A deal has finally been hammered out for Dana Delany to take a leave from ABC’s  Desperate Housewives to shoot the alphabet net’s fall pilot, Body of Evidence.

“The networks have become like the old studio system where they have their stable of actors,” Dana tells me. “They want to hold on to them and see what else they can do with them, so (ABC president) Steve McPherson said, ‘Would you consider doing another show,’ and I said, ‘I love Housewives, but this is the lead role and something different.’ It’s one of those bountiful things. I love the show I have, but they’re offering me the lead.’“

The series, which starts shooting this week, will team Dana with actors John Carroll Lynch (The Drew Carey Show and Carnivale), Trust Me’s Geoffrey Arend (husband of Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks) and Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Shark, Law and Order: SVU.

While stressing that the series may not land on ABC’s fall schedule, Dana says she is excited about the possibility of playing a strong woman, describing her new character, Meghan Hunt, as “a woman who was a brain surgeon and is now a medical examiner. It’s a character-driven story as there were certain circumstances in her life that required her to make that career change.”

Dana also took it as a sign from the heavens that she should accept the role given that this new character shares the same last name as her real-life aunt, Carrie Hunt, who passed away just last week.

Housewives creator Marc Cherry is writing out her character, Katherine Mayfair, so that she can head out of town to shoot the pilot over the next couple weeks.

“But if her pilot doesn’t fly, she’ll be coming back,” Cherry tells TV Guide Magazine exclusively. “ABC asked me if they could give Dana her own show, but if that doesn’t work, she’s got a place waiting for her.” Dana says her Housewives boss promised he would not kill her off.

So where is Katherine Mayfair going? Seems like she could be headed for a happy lesbian life with Julie Benz’s stripper character. “Robin will be back,” teases Dana. “I think they’re a delightfully odd couple.”

Even if Dana’s new show does land a spot on the network’s fall schedule, Cherry will do his best to hold on to Katherine in some capacity. “I would at least try to have her make a guest spot, but we won’t make any decision [in the storytelling] until the new schedule is announced.”

The Mayfair home is not the only house on Wisteria Lane that may be going on the market, with Cherry confirming that Drea de Matteo is out as Angie Bolen at season’s end, leaving the fates of her TV husband Jeffrey Nordling (Nick) and son Beau Mirchoff (Danny) in limbo.

Downplaying de Matteo’s exit, Cherry points out that he “traditionally” devotes only one season to the guest actors in his mystery stories, such as Alfre Woodard and Neal McDonough (Delany and Kyle MacLachlan are exceptions). The bigger question mark involves the contracts of Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria Parker, which are all up at the end of next season.

“All I can say officially is I have been told they’re all in negotiations to extend their contracts,” Cherry tells TV Guide Magazine. “All their reps have just started talking to ABC.”

Unlike Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, who has been pumping new blood into Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital to take the place of exiting principals, Cherry dislikes the thought of continuing his series through 2013 (when his own contract is up) without his original quartet. “I have no intent to introduce any substitute characters, as I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can keep all four of my original gals for as long as possible. These are the characters Mary Alice chose to tell us about, and I think it would be odd to do the show with anyone else.”

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2.17 Tick Tick Tick – Monday 22nd March

2.18 Boom! – Monday 29th March

The decission could be made due to the huge buzz for DWTS upcoming season and so the network believes it would bring in more viewers due to Castle’s numbers after The Bachelor. Still nothing is confirmed, so we’ll bring a confirmation as soon as we can.

EDIT: It is CONFIRMED that the schedule I just posted above will be the one used in the end for those episodes. I just watched the trailer/preview for 2.17 and in the end it says when it airs, 22nd March.

THE EXPLOSIVE TWO-PARTER OF “CASTLE” CONCLUDES ON ABC

Dana Delany Guest Stars

“Boom!” In the second part of the story begun in “Tick, Tick, Tick,” the serial killer remains at large and is taunting Castle, Beckett and Jordan Shaw (guest star Dana Delany) to catch him, on “Castle,” MONDAY, MARCH 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on ABC. Delany plays Federal Agent Jordan Shaw, an insightful and accomplished Federal Investigator who teams up with Castle and Beckett to hunt down this cunning and elusive serial killer.

“Castle” stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, Stana Katic as NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers, Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito, and Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

Guest cast: Dana Delany as Federal Agent Jordan Shaw, Leonard Roberts as Jason Avery, Dameon Clarke as the killer.

“Boom!” was written by Elizabeth Davis and directed by John Terlesky.

“Castle” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound and Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

For more information on “Castle,” visit ABC.com

News that ABC is looking to transfer Desperate Housewives’ Dana Delany to a new procedural next season would seem to suggest that her late-in-life-lesbian alter ego, Katherine, is headed straight off Wisteria Lane. But that may not necessarily be the case.

First off, Delany’s deal to join the cast of Body of Evidence is still not done. And second, even if the Emmy winner does sign on the dotted line, there’s no guarantee the pilot will become an actual series. “You never know with pilots,” Delany shrugs. “Many of them never get off the ground, so all this talk could be rendered [pointless]. But I am realistically hopeful. I love the [Evidence] character, so I hope it all works out.”

Delany’s ideal scenario has her headlining Evidence next season and making occasional guest appearances on Housewives. “[Series creator] Marc Cherry [promised] he would not kill me off and told me I was always welcome to come back to the Lane,” she says. “I would love for Katherine to pop into town and say hi to the gang every once in awhile.”

In the meantime, Delany remains focused on finishing out this season of Housewives. Does she think Katherine’s big gay awakening will stick? “This might actually be her thing,” she says. “It may make her happier than she has ever been. She does not have the best track record with men to begin with.”

Coincidentally, Delany’s current on-screen squeeze, Julie Benz, also landed an ABC pilot — the super-powered drama No Ordinary Family. For her part, Benz hopes the simultaneous bookings will result in a happy ending for Katherine and Robin. “I love the idea that those two may ride of into the sunset together.”

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Thanks to Margamania for the heads up!

On the Spirit Awards blue carpet, Desperate Housewives‘ Dana Delany confirmed the buzz  that she might soon be leaving the show.”I’m in negotiations for a new pilot with ABC,” she told us. “It’s kind of like networks are the old studio system. Once they have a stable of actors they don’t want them to go to other networks so the try to find something else for them.”

She still has butterflies over the decision. “You never know, it’s always a gamble because Housewives is such a popular show, it’s a top 10 hit and I love doing it, so I’ll miss it terribly.”

As for Sunday’s Oscars, “I’m rooting for Precious,” she says. “It blew me away. And of course Jeff Bridges. Who doesn’t want him to win?”

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She was asked about her outfit and then about the Katherine/Robin relationship on Desperate Housewives, which she still really believes in and doesn’t see as a stunt to gain more viewers.

And right now, from the current live feed, she’s posing for photos which we’ll bring as soon as we can.