Beth Behrs Cast as Max Greenfield's Wife in CBS' The Neighborhood, Replacing Dreama Walker

June 11th, 2:30pm June 11th, 2:36pm

Michael AusielloA born couch potato, Michael Ausiello’s earliest memories are rectangular in shape, and, in fact, when he gets bored with one recollection, he reaches for the remote control and switches to another. Papa Smurf, J.R. Ewing, Flame Beaufort (if you have to ask, be ashamed… very ashamed).… These are the personalities that shaped his young mind into what it is today: a steel trap, slightly rusty, but overflowing with knowledge of the tube — some of it practical; some… eh, not so much. From the beginning, Mike dreamed of making a living in the business by which he lived and died. But how? Dammit, how?! He tried acting, turning in a performance as Sandy in a Robert Gordon Elementary School production of Annie that was so convincing, he got fleas. He tried playing an instrument, rocking out on the clarinet as a member of the University of Southern California’s iconic Trojan Marching Band. But neither of those hats fit him quite as well as that of editor. Upon graduating from USC, Mike gave up working as the TV critic/columnist for USC’s Daily Trojan newspaper and began riding the elevator to success. First he labored alongside John Tesh and Mary Hart (well, they were in the same building, at least) as a media relations coordinator for Entertainment Tonight. Next, he so thoroughly schmoozed impressed the editors of Soap Opera Update that they had no choice but to give him a freelancing gig. He then was added to the staff of Update’s sister publication, Soaps In Depth. At In Depth, Mike interviewed all of daytime television’s greats, from Susan Lucci to Cynthia Watros to Vanessa Marcil. But soon, he was hungry for more. (Actually, since between high school and college he lost enough weight to equal any Gilmore Girl, he might have just been hungry period.) So in 1999, when he was invited to come aboard at TV Guide, he leapt at the opportunity, looking back only long enough to make sure he hadn’t left any Diet Raspberry Snapple in his wake. Keri and Cheri, Mariska and Piggy…. In no time, Mike was on a first-name basis with their publicists’ secretaries. Quickly realizing that they had a diva in the making star on the rise, Mike’s new bosses added to his responsibilities almost hourly: Before long, not only was he handling TVGuide.com’s news every day, editing the site’s Insiders and churning out one Ask Ausiello after another, but he was filing a weekly column for the magazine and writing the occasional feature and cover story. In July 2008, after eight years at TV Guide, Michael jumped to Entertainment Weekly, where he penned a weekly column in the magazine as well as an award-winning blog on EW.com (both titled The Ausiello Files). His signature Ask Ausiello column continued to be a must-read for TV fans and spoilerwhores alike, and his bi-weekly scoop series, Ausiello TV, was an instant smash according to him. When he’s not working his moles to scoop his competition and bring his ever-growing fan base — more than 1 million Twitter followers included — the latest news as Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TVLine.com, Michael can be found thinking deep thoughts, coveting other journalists’ swag and hanging out with his four-legged friends at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in Upstate New York.

Casting News

CBS is making another major change to The Neighborhood, tapping 2 Broke Girls‘ Beth Behrs to replace Dreama Walker as the sitcom’s new female lead, TVLine has learned. The recasting comes roughly a month after New Girl‘s Max Greenfield was hired to succeed Josh Lawson (House of Lies) as the male co-lead (opposite Cedric the Entertainer). 

The decision to revamp the husband-and-wife characters now played by Greenfied and Behrs was made for creative reasons. CBS scooped up Behrs after her Fox comedy pilot, Our People, failed to snag a series order last month.

In The Neighborhood, Greenfield’s Dave and Behrs’ Gemma decide to move their family into a tough neighborhood in L.A. where not everyone appreciates their extreme neighborliness. The comedy hails from Jim Reynolds (The Big Bang Theory), who will exec-produce along with Cedric and James Burrows (Will & Grace). Burrows also directed the pilot. (Watch the trailer for the soon-to-be-reshot pilot here.)

The Neighborhood will air Mondays at 8/7c on CBS.