Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

It’s finally the end of the week and I hope everyone has some fun activities planned for this weekend or maybe you’re just hoping to take it easy. Whatever you have planned – have a great weekend. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the world of entertainment news for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Alimi Ballard (Numb3rs) and former NFL player Matthew Willig have been cast as two recurring agents on NCIS who join Gibbs and company in the hunt for a psychopath called the Port-to-Port Killer. Willig plays Special Agent Simon Cade, a hulking but friendly federal agent with a photographic memory with an Ivy League education to go along with his intimidating presence. Meanwhile, Ballard plays Special Agent Gayne Levin, a weathered, well-traveled federal agent who’s just happy to be back in Washington. Both agents are members of the team led by recently introduced E.J. Barrett (Sarah Jane Morris). Their episodes will begin airing in April. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Actor Grant Show (the original Melrose Place and more recently Private Practice) will have a recurring role on Burn Notice when the show returns to the USA Network for its fifth season sometime this summer. He will play Max, a CIA operative. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actresses Jessica Parker Kennedy (Smallville) and Shelley Hennig (Days of Our Lives) have joined the cast of the CW drama pilot Secret Circle, which is based on the books by L.J. Smith about a California teen (Britt Robertson from Life Unexpected) who moves to her mom’s hometown of New Salem, Maine and discovers that she comes from a family of witches. Kennedy will play Melissa, one of the seven members in the show’s coven of witches. Meanwhile, Hennig will play Diana, the leader of the seven-member coven who has been dating Adam (Thomas Dekker from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) since childhood. (Tierney Bricker at Zap2It)

Actor Jimmy Smits has been cast in the NBC drama pilot S.I.L.A. that examines Los Angeles from the perspective of an elite law enforcement unit. He will play a mayor with aspirations to run for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat — but who may be undone by a reputation for womanizing and ties to a criminal overlord. (The Wrap)

Veteran actor Donald Sutherland will join actress Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) in the NBC comedy pilot My Life as an Experiment, which chronicles the adventures of gonzo magazine journalist A.J. Wilder (comedian Jon Dore) and how his unique profession impacts his family. Sutherland will play Stacie’s (Brewster) dad and A.J.’s father-in-law, a highly respected, very accomplished heart surgeon and a pompous, arrogant guy to boot. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Esai Morales (Caprica) has joined the cast of the NBC drama pilot 17th Precinct from Ron Moore that currently includes former Battlestar Galactica alums Tricia Helfer, James Callis and Jamie Bamber as well as Eamonn Walker (from the short lived series Kings). Morales is set to play Lt. Liam Butterfield in the pilot that is set in a city ruled by magic and revolves around the workings of the 17th Precinct. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Alan Tudyk (Firefly) has been cast in the upcoming box office film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which concerns the former president’s quest to rid the world of vampires. (Variety)

Actor Kevin Costner will star alongside Henry Cavill and Diane Lane in the upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, playing Jonathan Kent. (Dark Horizons)

Actress Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse) has a role in the upcoming box office film The First Ride of Wyatt Earp, starring Val Kilmer in the title role. She posted a picture of herself in character (full on western costuming) at Twitter this afternoon. (Twitter)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 Featurette

Watch: Another New Trailer for Scott Stewart’s ‘Priest’ Adaptation

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly)

Question: I heard Supernatural is going to get pretty serious in the last few episodes, which is sad. I love their funny moments even more than the drama sometimes. Are there any fun episode coming up to break up the sad? — Diandra

Sandra Gonzalez: I don’t think there are whole episode of funny (See: “The French Mistake”) but there is certainly some funny on the way. The next episode back, for instance, shows us the world that would exist if the Titanic never sank. (Balthazar decides he doesn’t like the end of the movie and decides to save the ship.) “It’s kind of about the butterfly effect of that,” she said. Other exciting moments coming up: Dean’s showdown at high noon. Sam on horseback. A saloon girl hitting on Dean.

Question: Whatever happened to the Glee show that Ryan Murphy was supposedly developing for Kristen Chenoweth? I haven’t seen it mentioned in any of the pilot reports? Thanks! – Amanda

Sandra Gonzalez: Well, considering K. Cheno just joined a pilot from Sex and the City EP Darren Star (titled Good Christian Bitches), I’d say it’s safe to say it’s on hold. Meanwhile, as mentioned in my earlier Glee post, she is teaming up with Murphy and Co. for one more episode of Glee this season. And this time around, she’ll be singing a Glee original titled “It’s 10 AM and I’m drunk” when her character returns to Lima to put on a one-woman showed called “Crossroads” (or maybe it’s “CrossRhodes”?), after her all-white version of The Wiz turns out to be a stinker.

Question: Some spoiler scoopage on Justified, please! — Susola

Sandra Gonzalez: I hope some Boyd news will do the trick. In a chat with reporters this week, Walton Goggins hinted to a big moment of realization coming up for the ever-evolving character that — if you’ve been as awed as I have by this character this season — sounds completely fantastic. “Coming up in three or four episodes, you’re basically going to see what Boyd has taken away from this introspective, this journey within. He’s going to be able to articulate this in a way that Boyd would articulate this, in a poetic way. He’s going to just lay it all out there. Like having taken the time and looked at life from all these different angles, this is what I walk away with,” he says. “It’s beautiful, and in some ways, I think for the audience, hopefully you’ll really understand this guy and not just feel sympathy for him, but you’ll kind of understand it from a birds-eye point of view and you’ll see kind of his worldview laid out in a way that makes sense.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!