Kristen Bell to Make ‘Heroes’ Even More Awesome

Bell Gets Heroic: NBC has landed Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell for a multi-episode arc of their second season of the hit series Heroes. This is obviously a major catch for the Peacock, but execs should bear in mind that after concentrating this much fanboy coolness into one show, if they should ever attempt to cancel Heroes, they will be savagely murdered. [Variety]

Wilson, Aniston Headline Marley & Me: Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston have signed to star in Fox 2000’s adaptation of John Grogan’s widely beloved dog memoir, Marley & Me. No word yet on the casting of the titular Labrador retriever, but talent reps for A-list canines are said to be wary, mindful of W.C. Fields’s famous advice that dogs should “never work with children or Owen Wilson or Jennifer Aniston.� [Variety]

Jason Biggs Picks Bachelor No. 2: Pie-humper Jason Biggs has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s romantic comedy Bachelor No. 2, the charming tale of Tank (Dane Cook), a guy who recently dumped men pay to take their ex-girlfriends out on horrible dates so their girlfriends will come running back to them. When Biggs hires Tank to work his magic on ex-girlfriend Kate Hudson, Tank finds himself falling for her. Closely following Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck, pic is expected to bring Dane Cook’s ambitious Hideously Unwatchable Romantic Comedies Trilogy to a close. [HR]

Merkerson to Entreat Little Sheba on Broadway: Law & Order’s regal and fearsome S. Epatha Merkerson will headline Manhattan Theatre Club’s revival of William Inge’s 1950 drama Come Back, Little Sheba, in a role described as “the slatternly wife of an alcoholic chiropractor.� Well, wouldn’t you turn slattern if your husband was an alcoholic chiropractor? [Backstage]

New Director Gets Loaded: Eclectic screenwriter extraordinaire W. Peter Iliff (Patriot Games, Varsity Blues, Point Break) makes his directorial debut with his original script Loaded, the story of two FBI agents — one addicted to cocaine, the other addicted to sex — who must team up to find a missing baby. What, you can’t fill in your own joke here? [HR]