Hey All,
The news for today isn’t too voluminous, but let’s get right into it all:
TELEVISION
CBS has acquired 7 more episodes of the Canadian series Flashpoint, now giving it 13 episodes for the summer. Meanwhile, cable network ION has purchased the repeat rights to all 62 episodes of Flashpoint, but it is not clear when ION will air these repeats. (The Futon Critic)
It looks like TNT may be trying to keep their popular series The Closer around for additional episodes with or without Kyra Sedgwick. There is a possibility that another character will step up to take over or the network may launch a new spin-off series. Among the scenarios currently discussed by the network is super-sizing the 15-episode seventh and final season to 21-episodes with an order for 6 extra episodes. That, of course, is contingent on a deal with Sedgwick, whose contract is up at the end of Season 7. Additionally, the cable network is eying a possible 9-episode order for a new series, either without Sedgwick or a spinoff series featuring characters from The Closer in a new setting. (The latter will probably be a little easier to pull off as Sedgwick plays the title character in the original series.) (Nellie Andreeva and Michael Ausiello)
Actress Brittany Snow (currently on the new NBC drama Harry’s Law) will guest-star on the upcoming new romantic comedy on CBS called Mad Love, starring the sister to Sarah Chalke. The series follows the story of Kate (Chalke) and Ben (Jason Biggs), who find romance on top of the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, their respective best friends (played by Judy Greer and Tyler Labine) are not too fond of one another. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)
Actor Sebastian Spence (Battlestar Galactica) will appear on Smallville as inventor-turned-superhero Ted Kord. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)
Meanwhile, Days of Our Lives actor Eric Martsolf will appear as Booster Gold on an upcoming episode of Smallville; and relative newcomer Jaren Brandt Bartlett will appear as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in an upcoming episode of the series. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Rachel Taylor (Transformers) will join Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Lucy Fields, who will play a major character’s obstetrician and maybe a new love interest for Alex (Justin Chambers). (Carita Rizzo at TV Guide)
Colin Firth (currently the top contender for an Oscar for his role in The King’s Speech) sent the Twitter verse crazy this past weekend when he said he would love to be a villain on either Doctor Who or Torchwood. Get this man a guest spot on either of these shows, stat! (Blastr)
CONDOLENCES
The original TV fitness guru, Jack LaLanne, passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 96. (E! Entertainment Online and NY Times)
ME: Deepest condolences are extended to his family, friends and followers.
MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE….
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
The Ethan Hawke-led drama called Exit Strategy has been ordered to pilot by FOX. The pilot is about CIA agents who are sent in to “fix” operations that have gone bad. Hawke will plays the team leader, the architect of exit strategy who also empathizes with the people they extract and would rather die than let them get hurt. (The Futon Critic)
The Showtime drama, from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, called Smash has found a new home at NBC. The pilot is a show-within-a-show about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical. (The Futon Critic)
David E. Kelley’s take on the DC Comics icon Wonder Woman has finally found a home at NBC. The show will chronicle the life of a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. who is a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life. (The Futon Critic)
Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan is “this close” to landing a deal with cable network Starz to star in their upcoming 1960s drama series called Magic City. If everything works out, Morgan will play a suave Miami hotel owner who opens up his new digs just as Fidel Castro takes over Cuba. (Deadline and Megan Masters at TV Line)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Anthony Hopkins has entered talks to play legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in the planned film called Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The story would track how Hitchcock, at the height of his game as a director, decided to make a ‘lowly’ horror movie that no studio wanted to touch initially. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
The Olsen twins have a younger sister name Elizabeth Olsen, who is currently a big sensation at Sundance for her role in the indie film Martha Marcy May Marlene, will join Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy in the thriller Red Lights. Weaver will play a psychology professor whose study of paranormal activity leads her to investigate a world-renowned psychic (De Niro). Olsen will play one of Weaver’s students. (Hollywood Reporter and Jeff Sneider at The Wrap)
Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of TV Guide:
1. No Strings Attached – $20.3 million
2. The Green Hornet – $18.1 million
3. The Dilemma – $9.7 million
4. The King’s Speech – $9.2 million
5. True Grit – $8 million
6. Black Swan – $6.2 million
7. The Fighter – $4.5 million
8. Little Fockers – $4.3 million
9. Yogi Bear – $4 million
10. Tron: Legacy – $3.7 million
AWARD WINNERS
Congrats to the winners of the Producer’s Guild Awards that were presented this past weekend. They include the following for Television: Mad Men, Modern Family and The Pacific. And, the following for Film: The King’s Speech, Toy Story 3 and Waiting For Superman. (Zap2It)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Rueben's Ramblings 
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