Royal Pains

Heeeeey, nice piece of casting news...

Already a hit after one season on USA, Royal Pains has added a familiar name to its cast: former Happy Days star Henry Winkler.

The veteran actor will play Eddie Larson, the absentee father of main characters Hank and Evan. Eddie will try to re-enter his sons' lives. For what reason? You'll have to tune in this summer and find out.

Winkler most recently guest-starred on three episodes of NUMB3RS. He also played the hilarious role of the Bluth family lawyer on Arrested Development.

Tonight marks the finale of an extraordinarily successful first season of Royal Pains.

The USA hit has already been renewed for a second season, likely to air in the summer of 2010. What's on tap for it?

"I'm calling it 'the endless summer,'" executive producer Michael Rauch told TV Guide of his plan for the season two to commence immediately following the events of tonight's episode.

According to star Mark Feuerstein, a long break in the action would raise inquiries the series might not even want to answer.

"There are so many elements that are time-sensitive," he said. "What would Boris' health situation be nine months later? Where would Jill or Evan be nine months later?"

As for Reshma Shetty, she has plans of her own for Divya.

"The focus of this season is to get HankMed going, make money and hide the secret from her parents," she said. "Until all that is sorted out, how can she just be herself? Hopefully, that'll all happen and she'll have an affair with a billionaire who lives off the coast of the Seychelles."

The two biggest shows on the USA network aren't going anywhere for awhile.

Burn Notice and Royal Pains have both been renewed for additional seasons, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The pickups aren't a surprise. Each show has put sizzling numbers over the last few weeks: In recent airings, Burn Notice earned 7.3 million total viewers, while first-year hit Royal Pains drew an equally powerful 7.1 million.

The Thursday duo helped USA finish first in the second-quarter ratings race, as it became as the most-watched cable network of July.

Will Divya and Evan hook up on Royal Pains?

As viewers yearn for the answer to this question, show star Paulo Constanzo won't reveal much about his character relationship with Divya (Reshma Shetty, pictured).

"There's definitely some tension. There's definitely something going on," Constanzo told E! News.

Regarding Evan's upcoming problems, the actor said: "Evan has a sordid past, and we're going to figure out what it is as the season unfolds."

Through a handful of early episodes, Royal Pains is dominating its Thursday night timeslot on USA. A second season of this series seems inevitable.

Royal Pains is set to welcome a beauty and a dramatic actor.

On the July 30 episodes of the USA series, Brooklyn Decker and House star Peter Jacobson will portray a pair of mismatched newlyweds.

Decker (who married tennis player Andy Roddick earlier this year) plays swimsuit model Rachel, while Jacobson is her new husband Alan.

A quick storyline synopsis of the episode: As Alan's allergies threaten to turn the couple's honeymoon into a nightmare, Hank comes to the rescue! But this won't be the easiest case of Hank's career.

What's to come on Royal Pains?

Let's find out, courtesy of actress Christine Ebersole (pictured). The woman that plays Hank's eccentric client, Ms. Newberg, dishses to E! News about her favorite storyline coming up in July.

"I give a Bark Mitzvah to my dog. The dogs are so cute in their little yarmulkes! Hundreds of people sit poolside. The rabbi reads from the Torah, and all the guests end up ill."

In other words: Hank to the rescue!

Previously, Hank's physician assistant, Divya (Reshma Shetty) has been reduced to little more than comic relief on USA's Royal Pains.

Now according to Ausiello Files, in an upcoming episode of Pains, Divya will be promoted to a key plot point when she gets in a car wreck.

After the wreck, Hank (Mark Feurstein) is forced to both save her medically and stop her from getting into a fight with the other driver.

On Royal Pains, Mark Feuerstein plays surgeon Hank Lawson.

With its 75-minute premiere airing tonight on USA, Feuerstein has his first opportunity to anchor a series. 

He spoke to TV Guide.com about a number of topics. Here are few highlights from the interview:

What drew you to this part?
A script comes across my desk where I get to be a romantic, dramatic and comedic lead, and it's a dream. Yeah, I could hold out for the scary-villain part on Heroes, but in the long run it might not be as interesting as being the lead on a show set in a world that I know and love from growing up in New York, written by incredible writers and with incredible castmates. You couldn't pass up an incredible opportunity like that unless you had much bigger fish to fry, and I didn't and I'm very thankful I didn't.

What happens to Hank this season?
Feuerstein: Most of the patients will just be around for one episode, but some will recur. Christine Ebersole's character, for example, will return, and we'll meet her staff. The character of Tucker [a rich kid who crashes his dad's Ferrari] has a great episode coming up where his story continues. Tucker is the one character who lets us know that all rich people aren't a--holes.

Starring Mark Feuerstein (The West Wing) and Paulo Costanzo (Road Trip), Royal Pains premieres next week on USA.

The show is based around a doctor that gets blackballed by the hospital community and ends up working as the MacGyver of the medical world in the Hamptons. It debuts on June 4.

Watch an extended preview for Royal Pains below: