A hardworking TV actress has had quite the eclectic career, and she continues to. Also today: a big Walking Dead shakeup, some less than comforting news about The Killing, and Ron Swanson has a Tammy 1.

  • Best known to those that get it as Darla from Buffray the Vampyr Lady, actress Julie Benz has bounced around to all manner of random places in the years since she last fired her double pistols. She's done random things like get tortured in Saw V, cozy up to a 65-year-old beefsteak in Rambo, and, of course, play witless companion to a serial killer in fifty episodes of Dexter. Then she added to that eclectic resume by playing a stripper on Desperate Housewives and a desperate housewife with magical powers on No Ordinary Family. And now she's just been bumped down from series regular to recurring on CBS's upcoming ghostie dramz A Gifted Man (the one with Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle's ghost), so she's taken a role in a TNT original movie opposite John Corbett and Gary Cole. OK then! I'm glad that Darla's working, but man she's working weird. [Deadline]
  • So yesterday everyone was like "Braiiiinsssss" because they're all zombies, but the living human translation of that is "Frank Darabont is stepping down as showrunner of AMC's The Walking Dead." ("Brains" means many things in the zombic tongue. And, oddly, they have 32 words for brains and yet only one for love. It's "brains.") So yeah! Crazy, huh? The rumor is that Darabont couldn't quite get used to the rhythm of doing a TV show, but who knows. Glen Mazzara, already a writer and exec producer on the show, will take over as showrunner and Darabont will try to make his way, solo and on foot, to Atlanta in the hopes of finding some help. Good luck! [EW]
  • Hey speaking of AMC, an exec with the network spoke to reporters about The Killing and said this: "You will find out who killed Rosie Larsen in season two." Oh, OK. Great. Because you've proven that we can trust you in that regard. Completely. Is the new ad campaign going to be "Who killed Rosie Larsen, but seriously this time?" I hope so! We will find out who killed Rosie Larsen in season two! But most importantly, will we find out who wins the big Seattle mayoral race? Because boy I sure hope so. Although I kind of hope we don't find out, because I love watching all of the meetings about poll numbers and press and stuff. That stuff is so exciting! Keep that coming forever and never solve the murder on the show called The Killing. Recipe for success right there. [THR]
  • Hey do you like garbage? Did you always relate to Oscar the Grouch when you watched Sesame Street as a kid (or an annoyingly whimsical adult)? Do you spend lots of your free time standing on the riverbank hoping to see the garbage barge float by? Do you live in a dumpster? What I'm asking is are you a fan of garbage and would you like to see some more garbage? Because here is a picture of garbage. Enjoy, garbage lovers. [Deadline]
  • BBC America, which shows British shows to American people but barely anyone watches it because why would we care about British people???, has just done a deal to do their first original series! Yeah, so the network that exists to showcase British shows in America is creating an American show for Americans. That's like the Julie Benz's career of TV network decisions. But oh well, the show sounds good. It's called Coppers and is about subway gropers. No, it's about a policeman in the Five Points neighborhood of Manhattan (which doesn't exist anymore) in the 1860s. So it's Gangs of New York-y. And Boardwalk Empire-y in that it will explore all levels of the city's class structure. Interesting! The most interesting thing though? This American show made by the British channel for British shows in America? It's being filmed in Canada. The world! [THR]
  • This is a fun note to end on. At the end of last season of Parks & Recreation, Ron Swanson's first wife, Tammy 1, had arrived in the office. She was silhouetted and we never met her because they hadn't cast an actress yet. But now they have. And she will be played by... Patricia Clarkson! Who is great and funny and funny and great. She'll do two episodes, including the season premiere at the end of Septembry. Which, horrifyingly enough, is less than two months away. Where did this summertime go? Where?? Sigh. So I guess it's a sad note to end on after all. [TV Line]

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