TV News Roundup: Mike White's new HBO project, Mullally to "Party Down."

Mike White and Laura Dern

A bunch of TV news from The Hollywood Reporter this morning. First up. Mike White (he of directing, screenwriting and Amazing Race-ing fame) has scored a pilot order from HBO for show called Enlightened, which will star Laura Dern as a woman who undergoes a spiritual awakening and creates havoc at home and work with her attempts to lead an enlightened life. White and Dern have been close since he directed her in 2007's Year of the Dog. "The only thing I can think of cooler than making a show at HBO is doing it with Laura Dern," White said. "I am totally stoked."

Fans of STARZ network's Party Down, which follows the employees of a Los Angeles catering company, were bummed to hear that castmate Jane Lynch would be leaving the show (no doubt to focus on Glee). Fortunately, Party Down found another very funny gay-fave to fill the void: Megan Mullally.  She'll play a struggling stage mother who comes to Hollywood with her teen daughter, Escapade. The second season of Party Down will start airing in April 2010.

Megan Mullally

The expiration date may be fast approaching for True Blood's Eggs. The character was heavily featured this season, but the actor playing him, Mehcad Brooks, has signed on as a regular for an ABC legal drama called The Deep End. He'll be playing a young associate at an LA law firm, which means we probably won't get to see quite so much of him as we have on True Blood.  

Mehcad Brooks as the often shirtless "Eggs"