Goodman’s a Doorman: John Goodman is joining the cast of Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, an adaptation of the best-selling Jonathan Safran Foer novel. Scott Rudin is producing the Warner Bros./Paramount co-production, which stars Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, and a young Jeopardy prodigy. The drama is about a 10-year-old boy who loses his father on 9/11. Goodman will play a doorman in the boy’s apartment building. In addition to all that star power and smart people, the project reportedly has “one of the best scripts in town,†written by Eric Roth. So, this thing had better go big. [HR]
Career, Unexpected: The CW’s Life Unexpected may or may not return for a third season, but the series’ creator/executive producer Liz Tigelaar is moving forward, signing a seven-figure, two-year overall deal with ABC Studios. She will develop new shows and may join existing ones. Previously, she worked on ABC’s Brothers and Sisters. And she got her start as an intern on Dawson’s Creek! [Deadline]
SpongeBob Continues: Nickelodeon has picked up the beloved SpongeBob SquarePants for a ninth season with a 26-episode order, which will push the animated series over the 200th-episode mark. SpongeBob has been TV’s No. 1 cartoon with kids ages 2-11 for ten consecutive years. The series’ next special, Legends of Bikini Bottom, an hour-long anthology, will premiere on January 28, thankfully. [Deadline]
Reality Bites: DIY Network has green-lit Hollywood Hi-Tech, a series focusing on home electronics and high-end custom installation in celebrity homes. Wow, that sounds awful. But it’ll reportedly feature Josh Duhamel, Kevin Connolly, Jeremy Piven, and Khloe Kardashian. Like a new version of Cribs, perhaps. So maybe we will watch it. Janna Robinson, “an expert on lifestyle technology,†will host. [HR]
Actor Heist: Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has hired agent Kami Putnam-Heist away from William Morris Entertainment, and Putnam-Heist will likely bring her client James Franco, who she has represented for six years, to WMA along with her. Putnam-Heist also reps Logan Lerman and Armie Hammer, among others. [Deadline]