'Shield' star Johnson takes new 'Case'

Forest Whitaker and Kenneth Johnson, whose characters' fates on "The Shield" were intertwined last season, will each make the move to network TV this fall.

Whitaker, along with "Love, Inc." star Busy Philipps, will have a recurring part on NBC's long-running hospital drama "ER" in the coming season. Johnson, meanwhile, will appear in multiple episodes of "Cold Case," continuing a part he played in last season's finale.

Whitaker will appear in five episodes of "ER," starting in October, as a man who comes to County General with an apparently benign cough, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His condition goes south quickly, however, when he suffers a paralyzing stroke.

In addition to "ER," Whitaker will appear in at least the first two episodes of "The Shield's" next season as dogged/obsessed Internal Affairs Lt. Jon Kavanaugh. The FX series is due to return in early 2007.

Philipps, meanwhile, will play an intern whose on-the-job training isn't going so well. She starred in UPN's sitcom "Love, Inc." last season and was a regular on "Freaks and Geeks."

Johnson, whose "Shield" character, Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky, was murdered in last season's finale, will continue a role he originated in May's third-season finale. He'll be playing a love interest for the show's lead character, Detective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris).

In other casting news, "Brick" star Nora Zehetner will appear in multiple episodes of NBC's new drama "Heroes" as a struggling New York actress. Zehetner also had a recurring part on "Everwood," playing Coma Boy Colin's sister. At CBS, David Gallagher ("7th Heaven") will guest on two episodes of "Numb3rs," and Lisa Vidal ("The Division," "Third Watch") will have a recurring part as an FBI agent on the new series "Smith."