First it was Subway. Now flash mobs appear to have done the trick.

According to the Live Feed, NBC has renewed 'Chuck' for a fourth season. The show, which has been on the bubble for consecutive seasons, despite its rabid fan base, will return for 13 episodes.

'Chuck' has performed steady in its third season on NBC, though that doesn't mean its ratings have been altogether high. This week's episode, for example, drew just 5.3 million viewers and a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, a series-low.

NBC has just realized something: you have to spend money if you want good TV shows.

OK, maybe "realized" isn't the best word to use. More like "remembered." NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin tells The New York Times that the network is changing its strategy and will pay to get some good shows on the network.

For starters, they've ordered almost 20 new pilots this season -- scripted dramas and comedies -- up from ten last season. Instead of strictly going by the numbers and looking for a big profit margin and trying to cut costs in every way possible, they're looking for good shows they can stick with.

Sendhil Ramamurthy has joined the cast of USA's 'Covert Affairs' opposite Piper Perabo. The 'Heroes' co-star will play a CIA agent in the series, about an inexperienced CIA field operative (Perabo) whose ex-boyfriend is of special interest to her boss. Ramamurthy was previously attached to NBC's 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.' [Hollywood Reporter]

More casting news after the jump.

Right now Kathy Bates is the new owner of Dunder-Mifflin on 'The Office,' but you know that her role on that show is going to be short-lived (even if Sabre does hold on to the paper company). However, that doesn't mean that Bates is leaving television.

Bates is talking to David E. Kelley about a starring role on his new NBC legal drama (Kelley seems to have a thing for legal shows, eh?) 'Kindreds.' She would play the head of the law firm.

'Kindreds' should not be confused with 'Kindred: The Embraced,' which was about vampires, not lawyers (insert your own joke here). 'Kindred: The Embraced' would probably be a hit if it had premiered today and not 1996.

Is Kathy Bates the new Denny Crane? Could be, as the Oscar winner is in final negotiations to join the cast of 'Kindreds,' producer David E. Kelley's NBC legal drama pilot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'Kindreds' revolves around a cranky former patent attorney and the law firm she oversees, staffed with equally quirky associates. The role, which will be the first full-time TV gig for Bates, was originally written as a male character named Harry Korn, and is being rewritten specifically for Bates.