Hey All,
Well, upfronts are nearly done with CBS announcing their fall schedule today and The CW’s official announcement will be made tomorrow, but since they’ve given away the shows they are picking up as well as the cancellations and renewals, what’s the point? Anyway, I have a separate article posted for the CBS fall schedule and will have details on the new shows and each show’s trailer posted later this afternoon.
In the meantime, here are the other news items for today:
TELEVISION
Syfy has picked up the two seasons of the Canadian supernatural series Lost Girl. There are no current details on when it will air, though. (Daemon’s TV)
TBS and TNT released a slew of details on plans for made-for-TV movies from best-selling authors and quite a number of new scripted shows as well as the announcement that the proposed spin-off to The Closer – called Major Crimes, starring Mary McDonnell – will actually take place in the latter part of 2012. More details on all their plans as they solidify, though. (TV by the Numbers)
UPFRONT NEWS
The CW drama pilots that were not picked up include Awakening, Heavenly, Cooper and Stone and Danni Lowinski. (Deadline)
BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS
Looks like actor Joel Edgerton (Warrior) bet out actor Luke Evans for the role of Tom Buchanan in the upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)
Actor Armie Hammer (The Social Network) has landed the lead role in the upcoming film The Lone Ranger, starring opposite Johnny Depp who will play Tonto. (Los Angeles Times and Dark Horizons)
Actress Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) has been cast as Glinda, the good witch, in the upcoming film Oz: The Great and Powerful. She will play opposite Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis and James Franco. (First Showing)
Actor Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) will be re-teaming with Director Peter Berg for the film adaptation of Lone Survivor (from author Marcus Luttrell). The story details a covert mission in the Hindu Kush in 2005 undertaken by the author and his fellow Navy SEALs who struggled to survive an attack by Taliban forces. The mission went wrong after their presence was given away, and Luttrell was the only one who made it out alive. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)
Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams and Adam Bryant from TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Question: Thanks for the great Castle postmortem. Any leftovers? — Kristen
ADAM: A couple. First, Beckett’s ability to put her faith in people may have died along with Captain Montgomery. “We’re really interested in how this death will affect Beckett’s ability to trust in the Castle-Beckett relationship moving forward,” executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe says. Secondly, you can definitely expect to see the 3XK killer again next season, and his target will be Detective Ryan. “We’re going to be dealing with the aftermath of Ryan having lost his gun and badge [to 3XK]” Marlowe says. “He has to come face to face with what happened that night.”
Question: So glad to hear that Matt Lauria landed on Burn Notice. What can you tell me? — Casey
ADAM: I’ll let Lauria do the talking: “[My character] is really integrally involved in the case every step of the way. Instead of just coming to the team and asking for help, he ends up insisting that he be involved in the process of solving it.” Unfortunately, Lauria says that, despite reports that his character — who reminds Michael of a younger version of himself — could recur, he hasn’t heard about doing anything beyond the one episode he already shot.
Question: I’m excited for Leverage to come back. How will Nate and Sophie interact after having slept together? — Brenda
ADAM: Both characters are in their own state of denial; Nate has resorted to virtually ignoring Sophie. But they both ultimately agree that it’s best to keep that night of passion between themselves — for the good of the team, of course. Something tells me that secret won’t stay secret very long. “Those other guys are pretty sharp,” Timothy Hutton teases.
Question: You better have a Castle Q&A coming up after that season finale. Please? —@jenkburns via Twitter
Ausiello: Sorry, no Q&A. I welcome you to join me in a fun game of connect the dots though! Dot No. 1: Beckett was shot near the heart. Dot No. 2: Beckett’s lovah, Josh, is a cardiac surgeon. Dot. No. 3: In an interview with TVGuide.com, the show’s EP, Andrew Marlowe, all but confirmed that Victor Webster would be back next season. “He’s still out there, and he’s somebody we’re going to have to deal with,” Marlowe teased. “He’s an element moving forward and it’ll be interesting to see how that functions.”
Question: Is there any chance NBC will pick up a full season’s worth of episodes for Chuck‘s final season, or is the 13 episodes set in stone? —Emily
Ausiello: It’s set in stone — unless, as NBC president Bob Greenblatt told me over the weekend, there are “suddenly 10 million viewers watching it on Friday night.” For his part, exec producer Chris Fedak is operating under the assumption that the episode order is locked. “It certainly feels like Episode 13 will be the finale of the show,” he tells me. “And the good thing about that is it allows us to design the season around those 13 episodes. And to know how much time we have will really help us crack that season.”
Question: Any scoop regarding Drop Dead Diva? — Clavie
Ausiello: In episode 9, Deb’s old pal, trashtastically sexy bar wench Cassie Moll (to be played by a Philipps type) falls for Grayson. But just one episode later, there’s already trouble afoot… which may explain why this is just a two-episode gig.
Question: With Kirk Acevedo cast in NBC’s Prime Suspect reboot, does that mean we won’t see Charlie on Fringe next season?! That was one of the best things about the Alt. Universe! — Erica
Ausiello: “All I know is they do want me back,” the actor himself told TVLine’s Matt Mitovich at NBC’s upfront presentation on Monday, adding that he wants to go back. “It’s a great group of guys over there, and [on-screen partner] Seth [Gabel] is such a good guy. I talk to him all the time.” So what’s the trouble? “I can only, contractually, do maybe three or four [episodes],” he reveals.
Question: Now that Parenthood has been renewed (best news ever, btw!) and The Event has not, is it possible we will see Jason Ritter return in season 3 to rekindle his relationship with Sarah? — Kellen
Ausiello: Seems likely. Even highly likely. In fact, when Mitovich spoke with Lauren Graham, she was hoping the same thing you were — so much so that real-life beau Peter Krause teased that she liked her leading man. “We all like him,” she laughed. “I like him for Sarah Braverman!” And you know what else the former Gilmore Girl likes for her current character? A job. “I think it’d be cool for her to have a career [as a writer],” she says, “and build on that some more.”
That’s it. Enjoy!
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