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!

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Hey All,

As I posted yesterday, I attended the Glee panel as part of this year’s Paley Fest and was camped out all day in front of the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills (where the annual fete is now held) for most of the day without any access to the internet. That means yesterday’s update is combined with today’s news, making the update a little longer; but containing some really interesting items. Here goes:

TELEVISION

Veteran character actor William Forsythe (John Doe, Raising Arizona and The Rock) will play Steve Rigsby, a career criminal and the biker father of CBI’s own Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) on The Mentalist. This episode will air on May 5. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Actor Rich Sommer (Mad Men) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Nikita, playing Malcolm Mitchell, a CIA consultant who helps Nikita (Maggie Q) break into Percy’s black boxes. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actor Neal McDonough and actress Jeri Ryan will make guest appearances in the 10th and final season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which is back on the USA Network starting May 1. McDonough will play a Monsignor who does very good things for the Church, starting soup kitchens, orphanages, cancer wards and what not; but behind closed doors he does bad things with the women of his parish. Meanwhile Ryan will play a former CIA official who has started a private security company worth hundreds of millions, but this no-nonsense businesswoman also is harboring a secret. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Syfy has officially renewed its hit freshman drama Being Human. (Meg Masters at TV Line and Deadline)

The USA Network hit shows White Collar and Covert Affairs will both return with all new episodes, starting on June 7 at 9 and 10 PM respectively. Mark your calendars! (The Futon Critic)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

More casting has been announced for the ABC drama pilot Georgetown, including actor Kevin Zegers (Gossip Girl) and actresses Wendy Crewson and Tiya Sircar (The Vampire Diaries). The series is about a quartet of young staffers in Washington, D.C. – Sam (Daisy Betts), Nikki (Katie Cassidy), Peter (Joseph Mazzello) and Andrew (Jimmy Wolk) – who share a DuPont Circle townhouse together. Zegers will play Montgomery “Monty” Knox, a handsome, incredibly wealthy young stockbroker who went to college with Andrew and Sam. While Crewson is set as the GOP minority leader, Senator Caroline Wallace and Sircar as Harper Hawley, Andrew’s longtime assistant who Peter has a crush on. (The Futon Critic)

Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights and The Good Wife) has landed a role in the CW drama pilot Hart of Dixie that is about Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), a young big-city doctor who inherits a medical practice in the oddball town of BlueBell, Alabama. He will play George Tucker, a handsome, charming attorney who’s engaged to the overly effusive Lemon Breeland (Jaime King). (The Futon Critic)

Actress Lauren Cohan (Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and Chuck) has landed the female lead in the CW drama pilot called Heavenly that is about Lily DeMarco, a San Francisco attorney who teams with Dashiell Coffee, an angel-turned-human, to save the futures – and the souls – of their clients. She will play Lily. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck) has landed the lead role opposite Poppy Montgomery in the CBS drama pilot The Rememberer that follows Carrie Wells (Montgomery), an ex-cop struggling with the blessing/curse of hyperthymesia – the ability to remember everything – who is drafted back into the NYPD. He will play her new boss, Detective First Class Al Burns, a former high school jock who’s always going forward and believes life is to be lived, not dwelled upon. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Madeleine Stowe and actor Henry Czerny are set to co-star in the ABC drama pilot Revenge that centers on Emily Thorn/Amanda Clarke (Emily VanCamp from Everwood and Brothers & Sisters), a mysterious woman who comes to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the Graysons who destroyed her family. Stowe will play Victoria Grayson, the matriarch of the family and a social power broker. Czerny will play Victoria’s husband Conrad. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Robert Knepper (Heroes and Prison Break) will have a supporting role in the NBC drama pilot Reconstruction that is set in a Missouri town during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era and centers on Jason (Martin Henderson from Off the Map), a soldier who crosses the country and settles into a complicated town where he is welcomed as its savior. He will play the town sheriff, an unhinged veteran Confederate whose bizarre behavior alternates between Southern courtliness and a hair-trigger temperament. (Deadline)

Actors Brett Cullen (The Gates) and Jonathan Scarfe (Raising the Bar) have been added to the cast of the ABC drama pilot Hallelujah that is set in the town of Hallelujah, Tennessee where the forces of good and evil are exemplified by hardworking, moral diner owner Rye Turner (Donal Logue), a family man who has had a run of tragic luck, and his longtime nemesis, corrupt millionaire Del Roman (Terry O’Quinn), who is a law unto himself. Cullen will play Sherriff Bob Clement, a corrupt local lawman in the pocket of Del while Scarfe will play Rye’s brother Caleb, a self-confessed miserable sinner. (Deadline)

Actor David James Elliott (JAG) has been added to the cast of the ABC dramedy pilot Good Christian Bitches that stars Leslie Bibb as Amanda, a mother of two and onetime “mean girl” in high school who returns home to Dallas humbled following a scandalous divorce, hoping to get a second chance at winning over her old classmates. He will play the husband of one of Amanda’s former classmates, Darlene (Kristin Chenoweth). (Deadline)

Australian actress Phoebe Tonkin has joined the CW drama pilot The Secret Circle based on the book series from L.J. Smith, that tells the story of a young woman (Britt Robertson from Life Unexpected) who moves to a new town and discovers that not only is she a witch and part of a secret coven, but she’s also the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good versus evil. She will play Faye, part of the witches’ circle. (Deadline)

The Disney Channel has added 13 original series to their line-up for next season. Among those 13 (which includes children’s programming and new animated shows) is the new show called Jessie that stars Debby Ryan as a rural teen from Texas who moves to New York and becomes an au pair to a wealthy family with four teens; the new music/dance comedy Madison High that stars young actor Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty). (The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) has landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming adaptation of the best-selling novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The first in a planned trilogy (since there are 3 books the collection) tells the story of a young love triangle playing out against a dystopian future where North America has been divided into twelve oppressed districts, each of which is forced to send tributes in the form of a boy and a girl to compete in a televised battle to the death once a year. (Dark Horizons)

Actress Drew Barrymore will return to the director’s chair for her second film, a romantic comedy called How To Be Single based on the Liz Tuccillo novel that explores the love lives and break-ups of a group of New Yorkers over the course of ten years. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Matthew Fox (Lost) has landed a role in the big-screen reboot of James Patterson’s Alex Cross stories, playing villainous assassin Michael Sullivan, a man who kills both for money and thrills. Tyler Perry and Ed Burns co-star in the film, titled I, Alex Cross. (Dark Horizons)

Actor Val Kilmer will play Wyatt Earp in the box office film The First Ride of Wyatt Earp that follows an elderly Earp as he sits down with a reporter to reflect on the ride that made him a legend, when the young marshal rounded up a posse to track down the outlaw who mistakenly murdered the woman he loved. The cast includes Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) and American Idol finalist Diana DeGarmo [among others]. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Taylor Swift, Zac Efron, Betty White, Danny DeVito and Ed Helms will lend their voices to the box office film based on Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, which focuses on a boy who searches for the one thing that will help him win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it, he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world. (The Wrap)

CONDOLENCES

British character actor Michael Gough best known for his role as Alfred in the Batman franchise and as villains in Doctor Who passed away this week at the age of 94. He also appeared in the box office films Out of Africa, The Age of Innocence and Sleepy Hollow (among many others). (The Wrap and Dark Horizons)

ME: Rest in Peace, Mr. Gough. Deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams from TV Guide)

Question: I can’t wait for Leverage to come back this summer. Have you heard anything about the new season? — Luke

ADAM: I’m hearing that the show is looking to add an evil Warren Buffet type to recur throughout the season. But it’s how the man has amassed his wealth that’s worth noting. Apparently, he has figured out exactly what it is that the Leverage team does and has made himself rich by preying on the companies that Nate and his crew take down.

Question: What’s going to happen with Castiel (Misha Collins) and Raphael on Supernatural? — Nathan

NATALIE: We’ll let executive producer Eric Kripke lay it out for you: “The battle with Raphael and the war in heaven gets hotter and hotter. Castiel’s really backed against a corner as he’s just battling to stop the evil forces in heaven,” Kripke says. “He’s assembling as powerful an arsenal as he possibly can,” Collins adds. “He’s going to use all of those weapons to the best of his ability.” One of those weapons is Castiel’s lieutenant angel, Rachel, who viewers will soon meet.

Question: What’s coming up on NCIS: Los Angeles? — Jill

ADAM: Look for the team to work a protection detail — only they’ll be trying to keep the bad guy safe. The show is looking for an actor to play a lifelong criminal who is as charming as he is talented at building high-end custom guns. He also happens to be the government’s key witness in an arms trafficking case — which is precisely why someone wants him dead.

Question: I love that Brendan Hines is going to stir up jealousy on Castle. What else can you tell me? — Monica

ADAM: While Castle is plenty peeved by the easy rapport his protégé establishes with Beckett, his remedy is to kill the young pup with kindness. And what better way to do that than to invite him to a mystery writers’ poker night? Of course, after the cards are dealt, real-life novelists Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane make it embarrassingly clear that Hines’ character still has plenty to learn before he can truly throw in his chips with the big boys.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Due to my attendance at tonight’s Paley Fest event honoring the FOX musicomedy Glee, I will not be doing an entertainment update. All the news from today will be combined with the news from tomorrow.

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