Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Haven has been picked up for a third season by Syfy. (Variety)

Actor Rafi Gavron (Life Unexpected) will guest star on Parenthood, playing Troy Quinn, a problematic beau to Zoe (Rosa Salazar), the law firm coffee girl who’s pregnant and considering giving the baby up for adoption to Julia (Erika Christensen). The episode is slated to air on November 22. (TV Line and TV Guide)

Actress Meredith Monroe (Dawson’s Creek and Criminal Minds) will appear in at least one episode of the CW series Hart of Dixie as a very important former Bluebell resident who has ties to a few of the characters we already know and love. (Meg Masters at TV Line)

Boardwalk Empire has been renewed for a third season, HBO announced Wednesday. (HBO)

It looks like the British period piece Downton Abbey – one of the big winners at the recent Emmy Awards – just might be getting a third season. Season 2 is currently airing in the UK and will be making its way stateside – presumably next year. No confirmations yet, though, on its arrival here or the third season – yet. (Vulture)

Actor Gaius Charles (Friday Night Lights) will guest star on an episode of the new ABC period drama Pan Am, playing Joe, an African-American soldier who opens Laura’s (Margot Robbie) eyes to the world. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Ringer has been picked up for a full season by The CW.   (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) has been cast in the lead role of the TNT drama pilot called Scent Of The Missing with veteran actor Gerald McRaney to co-star. The project centers on Susannah (Helfer), a tenacious, strong-willed K-9 Search and Rescue volunteer who works with an equally determined partner, her mischievous golden retriever, Puzzle. McRaney will play her father Jerry. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

NBC has bought the one-hour drama pitch called The Meadows from the creators of Memphis Beat. The project is described as a complex, high-stakes, character-driven drama that takes place following two parallel storylines: In the ’60s, Lucia ‘Lucy’ Cortes, a Mexican-American who’s fled an abusive marriage with her 12-year-old son Tommy, starts her life over in Las Vegas. In present day, Tommy is a powerful, enigmatic casino owner poised to become the King of Vegas. The show chronicles how the outsider from the wrong side of the tracks was able to rise to the top and explores the dark mystery that threatens to take it all away from him. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Lifetime is developing a period drama about William Wilkerson, the founder of The Hollywood Reporter, which is being produced by Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil and Graham King’s GK TV. The project chronicles the colorful life of Wilkerson, a compulsive gambler who started off as a film executive in New York; lost all his money on Black Friday; founded The Hollywood Reporter; launched a slew of Hollywood nightclubs; founded The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas; and got entangled with the mob and had to go into hiding in France. Also, Depp may make a cameo appearance on the potential series, which seems a rather unorthodox choice for female-centric Lifetime. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has picked up the drama project called In Like Fin based on David Blaine. The project revolves around Fin, an illusionist who is pulled into action in a covert government sting. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It is being rumored that Sandra Bullock is in talks to play Clint Eastwood’s daughter in the upcoming box office film Trouble with the Curve that follows an aging baseball scout, who’s losing his sight, and heads on a last road trip to Atlanta with his daughter to scout a hotshot prospect. (First Showing and Twitch)

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Any scoop on Bones? —Mahika

Ausiello: Matt Mitovich can help with this:

“As much fun as the season opener is, I have to say that Episode 2 is even better. For one, the case of the week is much stronger and more compelling (and much more icky-gooey). Plus, you’ve got the addition of Luke Kleintank as Finn Abernathy, a good ol’ boy squintern whose scientific brilliance — a seeming clash with his omnipresent baseball cap and shaggy hair — drops even Brennan’s jaw, and who proves to be a very fun foil for Hodgins. Then, add on top of that even more sweet moments between Bones and Booth? Simply said, this pregnancy twist is the best thing to happen to the show in recent years. What we’re looking at is perhaps Bones at its very best. Oh, and did I mention the part where Temp discovers that years ago she helped prevent a murder? Cool stuff.”

Question: From the Castle promo pictures that were released last week, we see that Beckett isn’t exactly happy about guest star Kristin Lehman’s character hanging around with Castle next week. Tell us, exactly how jealous will Beckett be? —Ivy

Ausiello: So jealous that she ends up alluding to it during her therapy session. While we’re on the subject of next Monday’s episode, here’s a little casting tidbit: 24‘s David Hunt (a.k.a. Patricia Heaton’s hubby) guest stars in the episode as a major player in the art world.

Question: Anything else you can share about this week’s Vampire Diaries? It looks epic. —Brad

Ausiello: Klaus compels Stefan to completely shut off his emotions, thus paving the way for him to become an official baddie. That’s one of, like, four big twists in the episode, so fasten your seat belts.

Question: I wonder if you have any news on The Secret Circle, Glee, The Vampire Diaries or Nikita? —Luana

Ausiello: For Vampire Diaries, look for Matt’s issues with the supernatural world to come to a head in Episode 5, per exec producer Julie Plec. “It’s set the weekend before senior year begins and it’s senior prank night,” she previews. “And of course, things go horribly wrong. For Matt, specifically, it’s kind of bittersweet because there’s a sense of the life he’s lost over the two seasons of our show and it’s really hurting him. We get to explore that in a beautiful and tragic way.” Plec also confirms that “Matt’s gotta get laid this year. He just needs that. He needs love.”

Question: I’m totally hooked on The Secret Circle! Would you happen to have any scoop? —Lucyanne

Ausiello: Britt Robertson says the show’s Halloween episode will be chock full of tricks and treats. “When you have witches and Halloween, it can be fun to make fun of certain things,” she says. “What I love about what Kevin [Williamson] and Andrew [Miller] did is they weren’t trying to ignore the fact that we’re witches on Halloween. … We play with a lot of different, funny things. And one of our directors, Liz [Friedlander], who is a big part of our show, was saying, ‘The great thing about Halloween is that scary things can happen in the middle of the night and there’s people roaming the streets. You can scream [but] nobody really takes notice to it.’ So that’s kind of the fun element that we get to play with a lot.”

That’s it. Enjoy!