Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Jessica Tuck (True Blood) will make a guest appearance on Castle this fall, playing a wealthy museum benefactor who becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. The show is back starting on September 19 at 10 PM on ABC. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Fred Willard will appear in the 100th episode of The Closer, playing “Santa Jack,” the owner of a Christmas Village where a serious casualty occurs on a zip line. This episode will air on December 5. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars and Moonlight) will have a recurring role in the new CW fall series Ringer, playing Mr. Carpenter, a high school teacher at the new school attended by Juliet (Zoey Deutch), the step daughter of Manhattan socialite Siobhan Martin (one of the twins that Sarah Michelle Gellar will play). The series debuts on September 13 at 9 PM. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actors Mekhi Phifer (Torchwood) and Cheech Marin (Nash Bridges) will guest star in an episode of Psych. Phifer will play Drake, a member of “Blackapella,” the a cappella group Gus (Dule Hill) belonged to in college. Drake comes to town to honor Deacon Jones (Marin), his mentor from childhood. But the deacon is shot while receiving the honor at the local community center, and the group steps in to help Shawn (James Roday) and Gus investigate. Jaleel White and Kristy Swanson will reprise their roles as Tony and Marlowe, respectively, in the episode. Actress Liza Lapira (NCIS) also appears. Psych is back on October 12 at 10 PM. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actress Jordana Spiro (My Boys) will appear in multiple episodes of Dexter, as an acolyte of Travis (Colin Hanks) and Edward James Olmos (Professor Gellar). The show returns to Showtime on October 2 at 9 PM. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Director Chris Columbus and writer-director Jeff Wadlow have teamed to develop the offbeat detective drama called Brickhouse for CBS. The project centers on a former San Francisco police officer who believes he is a 1940’s detective a la Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. After he’s released from a mental institution into the custody of his younger brother, also a homicide detective, his Brickhouse alter ego begins nosing around on his brother’s murder cases. In addition, Wadlow is fielding an hour-long action-comedy for FOX that is tentatively called Cockfight, a spy vs. spy buddy vehicle revolving around two male roommates who work for rival espionage organizations. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Zoe Saldana (Colombiana) is attached to the supernatural project called Dominion, which centers on a woman (Saldana) who is half-human and half-angel. (Movie Web)

Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend according to Exhibitor Relations and E! Online:

1. The Help, $14.3 million
2. Colombiana, $10.3 million
3. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, $8.7 million
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, $8.65 million
5. Our Idiot Brother, $6.6 million
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, $5.7 million
7. The Smurfs, $4.8 million
8. Conan the Barbarian, $3.1 million
9. Fright Night, $3 million
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love, $2.9 million

Actor Nick Nolte has joined the cast of the upcoming movie The Gangster Squad where he will play L.A.P.D. chief Bill Parker. The film is based on an L.A. Times seven-part article series that chronicles the LAPD’s struggle with increasing crime and corruption in the 1940s by forming the Gangster Squad to keep East Coast organized crime figures out of Los Angeles. The illustrious cast includes Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Mireille Enos, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick, Frank Grillo and Holt McCallany. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!