Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

It’s over the hump day already. This week is moving along quickly, isn’t it? Let’s get down to the entertainment news for today, shall we?

TELEVISION

Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is joining Desperate Housewives for a multi-episode arc, playing a self-employed business owner and neighbor to Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) will reprise her role as prosecutor Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife, returning in the fourth episode of the new season. Gummer will next be seen in the new Shonda Rhimes series Off the Map about a medical clinic in South America. The series is scheduled to debut midseason on ABC. The Good Wife will be back on September 28 at 10 PM. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Gloria Reuben (ER) will reprise her role as U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson on Law & Order: SVU. In a very intense case involving child slavery, she deputizes Benson and Stabler as U.S. marshals so they can leave Manhattan. (Ileane Rudolph at TV Guide)

Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) has joined the cast of new NBC series Law & Order: Los Angeles, starring in the recurring role of Casey Winters, wife of Det. Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich). Casey is a former cop who has settled down to raise a family. The series will debut on September 29 at 10 PM. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

True Blood will feature the character Hollow Stonebrook in Season Four. Hallow is a “were-sorceress” will turns up in Bon Temps next season. She communicates with the dead, and she’s interested in developing further powers.” No word on who will be cast in the role, however. (Michael Ausiello and Televisionary)

Newcomer Renee Felice Smith is joining NCIS: Los Angeles in the potentially recurring role of Nell, an incredibly bright, somewhat quirky, and extremely chatty intelligence analyst who’ll be assisting Eric (Barrett Foa) in the OPS center. Smith’s biggest role to date was in a project nobody ever saw: Amy Sherman-Palladino’s ill-fated CW pilot The Wyoming Project. (Michael Ausiello and Televisionary)

Mark your calendars: Psych and Burn Notice will be back to the USA Network in November with new episodes. Meanwhile, Royal Pains and White Collar will be back in January as well as the debut of the new show Facing Kate being in January. (The Futon Critic)

A tie-in novel for the popular Canadian series Being Erica has been commissioned, but no other details seem available as yet. (Spoiler TV)

SYFY FALL PROGRAMMING INCLUDES NEW SEASONS OF GHOST HUNTERS, STARGATE UNIVERSE, DESTINATION TRUTH, SANCTUARY, SCARE TACTICS AND FACT OR FAKED

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO is finalizing a deal to develop The Crux, a drama series project starring Kevin Spacey. In the series Spacey will play a charismatic cult leader. Little else is known about the project. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

January Jones (Mad Men) has officially been cast as Emma Frost in the upcoming box office movie X-Men: First Class. The telepathic character, also known as the White Queen, started out as one of the X-Men’s most dangerous foes to one of its most central members. (Deadline New York and Dark Horizons)

Robert De Niro is joining the cast of Manual of Love 3, the third installment of an Italian romantic comedy franchise. Each film has a few different episodes, telling varying romantic stories. De Niro will play a divorced American professor living in Rome in one of the episodes within the film. (Variety and First Showing)

Model Brooklyn Decker has joined the cast of Peter Berg’s adaptation of the board game Battleship, playing one of the female leads, a character named Sam who is described as being able to surf, fight, dance and crush the NY Times crossword puzzle. She is the love interest of Taylor Kitsch, who plays one of the naval commanders in the movie. (Latino Review, Heat Vision and First Showing)

Legendary Swedish actor Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island and Minority Report) is in talks to join the cast of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He will play Henrik Vanger, the man who hires Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to investigate the decades-old disappearance of his favorite great-niece. (Variety and First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with the TV Gurus at TV Guide)

Question: Got any more scoop on Bones’ new season? — Andrea

ADAM: We hear the show is looking to add a Bill Nye the Science Guy type to woo Brennan… to appear as a guest on his popular children’s TV show. Bones brushes off the request because she doesn’t see him as a serious scientist. But when he persists, Brennan makes him a deal: She’ll do his show if he can help her solve a murder.

Question: I can’t wait for The Good Wife to come back. Do you know who Alicia picks? — Deborah

MICKEY: Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off, with Alicia deciding between standing by her man and answering that fateful phone call. She doesn’t take Will’s call, thanks to Eli Gold, and Julianna Margulies tells us that Will and Alicia will be like “two ships in the night” for a while. But that doesn’t mean that she’s back together with Peter either — though she’s definitely with him. It seems that seeing his feisty wife in the courtroom makes Peter want to debrief her.

Question: How will Criminal Minds resolve last season’s cliff-hanger? — Marcus

ADAM: The season premiere finds the team in what executive producer Ed Bernero calls a “rolling hostage situation,” during which an unexpected member of the team will be called upon to make contact with Tim Curry’s creepy killer in an unorthodox way. “The solution rests on whether or not that team member can convince this psychopath to spare the little girl he’s taken,” Bernero says, adding that “another team member will be affected for a long, long time by what happens.”

Question: What exactly will Vanessa Williams be up to on Desperate Housewives this season? — P.K.D.

MICKEY: It seems she’ll be taking one for the team. We’re hearing that a handsome professional baseball player with some ethical issues will romance one of the

Question: Is Chuck grooming Alex to be a mini-spy? — Ben

MICKEY: It’s no accident that producers have shown us that Casey’s daughter has some serious combat skills. “It’s a spy show, so I think she’s going to be on some missions,” reports Adam Baldwin, who plays Alex’s proud papa.

Question: Is Barney back to his old self now on How I Met Your Mother? — Kingsley

MICKEY: Neil Patrick Harris says that while Barney searches for his dad, he won’t lack female companionship. (Actually, he used much more colorful language, but you get the idea.) Might he birthday-suit up for Zoey, a civic-minded activist who is protesting the destruction of a New York hotel? No. She’ll tangle with Ted, since he’s the guy who’s leveling the historic gem.

Question: How will Smallville deal with having less Chloe this season? — Greg D.

ADAM: As we previously reported, Chloe will give herself up in a trade to save Oliver, who was taken in the season finale. That will keep Chloe off-screen and give Oliver lots to do as he searches for her. Or will it? “Hunting [for her] may not really be a good thing He’s got to weigh that decision,” executive producer Brian Peterson tells us. Adds fellow EP Kelly Souders: “Giving up is maybe not quite the way he would look at it, but letting go might be part of his scenario.”

Question: I love The Big C, but I think it’s sad that Cathy and her husband are apart. Will they ever reconcile? Laura Linney and Oliver Platt are so great together. — Hilary

MICKEY: Well, they don’t have to be together to be great together, do they? In fact, the couple’s fumbling romantic estrangement is the source of much of the upcoming comedy. A particularly hilarious misunderstanding occurs when Cathy says she’d like to have sex in the grass.

Question: What’s coming up on Lie to Me? — Sarah

ADAM: Sounds like the show is cooking up quite a season-ender, thanks in no small part to assurances from the network that it will be back. “We put some characters in jeopardy,” outgoing executive producer Shawn Ryan says. “We really tried to end the season as a launching pad for Season 3. It’s not a Dynasty-esque cliff-hanger, where there’s bloody people on the floor… but there are some pretty high stakes.”

Question: Life Unexpected? Anything? — Tamara

MICKEY: Britt Robertson tells us that there will no more running away for Lux; Season 2 will find her much more settled with her birth parents. “No matter what people did, Lux always felt rejected,” she says. “That’s something she has now overcome.” Good thing too, because her love life is going to get a lot more complicated. Forget Jones vs. Bug: There’s a new surly musician in town, and he’s like catnip to our be-hatted heroine.

That’s it. Enjoy!