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Abc Makes Cast Changes On ‘Coach’ And ‘Grace’

From Wire Reports

ABC took the wraps off a batch of cast changes and switches Monday, which included the addition of Katherine Helmond (“Soap,” “Who’s the Boss?”) on “Coach” and Tom Poston (“Newhart”) on “Grace Under Fire.”

Robert Mitchum is also expected to make a cameo in “The Marshall” but, we are told, it will be just that - a cameo, with the possibility of a recurring role (he’ll play Jeff Fahey’s character’s father).

Helmond - the redoubtable Jessica Tate on “Soap” and Angela’s mom on “Who’s the Boss?” - will become a regular on “Coach,” which moves to a new time (Tuesdays, 9:30 p.m.) and new locale, from Minneapolis to Orlando, Fla., where Hayden Fox (Craig T. Nelson) now coaches a pro football team. Helmond will play the team’s “eccentric” owner; she appeared on the final two episodes last season.

Poston (the saturnine George Utley of “Newhart”) will formally join “Grace” as father of Russell Norton (Dave Thomas). Poston appeared briefly in the role before.

There will be a handful of other notable changes on continuing series. On “Roseanne,” Lecy Goranson, who played Becky but has been off the show for two seasons, returns this fall for what may well be the program’s swan song. The other “Becky,” Sarah Chalke (who took over for two seasons), has left the cast. And at “NYPD Blue,” the roles of two relative newcomers will be expanded. Justine Miceli (Detective Adrienne Lesniak) and Kim Delaney, who plays Detective Diane Russell, the boozy paramour of Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits), were named full-time cast members.

Cosby launching sitcom

Get ready to once again laugh at - make that with - Bill Cosby. The fabulous funnyman, whose foray into TV drama never quite lived up to audience expectations, is now readying a new TV comedy series in which he’ll star as a temporarily unemployed man trying to deal with the travails of life.

The proposed series, now in development and being pitched to the networks, would be loosely based on the British production “One Foot in the Grave,” though Cosby promises that the concept will only be used as a jumping off point.

The Cos, who played a doctor for eight years on “Cosby,” apparently was looking for a different kind of role for his next comedy project when he was introduced to this concept. If all comes together as hoped, it could arrive as early as next year.