Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Happy Over the Hump Day. Lots of news to share so let’s get right to it all:

TELEVISION

Actress Valerie Harper (from the classic series Rhoda) will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives as Susan’s Aunt Claire, who comes to visit her niece along with her sister, Susan’s spacey mom Sophie. Harper will appear in the second new episode of 2011. (William Keck at TV Guide)

The much-talked-about-since-Comic-Con prequel movie of Burn Notice that is to focus on Sam Axe (played by Bruce Campbell) will air on the USA Network sometime in the spring and will be directed by Burn Notice lead actor Jeffrey Donovan. The two-hour movie will center on Sam’s final 2005 mission with the Navy SEALs, which involved a group of Colombian rebels. (Kate Ward at Entertainment Weekly and Dark Horizons)

Casting is underway for a new series regular for Hawaii Five-0. This new character (who could male or female) is in his or her late 20s to early 30s, a wise-cracking, multilingual Asia expert recruited into the CIA right out of Harvard. The new addition also has a deep-rooted connection to McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), having taken a bullet for him years ago. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

ME: Who would you like to see cast in this role?

Sad new: The Cartoon Network one-hour live-action drama Unnatural History has not been renewed by the network. (Daemon’s TV)

Actor Doug Hutchinson (who played Horace on Lost) will guest star in Lie To Me, playing Lane Bradley, whose rising career as a police detective comes to a screeching halt when his infant daughter is kidnapped. The episode will air later this season. (Movieline and Zap2It)

Two more actors have joined the cast of the J.J. Abrams time-warped Alcatraz pilot for FOX. Jonathan Coyne (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) will play the infamous prison’s warden and Jason Butler Harner will portray his cruel lieutenant. (Jeff Labrecque at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is developing a couple of music-themed series for next fall, including a drama with musical elements from writer Bob Kushell (Samantha Who?) that would star Tony winner Idina Menzel AND a musical comedy from Robert Horn, who wrote the High School Musical-spinoff Sharpay Fabulous and The Suite Life: The Movie. The drama with Menzel would be an hour-long project about a mother-daughter relationship in the vein of Gilmore Girls. Menzel would be a single mother with a teenager who, to make ends meet, waits tables and performs at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Meanwhile, the as-yet-untitled Horn project is described as a half-hour female-driven musical comedy. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Shonda Rhimes (the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice) is creating a new series for ABC set in the world of public relations crisis management; based on the career of legendary public relations consultant Judy Smith, who worked with Bill Clinton, Michael Vick and New York Governor David Paterson. Not much more is known about the project other than it is being developed for the 2011-12 season. (Vulture and Zap2It)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Luximation Films is set to produce an animated feature adaptation of the graphic novel The Clockwork Girl, which is the first in a series about the coming of age tale about a young robot girl named Tesla and a young monster boy named Huxley who set out to save their world from destruction. Alexa Vega and Jesse McCartney will voice the two characters. Joining them are Carrie-Anne Moss, Brad Garrett and Jeffrey Tambor as Wilhelm. (Dark Horizons)

Ray Wise (Reaper and Twin Peaks) has landed a role in the box office movie X-Men: First Class, playing the Secretary of State of the United States. (First Showing)

Jackie Earle Haley (Human Target), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Bailee Madison (Just Go with It) will star in the independent black comedy called Dance of the Mirlitons, which follows an ambitious, slightly overweight ballerina (Madison) with an overbearing mother (Bell) who will stop at nothing to become a star. The girl enters a catty clique-type environment when she has to prove her worth in class and face-off against the star ballerina (Moretz) who becomes her school nemesis. Meanwhile, Haley will likely be bringing laughs as a subtly sadistic Russian ballet teacher of the highest order. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Paul Giamatti is in negotiations to possibly star in the box office movie Cosmopolis, which is an adaptation of the Don DeLillo book of the same name. The story follows 24 hours in the life of a newly married billionaire (Colin Farrell) as he cheats on his wife (Marion Cotillard), is pursued by a stalker, gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune over the course of a single day. (The Playlist and First Showing)

Angela Bassett has joined the cast of the action comedy film This Means War, which stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two retired spies who battle with one another after they fall in love with the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Bassett will play both of the spies’ boss who has dedicated her entire life to the spy business and has no life outside the CIA. (Variety and First Showing)

Director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) is in early negotiations to direct the movie called Maze Runners. The movie will be based on the first book in the young adult sci-fi trilogy by James Dashner. The story follows a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a strange place called the Glade with no memory aside from his first name. The Glade is an enclosed structure populated by other boys, and is surrounded by tall, stone walls that protect them from monsters called Grievers that live in the Maze, which surrounds the walls around the Glade. Every day, some of the kids who are Runners venture into the labyrinth trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit. As soon as Thomas arrives, unusual things begin to happen and the others grow suspicious of him. The Maze seems familiar to Thomas, but he’s unable to make sense of the place despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. When the first girl arrives in the Glade, she brings a message that she will be the last one to ever arrive in the Glade, as the end is near. (The Wrap)

Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) has joined the cast of the movie Looper, which also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. The film follows a group of hitmen (called Loopers) in the present-day who are sent their targets from the future. Dano will play a character named Seth who is one of the Loopers. (Variety and First Showing)

The family friendly franchise from the 80’s – Benji – is being considered for a big screen relaunch, but there doesn’t seem to be any other specifics available at this time. (First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Adam and Natalie at TV Guide)

Question: Got anything good on Hawaii Five-0? — Peter

ADAM: I was just saying to myself last week, Daniel Dae Kim’s Chin Ho needs more to do than play computer jockey back at HQ. (Granted, they’re very cool computers, but still.) Looks like someone heard me because in an upcoming episode, we will meet Chin’s ex-fiancée, a beautiful doctor who helps solve one of the team’s cases by identifying a dead body. Naturally, the couple has lots of unfinished business, which might be why the good doctor still wears Chin’s engagement ring around her neck.

UPDATE: According to Michael Ausiello, it looks like actress Reiko Aylesworth (who played Dharma Initiative member Amy on Lost) will play the potentially recurring role of Malia, the ex-fiancé of Chin Ho.

Question: What is the deal with Delko and Calleigh on CSI: Miami? What’s the status of their relationship? — Tanesha

ADAM: For the immediate future, they will be more friends than lovers. “Delko having to do things behind his colleagues’ back kind of threw a wrench into the works as far as their relationship goes,” co-executive producer Marc Dube tells us. “There’s been a bit of an agreed backing-off on both sides. It’s something that will be revisited, but right now it’s more of a brother-sister relationship. They love each other very much. Will it spike again? Probably, but they’re taking a little break from the intensity.”

Question: Are there any more superheroes showing up on No Ordinary Family? — Emily

NATALIE: No, but there is a supervillain coming. My Name is Earl’s Ethan Suplee has been cast as Tom Seeley, an ex-con who finds himself out of jail and imbued with superpowers. But there’s a catch: He has no memories, including how he escaped from prison. Who else thinks Dr. King (Stephen Collins) is behind this?

Question: When are we going to see the Triple Killer again on Castle? — Ellie

ADAM: He most likely won’t appear until the latter part of the season, but his presence may be felt sooner. “There are ways to deal with the storytelling where you’re not necessarily confronting the character head-on,” creator Andrew W. Marlowe tells us. “It’s possible his character ends up being a puppetmaster.” In whatever form he takes, look for 3XK’s continued freedom to haunt Castle. “Castle feels a responsibility that this guy is out there,” Marlowe says. “If he’d just been a little bit smarter … then whatever might happen in the future wouldn’t have happened. Castle is going to feel that burden.”

That’s it. Enjoy!