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'Heroes' returning to NBC heroically

NBC will usher in the 2008-09 season with a big, splashy return for Heroes, which will end a 91/2-month absence from the air in September.

NBC will usher in the 2008-09 season with a big, splashy return for

Heroes

, which will end a 91/2-month absence from the air in September.

The network is turning over its entire prime-time slate on Sept. 22 to the show, starting with an hour-long clip show to refresh viewers' memories on what's happened so far and leading into a two-hour season premiere. It leads a fairly traditional rollout for NBC, which will debut most of its shows between then and early October.

NBC has also made a few tweaks to the looking-way-ahead schedules it presented to advertisers and the press in April. The biggest change is that the new comedy

Kath & Kim

will join the network's Thursday comedy block on Oct. 9; it had been scheduled for Tuesday nights following

The Biggest Loser

, which will expand to two hours.

Beau Bridges in ABC comedy.

A pair of ABC comedies have bolstered their casts, with Beau Bridges joining Alyssa Milano in one show and Jay Harrington

taking the lead in the other.

Bridges and Meagen Fay have signed on an untitled show from writer Kristin Newman (

How I Met Your Mother

). Harrington, meanwhile, will star in the untitled Victor Fresco

workplace comedy, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In the Newman pilot, Milano - who had a recurring part on

My Name Is Earl

this season - will play a woman trying to break free from her overbearing family and unpleasant job. Fellow

Earl

actor Bridges will play her dad, while Fay (

Malcolm in the Middle

) will play his new fiancee.

A three-time Emmy winner (including one for

My Name Is Earl

), Bridges has also appeared in

Stargate SG-1

,

The Fabulous Baker Boys

,

The Agency

and

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom

(for which he owns another Emmy).

The Fresco pilot centers on Harrington's character, a decent guy who's the head of research and development for a not-very-decent corporation.

Harrington starred in the NBC adaptation of

Coupling

and the cult Fox series

The Inside

. He's also appeared on

Desperate Housewives

and

Summerland.

Ron Perlman's new role.

Hellboy

star Ron Perlman has joined FX series

Sons of Anarchy

, where he'll play the leader of an outlaw motorcycle club, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The show is scheduled to premiere in the fall.

Sons of Anarchy

centers on the title motorcycle club's efforts to protect their small town from outside elements, including drug dealers and real-estate developers. Charlie Hunnam (

Children of Men

) stars as a young member of the club whose affection for it comes in conflict with his concern over some of its actions.

Katey Sagal (

Married . . . With Children

,

Eli Stone

) plays Hunnam's mother, and Perlman will play his stepfather. Scott Glenn played the role in the show's pilot, but after the show opted to cast itself as more of a dark comedy, Perlman was brought in.

Prior to

Hellboy

, Perlman was best known for the CBS series

Beauty and the Beast

. His credits also include

Blade II

,

Alien: Resurrection

and a host of voice-over roles.

Sam Neill stranded.

Sam Neill, who recently starred in Showtime's

The Tudors

, will take on another period piece in his next TV gig.

Neill, along with Sean Bean (

The Lord of the Rings

) and Joss Ackland (

White Mischief

), have joined the cast of NBC's drama

Crusoe,

a retelling of Daniel Defoe's classic novel

Robinson Crusoe

.

The international production is set to begin shooting soon in the U.K., South Africa and the Seychelles. It's slated to air on Friday nights on NBC in the fall.

Neill played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the first season of

The Tudors

. The

Jurassic Park

star earned an Emmy nomination for his role in NBC's telefilm

Merlin

10 years ago.