Now that he's our new "Sulu," he is prominent on the Star Trek radar and entitled to special call-outs for his other projects. John Cho, who only last week was added to the cast of the new J.J. Abrams movie (related story), is going to be on Ugly Betty tomorrow night — Thursday, Oct. 18 — in the first of at least two episodes. He will play a character named "Kenny," a friend of Henry Grubstick (Christopher Gorham). He will also be in next week's episode, on October 25. The one-hour comedy-drama airs on ABC Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7:00 Central).

Cho also recently appeared in the Brad Garrett sitcom 'Til Death, and recently completed filming of "Harold & Kumar 2," the sequel to the cult slacker hit "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" which made him famous. That sequel is slated for release sometime in 2008.

Fuller's Daisies, McNeill's Samantha & Park's Club Debut Strong

In other TV news involving Star Trek personalities, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who? and Women's Murder Club are new shows that seem to be doing very well in the ratings. Created by former Star Trek: Voyager writer/producer Bryan Fuller, the highly touted Daisies has won its timeslot in its first two Wednesday-night outings, and ranked as the #15 show of the week in its premiere. According to Daily Variety, the whimsical procedural "became the top-rated Wednesday premiere in the hour on any net since Lost bowed there in 2004." In its second week the show's ratings dropped about 16% overall, yet retained 100% of its 18-34 audience and won its timeslot in key demographics. Daisies airs its third episode tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC (as we always say, check your local listings!).

The pilot of Samantha Who? — directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and co-starring Tim Russ — also came in strong this past Monday night, though it had a lot of help from a lead-in by Dancing with the Stars. It mainly dominated in female demos (while the males no doubt were watching Heroes with Nichelle Nichols and Zachary Quinto), actually building on that audience from Dancing. "Future weeks will show if Samantha has what it takes to become (ABC's) first half-hour comedy hit in years, but it did open better than the other comedies to launch behind Dancing the last two seasons," states Daily Variety. Samantha airs Monday nights on ABC at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Premiering last Friday also on ABC was Women's Murder Club with Linda Park in the principal cast, and that debut won its timeslot on an otherwise weak night for the network. Women's airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Langella Stars in Matheson Story

Frank Langella, who played the Bajoran "Minister Jaro" in three episodes of Deep Space Nine, has been cast to star in "The Box," which is based on a story by Richard Matheson, the author of the Original Series episode "The Enemy Within."

He will co-star with Cameron Diaz. "Langella will play a stranger who presents a mysterious box to a woman," states Daily Variety. "She's told certain things will happen depending on which buttons she presses." The script is based on Matheson's short story "Button, Button."

The movie will begin shooting in mid-November, after Langella wraps the film version of "Frost/Nixon" under the direction of Ron Howard. In that movie Langella reprises the role of Richard Nixon for which he won a Tony Award on Broadway.

Logan to Write "Empire"

In other movie news, John Logan, the screenwriter for "Star Trek Nemesis," continues to get more high-profile work. He will write a starring vehicle for Will Smith titled "Empire," to be directed by Michael Mann. According to Variety, Smith will play a contemporary global media mogul, but other than that no plot details are known. No word yet on production start date or planned release date of the Columbia Pictures film.

Logan's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" directed by Tim Burton is scheduled for initial release in December, in time to qualify for next year's Academy Awards.

Showbiz Briefs: Begley, Dunst, Williams

Ed Begley Jr. ("Henry Starling") is part of the cast of "Recount," an HBO film which chronicles the true story of the turbulent events in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Begley plays litigator David Boies, who became the top lawyer for the Al Gore campaign during the recount, and argued for him in front of the Supreme Court. The film is shooting right now in Florida, targeting a 2008 premiere on HBO (whether it will air before or after the November elections is unclear).

Begley's HGTV reality show Living with Ed has recently been nominated for the Environmental Media Awards, which recognize film and television productions and individuals that increase public awareness of environmental issues and inspire personal action on these issues. Also nominated is Boston Legal starring William Shatner.

Kirsten Dunst ("Hedril") has been cast as Blondie singer Deborah Harry in a biographical movie about the '80s icon. According to IMDB.com, there were initial reports that Harry was unhappy with the idea of Dunst playing her, but she has spoken out and given the actress her personal blessing. Harry said Dunst is "a really sweet person. I've met with her a couple of times and hung out with her socially. She's just a sweetie. She's probably capable of a lot of things she hasn't been asked to do yet, and doing something that's sort of left of center would be great for her."

IMDb.com is also reporting that Vanessa Williams ("Arandis") has signed a $20 million deal to front a cosmetics company. The actress, currently best known for Ugly Betty, will endorse products for skin care giant Proactiv, and also will be developing a cosmetics line of her own for the company.