Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Happy Over the Hump Day Everyone! We are getting closer to the big Fourth of July weekend and I’m sure – for those who celebrate the holiday – that you’re getting all your plans for the long weekend figured out (if you don’t have them already set).

In the meantime, please check out the news for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Joe Manganiello (True Blood) will guest star in an upcoming episode of White Collar, playing an ex-con who moves in across the street from Peter and Elle Burke (Tim DeKay and Tiffani Thiessen), bringing trouble to their neighborhood. There is no word as to how many episodes Manganiello will be seen in, but he won’t appear until the latter half of the season. (Entertainment Weekly and Zap2It)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Jennifer Finnigan has been cast in the female lead of the USA Network pilot called Wild that is about people behaving badly at night in Las Vegas and two very different lawyers, Will Garratt (Ben Lawson) and Eliza Evans (Finnigan), who solve their problems before morning. Actor Edi Gathegi (The Twilight Saga and X-Men: First Class) has already been cast as the duo’s resourceful investigator. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Allison Janney (The West Wing) has been cast as the mom of Chris Colfer (Glee) in the upcoming box office film called Struck by Lightning, a teen comedy that was written by Colfer. He wrote Janney’s role with her in mind. She will play Sheryl Phillips, who is searching for a way to reconnect with her son as he prepares to head off to college. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Mia Maestro (Alias and the upcoming Twilight: Breaking Dawn ) has joined the cast of the box office film called Savages. She will play the wife of Benicio Del Toro’s enforcer character. (Reuters and Dark Horizons)

Young actor Jake T. Austin (Wizards of Waverly Place) will play Huckleberry Finn in a new film adaptation of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Young actor Joel Courtney (Super 8 ) has already been cast as Tom Sawyer. (Showblitz and Dark Horizons)

Actor Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) is now in talks to join the upcoming film to star (and directed by) actor Ben Affleck called Argo. John Goodman and Alan Arkin also star. The film is based a 2007 Wired article about how the CIA and the Canadian government used a fake sci-fi film called Argo to rescue six Americans hiding in a Canadian embassy during the Tehran hostage crisis. Cranston will be playing Jack O’Donnell, an Irish CIA agent from Boston and Dwight Eisenhower’s wartime bodyguard. (Variety and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Must Watch: First Beautiful Trailer for Steven Spielberg’s ‘War Horse’

Tom Cruise Spies Adventure in New Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol Trailer

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

Question: Any scoop on the new season of Nikita? — Sarah

NATALIE: Alex is getting a new love interest and Nikita is getting a new enemy — too bad he’s the same person. This handsome, upstanding former Special Forces commander is tasked by Oversight to observe and report on Division’s dealings. As he attempts to recover Percy’s black box, he’ll find himself caught between Nikita and her former protégée.

Question: What’s the good word on the new season of Damages? — Brenda

ADAM: Chris Messina turns in an amazing, heartbreaking performance as Ellen’s high school friend who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a couple tours in Afghanistan. But what we’re most excited about is Fisher Stevens as a therapist trying to crack the impenetrable Patty. Maybe he can finally explain how those horses got into Patty’s walls!

Question: Rumor has it the season premiere of Castle will be penned by series creator Andrew Marlowe and directed by Rob Bowman, which pretty much confirms that it’s going to be great. Got any more scoop? —Cheryl

Ausiello: The episode is called “Rise,” but a better title might’ve been “Major Fisticuffs” seeing as how two characters come to blows in the opening minutes.

Question: Any more details on Scott Foley’s True Blood role? —Anna

Ausiello: “He was Terry’s platoon leader in Iraq,” says Ball of Foley’s character, Patrick. “So they [share] a military history.” (Rumor has it Terry saved Patrick’s life not once but twice.) Foley will debut in the Season 4 finale and then recur throughout Season 5. Ball, meanwhile, confirms that a deal is not yet in place for him to return as show runner for a fifth season. “I’m negotiating,” he says. Of course, HBO hasn’t renewed the show itself — but Ball isn’t worried. “There are no plans for this show to end,” he assures. “I’m pretty sure there will be at least one more season, if not more. It seems like it has a lot of life in it still.” That’s an understatement given the boffo ratings for Sunday’s premiere.

Question: I have been absolutely in love with Drop Dead Diva since its premiere, but I’m getting a little worried: Does Grayson’s upcoming wedding signal the end of the Deb/Jane and Grayson romance? —Jessi

Ausiello: Maybe. Maybe not. “Jane’s going to try to let [Grayson] go,” says series creator Josh Berman. “But after a break up, if you still love somebody, you can kind of think you’re over them, and then there are moments when you realize you’re not. And I think Jane’s going through that process of grief. But she’s not at the point yet of acceptance.” Berman adds that an upcoming episode features “big chunks of flashbacks. You actually get to see a whole storyline about Grayson and Deb. It’s a really, really cool episode.”

Question : Any scoops on White Collar? —Matt

Ausiello: Brace yourself for what series creator Jeff Eastin is calling “one of the funniest episodes we’ve ever done.” Titled “Veiled Threat,” it finds Peter going undercover as a rich bachelor dating a black widow (Twin Peaks‘ Mädchen Amick). “Tim [DeKay] is such a good actor, so it was great to put him in a situation where he can really flex his comedy muscle,” says Eastin. “He’s actually a really, really good comedic actor. People forget that he was Bizarro Jerry [on Seinfeld], and started his career in comedy. He’s definitely got that ability.”

That’s it. Enjoy!