Blair Underwood has been elected the next President of the United States -- well, at least by NBC. According to reports, Underwood has joined the cast of 'The Event,' a new drama pilot about a conspiracy to assassinate the President, in which a regular man (Jason Ritter) finds himself caught in the middle. How very '24' of NBC. [Hollywood Reporter]

More casting news after the jump.

Weeks ago when it was announced that Rob Lowe was leaving ABC's 'Brothers and Sisters,' the spin from ABC was that they desperately wanted to keep Rob in the fold and would be working to develop a new television project for him.

Guess what? That was all a lot of hooey. Or exaggeration to the point of sounding more optimistic than true. Today, Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reported that Rob Lowe will be joining the NBC sitcom, 'Parks and Recreation.' This is a great move by Rob, turning to comedy rather than jumping into another dramatic series. And if you think Rob's not good at comedy, you don't remember his letter-perfect imitation of Robert Wagner's character #2 -- as a younger man -- in 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

The way-too-unappreciated Will Arnett is getting a few steps closer to starring in his own comedy on Fox. The 'Arrested Development' star has made notable appearances on shows like '30 Rock' and 'Parks and Recreation' (which stars his wife Amy Poehler), but has yet to have a show of his own show.

Imagine this: Fox greenlights the new show (which is about an obnoxious Beverly Hills man who falls for a woman that can't stand him) and puts it on prime-time ... opposite 'Parks and Recreation'. You have the making of a sitcom right there. It's "two shows within a show" about a husband and wife that star in two different sitcoms at the same time on two competing networks.

Arnett and Poehler have a son. Imagine the drama of the child only being able to watch one of his parents live on television. Okay, seriously, this is why DVRs were invented. Both shows are after his bedtime anyway.

When viewers and critics first saw the government-hating parks director Ron Swanson on 'Parks and Recreation,' they didn't quite know what to make of him. Is he just a hard-ass? Or was there more to him?

Well, as the show has improved so has viewers' opinion of Ron, played by Nick Offerman. In the first half of 'Parks and Rec's' second season, Swanson has become a favorite of fans and critics; we've seen his love of breakfast food, his ability to build a small harp while drinking, and his secret life as smooth jazz stylist Duke Silver. And the 'stache... oh, the 'stache. It's the best one on primetime since Tom Selleck's.

When I was at the NBC party at the TCAs last month, I spoke to Offerman about how Swanson has developed, having his real-life wife (Megan Mullally) play Swanson's ex, and if we're going to see more of Swanson's jazzy alter ego.

The good news is that NBC's Thursday night line-up has increased in the ratings, particularly for the Amy Poehler vehicle 'Parks and Recreation' which has just hit a season high. The bad news is that they're still in fourth place for that night.

Remember the good old days when NBC on Thursday nights was "Must See TV"? NBC is probably yearning for those days, or possibly any day that isn't right now. There are still regulatory hurdles to jump through before the sale to Comcast is truly finalized; what are the network executives telling their future potential bosses? "Yes, we suck but we're doing better."

Back to 'Parks and Recreation': Amy Poehler is one talented lady (which is evident even from way back in her 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Upright Citizens Brigade' days)and it is a good thing that she is getting the recognition that she deserves.

NBC's low-rated but critically-acclaimed series 'Parks and Recreation' will return for a third season.

According to the Wrap, the series -- starring 'SNL' alum Amy Poehler -- received a pick-up order late last evening, on the heels of news that NBC had extended its current season by a handful of episodes.

Airing during NBC's Thursday-night comedy bloc, 'Parks' has averaged 5.1 million viewers this season and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49, according to the report.

Also getting a late-night pick-up order was the smash hit 'Jersey Shore.' Snooki, The Situation and the rest of the crew will return for a second season, following a week of contract negotiations with MTV.

There hasn't been much to cheer about coming from NBC of late, unless you consider the upcoming Winter Olympics worth jumping up and down about, or you've been happy about Chuck's return. The Leno-Conan business has just been nasty, the resolution bungled and the prospects for new product unexciting.

But late Friday night something happened at the Peacock that is worth getting psyched about. NBC gave Parks and Recreation a season three renewal.

Like CBS's vote of confidence renewal for How I Met Your Mother earlier this week, this was a great move by NBC and a sign that somebody at 30 Rock -- the real NBC, not the Alec Baldwin/Tina Fey version -- sees quality and has rewarded it.

Well, it looks like NBC is doing something right.

Amidst an ongoing late-night war between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, the network has handed out additional episode orders to a number of its shows.

According to the Live Feed, NBC has ordered four more episodes of 'Trauma,' bringing its season 1 total to 20. 'Community' and 'Parks and Recreation' also received handouts, with three and two new episodes, respectively.

Dollhouse - Friday January 22, 8 pm, Global/Fox

EDITOR'S NOTE: The 'Dollhouse' finale has been postponed to January 29th. The Haiti fundraising telethon will air in its place.

While most TV viewers are excited about the new shows starting up, Joss Whedon fans are taking it on the chin again as 'Dollhouse' comes to a close. But there are some signs the show may live on, as 'Buffy' and 'Angel' did before it, in the world of comic books. At the very least, fans can tease themselves with trips to a couple of viral websites where Echo's world lives on. Check out the site for the Rossum Corporation, a rebel Ditch the Tech site, the issues-driven Not A Doll site and of course, get all the updates at Joss-central - Whedonesque.com.

NCIS - Tuesday January 12, 8 pm, Global/CBS

Tonight, the 150th episode of 'NCIS' airs, and it strikes me that it's about time I watched this show. It always seemed like an unlikely hit to me. As a spin-off of 'JAG', it seemed hopelessly old-fashioned, and I was busy watching Grissom on 'CSI'. But Grissom has gone the way of the dodo, and now 'NCIS' is a ratings hit, an award-winner and has a spin-off of its very own in 'NCIS: Los Angeles.' But I do think it's interesting that the big guest star tonight is Robert Wagner, who was born in 1930. Now that's old-fashioned.

On the eleventh day of Festivus, TV gave to me ... eleven babes worth watchin' .

Festivus is here, and is there a better way to celebrate than by taking stock of all the alluring TV hotties we've been obsessing over this year? I think not. (It's sure a beats counting down the year's stinkiest shows, anyway.)

For this year's list, we decided to stray a little from last year's Maxim covergirl-friendly tally to highlight the small screen starlets who charmed us not only with their hotness, but also with their talent. So head after the jump as we celebrate the 11th day of Festivus by counting down 11 babes worth watchin'.

Writer Alan Yang has been a busy little boy.

He's not only been writing for the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation, but he's got two movies in the can and a third he helped rewrite. I thought I was the only human being on Earth who got no sleep because of his writing career.

Now he can add another reason to not go to bed early. Fox has picked up his pitch for a sitcom called Jackpot about a group of high school kids who win the lottery. Sounds like someone already has.

On Leslie's way to the DMV, she catches Tom and Wendy walking out of Divorce Court. Leslie goes above and beyond to help cheer up her coworker which includes strippers and booze. What started as a green card arrangement has left Tom with unresolved feelings for Wendy, Leslie and Tom find themselves bonding over the situation.

Watch this full episode of 'Parks and Recreation' after the jump.

26-year-old actor/comedian Aziz Ansari is riding a wave most of his peers can only dream about. As the lecherous, sarcastic Tom Haverford on NBC's 'Parks and Recreation,' Ansari has received critical acclaim and helped dispel any thoughts of an 'Office'-type knockoff.

The former co-creator of MTV sketch comedy show 'Human Giant,' Ansari now shuffles his time between 'Parks,' movie roles and stand-up ('Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening,' his first CD/TV special, airs on Comedy Central Jan. 17.) Most recently, the writer sold three film ideas to Judd Apatow and Universal Pictures, including a spinoff of his popular Raaaaaaaandy character from last year's 'Funny People.'

We caught up with Anzari right before Thanksgiving from his family's home in Charlotte, NC, where he's "looking forward to my mother's cooking and hanging out with my cousins for a few days."