Broadway star Harve Presnell has died, aged 75.

The actor passed away on Tuesday in Santa Monica, California after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Presnell made his name on the New York stage in the 1960s and 1970s, starring in productions including The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Annie. He also acted on the West End stage in London in a 1972 version of Gone With The Wind.

He was also an established movie star, appearing alongside Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan in 1998, and he won a Golden Globe in 1965 for Most Promising Male Newcomer.

He also appeared in Fargo, Face/Off and Mr. Deeds. His final films were 2006's Flags of Our Fathers and 2007's Evan Almighty, in which he played Congressman Burrows.

Presnell also appeared in a number of U.S. TV shows, such as teen drama Dawson's Creek, Andy Barker P.I. and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He is survived by his wife Veeva Suzanne Hamblen and three children from a previous marriage.

Two 20th Century Fox TV comedy projects -- one from Abraham Higginbotham and the other from Jonathan Groff -- have landed at Fox and at CBS.

The untitled Higginbotham project, which stars Niecy Nash (Reno 911), has received a put pilot commitment from Fox.

The multicamera comedy, written and executive produced by Arrested Development alum Higginbotham, revolves around the less-than-glamorous staffers at a glamorous New York hotel.

Groff's Private Lives of Public People sparked a heated bidding war between ABC and CBS, landing at the Eye with a mid- to high-six-figure penalty that often qualifies as a put pilot.

The hybrid single- and multicamera project revolves around three adult siblings who are pillars of the community in their town but are decidedly less in control of their lives at home.

Both the Fox and the CBS show stem from Higginbotham and Groff's overall deals at 20th TV.

Groff, who most recently created and executive produced NBC's comedy Andy Barker, P.I., is repped by UTA, manager Tim Sarkes and attorney Jared Levine.

NBC is cutting short the run of new comedy Andy Barker, P.I. on Thursday. The network had originally scheduled five episodes of the detective comedy starring Andy Richter to air as part of its Thursday comedy block. The fifth episode, originally slated for Thursday will now air Saturday at 8 p.m., paired with the last half-hour of Barker's six-episode order. This week, NBC will air an original segment of Scrubs in the Thursday 9:30 p.m. berth vacated by Barker.

Jordana Spiro and Tony Hale are strapped in for Rockett, an indie drama being directed by Patrick Sisam and produced by Holly Wiersma.

The indie drama stars Jimmy Fallon as a man devoted to his work but unable to commit to his girlfriend or anything else in his personal life who returns to his hometown after his estranged father suffers a stroke.

Spiro is playing his childhood sweetheart with whom he reconnects. Hale is Fallon's best friend from childhood.

Shooting is underway in Florida.

Spiro, the star of the TBS series My Boys, is repped by Gersh and Verve Entertainment.

Hale, best known for his work on TV's Arrested Development, co-stars with Andy Richter in Andy Barker P.I. He is also lending his voice for The Tale of Despereaux. Hale is repped by Gersh and Framework.

NEW YORK -- October Road got a strong start on its journey following Grey's Anatomy, leading ABC to a primetime win while the premieres of NBC's Andy Barker, PI and Raines failed to impress.

Meanwhile, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" was greatly diminished from its earlier run following American Idol but still won its 8 p.m. time period against NCAA basketball, a new Ugly Betty and a repurposed Office.

October Road averaged 14.3 million viewers and a 5.8 rating/16 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates released Friday by Nielsen Media Research. It fell from 15.3 million viewers and a 6.2/17 at 10 p.m. to 13.4 million and a 5.3/15 at 10:30 p.m., although it still easily won the time period.

Not so with either of NBC's premieres, Andy Barker, PI (5.4 million, 2.4/6) at 9:30 p.m. nor the cop drama Raines (10.3 million, 2.9/8). Andy Barker tied with a repeat of Family Guy (5.4 million, 2.4/6) for fourth place in the time period. It lost steam from its lead-in, a new Scrubs (6.4 million, 2.8/7).

NBC's 30 Rock will return to the schedule a week earlier that planned and will switch places with another NBC Thursday comedy, veteran Scrubs.

Freshman 30 Rock will be back April 5 when NBC will run supersized original episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs and Andy Barker P.I. and an extended encore episode of My Name Is Earl from 8-11 p.m. 30 Rock will move into its new Thursday 9 p.m. slot April 12, followed by the last episode of Barker's midseason order.

The Scrubs episode originally scheduled in the 9 p.m. slot April 12 will air May 3 when the network will air two back-to-back episodes of the medical comedy.

Scrubs will take over its new Thursday 9:30 p.m. period April 19.

NBC.com plans to stream NBC's upcoming midseason primetime series The Black Donnellys, Andy Barker, P.I. and Raines, the network said Tuesday. In addition, the Web site will stream all produced episodes of Barker as well as the Raines pilot before their broadcast dates and will have bonus episodes of Donnellys and Barker as Web exclusives. The series Medium and Identity also will begin streaming in March, and the site will offer viewers the chance to get caught up on the full seasons of Heroes and Friday Night Lights by streaming all episodes in the spring.

Joe Mantegna, Miranda Otto and Aden Young have joined Debra Messing in the cast of USA Network's limited series The Starter Wife. Meanwhile, Clea Lewis has been tapped to co-star opposite Andy Richter on NBC's midseason comedy series Andy Barker, P.I. The six-hour Starter Wife, from NBC Universal Television Studio, centers on the quest of a divorced woman (Messing) to redefine herself after years of marriage to a Hollywood studio head. Mantegna will portray Lou, a studio executive and the boss to Messing's character's ex-husband. He also is one of the few people to remain friendly with her after her divorce. Otto will play Cricket, one of Messing's closest friends, but their relationship changes after the divorce. Young will portray Cricket's husband.

ABC got busy putting the pieces of its 2006-07 schedule together Wednesday, handing series orders to the dramas The Nine, Six Degrees and Day Break and comedies In Case of Emergency, Help Me Help You and Notes From the Underbelly. NBC, which will kick off the broadcast networks' upfront week Monday, was widely expected to make the bulk of its series pickups Wednesday but did not. Pilots that are expected to get a formal series greenlight today or Friday include the dramas Friday Night Lights, Heroes and Raines and the untitled Tina Fey comedy. The comedies 20 Good Years, Community Service and The Singles Table are understood to be in contention for the remaining NBC comedy slots. Sources said NBC is passing on Andy Barker, P.I., Conan O'Brien's single-camera gumshoe comedy starring Andy Richter, and the project will be shopped to Fox.

Writer-producer Larry Wilmore is moving in front of the camera with a co-starring role in CBS' untitled Port/Weisman comedy pilot. Meanwhile, Alicia Witt, who had been cast as the lead in Fox's comedy pilot More, Patience, has left the show. In other pilot castings, Matthew Glave has joined CBS' comedy pilot The Angriest Man in Suburbia, Amy Carlson is rounding out the cast of ABC's drama pilot Drift, Sam Page has come on board CBS' drama pilot Shark, and Ion Overman has been added to NBC's comedy pilot Andy Barker, P.I.