TV Bites: Nathan Lane Joins the Family

Also in this morning's TV Bites: Fox invents an awards show... Law & Order: Los Angeles adds some ladies... a Cosby kid gets a new pilot... and more ahead.

· During the TCA session for Modern Family on Sunday, ABC announced that Nathan Lane would be making an appearance on season two of the hit series as Pepper, "the ultraflamboyant friend of [gay couple] Cam and Mitchell." Apparently Lane is a fan of the show, and like Edward Norton before him, asked to be a guest star. [Vulture]

· Fox has come up with a fool-proof plan to get the kids from Glee and Taylor Swift in the same room together. They've created an awards show! The network will launch the American Country Awards on Dec. 6, live from Las Vegas. [THR]

· Regina Hall and Wanda De Jesus have been added to Law & Order: Los Angeles, which is nice since it means the new series won't be devoid of any females. Hall will play a deputy district attorney, while De Jesus will tackles the role of police captain. [Deadline]

· Let's hear it for Malcolm-Jamal Warner! The erstwhile Theo Huxtable has been cast in the BET comedy pilot Reed Between the Lines, where he'll play the husband to a psychiatrist named Dr. Carla Reed. Oh! Reed Between the Lines. Now it makes sense. Expect similarly complex jokes in the pilot. [Deadine]

· Thanks to an endorsement from Justin Bieber, the MTV sitcom The Hard Times of RJ Berger has been renewed for a second season. Once the Biebs told his fans that he was watching the series, ratings spiked. If he could only tell them to watch Community. [TV Guide]