Your (or your parents') favorite guilty pleasure is returning to the airwaves in fancy, updated form. Also today: Big Game of Thrones casting news, TNT has a hit on its hands, and some exciting Hugh Jackman news.

  • When, a few years ago, a planned movie version of Dallas starring John Travolta fell apart, we all figured that our last, best chance of ever seeing the fabulous and fraught Ewing clan alive and kicking again had passed. How wrong we were to worry! (Or to sigh with relief that at least one terrible Hollywood idea was never made manifest.) TNT has just picked up to series a revamped version of the primetime soap, which will feature original series stars Linda Gray, Larry Hagman, and, most excitingly, Patrick Duffy. Joining them will be three Desperate Housewives alums — Brenda Strong, Josh Henderson, and beautiful face maker Jesse Metcalfe — and professional drag race dater Jordanna Brewster. So... YIKES? I think yikes. But it's not premiering until next summer though, so we'll all be dead by then anyway. [THR]
  • Speaking of TNTizzle, they've renewed their Noah Wyle action show Falling Skies for a second season. Great. Now Chicken Little is going to be walking around with a smug expression on his/her face for the foreseeable future. And so will Noah Wyle. And there's nothing worse than a smug Northwesterner, lemme tell you that! Well, a Northwesterner with a fucksaw might be slightly worse. But nothing else. [Deadline]
  • HBO's Game of Thrones has found an actress to play the big, butch, busted Brienne of Tarth and... of course the actress is none of those things. Well, Gwendoline Christie is very tall, but she's certainly not busted or butch. But that's OK. The magic of Hollywood, or in this case the misty northern lands of Ireland, will sort it out. So yay for Brienne! Oh also I got cast as an extra, or "sextra," in one scene where Renly and Loras, uh, joust with their lances. So I'm pretty excited about that!!!!!!!!!! Also I've been cast as Ygritte so I get to have cave sex with you-know-who. It's all pretty exciting. [EW]
  • Hugh Jackman is getting positive reviews for his Toronto concert Hugh Jackman in Concert, so now people are really thinking he might take the cabaret show to Broadway sometime in the future. Yes, Hugh Jackman might soon be doing a cabaret show in New York City. Hey, how's his wife doing these days? [Variety]
  • Despite rumors to the contrary, the Academy says that Oprah Winfrey is not in talks to host next year's Oscar awards ceremony. Awwwww, nuts. I was hoping we'd get to see Oprah's hilarious "David... Uma..." joke routine. So no Oprah at the Oscars. Who will be hosting then? Well, when reached for comment, Hugh Jackman said "Girl, don't you read?? I'm busyyyyy. Jeez." [THR]