The CW pilot Hellcats, produced by Tom Welling, now has cast its lead actress as well as another role.

Aly Michalka (Phil of the Future) plays a “college girl from the wrong side of the tracks” who loses her scholarship due to budget cutbacks and her mother’s continuous irresponsibility. Her mother will be played by Gail O’Grady (NYPD Blue, Hidden Palms).

The pilot, which will be directed by Allan Arkush and feature many Smallville folks in the behind-the-scenes crew, starts shooting in April, soon after Smallville wraps for the season.

Allan Arkush (Heroes) will be directing the pilot episode of Hellcats, the new CW cheerleading pilot which is produced by Tom Welling.

The pilot will be shooting in mid-April, a few weeks after filming for Smallville Season 9 has wrapped.

Many people have sent in messages wondering when some casting news will come in regarding The CW’s pilots Betwixt or the Tom Welling-produced Hellcats. So far, the only real announcements for the CW have come for The Wyoming Project and Nikita.

As soon as some casting news is known it will be posted here. It is to be assumed that they’re just waiting to get the right casts for these projects. Note the Hayden Panettiere-produced HMS also hasn’t had anything announced as of yet.

Anonymous tips are always welcome here.

“TV MoJoe” (Josef Adalian) has posted that the CW has given the greenlight to three projects.

One is the newly-titled Hellcats, the TV series based on the novel Cheer, which will be produced by Smallville’s Tom Welling. Another is the Harvard Medical School project, HMS, produced by Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere. Both Hellcats and HMS will have shorter presentation pilots done only, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Finally, there’s Betwixt (based on the novel of the same name), where “changelings in an urban setting are responsible for saving humans from evil.” A full pilot for Betwixt will be shot.

The CW will announce their full Fall schedules – including details on which projects are actually picked up – in May. Already on the list of pilots have been the network’s La Femme Nikita update and Amy Sherman-Palladino’s The Wyoming Project.

Source: TV MoJoe