Fictional terrorists beware! Claire Danes will remain on your tail for another season. Showtime has renewed the political thriller for a second season.

'Homeland' stars Danes, Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin and is executive produced by '24' guru Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer who becomes convinced rescued POW Nicholas Brody (Lewis) has been turned by Al Qaeda.

After much anticipation, the star-studded 'Homeland' (Sun., 10PM ET on Showtime) finally premiered, and it delivered on every level. Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin are a revelation together, with Danes absolutely smashing a very unpredictable and uncertain role.

Carrie Mathison is already one of the most fascinating lead characters on television. We come out of this premiere with no real grasp on whether she's crazy and grasping at straws, or crazy but on to something really big. Yes, we're pretty sure, she's crazy, but it's the kind of crazy that draws you into her world.

Morena Baccarin wasn't out of work for long. Just a short while after ABC canceled 'V,' she's been cast as a series regular in Showtime's hot new drama, 'Homeland.'

Baccarin joins Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis in the political thriller, which tells the story of Scott Brody (Lewis), an American POW who is rescued from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a suspicious CIA operative (Danes) thinks he may have been turned into a terrorist and released intentionally.

According to Deadline.com Baccarin will take on the role of Jessica Brody, Scott's smart, strong wife. She replaces British actress Laura Fraser, who played the role in the pilot.

Showtime's kicking it up a notch with its new series, 'Homeland.' The political thriller starring Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis tells the story of an American POW who is rescued from the Middle East ... but was he released intentionally?

In this new trailer, Danes' character, Carrie Anderson works diligently to put her suspicions at ease. Was Scott Brody (Lewis) released for a reason? Has he been turned against the U.S.?

'Homeland' comes from '24' executive producer Howard Gordon and is based on the Israeli TV series 'Prisoners of War.'

This marks Danes' return to series TV, her first since 'My So-Called Life.' The actress recently picked up a slew of awards, including an Emmy, for her work in HBO's 'Temple Grandin.'

Check out the full trailer below and a 3-minute scene here.

As the body count mounts in 'True Blood,' the producers keep adding fresh cast members. Last month we reported that Fiona Shaw and Courtney Ford had joined the cast for Season 4, and now we hear that Dane DeHaan ('In Treatment') is also heading to Bon Temps.

According to deadline.com DeHaan has signed on for a recurring role as Timbo, one of the teens Jason (Ryan Kwanten) takes care of in Hotshot.

Rebecca Wisocky ('90210') has landed a guest spot in the Season 4 premiere episode, playing the key role of Queen Mab, who's described as "an elegant beauty who presides over a fantasy land and also has a temper."

Deadline.com also reports that the Showtime series about the C.I.A., 'Homeland,' has added to its principals with the casting of Scottish actress Laura Fraser ('A Knight's Tale,' 'Casanova').

Nostalgic TV fans, look no further than 'Desperate Housewives' to satisfy the urge to see veteran actors ham it up. The latest addition to the ABC soap? Larry Hagman.

The 'Dallas' star, who was last seen on U.S. airwaves in 'Nip/Tuck' back in 2006, will play the new beau of Polly Bergen's character, Stella Wingfield.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hagman will appear in early 2011. Hagman said he's never seen the series. "I can watch a hundred episodes on my iPad," he told the Hollywood Reporter. "I never watch television, so I better get started so I can see what the show's all about."

In other TV news ...

• Mandy Patinkin has joined the pilot cast of 'Homeland.' Claire Danes has also secured a role in the Showtime series about the CIA. [Deadline Hollywood]

• Ashley Williams has replaced Eliza Dushku in TNT's 'Bird Dog.' Gerald McRaney will play her father and new police partner. [Deadline Hollywood]

• Ke$ha and Taio Cruz will perform live on 'Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2011.' The two will perform in Times Square. [ABC]

If I were an executive at CBS, I would never want to do business with actor Mandy Patinkin again. Even though Mandy is a terrific actor and one of my personal favorites -- I loved him on Broadway in Evita and Sunday in the Park with George, not to mention on screen in The Princess Bride and Yentl -- his history with CBS is abominable.

He was an Emmy-winning star on Chicago Hope, then left after a couple of seasons to be closer to his family in New York. Okay, that was understandable. Then after getting Criminal Minds off to a great start, he walked out of that show, citing creative differences.

Apparently, someone has said let bygones be bygones because Mandy Patinkin will be a guest star on Three Rivers. Maybe because this is a very personal issue with Mandy, he's convinced the powers that be to let him return to the network, albeit for just a guest appearance.

Oh, no. Please. CBS, please don't. I know it's tempting when you see the NCIS: LA ratings -- number two for last week, topped only by NCIS! -- but please, refrain. What am I talking about? CBS is pushing a spinoff of Criminal Minds, asking the show's executive producer Ed Bernero and executive producer Chris Mundy to come up with a variation on Criminal Minds. Hmm... Criminal Minds 2.0? Son of Criminal Minds? Criminal Guts?

CBS has secured even more celebrities to grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall next Sunday. Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Julie Chen (Big Brother), Harry Connick, Jr. (Will & Grace), Laurence Fishburne, Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds), David Hyde Pierce, Lily Tomlin and John Waters (Til Death Do Us Part) have been added as presenters. These actors and actresses (and, er, Julie Chen) will join an already stellar list of presenters and host Whoopi Goldberg.

I have to admit it. I'm getting a little excited for The Tonys. I usually find them boring. The performances are fantastic but the awards in between are a bit of a snore. However, this cast of presenters is intriguing. I'll at least be flipping back and forth hoping to catch the performances and my favorite stars.

The 62nd Annual Tony Awards will be held on Sunday June 15th from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

Eat. Sleep. Pepto Bismol. Television. The four things that describe Thanksgiving for me. They all go hand in hand really, but let's be honest -- TV is the one that really matters. I can have turkey any time I want, but I can only watch my favorite shows once a week. Despite the WGA strike putting a wrinkle into my winter viewing plans, there's still plenty to be happy about.

Over the summer, I kept you in the loop as to the latest spoilers and info about the direct-to-DVD Dead Like Me movie. Since I last gave you news about the movie about three months ago and because the DLM posts here at TV Squad still get a good number hits, I thought it was time I check up on the movie status and see if I could get more dish. Thanks to the movie's IMDb page (it's been up for a while now but I had given up on it since usually IMDb creates pages before or during shooting and it hadn't done that for the DLM movie) I can bring you some news.

There have been a lot of stories floating around about Mandy Patinkin's departure from CBS' Criminal Minds. That he's only going to be in one scene of the show to wrap up his storyline, that his costars didn't like him. Turns out neither of those stories are true.

Co-star A.J. Cook says that Patinkin has actually been phoning all of his Criminal Minds castmates and explaining to them what happened. Cook says that the cast didn't know what was going on, and now that they know they "just want him to be happy."

This is becoming more of a soap opera than that whole "who is going to replace Rosie O'Donnell on The View?" stuff.

We reported yesterday that Joe Mantegna is going to replace Mandy Patinkin on Criminal Minds (Patinkin didn't want to return to the show). Now Michael Ausiello over at TVGuide.com reports that Patinkin will in fact return to the show...for one epsiode, to explain what happened to his character.

It's not going to be Harvey Keitel or Geena Davis or Michael Keaton or even Rosie O'Donnell. The new person in charge on Criminal Minds is Joe Mantegna.

The CBS show hired Mantegna over the weekend, ending speculation over who would replace Mandy Patinkin, who has already left the show and will not be making anymore appearances. Besides classic movies such as House of Games and Bugsy, Mantegna costarred on the USA series The Starter Wife earlier this summer, was on the gone-but-not-forgotten drama Joan of Arcadia, does the voice of Fat Tony on The Simpsons, and made a poor substitute for Robert Urich when they made those Spenser movies on cable (nothing against Mantegna, he was quite good, it just wasn't Spenser, you know?).

No word yet on how they'll write out Patinkin or how Mantegna's character will join the team, though some episodes are already done and Patinkin's abscence will be explained in the season premiere.

Thanks to Multichannel blogger Mary McNamara, we now have fresh casting news about the Dead Like Me movie. The blogger, who attended the MGM panel at Comic-Con, reports that MGM's Senior Executive Vice President Finance and Corporate Development Charlie Cohen confirmed that everyone, except Mandy Patinkin and Laura Harris, was back for the direct-to-DVD movie. That is old news for TV Squad readers. But what is new is that Cohen gave the names of the actors set to replace both actors.