Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Today’s news has been delayed due to some circumstances out of my control, but thankfully those circumstances were good ones. Here are the news items:

TELEVISION

Tony nominated actress Elizabeth Rodriguez has joined the cast of the new NBC drama series Prime Suspect that stars Maria Bello as Jane Timoney, a female detective working in a tough, male-dominated precinct in New York City. Rodriguez will play another detective on the force. The new show will air on Thursday nights at 10 PM. (Deadline)

Actor Gilles Marini (Brothers & Sisters) has been cast on the new ABC Family Channel series Switched at Birth. He will appear as the birth father of Bay (Vanessa Marano). (TV Guide)

AMC has set a premiere date for the second season of The Walking Dead on October 21. (Dark Horizons)

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke is joining the new Lifetime drama The Protector as the mother of mother of Ally Walker’s character – homicide detective Gloria Sheppard. (The Hollywood Reporter)

While Doctor Who will be back for a new season with 14 episodes, a full season of the show will not be aired in 2012, but rather “a special run for the anniversary in 2013.” (Digital Spy and Blastr)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Caroline Dhavernas (Off the Map and Wonderfalls) has landed the female lead in the USA pilot called Over/Under, which centers on Paul (Steven Pasquale), a day trader with a massive gambling problem who is fired from his job six months after a bad trade costs his firm millions. Shut out of the job market, he and his wife (Dhavernas) — a professional photographer specializing in nude portraits and a devoted Manhattanite — move to Brooklyn. There, Paul finds an unlikely partner, expectant father Marino (Anthony Carrigan), to start a high-end bookie business. (Deadline)

Young actress Bailee Madison (Just Go With It) has joined the FX drama pilot called Powers that is based on the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. The pilot is a police procedural set in a world where superpowers are relatively common and centers on two detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, in a Homicide department that deals with cases involving “powers” (people with superpowers). The 11-year-old will play Calista, an otherworldly young girl raised by her stepdad Eagle, a man with powers. When Eagle’s wife is murdered and he goes on the lam, Calista comes to stay with Walker and develops a bond with him. (Deadline)

It looks like the USA Network is finalizing a deal to pick-up the new comedic buddy cop drama called Common Law, which stars Michael Ealy and Warren Kole. The series is to center on polar-opposite LAPD homicide detectives Travis Marks (Ealy) and Wes Mitchell (Kole), whose nonstop bickering and acrimony prompts their no-nonsense captain Phil Sutton (Jack McGee) to send them to a couples therapist. The role of the therapist, played in the pilot by Amy Acker, will be recast, along with another, smaller part. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actresses Anna Kendrick and Natalie Martinez are in negotiations to co-star in the cop drama called End of Watch as the love interests of Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena’s characters. The story follows the longtime partnership of two LAPD officers as they confront marriage, love, fatherhood and the harsh realities of the Los Angeles streets. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

It is being reported that actor Russell Crowe will play Jor-El, Superman’s biological father, in the upcoming Superman reboot. (Variety and First Showing)

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

Question: Who did Tony see in the photograph in the NCIS finale? Please tell me they’re not going to break up the team! — Melanie

ADAM: Executive producer Gary Glasberg gives us a hint. “It will be someone that we recognize,” he says, adding we’ll get that answer in the season premiere. We’ll also get some serious intel on that microchip that E.J. found in her co-worker’s arm. New theory: These mysteries are totally connected, right?

Question: I can’t believe Game of Thrones killed off Ned Stark! Please console me with scoop. — Mark

NATALIE: Does this help? Although Ned Stark was beheaded on the Sept of Baelor, it’s not the last we’ve seen of Sean Bean. In fact, in the finale, two of his children will see him in a way you’d probably expect of television; a third, though, will have a shocking run-in with dear old Dad.

Question: I can’t believe how long we have to wait for more Castle. Please ease the pain with scoop! — Sharon

ADAM: Unfortunately for our crime-fighters, the new captain, who will almost certainly be a woman, is a former Internal Affairs investigator who is more interested in politics than police work. But it might not be all bad: Though creator Andrew W. Marlowe previously told us she won’t look as favorably on the Castle-Beckett pairing as Montgomery (RIP!) did, she’ll ultimately be a loyal team leader.

That’s it. Enjoy!