Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

The news is a little light today, but there are still some great items to share. Let’s get into it:

TELEVISION

Actress Elizabeth Berkley (Saved By the Bell) will be back on CSI: Miami presumably as Julia Winston, Horatio’s (David Caruso) ex-lover and mother of Kyle Harmon (Evan Ellingson). The episode is set to air in May. (Spoiler TV)

Actor-singer Rick Springfield (General Hospital) will guest star in an episode of Hawaii Five-0 set to air this spring. He will play Renny, a fashion photographer who is in Hawaii shooting a swimsuit cover alongside his model fiancé Kenza when tragedy strikes. (Maggie Furlong at AOL TV)

Actor Nick Zano (Melrose Place) and actor turned entertainment news reporter Mario Lopez will appear in the season premiere episode of Drop Dead Diva. Lopez will play himself while Zano will play movie star Tim Kline, whose hit-and-run accident and impending divorce are handled by Jane (Brooke Elliott). Country singer LeAnn Rimes stars as Kline’s soon-to-be ex-wife. (Jethro Nededog at Zap2It)

Mark your calendars: TNT has announced the return dates for their summer series, including: Men of a Certain Age on June 1 at 10 PM; Memphis Beat on June 14 at 9 PM; HawthoRNe on June 14 at 10 PM; Leverage on June 26 at 9 PM; The Closer on July 11 at 9 PM and Rizzoli & Isles on July 11 at 10 PM. (TNT)

Also, TNT will launch their new shows as follows: Franklin & Bash, starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue) and Breckin Meyer (Road Trip) as two fly-by-the seat-of-their-pants lawyers working for a button-down law firm, which debuts on June 1 at 9 PM. And, Falling Skies, which has its 2-hour debut on June 19 at 9 PM (with its regular time slot being Sundays at 10 PM) stars Noah Wyle (ER) in the story of the aftermath of an alien invasion and the resistance movement formed by the survivors. (TNT)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actors Terry O’Quinn (Lost) and Donal Logue (Terriers) have landed roles in the ABC drama pilot called Hallelujah. The pilot is set in the town of Hallelujah, Tennessee where the town is being torn apart by the forces of good and evil and whose fortunes change when a stranger comes to town, bringing justice, peace and possibly restoring faith. O’Quinn will play the show’s main villain Del, a charming yet wholly corrupt local millionaire who virtually owns the town. Meanwhile, Logue will play Rye Turner, an honest family man and the owner of the local diner who’s tired of being under Del’s thumb. (Michael Ausiello and The Futon Critic)

Actor Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order) will appear in the ABC comedy pilot called Suburgatory that centers on Tessa (Jane Levy), a teenage girl who is moved by her dad George (Sisto) from Manhattan, where she grew up, to her version of hell: the suburbs. (Deadline)

Actress Jennifer Morrison (House) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called Once Upon a Time about Anna Swan (Morrison), a woman with a troubled past who is drawn to Storybrooke, a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Joe Mazzello (the little kid from Jurassic Park as well as The Social Network and The Pacific) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called Georgetown, which centers on Andrew Pierce (Jimmy Wolk), an effortlessly charming and brilliant Yale graduate and the youngest Presidential speech-writer on record. Mazzello will play Peter, another junior White House staffer who lives with his best friends Andrew, Nikki (Katie Cassidy) and Sam (Daisy Betts). (Deadline)

Actor Reggie Lee (Prison Break) has landed a role in the NBC drama pilot Grimm that is a dark but fantastical cop drama set in a world where characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist. The pilot centers on Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli), a good-looking detective who starts to see humans as beast/animals and discovers that he has a legacy – to protect “humans” from these beasts. Lee will play a cop who works with Nick. (Deadline)

Actress Jordana Spiro (My Boys) has landed a role on the ABC comedy pilot called Lost and Found, which centers on Jo (Spiro), a narcissistic thirtysomething New York City bartender and party girl whose life is turned upside-down when the conservative 18-year-old son she gave up for adoption turns up on her doorstep. (TV Line)

Actor Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected) has landed a role opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the CBS drama pilot called Ringer that has Geller playing a troubled young woman named Bridget who, while on the run from the mob, hides out by inhabiting the life of her rich wealthy twin sister, Siobhan. But there is a bounty on her sis’ head, too. Polaha plays the out-of-work husband of Siobhan’s best friend (Tara Summers) who also happens to be having an affair with Siobhan. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Keira Knightley will provide her voice for the role of Tinker Bell in the upcoming made-for-TV movie Neverland that will air on Syfy. The cast of this mini-series, that will air in December, includes Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel and Bob Hoskins. (John Sellers at The Wrap)

Julianne Moore is set to play Sarah Palin in the HBO movie called Game Change that is to chronicle the failed 2008 presidential campaign by John McCain. (The Futon Critic)

That’s it. Enjoy!