Hey All,
Here are the news items for today, including some Q&A’s from Entertainment Weekly so please tread lightly if you don’t want to be spoiled:
TELEVISION
Actress Jamie Ray Newman (Eastwick and recurring stints on Drop Dead Diva and Eureka) will guest star in CSI: NY as Claire Taylor, the wife of Mac (Gary Sinise), who was lost during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She will appear in flashbacks during the show’s Season 8 premiere which airs on September 23 at 9 PM. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)
Talk show host Craig Kilborn will guest star in the season premiere of Chuck, which returns for its final season on NBC on October 21. He will play Roger Bale, a charming yet conniving investor who has stolen money from some of the world’s most dangerous people. The twist? Mr. Bale is rather dangerous himself! It’s probably safe to say Kilborn will have a run-in with the episode’s other Big Bad, Star Wars alum Mark Hamill. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Actress Molly Parker (Deadwood) has landed the female lead in the TV adaptation of The Firm – the book by John Grisham that was famously made into a movie starring Tom Cruise. Parker will play Abby who, ten years ago, helped her husband Mitchell McDeere (Josh Lucas from Sweet Home Alabama) bring down a Memphis law firm that was a front for the Chicago mob. The cast of the NBC series – that still has to be given an official air date – will co-star Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers) as Tammy, Mitch’s feisty, sexy receptionist and Callum Keith Rennie (The Killing and Battlestar Galactica) as Ray McDeere, Mitch’s charming yet volatile older brother whose work as an investigator in Mitch’s office is uniquely informed by his past stretch in prison for manslaughter. (TV By the Numbers)
Actors Tom Skerritt and Bailey Chase will guest star in an upcoming episode of White Collar with Skerritt playing Alan Mitchell, the discerning dad of Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen), who is a psychiatrist and a protective father. Meanwhile, Chase will step into the role of Bryan McKenzie, a Sterling-Bosch vice president whom Sara (Hilarie Burton) suspects of stealing a Stradivarius. They will appear in the same episode that is slated to air in January when the show returns for its final six episodes of the current season. (TV Guide)
Actress Aly Michalka (Hellcats and the box office film Easy A) will guest star in an episode of CSI: NY next fall. She will play a hard rocker named Miranda who explodes onto the stage of New York’s hottest underground clubs. Her character is questioned by the CSI team when the guy she’s been dating is found murdered. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Young actor Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class) has joined the cast of the box office thriller Stoker that stars Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode and was written by Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller. The film is about a teen who is mourning the death of her father at the same time her mysterious uncle appears in her life. (Joshua L. Weinstein at The Wrap)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Watch: First Trailer for George Lucas Produced WWII Film ‘Red Tails’
SPOILER ALERT!!
Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)
Question: Can I assume that Shawn and Jules are in a happy relationship when we come back for next season of Psych? — Stephanie
Sandra: They’re going strong, I hear! But they’re not the focus of the season by any means. James Roday told me in a chat prior to Comic-Con that he wanted to make sure the relationship wouldn’t interfere with the dynamic of the show. “My biggest fear with Shawn and Jules — and there are many examples on other shows of when the “Will they or won’t they?” finally comes together, it just isn’t good anymore, and I think because of that we’re proceeding with caution,” he said. “We’re trying to keep it real. Predominantly, their relationship is based on work because that’s where they spend the most amount of time — so not a lot changes on that front. And they’re just kind of figuring out what they are outside of work and taking very slow baby steps in doing it so that nothing feels forced or strange.” Hoping for a soap opera of love? Probably not what you’ll find this season, he says. “We really don’t want to go there. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of protecting the show so that people don’t have to worry about that. I can personally guarantee all of our fans that they will not be disappointed. We’re just as wacky and wily. At its core, this is always going to be a show about two best friends living out a childhood dream, and there’s no way around that. That’s what we are, and that’s what we’ll always be.” Anyone else feel the need to cheer right now? He gets us, he really gets us!
Question: Any scoop on Burn Notice? Framing Michael for murder was a pretty great twist. (But poor Grant Show!) — Jessica
Sandra: Expect the twists to keep coming, says creator Matt Nix. “It’s a pretty twisty season. I mean, I’d say there are a couple of big, hard twists coming up. It depends on what you think of as a twist and then the summer season-finale is one of our twistiest episodes ever. We just finished filming that,” he teases. “There’s a lot that goes on before that. It really heats up coming to the end of the season. I just got finished directing that [last] episode, and it’s very, very, very intense.” Preview Next week we’ll have dish from Nix about how Gavin Rossdale is going to put Fiona and Michael’s relationship to the test!
Question: Castle scoop, Sandra? You know you want to! — Joanne
Sandra: Don’t tell me what I want! Kidding. Actually, I’d prefer you did because, God knows I have no freaking clue. Anyway, if you followed word from Comic-Con, you already know about plans for a superhero-themed episode and a Halloween-themed episode. But executive producer Laurie Zaks told me preliminary plans to send the gang to the premiere of the Nikki Heat film in L.A.! (The show typically shoots its New York setting on a stage in L.A.) So does that mean Laura Prepon would reprise her role as the title character of the movie? Possibly, says Zaks. “That would totally depend on her schedule, and she got cast in a pilot. If you’ll remember, the character was sent off to rehab, so hopefully she’ll be out of rehab by then,” she said with a laugh.
Question: Thanks for being among the only one to give Haven some love, Sandra. I’m dying for a little intel on Jason Priestley’s character! — Martha
Sandra: Why, thank you! I’d bow, but that’s a bit much, I think. Look for Priestley’s character to bring out the “girly side of Audrey” in episode 6, according to star Emily Rose. “What happens is really fantastic and I can’t wait for it to come out,” she says. “We see a personal side of Audrey in a really unique way.”
That’s it. Enjoy!
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