By Christopher Wallenberg
17 Sep 2011

	Brían F. O'Byrne
	photo by Gavin Bond/NBC

Four-time Tony award nominee Brían F. O'Byrne, who starred on the short-lived ABC series "FlashForward" in 2009-10 and in Showtime's "Brotherhood," makes another leap to the small screen in NBC's Prime Suspect. An American remake of the long-running, seminal British crime series of the same name, "Prime Suspect" premieres on Sept. 22 at 10 PM ET and stars Maria Bello in the role made famous by Helen Mirren in the U.K. original. Bello's character (Jane Tennison has become Jane Timoney in the U.S. adaptation) is a smart but abrasive female detective fighting to prove herself amongst a hostile sea of men in the NYPD homicide division. The Irish-born O'Byrne, who has been a staple on Broadway over the past decade and was seen in HBO's "Mildred Pierce" miniseries earlier this year, plays the squad's lead detective Reg Duffy, who clashes with Jane. The actor won a Tony for his haunting portrayal of a serial killer in Frozen in 2004, played the conflicted priest accused of child molestation in Doubt opposite Cherry Jones in 2005, and also earned Tony nominations for his roles in The Lonesome West, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Tom Stoppard's sprawling The Coast of Utopia trilogy.

Dan Fogler, who rose to Broadway stardom as William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2005 and captured a Tony Award for his efforts, co-stars in the new ABC sitcom Man Up! The series, which premieres Oct. 18 at 8 PM ET, explores the challenges of finding your inner dude in a world where guys use pomegranate body wash and flavor their coffee with nondairy hazelnut creamer. This buddy comedy, about three men struggling with issues of masculinity, wants to conjure "The Hangover," but just winds up being a lumbering and charmless mess.

	Kerry Washington
	photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC

From the creators of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" (Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers) comes Scandal, a new ABC drama slated for midseason that revolves around a professional crisis manager and her dysfunctional staff. A former media relations consultant to the President of the United States, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, who made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's Race) dedicates her life to shielding and defending the public images of the nation's elite politicians and power-brokers in moments of turmoil. After she leaves the White House to open her own consulting firm, she's hoping for a fresh start — but she can't seem to sever her ties to her past gig. Tony Goldwyn — who was seen on Broadway in Promises, Promises, appeared in films like "Ghost," and directed last year's "Conviction" with Hilary Swank—portrays President Fitzgerald Grant. The longtime stage and screen character actor Jeff Perry, who co-founded Chicago's seminal Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1974, plays Cyrus — one of Pope's staff members. whose own lives can seem as tragically broken as the people they're trying to steer out of a crisis.

Famed theatre director and actor Terry Kinney, another Steppenwolf co-founder (along with Perry and Gary Sinise), will appear in the upcoming CBS midseason replacement show, The 2-2. The series, produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, follows a group of six diverse NYPD rookies as they patrol the gritty streets of the Big Apple. Kinney will play the rookie's demanding Field Training Officer, Daniel "Yoda" Dean — a hard-nosed, unsentimental veteran of the police force who emphasizes basics and holding cops accountable for their actions. Kinney is the noteworthy director of such Steppenwolf-Broadway productions as A Streetcar Named Desire and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both starring Gary Sinise (in 1997 and 2000, respectively). He recently directed Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty on Broadway in 2009. Actor Stark Sands plays one of the rookies, Kenny McClaren, a fourth-generation cop displaying sharp instincts but plagued by lingering doubts about joining the force. Sands is known to Broadway audiences for his sensitive, heartbreaking turns as Lieutenant Raleigh in the 2007 production of Journey's End (for which he earned a Tony nod) and as the emotionally and physically scarred Iraq War vet Tunny in American Idiot. In 2009, he brought to life the mythical outlaw Clyde Barrow in the musical adaptation of Bonnie & Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse. His breakthrough film role came as the compulsive, gay son of fading diva Angela Arden in Charles Busch's silver screen satire, "Die, Mommie, Die!"

	Mandy Patinkin in "Homeland."
	photo by Kent Smith/SHOWTIME

Tony and Emmy award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin may be teaming up with his former Evita co-star later this fall for a two-month Broadway run of An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, but theatre fans can catch the silver-voiced singer-actor on TV in the glossy new Showtime thriller, Homeland, debuting Oct. 2 at 10 PM ET. Starring Claire Danes (who made her Broadway debut as Eliza in Roudabout's Pygmalion) as a live-wire CIA agent Carrie Mathison, the series centers on her efforts to expose the truth about an MIA marine POW who's returned home to the U.S. as a hero after eight years in captivity abroad. But his story doesn't add up, and Mathison receives a tip that Brody may have been turned against his country and is now working for Al Qaeda. A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues. Patinkin plays Carrie's longtime mentor, Saul Berenson, the CIA's Middle East Division Chief emeritus who still has considerable sway within the agency. Carrie enlists his help in the case, but using questionable investigative methods, she may land them both on the hot seat.

And for all you Gleeks out there, we have some scoop on season three involving beloved Broadway belter Idina Menzel. She will return to the series for as many as 12 episodes as Shelby Corcoran, Rachel's biological mother, who adopted Quinn's baby daughter, Beth, at the end of season one. Menzel, who originated the role of Elphaba in Wicked, begins her story arc in episode two (Sept. 27) when she lands a job as a teacher at McKinley High. Her juicy storyline reportedly revolves around Quinn. But will she also try to bond with her own daughter, Rachel (Lea Michele), as Ms. Berry embarks on her senior year in high school?

Christopher Wallenberg is a freelance arts and entertainment writer based in Brooklyn. He's a frequent contributor to the Boston Globe, Playbill and American Theatre magazines.