Exclusive: Ryan Devlin moves back to 'Cougar Town'

Image Credit: Randy Holmes/ABCWilliam Shatner’s loss is Busy Philipps’ gain.

Rising star Ryan Devlin, who recently lost his job as Shatner’s titular son on CBS’ laugh-challenged new fall sitcom $#*! My Dad Says, is poised to rejoin ABC’s Cougar Town this fall for multiple episodes, sources confirm to me exclusively.

Last week at press tour, exec producer Bill Lawrence strongly hinted in an interview with EW.com that Devlin would reprise his role as Smith, newbie lawyer and love interest to Philipps’ Laurie.

“We went into this year prepping for Ryan to be on [$#*!],” Lawrence told us, “so now we’re in the middle of trying to decide what we’re going to do. I enjoy him, so I think I want him to still be in our world. But I don’t know if [Laurie’s] going to be [tied down] the whole year.” (Additional reporting by Vlada Gelman)