Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Tim DeKay (White Collar) will guest star on Chuck as Kieran Ryker, Sarah’s former CIA handler who is described as a stoic, unflappable man who forces her to confront her past and the choices she’s made. DeKay will appear in episode 8 of the final season, which gets started on October 28 on NBC at 8 PM. (James Hibbard at Entertainment Weekly)

The co-Canadian produced Cinemax series Strike Back has been renewed for a second season of ten new episodes, which will begin shooting in South Africa in early 2012 and will air later in 2012. (Twitter)

Singer Nick Jonas and two-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters will both guest star in the new NBC musical drama Smash. Jonas will play Lyle West, a child actor turned sitcom star who got his start on Broadway. Peters will guest star as Leigh Conroy, Ivy’s (Megan Hilty) Tony-award winning mother who turns into a total stage parent, living vicariously through her daughter. Smash stars Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, Anjelica Huston and Jack Davenport and it will premiere on February 6 on NBC. (Jenna Mullins at E! Online)

CONDOLENCES

Actor Charles Napier, known for his roles in The Blues Brothers, Rambo, and Silence of the Lambs, passed away yesterday. He was 75. (E! Online)

ME: Rest in Peace, Mr. Napier. Deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

DEVELOPMENT NEW

ABC has bought a prime time soap from Oscar-winning writer Callie Khouri and TV producer/documentary filmmaker RJ Cutler, which is set in Nashville against the backdrop of the country music world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Krysten Ritter, star of the upcoming ABC comedy series Apartment 23, has sold her first TV project as a producer. It is an hour-long drama based on the Eric Garcia book called Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys, which is described as being in the tone of Heathers, centering on a 22-year-old overachiever who gets her dream job as a lawyer for a Hollywood studio but can’t find a guy ready for a real, mature relationship. After the latest disappointment, she locks a guy up in her basement in order to train him to become the perfect gentleman. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

USA also has bought the project called Wayward Bound, which is an hour-long dramedy from Richard Murphy. The project is about employees at a boutique travel company struggling to navigate life while guiding their clients through the concrete jungle that is Los Angeles. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FOX has preemptively bought Magicians, a drama series adaptation of the Lev Grossman popular fantasy novel described as Harry Potter for grown-ups. The one-hour drama follows a group of 20-somethings in New York who study magic and have access to a magical world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Patricia Clarkson has joined the cast of the upcoming film called The East that follows an undercover agent (Brit Marling) for a private security firm who infiltrates an eco-terrorist group known as The East but ends up falling for the leader (Alexander Skarsgard). Clarkson will portray Marling’s boss. Ellen Page and Toby Kebbell also star. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Paul Walker has signed on for the indie drama film called Hours that will be set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Walker would play a father trying to keep his newborn daughter alive in a New Orleans hospital. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actor Michael Raymond-James (True Blood and Terriers) has joined the cast of the film One Shot, based on the 2005 Lee Child novel, with Tom Cruise playing ex-Army cop Jack Reacher who gets sucked into the mystery surrounding the arrest of a sniper accused of killing five people in a shooting. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) will voice the new villain of the animated sequel Despicable Me 2, but the only details on his character have pegged him as being named El Macho and has a son aptly named Machito. (Heat Vision and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Watch: First Trailer for Michelle Williams in ‘My Week with Marilyn’

Watch: Dane Cook in the Trailer for Indie Drama ‘Answers to Nothing’

That’s it. Enjoy!