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Exclusive: Jenna Elfman, best known for her starring role in the 1997 ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg, is returning to the network with a recurring role on another multi-camera comedy series, the upcoming Shifting Gears, headlined by fellow ABC sitcom star Tim Allen. It is produced by the same studio, 20th Television.

Shifting Gears stars Tim Allen as Matt, the stubborn, widowed owner of Parker Customs, a classic car restoration shop. When Matt’s estranged daughter (Kat Dennings) and her kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.

Elfman will play Eve Drake, a spirited choreographer and owner of the dance studio across from Parker Customs. The role is a good fit for Elfman who is a classically trained ballerina and began her career as a professional dancer, appearing in music videos by Depeche Mode and Anthrax and dancing on the 1991 Academy Awards live broadcast. Elfman also did some “interpretive...

John Peaslee, the writer and producer who worked alongside his longtime creative partner, Judd Pillot, on such sitcoms as Coach, Just Shoot Me!, According to Jim and Liv and Maddie, has died. He was 73.

Peaslee died Monday of natural causes at his home in Sherman Oaks, Pillot announced. The two had collaborated for 35 years.

“I will be forever thankful to the universe that I was with him for several hours that day, that I was able to hold his hand, recount all the stories — way too many to tell, but not nearly enough to fill the hole in my heart,” Pillot wrote on Instagram.

Peaslee and Pillot teamed on ABC’s Coach from 1989-93, on NBC’s Just Shoot Me! from 2002-03, on ABC’s According to Jim from 2005-09 and on Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie from 2013-17.

The pair also created ABC’s A Whole New Ballgame,...

Television history is littered with failed sitcoms headlined by comedians that audiences seem to love — in the right show. Turn up in a stinker, however, and the shows are gone in a blink. Matthew Perry was great in Friends, but no one wanted Mr. Sunshine. Audiences adored McLean Stevenson in M*A*S*H but said goodbye to Hello Larry. Jon Cryer scored with Two and Half Men but was booted from his Extended Family this year.

Here are four more comedy stars who flopped multiple times while trying to get sitcoms off the ground…

1 Jason Bateman

Bateman received two well-deserved Emmy nominations for his performance as Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, recognition that came decades after his breakthrough as a Tiger Beat cover boy in Silver Spoons and The Hogan Family. In between, however, he starred in several sitcom flops that lasted a year or less, including It’s Your Move...

Last Week’S Podcast: Chelsea Handler Returns In Time to Take on Trump: ‘He’s Unfit to Do Anything’ — IndieWire’s Turn It On Podcast

Jenna Elfman thought she was done with network TV.

“Dharma and Greg” put her on the map in the late 1990s, but after that hit, the actress suffered through a series of disappointments, including “Courting Alex,” “Accidentally on Purpose,” “1600 Penn,” and “Growing Up Fisher.”

“I had written off network TV,” Elfman said. “I told my agents not to come to me with another network show. I work really hard and I do my best to promote the shows. I feel like mostly I do a good job. In any other field that would give you job security. Sometimes it’s like it doesn’t matter.”

But there was something she couldn’t resist about “Imaginary Mary,” her new ABC series from “The Goldbergs” executive producer Adam F. Goldberg.

Drop Dead Diva regular Josh Stamberg has boarded Castle‘s big February sweeps arc, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Continuing what has become a bit of an annual tradition for the ABC drama, this year’s high-octane two-parter has former Chicago Code cop Jennifer Beals following in the footsteps of Dana Delany and Adrian Pasdar by guest-starring as a “smart, commanding, and sexy” CIA agent who helps Castle and Beckett search for a fellow operative who has gone rogue.

Appearing in both of the episodes, Stamberg plays “an intelligence...

Veteran British TV actor Hugh Bonneville will star in the 3D steampunk action feature "Captain Nemo" for Shoreline Entertainment says Heat Vision.

The story serves as a pseudo sequel to Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and finds Captain Nemo joining forces with President Ulysses Grant to battle an evil genius who is causing naval disasters.

Pearry Teo will direct the project which begins filming in Beijing this August. Illuminate Hollywood will handle the 3D visual effects while Mark Rudnitksy and Amy Krell are producing.

Bonneville's long resume stretches back two decades and includes the likes of "Lost in Austen," "Married for Life," "Tipping the Velvet," "The Robinsons," "Bonekickers," "Courting Alex," "Five Days" and films like "Notting Hill," "Mansfield Park," "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," "Iris," "Glorious 39" and "Burke and Hare". He currently stars in "Downton Abbey" and played a pirate captain in last week's episode of "Doctor Who".

ABC has closed all the deals for "Pulling," a single-camera pilot based on the 2006 British series.

"Pulling," from ABC Studios, revolves around three single thirtysomething women who live together after one breaks off her engagement the day before her wedding.

Rob Hanning ("Courting Alex") penned the ABC pilot, which will be directed by Elliot Hegarty.

Stacy Traub has come on board as showrunner. She is exec producing with Francie Calfo and the creators of the original BBC Three series Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly.

Vince Vaughn will executive produce and develop a show for TV network Fox and and 20th Century Fox TV studio, together with his sister Victoria Vaughn. No title has been suggested yet for their series, but it is known that it will be a single-camera comedy about two young men adjusting to life post college years.

The Vaughns are reportedly in final negotiations with Fox for the half-hour pilot which release date is still a question mark. Vince will be assisted by sibling scribes Jim and Steve Armogida who had credits in "Grounded for Life", "My Family" and the short-lived "Courting Alex".

As the producer, Vince will have the authority to pick the cast and contribute in the artistic direction of the show.

Jenna Elfman in staying in the CBS fold. The network has inked a new development deal with the Dharma & Greg star to create a comedy vehicle for her. "She is immensely talented, a truly gifted comedienne," CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said. "She's been an unbelievably collaborative partner, and she's someone America has fallen in love with." A search is under way for a writer to team with Elfman and pen a script for her. Under Elfman's previous deal with the network, she starred in CBS' short-lived midseason comedy series Courting Alex this past season. That deal stemmed from a series project Elfman had in the works at CBS in 2004 with Dharma co-creator Chuck Lorre. In 2004, Elfman also did a two-episode arc on CBS' hit comedy series Two and a Half Men, from Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. Elfman's title role on ABC's Dharma earned her a Golden Globe and three Emmy nominations. She is repped by CAA and attorney Jonathan West.

Rebecca Romijn's new TV show Pepper Dennis and Pamela Anderson's sitcom Stacked are two of the casualties in one of US TV's most ruthless cutbacks. The two shows join a long list of programs that will not return this autumn for new series on their respective networks. In Pepper Dennis, Romijn played an unlucky in love reporter, while Anderson was praised for her role as a busty bookstore employee. Also cancelled, according to top US magazine TV Guide, are long-running comedy The Bernie Mac Show, Jenna Elfman's Courting Alex, doomed Friends spin-off Joey and cult drama Everwood.

CBS is playing it particularly safe this fall. The Tiffany network is introducing only four new shows, therefore sticking with most of its current schedule and canceling few programs. The few casualties (mostly sitcoms) of the 2005-06 season are:

Courting Alex - The quirky show starring Jenna Elfman and Dabney Coleman started as a mid-season replacement show but never quite caught on. The eighth of the 12 episodes aired in March and the show has been off the schedule since.

Love Monkey - The Tom Cavanagh sitcom was pulled from the CBS schedule after only three episode airings but VH1 started airing the remaining five episodes in April 2006. Viacom owns both VH1 and CBS and no further episodes have been ordered.

Out of Practice - This doctor-family sitcom starred Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing on CBS' big night of comedy. Unfortunately, it didn't perform as well as How I Met Your Mother...

The Amazing Race has come to the rescue at CBS, switching nights to replace a pair of faltering Wednesday sitcoms. The eye said Thursday that Out of Practice and Courting Alex are being benched after two ratings-anemic weeks running at 8-9 p.m. Wednesday. Race will move from its Tuesday 10 p.m. slot beginning Wednesday.

A double-dose of 24 put Fox over the top on Monday in the adults 18-49 demographic. CBS maintained its comfortable lead in viewers thanks to Two and a Half Men and CSI: Miami. NBC got some good news at 8 p.m. with game show Deal or No Deal performing well as it settles into its once-a-week airing following last week's Monday-Friday marathon airing. Deal ranked No. 1 for the hour with an average of 14.7 million viewers and 4.9 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, beating Fox's first installment of 24 (11.9 million, 4.8/12), according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. That ranked as NBC's best numbers in the time slot with regularly scheduled programming in nearly two years. Fox's 8 p.m. installment of 24 (11.9 million, 4.8/12) was a hair behind Deal. At 9 p.m., 24 (14 million, 5.9/14) pulled into a dead heat in the demo in its first half hour with CBS' 9 p.m. anchor Men (17.1 million, 5.7/13). CBS' momentum ebbed at 9:30 p.m. with Courting Alex (14 million, 4.3/10) but perked up at 10 p.m. with CSI: Miami (18.2 million, 6.0/15). NBC struggled at 9 p.m. with The Apprentice 5 (9.8 million, 4.0/9) losing ground despite a healthy lead-in from the final half-hour of Deal (15.5 million, 5.3/13). ABC was held to fourth place for the night with Wife Swap (8.6 million, 3.5/9), Supernanny (9.7 million, 3.8/9) and the 10 p.m. premiere of Miracle Workers (8.5 million, 3.4/9). For the night, CBS averaged 14.7 million viewers and 4.9/12 in the demo to Fox's 13 million viewers and 5.3/13 in adults 18-49.

CBS announced a flurry of midseason changes to its schedule Wednesday. The eye is giving The New Adventures of Old Christine the Monday 9:30 p.m. slot after Two and a Half Men beginning March 13. Christine, which stars Julia-Louis Dreyfus, will mark the third sitcom in that slot this season, following Out of Practice and Courting Alex. Beginning March 22, those two sitcoms will move to Wednesday from 8-9 p.m., replacing the pairing of Yes, Dear and Still Standing. Neither of those series is being yanked early; both will have fulfilled their episode orders for the season. Also new to the CBS schedule is the new drama The Unit, which starts Tuesdays at 9 p.m. beginning March 7. On Tuesday, NBC declared its intent to keep the lights on at The Office through the rest of the season. The peacock reconsidered its intent to end the sitcom's current season March 30, scheduling the season finale for May 11.

NBC's Turin Winter Olympics coverage dominated Monday's primetime competition, drawing more than 20 million viewers to its coverage of figure skating and speed skating, among other events. NBC's 8-11 p.m. coverage averaged 21 million viewers and a healthy 6.5 rating/16 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. Viewership peaked between 10-10:30 p.m. at 22.4 million viewers and 7.5/18 in the key demo. Fox's 24 (13.5 million, 5.4/13) continued its hot streak and was competitive against the extraordinary competition in the 9 p.m. hour, overcoming a weak 8 p.m. lead-in from Skating With Celebrities (7.5 million, 2.6/7). CBS served up a slate of repeats with the exception of 9:30 p.m. rookie Courting Alex (11.2 million, 3.7/8), which had a hard time holding on to its respectable lead-in from the 9 p.m. encore of Two and a Half Men (13.7 million, 4.4/10). ABC was lukewarm from 9-11 p.m. with a two-hour dose of The Bachelor (9.2 million, 4.2/10) coming out of an 8 p.m. repeat of Wife Swap (8,8 million, 3.5/9). For the night, NBC had no competition for the Nielsen gold. CBS was No. 2 in viewers (11.3 million) while Fox took the silver in adults 18-49 (4.0/10).

Another monster viewer turnout for Fox's American Idol delivered a decisive weekly victory for the network in the adults 18-49 demographic, but CBS still managed to sneak past Fox for the glory in total viewers for the week ending Jan. 29. The eye network's highlights of the week included a solid start for the Monday 9:30 p.m. premiere of the Jenna Elfman comedy Courting Alex. The Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Idol easily topped the weekly program rankings in both adults 18-49 and viewers. Tuesday's two-hour dose of Idol delivered 35 million viewers and a 15.1 rating/35 share in the demo; Wednesday's 8 p.m. installment reeled in a cool 32.4 million viewers and a 13.0/32 in 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Brady Smith has signed a one-year talent holding deal with 20th Century Fox Television. The deal could encompass either comedy or drama projects as it is not specific to one genre. Smith's credits include the CBS comedy pilot Everything I Know About Men, starring Jenna Elfman, as well as episodes of HBO's The Comeback, NBC's ER, CBS' CSI: Miami and JAG and WB Network's Charmed. He is repped by Defining Artists and Schachter Entertainment.