Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Broadway actor Will Chase has joined the upcoming NBC mid-season drama Smash. He will have the recurring role of Steven, who has history with Debra Messing’s musical lyricist character. Chase has appeared in the Broadway productions of Billy Elliot, Rent and High Fidelity. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The BBC series Luther has been renewed for a 3rd season in the UK. The 2nd season will begin airing on BBC America as of September 28. (IndieWire)

Broadway actor Raul Esparza will appear on the new CBS medical series A Gifted Man. The show is about a neurosurgeon (Patrick Wilson) whose dead wife (Jennifer Ehle), the former head of a free clinic, starts appearing to him. Esparza will play Ehle’s boyfriend, who is on the board of the clinic. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Jaleel White (Family Matters) will appear in the season premiere of House on October 3 on FOX. SPOILER ALERT: House will actually jump one year after the events of the May finale with White appearing as a fellow inmate of Dr. House. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Swedish actress Helena Mattsson, who has guest starred on The Mentalist, Detroit 1-8-7 and Desperate Housewives, will have a recurring role on Nikita as Cassandra, a sophisticated political figure who created some emotional entanglements for Michael (Shane West) during one of his past Division missions. When Michael finds out that his actions have now put Cassandra in danger, he must rescue her at the risk of opening old wounds. The show will return on September 23 at 8 PM on The CW. (Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

In addition to Fred Willard starring in the 100th episode of The Closer, which is set to air on December 5, True Blood actress Lauren Bowles and FlashForward actress Christine Wood will both appear as well. Bowles will play the niece and business partner of Willard’s Santa Jack, who is involved in an unfortunate ziplining accident at their successful Christmas Village attraction. Woods will play Casey Watson, Buzz’s sister visiting from Seattle. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Alexander Nifong (known as the guy who Blaine sang to at the Gap in an episode of the FOX musicomedy Glee) will appear in Pretty Little Liars when it returns with new episodes next year. He will play Sam, a blind student at the school where Jenna did her rehabilitation in Philadelphia. It is said Sam will play a significant role in the show. Also, an old friend from Aria’s past will also be appearing for a stint on the series. Shane Coffey (The Secret Life of an American Teenager) will appear as Holden later in the season. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Kevin McNally (the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) will guest star in Supernatural. He will play Frank Devereaux, a mad computer genius; an old “friend” of Bobby’s who helps the Winchester boys out of a jam. (Zap2It)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

The Stephen King novel Bag of Bones will be made into a mini-series on A&E. The cast now includes Jason Priestley from Beverly Hills 90210 fame (and recently did a short stint on Syfy’s Haven). The telefilm is about a writer (Pierce Brosnan) trying to recover from the death of his wife while staying at their lakeside retreat in Maine. Priestley will play the writer’s literary agent. The four-hour event will air later this year. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actors Tom Berenger and Powers Boothe as well as actress Mare Winningham have joined the cast of the History Channel’s upcoming mini-series called The Hatfields and McCoys, which is, obviously, based on America’s most infamous family feud. The mini centers on “Devil” Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner) and Randall McCoy (Bill Paxton), who were close friends and comrades during the Civil War. But when they returned to their neighboring homes it was to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon exploded into all-out warfare between the families. Berenger will play Jim Vance, Anse Hatfield’s “Uncle Jim”, who was the firebrand warlord of the Hatfield family. Boothe will play Wall Hatfield, Anse’s level-headed, fair-minded older brother who was the local justice of the peace and judge. Winningham will play Sally McCoy, wife of Randall McCoy and matriarch of the Kentucky-side family, who loses four sons, a daughter, and her own sanity in the feud. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC bought a drama pitch called Hangtown from Battlestar Galactica developer/executive producer Ron Moore and Caprica writer Matt Roberts. The western, with a procedural overlay, is set in the early 1900s in a frontier town that’s begun rapidly expanding with the coming of the railroad. It centers on three characters: the Marshal, a Matt Dillon/Clint Eastwood type who prefers to solve crimes by his instinct; a young doctor from the East Coast who is interested in using the new field of forensics to solve crimes; and a young woman writer who is trying to sell dime novels to the publishing houses in New York about crime in the Wild West. Every week the instincts of the Marshal, the science of the doctor, and the young woman’s drive to tell a rousing good yarn to her editors combine to solve crimes in a wide-open, lawless town. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FOX has landed the TV adaptation of the Backstrom books by renowned Swedish criminologist and novelist Leif G.W. Persson. The project is based on the central character in the books, homicide detective Evert Backstrom, an equal-opportunity misanthrope who is always miserable, and only a good murder case can cheer him up. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

TNT has picked up the drama pilot Bishop to Pawn, a script from Person of Interest writer Greg Plageman. The drama project revolves around a private investigator who runs his business out of his Los Angeles pawn shop. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Showtime has teamed with Stephen King, Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks TV to develop a series based on King’s supernatural thriller Under the Dome, which revolves around the battles that erupt among the locals at a Maine vacation spot when an invisible force field suddenly surrounds the town. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Tate Donovan and actress Taylor Schilling have joined the cast of the upcoming Iranian hostage thriller called Argo. Schilling will play wife to Ben Affleck’s CIA Agent while Donovan is an embassy consulate. (Empire Online and Dark Horizons)

Reportedly, actress Anne Hathaway is up for the role of Fantine in the film adaptation of the epic musical Les Miserables based on the urgings of actor Hugh Jackman who has the lead role in the film. Other actresses being considered for the role include Amy Adams and Rebecca Hall. (Broadway World and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!