Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

It’s over the Hump Day and the news just keeps coming. Here is what I found for today:

TELEVISION

TNT has announced finale dates for their summer lineup. Dark Blue will have a two-hour finale on September 22. Hawthorne and Memphis Beat will finish up on August 24. Leverage is done on September 5 with The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles concluding on September 13. Both The Closer and Leverage will then return this winter for their remaining installments, presumably to help launch the new seasons of Men of a Certain Age and Southland and/or newcomers Franklin & Bash and Fallen Skies. (The Futon Critic)

HBO has picked up the series Luck, which stars none other than Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. The series is set in the world of high stakes horseracing. The pilot featured an ensemble cast including Richard Kind, John Ortiz, Kevin Dunn, Jason Gedrick, Richie Coster, Ian Hart, Tom Payne, Kerry Condon and Gary Stevens. The pilot episode included a guest appearance from Jill Hennessy. (The Wrap)

CASTING SCOOP

Glee is adding a new high school jock named Sam, who is described as very good looking. Though he plays football, Sam must also have a strong singing voice. CSI is searching for a new female named Kacey Monohan, who is in her 20’s and is a bomb expert who becomes the team’s new tech. It looks like she’ll team with Nick. Life Unexpected will add a forty-something character named Emma as a possible older love interest for Baze. Just one catch: she works for Baze’s father and is a bit stuffy. Torchwood is searching for one series regular and two supporting roles. Rex Matheson is a white, twenty-something CIA agent who sounds sort of like FX’s animated Archer spy: a fearless, cocky thrill seeker. Recurring characters include Esther Katusi, a newbie Watch Analyst in the CIA who is deeply (and secretly) in love with Rex. And Oswald Jones is the dangerous psychotic villain. He’s a forty-something murderer and pedophile who gets sprung from the slammer into the spotlight. (William Keck at TV Guide)

D. B. Woodside (24 and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) will play Derrick Altman, a handsome young physician who takes care of the cheerleaders on the fall CW series Hellcats. (Zap2It)

Josh Stewart (Criminal Minds and Dirt) will play Watcher to Michael Chiklis’ nascent superhero clan on the ABC fall drama No Ordinary Family. He will recur throughout the first season. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Maxine Peake (Criminal Justice), Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks), Natalie Dormer (The Tudors), Tom Hughes (Sex, Drugs And Rock And Roll) and Neil Stuke (Reggie Perrin) have been cast in BBC legal drama series Silk, which revolves around the lives, loves and hard cases facing barristers on the front line of criminal law. (BBC and Televisionary)

Dolph Lundgren will guest star in the season premiere of the NBC series Chuck this fall. No details have been made available, yet, as to his character. Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love) is also confirmed to guest-star in the season premiere. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Betty White will appear in the season premiere of the NBC comedy Community, as an esteemed anthropology professor who is slightly unhinged. (The Wrap)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has been cast as the lead in the upcoming Lifetime made-for-TV movie Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story. She will play a woman who underwent a daring rescue mission to locate and free her seven-year-old son Kobe, who was seized by her ex-husband during a custody battle and taken to South Korea. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Supernatural

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Supernatural-Season-5-Press-Release/14069

Smallville

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Smallville-Season-9-Press-Release/14070

Persons Unknown

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Persons-Unknown-Box-Art/14067

BOX OFFICE

Noomi Rapace’s grip on a gripping role

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-noomi-20100714,0,2413375.story

It looks like Tom Cruise will be back in the fourth Mission Impossible film. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Andy Samberg and Jenna Elfman have all joined the cast of the romantic comedy Friends With Benefits. Justin Timberlake will play a headhunter who agrees to sleep together with a female magazine editor friend (Mila Kunis) with no strings attached. He soon falls for her, despite the fact she’s dating someone else. (The Wrap and Dark Horizons)

REVAMPED WEBSITE LAUNCHED

Welcome to Blastr, the next step in the evolution of SCI FI Wire

http://blastr.com/2010/07/welcome-to-blastr-the-nex.php

VOTING

Tater Top Awards: Vote for the Best Newbies!

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b189442_tater_top_awards_vote_best_newbies.html

Q&A SECTION (with TV gurus at TV Guide)

Question: Got any Bones season premiere scoop? — Meg

ADAM: Brennan, Angela and Hodgins are all lured back to D.C. to help Cam, who comes under fire from the local news media during a homicide investigation. Some people don’t appreciate her argument that veterans are suffering brain damage caused by combat.

Question: There are so many stories and new characters on True Blood. Please tell me it gets better! — Carol

MICKEY: We’ve spoken to quite a few cast members about this common complaint, and they’ve all assured us that the season’s multiple plot splinters will eventually coalesce. “I never got to eat at Merlotte’s, but I certainly visit the front porches of many people’s houses,” says Denis O’Hare, who plays Russell Edgington, King of Mississippi. He goes on to defend the new kids on the bayou. “Pam and Eric’s relationship really blossoms this season, in part because of his interaction with people like me.”

Question: When does Dark Blue start up again? — Hal

ADAM: TNT’s undercover cop drama returns with two new episodes on Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 9/8c. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer joins the cast this season as an FBI agent who steps all over Carter’s case, getting one of his closest allies killed in the process. Ultimately he forgives her — and sleeps with her for good measure.

Question: We’re so excited for more White Collar! Scoop, please. — Aaron and Carrie

MICKEY: It’s like The West Wing meets Ocean’s Eleven when Neal goes undercover as a shrewd political operative in a corrupt senatorial campaign. Meanwhile, Peter will investigate a high-class escort service, much to Elizabeth’s chagrin and Diana’s delight.

That’s it. Enjoy!