TVLine Items: NCIS Brings Out Its Dead, Shawn Ryan's ABC Pilot, Lucci Not Desperate, and More - TVLine

The 200th episode of NCIS, set to air in early 2012, will feature the return of some familiar (if, gulp, dead) faces.

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“We came up with a unique, unexpected story to help us look back on everything prior,” exec producer Gary Glasberg tells TV Guide Magazine. As a result, viewers will get a new glimpse at Gibbs’ murdered wife and daughter, as well as Mike Franks, who was killed in last season’s penultimate episode.

The new season of NCIS premieres Sept. 20 at 8/7c on CBS.

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• ABC is (yet again) denying reports that Susan Lucci is moving to Wisteria Lane. Although the New York Post claims Lucci met with Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, a network rep told E! Online there’s “no truth” to the story. Speaking of La Lucci, check out TV Guide Magazine‘s first look at her and returning guest star Carol Burnett on All My Children.

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• TV Guide Magazine also has a first look at Ray Romano reuniting with his Everybody Loves Raymond wife Patricia Heaton on ABC’s The Middle. The premise: Romano’s character crashes Frankie and Mike’s honeymoon, in flashback.

• Shaun Majumder (Detroit 1-8-7) has joined NBC’s The Firm in the role of Andrew Palmer. The news comes on the heels of Tricia Helfer landing a recurring role as a senior partner on the midseason series.

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• Former Dawson’s Creek resident Meredith Monroe will guest-star on CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 this season, per EW.com.

• Not one to let grass grow under his feet — and maybe sensing that Celebrity Apprentice‘s death knell is near — Donald Trump reportedly has two new shows in works. Per the New York Post, the mogul has teamed up with Bret Michaels for Something To Believe In, a new reality show in which the rocker would travel the country to help people face adversity. Additionally, Trump is developing a fictional drama based on the wealthy and eccentric sorts of New Yorkers who reside in Trump Tower, reports the Post.

• The Shield creator Shawn Ryan and feature writer Karl Gajdusek (Unknown) have landed an in-demand pilot at ABC. Titled Last Resort and set in the near future, it centers on a U.S. military submarine that disregards an order to fire its nuclear missiles, and as a result its crew is hunted, forcing them to flee to a NATO outpost and set up a society as “the world’s smallest nuclear nation,” Deadline reports.

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• Showtime has given the greenlight to three new pilots: the first-person documentary comedy Gurland on Gurland, from and starring executive producer Andrew Gurland; the drama Masters of Sex, based on the two people who pioneered the science of human sexuality; and Ray Donovan, a dark family drama about a fixer for Los Angeles’ rich and famous, created by Ann Biderman (Southland).

• Game of Thrones cannot be contained. The HBO series has expanded production into Croatia (providing the setting for where Daenerys’ attempts to create an army) and Iceland (to be used as the backdrop for “beyond the wall” scenes with Jon Snow), EW.com reports.

This article was written by Vlada Gelman.

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