with reports everywhere linking mischa barton to the cw's melrose reboot, people are wondering why the network hasn't confirmed her as cast. well, apparently mischa's diva ways are getting in the way of a final decision being made. the people behind the show have been pursuing the former oc star to take on a role but wanted to see the actress audition for the parts first. here's the problem: mischa thinks she's above auditioning. that's when interest in barton went from 100% percent to almost none - why would the producers of the show want to work with someone who isn't interested in going through the creative processes. the kicker is that mischa is apparently desperate for a paycheck and has now asked (yes, asked!) to audition for the roles available. the creative team wasn't going to appease mischa's diva behavior because the show is an ensemble drama and there is no one star. if they had just given the actress a free pass into the cast, she would have then thought she was the star and the rest of the cast was beneath her. but, because interest was once so high in nabbing mischa, i wouldn't be surprised if the network announced her casting in the next week or so, giving them not only one (ashlee simpson is already attached), but two, names to promote and bring buzz to the show.
abc to get witchy this fall
the alphabet net has green lit a project that will bring 80s favorite the witches of eastwick to the small screen. the simply named eastwick will meet somewhere between the updike novel and it's film adaptation, bringing both into modern day. the story follows 3 witches in the suburban town of eastwick, rhode island, following their relationships and affairs. basically, its a supernatural desperate housewives. this will be the third time someone has tried to bring the witches to television. the first time was in 1992, with 3 unknown actresses in the roles. the second attempt, 10 years later in 2002, a pilot was filmed starring kelly rutherford of gossip girl, marcia cross of desperate housewives, and lori loughlin of full house and 90210. that pilot was the jumping off point for this new version, which is set to star rebecca romijn of ugly betty, lindsay price of lipstick jungle, and jaime ray newman, who was most recently seen as a promiscuous medical intern on nip/tuck. this is probably the most all star cast seen to date and abc is said to be very interested in the project. it also puts the nail in the coffin of nbc's lipstick jungle. price is the second star of the series to attach herself to a new pilot, with kim raver working on other projects. however, if lipstick jungle does get renewed by the peacock net, price and raver will have to (probably begrudgingly) pull out of the pilot projects and return to the nbc drama. i'm excited for this - it seems like abc is finally getting back to the sitcoms, which is something that's missing from tv. when networks decided to get rid of the sitcom, they thought the medium was dead. really, the audience just wasn't interested in what the networks were pushing - the sitcom has always been viable. look at cbs's monday nights.
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