Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

It’s the start of another week – ARGH! If a day job wasn’t so necessary to survival, I’d so rather be home watching TV, working on my netbook in order to get all my writing caught up and then reading on my little porch for awhile. What about you?

Anyway, here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The season two premiere of the FOX series Human Target has been moved a week later; now airing on Friday, October 1 at 8 PM. The premiere will pick up from the first season cliffhanger, with Chance (Mark Valley) and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) racing to rescue their kidnapped associate, Winston (Chi McBride). (The Futon Critic)

Sebastian Roche (Fringe) has been added to the cast of Supernatural in the recurring role of Balthazar, an angelic friend of Castiel (Misha Collins). Roche will also be back on Fringe this fall. (Fancast)

Serinda Swan (Smallville) has been cast in the upcoming A&E drama series Breakout Kings, where she will be Erica Reed, an expert at finding people who don’t want to be found — then killing them. Swan has been contracted as a series regular for the thirteen episodes that A&E ordered earlier this summer after FOX passed on the procedural drama. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Megan Boone (HMS) has been cast in the upcoming NBC series Law & Order: Los Angeles, where she will play Laura Gardner, the DDA for Terence Howard’s ADA. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Wayne Brady will return to How I Met Your Mother for the 6th season’s second episode, playing James Stinson, the gay, black brother of Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). And, this time James will be bringing along his dad, who will be played by legendary Ben Vereen. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights) is joining the upcoming ABC Shonda Rhimes-produced medical drama Off the Map as a series regular. He will play a plastic surgeon in the South America-set drama, which is slated to premiere at midseason. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

ARTICLES ABOUT TELEVISION

Why Outcasts is Star Trek + BSG (it’s more than just Jamie Bamber)

‘Torchwood’ relaunch is more global

CONDOLENCES

Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal passed away this past weekend from lung cancer at the age of 84. Best known for her roles in The Fountainhead, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and A Face in the Crowd, Neal was also noted for her unexpected comeback after suffering a series of strokes at the age of 39. (E! Entertainment Online)

Lorene Yarnell, half of the mime-dance-comedy team Shields and Yarnell, died at the end of July at the age of 66 after suffering a brain aneurysm. She was best known for her partnership with then-husband Robert Shields. The duo worked the streets of San Francisco before hitting the small screen, where they starred in their own 1970s variety show and made appearances on hundreds of programs including The Sonny & Cher Show, The Muppet Show, and the Christmas at Walt Disney World special. They were also a hit on the Vegas strip and in concert halls around the world. (Entertainment Weekly)

ME: Condolences are extended to their families, friends and fans.

Moment of silence, please…

BOX OFFICE

Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins) has joined the cat of the box office feature called I’m.mortal. The story is set in a society where people are engineered to stop ageing at 25-years-old and time has become the currency of the realm. The wealthy are practically immortal while the majority of the populous struggles to bank what extra time they can. Justin Timberlake plays a ghetto rebel wrongly accused of murder, who is forced to go into hiding with a beautiful and rich hostage (Amanda Seyfried). They soon begin a steamy romance. Murphy will play a ‘Timekeepers’ officer. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) has joined the action thriller Drive, which is an adaptation of the James Sallis novel of the same name that has Ryan Gosling playing a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for thieves. He’s soon in a race against time when he learns someone has put a price on his head. (Film School Rejects and Dark Horizons)

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past weekend courtesy of E! Entertainment Online:

1. The Other Guys, $35.6 million
2. Inception, $18.6 million
3. Step Up 3D, $15.5 million
4. Salt, $11.1 million
5. Dinner for Schmucks, $10.5 million
6. Despicable Me, $9.4 million
7. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, $6.9 million
8. Charlie St. Cloud, $4.7 million
9. Toy Story 3, $3 million
10. The Kids Are All Right, $2.6 million

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES

Brigid Brannagh (Army Wives) and Sean Patrick Flanery (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and The Dead Zone) will star in the Hallmark Channel original movie called Mystery Girl. The movie is about Ben (Flanery) who e-mails a beautiful “mystery girl” (Brannagh) who keeps crossing his path, but the message accidentally goes to the wrong address. When he continues e-mail exchanges with the girl at this wrong address and starts dating the beautiful “mystery girl,” he just can’t figure out why she’s not the same in-person as in her online messages. Eventually, he learns who he’s actually been “e-relating” to. The movie has begun production and will premiere on Hallmark Channel in 2011. (The Futon Critic)

Jane Seymour is coming back to film the sequel to the very successful Hallmark Channel original movie Dear Prudence. (Facebook)

DISNEY’S “CAMP ROCK 2: THE FINAL JAM” IS SET TO ROCK ACROSS LABOR DAY WEEKEND WITH EXHILARATING MUSIC, ROUSING DANCE AND SUMMER FUN

AWARD WINNERS

The Teen Choice Awards were given out this past weekend with the telecast airing on FOX this past Monday. Congrats to all the winners, including (but not limited to) the following: The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Eclipse, Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, The Blind Side and The Proposal [for Movies] AND Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Chuck, NCIS: Los Angeles, Glee and Pretty Little Liars [for Television] AND Paramore, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum [for Music] [NOTE: Individual winners from these movies and shows were prominent too.] (Zap2It)

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush at TV Guide):

Question: We agreed with you about the last episode of Lost (both of us wept openly, LOL) so I was wondering how you felt about the last 15 minutes of the Doctor Who finale. I thought it was remarkable and amazing and just perfect. When Amy did the wedding speech and got to the “something blue” part, I yelled happily at my TV. Just great stuff. — Greg

Matt Roush: Couldn’t agree more. I was charmed and moved, as I was throughout much of this last season of Who. Let me take this opportunity to plug the next project from Steven Moffat, who so successfully shepherded the new Doctor through this transitional year. Mark your calendar for Sherlock, a three-part series of Masterpiece Mystery! movies on PBS in October that updates the classic detective to the 21st century. Looks like great fun.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

The end of the week is FINALLY here and I hope you folks have some fun activities planned for this weekend. Whatever you have planned – have a great time.

Meanwhile, here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Broadway star Laura Bell Bundy has landed a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother. She will play Robin’s new co-host on Metro News One. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Looks like Jane Badler will be returning to her infamous role in V this fall. Executive Producer Scott Rosenbaum let slip at Comic Con that he’d be introducing Anna’s mother in V’s November season premiere — and that her name would be Diana. When V returns, we will learn that Anna (Morena Baccarin) is keeping her mother prisoner on the mother ship in a never-before-seen section that has been designed to look like the Visitors’ home planet. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Andie McDowell and Rosa Blasi (Make It or Break It and Strong Medicine) will guest star in the new FOX fall drama Lone Star. MacDowell is expected to play the love interest of Jon Voigt’s oil tycoon. Blasi is set to play the role of Blake, the Lady Macbeth-esque trophy wife of Mark Deklin’s character, Trammell. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

James Marsters (Buffy) is looking to reprise his role as Captain John Hart on Torchwood, which is jumping from BBC America to Starz for its upcoming fourth season. (io9 and Televisionary)

Monique Curnen (CSI: Miami and Sons of Anarchy) – will recur in the fall as Detective Wallowski, a new love interest for Tim Roth’s character on the FOX drama Lie to Me. (TV Fanatic)

Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) will appear in the second episode of Chuck, playing Victor, a tacky and audacious wannabe-matchmaker Chuck (Zachary Levi) meets at Milan’s Fashion Week. Then two episodes later, Chuck goes on vacation with Armand Assante reprising his January 2010 role as Premier Alejandro Goya, the amorous leader of Costa Gravas. Indebted to Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) for saving his life last season, the Generalissimo shows his gratitude by inviting the gang to his beautiful island. (William Keck at TV Guide)

The new HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire will debut on September 19. Mark your calendars. (TV By the Numbers)

THE “LOST” EPILOGUE

OMFG It’s The Official Lost Epilogue

ME: Watch it while you can.

DVD ANNOUNCEMENT

Caprica

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Noah Reid (Strange Days at Blake Holsey High) has been cast as the lead of the Syfy drama pilot Three Inches, which revolves around a twenty-something slacker named Walter (Reid) who gains the ability to move objects three inches with his mind after he is struck by lightning. Walter then brings together a group of other heroes, each of whom has a similarly lackluster power. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

BOX OFFICE

Taraji P. Henson (The Karate Kid and Benjamin Button) has joined the sports drama movie From the Rough, which is inspired by Dr. Catana Starks, the first female head coach of an NCAA Division 1 men’s team. Henson would play a fictionalized version of Starks called Cassandra Turner. (Dark Horizons)

William Petersen (CSI) has accepted his first screen role since leaving the long-running series. This will be his first part in a feature in 10 years. He joins Adrien Brody in the indie drama Detachment, which centers on a normally detached substitute teacher (Brody) who becomes invested in the students and teachers at the troubled school where he works and grows close to a homeless teen working as a prostitute. Petersen will play a history-teaching Vietnam vet who causes a stir when he shows a gay film in class to promote tolerance. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) is a fellow teacher and potential love interest for Brody’s character, while Lucy Liu (Ally McBeal) is the school’s frustrated psychologist. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

Robin Wright is in negotiations for a major role in David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Wright is expected to sign a deal to play the part of Erika Berger, the editor-in-chief of Millennium magazine and long-time lover of protagonist Mikael Blomkvist, who will be played by Daniel Craig. (Nicole Sperling at Entertainment Weekly)

Meanwhile, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard is in negotiations to play Martin Vanger in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. (The Wrap)

Screen legend Debbie Reynolds has been cast as Grandma Mazur in the box office movie One for the Money, starring opposite Katherine Heigl. This movie is the first installment of Janet Evanovich’s popular novels. Grandma Mazur is the sassy, young-at-heart and gun-shooting maternal grandmother of protagonist Stephanie Plum (Heigl), who’s fallen on hard times and turned to bounty hunting. (Zap2It)

Actor Ethan Hawke is set to star in the indie drama movie A Late Quartet, which follows a string quartet whose members have performed together for 25 years. They’re forced to adjust when one of them retires due to Parkinson’s disease. Hawke will play the second violinist whose desire for more solos leads him to have an affair with his jogging partner, a decision that leaves him remorseful and saddened by the state of his marriage. (The Wrap)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

So Friday is tomorrow – finally – and I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me. What about you? In the meantime, here are the news items I found for today:

TELEVISION

Joanna Cassidy (Boston Legal) has joined the cast of the new ABC fall drama Body of Proof. She will appear in the third episode and play the yet-to-be-named mother of Dana Delany’s medical examiner, Dr. Megan Hunt. Body of Proof premieres on September 24 at 9 PM. (Rob Moynihan at TV Guide)

The AMC drama Breaking Bad won’t premiere new episodes for its upcoming 4th season until July 2011; more than a full year after the conclusion of Season Three last June. To bridge the 13-month gap between seasons, the plan is to produce short interstitial mini-episodes of 3-to-4 minutes apiece early next year after the show goes back in production in January. They will be posted on AMC’s website. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Timothy Olyphant (Justified) will be playing a rival paper salesman with a deep, dark secret on NBC’s The Office when he drops by next year: He used to date Pam!” (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly and Televisionary)

Patrick Gallagher (Glee) will be joining hit TNT comedy Men of a Certain Age, playing a mechanic who works in the car dealership owned by Andre Braugher’s character, Owen. It has yet to be decided whether his appearance on the series will be a recurring role or just a guest stint. (The Wrap)

Chad Allen (Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Dexter, portraying a killer who is hunted down by the show’s title character this fall. The drama returns on September 26. (TV Fanatic)

Malcolm McDowell will return to The Mentalist this fall, reprising his role of Britt Stiles, the leader of the Visualize Self-Realization Center. There is no word yet on how many episodes he will appear on next season, though. The Mentalist returns on September 23. (TV Guide and TV Fanatic)

Rob Morrow (Numb3rs) will be seen this fall as a lawyer on The Whole Truth, but before that show premieres, he’ll get practice in the same occupation on Entourage, as he is set to guest star on the HBO comedy as Ari’s attorney. The actor will defend Ari against a charge of sexual harassment. (TV Fanatic)

After nearly 30 years of reporting for Entertainment Tonight, Mary Hart is leaving the long-running news show (after the coming season ends). Lara Spencer (who reports for The Insider) will take her place. I remember watching ET in its early stages – nearly since it started on the air in 1981 (yes, I’m dating myself!) – and while the show has slowly descended into TMZ territory – shame on you ET!!! – Mary Hart was always a staple. (The Wrap and Me)

Christopher McDonald (Family Law) has landed the recurring role of Thomas “Tommy” Jefferson, a fast-talking, attention-seeking lawyer whose office is perma-lit for press conferences on the new David E. Kelley-NBC legal drama Harry’s Law. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Richard Schiff (The West Wing) is joining the new CBS drama Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior in the role of FBI Director Jack Fickler. He will make his first appearance in the second episode of the spin-off, which is slated to launch at midseason. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) will appear in an episode of CSI: NY. The episode will be about gang turf wars and Olmos will play a former gang leader — newly released from prison — who goes head-to-head with Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), who had put him away 15 years earlier. The episode will air in October. (Ileane Rudolph at TV Guide)

DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Angel (Complete Series)

Buffy (Complete Series)

BOX OFFICE

Amy Adams and Viggo Mortensen have joined the cast of the box office movie On the Road, which is an adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s acclaimed 1957 novel about Kerouac’s years traveling all over North America with his friend Neal Cassady on a cross-country bohemian odyssey. Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley play the pair. Adams will play Jane, the emotionally damaged junkie wife of Old Bull Lee (Mortensen). Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst also star. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Dark Horizons)

Tim Blake Nelson has joined the true story romance drama Everybody Loves Whales, which centers on a love story between a non-profit aid worker (Drew Barrymore) and a journalist (John Krasinski) set against the story of three California Gray Whales that were found trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle in October 1988. The subsequent rescue attempt became a global event as scores of journalists converged on the nearby Eskimo town of Barrow, Alaska, and the U.S. and Soviet governments enjoyed a rare moment of collaboration. Nelson will play a wildlife expert who works in the wildlife-management office. Kristen Bell also stars. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman are in negotiations to team for a third time in the upcoming inspirational animal box office movie Dolphin Tale, which is inspired by the true story of a dolphin named Winter who was rescued off the Florida coast. The film will follow a boy who befriends an injured dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap. The boy motivates everyone around him to help save the dolphin by creating a prosthetic appendage to replace its tail, and the mammal’s strong survival instincts become an inspiration to people with special needs. Judd plays the boy’s mother while Freeman is a doctor who creates a prosthetic limb for Winter. Harry Connick Jr. is in talks to play a vet who rescues the mammal. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Burlesque Trailer

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has signed a script deal for Austin Winsberg’s spec script Zombies Vs. Vampires, described as a fun buddy cop procedural with supernatural overtones. The project is set in a world where zombies are a part of society, controllable with medication. The show’s two leads (one secretly a vampire) are cops assigned to a squad specifically formed to deal with ‘zombie crime.’ (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

AMC is said to be thisclose to handing out a series order to crime drama The Killing, based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen. The project is to star stars Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes, Brent Sexton, Kristin Lehman, Eric Ladin, Jamie Anne Allman, and Joel Kinnaman. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Question: Please tell me you have some Bones scoop that doesn’t involve Booth’s new girlfriend. I really need the distraction. —Amy

Ausiello: As they approach their first-year anniversary, Angela and Hodgins will remain an “ironclad couple,” says exec producer Hart Hanson. “They are in the honeymoon phase but they keep getting smacked in the head. But the honeymoon phase never goes away. They are deeply, deeply in love. We just want to do everything to a couple you would do to a couple that is going to go through life together. Sort of the opposite of Booth and Brennan for the time being.” Hanson adds that he plans to “have the kitchen sink thrown at them” this season, “but they’re together for always. We could change our mind next year, but they’re pretty strong this season.”

Question: What’s this I’m hearing about a sniper stalking the Bones gang this season? —Dave

Ausiello: “We’ve got someone worse than the Gravedigger coming,” teases Hanson. “And if the Gravedigger is Evil Brennan, this next person is Evil Booth.” Sounds like a sniper to me. “Booth was a sniper,” Hanson points out, “so it may be a sniper.” In related news, sources confirm to me exclusively that Hart Hanson is legally changing his name to Teasy McTeaserson.

Question: Can you give us any sort of clue as to who is going to die on Bones? Is it a series regular? —Camilla

Ausiello: I’m 92 percent certain it is not a series regular. Hanson, meanwhile, would only tell me “it’s someone we know.” This Just In: Hart Hanson is changing his name yet again. He will now be known as Cryptic McCrypticson.

Question: What’s in store for Cate and Ryan on Life Unexpected this season? I love them together. —Ken

Ausiello: Their marriage is going to hit a few bumps, but none of them will involve Baze. “Baze has been a thorn in their side, but in the second season, the dynamic is going to shift a little bit,” reveals exec producer Liz Tigelaar. “Whereas before they had a common enemy in Baze—all of their problems can kind of be blamed on him—they come to realize that maybe other things are more of a problem. Removing Baze from the equation highlights some other things they hadn’t quite worked out. This season is very much the story of a young marriage and the trials and tribulations that they go through and the way you’re kind of thrust together, torn apart, and brought back together. It’s like everyone always says—the first year of marriage is the hardest. I think that they’re going to experience that.”

Question: Scoop on Castle, please. Are Castle and Beckett getting together anytime soon? —Maggie

Ausiello: You obviously missed my interview with Nathan Fillion at Comic-Con, during which he revealed that Castle and Beckett would spend much of the season married—in the figurative sense—to other people. Exec producer Andrew Marlowe both corroborated and expanded on that scoop when we caught up with him at press tour. “We will be introducing a boyfriend for Beckett in episode 4,” he revealed. “It’s someone new and surprising.” Castle, meanwhile, will still be going strong with his ex—although fellow EP Rob Bowman concedes “he would prefer to be with Beckett. He acted as a gentleman should last year. She said she was with somebody else and he stepped back. But I don’t think he spent his summer where he preferred to spend it. I think he wants to be back with her. We also know we like to have fun with the boy/girl chase and that as soon as he lets on any intention that he’s interested, you know she’s going to punish him. And that’s why we watch the show.”

Question: Did you get any Supernatural scoop at press tour? —Jackie

Ausiello: Sure did. Considering the theme of the season is monsters, it’s probably no surprise that the first big mystery concerns, er, monsters. “Sam and Dean are looking into the fact that monsters are acting off-pattern,” explains exec producer Sera Gamble. “It’s sort of a postapocalyptic landscape and monsters are acting in various weird ways. It’s a monster mystery.” Gamble is also hard at work on an episode that pokes fun at the Twilight phenomenon. “I was just doing a bit of work on the script today with [series creator] Eric [Kripke] and he was like, ‘So what is this reference to dropping an apple?’ I was like, ‘You don’t know the dropping-an-apple thing? It’s from Twilight!’ I was like, ‘Come over here! You have to watch the promo!’ There are a lot of references to Twilight and our former [time-slot companion] Vampire Diaries.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

It’s over the hump day and this week seems to be moving along slowly, or maybe it’s just me. Anyway, here are today’s news items:

TELEVISION

Jeff Goldblum will be leaving Law & Order: Criminal Intent after being on the show for two seasons. There are no hard feelings or problems he is just…leaving. (Kristin at E! Entertainment Online)

Courtney Ford (Dexter) has landed the potentially recurring role of Vanessa, a grad student at Duke who helps Damon, Alaric, and Elena go through Isobel’s old research on The Vampire Diaries. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Chuck has recruited Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) to guest star in the 2nd episode of the new season. He will play the bodyguard of an evil spy/model (ex-Victoria’s Secret Angel Karolina Kurkova). (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Disney has assembled the cast of what is being groomed to be its next original movie/musical franchise, Lemonade Mouth, mixing young Disney series stars and unknowns with TV veterans Tisha Campbell-Martin and Christopher McDonald. The story follows five disparate high school students who meet in detention and form a band. The cast includes Bridgit Mendler (Good Luck Charlie), Adam Hicks (Zeke and Luther), Hayley Kiyoko (Wizards of Waverly Place), Naomi Scott (Life Bites) and newcomer Blake Michael. Nick Roux and Chris Brochu will play rival band Mudslide Crush. Campbell-Martin will play music teacher Miss Reznick and McDonald will play Principal Brenigan. The movie is slated for a 2011 premiere. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Carol Burnett will appear as Sue Sylvester’s mother on the Glee. (TV Done Wright)

Glee creator Ryan Murphy announced to journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour recently that he is developing a half-hour musical comedy series for Kristin Chenoweth. The new show would not be a spin-off of Glee, but rather a brand new series that would showcase Chenoweth’s unique talent. (Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Diablo Cody is heading to FOX, as the network signed a put-pilot deal with her for the comedy The Breadwinner. Details on the plot are being kept tightly under wraps. (The Hollywood Reporter rand Televisionary)

Colm Meaney will star opposite Anson Mount, Dominique McElligott, and Common in the AMC period drama pilot Hell of Wheels, which is about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. He will play Thomas “Doc” Durant, a businessman determined to make his fortune building the transcontinental railroad, a man of vision and a self-serving opportunist who is capable of ‘creative financing. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

Sherry Stringfield has landed the lead in the new as-yet untitled Josh Berman/Lifetime drama pilot, where she will play San Diego police detective Molly Collins, described as a married mother of two on the verge of divorce, who, along with her partner Brooke Kross, investigate the city’s most high-profile crimes while navigating their divergent personal lives. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

Smallville may be chugging a whole Kryptonite shake at the end of this season, but the world of DC Comics characters may live on in the form of a spinoff. But don’t get too excited yet; the CW has merely expressed interest in checking out the rest of the DC catalog for potential series material. The early rumored favorite? The Blue Beetle, who apparently isn’t as lame as he sounds. (MTV and TV.com)

BOX OFFICE

The end is nigh: The final story in The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn – has gotten its release date for the last story in the franchise: November 16, 2012. Mark your calendars, Twi-hards. And, as a reminder, November 18, 2011 is the release date for part 1 of Breaking Dawn. (Dark Horizons)

Kurt Russell will play a high-school football coach in Touchback with Brian Presley playing an out of luck farmer/fireman whose promising football career came to an end years before due to an injury he sustained during a playoff game. One day he finds himself thrust back into reliving that game and must make the choice of which way he wants his life to go. Melanie Lynsky and Christine Lahti also star. (Dark Horizons)

Melissa Leo is circling while Dermot Mulroney, Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano and Steven Root are all in talks to join the Kevin Smith political horror movie Red State. (The Wrap and Dark Horizons)

TV INTERVIEW

When Dark Blue returns tonight for its second season at 9/8c, TNT’s gritty cop show will be less grim and a lot sexier. Packing the heat: new cast member Tricia Helfer, the Canadian actress best known as Six, Battlestar Galactica’s seductive Cylon. “I’m a good guy this time,” says Helfer, whose tough-as-nails FBI agent Alex Rice has been ordered to lead a joint task force with the covert LAPD team headed by Carter Shaw (Dylan McDermott). “There’s a power struggle with Carter, but there’s also an intense chemistry,” Helfer says. “They’re going to be dealing with that ‘We can’t do this, but we can’t control it’ all season.”

Agent Rice arrives on the scene posing as a tattoo parlor owner. The “thrill-seeking” Fed is out to trap the same vicious thug whose gang Dean (Logan Marshall-Green) has infiltrated. A squabble over tactics leads to a Carter ally’s death — and some nookie. “I’ve always wanted to play a strong character on the right side of the law,” says the actress, whose usual stunt work was curtailed by her recent “massive” back surgery. But, she says, “I do get to kill people with a knife and a gun.”

Still, the second season is not all about sex and violence. “When I signed on, a lot of talk was about adding some humor, a little more lightness,” she says. “At the end of the episodes, you’re going to see that the team [members] actually do have lives, and don’t just brood alone in their apartments. Carter is growing tomatoes and he’s hitting on a girl!” (Ileane Rudolph at TV Guide)

LA TIMES ARTICLE

Neil Patrick Harris’ new ‘Rent’ role: Director

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

Question: Given the events of the finale, is Gibbs’ job in danger on NCIS? — Jonathan

ADAM: The murder of Pedro Hernandez will add a new layer to the already contentious relationship between Gibbs and Director Vance. You’ll see Vance’s somewhat shocking reaction in the premiere, but executive producer Shane Brennan coyly tells us that it may also give hints to Vance’s own mysterious past. “Sometimes when you think something’s done, things pop up years later,” Brennan says. “You’ve got that famous moment where the new director moves into his office for the first time and shreds a piece of paper. That’s one of those moments.”

Question: How bad do Mike and Susan’s finances get on Desperate Housewives? — Rob

MICKEY: With Mike’s business on the skids, Susan’s finger-painting with the kiddies isn’t going to pay the rent. To help out, she’ll get a house-cleaning job. And wait until you see her uniform, gentlemen.

Question: Are we really supposed to believe that Brennan is happy about Booth’s new girlfriend on Bones? — Taylor

ADAM: Supportive is a better word. She’s certainly not thrilled, but Brennan might get some action of her own. “We’re going to look at some different possibilities for Brennan now; she will definitely look into some different love interests,” Emily Deschanel tells us. “She wants to be happy for Booth, but I think there’s some jealousy there.”

Question: How will the vamps and weres interact on The Vampire Diaries? — Tamara

MICKEY: “In our world, our vampires know very little about the werewolf mythology, other than what anybody who’s watched Wolfman or read books has learned,” says executive producer Julie Plec. “They’re going to be surprised at what they can do.” Well, not everyone will be surprised. Katherine, it turns out, has a long history with the werewolves of Mystic Falls.

Question: What will the vibe be like between Castle and Beckett in the new season of Castle? — David

ADAM: Beckett’s not happy that Castle has returned from his summer in the Hamptons without so much as calling her, especially after her crushing disappointment in the Season 2 finale. But Stana Katic says the duo’s chemistry is still intact. “I don’t think they’re back to square one,” she says. “They have so much history. There’s nothing that can untie that kind of a bond between those two characters. They should still have the same kind of swordplay.”

Question: Any updates on the new team member replacing Liz Vassey on CSI? — Brittney

ADAM: Two things: First, the new team member won’t exactly replace Vassey. “We did not hire a new cast member,” executive producer Carol Mendelsohn says. “It’s potentially recurring, but at the moment, it’s for one episode.” Second, the new CSI, to be played by British actress Sienna Guillory (Criminal Minds), will be a total BABE. (What? It stands for bombs and ballistics expert!)

Question: Give me scoop on Peter’s re-entry this season on Fringe. — India

MICKEY: Joshua Jackson says we should focus on that mysterious machine that we saw in the season finale. “The most crucial thing in his life is what that machine is and what he is to that machine,” he says.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Let’s get right down to the news for the day, shall we?:

TELEVISION

Rebecca Creskoff (Hung) will guest star in an October episode of Desperate Housewives, but details of her role are being kept under wraps, but it’s believed Creskoff will be playing a new adversary of Susan’s (Teri Hatcher). (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Stacy Keibler (What About Brian) will guest star in the third episode of Chuck this fall, succeeding Olivia Munn and Isaiah Mustafa as undercover agent Greta, a new recurring character that will be played by a different actor every week. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Fiona Gubelmann (Knight Rider) has been cast as the female lead in the FX comedy pilot Wilfred, where she will star opposite Jason Gann and Elijah Wood. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

Malcolm-Jamal Warner will star opposite Tracee Ellis Ross in the BET comedy pilot Reed Between the Lines, where he will play Ross’ character’s husband. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

Doctor Who WILL be back for a sixth season with Steven Moffat continuing as executive producer, writing five of the 13 episodes when Matt Smith returns. (Blastr)

Billy Dee Williams will guest star in an upcoming episode of White Collar, starring as “Ford,” an old friend of June’s (Diahann Carroll) late husband, Byron. Fresh from a prison stint, Ford shows up on Neal’s doorstep. Immediately, Neal suspects that con man Byron’s equally shifty pal has an agenda and is looking for more than a trip down memory lane. (Fancast)

Actress Sienna Guillory will portray a lab tech named Kacey Monohan on CSI when it returns in the fall. (TV Fanatic)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Joe Flanigan (Stargate: Atlantis) is currently filming a new Syfy movie called The Other Side, where he will star as the character Colonel Sam Synn. The premise is that a device has been made to glimpse other realities, but it doesn’t quite work the way it’s supposed to. Instead, it transports the group observing the first presentation to an alternate reality. The group must work together to repair the damaged machine if they have any hope of getting back home, all the while fighting man-eating creatures that inhabit this world. The movie co-stars John Rhys-Davis. (ScienceFantasyUniverse.com)

Q&A SECTION (with Kristin at E! Entertainment Online):

Question: Please tell me you have some leftover Smallville scoop from Comic-Con?

Kristin: Justin Hartley is hopping on the Tom Welling bandwagon and taking a stab at directing an episode later this year. “I’m directing episode 20, I think,” he told us in San Diego. “That may change, but it’s what I’ve been told. It’s really late in the game so I couldn’t really mess things up at that point, right? Or I could ruin it. People might say, ‘What is that?! Oh it’s Justin’s footprint, great. ‘” Um, we doubt that, but it’s cute to know he’s a little nervous. And Tom’s directing another episode this season, too, so good things are happening all around!

Question: Janine in Yucaipa, Calif.: Any word on when we’ll see Clark in the actual Superman suit on Smallville?

Kristin: There’s no exact “when” available at the moment (although Bryan Petersen and Kelly Souders did say during Comic-Con that we will see it in some form in season 10), but Tom Welling tells us this: “Whatever we do, I want to make sure we earn the suit at the end. So expect to see Clark going through some big things before he dons the blue and red.

Question: Hannah in Richmond, VA.: Thanks for all the Castle scoop. Can I get some more goods on the new season?

Kristin: Well, you saw that the “will they/won’t they” aspect of Kate and Castle hits a real snag when Kate arrests him in the season opener. Bummer. But the writers told us at Comic-Con that they definitely love playing with that relationship and all the push pull that comes with it, so prepare for more sexual tension! Hooray!

Question: Jessie in Chicago, Ill.: Castle news, if you got it.

Kristin: Castle’s daughter Alexis will be all up in the dating world next season! And even though she takes care of her dad more than he takes care of her, we’ll get to see somewhat of a father figure from Castle. And how does Nathan think his character will deal with his daughter’s dating life? “I’m sure he’ll take it real well,” he says sarcastically. Can’t wait to see Castle chase off boys with a shotgun!

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

I’m back to work and feeling much better after succumbing to “con crud” – the dreaded head cold and cough that seems to plague so many attendees of Comic Con each year. I hope to kick the last of this cold by tomorrow because I’m sick of being sick.

In the meantime, there is a lot of great news to share with all of you:

TELEVISION

Oscar nominee Terrence Howard has joined the cast of the new NBC drama Law & Order: Los Angeles, portraying a district attorney. He will share the position with Alfred Molina (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), who plays Deputy District Attorney Morales, in alternate episodes. (The Futon Critic)

NBC has updated its fall premiere schedule. Parenthood has been moved a week earlier now airing its premiere on September 14 at 10 PM. The new drama Outlaw, starring Jimmy Smits will now air on September 15 at 10 PM. And, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will have a two-hour premiere on September 22 at 9 PM. After its preview, Outlaw will move to its regular day and time: Fridays at 10 PM (starting on September 17). (The Futon Critic)

Oscar nominee Elliott Gould will guest star in the second episode of CSI this fall, playing an old-school casino mogul who crosses paths with the team when one of his casinos becomes the crime scene. (TV Guide)

Eddie Cibrian has landed a multi-episode arc on the new NBC drama Chase, which follows a group of U.S. Marshals. He will play a bounty hunter for at least two episodes. The arc is scheduled to begin in October. The series stars Kelli Giddish and Cole Hauser and is set to premiere on September 20 at 10 PM. (Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide)

Jennifer Love Hewitt will guest star in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a woman named Vicki who has been raped multiple times and is afraid to leave her house. (TV Guide)

Dick Wolf, the creator and executive producer of the long-running Law & Order franchise confirmed today that the flagship series Law & Order will not be picked up by any other network now that NBC has canceled the series. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Nathan Lane will guest star in an early season 2 episode of Modern Family, playing Cam’s flamboyant friend Pepper. Justin Kirk will reprise his role as Mitchell’s potential boss. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Janet Montgomery (Entourage) has joined the cast of Human Target in the recurring role of Ames, an experienced thief who ends up assisting Chance, Winston, and Guerrero on missions. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Wanda De Jesus (CSI: Miami) has joined the cast of the new series Law & Order: Los Angeles. She will play Arleen Gonzales, the cool and authoritative captain of the Robbery Homicide Division. Regina Hall (Ally McBeal) will play beautiful and brainy ADA Eva Price. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Those mistakes Heroes made? Here’s how The Cape plans not to make them

TV INTERVIEW

“Laws were made by people, and people are often wrong.” That’s the mantra for Sarah Shahi’s titular character in USA’s new legal drama, Facing Kate. The show, executive produced by Michael Sardo and Steve Sark, focuses on the world of lawyers who, like Kate, resign from practicing law and simply mediate clients’ disagreements. “Mediation is exploding in this country, exploding all over the world,” Sardo said Friday at the Television Critics Association fall TV preview. “Kate is someone who rebels against the one-size-fits-all mentality of the law.” “I’ve been waiting to play a character like this,” Shahi said of Kate, who is someone that gravitates towards danger for the greater good. “My history with roles in the past has always been bad girls. I wanted to play something that was similar to me in a way that it was upbeat. She’s a beautiful mess. Her flaws, at the end of the day, are what make her interesting.” Kate will be faced with a weekly conflict to resolve, which producers said will stem from questions such as what life is worth and what it means to be a hero. “Each one deals with a fundamental precept of human behavior,” Sardo said. Kate’s foils include a stubborn boss who looks at their firm as her child and an ex-husband (Michael Trucco) who just can’t let go of his relationship with Kate. “I’m sort of the knight in shining armor to Michael’s distress,” Shahi said. The couple is going through a divorce, but they’re still friends with benefits. Because of these tricky relationships, Kate throws herself deeply into work. “The busier you are, the less you have to look inside [yourself],” Shahi said. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations to the following winners of the annual Television Critics Association Awards (list provided by Zap2It):

Program of the year: “Glee”
Outstanding achievement in drama: (tie) “Breaking Bad” and “Lost”
Outstanding achievement in comedy: “Modern Family”
Outstanding new program: “Glee”
Individual achievement in drama: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Individual achievement in comedy: Jane Lynch, “Glee”
Outstanding achievement in movies, miniseries or specials: “The Pacific”
Outstanding achievement in news and information: “Life”
Outstanding achievement in youth programming: “Yo Gabba Gabba”
Career achievement: James Garner
Heritage Award: “M*A*S*H”

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

SYFY’S ROBUST SCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT SLATE FEATURES PROJECTS FROM KEVIN SORBO, LEE MAJORS, SANCTUARY CREATIVE TEAM AND UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS

David Shore is currently in the process of reworking his Rockford Files retelling without star Dermot Mulroney. The Americanized version of Prime Suspect has been resurrected under the stewardship of Friday Night Lights executive producer Peter Berg. (The TV Addict)

DVD ANNOUNCMENTS

Chuck

Caprica

BOX OFFICE

Brian Geraghty, Josh Peck and Margarita Levieva will star in the box office movie ATM, which is about three young co-workers who make a late-night visit to an ATM and end up in a desperate fight for their lives when they become trapped by an unknown man. (First Showing)

Bruce Willis is set to star while Sigourney Weaver is “in talks” to star in an upcoming thriller called The Cold Light of Day. Henry Cavill is already set to play a young American whose family is kidnapped on vacation in Spain. He has hours to find them, and unravels a government conspiracy. Willis will play his father, who has secrets of his own. Weaver is in talks to play the villainess, a role that was originally written for a male actor. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and First Showing)

The top 10 movies for this past weekend are as follows (according to a list provided by Zap2It):

1. Inception – 43 million
2. Salt – 36 million
3. Despicable Me – 24 million
4. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – 10 million
5. Toy Story 3 – 9 million
6. Ramona and Beezus – 8 million
7. Grown Ups – 7.4 million
8. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – 7.1 million
9. The Last Airbender – 4 million
10. Predators – 3 million

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush from TV Guide)

Question: I loved the Doctor Who finale with all its twists and turns. But what I loved most was the ever- elusive River Song. Her character (and Alex Kingston) kicks major ass! She needs her own show pronto. It would be nice to have a sci-fi show with a strong female lead. What do you think are the chances? — Aaron

Matt Roush: Actually, wouldn’t a female Doctor be a nice change one of these iterations? Sci-fi shows in recent years have been much more generous in creating strong female roles, from Farscape to Battlestar Galactica to you name it, but with River Song, I think her elusive nature is best played out in small and mysterious doses. More might actually be less where she’s concerned, although every time she appeared on Doctor Who last season, I enjoyed it. It has been years since I’ve seen Alex Kingston enjoy herself with such wicked abandon. (The first time I remember seeing her on TV was as a very saucy Moll Flanders in a rollicking Masterpiece adaptation in the late ’90s. Worth checking out.)

Question: What can you tell us about the program NBC has been promoting constantly, something about The Event? My husband says, as a Lost fan, I’m getting sucked in to this one. Actually just curious to know if this promises to be something worthwhile. — Diane

Matt Roush: NBC’s greatest hope is that The Event will attract fans looking for “the next Lost”—although that’s such a misnomer. There will never be “another Lost.” But judging from the convoluted pilot, which jumps around in time a bit too much for my taste, this is a high-concept, high-action suspense thriller with a deep and mysterious mythology and a very appealing and sympathetic center in its everyman hero, Jason Ritter. I won’t reveal too much at this point except to say that a lot of the action in the pilot takes place aboard an endangered plane (echoes of Lost), and what happens next has a “what the hell” aspect that made me curious to see episode two, albeit with a fair amount of skepticism. Signing on to a show like this does require a leap of faith, and hopefully we haven’t been too burned by shows like FlashForward in particular to give the next ambitious project a chance. It’s one of the very few fall series that has any watercooler potential, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt for now.

Question: I’m looking forward to the next installment of that series of movies where Tom Selleck plays Jesse Stone, a small-town cop. What can you tell us about it? — Mike

Matt Roush: The Jesse Stone movies are still being made, despite Selleck having landed the lead in a new CBS series, Blue Bloods. When he appeared at the TCA press tour last week to promote the new show, he made a point of saying that the seventh movie in the Jesse series, Innocents Lost, is “ready to go … And I made it real clear that I wasn’t going to give up Jesse, so we’re writing No. 8.” When these will see the light of day is another matter. Since CBS, like all the other broadcast networks, have largely abandoned the TV-movie format and there’s no dedicated night for them, the Jesse movies will be scheduled whenever CBS has an opening, usually on a non-sweeps Sunday. But the good news is that, whatever happens to Blue Bloods, Selleck is committed to the franchise, and the movies have been generally engrossing. I wish there were more of these sorts of movie series to add some variety to the lineup.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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