Keri Russell mounted on FX's 'Americans'

RussellKeri Russell is aboard because the female lead within the Forex drama pilot "The People in america."Project, created by Fox Television Galleries and Forex Prods., examines an intricate arranged marriage of two KGB spies appearing as People in america in suburban Washington, D.C., in early eighties. While Russell will have the wife, Elizabeth Jennings, no actor continues to be cast yet on her husband, Phillip Jennings.The plot thickens once the Russians start to grow an interest in both America and one another.Pilot was compiled by Joe Weisberg, who'll professional produce with "Justified" showrunner Graham Yost, and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of DreamWorks Television. "Warrior" helmer Gavin O'Connor will directProduction on "The People in america" is scheduled to start at the end of spring, meaning other casting must be closed soon to ensure that cameras to begin moving.Forex continues to be discussing the fate of "Forces," starring Jason Patric. The new sony Television-created sci-fi pilot from author Charles Eglee has gone through several revisions and it is waiting for a reshoot.Russell grew to become a TV star when she toplined the WB drama "Felicity," which went from 1998-2002. This Year she and can Arnett starred within the Fox comedy "Running Wilde," however the series survived only 13 episodes. Bigscreen projects include "Waitress" and "Mission: Impossible III." Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Start Looking: The Aquabats Super Show's First Commercial Parody

Zac Efron continues to be marketing his approaching film The Lorax, but his actions around the red-colored carpet have been receiving all of the attention.In the premiere from the film, Efron, 24, drawn something from his pocket for his publicist to carry, along with a condom accidentally fell by helping cover their it... Find Out More > Other Links From TVGuide.com TodayZac EfronMatt Lauer

ASCAP expo announces site visitors

Undertaking rights org ASCAP has revealed the initial batch of site visitors due to its seventh annual I Create Music expo, set to span 72 hrs in April. The expo will feature masterclasses in the type of Carly Simon, Peter Frampton and film scorer Mark Isham sections featuring the Smeezingtons, Deana Carter and ASCAP prexy Paul Williams and performances from Eagles vet Don Felder, Brett James and Jonny Lang. The confab will occur from April 19-21 within the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Oscars Individuals who win List 2012: Octavia Spencer, A Separation, The Iron Lady, The Artist, Hugo

Nikki Finke: Live-Snarking The Oscars Actress in the Supporting Role Octavia Spencer in “The Help” Language Film “A Separation” Iran Makeup “The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland Costume Design “The Artist” Mark Bridges Art Direction “Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo Cinematography “Hugo” Robert Richardson Film Editing Appear Editing Appear Mixing Documentary (Feature) Animated Feature Film Visual Effects Actor in the Supporting Role Music (Original Score) Music (Original Song) Online Video (Live Action) Script (Modified) Script (Original) Documentary (Short Subject) Online Video (Animated) Pointing Actor in the Leading Role Actress in the Leading Role Best Picture

'Jimmy Kimmel' puts BMW behind wheel

Jimmy Kimmel Live has partnered with BMW on a pair of broadcasts, including a leap-day themed show Wednesday. BMW has taken on latenight. The automaker inked a deal with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to serve as the title sponsor of Sunday night's "After the Academy Awards" show and has bought out all of the commercial time during Wednesday's leap day-themed broadcast. It's also taking over Kimmel's YouTube channel throughout March, sponsoring videos with custom spots. BMW is using the branded entertainment effort to promote its redesigned 3-series sedan, rolling into showrooms. Media agency Universal McCann brokered the deal for BMW. For the Oscar show, BMW and UM also produced a custom-branded opening title sequence, with Kimmel landing in front of his theater in a tuxedo but missing a bowtie. Show sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez races up Hollywood Boulevard in a BMW with the tie to save the day. UM also produced multiple bumpers promoting the leap-day episode. The loose tie-in with the Oscars is a coup for BMW given that Hyundai is the kudocast's official auto sponsor. Kimmel's Oscar episode, his seventh, includes Oprah Winfrey and Coldplay. Episode regularly ranks as one of his highest rated each year, growing from its average of 1.7 million viewers to 4 million. Over the years, the talkshow host has used the broadcast to premiere pre-produced comedy shorts like "F*@#ing Ben Affleck"; "Handsome Men's Club," with Matthew McConaughey and Sting; "Hottie Body Hump Club"; and "Tom Hanks's Toddlers in Tiaras" that wound up becoming online hits through Kimmel's YouTube channel, which has racked up more than 500 million views since its launch in 2006. This year, Kimmel presented "Movie: The Movie," which features Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Don Cheadle, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz, J.J. Abrams, Jessica Biel, Jason Bateman, Tyler Perry, Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Ryan Phillippe. But BMW has a bigger presence on Wednesday, when the show will air commercial-free, with the automaker featured during a five-minute skit (that it hopes goes viral), while the rest of the show will be presented by BMW and include comedic vignettes starring Kimmel, guests and crew that celebrate having more time. BMW wanted to tie in with the one day every four years when everyone receives a full 24 hours' worth of more time, the company said. "It began with an insight into the target audience of BMW: very affluent consumers that, within reason, buy whatever they need, but the one thing they can't buy is time, the one thing they covet the most," said Paul Furia, a former William Morris agent who now serves as senior VP, experience architect, at Universal McCann. BMW sparked to "Jimmy Kimmel Live" because "latenight was a priority" given the younger target demo his show appeals to but also the comedian's past relationship with marketers like General Motors and Volkswagen, creatively integrating their products into the show. The leap-day episode was also "in the middle of the launch window" for the 3-series, Furia said. And it became more cost-efficient to buy out ads on "Kimmel," with a 30-second spot averaging $30,000-$45,000, than on a primetime series, for example. It also helped that Kimmel drives a BMW and that his humor is "clever and witty, not stupid comedy," Furia added. "BMW wanted to find a way to have fun with itself." Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

50's set drama grabs Brit viewers

'Call the Midwife' scored better numbers than the first season of 'Downton Abbey.'A TV drama about midwives, nuns and moms-to-be set in 1950s London has proved the surprise hit of the season in Blighty.The first season of "Call the Midwife," which ended Feb. 19, attracted an average 8.7 million viewers -- a 30 audience share -- for BBC1, making it the channel's most popular new drama series in 10 years, and besting the debut season of "Downton Abbey" on ITV.After two episodes, the BBC commissioned a second season, which will air next year.The six parter, each episode an hour long, has been described by one reviewer as an "audiovisual cuddle." But that description fails to do justice to a primetime series showing fairly realistic portrayals of home births -- and life in general -- in a poverty-stricken district of East London close to the docks.The show was exec produced by Pippa Harris, who set up shingle Neal Street Prods. with helmer Sam Mendes and producing partner Caro Newling in 2003. Before that, she was head of drama commissioning at the BBC.The show, based on the memoirs of bestselling author Jennifer Worth, is set in a convent that houses an order of nuns devoted to nursing, and a team of young midwives.Much of the show's appeal comes from challenging viewers' expectations, Harris says."One of the pleasures of Jennifer's writing is that she often turns your assumptions about religion on their head. So you often have scenarios where it is the young midwives who are shocked by people's morals or their behavior," she says. "And the nuns -- who are far more understanding, because they've seen it all before -- are unshockable."The show comes at a time when the funding of healthcare is a hotly disputed topic in the U.K., but viewers' reactions to the show on this score can be surprising."Just as many people look back with a rose-tinted glow, and think how much more caring the medical profession were then -- and just as many people look back and think 'Gosh, what a terrible time to have given birth,' " Harris says.The series was penned by "Cranford" and "Upstairs Downstairs" scribe Heidi Thomas and helmed by Philippa Lowthorpe, and benefited from the cross-pollination of the different talents among Neal Street's partners. "As a company, we work in feature films, TV and theater, and the three of us -- myself, Sam Mendes and Caro Newling -- we've always worked (on) each other's projects," Harris says. "Sam was around to look at the early cuts of those first episodes, and I think Philippa found his notes some of the most helpful in terms of shaping the finished episodes."This is the company's first drama series, following a string of feature films, including "Revolutionary Road," "Away We Go" and "Jarhead." It has a first-look deal with Focus Features, for which it is developing "Middlemarch" and "Butcher's Crossing," and is developing a feature film version of TV series "Lost in Austen" for Sony.Further TV series are in the works, including a U.S. remake of French cop series "Spiral" for L.A.-based BBC Worldwide Prods., being penned by Meredith Stiehm ("Homeland"); and Paris-set hostage thriller "Grand Hotel" for Canal Plus. Both are being developed with French company Son et Lumiere. Contact Leo Barraclough at leo.barraclough@variety.com

Pilot parts scarce for beginners

There's hardly any such factor becoming an unknown any more in TV. Though plenty of roles be completed this season's TV pilot casting, true beginners remain relatively couple of in number. Within the last week, familiar thesps once again clicked up an effective the majority of roles, including Forces Boothe, Anthony LaPaglia, John Leguizamo, Mary McCormack, Ken Olin, Bill Pullman, Lily Tomlin and Bradley Whitford. But that was just the tip in the iceberg each week which saw the casting of Clancy Brown, Lucy Davis, Chris Egan, Scott Foley, Greg Grunberg, Rachael Harris, Erinn Hayes, Jay Hernandez, Kyle Howard, Tyler Labine, John F. O'Byrne, Lucy Punch, Judy Reyes, Brandon Routh, Roselyn Sanchez, Jurnee Smollett, Scott Speedman, Mena Suvari, Aimee Teegarden, Lee Tergesen, Ashley Tisdale, Julie White-colored, Ray Wilmore while others. The castings come each week through which one notable film actor, Ryan Phillippe, dropped from the CBS pilot ("Golden Boy" with Chi McBride), while another, Mira Sorvino, became a member of into final discussions to participate another ("Trooper"). McCormack, whose five-season starring role on USA's "In Plain Sight" finishes getting a set finale in May, can change to comedy getting an online insurance lead in ABC's untitled Kari Lizer multicam project. McCormack may have a greater-powered executive who finds herself unemployed and focusing on as being a full-time mother. Whitford, like McCormack a "West Wing" alum, will team with Ali Larter on Fox's CIA drama "The Resource," from Josh Friedman. Two former "Friday Evening Lights" stars coping new roles, with Teegarden starring in "The ChoiceInch for your CW and Smollett in NBC's adaptation of U.K. prison drama "Bad Women." In "Selection," from "Vampire Journals" vets Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, Teegarden plays an unhealthy youthful lady in the 24th century who could become filled with the war-torn nation, while Smollett will join the cast in the project from John Wells, Nancy Pimental and Andrew Stearn. ABC nabbed Leguizamo for the next British-born skein, multicam comedy "Only Fools and Horses" from Steven Craag and John Bradley, about two streetwise brothers and sisters concentrating on becoming riches, with Dustin Ybarra co-starring. Also for your Alphabet internet, LaPaglia, Olin ("Brothers and sisters and Brothers and sisters") and Natalie Mendoza ("Hotel Babylon") became a member of into "Americana," the Michael Seitzman-composed cleaning cleaning soap occur the design and style design biz, while LaPaglia's "Without any Trace" co-star, Sanchez, Reyes ("Scrubs"), Angelique Cabral and Rebecca Wisocky ("American Horror Story") have conspired to participate Marc Cherry's "Devious Service personnel," along with formerly cast Ana Ortiz and Dania Ramirez. Another "Brothers and sisters and Brothers and sisters" alum, Dork Annable, will need up residence at supernatural drama "666 Park Avenue" with Terry O'Qunn, while Tomlin ("Damages") grew to become part of Reba McEntire starrer "Malibu Country" and Hayes ("Kids Hospital") the untitled Mandy Moore project. O'Byrne ("Prime Suspect"), Matt Extended, Brigid Brannagh and Maury Sterling grew to become part of ABC's 19th-century drama "Gilded Lilys," Chris Egan ("Nobleman") reserved "Beauty as well as the Animal" and Speedman ("Felicity") and Dichen Lachman ("Toy house") are saved to board for Andre Braugher starrer "The Final Measure," from Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdusek. Tergesen ("Oz") is at ABC mob drama "Penoza" from Melissa Rosenberg, and Boothe and Jonathan Jackson ("General Hospital") will visit family cleaning cleaning soap "Nashville." Scott Michael Promote ("Greek") grew to become part of mystery drama "Zero Hour" from Paul Scheruing, and Yaya DeCosta is within the untitled drama from Roland Emmerich and Harold Kloser. At CBS, Routh ("Superman Returns," "Chuck"), Davis (Blighty's "WorkInch) and Elizabeth Regen will complete the cast for your David Kohan-Max Mutchnick comedy "Partners," through which Routh and Michael Urie play designers and long-term pals, with Sophia Rose rose bush since the girlfriend of Routh's character. Furthermore for your Eye, Grunberg ("Heroes") will co-star with JoAnna Garcia Swisher inside the untitled Greg Malins/Greg Berlanti project comedy about two longtime pals who might be near rapport, because the ensemble for the next untitled CBS romantic comedy, from Nick Stoller, hooked Brie Larson ("United states . States of Tara"). Tisdale ("Hellcats") grew to become part of the untitled Louis C.K./Spike Feresten comedy about youthful dreamers, and Harris did the identical for your untitled laffer from Ray Dorf, Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy that stars Falcone -- McCarthy's husband and "Bridesmaids" co-star -- just like a guy who handles to get rid of all things in the particular-estate meltdown and requires to maneuver back along with his parents. Should Sorvino ink the sale for "Trooper," of a mother who becomes a NY condition officer, she'll be based on Hernandez ("Six Levels"). "Trooper" arises from Aron Eli Coleite, with Jerry Bruckheimer one of the professional producers. For NBC, Pullman and Brittany Snow grew to become part of Josh Gad in White-colored House family laffer "1600 Penn," from Gad and Jon Lovett. Howard ("My Boys") and Suvari ("American Reunion") will co-star in Hilary Winston's untitled revenge-of-a-shy lady comedy, Labine ("Mad Love") and Bobby Lee ("Mad TV") signed on for Justin Kirk-fronted "Animal Kingdom," White-colored ("Sophistication Under Fire") will complete the cast for Scott Silveri composed comedy "ContinueInch and Melissa Davenport ("Shameless") can do the identical for Anne Heche starrer "Save Me." Collette Wolfe ("Youthful Adult," "Cougar Town") clicked up charge in Stephen Falk comedy "Next Caller Please," a couple of "Odd Couple"-like aircraft aircraft pilots this year including public radio hosts. Justin Bartha ("The Hangover," "Teachers") and Georgia King found "The Completely New Normal," with formerly introduced Andrew Runnels in a single-cam comedy of a surrogate mother together with a gay couple striving to start a family group. Zach Cregger ("Pals with Benefits") will probably be one of the immature thirtysomething parents inside an untitled NBC multicam from Charlie Grandy with Jimmy Fallon professional creating. Round the drama side for your Peacock, Taylor Kinney ("Trauma") returns for the network with Monica Raymund ("Mislead Me") in "Chicago Fire," from "3:10 to Yuma" authors Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, and Erik Jensen grew to become part of the wagon of Take advantage of Casssidy's period Western "The Frontier." With Fox, Foley grew to become part of Becky Newton in single-cam comedy "The Goodwin Games," from Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and Chris Harris. Foley and Newton play children who will inherit lots of money if they'd like to stick to the indiosyncratic regards to his will. Other castings for Fox incorporated Ray Wilmore ("The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"), Anna Maria Horsford ("The Shield") and Sugar Lyn Beard ("50/50") in "Living Loaded," featuring Jesse Sutherland and Mike Vogel. Lucy Punch ("You'll Meet a Tall Dark Stranger") grew to become part of the retitled "Ned Fox Is My Manny," and Jesse Lee Soffer and James Carpinello became a member of the ensemble for Josh Berman and Robert Wright's untitled Fox drama of a surgeon with ties for the mob. And rounding out things for your CW, Michael Rady ("Melrose Place") and Kelly McCreary nabbed parts inside the Jennie Snyder Urman and Serta Jinks hospital drama "First Cut," Austin Basis ("Existence Unforeseen") was put in the network's version of "Beauty as well as the Animal" starring Kristin Kreuk and Colin Donnell ("Pan Am") grew to become part of the ensemble for Eco-friendly Arrow drama "Arrow." Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com