Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Happy Tuesday, folks. Quite a bit of news to share with all of you so let’s get started, shall we?:

TELEVISION

Actress Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) has landed a leading role in a new pilot for TNT called Bird Dog. The central premise of the series focuses on police officer Gail McGrath (Dushku), who trailed her father into the world of law enforcement – the only mutual interest she shared with her estranged old man. With time, McGrath would leave the big
city she once called home in order to settle out West. A piece of home, however, soon finds McGrath as her father turns up at her house to announce that he is her new partner. (Screen Rant)

Dan Aykroyd has signed on to appear in two episodes of The Defenders, playing a judge needing help. The episodes are slated to air early next year. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

The new ABC Dana Delany drama Body of Proof has finally been given a premiere date: Tuesday, March 29 at 10 PM, following the end of the 18-episode run of the new series Detroit 1-8-7. The series follows Dr. Megan Hunt (Delany), a brilliant neurosurgeon whose world is turned upside down when an accident puts an end to her time in the operating room. In her new career as a Medical Examiner, she is determined to solve the puzzle of who or what has killed the victims. Along the way, Megan finds that their lives and the lessons they hold can be applied to her own personal journey of redemption and forgiveness. The series also stars Jeri Ryan, John Carroll Lynch, Nicholas Bishop, Sonja Sohn, Geoffrey Arend and Windell D. Middlebrooks. (The Futon Critic)

FX has announced a debut date for its new original series Lights Out: Tuesday January 11 at 10 PM. The series stars Holt McCallany (CSI: Miami) as Patrick ‘Lights’ Leary, an aging former heavyweight boxing champion who struggles to find his identity and support his wife and three daughters after retiring from the ring. The financial downturn coupled with a series of failed investments leave him at a perilous crossroads, battling the urge to return to boxing or reluctantly accepting a job as a brutal and intimidating debt collector. Catherine McCormack, Pablo Schreiber and Stacy Keach co-star. FX has ordered 13 episodes of Lights Out. (The Futon Critic)

ARTICLES ABOUT TV

Sources: Vampire Diaries “Companion” Series Is in the Works

‘The Vampire Diaries’: Six teasers from executive producer Julie Plec

‘Greek’ exclusive First Look: The new season goes ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

J.J. Abrams has found his new TV leading lady: Sarah Jones will join the ranks of Jennifer Garner, Keri Russell, Evangeline Lily, Anna Torv and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the FOX pilot Alcatraz, which revolves around the reappearance of a group of Alcatraz prisoners and guards, who mysteriously went missing 30 years ago, and the team of FBI agents picked to solve the mystery. Jones will play Rebecca Madsen, a smart, thoughtful and a little obsessive police officer. Jones has appeared in Sons of Anarchy and Justified as well as guest starring stints on Ugly Betty, Big Love, and House. The project is in contention for a slot on the 2011-2012 Fall TV Schedule for FOX. (Deadline and TV Overmind)

WEB SERIES

Warner Premiere and Dolphin Entertainment announced casting for their forthcoming multi-platform teen action series called Aim High that will star Jackson Rathbone (the Twilight franchise) as teenage government operative Nick Green. He will be joined by Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), who stars as Nick’s charming love interest Amanda Miles. MCG is one of the producers. The web series will also stars Rebecca Mader (Lost) as Nick’s sultry science teacher Ms. Walker, Johnny Pemberton (Megadrive) as the well-connected best friend Marcus, Clancy Brown (Highlander) as Russian mercenary Boris the Bear, Jonathan McDaniel (That’s So Raven) as Amanda’s jealous boyfriend and swim team captain Derek Long, and Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) as the protective Vice Principal Ockenhocker. Aim High is the story of a young man leading a double life, juggling his studies by day and serving as a government agent by night. The series chronicles the life of Nick Green, a junior who’s just starting a new school year as one of the country’s 64 highly trained teenage operatives. When he’s not handling international spies, Nick is dreaming of Amanda Miles, the most popular girl in school who’s cool, intelligent and very alluring. Amanda mercilessly flirts with Nick, but before he can enjoy her advances he has to avoid Derek her overly protective boyfriend who threatens him for even looking at her. (Coming Soon)

AWARD WINNERS

Here is a list of winners from the 2010 Gotham Awards courtesy of E! Entertainment Online:

Best Feature: Winter’s Bone
Ensemble Performance: Winter’s Bone
Breakthrough Actor: Ronald Bronstein, Daddy Longlegs
Breatkthrough Director: Kevin Asch, Holy Rollers
Documentary: The Oath
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: Littlerock
Festival Genius Award: Waiting for Superman

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Tom Hanks has joined the cast of the forthcoming movie Triple Frontier, which is the next movie to be done by Oscar Best Director winner Kathryn Bigelow, which is an ensemble picture set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil where the Igazu and Parana rivers converge, making “la triple frontera” difficult to monitor and a haven for organized crime. (Coming Soon)

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

Question from Ben: Any idea what we’ll see NBC’s new shows Friends with Benefits or Love Bites? They weren’t on the January lineup.

Kristin: Fret not, tubers. Both shows will see the light of day. There just wasn’t enough room on NBC’s winter docket to include all of their new goodies, but Friends with Benefits and Love Bites are both in production with tons of episodes already in the can. So we’ll just have to wait a teensy bit longer to see our favorites Becki Newton, Ryan Hansen and Greg Grunberg back on the small screen. Fact: It’s totally worth it.

Question from Portia: Any chance that Terriers will get a second season?

Kristin: A second round of Terriers is pretty unlikely—the ratings are terrible but we’re whole-heartedly pulling for it. The Terriers season finale, which airs Wednesday, introduces a great new villain—a fellow we have long loved around WWK HQ and whom we generally call “the world’s hottest albino.” (Hint: He was on Desperate Housewives.) We’re crossing our fingers that Donal Logue, Michael Raymond-James and aforementioned gorgeous albino make it back for season two.

Question from Sandra: Glee, please! Is there any hope for Will and Emma?

Kristin: And how! It’s too early to talk about it yet, but I can tell you that at least one squee-worthy moment is in the works for an upcoming episode. Anyone else missing Finn and Rachel and Will and Emma the past few episodes?

Question from @redsoxnation80 via Twitter: something…anything…PRETTY LITTLE LIARS!!

Kristin: This looong Pretty Little Liars hiatus is like being tortured by “A”, right? We’ve got some clues about the return episode (“Moments Later,” airing Jan. 3) to tide you over (or torment you more): Someone receives a surprise kiss, another girl reveals a huge secret…and “A” visits Hanna in the hospital. Gah! No wonder star Ashley Benson told us, “I think Hanna is going to have a breakdown” when we visited the PLL set last month.

Question from Lily: Any hope of a Julie-Matt reunion before the end of Friday Night Lights?

Kristin: We can’t promise anything, but we have a good feeling…Our boy Matt does get a mention in Wednesday’s episode of FNL—it seems Julie’s not completely over him yet. Sadly, Julie’s devotion to good boy Saracen doesn’t keep her from canoodling with a teacher’s assistant at her school, and finding out in the most embarrassing way possible that that’s not a good idea. (Sidenote: Because we wholeheartedly love FNL we won’t mention how every show out there seems to be doing the student/teacher fling thing lately. You’re welcome, Jason Katims.)

Question from Marlnie: How about something good on The Vampire Diaries?

Kristin: This Thursday’s episode (yes, it is back this week!) is not one to be missed. (Dear Kevin and Julie and the powers that be, thank you for not succumbing to the almighty sophomore slump like some other series we know.) The episode is Tyler and Caroline-centric…they are hitting a cave. So romantic! And there is also a full moon coming, which Michael Trevino (Tyler) promises will be a “scary ordeal.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Did everyone survive the long holiday weekend? Hope so and I hope you all had a great holiday and enjoyed the weekend. But now, it’s back to reality and here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

It looks like Jane Badler isn’t the only original star from the original V series appearing on the new reboot. Marc Singer, who played freedom fighter Mike Donovan in the original, will play a new character named Lars Tremont, who is a member of a super top secret organization comprised of high-ranking military and government leaders from around the globe, who have long suspected that the Visitors — despite what they tell us — are very much not here in peace. Jane Badler will make her debut in the January 4 season premiere, while Marc will pop up in episode 10, which is also the second season finale. Badler and Singer will not share any screen time together, though. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Michael Weatherly will pull double duty later this season on NCIS, as he makes his directorial debut. He expects to go behind the camera for an episode filming in January, but no other details about the episode are immediately available. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts of the 2011 Academy Awards? Yes, according to Deadline (and every outlet on the map since the broke the news this morning) have signed on to host the Oscars. (Deadline and Fancast)

Kristoffer Polaha has signed a talent holding deal with CBS, which pretty much puts the final nail into the coffin that was Life Unexpected. See here for more details. (The TV Addict and Deadline)

It was only a matter of time until this happened. Actress-singer AJ Michalka (who recently starred in the movie Secretariat as Diane Lane’s daughter) will make her debut on her sister Aly’s CW series Hellcats. She will guest star as a girl who works at a record store near Lancer University. AJ is expected to appear in several episodes but which episodes those will be have not yet been confirmed. (Zap2It)

ARTICLES/VIDEOS ABOUT TV

Primeval to Return

‘Being Erica’: SoapNet’s Season 3 Promos Are Here!

CONDOLENCES

Legendary actor Leslie Nielsen passed away Sunday afternoon due to complications from pneumonia. He was 84 years old. (E! Entertainment Online)

ME: Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans. Moment of silence, please…

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Luke Perry and Jason Priestley (from the original Beverly Hills 90210) will reunite for the Hallmark Movie Channel film Goodnight For Justice, which is slated to debut on January 29 at 8 PM. Perry is Executive Producer and lead star of the film whose character Judge John Goodnight, a Circuit Judge, renders justice with a perfect persuasion of eloquence and deadly aim. Priestley directs the film. Here is a more broad description of the film:

In a stagecoach, a young boy creates an eidetic memory of his childhood, each sight and sound of all the days of his life recalled with stunning accuracy: Waiting outside a General Store; a candy barrel filled with peppermints; his mother and father, defeated, but still proud, hold hands as they talk about giving up the hardscrabble land they tried to call home and the excitement of new beginnings back East; an eloquent Circuit Judge, Aldous Shaw, and his elegantly-dressed wife offer solace to the Goodnight family; the judge’s six-gun and rich leather holster gleam in the sun; the slow hum of good conversation mixed with hoofbeats; out of nowhere, noise, confusion, a brilliant flash; six masked outlaws surround the coach; gunfire explodes without cessation; horses flail; Judge Shaw is felled by a pearl-handled knife; carriage overturns with deadly force; bullets fly; all are lost, except the boy and the Judge’s wife who will become his surrogate mother. The boy who hid in weeds to save his own life is now a man who walks with grandeur and purpose. He is, a Circuit Judge, hell-bent on justice. (The Futon Critic)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 movies for the past holiday weekend according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, $50.3 million
2. Tangled, $49.1 million
3. Megamind, $12.9 million
4. Burlesque, $11.8 million
5. Unstoppable, $11.75 million
6. Love and Other Drugs, $9.9 million
7. Faster, $8.7 million
8. Due Date, $7.3 million
9. The Next Three Days, $4.8 million
10. Morning Glory, $4 million

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

Question: Please tell me that Luther’s six-episode arc on BBC America was a success and that we will be treated to a subsequent series. I can’t believe they will leave us hanging, after that wonderful season finale. Of course, this cliffhanger seems to leave the door open for more. What will happen to Luther? Will they try to pin the latest shooting (Ian Reed) on him? Will the brilliant but disturbed Alice Morgan character continue to help Luther or disappear to leave him with no alibi? Too bad Indira Varma’s character of Zoe was killed off. (A necessity as she is also now starring on Human Target?) Such interesting, eccentric characters with enough twists to keep the audience interested. The only show other than HBO’s offerings (and Mad Men) that is truly worthy on Sunday night. Six episodes are not enough! — Pam

Matt Roush: Have there ever been better last words than Luther declaring “Now what?!?” as that intense finale came crashing down around him? Sensational stuff. The good news is that the story of Luther will continue next year with two two-hour movies. Now we just have to wait for BBC America to schedule it. Perhaps easier said than done, given how far the channel has moved away from crime-drama programming — which is a pity, given how good the British are at making them (though they tend to fall short of the ratings BBCA gets with sci-fi/fantasy and reality).

That’s it. Enjoy!

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As usual, at this time of year, there was a lot of football on TV yesterday. There was also the pre-requisite news programs, reality and animation on FOX. What was left to watch were repeats and a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Here is how those fared in the overall ratings:

9 PM Shows:
Desperate Housewives (ABC) [repeat] – 4.3 million
November Christmas (CBS) [Hallmark Hall of Fame movie] – 13 million

10 PM Show:
Brothers & Sisters (ABC) [repeat] – 3.3 million

What did you watch last night? Please share.

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