With the season coming to a close, the networks are starting to look toward next season. In the case of 'Criminal Minds,' that includes exploring the possibility of a spin-off series. They ran an embedded pilot for it earlier this season, introducing the new cast, and they've already had tremendous success with both 'NCIS' and 'CSI' spin-offs. But whatever happened to the old-school way of creating spin-offs?

'Frasier' was a long-time cast member on 'Cheers' before he headed off to Seattle and sitcom super-stardom. 'The Jeffersons' spent time living next to the Bunkers ('All in the Family') before moving on up. Even as recently as 'Friends,' they spun series co-star 'Joey' off into his own series -- maybe that's when it all went so wrong.

It's been widely reported that TV actors Rob Lowe and Adam Scott will soon be joining the cast of NBC's Thursday-night comedy 'Parks and Recreation.' But until today, nobody quite knew what their characters would be doing in Pawnee.

Well, wonder no more: According to the LA Times, their characters, state auditors, are going to slash the budget of the Pawnee, Indiana, parks and rec offices.

They say that friends come and go, but family is forever. Not so on ABC's hit drama 'Brothers & Sisters,' which has become a veritable revolving door of cast members this season. Following the news that Rob Lowe is calling it quits after season four wraps, theAusiello Files is now reporting two more cast changes for next year.

Fans of Sarah and her dishy French lover Luc will be pleased to learn that tall-dark-and-handsome Gilles Marini has been promoted to full-time series regular for season five.

Rob Lowe is returning to the small screen -- again.

According to the Wrap, Lowe has booked a guest spot on 'Californication' season 4, in which he will play Eddie Nero, an "imbalanced yet charismatic, award-winning movie star" who is up for the role of Hank Moody (star David Duchovny) in the big screen adaptation of Moody's book.

Lowe is currently scheduled to appear in one episode of the hit Showtime series, but may return as a recurring character, according to the report.

We told you earlier today about Marsha Thomason returning to her role as Agent Diana Lancing on 'White Collar.' But where would that leave Natalie Morales, who took over for Thomason (in another role)? Creator Jeff Eastin mentioned the four movies that Morales has coming out this year, but would that mean she wouldn't have time for television too?

Actually, she has time for that too. Michael Ausiello reports that Morales will appear on 'Parks and Recreation' for several episodes. She'll play Lucy, who works at one of the local bars.

There seems to be more news coming from 'Parks and Recreation' than there does from the health care debate in Washington. Rob Lowe is joining the show! Adam Scott is joining the show! Paul Schneider is leaving the show! The news that Scott is not only joining 'Parks and Recreation' but leaving 'Party Down' is the biggest news to me. With Jane Lynch also off 'Party Down,' that show has suffered two big blows.

This is not going to sit well with a lot of 'Parks and Recreation' fans, but here goes: Paul Schneider is leaving the show.

Co-creator Mike Schur confirms to the LA Times that Schneider is indeed leaving the show. Seems it's a combination of things. The fact that Schneider's character wasn't supposed to be on the show in the same position (he was supposed to be a character that came and went, switching between various government and private sector jobs) and the fact that Schneider's film career is taking off. He's going to be missed. He was always sort of the Jim Halpert of the group.

There is a bit of good news in this bad news. Both Rob Lowe and Adam Scott are joining the show. That could make things interesting and even make the cast a little meatier. Of course, there's a bit of a bad-news-inside-this-good-news-inside-this-bad news: Adam Scott is also on 'Party Down,' a really good show on STARZ. I hope he can do both.

The powers that be at ABC have good reasons to be feeling good about the network's success. They've had a really good year developing some new shows, like 'Modern Family,' 'The Middle' and 'Cougar Town' -- all of which have been given a renewal for next season. And today an established drama, 'Brothers and Sisters,' was given a fifth season pickup. You know what that means, don't you? Pop the cork! Let the merlot and pinot grigio flow, the Walkers and Ojai Foods are going to continue on for another year of whining and wining.

'Jimmy Kimmel Live' has a post-Oscars live show every year and last night he had a variety of guests, including Christoph Waltz, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Matt Damon, John Krasinksi, Ted Danson, Rob Lowe, Keith Urban, Sting, Matthew McConaughey, and many others. He also showed one award they didn't show on the Oscars, the one for "Best Actor in Real Life." I think the right guy won.

[Watch episodes of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and other shows at SlashControl.]

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."

Rob Lowe may be eyeing a quick return to television following his confirmed departure from 'Brothers & Sisters.' According to sources, Lowe may join the cast of CBS' upcoming 'Criminal Minds' spinoff, opposite Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. So far, sources claim that talks have begun; however, nothing has been confirmed. [E!]

More casting news after the jump.

Ken Olin of 'Brothers & Sisters' (Sun., 10PM ET on ABC) stopped by 'The Bonnie Hunt Show' (weekdays, syndicated) today, and talked about Rob Lowe's decision to leave the show.

While Olin wasn't involved in the process, he says that both Lowe and ABC came to a decision about what was best for everyone involved.

Watch the video from TV's Top 5! after the jump.

It appears that the 'Brothers & Sisters' family is getting smaller by the day.

On the heels of Rob Lowe's recently announced exit, EW.com's Ausiello Files is now reporting that Calista Flockhart will see a reduction in her role next season. While the number of episodes she'll be absent from is unknown, a spokesperson for ABC said that she will remain a series regular.

So what will this mean for the Walker family, specifically Kitty and Robert? As we've seen this season, Kitty has been struggling with cancer, which has put a major strain on their at times tumultuous relationship. And while she's currently in remission, after Robert's abandoned his aspirations for Governor, we see this one of two ways: One is that Kitty's cancer could return, although we highly doubt that Robert would leave if that were the case.

First Rob Lowe, now Calista Flockhart. They're breaking up that old Walker clan of ours. In short, Calista Flockhart will be on fewer episodes next season of Brothers and Sisters. So, if Rob is gone completely, and Calista is doing less shows, are the McCallisters even going to be living in California anymore?

We now know why Rob Lowe made the decision he did. His role is integrated into the Walker family through Calista's character, Kitty. If she was asking for a reduced presence, the ripple effect was clearly less screen time for him. Hence, his decision.

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This week we have spoilers for: 90210, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, Chuck, Cougar Town, Glee, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Melrose Place, NCIS: Los Angeles, Smallville, Supernatural, and Ugly Betty.