Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis will appear in two episodes of NCIS this fall, playing Charlotte Ryan, a career woman and single mom who works for the Office of Inspector General in the Defense Department. She will spar with Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and the team like never before. The show will be back with all new episodes starting on September 20. (TV Guide and Yahoo)

USA Network has renewed White Collar for another season, getting a 16-episode order. (Variety)

Mark your calendars! Encore airings of the debuts of Ringer and The Secret Circle will air on September 16 over on The CW. (The Futon Critic)

Soap opera vet Michelle Stafford (The Young and the Restless) will appear in Ringer on the CW, playing a blabby society dame in the September 27 episode. The series debuts on September 15. (Michael Logan at TV Guide)

Actor Mark Pellegrino will actually be back on the Syfy version of Being Human when the show returns in January 2012 despite his character being staked and turned to dust by Aidan (Sam Witwer). (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Zachary Quinto (Heroes and Star Trek) is in negotiations for a major story arc on the spooky new FX drama American Horror Story. He will appear in at least 4 episodes, playing Chad, the gay former owner of the house where the Harmon family, which includes Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton now lives. Chad becomes friends Britton’s character. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor D. B. Woodside (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 24) has booked a five-episode arc on Parenthood, playing Dr. Joseph Prestidge, an Ivy League-educated doctor and potential love interest for Jasmine (Joy Bryant). (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Stephen Root (News Radio and True Blood) and Romy Rosemont (Glee) – who are a couple in real life – are going to appear on Fringe, playing a married couple in the sixth episode. Further details are being kept under wraps, though. The show is back on September 23 at 9 PM on FOX. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Frances Fisher (Titanic) will guest star on CSI in a mob-themed episode where she will play the wife of a notorious hit man. The show is back on September 21 on CBS. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

A&E has picked up drama pilot Longmire with a 10-episode order scheduled to air in 2011. The show is a contemporary crime thriller set in Big Sky country, starring Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame as well as Cassidy Freeman (Smallville) and Lou Diamond Phillips. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The CW’s first efforts in producing another superhero franchise will be based on the DC Comics books by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino called Deadman. It will be executive produced by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. The project is about the spirit of a murdered man, Boston Brand, who lives on as he inhabits other people’s bodies and helps them solve crises in their own lives. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It looks like the 1980’s classic film Romancing the Stone just might be getting a modern-day revamping (like so many other former classic films) with the likes of Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler and Taylor Kitsch being linked as potential stars. For those too young to remember or for those who did a reminder, the original followed lovelorn romance novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) who heads to Colombia to rescue her kidnapped sister. Becoming lost in the jungle, she’s saved by soldier of fortune Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) and the pair set out to reach Cartagena while avoiding the private army of the country’s murderous secret police chief. It is said that Heigl is still under consideration for the Wilder role, while both Kitsch and Butler on an “early wish list” for the Colton role. (Moviehole and Dark Horizons)

ME: Ironically, or maybe not, I began talking to a closer friend and fellow entertainment news writer about my ideas for a revamping of Romancing the Stone late last year if I recall the timing right? So, of course, this article REALLY caught my attention. And while I adore Gerard Butler and admire Katherine Heigl (despite her poor reputation with, well, nearly everyone it seems), I’m none too happy with their pairing for this film. I won’t go into specifics about my idea – perhaps I’ll do my own article on this subject at some very soon point – but, I don’t agree with just redoing the format of the woman as the author and the guy as her rescuer and definitely not these two actors in the Turner-Douglas roles. C’mon Hollywood get a LITTLE more creative even if you are revamp crazy. End of my rant (for now)!

Actor Jim Sturgess (who is appearing in the current box office film One Day) has joined the cast of the film adaptation of Cloud Atlas based on the David Mitchell novel. Sturgess is expected to play several roles alongside other cast members like Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Tom Cruise is already confirmed to lead the sci-fi project Horizons (formerly known as Oblivion), but the rest of the cast is still being decided; namely the female lead. Among the shortlist for this role are actresses Jessica Chastain, Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling, Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko. The story behind the film is set in an apocalyptic future where most of the population lives in clouds above an earth surface that has been rendered uninhabitable. Cruise will play a soldier assigned to patrol a desolate planet who meets a mysterious traveler, a beautiful woman who crashed in a nearby spacecraft. Together they go on an adventure that forces him to question his world view. (Variety and First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly with additional contributing by Carrie Borzillo):

Question: I would love some Castle scoop. Can you tell us anything about the return of the 3XK episode, “Kick the Ballistics” being filmed right now? I assume we can look for some great scenes for Detective Ryan, dealing with the fallout and it will be nice to see him in the spotlight for once. Thanks! — Cheryl

Gonzalez: You’re going to see a side of Ryan you’ve never seen before. Also, a bit of casting news! I hear recurring White Collar player Ross McCall (who plays Keller) will take on a role in the episode as a cop who figures into the case. Also appearing? Lost‘s Francois Chau. So far, I’m giving a solid A to the casting choices this season!

Question: A little Nikita scoop? Anything will do! Okay, not anything, please make it Mikita related! J — Lanie

Gonzalez: Sexy times ahead! Except — not necessarily between Nikita and Michael. “There is some sexy stuff, [but] not that they’re doing to each other. But some clothes come off and there’s a little bit of that,” teases Maggie Q. “But what’s sexy about them in the first couple of episodes is how they deal with each other in their new environment and it’s at times, very sweet. When you have to survive a situation with someone, it heightens the bond.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!