Hey All,
The weekend is nearly here and the big news of the day is that the first full day of programming for the 2011 Comic Con – to be held in San Diego in less than two weeks’ time – was announced today.
Meanwhile, here are the news items for today:
TELEVISION
Actors Jason Priestley (the original Beverly Hills, 90210) and Tony Hall (Arrested Development) will both make guest appearances on Psych this fall. Priestley will play a Harley-riding con man who tries to pull a job at the same spa resort Shawn (James Roday) and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) are staying at for the weekend. While Hale plays an owner of an imports/exports business who crosses paths with Shawn and Juliet while at the resort. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos) will guest star on the season finale of Drop Dead Diva, playing Tina Howard, a hard-edged but sweet travel agent with a sense of adventure. When Tina is offered a new ticker, due to her diagnosis of fatal cardiac disease, she refuses it, as the heart is from her brother — a death row inmate who is to be executed in 72 hours. Tina wants nothing to do with her brother, and Jane (Brooke Elliott) must convince her to take the heart that will save her life. And then the real battle begins — Jane has to fight California law, which doesn’t permit death-row inmates to donate organs. Jane doesn’t have long to win her case as Tina’s health is rapidly failing. (William Keck at TV Guide)
Actor Lex Medlin (Southland) will appear in Drop Dead Diva in a multi-episode arc as Owen French, a charming judge who asks Jane out after presiding over her cases in court. He will appear in the last four episodes of the season. (Jethro Nededog at The Hollywood Reporter)
A&E is bringing back its drama series Breakout Kings for a second season. (Deadline)
Actor Jason Ritter (The Event) will be back on Parenthood in the fall AND he has also signed a development deal with Universal Media Studios for a new series that will be from Jason Katims (the man behind Parenthood, Friday Night Lights and Roswell). (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
ABC has sold the online rights to the canceled soaps All My Children and One Life to Live in a multi-year deal to Prospect Park, a company led by Royal Pains executive producers Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz. The company is in the process of finalizing the funding for an as-yet-unnamed online TV network that would feature the soaps and eventually other programming. (TV Guide)
Actor Alfred Molina (Law & Order: Los Angeles) has been cast in a multi-episode arc in the NBC drama Harry’s Law that will return this fall on NBC. He will play Eric Sanders, a man in who has been accused of murdering his wife. While admitting he was unhappy in his marriage and had dreamt of getting rid of her, he claims he’s innocent. After spending time in jail, he has suffered from anxiety attacks and is estranged from his daughter who believes him to be guilty of murder. He will appear in three episodes. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Russell T Davies (the man behind Doctor Who and the creator of the Showtime series Queer As Folk) is back at the premium cable network with a new drama series in development titled Cucumber. Details about the plot are not available at this time. (Deadline)
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
The Hallmark Hall of Fame (HHOF), a staple of CBS Sunday nights for 16 years, is moving to ABC this fall. In the new arrangement, the HHOF will air its three-a-year productions Sunday nights before Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. And then those movies will reair one week later on the Hallmark Channel. Currently filming in Detroit is the HHOF movie to be based on a Mitch Albom book called Have a Little Faith that stars Bradley Whitford, Laurence Fishburne and Martin Landau and the HHOF is planning a return to the Hallmark screen of the ageless Betty White. (Twitter)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actress Abigail Spencer (Mad Men and the upcoming box office film Cowboys and Aliens) has joined the cast of the upcoming film Oz, the Great and Powerful which is a pseudo-prequel to the L. Frank Baum’s classic novel The Wizard of Oz that shows how a traveling mid-Western magician (James Franco) crash landed in the magical land of Oz and the three powerful witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams) he runs into. Spencer will play a young woman who is a willing subject of Oz’s magic tricks which the erstwhile magician is performing in Kansas. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
Actor Giovanni Ribisi will co-star in the period crime drama called The Gangster Squad that is based on a series of Los Angeles Times articles. The true story tale follows a secret “off the record” police task force in the 1940’s who pursued high-profile gangster Meyer Harris “Mickey” Cohen (Sean Penn), a member of the so-called “Jewish Mafia”. Ribisi will play Conway Keeler, a cop in the group who is a master of electronics and wires. Also among the cast are Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie and Michael Pena. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)
AWARD WINNERS
Here are the winners of E! Online’s 10th annual Tater Top Awards:
BEST BADDIE: Ian Somerhalder, The Vampire Diaries
BEST BITCH: Naya Rivera, Glee
BEST COMEDY: Community
BEST COUPLE: Brittany & Santana, Glee
BEST DRAMA: The Vampire Diaries
BEST KISS: Blaine & Kurt, Glee
BIGGEST SHOCKER: Bones is pregnant with Booth’s child, Bones
BREAKOUT STAR: Naya Rivera, Glee
DRAMA KING: Jensen Ackles, Supernatural
DRAMA MAMA: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
FAVORITE FUNNY GUY: Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
FAVORITE FUNNY LADY: Heather Morris, Glee
LOVE TRIANGLE YOU’RE TOTALLY OVER: Finn, Rachel & Quinn, Glee
NEW FALL SHOW YOU’RE MOST EXCITED FOR: Ringer
ODD COUPLE: Lauren Zizes & Puck, Glee
SHOW YOU MISS THE MOST: Smallville
STAR YOU’LL MISS THE MOST: Lisa Edelstein, House
That’s it. Enjoy!
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