Heroes Renewed for a Fourth Season, Glee to Premiere in May After American Idol

A couple of TV news tidbits worth noting today:

• Maybe you heard about the Greg Grunberg Twitter update that got people all worried that Heroes wouldn't be back for a fourth season (even though he clarified immediately) — or maybe you've just been following the show's sinking ratings and wondering if it might not return to NBC's lineup in the Fall. Well, no worries: NBC plans to order up another season of Heroes — albeit a slightly shorter one. The network will probably ask for 18 to 20 episodes of the series this time around (the first season had 23, the current season 25). The post-apocalyptic pilot Day One is one candidate to fill the time slot when Heroes isn't airing.
• Fox's Glee — which just yesterday added Kristin Chenoweth and Victor Garber in recurring roles — is getting itself a pretty high-profile tryout on Fox's schedule, but then it'll go back on the shelf for several months. The show's first episode will air after the final American Idol performance show on May 19, but then the rest of the episodes won't air till Fall. It's definitely an unusual way to roll out a series, but maybe it'll keep people talking about Glee all Summer long the way I've been since I saw the pilot in January. I just hope people don't forget about it in the intervening months!
• Shonda Rhimes's Inside the Box pilot has found its star: British actress Indira Varma will play the show's lead, the "fast-talking, whip-smart and wound a little too tight for her own good" Catherine. She previously appeared in HBO's Rome.