BUZZ: Duff's New "Legal" Series, "Grey's" Loses Character, Inauguration in Theaters, and more

FILM NEWS
• Hilary Duff has just signed on for the lead in NBC's upcoming comedy series "Barely Legal." It's based on the "true story of Kathleen Holtz, an 18-year-old who passed the notoriously difficult California bar in 2007 to become the state's youngest lawyer." I feel bad she couldn't hack it on the big-screen, but can she really pull in a steady amount of viewers every week during primetime? Even though she's getting a steady-gig, she'll soon start shooting The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. I pray to God they give the Clyde role to Zac Efron, just so they can maximize the ridiculousness of remaking the 1967 classic.

TV NEWS
• The ratings for the Golden Globes were low, but it's pretty hard to compete against both a "24" premiere and "Desperate Housewives."
• Melissa George, who plays Meredith's ex-best friend, is leaving "Grey's Anatomy" by choice. She films her last episode this week.
• Gregory Michel will play Calvin's closeted love interest on "Greek" this Spring.
• Shiri Appleby is slowly working her way back up to TV stardom after her 2002 starring role in The WB's "Roswell." The buzz for that series felt like it lasted more like 3 minutes than 3 years. Returning to her network home, now dubbed The CW, Appleby will co-star with Kristoffer Polaha ("Miss Guided" and "Valentine") and Kerr Smith (Jack on "Dawson's Creek") for the hour-long parenting dramedy "Light Years." It's about a couple (Appleby and Polaha) that gave up their daughter Lux (Brittany Robertson from "Swingtown" and Dan in Real Life) sixteen years ago after a one-night stand in high school, and how she intends on injecting herself back into their life, despite the fact that they don't talk anymore. Her slacker dad runs a bar and her mom co-runs a morning radio show with her boyfriend (Kerr). Sounds like it could be drama-filled with the right dialogue.
• MSNBC is putting several "news channel's inaugural coverage in 27 theaters around the country. Free tickets are being handed out via MSNBC.com to see the inauguration and parade from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET at the 27 theaters run by 11 exhibitor partners in 21 markets."