Eliza Dushku is returning to TV, but this time the sci-fi/fantasy darling is getting a gun and a badge. Dushku has been tapped to play the lead in TNT's pilot 'Bird Dog.'

According to Deadline Hollywood, Dushku will play Gail McGrath, a young cop who has a fractured past with her police officer father. The character is living a seemingly normal life until her cop father turns up on her doorstep as her new partner. The name of the mystery series, 'Bird Dog,' is also the duo's call sign.

D.B. Sweeney has also landed a pilot role. 'The Event' actor has been tapped to star in TBS's 'Brain Trust' as Detective Billy Doyle. The character goes from rock bottom to a career high after he gets unexpected help from three geniuses who work for a private company.

In other TV news ...

• The Blues Brothers are getting back together -- but this time on CBS's 'The Defenders.' Aykroyd will play a corrupt judge over two episodes that are scheduled to be shot in January. [Variety]

• 'The Walking Dead' saw its best numbers yet on Nov. 28. The season's fifth episode brought in 5.5 million total viewers and 3.7 million in the 18-49 demographic. The ratings were 15 percent higher than episode four's viewership. [Live Feed]

• Marc Singer, star of the original 'V,' will appear on ABC's 'V' reboot this winter. Singer has been tapped to play Lars Tremont, a member of a secret society of high-powered humans who believe the Visitors are not on Earth to spread peace. [TV Guide]

• Fox has released the first teasers for Simon Cowell's 'The X Factor.' However, the series is still close to a year away from airing. Watch the promo after the jump. [Deadline Hollywood]

Kate Winslet may play the lead in a new miniseries adaptation of 'Mildred Pierce,' to be written and directed by 'Far From Heaven''s Todd Haynes.

Also in the news today: Comedy Central cancels 'Reno 911!,' while TNT schedules the final season of 'Saving Grace.'

See more of today's top TV headlines after the jump.

Cartoon Network picked Thursday to announce a lineup of new, green-lit shows and the return of a couple successful 2008 outings.

The two new original comedy animated series include Regular Show and the intriguingly entitled Horrorbots. The former was developed by the network's sort of "animator in training" developmental system, Cartoonstitute.

Regular Show is created by J. G. Quintel and was developed as a short for the development program. In each episode, "two bored groundskeepers, Mordecai (a six-foot-tall blue jay) and Rigby (a hyperactive raccoon) are best friends who spend their days trying to entertain themselves by any means necessary, much to the displeasure of Benson (their boss, who is a gumball machine) and to the delight of Pops (an older, lollipop-headed gentleman)."