A new comedy star is emerging and her name is Melissa McCarthy. Also today: the glorious return of Little People, Big World, catching up with the Ribisis, and an exciting new gay movie.

  • Hot off the success of Lady Poop: The Movie, Melissa McCarthy has been snapped up for another Judd Apatow joint. She's been cast in his fourth directorial effort, the still untitled spinoff of Knocked Up starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. So it's not a lead role, that hasn't come yet, but she's got heat on her, this Melissa McCarthy. Now if only we could get her off that Mike & Molly show, because oh man that Mike & Molly show stinks something fierce. Well, OK, I haven't actually watched a whole episode of that Mike & Molly show, because life is far too short, but I have seen clips, and clips of that Mike & Molly really do stink something fierce. But that's not the point! We're talking about good things here. Movie things. Success, not failure. Let's do this day right. [THR]
  • Everyone's favorite mumblemouth, Giovanni Ribisi, has been cast in the LA gangster pic The Gangster Squad, about a squad that chases gangsters. Hence the title. Giovanni Ribisi holds on, you know? He's been around a long time. Which reminds me, where is his sister? Remember Marissa Ribisi? She was once, many moons ago, on an episode of I'm Telling (that's not her episode, but an episode with Paul Walker. What a weird show), though I don't think with Giovanni?, and though of course she's since been in Dazed and Confused and The Brady Bunch Movie and is married to Beck or whatever, I will mostly always remember her from this episode of I'm Telling. So where are you, Marissa? Why aren't you on more game shows these days? [Deadline]
  • Now that Alfred Molina's Law & Order: LA has been (woefully!) canceled, he needs work, so he's just taken a guest arc gig on Harry's Law. So NBC has taken the Order and replaced it with Harry. I don't really think that's a fair trade. If NBC is so insistent on keeping this bad Harry's Law show on the air, why don't they just do Harry's Law & Order and she'll be the chief of lawyers or something and then the rest of the show will be normal? That seems like a fair solution. But sticking Alfred Molina on Harry's Law so he can stand there like a chump and watch Order flitter away like dandelion fuzz does not seem fair, not one bit. [EW]
  • Um. Nicholas Braun, an actor from the Disney movie Prom, has been cast in a new movie. The movie? It is called Gay Dude (yup) and it is about this: "a high schooler who makes a pact with friend Matty to lose their virginity before graduation — until Matty comes out of the closet." !!!!! A gay-themed high school comedy! That's made by Lionsgate, not by TLA or the here! network?? Amazing! Sure it'll probably end up going straight to BluRay or whatever the new "straight to video" phrase is these days, but who cares! I think that's great and exciting and fun. Who will play the eponymous Gay Dude I wonder? Could be exciting! Oh, wait. This just in. They've cast Marcus Bachmann. Oh well. [Variety]
  • Good news! TLC is bringing back their hit reality series Little People, Big World for four more specials so we can get updates on what everyone's been doing since the series finale last year. That's fun. It's a cute show. I'm eager to hear how Jacob and Molly and Zach are doing. And, y'know, Jeremy. Just sorta... curious, uh, about Jeremy. (Have we gotten there yet? Are we allowed to talk about this? This Jeremy thing? That we've all been thinking for like two years? I just don't know. It's an issue.) Anyway. Yeah. That'll be interesting. [THR]

[Photo via Getty]