Lauren Ambrose is set to star opposite Parker Posey in Fox's comedy pilot The Return of Jezebel James. The show centers on a single book editor (Posey) who can't conceive and asks her estranged younger sister (Ambrose) to carry her baby, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

James Van Der Beek has joined ABC's drama pilot Football Wives; it follows the wives of professional football players. Van Der Beek will play a rookie on the team.

Charles Esten will topline ABC's comedy pilot American Family, which centers on a pretentious yet clueless middle-class family; Esten (Stone Manners) will play the father.

Scott Wolf has landed the lead in ABC's untitled Sachs/Judah project. The show follows the lives of co-workers at a top law firm; Wolf will play the leader of the Law Dogs litigating team. Also joining the project is Geoffrey Arend as a junior member of the team.

Fred Goss, Jerry Minor and Jerry O'Connell have been tapped to star in ABC's comedy pilot Carpoolers; it follows four men, three of them played by Goss), Minor and O'Connell, who carpool to work every day.

Ray Stevenson is set for a lead role on CBS' Babylon Fields, which is set in a town where the dead come back to life; Stevenson will play the town's chief detective, whose wife is also resurrected.

Molly Parker and Josh Hopkins have joined CBS' drama pilot Swingtown. The show revolves around married couples in 1970s suburbia who experiment with partner-swapping; Parker will play a housewife with teen kids, while Hopkins will play an ex-jock.

Kathryn Hahn, Flex Alexander, Matthew Morrison and Jayma Mays have come aboard ABC's comedy pilot Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office; it's a workplace comedy about making it in the corporate world. Morrison will play a struggling musician, Hahn will play a pregnant go-getter, and Alexander will play everybody's drinking buddy.

From Variety, Tim Matheson will guest star in the The CW dramedy pilot Barnes, which is about crime-solving students; Matheson will play the head of the college.

Laz Alonso will play Colin in ABC TV Studio night-time soap, Dirty Sexy Money.