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!

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Hey All,

Some really cool news has come out today along with some interesting articles to read so let’s get right into today’s update:

TELEVISION

Actress Sonya Salomaa (who had a small role in the box office film Watchmen) will guest star in Supernatural as Rachel, a tough angel who is expected to appear in the 19th episode of this season. While the part is only scheduled for this one episode, the role is to recur. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Looks like 90210 will be down two more adults: Lori Loughlin and Ryan Eggold will not be returning to the show next season. The fourth season (ME: It will be going into its 4th season – really?) will find the West Beverly crew transitioning to college. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

SUPERNATURAL Q&A ARTICLE

Q+A Time: ‘Supernatural’ Showrunner Sera Gamble Talks Castiel’s War, Dean’s Dilemmas and Sam’s Soul

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

A pilot by Oscar-winning writer Stephen Gaghan (Traffic and Syriana) has been picked up by NBC. The pilot is described, of course, as a Traffic/Syriana-like look at Los Angeles through multiple perspectives in law enforcement, legal communities, city hall, the land of privilege and criminal enterprise. (Deadline)

ABC has given a pilot order to two dramas. The first is Pan Am, which is described as a sexy soap set against the Jet-Age about pilots and flight attendants working at the iconic Pan Am airline in the 1960s. And the second is Poe, a crime procedural following Edgar Allan Poe, the world’s very first detective, as he uses unconventional methods to investigate dark mysteries in 1840s Boston. (Deadline)

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s new CBS thriller pilot ‘Ringer’: The producer spills details! — EXCLUSIVE

UK actor Luke Pasqualino (Skins) will play young William Adama in the much anticipated Battlestar Galactica prequel Blood & Chrome while actor Ben Cotton (Hellcats and the online series Riese) will play Adama’s commanding officer. The show will debut with a two-hour pilot on Syfy. (Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Naomi Watts has signed on to star in the biopic J. Edgar, playing Helen Gandy, J. Edgar Hoover’s loyal secretary for 54 years. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, Armie Hammer as his alleged lover Clyde Tolson, Josh Lucas as aviator Charles Lindbergh, Ken Howard as Attorney General Harlan F. Stone, Ed Westwick as the author of Hoover’s biography, and Damon Herriman as Bruno Hauptmann. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Ruben Blades – who has served as Minister of Tourism for Panama from 2004 to 2009 will join Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington in the thriller flick Safe House follows is about a CIA agent (Reynolds) whose safe house is attacked requiring him to get a criminal (Washington) to safety. (Joshua Weinstein at The Wrap)

Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Do you have anything on Stefan and Elena on Vampire Diaries? — Harriet

NATALIE: Now that Katherine is entombed and Elijah seems to be doing his job, Stefan and Elena will take a romantic trip to her parents’ lake house. “They just want to be a normal couple that goes on vacation,” Paul Wesley says. (What could possibly go wrong?) “Of course, danger is pursuing them.” Not only that, they’ll have a capital-T talk about the logistics of a vampire-human relationship, Wesley adds, and the options aren’t attractive.

Question: Will we see Clark fly before the series finale of Smallville? — Chris

NATALIE: “I would say watch ‘Collateral,'” executive producer Brian Peterson says, very craftily teasing this week’s episode. In other exciting final-season news, the Justice League will regroup in the aftermath of Hawkman’s knockout funeral. “They’re definitely a very cohesive unit by the end of the series,” executive producer Kelly Souders says.

Question: Something on NCIS, please! —Sara

Ausiello: Sasha Alexander’s dead agent is returning! Kind of, but not really! Allow me to explain: This season’s clip-heavy 14th episode revolves around the stressed-to-the-max team being forced into therapy. During their individual sessions, Gibbs & Co. flash back to some of their most emotionally taxing cases — Kate’s death obviously being at the top of the list.

Question: Please, do you have any Castle scoops? —Christi

Ausiello: In an upcoming episode, newbie couple Esposito and Lanie will go on a double date with Ryan and Jenny — and to say the fellas’ better halves do not hit it off is putting it mildly.

Question: Josh Schwartz keeps warning fans on Twitter not to miss the “last 10 minutes of next week’s Chuck” and I’m starting to get worried. Please put my mind at ease. —Chris

Ausiello: Would it help if I had Schwartz offer up a one-word description of the episode’s much-buzzed-about final act? No? Too bad. I already asked him. And the word is… Goosebumps!

Question: How about a Supernatural spoiler? —Kriya

Ausiello: The Grim Reaper will set his sights on two recurring characters in the not-too-distant future.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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