Stephen Lovekin/Getty ImagesHope is not only in the air, it's about to be on it.
Michael J. Fox is returning to ABC's prime-time schedule with a new one-hour, globe-trotting special digging deep into the nature of the big O—not Oprah, sadly, but something just as awe-inspiring—optimism.
In Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, the titular host will travel the world and seek out examples of what makes people from different cultures their happiest. The special will air May 7.
Meanwhile, CBS has some alternative programming of its own in the works, sending out Jessica Simpson, Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst, Ice-T, Mario Lopez and LeAnn Rimes to see how they fare in ordinary jobs while trying to convince suspicious coworkers that they are simply celebrity look-alikes.
Here's hoping everybody loves a charade.
The hidden-camera special, I Get That a Lot, will air on April Fools' Day.
In other major casting news:
• Sean Penn is really milking his second Commie-loving Oscar win, heading into negotiations to star in Cartel, a drama centering on a man's mission to protect his son after his wife's brutal murder in the Mexican cartels. Per Variety, the action flick, based on the 1993 Italian film La Scorta, goes into production this summer.
• Recent Oscar contender Melissa Leo has joined the cast of HBO's ensemble drama pilot Treme. Per Variety, Leo will play a civil rights lawyer in the series, which chronicles the rebuilding of New Orleans as seen through the eyes of local musicians.
• Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester is moving in on The Roommate, signing on to star in the thriller, per the Hollywood Reporter, as a college student whose dorm-room cohabiter turns out to be an obsessive murderess. Hate it when that happens.
• Let the whispers begin: One Tree Hill vet Matt Barr is the latest star to join the cast of Gossip Girl's in-the-works spinoff. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the thesp will star as Keith van der Woodsen, a Malibu playboy and would-be mystery father to Serena, who emerges as the love interest to a young Lily, to be played by Brittany Snow.
• New mom Rebecca Romijn must really trust her nanny: The actress has signed on to topline ABC's new drama pilot Eastwick, based on the John Updike novel, and subsequent '80s film, The Witches of Eastwick. Per Variety, the show will follow three women, lead by Romijn's Roxie, who realize they have magical powers once a mystery man arrives in town.
• Lullaby for Pi is getting some international flare. Rupert Friend, Keira Knightley's longtime arm candy and current Young Victoria thesp, and Clémence Poésy, French indie fashion plate and In Bruges actress, have signed on to costar in the arthouse-bound drama. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the film centers on a jazz singer who crosses paths with a mystery woman in the wake of his wife's death.
• Saturday Night Live alum Chris Parnell is finally a ready for primetime player, leading the newcomers on Big D, a CBS comedy centering on a New York couple who relocates to the hubby's Dallas hometown. Per the Hollywood Reporter, former Gilmore Girls heartthrob Matt Czuchry is rounding out the cast of another CBS project, the Julianna Marguiles-starring drama The Good Wife. He'll play a recent Harvard grad and first-year law associate.