NEWS: Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, Chris Colfer, Richard Caine, Alec Baldwin, Danny Dyer

ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee compares Shonda Rhimes to Charles Dickens
"I call her the Charles Dickens of the 21st Century if Charles Dickens had been black and a woman," Lee says about the all-Shonda Thursday on the ABC fall schedule.

Ryan Murphy Responds to Rumors About Star Tension on 'Glee' Set
Extra's Jerry Penacoli caught up with director Ryan Murphy at the premiere of his HBO movie, “The Normal Heart,” talking about his hit FOX show Glee and the recent rumors of a rift between stars Lea Michelle and Naya Rivera, along with the headlines Rivera was fired.

Murphy replied, “I don’t think there is a story between Naya and Lea. I always marvel at the things that become headline news that most of the time are completely fabricated. Naya's coming back next year, Lea's coming back next year, anybody ever in that cast has an open invitation to come back and finish the character they so beautifully started.”

NEWS: R.J. Mitte joins SWITCHED AT BIRTH; Julianne Moore Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

BREAKING BAD actor R.J. Mitte joins SWITCHED AT BIRTH
He will play Campbell, a pre-med college student paralyzed by a snowboarding accident who works at the free clinic alongside Daphne (Katie Leclerc).

Creator Lizzy Weiss also tweeted out the casting Thursday morning to her followers on Twitter, writing, "We are thrilled to have him."

THE WEST WING Government Shutdown Episode Is Frighteningly Familiar
In fifth season episode "Shutdown," the fiscal year is nearing its September 30 close. Democratic President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and House Speaker Jeff Haffley (Steven Culp) have verbally agreed on budget cuts of 1 percent, mostly from social programs. However, at the last moment, the Republican speaker demands 3 percent in cuts that would slash funding on education programs, clean energy research, and other issues near and dear to the president’s heart.

WGA Reveals 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time

The Writers Guild of America on Sunday unveiled its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time.

THE SOPRANOS led the list, the results of online voting by members of the WGA West and WGA East.

The WGA’s complete list of TV series follows:

Today in Soap Opera History (May 3)

On this date in...

1974: ANOTHER WORLD broadcast for one hour for the first time in honor of its 10th anniversary. Steve (George Reinholt) and Alice (Jacqueline Courtney) were married that day. The show would move to one hour full-time on Monday, January 6, 1975.

1983: Peter Reckell made his first appearance as Bo Brady in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1983: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Palmer (James Mitchell) begged Donna (Candace Early) not to leave.

Netflix & Warner Bros. Sign A Deal For Hit Serialized Dramas

Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Television Group today announced a licensing agreement allowing U.S. Netflix members to enjoy complete previous seasons of addictive serialized dramas produced by Warner Bros. for top broadcast and cable networks.

Among the shows coming to Netflix next year will be REVOLUTION a drama for NBC from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions set in a post-apocalyptic America which ranks as the #1 new series of the 2012–13 television season; POLITICAL ANIMALS, the USA Network miniseries with Sigourney Weaver in a Golden Globe– and Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated role as a former First Lady serving as Secretary of State; LONGWIRE, A&E's top-rated Western mystery series based on the novels by best-selling author Craig Johnson; and 666 PARK AVENUE, the ABC supernatural thriller starring Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams.

Kathryn Joosten Dead at 72

Emmy-winning actress Kathryn Joosten died on Friday at age 72 after a brave and public battle with lung cancer.

In the recent series finale of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, her beloved Karen McCluskey passed away as well.

Joosten won Emmys in 2005 and 2008 in the Oustanding Guest Actress in a Comedy for her portrayal of Mrs. McCluskey.

Her DH co-stars took to Twitter on Saturday to share their grief.

Today in Soap Opera History (May 3)

On this date in...

1974: ANOTHER WORLD broadcast for one hour for the first time in honor of its 10th anniversary. Steve and Alice were married that day. The show would move to one hour full-time on Monday, January 6, 1975.

1983: The character of Bo Brady (played by Peter Reckell) aired for the first time on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1983: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Palmer begged Donna not to leave.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Chord Overstreet, Ron Raines, Michael Showers, Scott Foley, Jon Hamm, Taylor Kitsch

GLEE's Chord Overstreet wants to focus on music
"I’ve been writing music my entire life and I had an opportunity to work on a record. It’s something I have a huge passion for. I did a lot of thinking and I felt like it was a good time to work on my album and focus on that avenue of my career. They offered me the chance to come back for a few episodes, but there was nothing guaranteed so I decided to dive into the music thing. And that’s been my main priority the past two months."

WATCH: THE WEST WING Explains The Debt Ceiling

The news lately has been non-stop talk about the debt ceiling with debate raging among Democrats and Republicans in Washington on the issue. President Obama had another news conference this morning. But what is the debt ceiling? Aaron Sorkin's primetime soap THE WEST WING took up the subject in an episode from its sixth season, "In God We Trust," which explained the politics behind getting the debt ceiling raised.

"So this debt ceiling thing is routine or the end of the world?" Annabeth Schott (Kristin Chenoweth) asked Tony Ziegler (Richard Schiff).

"Both," he responded.

Watch the scene below:

Today in Soap Opera History

On this date in...

1974: ANOTHER WORLD broadcast for one hour for the first time in honor of its 10th anniversary. Steve and Alice were married that day. The show would move to one hour full-time on Monday, January 6, 1975.

1991: DALLAS aired its final episode after 13 seasons on CBS.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Chris Mulkey (ex-Hank, TWIN PEAKS) - 63
Kevin Kilner (ex-Alexi, KNOTS LANDING) - 53
P.J. Bloom (GLEE Music Supervisor) - 42
Christina Hendricks (Joan, MAD MEN; ex-Rhiannon, UNDRESSED) - 36
Dulé Hill (ex-Simon, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Charlie, THE WEST WING) - 36
Kenneth Franklin (ex-Dallas, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 29