Author: Michael O'Connell, Lesley Goldberg

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Fargo has added a slew of names to its second season cast. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that FX’s Emmy darling and multiple Golden Globe nominee will also star Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson and Jean Smart alongside previously announced leads Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.

In addition to that trio, the anthology has also added Nick Offerman, Brad Garrett, Kieran Culkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeffrey Donovan and Angus Sampson to its roster of recurring guest stars. 

Read More Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons Set to Star in ‘Fargo’ Season 2

The new iteration of Fargo, set to the 1979 Sioux Falls incident teased in the first season, will find Wilson stepping into the role of Lou Solverson — the former state trooper played by Keith Carradine in the first season. Wife Betsy and 4-year-old daughter Molly (Allison Tolman in the first season) have yet to be cast.

Additionally, Danson will play WWII vet and Rock County sheriff Hank Larsson and Smart will play crime family matriarch Floyd Gerhardt. Dunst and Plemons were previously confirmed as husband and wife Peggy and Ed Blomquist.

“You always hope that five Golden Globe nominations will help you do that,” creator Noah Hawley told THR of casting the second season back in December. “It’s a bigger cast this time. It’s more ambitious, but right at the heart of it is this married couple. Kirsten’s name came up very quickly. And, for me, there was no one else other than Jesse. I don’t write with actors in mind, but as soon as I started thinking about it … that combination tells a story. That’s critical in casting.”

Read More ‘Fargo’ Showrunner Noah Hawley Talks Season 2 Casting, Spoiler Culture

For CSI leading man Danson, Fargo will be filmed during his hiatus from the CBS procedural. While the long-running drama has seen its ratings slide this season — and episode count reduced — it’s unclear if the network will renew the series for an additional season. 

Wilson is repped by CAA and Anonymous Content, while Danson is at WME and Industry Entertainment and Jean Smart is repped by WME and Untitled Entertainment.

Fargo returns to FX in fall 2015.

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January Jones

As it turns out, The Last Man on Earth isn’t really alone.

Fox’s post-apocalyptic comedy, which positions Will Forte as the sole survivor of some mysterious mass disappearance of humanity, has added four actors to its roster. Among them, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, is January Jones. The Mad Men star boards the series in her first TV gig since wrapping production on the AMC darling this past summer.

Though a Fox spokesperson declined to comment on casting or how long the actors will be around for, Jones will also be joined by comedian Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Conchords), Getting On star Mel Rodriguez and actress Cleopatra Coleman.

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, The Last Man on Earth was also created and written by Forte. A teaser reel screened at the time of the series’ announcement during Fox’s May upfront, but production only recently began. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, of Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street fame, are directing the pilot.

The series will include flashbacks, so it’s unclear how any of the new characters will be presented. That said, Jones’ character of Melissa is being billed as a series regular in a November breakdown. She’s described as having a “strong independent spirit” and a mixture of “warmth, strength, and a no-nonsense attitude.”

Rodriguez’s Todd, also likely regular, is described as an optimist, while Coleman and Schaal will play Erica and Carol, respectively. Both characters are described as recurring at the moment with the possibility of regular status.

As Fox recently announced, The Last Man on Earth will be the latest live-action addition to the Sunday comedy block. It debuts March 1 at 9 p.m. with a two hour premiere, before moving to 9:30 the following weekend.

Jones and Schaal are repped by UTA, while Rodriguez is at Gersh and Coleman is at Abrams.

CBS

‘The Millers’

In a somewhat surprising development, CBS is canning a comedy — and it’s not the one many might expect. The network pulled the plug on sophomore sitcom The Millers late Friday afternoon.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that production has shut down immediately, and at the moment, only the coming Nov. 17 episode is expected to air.

It was a rough couple of weeks leading up to the demise of the Greg Garcia series. It lost its prime post-Big Bang Theory Thursday time slot to Mom in an eleventh hour scheduling move. Its move to Mondays, airing after 2 Broke Girls, has brought series low ratings. It’s not clear what will air in the 8:30 p.m. time slot in its place — though seat-filler Mike & Molly has several episodes of its fifth season in the can.

The Millers — produced by studio counterpart CBS Television Studios where showrunner Garcia is under an overall deal — was one of the network’s bubble comedies last season. The network ultimately renewed it over 20th Century Fox Television’s The Crazy Ones. For his part, Garcia and his studio-based Amigos de Garcia banner has had a busy development season, setting up seven projects across multiple broadcast networks. The My Name Is Earl alum has focused on developing other writers and is not writing any of the projects himself.

CBS made a play to creatively invigorate the series by adding sitcom vet Sean Hayes to the cast that already included Will Arnett, Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges. But The Millers languished in its new time slot, bringing down lead-out Scorpion with it. The most recent episode pulled just a middling 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 and 6.5 million viewers. Those are basically the same numbers as the network’s only new comedy this fall, The McCarthys.

Meanwhile, CBS’ midseason bench includes Matthew Perry‘s The Odd Couple — which was retooled after being picked up to series in May — as well as dramas Battle Creek and CSI: Cyber.