Aloma Wright's character on "Scrubs" died two-thirds of the way through last season. Her job, however, did not.

	Mitchell Haaseth, NBC Aloma Wright will return as the twin of nurse Laverne Roberts on "Scrubs." Click photo for larger image.

Wright, who played the sarcastic, God-fearing nurse Laverne Roberts on the NBC comedy, will return to the show for its seventh and final year -- playing Laverne's twin sister. So says Variety, which notes that "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence "didn't want to take work away from an actor" and thus devised the twin idea.

So why kill Laverne in the first place? Well, Lawrence figured that the 2006-07 season might be it for "Scrubs" and decided that a death among the show's regulars would be a compelling story line. Laverne's death played out over two episodes in March and April.

Lawrence promised Roberts, though, that if the show came back for another year, he'd find a way to include her. NBC did pick it up, and so Wright will be playing Laverne's sister, Shirley (yes, Laverne and Shirley) -- who will be the polar opposite of Laverne, a single alcoholic who's skeptical of religion.

"It's going to be fun developing another character after doing the same one for six years," Wright tells Variety. "I'm glad to know [Lawrence] is a man of his word and I've still got a job."

(Zap2it.com)

Posh kibosh

NBC is still chronicling Victoria Beckham's move from London to Los Angeles but not as extensively as it had initially hoped.

Matt Sayles, Associated Press NBC will air "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" on July 16, but it won't be a six-episode series. Click photo for larger image.

Instead of the six-episode series it announced a few months back, the network will air a one-hour special called "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" on July 16. The show will follow the erstwhile Posh Spice as she prepares for her move to the United States in the wake of husband David Beckham's signing with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

"Viewers will get a first-hand glimpse into what it's like to be one of the most sought-after celebrities in the world," says Craig Plestis, head of alternative programming at NBC. "Victoria's every move is documented by the paparazzi, but only our cameras have been allowed inside the world of what being Victoria Beckham is really like."

When NBC announced the project in February, it was planning for six half-hour episodes to air over the summer. However, Victoria Beckham and her kids have been spending time in Europe recently while David plays with England's national team. His performance has sparked talk that he might not make the move to Los Angeles, though he, the Galaxy and MLS all say he'll stick to his contract.

After looking at what had been shot thus far, NBC decided it had enough to craft a one-hour special. Should it do well, there's a fair chance the network will keep the cameras rolling.

Simon Fuller ("American Idol"), who was Victoria Beckham's manager when she was with the Spice Girls, is among the executive producers of the show.

(Zap2it.com)

'Mars' creator gets 'Miss/Guided'

"Veronica Mars" may be no more, but her creator has already lined up his next television gig.

	Judy Greer will star in "Miss/Guided." Click photo for larger image.

Rob Thomas is joining the staff of ABC's midseason series "Miss/Guided," the network confirms. He'll take on showrunner duties for the single-camera comedy, which stars Judy Greer ("Arrested Development," "Love Monkey") as a former nerd-turned-guidance counselor at the high school she attended.

Caroline Williams, a writer for "The Office," created the show and penned the pilot with Gaby Allan ("Scrubs"). "Beauty and the Geek" masterminds Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg are also among the executive producers, and Emmy winner and Kittanning native Todd Holland ("Malcolm in the Middle," "Wonderfalls") directed the pilot.

The show will be Thomas' first time working on a half-hour comedy. Prior to "Veronica Mars," he created the cult favorite "Cupid" for ABC and worked on other dramas including "Dawson's Creek" and "The Education of Max Bickford." He's plenty familiar with "Miss/Guided's" high school setting, though, having written several young-adult novels in addition to guiding Veronica Mars through the treacherous hallways of Neptune High.

(Zap2it.com)

NBC puts 'breast' foot forward

NBC and its sister studio have struck a deal to make both Spanish- and English-language versions of a controversial Colombian telenovela whose title translates to "Without Breasts There Is No Paradise."

The deal calls for the newly renamed Universal Media Studios (formerly NBC Universal Television Studio) to produce an English version of "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso" for NBC. Rather than just import the original show, the studio will also make a Spanish version with a different cast for Telemundo, the NBCU-owned Spanish-language network.

"Sin Tetas," based on a novel of the same title, tells the story of a young woman named Catalina, who, per NBC, is "seduced by a world of easy money [and] who agonizes that her figure is a barrier to deliverance from poverty and a pampered life as a drug trafficker's lover."

The show drew close to 7 million viewers when it aired in Colombia, in spite of (or perhaps because of) controversy over its portrayal of aspects of Colombian culture.

It's unclear whether NBC will produce the English-language version of the series as a nightly strip or adapt it to a weekly series a la ABC's "Ugly Betty," which is also based on a telenovela and which Silverman executive produces. There's no word on when production will begin on either version.

(Zap2it.com)

Channel surfing

The premiere of Comedy Central's "Lil' Bush" drew 2.1 million viewers last Wednesday, the network's most-watched series premiere since "Drawn Together" in 2004. ... The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (Alcosan) will be featured tomorrow on PBS's "Nightly Business Report" (7 p.m., WQED) as part of a series on infrastructure issues nationwide.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)