Excess Hollywood: 'Idol' alum Brooke White to make acting debut in 'Change of Plans'

I Heart Huckabees: Claudette Barius

Former American Idol contestant Brooke White will star in Change of Plans, a TV movie about a singer who must care for her best friend’s children, due to an accident. Idol judge Randy Jackson will cameo. As will another Idol favorite, depending on the reviews. [Associated Press]

CSI creator Anthony Zuicker is developing three dramas with CBS — Detail, centered on a security expert; the lawman-centric Desperado; and Treadstone, about the CIA — and one drama with the CW: Spirits, a project described as “Paranormal Activity-meets-CSI.” [Deadline]

Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson has signed on to star alongside Mia Wasikowska and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Glenn Close’s pet project Albert Nobbs. Close stars as a woman who disguises herself as a man in order to get work. The things you must do to get Damages back on the air. [The Playlist]

Lucy Punch, Bob Odenkirk, and Rich Sommer have joined Topher Grace, Jenna Fischer, Malin Akerman, and Chris Messina in rom-com The Giant Mechanical Man, about a zoo worker (Fischer) caught in a love triangle with a street performer (Messina) and a motivational speaker (Grace). [THR]

Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the co-writer-directors of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, are in negotiations to helm Bob the Musical, about a man who can suddenly hear the songs in the heads of passersby following an accident. Oh, man, I’d feel bad if he ever passed me. [THR]