Julie Benz recently talked about her new show, No Ordinary Family, her death on Dexter and her brief stint on Desperate Housewives.

Benz said that after Dexter, she was looking for something less dramatic, more for her mothe than herself. “You know, my mom asked after my demise on Dexter, ‘Could you please be put on a show where they’re not gonna kill you off?’ So I said ‘Okay, I’m looking for a comedy’.”

She added, “What I really love about my character Stephanie is that she’s a very strong active, female character. She’s a modern day woman, the bread winner of the family, and a working woman with a type A personality. Stephanie is also trying to be a good mother and a good wife, but she struggles with that because there’s just not enough time in the day. I think it’s a role women can relate to universally — balancing work and the home, and being a mother and a wife. That’s what I really loved about it!”

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Matt LeBlanc is coming back to TV with a new series on Showtime. Episodes stars LeBlanc himself. On the show, the fictional Matt LeBlanc is cast in an American remake of a British series a la The Office.

And thought the show is a comedy, it was no laughing matter for LeBlanc to go back to a series full time a nd sacrifice time with his family.

“There was a few network shows that came and went that crossed my desk that I said no to,” LeBlanc said at the Television Critics Association fall press tour. “I just took the time, 12 years [of Friends and Joey] every day was a lot. It was a great time but I wanted to take some time off and spend time with my daughter, just take some time away from the business. It’s nice to be back with writing I have a real faith in, with a cast that’s really talented.”

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After receiving a failing diversity grade from a recent GLAAD report for the second year in a row, CBS is adding 3 gay characters to their prime time shows next season.

At the Television Critics Association press tour, entertainment president Nina Tassler said a gay character will be added to the new comedy “$#*! My Dad Says,” the sitcom, “Rules of Engagement” and one of the network’s most popular series, “The Good Wife.”

“We’re disappointed in our track record so far,” Tassler said. “We’re going to do it. We’re not happy with ourselves.”

Tassler took some heat too about casting Julie Chen on the network’s upcoming “The View”-style daytime talk show, which is now being called, “The Talk.” The panel talk show will have six female hosts, including Chen, who also happens to be the wife of CBS chief Leslie Moonves. Chen already hosts “Big Brother” and is a co-host on the “The Early Show.”

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Various sources are now reporting that Jennifer Lopez has officially signed on to join the American Idol Season 10 judges’ table.

The speculation comes just days after Ellen DeGeneres announced she has resigned from the show and rumors started swirling that Kara DioGuardi had been fired. So who else will replace Simon Cowell (who left the show back in May), Kara & Ellen? Apparently, the producers want Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, and they’re working on negotiations with Tyler this weekend.

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Drew Carey showed off a new slimmer physique at the CBS Summer Press Tour Party in Beverly Hills earlier this week. Carey announced that he had lost 80 pounds since the beginning of the year.

“It sucks being fat, you know,” he told to People. “I was diabetic with Type-2 diabetes.”

To achieve his new look, Carey went on a no-carb diet and a carefully monitored menu throughout the day, sticking to healthy items like egg whites, Greek yogurt, fruit, grilled chicken and plain vegetables.

Going to the gym helped too. He partook in 45-minute cardio sessions, up to six days a week.

Drew says that its paid off, he’s no longer a diabetic or on any diabetes medications.

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Fox announced today that Ellen DeGeneres is leaving “American Idol.” There have rumors circulating that the network was looking to shake-up the Idol format and that they may even ditch all of the current judges and bring back original producer, Nigel Lythgoe.

DeGeneres released a statement today regarding what she claims was her decision. “A couple months ago, I let Fox and the ‘American Idol’ producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” DeGeneres said. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on ‘Idol’ and I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”

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Today, during the first session of the Television Critics Association press tour, Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and producers Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green, spoke to the press about their upcoming CBS TV series, “Blue Bloods”.

Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green were also writers and producers on “The Sopranos” but they are going in a different direction with “Blue Bloods”. Instead of exploring the world of crime as they did in “The Sopranos”, Burgess and Green are exploring the lives and dynamics of multiple generations of a New York City police family. Selleck plays a police commissioner, and Wahlberg is a detective.

“We did the antihero thing for all those years,” said Green. “But now we’re interested in looking at what a hero is like in today’s world. We wanted to look at a different morality.”

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This makes me so sad I missed Comic-Con again this year.

“Fringe” star Joshua Jackson celebrated his past with “Funny or Die,” when he made a scene across the street from Comic-Con in San Diego last week dressed as his “Dawson’s Creek” character, Pacey Witter.

“People ask me all the time why I’m working on the show ‘Fringe,’ and the honest answer to that is to fund my first love, which is Pacey fan fiction,” Jackson explains, before reading some of his prose aloud for the video. “The winter sun was cold but bright as Pacey squinted in the glare.”

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William Shatner has a new son on his upcoming CBS series, $#*! My Dad Says.

The role of Shatner’s son, played by Ryan Devlin in the show’s pilot, will now be played by Friday the 13th star Jonathan Sandowski, Shatner confirmed Friday at Comic-Con.

“I just met with him as he auditioned,” Shatner said. “So I don’t know him, but I’m looking forward to it.”

The show is based on a Twitter page, which became a book by Justin Halpern. Shatner explained that he’s gotten to understand his character better by reading Halpern’s book. Both the Twitter feed and book are based on the crazy things Halpern’s real-life dad says.

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The cast of “Dexter” made a stop Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend for Showtime’s Anti-Heroes panel, where they also debuted the show’s first Season 5 trailer.

From the trailer, we can see that Season Five won’t be easy for Dexter as Rita’s kids, especially Astor, blame him for her death. We also see glimpses, for the first time, of Dexter feeling guilty and also blaming himself for Rita being killed. Do you think he’ll go back to being a lone wolf now that Rita is gone, or will he be able to mend fences with Rita’s kids and be a happy family again?

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