Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Not a lot of news to share, but there were some big casting items announced today (see my earlier post about the casting of Klaus on The Vampire Diaries) as well as what appears below.

TELEVISION

Nancy Travis (The Bill Engvall Show and Three Men and a Baby) will appear in an upcoming episode of Grey’s Anatomy, playing Allison who is a patient in Derek’s Alzheimer’s clinical trial. Her 10-year-old son takes more care of her than the other way around, which will make Dr. Stark (Peter MacNicol) insist that Social Services be contacted. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Bradley Whitford (The West Wing and The Good Guys) will guest star in the USA series In Plain Sight, playing a career military man who is a star witness for a Blackwater-style military contract company. The series is expected to return with new episodes sometime this spring. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Peter Cambor will be returning to NCIS: Los Angeles as operational psychologist Dr. Nate Getz, whose mysterious absence since the beginning of this season has kept the show’s fans wondering if he’ll return and what he’s been doing while “on assignment.” It looks like audiences will get to see a new side to Nate. He has undergone some specialized training (pet Hetty’s request) and he gets to show off his newfound skills in an upcoming episode. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

The Lifetime series Army Wives will be back for its fifth season on Sunday, March 6 at a new earlier time – 9 PM, serving as the lead-in for the new reality series called Coming Home that will document the surprise reunions of soldiers and their families at 10 PM. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Beth Riesgraf (Leverage) will guest star on an upcoming episode of NCIS, playing Maxine Edwards, an infamous online gamer who still has bad blood with her Marine ex-boyfriend, who cheated her in more ways than one. When his dismembered fingertips and teeth are discovered in a pickpocket’s stolen purse, she naturally becomes one of NCIS’ suspects. Luckily for Maxine, her gaming obsession piques the curiosity of fellow gamer McGee (Sean Murray), with whom she shares many common interests and a whole lot of chemistry. This episode is slated to air on February 22. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Tom Verica, Lolita Davidovich and Laura Bell Bundy have joined the hour-long pilot called Hound Dogs for TBS. The series follows a minor league team – the Nashville Hound Dogs – as they try to handle life’s ups and downs, both in and out of the locker room. Verica will play Marty Crowley, the team’s endlessly upbeat, endlessly spinning general manager. Meanwhile, Davidovich will play Iris Hammer, the woman who takes over the team following her much older husband’s death and Bundy will play Ginger Ledoux, an unattainable waitress/lounge singer. (The Futon Critic)

BIG CASTING NEWS

Exclusive: Minka Kelly and Rachael Taylor Round Out TV’s New Charlie’s Angels

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Viggo Mortensen is in talks to star as the Huntsman in the upcoming box office movie Snow White and the Huntsman with Charlize Theron nearly in line to star as the evil queen Ravenna. In this story, the Huntsman is ordered by the evil queen to take her stepdaughter Snow White into the woods and kill her. Huntsman Eric instead lets her go and becomes something of a mentor who teaches her how to fight and survive. Rumor has it that both Emily Browning (who will be seen in the upcoming Sucker Punch movie) and Kristin Stewart (from the Twilight franchise) are being touted for the lead role. The film isn’t expected in theatres until December 21, 2012. (Variety, Heat Vision, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Alec Baldwin and Isla Fisher will all lend their voices to the animated movie Rise of the Guardians, which follows a group of heroic childhood legends, each with extraordinary abilities. When Pitch (Law), an evil spirit akin to the boogeyman, lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world. Pine will play Jack Frost, Jackman is Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny), Baldwin is North (Santa Claus) and Fisher is Tooth (the Tooth Fairy). A 2012 release is being targeted. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Josh Duhamel has joined the ever growing cast of the upcoming box office movie New Year’s Eve. The cast already includes Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Sofia Vergara, Halle Berry, Zac Efron, Jessica Biel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Abigail Breslin, Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker and Sienna Miller. (Joshua Weinstein at The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Official Trailer Hits for Robert Redford’s ‘The Conspirator’

That’s it. Enjoy!