Hey All,
Another week has started and, if I’m not mistaken, today is the first official day of summer. I hope whatever plans you have for the summer or just for this week will be enjoyable. In the meantime, let’s get into the entertainment news for today:
TELEVISION
Richard Dean Anderson will guest star on the upcoming USA Network series Facing Kate, appearing in at least five episodes. The series stars Sarah Shahi (Life) as Kate Reed, a top-flight litigator who leaves her firm to become a mediator. Anderson will play David Smith, a charismatic but secretive man who enters Kate’s life shortly after the death of her father. In short order, it is revealed that David has deeper connections to the Reed family. (Fancast.com)
Matthew Lillard (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and Gillian Vigman (Defenders) have landed the leads in the CMT single-camera comedy pilot The Hard Life. Lillard and Vigman will play a married couple who attempt to be great parents and spouses but who find it difficult to juggle everything in their lives. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)
International pop star Charice has signed on to recur next season on Glee as a foreign exchange student whose killer vocals get Rachel (Lea Michele) contemplating murder. Not literally, mind you. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)
No big surprise here: HBO picks up True Blood for a fourth season. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)
Four new characters (not including incoming diva Vanessa Williams) will be added to Desperate Housewives this fall. The quartet includes: Maxine: A sweet lady in the 60-80 year-old age range. Maxine is Mike and Susan’s new neighbor in their apartment building, and she has an unusual job that brings in some additional income. Beth: This quirky, sweet thirtysomething woman was Paul Young’s prison pen pal-cum-wife. She’s damaged emotionally but also capable of humor. Penny Scavo: Tom and Lynette’s 12-year-old daughter is being recast. Not sure why. Keith: Hot, sexy, 30-year-old contractor. He’s a charming playboy who turns up on Wisteria Lane. Think Mike Delfino 15 years ago. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous), Shanna Collins (Swingtown), and Caitlin Custer have joined the cast of the HBO made-for-TV movie Cinema Verte, based on the groundbreaking 1970s reality series An American Family, which stars Tim Robbins, Diane Lane, James Gandolfini, and Thomas Dekker. Elsewhere, Alex Wolff (The Naked Brothers Band) has signed on for a multiple-episode story arc on HBO’s In Treatment, where he will play the son of Gabriel Byrne’s Paul. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)
MOVIES
Simon Pegg revealed he is the new voice behind the brave pint-sized mouse warrior Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He is replacing Bill Nighy who was announced as a replacement for Eddie Izzard (who voiced the character in Prince Caspian). (First Showing)
Linda Cardellini, Michael Shannon and Tim Blake Nelson will star in the indie drama Return, which tells the story of a woman (Cardellini) who returns home from war to her husband (Shannon) and kids in a small town and struggles to readjust. Nelson will play an older war vet who befriends the female soldier. (First Showing and Variety)
Bruce Dern has joined the movie adaptation of The Big Valley, the 1960’s western TV series of the same name which followed a family of ranchers. (First Showing and Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Disney has lined up 10 young actors and actresses (mostly unknowns) for the ensemble cast of Prom, a high school comedy which the studio hopes will serve as a launch for a new franchise much like High School Musical. The movie is said to be similar in tone to John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. (First Showing and Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Walton Goggins (Justified) has landed a role in Cowboys & Aliens where Apache Indians and Western settlers must put their differences aside when a spaceship crash lands in their city. The cast includes Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano and Clancy Brown. (First Showing and Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Michael Shannon and Jamie Chung have joined the cast of the thriller Premium Rush, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a New York bike messenger who picks up an envelope at Columbia University, and suddenly finds himself chased throughout the city by a dirty cop desperate to get his hands on it. Shannon will be playing the corrupt cop in pursuit while Chung will play Gordon-Levitt’s ex-girlfriend, a fellow daredevil bike messenger who helps him outwit the cop. (First Showing and The Hollywood Reporter)
MOVIE TRAILERS
Stuart Beattie’s Tomorrow: When the War Began Full Trailer
http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/06/18/full-trailer-for-stuart-beatties-tomorrow-when-the-war-began/
International Trailer for Julia Roberts’ Drama ‘Eat Pray Love’
Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush from TV Guide)
Question: As a longtime fan of intelligent and complex sci-fi on TV, I have been disheartened to see so little interest by producers or writers in the genre. With the success of the whole Star Trek group, Farscape, and, lately, Battlestar Galactica, I would think that the mainstream networks (plus show developers) would be motivated to put together something that stimulates as well as entertains. Of the current series available on TV, Eureka is pretty good to better than good, Sanctuary is way too uneven, Stargate Universe is bleak & boring, and V is cartoon sci-fi. That’s a pretty thin menu. Do you see any indicators that someone/anyone is working on more sci-fi for those with brains and imaginations? Finally, I hope and pray that Joss Whedon cranks up his creative mojo real soon. I miss his quality of work. — Jan
Matt Roush: Sci-fi traditionally is a tough sell for the mainstream networks, especially of the darker and meatier variety. Launching shows in this genre is an expensive and risky proposition, and as you’ll see when you sample most of this fall’s new output, risk isn’t what the networks are particularly interested in right now. (NBC’s The Event does have an element of the fantastic in its premise, so we’ll see how that goes. It can’t be worse than the last few seasons of Heroes.)
Otherwise, a partial list of sci-fi/fantasy titles in active development that have caught my interest includes: AMC tackling horror in a zombie series, The Walking Dead; BBC America’s current success with Doctor Who and a second season of Being Human coming later this summer (which is being developed into a U.S. format by Syfy, and I’ll reserve judgment on that until later), plus a new season of Primeval for next year as well as a bona fide sci-fi series, Outcasts, set on a remote planet; Torchwood’s much anticipated new season, courtesy of Starz; HBO’s epic fantasy series A Game of Thrones, also for next year. And with the exception of the morose Caprica (which is beginning to pique my interest), while Syfy has gone rather light as it aims for mass appeal in many of its sci-fi/fantasy series (Eureka, Warehouse 13, etc.), I’m intrigued by at least one title on their slate: Alphas, whose pilot will be directed by Lost’s Jack Bender. Will any of these be as rich as Battlestar Galactica or as full of potential as Firefly or as peculiar and dangerous as Dollhouse? We’ll see. But yes, let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to get Joss Whedon back doing TV, whether it’s network or cable — or the Internet, for that matter.
Question: I’ve got a question about one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Human Target. I always thought that the show was an enjoyable action piece, and with Jackie Earle Haley and Chi McBride along for the ride, you just had a feeling these guys were seriously having a good time. Here’s my question: While it was picked up, Human Target was moved to Fridays (typically a dead zone for TV, as far as I’m concerned). Will this move help the show, or hurtle it toward premature cancellation (see: Firefly, Dollhouse and just about anything Fox put on Fridays as of late)? — Steve
Matt Roush: Seeing the move to Fridays as a positive development would be disingenuous, but it is a lifeline of sorts for a show that could have fallen through the cracks altogether, especially as it isn’t produced by the Fox studio (already making it an underdog). The upside anytime Fox moves a show to Friday is that expectations couldn’t be lower, so if Human Target does any business whatsoever it would be a pleasant surprise. And should something fall apart on one of the weeknight lineups, a show like this would make a great utility back-up player. I agree with you that this show is lots of fun, and the spark provided by the supporting players is infectious. I’m hoping it finds its niche, but it will almost certainly be an uphill climb.
That’s it. Enjoy!
Lee Ann
Rueben's Ramblings 
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