Who Could Replace Jane Lynch on Party Down?

Producers are looking for a new series regular to replace the departed Glee star

As we have previously reported, Jane Lynch will not be back as Constance Carmell on Starz's Party Down next season. When we talked about that sad news with costar Ryan Hansen last month, he told us his reaction to the news: "Kill me now. I love Jane Lynch so much."

We fans have had just about the same reaction, but after our grieving is over, the show must go on.

When Lynch departed Party Down late in the first season to fulfill her obligations to Fox's Glee, her place in the show was picked up by Jennifer Coolidge, who played Constance's delightfully daffy roommate, Bobbie St. Brown. Sources tell us that Jennifer's guest gig was "probably a one-time thing" although you "never know."

So how will the show cope with Jane's absence in season two? We've got the scoop on producers' plans. Here's what we know about possible replacement:

Producers just released a casting call for a new series regular by the name of Lydia. Party Down casting directors want to find someone who is (a) any ethnicity but white and (b) at least 38 years old.

The character of Lydia is described as "a recently divorced stage mom who has moved out to L.A. from a small town with her daughter and is very upbeat and optimistic about breaking her daughter into the industry. As a newly single woman adrift in the big city, her thoughts are never far from the matter of reeling in a new man, but things never seem to work out. Her constant love troubles never get her down, it just means more to talk about with her Party Down colleagues..."

Is it just us, or does that sound like exactly the kind of ersatz elder stateswoman who could step into Jane Lynch's demented grownup shoes on Party Down?