Photo Credit: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Back in March of 2011, Carlos Pelz, a former hairstylist of CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful,” filed a lawsuit against CBS Television, Bell-Phillip Television Productions and “B&B” senior supervisors Ron Weaver and Jody Lawrence-Miller, claiming defamation after learning of a March 2010 internal memo that cited him as “lazy, ambivalent, produced poor-quality work, was incompetent and was unfit to continue as ‘key’ hairstylist for the show,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Last week, Pelz lost his case after the overseeing judge dismissed his claims on summary judgment.

Pelz, who won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Drama Series in 2009 and 2010 for his work on the show, claimed “libel, emotional distress, anxiety, embarrassment, shame and humiliation” as grounds for the lawsuit. He added that his consecutive Emmy wins proved he produced quality work. Unfortunately, the judge did not agree and sided with CBS, which stated in its defense that the internal memo was privileged communication under a portion of California Civil Code (§47 c).

“Although Plaintiff presents evidence that multiple other employees thought highly of Plaintiff, this evidence does not undercut the testimony showing that Lawrence-Weaver was reasonable in relying on other sources of evidence showing that Plaintiff’s job performance was subpar,” the judge said in his ruling.

Photo Credit: YouTube

“This is a victory for California employers, who should not be deterred by the threat of defamation lawsuits from criticizing employees’ performance if they have a reasonable basis for doing so,” said Jeremiah Reynolds, one of the lawyers representing the defendants, in a statement.

Pelz worked at “The Bold and the Beautiful” for 22-years as a hairstylist (1988-2010), according to his IMDb page.

Earlier this year, CBS won another case brought against “The Bold and the Beautiful” when New York’s infamous “The Naked Cowboy” claimed the show infringed on his trademarked brand after featuring the character Oliver Jones (Zack Conroy) in a pair of briefs and a cowboy hat, while playing the guitar, in scenes that aired in 2010.

John P. Iblis/JPI

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — While many fans are sure to be mourning the loss of Chad Michael Murray (ex-Lucas Scott) and Hilarie Burton (ex-Peyton Sawyer Scott), “One Tree Hill” is not about to let them go without a fight.

Best known for his roles on MyNetworkTV’s “Fashion House” and NBC’s “Lipstick Jungle,” Robert Buckley has signed on as a series regular beginning this fall when “Tree Hill” returns for its seventh season on the The CW.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Buckley will be portraying the role of Clayton – “a brash young sports agent who represents Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) and has become a close friend, ally, business partner and advisor to him while also enjoying the spoils that come from being a wealthy, handsome single guy.” Originally, the role of Clayton was meant for Brian Austin Green (ex-David Silver, “Beverly Hills, 90210″), but a deal could not be hashed out with the actor.

It is being reported that the show will once again jump ahead into the future to advance storylines, this time by one year. In addition to his work on “House” and “Jungle,” Buckley has also made guest appearances on “Ghost Whisper” and on the CW’s “Privileged.” In 2008, he starred in “Flirting with Forty” along-side soap vixen Heather Locklear (“Melrose Place” and “Dynasty”).

“One Tree Hill” airs Mondays at 9:00 ET/PT on The CW. Check local listings.

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “Days of our Lives” may be a sinking ship, but that won’t stop Darin Brooks (Max Brady) from expanding his horizons.

Brooks has signed on to star alongside former NFL running back-turned-actor Ed Marinaro (“Sisters,” “Hill Street Blues“) in the SpikeTV comedy pilot “Blue Mountain State” from Lionsgate Television and Varsity Pictures, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

While still in the pilot stage, “Mountain” is a scripted series surrounding three college freshman who join the Midwestern college football team of Blue Mountain State University, and must adapt to college life while juggling football, girls, classes and hazing rituals. Brooks will play Alex, a talented quarterback content with riding on the bench, while enjoying college parties. The pilot was written by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer (“The Sarah Silverman Program”). Romano will play Sammy, Alex’s best friend,  who aspires to be the school’s mascot.

The potential series will also stars Sam Jones III (“ER“) as Craig, a top recruit and future pro footballer, whose life is already mapped out by his controlling girlfriend, Denise (played by Gabrielle Dennis, “The Game“). Alan Ritchson (“Smallville”) will portray Thad, a senior on the football team who loves hazing incoming freshman.

Brian Robbins serves as the potential series’ executive producer.

At this time, it is still unclear as to whether “Blue Mountain State” will interfere with Brooks’ “DAYS” obligations if it receives a full series commitment from SpikeTV.

“Days of our Lives” airs Weekdays on NBC. Weeknights on SOAPnet. Anytime on iTunes. Check local listings.

Photo Credit: Chris Haston/NBC

CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Television stunned the television industry in late January, when they decided to merge their UPN and WB Television Networks to create a new and improved network called The CW in September. Now, they have stunned the industry yet again with the hiring of former “Passions” star, Justin Hartley (ex-Fox Crane) in the new untitled “Aquaman” project. Hartley replaces Will Toale.”Will is a talented actor with a promising career and we hope to work with him in the future,” a CW spokesman said. “We have made the decision to go in a different direction with the ‘Aquaman’ role and wish him the best of luck in all of his endeavors.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the people from the UPN side of the CW began taking a look at the WB’s pilot development prospects. Additionally, President and CEO of CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves, known for his interest and savvy in pilot casting decisions, weighed in on the matter and recommended that they seek a new star, though Toale was still said to be in the running to keep the role as of last week.

Joining Hartley will be Ving Rhames as McCaffery and Denise Quinones as Rachel Starling.

“Aquaman,” a high-profile series in development at the WB before the CW announcement becomes one of few series from the soon-to-be defunct weblets (UPN/WB), that has a chance of landing on the CW. The series takes a modern day look at the DC Comics character.

Hartley is married to “Passions” actress Lindsay Hartley (Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald) and the two have a daughter named Isabella.

A newcomer to the entertainment industry, Hartley joined “Passions” in 2002 as the entitled Fox Crane, who could do everything wrong and get punished for it, as long as he didn’t involve the precious Ethan Crane (played by Eric Martsolf).

“Smallville” executive producers/showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough penned the script and are executive producing the pilot with Greg Beeman, who is on board to direct.

The untitled project will find out if it made the cut in the CW’s fall lineup in May during the CW’s presentation of their fall 2006-07 schedule to advertisers and reporters in New York City.