Ugly Betty alumna Vanessa Williams moves to catty Wisteria Lane on September 26 during the seventh-season premiere of the ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives called “Remember Paul?” (Yes, we do).

The actress plays Lynette’s wealthy college buddy Renee Perry, who drops by for an unexpected visit that leads to a season-long stay. Meanwhile, former regular Mark Moses (Mad Men) returns to the series to reprise his role as Mary Alice’s creepy husband Paul Young. To the expected enormous dismay of Wisteria Lane’s residents, the outcast is fresh out of prison — as we learned at the end of the sixth-season finale — and he’s all set to move into Susan’s old house. Uh-oh.

And if that’s not enough cool casting for longtime viewers, multi-episode guest stars include Brian Austin Green (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; Beverly Hills, 90210) as Bree’s handyman Keith Watson and Lainie Kazan (‘Til Death, My Big Fat Greek Life) as Maxine Rosen, the manager of Susan and Mike’s new residence.

Catch new cast member Vanessa Williams in action during Desperate Housewives‘ latest season premiere in the sneak peek below. Information on other series returning on September 26 follows the video.

Other Returning Shows on September 26

ABC drama Brothers & Sisters starts its fifth season at 10pm ET. The season premiere “The Homecoming” takes place one year after the deadly car accident that ended the fourth season.

It’s reality night on CBS as The Amazing Race launches its 17th season with a special 90-minute premiere at 8:30pm. The second season of Undercover Boss begins afterward at 10pm.

Fox’s Sunday-night animated lineup resumes airing fresh installments, starting with the “Elementary School Musical” 22nd-season premiere of The Simpsons at 8pm, followed by The Cleveland Show‘s Season Two premiere “Harder, Better, Faster, Browner” at 8:30pm and Family Guy‘s hourlong ninth-season premiere “And Then There Were Fewer” at 9pm.

HBO comedies Bored to Death and Eastbound & Down kick off their second seasons at 10pm and 10:30pm, respectively.

The fifth season of Showtime original serial-killer series Dexter begins at 9pm with the premiere “My Bad.”

Just when you thought one of television’s hottest shows couldn’t get any hotter, the casting folks go and hire one of TV’s hottest actors. According to The Hollywood Reporter, talented The Game and Third Watch alum Coby Bell has landed a regular role on USA Network’s deservedly popular action dramedy Burn Notice.

Bell will play one Jesse Garcia, a counterintelligence expert with plenty of attitude to spare and a knack for posing as different people, sort of like the show’s main character Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan). Also in step with Michael is Jesse’s love of bringing bad guys down, not to mention an equally complicated past that resulted in him being burned by persons unknown, Michael-style.

Burn Notice ended its third season last week on March 4, so the recent fantastic casting development goes into effect when the series launches its fourth season this summer.

I’ve loved watching Bell on the small screen during his stretches on Third Watch and The Game, two shows that were both canceled prematurely by their respective networks. Good for him that he’s now appearing on a series that has a strong fan base and lots of support from its home network. Can’t wait for Burn Notice‘s Bell era to begin.

I’m so glad to see television casting people taking advantage of the opportunity to snatch up Christopher Gorham whenever he becomes available. The former Ugly Betty and Harper’s Island star — to name just two of his most recent shows — will next assume a lead role in USA Network’s latest pilot, the action drama (or is it yet another dramedy?) Covert Affairs.

USA Network announced today, July 30, that Covert Affairs stars Coyote Ugly actress Piper Perabo as Annie Walker, a CIA trainee who is “mysteriously summoned to headquarters for duty as [a] field operative. While Annie believes she’s been promoted for her exceptional linguistic skills, there may be something or someone from her past that her CIA bosses are really after.” Ooohhh… Sounds suspenseful!

Gorham will portray the blind character Auggie Anderson, a CIA military intelligence agent who lost his sight on the job during an assignment. He’s now tasked with mentoring Annie as she copes with her new position, including all of the excitement, intrigue, and inevitable red tape it entails.

Whether or not the pilot will eventually get picked up as a full-fledged TV show remains to be seen, but the premise and current cast certainly seem like a solid foundation for another entertaining USA Network original series. Today’s announcement didn’t mention a development time line, however, so stay tuned for additional details.

Already the star of TNT’s hit Librarian action-adventure franchise and 1999 movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, ER veteran Noah Wyle is next set to star in a DreamWorks Television pilot all about alien invaders from outer space.

I know — been there, done that, many times over. Still, this particular project has a lot of impressive talent behind it, ranging from Saving Private Ryan Academy Award nominee Robert Rodat, who will write the pilot script for the currently untitled program, to co-executive producer Steven Spielberg of feature-film fame. The story for the prospective series came from the minds of both men.

Wyle will star as the lucky human who leads a diverse group of soldiers and civilians flung together to thwart the takeover plans of an alien force. The action begins right after the malevolent visitors arrive and destroy most of Earth’s inhabitants, and the resistance movement forms as the invaders get busy gathering up any survivors.

Says Wyle: “I am overjoyed to continue my association with TNT on this new project. We have a longstanding relationship spanning four projects, and I couldn’t feel more at home. I also have the pleasure of re-teaming with Steven Spielberg, who was behind the creation of ER, my home for the last 15 years, and look forward to working with the DreamWorks Television team.”

Says Spielberg: “It is a privilege to be starting a second series with Noah. The first didn’t do too bad.”

Says TNT executive vice president and head of programming Michael Wright: “Noah Wyle is an incredibly talented actor and also an extraordinary person, so we’re proud to work with him again. It’s also great to collaborate with an amazing production team headed by Steven Spielberg on what is certain to be a compelling and provocative series.”

Says me: “I’m looking forward to this already. Hurry up and get it ready for primetime, please.”

And on a side note: With popular series like The Closer and Leverage under its belt, as well as movies like the three Librarian installments, it seems TNT is seriously trying to take the crown as basic cable’s preeminent network. So far, not so shabby.

This is so darn depressing in so many ways. Not only has Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles regular Brian Austin Green (Derek Reese) joined a CW pilot called Body Politic, but now comes news that Stephanie Jacobsen, the Battlestar Galactica: Razor star who plays his onscreen lover/traitor Jesse Flores, has joined another high-profile CW pilot, that for the “re-imagined” nighttime soap Melrose Place. *sigh* Apples and oranges.

Considering its inexplicably lackluster ratings, I’m well aware that Terminator is more likely to get an Emmy next year for best drama than a Season Three renewal following the current second season. But couldn’t the show’s prominent cast members at least pretend to be more confident in Sarah Connor‘s chances … for fans’ sakes? For mine?

According to TVGuide.com — which readers should distinguish from the Web presence of the original print publication TV Guide, now located at TV Guide Magazine — Jacobsen will play a character named Lauren during her new gig. So, if the pilot gets a full-series order, viewers can look forward to watching her pretend to be a medical student/prostitute each week. *sigh*

Let’s see: Intelligent, cunning, ass-kicking resistance fighter from the future with balls of steel on a complex series for adults versus an intelligent whore (or “call girl,” as polite people like to call ‘em) on an unnecessary remake targeting an audience of high school girls.

Apples and oranges. Mountains and molehills. Deep and insignificant. Must-see and not interested. Whatever. I admit the role will probably do wonders for Jacobsen’s career if Melrose Place 2.0 makes it to series, though. Still, whatever.

…remembering who’s who when all of the characters are identified by numbers instead of proper names.

If you haven’t heard, cable’s AMC recently decided to move forward with its long-anticipated reinterpretation of the classic 1960s cult drama The Prisoner, an intensely weird yet addictive science-fiction series first brought to us by the United Kingdom’s ITV network.

The original starred Patrick McGoohan as a British secret agent renamed Number Six after he’s held hostage at a deceptively peaceful-looking seaside location called The Village following his resignation from his job. His unnamed captors want to know why he left his position so suddenly, and no matter how many times Number Six attempts to escape, they relentlessly continue seeking that information.

It was first announced that AMC was working on an Americanized version of the 17-episode series way back at the end of 2006, but the initial co-production agreement with British channel Sky One fell through. Now that the network has forged a tight relationship with ITV, the six-part miniseries is moving ahead at full speed with a slew of new cast members to play assorted numbered characters.

• James Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Thin Red Line) leads the cast as Number Six
• Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code) is Village leader Number Two (no nasty jokes!)
• Hayley Atwell (Mansfield Park, Brideshead Revisited) is Number 41–5
• Jamie Campell-Bower (Rocknrolla, Sweeney Todd) is Number 11–12
• Lennie James (Jericho, Snatch) is Number 147
• Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre, Capturing Mary) is Number 313

This is shaping up to look pretty darn good, despite the apprehension in some corners that the miniseries might focus too much on action sequences — to dumb itself down for American viewers — instead of the original series’ more psychological angle. Keep up with developments at AMC’s dedicated blog for The Prisoner.

Popular Entertainer Has Role in Hot Sci-Fi Film

William Shatner aside, talented writer, producer, and director J.J. Abrams sure knows how to build a bigger, better audience for his forthcoming Star Trek feature flick. Exclusive news published this weekend at UGO Movie Blog indicates that Abrams has cast his fellow talented writer, producer, director, and actor Tyler Perry in the movie that fans are salivating to see. That’s right—Madea is going into outer space.

Angel Cutie Is All Over the Tube

Don’t you just love it when an actor who played one of your favorite characters on a long ago show suddenly winds up on the small screen right in front of you when you’re not even expecting it? That’s what happened to me last night while I was catching the latest episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on USA and none other than Amy Acker appeared.

As in Brat Pack, That Is

No—Matt Dallas‘ bellybutton-less character will not be knocking up a girl, at least not that I know of. Instead, this news refers to some excellent casting. TV Guide is reporting that the wise people behind ABC Family’s sensational Kyle XY have landed an icon from the 1980s movie scene to guest star: Ally Sheedy.

Apolo Player to Star in Two Future Flicks

According to Bloody-Disgusting, last year’s Kristen Bell horror flick Pulse has not one but two sequels in store for fans, despite the fact that the American adaptation of the 2001 Japanese original Kairo flopped both with critics and moviegoers, earning a paltry $20.26 million stateside on an initial $20 million investment. The two new installments in the franchise, Pulse 2: Afterlife and Pulse 3: Invasion, reportedly begin filming back-to-back this month in Shreveport, Louisiana.