 Sunset Strip.'

*crickets*

How many people actually remember this show? I certainly do, but even at my age I only remember it from reruns. This seems to me to be yet another example of Hollywood taking something for the nostalgia value and bringing it to today. I mean, here's the problem. Those who do remember the show are going to be irritated that there are different people in it and it's not done the same, and the people who don't remember the show don't care! What audience are they going for with this?

'Dexter' and 'Buffy' alum Julie Benz is heading back to genre TV with a role in the ABC drama pilot 'No Ordinary Family', says The Hollywood Reporter.

The show stars 'Shield' and 'Fantastic Four' vet Michael Chiklis as the head of a super-powered family. Benz will co-star as Chiklis' wife, a sexy scientist who develops super speed (the power, not the drug).

Despite the drab title, 'No Ordinary Family' is shaping up to be a must-see. Chiklis and Benz are two of TV's top actors, and the pilot is the brainchild of producer Greg Berlanti, a guy who knows a thing or two about creating compelling family drama (see 'Everwood', 'Dirty Sexy Money', 'Brothers & Sisters').

Michael Chiklis is no stranger to superpowers, but thanks to a new pilot from ABC, he'll be able to flex his heroic muscle without layers of orange make-up.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Chiklis has been tapped to star in 'No Ordinary Family,' a drama pilot from Greg Berlanti that centers around an American family whose members all have special abilities. (Think a live-action version of 'The Incredibles.') Chiklis will play the family patriarch.

Aside from acquiring his superhero chops as The Thing in the 'Fantastic Four' franchise, Chiklis also gained recognition for his role as badass Detective Vic Mackey on the FX drama 'The Shield,' a role that won him an Emmy in 2002. He'll next co-star in the indie feature 'High School,' which premiered at this year's Sundance and stars Colin Hanks..

The season finale of 'Heroes' is on NBC tonight (yup, in February), and no knows yet if the show is coming back for another season or not (though Greg Grunberg is hopeful). If the show is canceled, there are a couple of shows that are rushing to fill that hole in the superhero genre. One is an NBC show titled 'Cape,' and another is 'No Ordinary Family.' a pilot that ABC has picked up.

This one is a drama from Greg Berlanti ('Brothers & Sisters,' 'Eli Stone,' 'Dawson's Creek,' 'Everwood,' and 'Dirty Sexy Money') and focuses on a family (headed by dad Chiklis) who finds that they have super powers. And by "super powers" I'm sure they mean things like strength, speed, and invisibility and not other powers a family could have, like being a great cook, being able to fix leaky faucets, and organizing closets like no ordinary human.

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.

A new sci-fi series is coming to ABC created by Star Trek alumnus Rene Echevarria and Greg Berlanti. It is called The Return and is about the day a group of extra-terrestrials land on Earth. Obviously, hilarity will ensue.

I wish I could count on one hand the sheer number of times I have seen this situation in sci-fi. For classic examples, see The Day The Earth Stood Still. For more modern ones, there is the concept of Alien Nation and I can think of at least one episode of Doctor Who. I'm sure there are a multitude of others.

Echevarria has worked on other sci-fi series than Star Trek such as The 4400 and Dark Angel, so I'm trusting that the guy knows what he's doing to put a new spin on an old concept. However, I don't find the title, The Return, to be very exciting or imaginative. It doesn't make me want to tune in. Can you think of a better one?

I wanted to wait a bit before I posted about the ABC showrunner panel, because a) I already posted about the "news" from Shonda Rhimes about Katherine Heigl's statements, and b) I wanted to think about why these panels seem to be so much more informative than the individual show panels?

We'll get to that more later. On the panel were Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (Lost), and Greg Berlanti (seemingly the rest of ABC's schedule). As you'd expect, Rhimes got the Heigl questions, Lindelof and Cuse got the most esoteric questions, and Chery made the most jokes. The funniest line, though, came from Horta.

The photo to the right is of Dirty Sexy Money (and Eli Stone and Brothers & Sisters) EP Greg Berlanti, from the ABC show-runner panel. The reason why I post it is because ABC doesn't have any web-ready photos of either the DSM or the Private Practice panels for download, many hours after both panels. This despite promises that they would have web-ready pictures from the press tour up quickly. OK, cranky rant over.

Anyway, the panels for the two sophomore Wednesday shows didn't reveal all that much in the way of new info. We found out a little about what both Berlanti and PP creator Shonda Rhimes have in store, and how they deal with returning from such a long break (ABC held back the two shows and Pushing Daisies after the strike, making plans to restart in the fall).

The remaining panels on ABC's first day were for Eli Stone, the Ashton Kutcher-produced game show Opportunity Knocks, and a panel for the upcoming Country Music Association events on the network. For the latter panel, Julianne Hough, who has twice partnered with the celebrity champion of Dancing with the Stars, sang a few songs from her current country album. Pretty girl. Nice voice. Dancer's body. But that's all I can say about the panel, because I bolted shortly after she was done singing.

The Eli Stone panel featured the entire cast along with executive producers Greg Berlanti (who seems to be producing two-thirds of ABC's scripted dramas) and Marc Guggenheim. Surprisingly enough, there was only one question about the presence of Katie Holmes as a guest star this season. The reason why she's there is a shock -- they brought her in to get ratings! Will wonders never cease?

Holy crap. Everybody's favorite Scientology war bride, Katie Holmes, has apparently used those perfect chompers of hers to gnaw through her ankle shackles and score an acting gig. Holmes is set to guest star on Eli Stone this fall. Producers are staying mum on any details, but sources say that she is signed up for one episode of the fledgling drama.

Holmes got her big break on TV, playing Joey Potter on the uber-popular teen soap Dawson's Creek. She also had a few impressive turns in movies, such as Pieces of April and Thank You for Smoking before meeting Tom Cruise and taking an extended hiatus from the business.

Holmes also gave up her role in the Batman franchise before dipping her toe back into acting waters with the critically panned Mad Money. She is set to film her episode later this month and then spread her wings further by traveling to New York to star in a revival of Arthur Miller's play, All My Sons.

There's a new guy running the show for ABC's drama Dirty Sexy Money and his name is Daniel Cerone. Cerone replaces Josh Reims. As executive producer, Cerone will be working with creator Craig Wright (Lost), as well as Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters), Matthew Gross and Bryan Singer (House) -- so the show's got lots of first-class pedigree. Now they have to put it all together for the show.

For the last session of the day yesterday, ABC decided to do something a little different and put the executive producers of their biggest hour-long shows up on stage. On the panel were Jon Robin Baitz and Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (Lost), Jenny Bicks (Men in Trees) and Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty).

They answered questions about what it's like to run their shows, from the pilot process to network notes to the writing process to Internet fan scrutiny. Because the reporters were so eager to ask them questions, no more than one or two EPs answered a question at any one time before the next one was asked (and, believe me, if you don't blurt out your question and just keep talking until everyone else stops, you'll never get your question out). The funniest panelist was Cherry, who had something funny to say at almost every turn. The best lines, funny and otherwise, are after the jump.

Fans of the late CBS drama Smith will be happy to hear this. Jonny Lee Miller, who played Tom on Smith, has just signed on to star in a new drama for ABC titled Eli Stone. It's from Greg Berlanti, the guy who created Everwood, and Marc Guggenheim, a former attorney.

The plot is about a lawyer who finds out that he might also be a prophet. Ahem.

So many lawyer jokes going though my head right now...can't concentrate...

I just hope he's not a prophet who talks to the dead while solving crimes.