Jamie Kennedy's a 'Whisperer'

Jamie Kennedy is joining the cast of "Ghost Whisperer." Really.

The guy once known for his outrageous comedy will play a psychology grad student in the mainstream CBS series this fall. Really.

He's sort of stepping in for Jay Mohr, who's starring in the sitcom "Project Gary" on CBS this fall. Reportedly, Mohr will return as professor Rick Payne in the fall before being written out of the show.

(If I were Mohr, I'd try to keep Payne alive. I've seen the pilot of "Project Gary," and he may be looking for work again. Soon.)

In other casting news:

• Four actors are joining "ER" for its final season. All will play new interns.

Shiri Appleby ("Roswell") and Julian Morris ("Cry Wolf") will play very different siblings; Emily Rose ("Brothers & Sisters") a control freak; and Victor Rasuk ("Stop-Loss") a newlywed.

They'll be recurring; they won't be in every episode.

• Two actors are joining the cast of "Brothers & Sisters" in recurring roles.

Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace") and Eric Christian Olsen ("The Loop") will both play business associates of Sarah (Rachel Griffiths). One, but apparently not both, of their characters will also develop into a love interest for Sarah.

• Here's some breaking news — we actually know one thing about the upcoming spinoff of "The Office"! But only one thing.

Aziz Ansar ("Human Giant") has been hired to be a member of the cast. Who he'll play; who he'll co-star with; whether anyone from "The Office" will move to the new show; what the concept of the new show is are all little details that still have to be worked out. Really.

The new show is supposed to debut in February.

• William Hurt is taking on his first regular role in a television series. He's joining the cast of FX's "Damages" for the second season, playing a client of uber attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close).

Close and Hurt starred in the 1983 film "The Big Chill."

• Jon Voight will play the bad guy on "24" next season.

As always, details about anything on "24" are shrouded in secrecy. But Voight will make his first appearance in the TV movie that's set to air in November.

(That movie will bridge the gap between the end of the sixth season, which aired in May 2007, and the start of the seventh season, which begins in January 2009. Thank you, writers' strike.)

Speculation is that Voight won't show up until the latter half of Season 7 because the first half was shot before the writers' strike hit.

• Sophina Brown ("Shark") is joining the cast of "Numb3rs" as a junior agent.

Brown is kind of a replacement for the departed Diane Farr. Her role will be recurring to begin with, but it may turn into a regular.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com