Channel Surfing: Michael Trucco Finds "V," Amy Smart Lands CBS Pilot, Final Barbara Walters Oscar Special to Air this Year, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Given that it's the day after a US holiday, there are precious few headlines this morning but here's what we've got.

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams is reporting that Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica) has been cast as a guest star on ABC's sci-fi drama V. Trucco is set to appear in the April 13th episode as the enigmatic John May, the leader of the Fifth Column, a group of rebel Visitors who have been plotting to overthrow the leadership of the alien race. (TVGuide.com)

A slew of pilot castings: Amy Smart (Scrubs) has been cast in CBS' untitled medical drama from executive producer John Wells (ER) and writer Hannah Shakespeare (The Philanthropist) about a mobile medical team that travels the US and helps those less fortunate yet in need of serious medical attention. Smart will play Meg Cooper, "a tough nurse who stands up to the doctors and sleeps with one of them." Elsewhere, Michelle Borth (The Forgotten) has been cast as the female lead in ABC drama pilot Matadors, where she will play Juliana, described as "a talented lawyer who joins her father in the state attorney's office and embarks on a secret affair with Alex (Zach Gilford), an heir of the rival family who works at his father's firm." [Editor: casting is in second position to her role on ABC's The Forgotten, which has yet to be renewed or cancelled.] Also cast: Jonathan Scarfe (Raising the Bar), who will play Alex's brother, a defense attorney who is in for the money and glory rather than any sense of justice or morality. Brian Dennehy (Rules of Engagement) will star opposite creator Dana Gould in an untitled multi-camera comedy pilot for ABC; Dennehy will play Gould's father, a retired high school football coach. Finally, Sullivan Stapleton (Satisfaction) has been cast as the lead in CBS multi-camera comedy pilot The Odds, about a team of police officers in Las Vegas that solves outrageous crimes; he'll play Wade, the head of the homicide division who is bumped down after an IA investigation. (Hollywood Reporter)

This will be the last year that Barbara Walters hosts her Oscar night special. The final Barbara Walters Special will air the same night as the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7th; Walters has been hosting the special for 29 years but felt that she had begun to "feel like I've 'been there, done that.'" (Variety)

Wrestling franchise ECW will end its run today on Syfy and will be replaced February 23rd by NXT, a new hour-long series from World Wrestling Entertainment that will "pair up eight of WWE's current stars with rookies that come from Florida Championship Wrestling, the company's talent development camp in Tampa, Florida" and will feature "pros mentoring rookies, with egos often getting in the way, as they learn the ropes of competing in the ring in front of live audiences, creating characters and speaking on camera." (Variety)

Bravo executive Johanna Fuentes been hired by Showtime Networks as VP of corporate public relations. Fuentes will be based in New York and will report to Richard Licata. [Editor: Congratulations, Johanna! Glad it's public knowledge now!] (Hollywood Reporter)

UK satellite company BSkyB is said to be in talks with Virgin Media about acquiring the latter's TV channels business, which includes Living, Virgin 1, and a 50 percent stake in UKTV. (Variety)

Stay tuned.