Messing makes move to 'Survival'

By JENNY HONTZ

Actress Debra Messing, who played Stacey on Fox's "Ned & Stacey" last season, has replaced Sherilyn Fenn as the female lead in ABC's midseason drama "Hungry for Survival," sources say.

The Warner Bros. production was one of two series originally ordered by ABC, which then rescinded the offer and later reordered it. Executive produced by Charlie Craig, it's a futuristic drama about aliens on earth who take human form.

Messing will play a scientist on the show, which may be renamed "Prey" before it debuts. Messing's previous credits include "McHale's Navy" and "A Walk in the Clouds." She's repped by Bob Gersh and Lindsay Porter at the Gersh Agency.