Brooke Shields To Join Lifetime's 'Army Wives' And More Casting News

Brooke Shields will join Lifetime's "Army Wives" for Season 7, the network announced Thursday.

She'll star alongside other new faces for the upcoming season, including Ashanti, Torrey DeVitto and Elle McLemore, while former series regular Kim Delaney will depart the show.

According to the Lifetime release, Shields will portray brash and brilliant Air Force Colonel Katherine “Kat” Young. A crack C-17 pilot who can hold her own in the boys club atmosphere of the military, she’s hardly touched down in her new assignment at Joint Base Marshall Bring before she clashes with Army General Michael Holden (Brian McNamara). Never one to step away from a fight, Kat is a fierce advocate for the Air Force as she and Holden jockey for their respective branches at the highest levels of power on base. Only after their initial skirmishes does Holden learn of Kat’s tragic past, discovering they have more in common than he thought.

"Army Wives" returns on Sunday, March 10 at 9 p.m. EST.

In other casting news ...

"Brothers and Sisters" star to visit "Once Upon a Time." John Pyper-Ferguson will guest-star as Ben, a “widower who wants nothing more than to help his young son heal from the loss of his mother.” [EW]

NBC's "The Gates" scores two more stars. The comedy -- set at the gates of an elementary school at pick-up/drop-off time -- will star Ken Marino and Aasif Mandvi as very different dads. Marino will play Mark "a lovable sweet and well-meaning puppy dog of a guy" while Mandvi will portray Trevor, "a Yale-educated lawyer described as a driven 'superdad." [The Hollywood Reporter]

"Magnum P.I." vet guests on "Hawaii Five-0." Larry Manetti will play a nightclub owner (and former protégé of Frank Sinatra) who assists Danno and McGarrett with a case. [TV Guide]

Steve Carell confirms he won't return to "The Office."The star admitted that he thought it "didn't make sense" for the character of Michael Scott to return, considering he already got to close out his arc. [Access Hollywood]