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Around these parts we've been fans of William Butler ever since his roles in Night of the Living Dead (1990) and Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III so any time we hear that he's involved in something new, we take notice. Case in point...

From the Press Release

Producer-director-writer William Butler’s Transition Entertainment has been inked to a first-look deal by Starz Animation’s Film Roman.

Butler and his Transition team, which includes three-time Emmy Award® winner John Vulich, will work with Film Roman’s General Manager, Head of Production Dana Booton to assist in the development and creation of animated and live-action content for all platforms.

“Film Roman has long established itself as one of the premier companies for creators to thrive. The Transition Entertainment team is extremely proud to contribute to their exciting slate of projects,” said William Butler, President, Transition Entertainment. “Our partnership with Film Roman...

As you’ve probably heard by now, the fabulous Jane Lynch is on Broadway and drawing rave reviews as the villainous Miss Hannigan in the Annie revival now at The Palace Theater.

(Lynch is only performing through July 14th, so you only have a couple weeks to catch her! Tickets here.)

I thought this was a great time to look back at some Jane Lynch career highlights. And guess what? I’m leaving Sue Sylvester off this list. Great a creation as it is, I’m burned out on Sue Sylvester. You probably are too.

So rather than let Sue and her track suit define and delimit the amazing talents of Jane Lynch, let’s celebrate five other pop culture contributions from this amazing performer.

5. Christy Cummings, the lesbian dog handler from Best In Show (2000)

The first time I ever noticed Jane Lynch was in Christopher Guest‘s mockumentary about fanatical purebred dog owners.

If you haven’t seen or heard of it, Half-Share, a show about six gay men vacationing on Fire Island, is hilarious. But as Edge Media editor Steve Weinstein noted, it may be “the funniest sitcom you’ll never see on TV.” Despite praise from audiences at festivals and screenings, Half-Share, like most pilots, remains unsold. At a panel Weinstein organized at New York's Lgbt Community Center, creator Sean Hanley, Here Media’s Josh Rosenzweig, Logo TV’s Christopher Willey and Us Weekly’s Bradley Jacobs, got together to discuss why gay cable networks in particular are having a difficult time with scripted content, despite seeming demand. "Don't you think a gay network needs a signature show?" asked Hanley, referring to the rise of nondescript reality television on cable. Hanley, a TV alum (The Nanny), produced the half-hour pilot independently to pitch to television networks. Having screened at the multiple festivals,...

Last year's winner, this year's host.

Jane Lynch, who scored an Emmy for her role as Sue Sylvester in "Glee," will host the 2011 show, which will broadcast live on September 13th on Fox.

Lynch had been rumored to be hosting for a while now, and her commitment gives Fox a major network face to flaunt at television's biggest event -- and right as a new season of programming gets underway.

"I am tickled pink to be hosting the Primetime Emmys on Fox," Lynch said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to singing, dancing and sporting my finest tracksuit."

The official press release follows:

Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch will host the 63Rd Primetime Emmy Awards airing live from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 18, on Fox. "We're delighted to have Jane Lynch host the Primetime Emmys this year," said John Shaffner, Chairman and CEO,...

If you can't turn away from Toddlers and Tiaras, then you'll love Pretty, a new web series from out writer/director Steve Silverman. The project is set in the sick, sparkly world of kiddie beauty pageants. Our own Dennis Hensley attended the show's L.A. premiere and learned that comedy may not be pretty, but Pretty sure is funny.

Dennis talks with Silverman and his cast, including actor Sam Pancake, who you might remember from the brilliant but all too brief Lifetime series Lovespring International.

Check it out after the break!

The hilarious first episode of Pretty is now up at PrettyTheSeries.com...

An aspiring New York actor named Chad Lindsey will be starring together with Mischa Barton on "The Beautiful Life: Tbl". On the CW show, which will be premiered on September 16, he will portray a photographer. However, there has been no word on which episodes Chad is going to appear.

Chad Lindsey has guest starred on several TV series, including "How I Met Your Mother", "Lovespring International", and "Vanished". Besides, in March the 33-year-old star was seen appearing in some Broadway plays, Radar Online reports.

"The Beautiful Life: Tbl" is drama series which centers on the life of a high-fashion model. She appears glamorous and sexy, but as every new model learns, there is a world of insecurity and cut-throat competition behind the beautiful facade. Mischa Barton, Corbin Bleu, Ben Hollingsworth, Ashley Madekwe, Elle MacPherson, and Sara Paxton have been appointed to star on the show.

For this episode of Driven to Distraction, Dennis Hensley is at West Hollywood's O-Bar for a special screening of the pilot for Rex.

We've written briefly about this faux reality show, which follows the absurd career travails of actor Simon Rex, but I hadn't noticed that out gay writer/director Guy Shalem was involved. Shalem also created possibly my favorite TV show ever: Lovespring International!

Dennis gets a chance to talk with both Shalem and actor Geoffrey Arend about their work on Rex. Check out the interview (and the full Rex pilot if you haven't seen it) after the break!

Note: If you haven't seen it already, check out the Rex pilot here!

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to askafterellen@gmail.com — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: Loving Annabelle's official MySpace page posted a blog a few months ago promising a "surprise" and a re-release of the film in April 2009. It's already June, and I can't find any re-released version. Is the release not going to happen, or has it been delayed?

― Kathryn Clark, Toronto, Canada

Question: Is there a release date for Katherine Brooks's new movie Waking Madison? Will it be released in theaters or straight to DVD?

―Vicki, Boston, Massachusetts

Writer/director Katherine Brooks and friend

Answer: The films ― past, present, and future ― of Katherine Brooks are so often in the subject line of the AskAfterEllen.

Lifetime's new comedy series "Rita Rocks" averaged 1 million viewers in its debut at 8:30 p.m. Monday.

That's on par with the network's previous comedy effort, "Lovespring International," which debuted in June 2006.

In the key women 18-49 demo, however, "Rita" was up 38% compared with "Lovespring" (0.8 rating vs. 0.6).

Meanwhile, the network's original movie "Living Proof" averaged 2.5 million viewers in its debut at 9-11 p.m. Saturday.

Lionsgate, which has been expanding its television business, has promoted two TV executives.

Barbara Wall has been upped to executive vp television, and Andy Richley to vp television development. Both report to Lionsgate TV president Kevin Beggs.

Wall will continue to work on developing scripted projects for broadcast and cable and will oversee current programming. Richley will continue to work in scripted development with Wall while also spearheading alternative development.

"Barbara's extraordinary creative instincts, experience and industry relationships have been vital to our division's growth, and Andy is one of the most talented and dedicated TV executives in the business," Beggs said.

Since joining Lionsgate in 2005, Wall has been instrumental in building Lionsgate's scripted TV slate, which includes AMC's Mad Men, Showtime's Weeds, NBC's upcoming anthology series Fear Itself, Starz's upcoming series adaptation of the movie Crash and a comedy pilot at Showtime starring Edie Falco.

Other projects Wall has shepherded at Lionsgate include The Kill Point, Hidden Palms Lovespring International, The Dresden Files, The Lost Room and Wildfire.

Since joining Lionsgate in 2004, Richley has worked on the WE reality series Dirty Dancing and its U.K.

Megan Mullally has optioned the movie rights to Passing Strange, a novel by Sally MacLeod, to produce via her new as-yet-unnamed production shingle, hiring visual effects pro-turned-writer Martin Garner to adapt. Mullally is the latest Will & Grace vet to venture into producer territory, following the steps taken by Sean Hayes, who exec produced Bravo's Situation: Comedy, and Eric McCormack, who is exec producing Lifetime's Lovespring International. MacLeod's novel follows an ugly ducking woman who is persuaded by her husband's family to have major cosmetic surgery. When the couple move to the Carolinas, the woman embarks on an affair with their black yardman with dire consequences. MacLeod was inspired by many elements from her life, which included a stint as a model and living in North Carolina.

Lifetime has registered its highest-rated original film of the year with A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story. A total of 5.1 million viewers tuned in Monday to the 9 p.m. telefilm, also making it the second-highest-rated cable movie of the year, behind only A&E's Flight 93. Girl also helped the 11 p.m. comedy Lovespring International, which reached 1.5 million in its third week, up from a 922,000 average of previous weeks.

LONDON -- Channel 4 acquisitions chief Jeff Ford has swooped on a slew of sought-after Los Angeles Screenings' offerings from Warner Bros. and Disney, including the hotly anticipated Aaron Sorkin/Thomas Schlamme comedy-drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and ABC primetime romantic comedy Ugly Betty. Under a deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution that also includes rights to upcoming seasons of E.R, Without a Trace and Smallville, Channel 4 has acquired reunion drama The Class, created by Friends co-creator David Crane. The deal with Disney's Buena Vista International Television also sees Channel 4 acquiring Calista Flockhart family drama Brothers & Sisters in addition to Betty, which is based on the hugely successful Columbian telenovela Betty Le Fea. In recent weeks, British buyers have been busily negotiating pickups from this year's L.A. Screenings. The BBC has acquired Fremantle-distributed Falcon Beach as well as 3 lbs. from CBS Paramount, while Sky has purchased Lionsgate's Lovespring International and Hidden Palms.

Columbia Pictures has pre-emptively acquired the spec Jack and Jill, by actor-scribe Ben Zook, for Jack Giarraputo and Adam Sandler to produce via their Sony-based Happy Madison banner. The comedy would serve as a possible starring vehicle for Sandler. Todd Garner brought the project to Happy Madison, and he will also produce through his Broken Road Prods. Columbia paid $350,000 against $1 million for the comedy, whose plot line the studio is keeping under wraps, though it is known to be about fraternal twins. Zook co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the 1999 comedy Can't Stop Dancing. Actingwise, he is working on Lifetime's Lovespring and has Tom, Dick, and Harry set up at New Line and I Hate Valentine's Day at Revolution. Zook is repped by Viviano-Feldman Entertainment and attorney Karl Austen. Sandler next appears in Sony's comedy Click. He is repped by Endeavor and Brillstein-Grey.