BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The Dancing With the Stars franchise is growing.

ABC president of entertainment Steve McPherson said yesterday that a new series, tentatively called Dance Acts, is in the works.

"We're working on it now, and it's on-air in the U.K.," McPherson said. "Dance Acts is a working title.

"The judges have teams of dancers and the teams compete against each other and eliminate each other."

Dancing With the Stars, of course, has become one of the most popular reality shows on North American TV.

In other ABC developments from the Television Critics Association tour:

* Dana Delany and Nathan Fillion have been added as recurring characters on Desperate Housewives.

* Danny Glover is joining the cast of Brothers & Sisters.

* Following a season in which most of the characters on Grey's Anatomy dealt with life-altering personal issues, there will be a little less of that next season, according to McPherson.

* McPherson said the decision to set a definite timeline for the conclusion of serialized drama Lost (three seasons hence, in 2010) was tied directly to a desire to have creator Damon Lindelof on board for the entire run of the series.

* McPherson indicated that, given the proliferation of reality programs this summer, he is thinking next summer may be the time to launch some new scripted shows, as long as they can be done in a cost-efficient way.

* McPherson expressed puzzlement that the ABC reality show Shaq's Big Challenge has been a flop. The show has NBA star Shaquille O'Neal helping obese children lose weight. "Maybe the subject matter is too serious," McPherson said. "It's just frustrating."

* The pilot for the new show Cavemen -- based on characters in a string of Geico commercials (talk about the American dream!) -- essentially is being re-shot. What a shocker.