It's been a few days since my last TCA Diary, so I've got a lot to get through. In the interests of brevity (and so that you don't also feel like you've been trapped at this press conference as long as I have!) I'm only going to give you the highlights. They are: Lucy Liu, Lauren Lee Smith, Elizabeth Reaser, Toni Collette.

Although Cashmere Mafia has bitten the dust, Lucy Liu hasn't entirely gotten the shaft. "I got a call from Steve McPherson [ABC's entertainment president] saying that Cashmere Mafia was most likely not going to come back and that he still wanted to work with me and keep me in the family," she said. "And I told him that I was a huge fan of Dirty Sexy Money."

Liu then sat down with Dirty Sexy Money's producers and brainstormed about her character, who was created to fit in with some of the story lines the producers had been discussing. She'll be playing Nola Lyons, described in ABC's press materials as "whip-smart, overachieving and very fashionable." When asked whether her character will be romantically paired with anyone, Liu answered: "I hope so. I think I'll be romantically paired maybe with all — everyone that's up here, including the women."

Lucy Liu

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

We always appreciate a shout-out, Lucy.

In other news, former soup chef Lauren Lee Smith has traded in her apron for a microscope (and various other scientific instruments) as the newest crime scene investigator on CSI. CBS' president of entertainment, Nina Tassler, said that "this new character is also going to give to the other supporting characters and Marg [Helgenberger] an opportunity to sort of show parts of their character, show parts of their personality, that the audiences perhaps haven't seen ever before or at least in a while." … continue reading

The AfterEllen.com Forum has a discussion in progress about which TV character you'd like to date. I suppose I'm a bit too literal for that version of the game, since my first requirement for dating a woman is that she be a lesbian and, given the state of TV at the moment, that narrows the field to, well, zero. But if movies are included, I don't even have to think. Allegra from Puccini for Beginners wins hands down — and up and anywhere else she wants to put them. Sigh.

My crush on Allegra has naturally transferred to Elizabeth Reaser, who played her. And having a crush on Reaser is not as easy as some of my other crushes because her star seems to be rising more slowly than I would like. I just don't get to see her enough. … continue reading