Napoleon Dynamite Has Eaten His Last Tater Tot

Well, at least Jon Heder will no longer be on a TV show. Also today: new pilot roles from an old friend in the military and that stoner guy, a zombie series gets our hearts aflutter, and theater news.

Hmm. Trouble in Mormon paradise? (Provo?) Napoleon Dynamite professional mumbler Jon Heder was all set to start filming a new Comedy Central sitcom, but then abruptly dropped out. Both camps are citing that age-old menace "creative differences." My mean theory? Comedy Central finally realized, about six years too late, that Jon Heder cannot, in fact, act. Hopefully the show will find a new lead, as both Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell are attached to costar, and they are fun. [EW]

Oh, remember David James Elliott? He used to be on that Friday-night-special series JAG, a Navy crimes series that gave birth to the hideous croaking mutant baby that is NCIS and its partially absorbed, festering twin NCIS: LA. Well he's just joined a pilot called Scoundrels, about a family of criminals run by a steely matriarch, Virginia Madsen. JAG. Ran for ten seasons and I never saw an episode of JAG. JAG. It's fun to say. JAG [THR]

A publishing company with a movie division called Hannover House has picked up distribution rights to Happythankyoumoreplease, the directorial debut of How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor. The movie won the Audience Award at Sundance, so it must be good! Though, Hannover House also bought the distrib rights to Joel Schumacher's Chace Crawford vehicle Twelve, hailed by some as the worst movie at Sundance, so who knows. [Variety]

Whoo Hoooo! I mean, Mooooaaaaan. Walking Dead, a TV pilot based on the popular comics, has been given a six episode order from AMC. Zombie TV show! Zombie TV show! Plus, something I didn't know before: Frank Darabont wrote and directed the pilot. So basically it will be wonderful. And terrifying. After seeing the Dawn of the Dead remake in theaters and reading Ultimate Zombie Survival Guide, I basically lived in mortal terror of zombies for about four months. Can't wait to do that to myself again. [THR]

Tyler Labine, television's few-years-too-late answer to Jack Black, has joined the cast of a new pilot called True Love. Strange, considering his new show Sons of Tuscon just debuted on Fox. Basically if that show gets canceled (it might), True Love will take center stage. The show stars Jason Biggs (yes, him!) as a guy in a committed relationship who meets Minka Kelly and falls in love. And, I mean, come on. Nobody could meet Minka Kelly and not fall in love. Labine would play the wiseass best friend character, who was originally to be played by Dan Fogler. So basically the producers were looking for pudgy wiseacres. A brand new trope! [THR]

Contrary to popular internet rumor, Conan O'Brien will not be hosting the Tonys. And that, my friends, is the first and only time you will see the words "popular" and "Tonys" in the same sentence. [EW]

Oh fun. SNL vet Rachel Dratch will be playing a dog in a production of A.R. Gurney's play Sylvia. It starts tonight! In New Jersey. [Playbill]