‘Galactica’ gets little more Lawless

Lucy Lawless, already a cult heroine from her days as Xena, is about to pick up even more geek cred.

Lawless will join the cast of the Sci Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica” for its third season, reprising her role as D’Anna Biers. She’s scheduled to appear in 10 episodes of season three, which begins filming in the spring.

Fans of the critically hailed show won’t have to wait to see her again, though – she’s set to make another guest appearance in an episode scheduled for Feb. 24.

Lawless’ character, a journalist, arrived on Galactica to do an expose on supposed misconduct by crew members that resulted in the death of civilians. Her piece ended up having the opposite effect, however, bridging a gap between the military and civilian survivors of humanity.

ABC casts wide; CBS revives ‘3 Lbs.’

“Everwood” regular Scott Wolf and “Rent” man Taye Diggs have signed on to pilots at ABC, while at CBS, the brain-surgeon drama “3 Lbs.” has new life after being passed over last year.

Wolf, who plays Dr. Jake Hartman on “Everwood,” has joined the cast of an ABC drama from “Without a Trace” creator Hank Steinberg and his sister, K.J. The show, formerly titled “Nine Lives,” will follow nine people who were held hostage in a bank robbery.

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The former “Party of Five” star will be joined in the cast by Lourdes Benedicto (“NYPD Blue,” “24”) and Jessica Collins (“Tru Calling”), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Also at ABC, Diggs, who last year starred in UPN’s “Kevin Hill,” will take the lead role in “Daybreak,” Variety says. He’ll play a cop who’s trying to prevent a murder while at the same time clearing his name in another homicide for which he’s been framed. The network has also cast Laura Harris (“24,” “Dead Like Me”) and Jaime Ray Newman (“General Hospital”) as the title characters in “Hollis & Rae,” a drama about a cop and a prosecutor who work together and are also good friends.

The show comes from Steven Bochco (“Commander In Chief”) and Callie Khouri (“Thelma & Louise”).

Among the projects getting pilot orders are a revamped version of “3 Lbs.,” which CBS decided not to order last year. The show, which will get a different title, will follow a neurosurgeon who takes on a new partner while discovering his brain may be starting to fail him.

Peter Ocko, who wrote the pilot last year, is back as writer and executive producer. Dylan McDermott, who starred in the pilot last year, has opted not to return; there’s no word on the rest of the original cast, which included Reiko Aylesworth (“24”) and Mark Feuerstein (“Good Morning, Miami”).

CBS has also ordered a comedy called “The Weekend,” about three friends who live for their two days off work. Britcom veteran Ed Roe (“Smack the Pony”) wrote the script.

ABC has also added to its pilot roster, ordering comedies “I Love the Things I Hate About You” from writers Patti Carr and Lara Runnels (“Boy Meets World,” “Reba”) and “52 Fights” from Alex Taub (“Felicity”) and Peter Traugott (“Jake in Progress”). Both orders are contingent on casting.

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MADSEN, LIOTTA TEAM FOR CBS’ “SMITH’

CBS has ordered a crime drama pilot that’s going by the rather bland name of “Smith.” The talent in front of and behind the camera, however, is far from pedestrian.

Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen and Emmy winner Ray Liotta will head the cast of the show, which is being executive produced by John Wells, the man behind “The West Wing” and “ER.” Amy Smart (“Just Friends”) and Franky G (“Saw II”) have also signed on to the cast.

“Smith” is a crime show told from the point of view of the criminals, the showbiz trade papers report. Wells is writing the pilot in addition to executive producing, and frequent collaborator Christopher Chulack (“ER,” “Third Watch”) will direct it.

Liotta, who won an Emmy last year for a guest role on “ER,” has long been a sought-after star for TV producers, but “Smith” would be his first work as a series regular (he was attached to a pilot at NBC a couple of seasons back that didn’t make the cut). The “Narc” and “Goodfellas” star has several film projects on tap this year, including the Vegas mob flick “Smokin’ Aces” and the romantic comedy “Comeback Season.”

Madsen, who earned an Oscar nomination for her role in “Sideways,” stars with Harrison Ford in the thriller “Firewall,” which opens this week. Her TV credits include recurring parts on “Frasier” and “American Dreams.”

In addition to “Just Friends,” Smart has starred in “Varsity Blues” and “The Butterfly Effect” and had recurring roles on “Felicity” and “Scrubs.” Franky G starred in Wells’ short-lived Fox series “Jonny Zero” last season.

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CBS ENJOYING A FEW “CREATURE COMFORTS’

CBS, whose last attempts at animated series were the quickly euthanized “Fish Police” and “Family Dog,” is taking another swing at the genre.

The network has ordered seven half-hour episodes of “Creature Comforts” from Aardman Animation, the company behind “Wallace & Gromit” and “Chicken Run.” The show, a success on the United Kingdom’s ITV, features Aardman’s animated animals speaking words gathered in man-on-the-street interviews about life, love, work and other topics.

Because of the long lead time required to produce the labor-intensive stop-motion animation, “Creature Comforts” probably won’t debut on CBS until midway through the 2006-07 season, the showbiz trade papers report. Kit Boss, a writer and executive producer on “King of the Hill,” will executive produce the U.S. show.

“As a longtime fan of Aardman’s work, I’m painfully aware that no matter what I say, it would be funnier coming out of the mouth of a plasticine dog with an overbite,” Boss says. “I’m thrilled to be given the chance to bring their creatures across the Atlantic and help them to speak American.”

“Creature Comforts” is based on Aardman principal Nick Park’s Oscar-winning animated short of the same name. It debuted on ITV in 2003 and airs on BBC America in this country.

Park will join Boss as an executive producer of the CBS show, along with Miles Bullough, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Peter Lord and David Sproxton.

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AP-NY-02-06-06 1557EST