Benjamin Bratt is returning to TV with a role on ABC's 'Private Practice.' The 'Law & Order' veteran will be a series regular on the medical drama.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bratt will appear in the season 4 finale before joining the cast as a regular in season 5. Details about Bratt's role are being kept under tight wraps.

Bratt is just the latest cast change to the 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff. Audra McDonald will leave the show after this season and Brian Benben and Caterina Scorsone were upped to series regulars.

In other casting news ...

• Heather Locklear has joined the cast of CBS's pilot 'The Assistants.' Locklear will play one part of a celebrity couple who has a crack team of assistants to look out for their every whim. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Michelle Trachtenberg will star in CBS's untitled comedy pilot about a venture capital firm. The 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' veteran will play a mail room clerk who gets promoted to junior associate. [EW]

• Dominic Purcell is heading to 'Castle.' The 'Prison Break' veteran will play a Hollywood businessman who may have a connection to a murder. [TVLine]

Heather Locklear's characters on TV have had their share of intimate moments. On Monday's 'Rachael Ray' (weekdays, syndicated), Locklear told Ray about some of her kissing and love scenes on shows such as 'Melrose Place.'

"It was always fun when I was married, because you're allowed to kiss other people, and there's pretty hot people on 'Melrose Place,' " she said. "I'd act like it wasn't fun, but it was fun." The scenes that required a little more than kissing, however, were awkward. "If you don't know someone, or even if you do, you're like, it's a little strange," Locklear said.

Locklear also said her dream date was maybe something a bit more intimate with no TV, no kids, and no dogs.

In her new Lifetime movie, 'He Loves Me,' Heather Locklear plays a successful Seattle real estate agent who seems to be having a problem: She's devoted to her husband but can't seem to separate herself from the passionate affair she's having with another man.

But something about Laura seems a bit... off. And in a movie that takes a lot of twists in turns, it's up to Locklear to let viewers in on Laura's very complicated psyche.

Locklear is used to playing complicated characters, not the least of which was Amanda Woodward of 'Melrose Place,' number 37 on our list of the 100 most memorable female characters in TV history.

I spoke to Locklear earlier this week about the movie, what's so juicy about playing bad characters, and if she's been able to take any cues from some of the very public problems she's gone through in recent years. Oh, and I also asked her about Charlie Sheen; her response to that question was posted on Monday.

On 'Live With Regis and Kelly' (weekdays, syndicated), musician Josh Groban, who's filling in for Regis Philbin, finds himself seated between Heather Locklear and Kelly Ripa, and imagines that he's in a "babe sandwich."

"I'm the meat in a babe sandwich right now, is what I am," said Groban. "I'm blushing right now."

Just got off the phone with Heather Locklear, who was promoting her new Lifetime movie 'He Loves Me,' which premieres on March 7. We talked about the movie and how she's dealt with some of her recent personal struggles. But I wanted to wrap up our talk with a question about Charlie Sheen, as his latest rants against Chuck Lorre, CBS and Warner Bros. have rocketed around the Internet.

She told me that she hasn't seen Sheen, with whom she co-starred on 'Spin City' from 2000–2002, in a couple of years, but she definitely has sympathy for him. "I pray that he's OK," she said. "I want the best for him and his children and his ex-wife, and for his father. So many people are scared."

That's not to say that she was completely forgiving. She added, "I think that sometimes giving certain people a whole lot of money is a little bit dangerous."

I would have pressed further, but the publicist ended the interview at that point. Perhaps they weren't anticipating Heather would get Sheen questions?

Stay tuned for the complete interview, which will be posted on Friday.

Hilary Duff is going to college!

According to Ausiello Files, the former 'Lizzie McGuire' star will guest on NBC's 'Community.' Duff is set to play the leader of a clique that takes on Jeff and co.

Besides her Disney series, Duff appeared in a handful of 'Gossip Girl' episodes last season, did a guest spot on 'Law & Order: SVU' and popped up in 'George Lopez' and 'Joan of Arcadia.'

Look for Duff to appear on 'Community' in November.

In other casting news ...

• Jorge Garcia will guest star on 'How I Met Your Mother.' The 'Lost' veteran will play a bro with bad timing on the CBS series in November. [CBS]

• Heather Locklear has signed on to star in the Lifetime TV movie 'He Loves Me.' The 'Melrose Place' star will play a real estate agent whose mysterious past starts to come to light as her marriage crumbles, causing her to become violent and paranoid. [Variety]

• Summer Glau will guest star on 'Chuck.' The 'Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles' star is the latest actor to play Greta, the undercover Buy More agent. Other actors who have been tapped to play the role include Olivia Munn and Isaiah Mustafa. [Ausiello Files]

When Rue McClanahan died last week, I found out via Facebook. This is no great revelation. I got the news about Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper the same way, but I was struck by the different tone of the status messages mentioning Rue's passing. For one thing, they came mostly from women. We ladies pictured Rue swanning about in a caftan in heaven and wished her well. There is sadness, yes, but no sense of tragedy or mystery. Here on Earth, she delighted us as Blanche Devereaux on 'The Golden Girls,' and we hope that somewhere in the great Miami in the sky, she has finally found a man worthy of her affections. Or many men.

When considering the future of some shows on Fox and the CW, in the case of the former, there are only a couple of programs on the fence. Fox, overall, has had a strong year highlighted by the success of 'Glee,' which trumps nearly any disappointment execs might have over already cancelled shows like 'Sons of Tucson' or 'Past Life.'

On the other hand, the CW has a few hours teetering on the brink amid some solid, if not spectacular, already renewed shows like 'Vampire Diaries' and 'Supernatural.' To check the threat assessment for the Fox and CW programs on the bubble, read on:

Things got complicated for Amanda (Heather Locklear) last night on 'Melrose Place' (Tue., 9PM ET on CW). After Ben (Bill Campbell) locks lips with his underling Riley Richmond (Jessica Lucas), he decides to break up with Amanda to be with her.

Responds Amanda, "I can't wait to hear this!"

Neither can we.




Watch the video after the jump.

The CW was hoping the triumphant return of Heather Locklear, the eternal "special guest star" of the original 'Melrose Place,' would boost the alarmingly low ratings of the CW reboot. But, alas, it seems that not even a scheming vixen like Amanda Woodward can do much to help the struggling series.

The Live Feed is reporting that Locklear's appearance on the tenth episode of 'Melrose Place,' which aired on Tuesday, had little to no effect on the ratings. In fact, the show was only up 14 percent from last week's ratings, which were at an all-time low for the series.

Heather Locklear was nominated for four-consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) for her performance as Amanda Woodward, the ambitious and manipulative head of D&D Advertising, in the original 'Melrose Place.' The series ran for seven seasons on Fox from 1992-1999.

Well, last night was the BIG night on the new Melrose Place, the return of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear). Judging from Locklear's entrance, she really did shake up things on the show.

A question for fans of the original: did this make you watch this episode even though you weren't watching the new show? And for fans of the new show who really aren't familiar with the original: are you excited by Locklear being on the show?

Melrose Place (Wednesday, November 18, 10 pm, Global/CW)

From the sweeps guest-star pool, the new 'Melrose' has reeled in a mighty big fish. Heather Locklear reprises her role as Amanda Woodward tonight, and she starts things off by walking into her agency and axing half the staff, including Caleb. I want to stand up and cheer just writing about it. Basically, Locklear is gonna come in and run a clinic. Topics include scaring the crap out of employees, how to wear a mini skirt, and how not to get trapped on a sinking ship of a show.

Can Heather Locklear save the new Melrose Place? Who knows. But she makes her big return as Amanda next week, and here's the scene. By the way the staff looks at her when she's walking down the hall it's like she rose from the dead or something. Not sure why the other blond in the scene turns around and the first thing she looks at are the Amanda's shoes.

The CW already gave up on its lowest performing newcomer, cancelling The Beautiful Life: TBL. That left an empty spot on the schedule and an opportunity. Certainly not wanting to have another quick failure on their schedule, the network has decided to shift repeats of Melrose Place to Wednesdays at 9pm.

While it's been doing better than TBL did, Melrose Place isn't healthy. Premiering with 2.3 million viewers, it slipped below 1.5 million this past week. That's terrible by anyone's reckoning. But The CW has hope, for this has happened before. Long ago, when the original Melrose Place hit the airwaves, it too didn't set the ratings world on fire. Not until Heather Locklear swooped in and made it a sexy guilty pleasure.

The CW's hoping she can do it again, so they're doing what they can to keep the show on life support until she arrives. Maybe they'll find Wednesdays friendlier. No more NCIS: LA or DWTS. Instead it's Modern Family, Cougar Town, Glee, SVU and Criminal Minds. Well, that doesn't look good either.