Dan Byrd

As pilot season rolls on in LA, I've got a whole bunch of new TV castings to report. Of course, this week's big news is Brittany Snow getting offered the lead in the Gossip Girl spinoff, but there's much more going on. A few highlights:

• The cast for Courteney Cox's ABC comedy Cougar Town has filled out a bunch this week: Busy Philipps will play Cox's friend and coworker in the show, while adorable Aliens in America star Dan Byrd will play Cox's son. Brian Van Holt will play Cox's ex, described simply as "a loser."
• Chris O'Donnell is officially on board for the NCIS spinoff. He'll join LL Cool J.
• Angel alum Amy Acker has joined the cast of ABC's murder mystery Happy Town, playing the wife of Geoff Stults's character.
• David Morse and Michael Nouri will play blue collar and blueblood fathers in ABC's Empire State, about a modern-day Romeo and Juliet-esque couple.
• Derek Luke and Kevin Rankin (Herc from Friday Night Lights!) will play a doctor and a paramedic on NBC's Trauma. Jamey Sheridan is among others in talks to join the cast.

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As far as this fall's new shows go, the CW's "Aliens in America" scored pretty high with TV bloggers who saw the pilot episode. I myself found a lot to love about the show, most notably the two main boys, Justin (Dan Byrd) and Raja (Adhir Kalyan). The story follows a Pakistani exchange student, Raja, who goes to live with an "all-American" small-town Minnesota family. The mother in the family (Amy Pietz) has a lot of reservations about this arrangement, including the fear that Raja may be a terrorist. But Justin soon finds a friend in Raja, someone who listens to him without judging.

There are some hilarious moments in this pilot episode and some clever writing overall. Yet there are also moments that make me squirm, and not in the funny-awkward "The Office" kind of way.

I actually watched the pilot episode twice, since the part of Justin's father was recast with Scott Patterson (yes, Luke from "Gilmore Girls"!) and I actually liked the show a lot more the second time around. I'll be curious to find out what you thought of it if you catch it tonight at 8:30 PM. For now, you can check out a preview of tonight's episode if you read more

The networks have announced their fall schedules, but which of the series will actually be worth watching? Throughout the summer, as I watch the pilots, I'll be posting my first impressions. A lot can change before a show makes it to air, so these aren't comprehensive reviews, just quick thoughts on how the shows look now. Today's installment: The CW's "Aliens in America."

What's it about? A shy, socially awkward high school kid from small-town Minnesota has his worldview turned upside down when he finds a kindred spirit in Raja, his family's Muslim exchange student from Pakistan.

Who's in it? Dan Byrd, Adhir Kalyan, Amy Pietz, Scott Patterson (most recently of "Gilmore Girls")

The good: Of all the half-hour comedy pilots I watched for the fall season, this was the funniest. Byrd and Kalyan are perfectly cast and absolutely hilarious to watch on screen (and the writing for them is stronger than it is for any of the adult characters). It's bold to take on pretty serious race relations issues through the vehicle of a CW teen comedy, and I appreciate the effort and the intention of the show.

The bad: Some of the scenes that call out Raja's religion or outsider status made me feel downright uncomfortable, and I couldn't tell if the writers were being provocative on purpose or if I was supposed to be laughing. A school scene in which a kid tells Raja she hates him because his people wrecked the World Trade Center was particularly squirmy, as was nearly every word out of the suburban mom character's mouth.

Will I watch? Yes. Despite how uncomfortable I felt with some aspects of the pilot, it was funny enough that I want to see where the show goes.

To watch a preview (note: this was filmed before Patterson was cast) and see a couple more photos, read more