A number of high-profile actors have jumped into the pilot game, with Stanley Tucci starring in a private-eye drama for CBS, Felicity Huffman signing to an ABC drama and Michael Madsen headed to "Hawaii" for NBC.

Kristoffer Polaha, D.B. Sweeney and Lisa Darr have also signed on to pilot projects.

Tucci will star in "The Webster Report," a drama about an unconventional private investigator, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His casting removes a cast contingency on CBS' order of the pilot, which comes from Warner Bros. TV, 25C Productions and CBS Productions.

Tucci is a three-time Emmy nominee and won the award for best actor in a TV movie in 1999 for the HBO film "Winchell." His last regular role on a network series was ABC's "Murder One" in 1995-96. He'll next appear in the Steven Spielberg film "The Terminal" and the romantic comedy "Shall We Dance?"

Professional tough guy Madsen ("Reservoir Dogs," "Kill Bill") has joined the cast of NBC's "Hawaii," which also includes "ER's" Sharif Atkins. (The show was formerly titled "Pearl City," then "Hawaii Blue.") He'll play a veteran detective and devoted father in the ensemble drama.

Former "Sports Night" star Huffman, who has a recurring role on "Frasier," will play one of a group of "Desperate Housewives" for ABC. The drama, laced with dark humor, centers on four neighbors and their secret lives in a faceless suburb.

Huffman recently starred in Showtime's "Out of Order" and will also appear in ABC's limited-run series "The D.A." this spring.

Also at ABC, Sweeney ("Once and Again") and Darr ("Popular") will play parents in "Doing It," based on a controversial British novel about the sexual escapades of three teenage boys.

Finally, Polaha ("America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story") has taken a role in FOX's drama "Oahu." He'll play the manager of a Hawaiian hotel in the drama, which examines the relationship between staff members and hotel guests.