A couple weeks back on Modern Family, we saw Phil leave his job at his real estate agency to take a risk with a new firm started by a couple of business partners. One of them, we have learned, will be played by Greg Kinnear. Unfortunately, Phil will also face some opposition: and it will take the form of Ellen Barkin. The film actress will play a rival to Phil in the real estate game, appearing on Modern Family in an early 2012 episode. –TVLine
Sure, Neve Campbell. You gave movies a go—and it was a good run, too! You had the Screams, Wild Things, The Company. But TV is beckoning for your return! And you’ve chosen the perfect means to ease the transition back to the small screen: a Lifetime movie that will also play as a backdoor pilot (which is an “episode” created with the intention to be a pilot, but filmed and presented as a TV movie so that the network can air it whether the series gets picked up or not). The movie/potential series is called Sworn to Silence, and will star Campbell as a modern girl who returns to her hometown in Amish country, taking the role of the community’s chief of police. Apparently, the town has a history of murders, some of which were directly connected to Campbell’s character in childhood. Yes, it’s a long stride from Party of Five, but it’s getting Julia Salinger back on the small screen. –EW
The balance of good and evil is constantly at bay. Yesterday, we reported that the Man in Black was taking a guest role on the NBC series Grimm. Now, his more bright-spirited brother Jacob is countering the evils of the smoke monster by enjoying his own guest role: on ABC’s Castle. LOST‘s holy figure Mark Pellegrino is stepping onto the Castle set, prepping to play 1947 gangster Tom Dempsey, the object of the title character’s imagination when he investigates a present day murder that may be linked to Dempsey’s underhanded business dealings. Pellegrino will interract with star Nathan Fillion when Castle imagines himself as a ’40s figure, dealing with the nefarious criminal. Thanks to glory that is TV, we get to see it all play out! Castle airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. –TVLine
