‘Blank Slate’: Richard Shepard To Direct & EP NBC Drama Pilot

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl will release an album of music he recorded as the fictional metal band Dream Widow this week.In the Foo Fighters’ recent comedy-horror film Studio 666, the band hire a mansion in Encino to record their 10th studio album, but Grohl soon becomes possessed by a curse and begins viciously attacking his bandmates.Throughout the film, we learn that decades earlier, the band Dream Widow experienced a similar fate, with the band recording a “lost album” before their frontman murdered the rest of the band.Now, according to Variety, that “lost album” will arrive digitally this Friday (March 25), with a physical release to follow later in the year.Grohl has already released the first single to be lifted from the Dream Widow record, having shared ‘March of the Insane’ last month. The thrash-influenced cut sees Grohl howl lyrics like “Sing in a villainous choir / Join in a chorus of pain,” above blistering, heavily distorted guitar riffs and frenetic drums.It’s not clear how many tracks the record will contain, or what the overall sound will be, but Grohl cited Trouble, Corrosion of Conformity and Kyuss as reference points when speaking to Rolling Stone about the project last month.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“East New York,” the drama pilot currently in the works at CBS, has added four new cast members.Ruben Santiago Hudson (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Broadway’s “Lackawanna Blues”), Richard Kind (“Argo,” “A Serious Man”), Lavel Schley (“Barriers,” “Tell My Family I Love Them”), and Olivia Luccardi (“The Thing About Pam,” “The Deuce”) have all joined the pilot alongside previously announced series lead Amanda Warren.In the pilot, Regina Haywood (Warren) is the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, an impoverished, working-class will neighborhood at the eastern edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting during the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.

Amanda Warren has been tapped as the lead in the CBS drama pilot East New York.

Former Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula is returning to NBC as the lead of ranch drama pilot Unbroken (working title).

EXCLUSIVE: Madeline Wise (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and newcomer Inga Schlingmann are set as series regulars opposite Geena Davis and Skylar Astin in CBS’ mother-and-son legal drama pilot from writer/executive producer Scott Prendergast and executive producer Phil McGraw. Additionally, Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro (Charmed) have joined as showrunners and executive producers.

Skylar Astin, coming off his starring role on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, has been tapped as the male lead opposite Geena Davis in CBS’ mother-and-son legal drama pilot from writer/executive producer Scott Prendergast and executive producer Phil McGraw.

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Wood (The Code) is set as a lead along with Oluniké Adeliyi (The Porter), Amanda Payton (United States of Al) and Delon de Metz (Zoo) in NBC’s Unbroken (wt) drama pilot from New Amsterdam executive producer Shaun Cassidy and Universal Television. Additionally, Bronwen Hughes (Resident Evil) has been tapped to direct and executive produce the pilot.

Oscar-winner Geena Davis has been tapped as the co-lead for a CBS’ untitled mother-son legal drama pilot from Scott Prendergast, who wrote the script and executive produces, Deadline has confirmed.

Nanrisa Lee (Bosch), Mason Alexander Park (Cowboy Bebop) and newcomer Caitlin Bassett are set as series regulars opposite Raymond Lee in NBC’s hourlong pilot Quantum Leap, a reboot of the beloved 1990s sci-fi drama.

EXCLUSIVE: Ernie Hudson has been tapped as a lead opposite Raymond Lee in NBC’s hourlong pilot Quantum Leap, a reboot of the beloved 1990s sci-fi drama.

EXCLUSIVE: Modern Family star Ariel Winter has been tapped as the lead of NBC’s multi-camera comedy series Hungry. She succeeds Demi Lovato who had been attached to the project for almost a year but stepped down from acting duties Thursday for scheduling reasons just as the pilot was about to start production.

Milo Ventimiglia has potentially found his next starring vehicle.

Milo Ventimiglia is taking on a new role!

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has ordered the drama pilot “The Company You Keep” with Milo Ventimiglia attached to star, Variety has learned.The pilot is based on the Korean format “My Fellow Citizens.” A night of passion leads to love between con-man Charlie (Ventimiglia) and undercover CIA officer Emma, who are unknowingly on a collision course professionally. While Charlie ramps up the “family business” so he can get out for good, Emma’s closing in on the vengeful criminal who holds Charlie’s family debts in-hand – forcing them to reckon with the lies they’ve told so they can save themselves and their families from disastrous consequences.The pilot keeps Ventimiglia in the broadcast TV business.

EXCLUSIVE: This is a surprise. Demi Lovato, who had been attached as star in NBC’s multi-camera comedy pilot Hungry for a year, has stepped down from acting duties in the project just as it was about to start production. Lovato, along with their manager Scooter Braun, remain executive producers.

Angelique Jackson Sherri Shepherd wasn’t a nominee at the 13th AAFCA Awards on Wednesday night, but she certainly had the look of a winner.Shepherd was on hand at the annual awards show — which celebrates the best in film each year — to present the best actress award to her “Chi-town sister” Jennifer Hudson, who the organization’s near-100 members honored for playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect.”“I’m so in awe of her, that she has reinvented herself but she’s still singing those soulful gospel songs, then she’s pop, then she can get in there and act her butt off and did an amazing job in ‘Respect,’” Shepherd told Variety about Hudson on the red carpet outside the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. “Now the girl’s got her own talk show — welcome to the block, sis! — so, it’s very, very exciting to support her in this manner.” Of course, Hudson isn’t the only one with a new show.

Pierce Brosnan has been inundated with praise after issuing a plea to his fans to support the children of Ukraine. DONATE NOW: What can you do to help Ukraine?The James Bond star has joined a long list of celebrities who are voicing their support for Ukraine and took to Instagram on Wednesday to repost a message from UNICEF USA which asked for donations to help with "emergency response efforts".WATCH: Pierce Brosnan shares hopeful message with fansIt read: "As needs in #Ukraine escalate in line with the conflict, UNICEF is rapidly stepping up emergency response efforts throughout the country, providing critical supplies, access to safe water, child protection and more.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterShanola Hampton has been cast in the lead role of the NBC drama pilot “Unfound,” Variety has learned.The one hour drama deals with the fact that, in any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. Public relations specialist Gabi Mosley (Hampton) — who was once herself one of those forgotten ones — and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people.