Hey All,
Did everyone have a good weekend? I sure hope! There’s quite a bit of news to share so let’s get right into it all.
TELEVISION
As mentioned in my earlier posts today, ABC Family has renewed Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Life of the American Teenager for new seasons. Meanwhile, ABC picked up Castle, Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy for new seasons. As more renewals are announced (if any), you will find the announcements here. (Twitter)
Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) will guest star in Castle as Eric Fallon, an FBI agent tasked with trying to track down and neutralize a threat that has the NYPD at full alert. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
The HBO production Too Big Too Fail, based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, will debut on the cable network in May. The film will take a look at the epochal Wall Street financial crisis of 2008 and explore the inner sanctum of the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world’s economy in a matter of a few weeks. The cast includes William Hurt, Ed Asner, Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Topher Grace, Matthew Modine, Cynthia Nixon, Michael O’Keefe Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”), James Woods, Kathy Baker, Evan Handler, John Heard, Dan Hedaya and Joey Slotnick. (The Futon Critic)
The made-for-TV movie Mildred Pierce will air as a five-part mini-series on HBO in March. The film stars Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, James LeGros, Melissa Leo, Bryan F. O’Byrne and Evan Rachel Wood. Mare Winningham and Hope Davis co-star. The film is about a single mother during the Depression years with the world outside mirroring Mildred’s plight as the financial markets suddenly tumbled, impacting political and cultural sectors globally. (The Futon Critic)
The new HBO series Game of Thrones will debut on the cable network on April 17 (and run for a 10-episode season). The series, based on the best-selling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen as they vie for power. The cast includes Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey [among others]. (The Futon Critic)
Another HBO movie Cinema Verite, which is to debut in April, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the groundbreaking documentary “An American Family,” which chronicled the lives of the Louds in the early 1970s and catapulted the Santa Barbara family to notoriety while creating a new television genre: the reality TV series. The cast includes Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, James Gandolfini, Patrick Fugit, Kathleen Quinlan, Lolita Davidovich, Shanna Collins and Thomas Dekker. (The Futon Critic)
Laurence Fishburne will star in the HBO film Thurgood to air on the cable network on February 24 at 9 PM, as part of Black History Month. The one-man play stars Fishburne as Thurgood Marshall, the remarkable Civil Rights lawyer and Supreme Court Justice. (The Futon Critic)
MORE THE BEST OF TV 2011
The 50 Best Episodes of 2010: #10-1
FIRST LOOK AT NEW TV
Starz’ first ‘Camelot’ trailer (exclusive)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
The cable network Starz has greenlit a new series, Magic City, which centers around a hotel
in the heart of sexy, exciting Miami at the dawn of the 1960s. The series is expected to air in 2012. Casting will begin soon. (Linda Seide at The Voice of TV)
ABC has given the green light to an eight-hour miniseries based on Wicked, but not the musical version but rather the Gregory Maquire best seller on which the Broadway musical was based upon. (The TV Addict)
CONDOLENCES
British director Peter Yates passed away over the weekend after a long illness. The four-time Oscar nominee was 81. He directed the movies Bullitt and Breaking Away (among others).
ME: Rest in Peace, Mr. Yates. Sympathies are extended to his family, friends and fans.
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:
1. True Grit, $15 million
2. Little Fockers, $13.8 million
3. Season of the Witch, $10.7 million
4. Tron: Legacy, $9.8 million
5. Black Swan, $8.4 million
6. Country Strong, $7.3 million
7. The Fighter, $7 million
8. The King’s Speech, $6.811 million
9. Yogi Bear, $6.81 million
10. Tangled, $5.2 million
David Duchovny and Minnie Driver are set to appear in the indie comedy called Goats, which is an adaptation of the Mark Jude Poirier novel of the same name. The will be joined by Vera Farmiga, Keri Russell and Will Arnett in the story of a teen (Graham Phillips) who transfers to the East Coast prep school where his father made his mark as a student. Duchovny plays the makeshift father figure known as Goat Man whose life isn’t anything to swoon over, while Farmiga will play the teen’s mother. Meanwhile Arnett will play the mother’s boyfriend and Driver her best friend. Ty Burrell will play the teen’s father and Russell will play his new wife. (Variety and First Showing)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Rueben's Ramblings 
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