Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items as well as some spoilerish Q&A’s regarding some of the returning fall TV shows – please tread lightly.

NEWS

Actress Meryl Streep, singers Barbara Cook and Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins are this year’s Kennedy Center honorees. (The Wrap)

TELEVISION

Syfy has renewed its freshman drama Alphas for a second season. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Ryan McPartlin (Chuck) will have a guest spot on the new FOX comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter, playing a “hot dad” who shares an instant attraction with Annie (Jaime Pressly). A possible love connection between the two, however, is quickly thwarted when he witnesses first-hand the overbearing, overprotective parenting methods Annie uses with daughter Sophie (Kristi Lauren). The comedy will debut on November 30 at 9:30 PM on FOX. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

ION Television has acquired the off-network rights to Leverage. It will begin airing episodes in the summer of 2012. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Tamlyn Tomita (Eureka) and actor Keong Sim (Southland) will play the parents of Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) on Glee. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Eriq La Salle (ER) will guest star on at least four episodes of the new CBS medical drama A Gifted Man, playing Evan Morrison, a neuropsychiatrist who focuses on human behavior. The show debuts on CBS on September 23 at 10 PM. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide)

Henry Thomas (E.T.) will guest star on The Mentalist as bounty hunter Tommy Lisbon, the brother of CBI senior agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney). They will meet up in an episode airing in late October on a case concerning the death of a police officer. (Michael Logan at TV Guide)

Actress Vanessa Marano (Switched at Birth) will guest star on CSI for one episode, playing Samantha, a street gang groupie and the estranged daughter of an ex-con named Frank (Johnny Messner). The show is back on CBS starting on September 21 at 10 PM. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide)

Actor Michael Cerveris (Fringe) will guest star in an October episode of the new CBS procedural Person of Interest, which stars Michael Emerson (Lost) as a mysterious billionaire who teams up with a presumed dead ex-CIA agent (Jim Caviezel) to prevent violent crimes. Cerveris will play Jarek Koska, a highly organized and educated new breed of gang leader. The show debuts on September 22 at 9 PM on CBS. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Eric Winter (The Mentalist) will have a recurring role on the new ABC dramedy series Good Christian Belles that is based on the Kim Gatlin book of the same name that is centered on Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb), once the ultimate high school “mean girl,” who is forced to return to her Texas hometown in disgrace after her marriage ends in scandal and has to face her old classmates who are less than thrilled to have her back. The cast includes Kristin Chenoweth who plays Carlene. Winter will play Carlene’s handsome brother Luke who is the black sheep of the family due to the fact that he is a Green Democrat. A possible love interest for Amanda, Luke is intelligent, charming and a potential heartbreaker. GCB, which is what the show is possibly being touted as being named, has yet to be given a debut date by ABC. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood) has joined the cast of the History Channel’s telefilm The Hatfields and McCoys, which stars Kevin Costner as “Devil” Anse Hatfield and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy, the famed leaders of the feuding families. She will play Roseanna McCoy, the beautiful daughter of Randall and Sally McCoy (Mare Winningham), who attracts the romantic attention of Johnse Hatfield, leading to a forbidden romance that divides the families still further. (The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has bought one of its most ambitious projects from writer Michael Seitzman and producer Mark Gordon that is based on the Jack West Jr. book series by best-selling Australian action thriller novelist Matthew Reilly. The Seven Wonders is a treasure hunt show in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Arc and National Treasure. It centers on an unlikely five-member team led by commando-turned-archeologist Jack West Jr. as they search the world for seven pieces of an ancient and powerful relic and along the way form a unique non-traditional family that includes West Jr.’s 12-year-old adopted daughter. The first season will be based on the first 2 books in the series. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Natalia Abrams and Adam Bryant at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

[SPOILER ALERT!]

Question: Anything juicy on Ripper Stefan on The Vampire Diaries? Thanks! — Val, via Twitter

NATALIE: Juicy is a choice word, Val. Stefan will be sinking his teeth into many humans. “He gets deeper and deeper and the blood starts carrying him away,” Paul Wesley tells us. “He commits to that lifestyle because the blood starts turning him into someone else.” What we want to know is, who’s going to bring him back?

Question: Got any scoop on the final season of Chuck? — Aaron

NATALIE: What would happen if the world’s greatest super-computer, the Intersect, went up against the world’s most-dangerous computer virus? The team may find out when they cross paths with a former computer hacker who now resides at a commune called The Church of the Eternal Wind. Their barely clothed spiritual leader may seem flighty, but she’s secretly just as cold and evil as Volkoff.

Question: Why will Castle and Beckett be apart at the beginning of this season’s Castle? — Whitney

ADAM: I hear the decision to pull back from the relationship is Beckett’s — and she may even lie to keep Castle at a distance. But Stana Katic believes Beckett’s actions are carefully calculated. “She’s making an adult decision not to dive into something because she doesn’t want to screw it up,” Katic says. “She’s in love with him. She’s dated other guys, but he’s the only guy she’s been in love with.”

Question: I can’t wait for the new season of Nikita. What will we see for Nikita this year? — Danica

NATALIE: We might be meeting Nikita’s father! Using information found in the black box, Nikita and Michael spy a former CIA operative who they think might be her birth dad. He’s been hiding out, working against the government… like father, like daughter, right? But how reliable is the information in that black box?

Question: Where’s the Supernatural scoop? —Jacob

NATALIE: The show will feature a man named Johnny Tomorrow, a Bill Murray-esque washout who owns a local Magic Emporium that catches the Winchester boys’ eyes. He becomes a suspect when his competition, a famous psychic, turns up dead.

Question: Any hope of seeing either Booth’s mom and dad on Bones this season? —Dotty

Ausiello: It looks like we may get a glimpse of Booth’s elusive pa in an early ’11 episode that finds David Boreanaz’ alter ego flashing back to his childhood — specifically, the time father and son attended the World Series together. The show is currently casting an 8-year-old version of Boreneaz for the circa ’80s sequence. Mom, send Junior to the audition in funny socks.

Question: Any scoop on NCIS: LA? —Heidi

Ausiello: A November episode will introduce a former NSA agent whose secrets begin to come to light. Middle-aged Larry — the rogue operative in question — is said to be as smart as he is unflappable. But something tells me his knack for pushing buttons won’t have diminished since he was last on duty.

Question: Do you have any scoop on whether Jack Coleman is playing Caroline’s dad on Vampire Diaries? —Elsa

Ausiello: That’s what I keep hearing, but I have no official confirmation of that. Makes perfect sense, right?

Question: Do you know what the ration of mythology/standalone episodes will be on Fringe this season? —Scott

Ausiello: I don’t have any hard data, but after chatting up J.J. Abrams, it sounds like mythology has the definite edge. “What I love about what the show is doing now is it’s kind of doing what the show needs to do to be the best version of the show, as opposed to just the apologists’ stand-alone thing — which I don’t think Fringe could ever be,” he maintains. “Shows like Alcatraz and certainly Person of Interest have much more of a shot because it’s much more, clearly a new case every week, whereas Fringe is like more about this insanely twisted family of people that are working in this crazy lab.”

That’s it. Enjoy!