In further television casting news today, Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis have been confirmed for the CBS period drama based on Ralph Lamb, a 1960s rodeo cowboy turned Las Vegas sheriff. Quaid will star as Sheriff Ralph Lamb himself, while Chiklis will star as Johnny Savino, a Chicago mobster with visions of transforming Las Vegas for financial gain. Needless to say, the two characters don’t see eye to eye. Quaid and Chiklis will also be co-executive producers on the project for screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (American Gangster) and Without a Trace executive producer, Greg Walker. James Mangold (Walk the Line) will direct the pilot.

In other small screen casting news, comedienne Lily Tomlin has signed on to co-star in Reba McEntire’s new comedy pilot for ABC. Hit the jump to see who she’ll be playing.

CBS has put in orders for three wildly different dramas. Check out the details below:

• From Ilene Chaiken (The L Word) comes Quean, which follows a Lisbeth Salander-style hacker chick who assists an Oakland police detective in crime solving. Chaiken and Joel Silver will executive produce.
• Applebaum is based on Mommy-Track Mysteries, a book series by author Ayelet Waldman. The story follows an ex-public defender turned stay-at-home mom who becomes a private investigator to stave off boredom. Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) will direct the pilot and is among the executive producers.
• An untitled period piece from screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (American Gangster) and Without a Trace executive producer Greg Walker will follow a 1960s rodeo cowboy turned Las Vegas sheriff. James Mangold (Walk the Line) will direct the pilot for the series based on the true story of Ralph Lamb.

Also from the network, Homeland’s executive producer and pilot-director Michael Cuesta recently signed a seven-figure deal that was good from the time the ink dried until June 1st of next year. His next test will be directing the pilot titled Elementary for the network’s contemporary Sherlock Holmes series. Hit the jump for more.

We first heard about the possibility of a Goodfellas TV series in October of 2010, but since then, no more solid details have surfaced. Now some great news for those anticipating a TV adaptation of Martin Scorsese‘s classic mafia drama comes from Deadline who reveals that AMC is behind the development of the series with the film’s writer, Nicholas Pileggi, and producer Irwin Winkler, along with his son David Winkler, are executive producing the series along with writer/producer Jorge Zamacona (Homicide: Life on the Street).

The 1990 film chronicled the rise and fall of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) who got caught up in the sweet life of the mob without thinking about the repercussions. It’s not clear what the series adaptation will focus on, but with AMC at the helm of a period mob drama series, I’m hoping to see the mafia with some Mad Men flare. The question is whether or not the network could wrangle Martin Scorsese to at least direct the pilot and give the series a great launch. After all, he kicked off Boardwalk Empire off with a bang, and this could be just as exquisite.

Sharpen your knives, load your guns, and get your fuckin’ shinebox because more Goodfellas is on the way. While rumors regarding a television series based on the mobster classic have circulated the internet for a while now, nothing was ever set in stone. But now, Digital Spy reports the TV series has not only been confirmed, but that it is in the early planning stages, and that Goodfellas’ director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi are on board.

Said Pileggi: “I want to do it, Marty wants to do it, Warner Bros wants to do it. Of course, you can’t pick up from Goodfellas, since we murdered everybody, or rather, everybody was murdered! There’s nobody left. But I think we’re going to figure out a way to do the early years – sort of a prequel.” Hit the jump for more.

Maybe it’s a ripple from the splash of Boardwalk Empire.  Maybe series adaptations of hit films from the nineties are simply en vogue right now.  Maybe it’s even a good idea.  No matter the motivation, the powers that be are developing a television series based on the 1990 Martin Scorsese mob classic Goodfellas, co-written by Nicholas Pileggi.  According to Deadline, Pileggi will likely script “at least the pilot episode,” with producer Irwin Winkler expected to board the project as well.  It is unclear at this point whether Scorsese will participate in any capacity.  Hit the jump for the synopsis of the original film.