Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today. Again, I hope you find some of them to be interesting.

GLEE NEWS

‘Glee’ and Claire’s introduce Gleek jewelry, accessories line

TELEVISION

Cybill Shepherd (Moonlighting) and Bruce McGill (Rizzoli & Isles) will guest star as the parents of Julie Benz’s character on the new ABC drama No Ordinary Family. The pilot episode airs on September 28. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Maiara Walsh (Desperate Housewives) will appear as Sarah, a high schooler who likes to party on the October 7 episode of The Vampire Diaries. She has her eyes set on Jeremy and encourages him to party it up at the Lockwood house. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Jack Coleman (Heroes) will play Max Armstrong, described as a wealthy, regal, arrogant, self-important man who becomes the prime suspect in a murder on the October 14 episode of The Mentalist. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue) will have a multi-episode arc on One Tree Hill playing the never-before-seen mother of Justin (Austin Nichols). She is in town to plan the wedding of her son and Brooke (Sophia Bush). She will first appear in episode 6, which is slated to air at the end of October. The series returns to the CW on September 14. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

George Takei (Star Trek) will play himself on the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. He will appear alongside Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), who is returning to the series to play Wolowitz’s conscience. (Maureen Ryan at AOL TV)

Jennifer Esposito (Samatha Who?) will guest star on several episodes of Blue Bloods, the new drama about a family with deep roots in law enforcement whose cast includes Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan. Esposito will be featured in several episodes as Wahlberg’s partner in the New York Police Department. (Associated Press and Fancast)

Mariska Hargitay will make a guest appearance on the new fall drama Law & Order Los Angeles in a crossover episode where she visits Los Angeles on a case about the backlog of untested rape kits. (E! News and M.L. House at TV Fanatic)

Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) will play the son of a hard line of polygamists on Big Love. No return date has been set for Big Love yet, but the show is expected to premiere on HBO in January. (The Hollywood Reporter and M.L. House at TV Fanatic)

Stan Lee, the comic book legend, will not only be seen in upcoming episodes of Eureka and The Big Bang Theory, but he will also guest star on the new fall show Nikita, appearing in the October 7 episode. (M.L. House at TV Fanatic)

The new AMC series The Walking Dead hasn’t even aired yet (it is set to debut, fittingly, on October 31) and already the network has given the 6-episode series a second season order. This additional season will be extended to 13 episodes and will start filming in February with an as-yet determined airtime. (Inside Pulses)

The HBO half-hour dramedy Hung has been picked up for a third season. (Twitter)

TNT has renewed Memphis Beat for a second season. (Live Feed at Hollywood Reporter)

In the October 12 crossover episode between One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected, singers-songwriters Sarah McLachlan and Ben Lee will be making special appearances. The episode will have One Tree Hill characters Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Mia (Kate Voegele) taking the stage at the Sugar Magnolia music festival hosted by the radio station for which Life Unexpected characters Cate (Shiri Appleby) and Ryan (Kerr Smith) work. Haley and Mia will be part of the opening act for McLachlan and Lee. (Carina Adly MacKenzie at Zap2It.com)

Mekhi Phifer is out and Monique Gabriela Curnen (The Unusuals) is in at Lie To Me, as The Lightman Group is severing ties with the FBI. Curnen will play a “bent cop” by the name of Woloswky. The series will be back on FOX on November 10. (Archana Ram at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has ponied up a substantial amount of money to secure a new project from Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica). The project is being described as an adult Harry Potter set in a world ruled not by science but by magic. No other details were immediately available, but the sizable commitment (estimated at around 2 million) made by NBC indicates that they were particularly keen to land this project. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Televisionary)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Dwayne Johnson is in final negotiations to star in the sequel to the box office movie Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D entitled Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (loosely based on the Jules Verne classic). Johnson will play the boyfriend of Sean’s mother (Josh Hutcherson), who is forced to come along on a trip with Sean to find his missing grandfather on a mythical and monstrous island. Three other characters will be introduced and cast in the next few weeks. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti have signed on for the next George Clooney directed film Farragut North, adapted by Beau Willimon from his own off-Broadway play, which is based on his own experiences working on the 2004 Howard Dean Presidential campaign. Set in Des Moines, Iowa just before the Democratic caucus, the story revolves around political manipulator Stephen Myers who uses dirty tactics to get his candidate a nomination. Hoffman will play Myers’ boss Paul Zara, while Giamatti will play the campaign manager of the opposing candidate. (Vulture and Dark Horizons)

Rami Malek (The Pacific, Night at the Museum and 24) has joined the cast of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. He will play Benjamin, a member of the Egyptian coven who stands by the Cullens when they face the Volturi. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

Luke Wilson, David Morse (Disturbia) and Riley Keough (The Runaways) have joined the cast of the box office movie Yellow, which is about a young woman with a drug habit and a myriad of other problems. Other cast members include Sienna Miller, Lucy Punch, Ben Foster, Melanie Griffith and Gena Rowlands. Hank Azaria will have a cameo in the movie as well. (Coming Soon and First Showing)

Ted Danson and Vinessa Shaw (3:10 to Yuma) have joined Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell and Tim Blake Nelson in the cast of the film Everybody Loves Whales, which is a true story about a small-town reporter (Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Barrymore) who enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle. Danson will play a win-at-all-costs oilman who has no interest in saving the mammals while Shaw plays a White House staffer who wants the government to help the whales. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Thomas Haden Church, Martin Landau and Ezra Miller (City Island) have joined the cast of The Reasonable Bunch. Few plot details are known, but the indie is supposed to be some sort of wedding comedy which has also already signed Kate Bosworth, Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn and Demi Moore to star. (Variety and First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Kristin at E! Entertainment Online, Adam Bryant at TV Guide and Vlada at Staying In):

Question: Laney in Las Vegas: Enough Rachel and Finn already! Please tell me Tina and Artie won’t stay broken up for long! They’re my favorite couple!

Kristin: They are superadorable, aren’t they? Never fear, according to Kevin McHale, Artie is going to fight for his woman! “Tina broke up with him, so he goes above and beyond to try to get her back, which is fun” he tells us. “We’re doing stuff that I never thought possible with my character.” Perhaps more dream-dancing sequences? Can’t wait to see!

Question: So Brennan really isn’t going to be jealous of Booth’s new girlfriend on Bones? — Tina

ADAM: Executive producer Stephen Nathan says that Brennan will no doubt wrestle with regret about her decisions last season, but it may be Booth who torpedoes his new relationship. “He has forged a new life for himself emotionally,” Nathan says. “Of course, all of this occurred when he was not around Brennan. So Brennan’s presence in the mix will alter the relationship — it just has to. He’s moved on, but whether he continues to move on is another thing entirely.”

Question: Will The Good Wife be even better in season two?

Vlada: One of the most successful new dramas of last season isn’t playing it safe. Season two spoilers hint at major shakeups and new characters played by incredible actors like Tammy Blanchard and Friday Night Lights‘ Scott Porter in a storyline that will set him up against the mysterious Kalinda. Add to that guest star Michael J. Fox, Carey working for the other side, Alan Cumming as a regular cast member, and The Good Wife seems poised to top itself. I can’t wait.

Question: Can The Vampire Diaries‘ Nina Dobrev successfully pull off playing two characters in more than just flashbacks?

Vlada: Early buzz seems to suggest, “Yes,” and what we’ve seen so far in previews of season two looks very promising. Plus, after Dobrev’s surprise Emmys performance, I’m not going to bet against the girl.

Question: Which version of Glee will air this fall?

Vlada: Ryan Murphy keeps telling the press that season two will be more intimate and will focus on the regular cast. “We’re scaling it back and concentrating on the stories,” he said at the TCA Press Tour. Then he proceeded to talk about more tribute episodes, the Britney Spears episode, the big Super Bowl episode, Susan Boyle possibly guesting, a book tour, etc.

Question: Is Lonestar on the wrong network?

Vlada: A morally ambiguous and thoughtful character study, I’m worried that my favorite fall pilot might be too sophisticated for Fox. The show would feel more at home on cable, but with direction by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and an ambitious conceit — a con man juggles a girlfriend and a wife (also his mark), both of whom he’s in love with — Lonestar is really more like an indie film than a TV show.

That’s it. Enjoy!