News Brief

.. Mike & Molly is adding some star power via Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon, who will guest-star as JC Small, a literary icon and an idol of Molly’s.

... Jere Burns, who has spent the last four years as recurring character Wynn Duffy on Justified, has finally been upped to a series regular on the FX drama. This is fantastic news for fans, but probably not-so-great news for Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens. An increased presence in Season 5 probably spells more trouble for Harlan County. 

... Taye Diggs is visiting New Girl! He'll play Artie, a "self-assured ladies’ man" who Jess and Cece meet at a bar while Nick is preoccupied with guys' night. But it's not just any guys' night, because the episode also marks the return of Damon Wayans Jr.'s character, Coach.

... Adam Pally of the groundbreaking series Happy Endings has been upped to a series regular on The Mindy Project. His character, Peter, is the newest ob-gyn in Mindy's practice. 

... Beth Riesgraf (Leverage) has landed a role on ABC's Tricia Helfer-fronted midseason drama Killer Women. She'll appear in the second episode as Jennifer Jennings (that's unfortunate), an interior decorator who has a secret side-business that may or may not involve murdering people.

... Janina Gavankar (all the TV shows) and Khary Payton (General Hospital) have signed on to star opposite Ben Rappaport in USA's new comedy pilot Love Is Dead, about a romance in reverse, starting with the break-up. [Deadline]

... Enlisted, which was recently moved to midseason, has cast Stacy Keach (Prison Break), Dean Stockwell (Battlestar Galactica), and Barry Bostwick (Spin City) as a trio of army veterans who return to the base for a funeral. It eventually becomes clear they're the older versions of the Hill brothers, played by Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell, and Parker Young. 

... TNT has ordered 10 episodes of the Steven Bochco-created drama series Murder in the First. It stars Taye Diggs (who recently landed a guest spot on New Girl) and Kathleen Robertson as homicide detectives investigating the murder of an apparent drug addict. Much like The Killing, The Bridge, and Broadchurch, the series will take on one case per season. Because that really seems to be working out so well for the majority of the series that attempt it.

... Fox has given a pilot order to The Middle Man, Ben Affleck is set to direct and executive producer the pilot so absolutely no one should be surprised when I tell you that it is set in Boston in the 1960s and explores the relationship between FBI Agent Rudy MacAteer and Mickey Flood, an Irish-American gangster and confidential informant. Glenn Gordon Caron (Moonlighting, Medium) wrote the pilot and will also executive produce. 

... ABC wants to know what life would be like for Americans had they lost the Revolutionary War back in the 1700s. They've put a project into development titled The Thirteen that will explore a contemporary world in which Americans are still at war with the British over their freedom. This brings to light several questions: If we lost the war, how did World War I end? Why did we stop at 13 colonies? Do we drive on the left side of the road? And more importantly, would we be forced to pay for a TV license, too?

... Casey Wilson, Jonathan Groff and June Diane Raphael (Happy Endings ceators) have sold DINKS to ABC. DINKS, which is an acronym for “Double Income, No Kids,” is about a pair of thirtysomethings who find themselves struggling between life with kids and life without them. 

ABC is developing an event series based on Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's being written by Evan Daugherty, who's also to blame for Snow White and the Huntsman. The project is titled Esmerelda and will tell the story from the Gypsy Esmerelda's point of view. 

... Netflix was ready to swoop in on Better Call Saul, the Saul Goodman-focused Breaking Bad spin-off, if AMC and Sony had been unable to come to a licensing agreement.