Up & Coming TV Stars

Freddie Prinze Jr. (Freddie, Scooby-Doo) has been tapped to star in CBS' comedy pilot "Atlanta," which revolves around a man (Prinze) and a woman who meet at a funeral and can't stay away from each other.

Oscar winner Anna Paquin (X-Men, Almost Famous, The Piano) is making her first foray into series television as the lead in Alan Ball's HBO drama pilot "True Blood." Paquin will play a small-town waitress who strikes up a romance with a vampire.

Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth (The West Wing, Stranger Than Fiction) will star in ABC's drama pilot "Pushing Daisies," a romantic procedural about an owner of a pie shop (Lee Pace) who can touch dead people and bring them back to life. Chenoweth will play a waitress at the shop and a love interest for her boss.

Blake Lively (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Accepted) and Leighton Meester (Surface, 24) are set to star in the CW's drama pilot "Gossip Girl," based on the best-selling book series, and which centers on the rivalry between two rich Manhattan girls, Serena (Lively) and Blair (Meester), at a private school. Josh Schwartz from “The OC” is producing the series.

Charles S. Dutton (Threshold, The L Word) will play a lead role in ABC's drama pilot "Suspect," a fast-paced procedural drama uncovering the crime's perpetrator by tracing the suspects in a lineup. Kathleen Monroe (Beautiful People) was also added to the cast.

Eddie Cibrian (Vanished, Invasion) landed a role in ABC's drama pilot "Football Wives," which revolves around the wives of professional football players. Cibrian will play a quarterback who cheats on his wife (Lucy Lawless).

Bridget Regan (The Black Donnellys) has joined Fox's "Supreme Courtships," a soapy comedic drama about the lives of six Supreme Court clerks and the judges they work for.

Dorian Brown (The Game) will be a lead in Fox's untitled Liz Meriwether comedy pilot, which revolves around three sorority sisters who try to clean up their act after graduating from college. Natalie Zea (The Shield, Eyes) has joined ABC's drama pilot "Dirty Sexy Money," which centers on an idealistic young lawyer (Peter Krause) who gets to represent the Darlings, a rich, powerful family.

Tyler Labine (Boston Legal, Invasion) has come aboard the CW's drama pilot "Reaper," which centers on a 21-year-old (Bret Harrison) who becomes the devil's bounty hunter.

Amanda Walsh (Sons & Daughters) has been cast in NBC's comedy pilot "The Mastersons of Manhattan," which centers on two socialite sisters (Molly Shannon, Natasha Richardson) in New York.

Jim Rash (Help Me Help You, Reno 911!) has joined Fox's comedy pilot "Hackett,” which centers on a bad-boy luminary who finds himself among the ultra-PC ranks of teachers at an Ohio public high school.