News Briefs: Fox Moves Bones to Mondays, Touch to Thursdays

LATE SCHEDULE CHANGES MADE TO CONFUSE YOU NEWS

… Less than a month before the official premiere of Touch, the new Fox drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, Fox has changed the show’s debut date and shuffled Bones to make room. Due to impressive turnout for Touch‘s preview event in January, the show will now re-debut on March 15 in the stronger time slot of Thursdays at 9pm, where it will benefit from an American Idol lead-in. Touch was originally scheduled to premiere on March 19. With Touch sliding over to Thursdays, Bones gets displaced to Mondays at 8pm. Scheduling moves are nothing new to Bones, which has bounced around Fox’s schedule throughout its seven-season run. This also means that House will move to the 9pm slot. Both Monday changes will start April 2, which means Bones will return three days earlier than previously announced. And Alcatraz will air its series season finale on March 26. Given Bones‘ loyal following, this makes sense for Fox. Why waste the post-Idol slot on a veteran show when you can bloat the audience of a new show? [Fox via press release]

AWESOME CASTING NEWS

… The very busy Giancarlo Esposito might have found his next regular gig. After invading everyone’s nightmares as Gus Fring on Breaking Bad and getting all reflective as the Man in the Mirror on Once Upon a Time, Esposito will star in the NBC pilot Revolution. Why is this so cool? Because it’s the pilot I already told you about from J.J. Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. The action thriller is set in a world where all forms of energy have vanished. Esposito will play a tough southern military man, which is right up his alley. I’d pay to watch Esposito read my last rites and love every minute of it. [Deadline Hollywood]

THE REST OF THE CASTING NEWS

… Lucy Liu has been cast in the CBS drama Elementary, a modern-day re-imagining of the hot-as-coals character Sherlock Holmes. But there’s a twist! Liu is turning the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic on its butt by playing the role of sidekick Watson, who is typically neither female or Asian. [TV Line]

… The CW’s prequel to Sex and the City has found its baby Carrie Bradshaw. Young filly (see what I did there?) AnnaSophia Robb will step into the high heels of the popular character during her times in the 1980s. Also joining the cast: The Killing‘s Katie Findlay and Ellen Wong. [Deadline Hollywood / Deadline Hollywood]

… Former 10 Things I Hate About You star Ethan Peck, grandson of Gregory Peck, has landed the male lead in the CW pilot The Selection. The show is set 300 years in the future and is centered on a young woman (Aimee Teegarden) who wins the lottery to compete to marry a prince (Peck). I’ll watch if the winner is determined by a fight to the death. [Deadline Hollywood]

… Adorable Doris Roberts, Ray’s mom from Everybody Loves Raymond, has joined the ABC comedy pilot Counter Culture. It’s about three sisters who run a family diner; Roberts will play the diner’s cashier. [Deadline Hollywood]

… How To Make It In America‘s Bryan Greenberg has been cast in CBS’s untitled pilot co-starring JoAnna Garcia. The show is about a man who realizes that his best female friend and business partner (Garcia) is his soul mate, but she’s engaged to another man. [Deadline Hollywood]

ALAN BALL RECOGNIZES HE CREATED A MONSTER OF A MESS NEWS

… Alan Ball is stepping down from his duties as showrunner of HBO’s True Blood, citing “exhaustion.” I know how he feels, I stopped watching True Blood after Season 3 because I was tired of seeing what a circus of terrible it had become. Hey-yo! Ball will stay on as a consultant and adviser while he develops Banshee, his new series for Cinemax. [Forbes]

RATING BILLY CRYSTAL NEWS

… The numbers for The Oscars are in, and they’re… pretty flat from last year. The broadcast drew 39.3 million viewers, a four-percent increase from last year. In the 18-49 demo, it was even. With Billy Crystal taking the stage hostage for three-and-a-half hours, I think that’s a victory for ABC. [LA Times]

GO AHEAD AND THROW YOUR CONDOMS AWAY NEWS

… MTV has greenlighted a third round of Teen Mom. It will be called Teen Mom 3. And it will feature teens who are moms. New idea for MTV in 15 years: Put all the babies from the Teen Mom shows in a house in Vegas! Call it Total Trainwreck City. [THR]

Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom