Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they may be, for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Colin Egglesfield (All My Children and a recurring role on Rizzoli & Isles) has landed a series regular role on the upcoming drama series The Client List from Lifetime. The series is based on the network’s 2010 original movie, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a Texas housewife who, after being deserted by her husband, takes a job at a seemingly traditional day spa in a neighboring town but realizes that the parlor offers way more than massages and ends up partnering with the parlor’s feisty and disorganized owner to run the business. Egglesfield will play a new character, Hewitt’s brother-in-law. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Legendary actress Jane Fonda has joined the cast of the still as-yet untitled new HBO/Aaron Sorkin drama that is set behind the scenes at a fictional cable news network and centers on an anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), his newsroom staff (Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski) and their boss (Law & Order‘s Sam Waterston). Fonda will have a recurring role in the series, her first major TV gig, playing Leona Lansing, the CEO of the cable news network’s parent company. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Desmond Harrington (Dexter) will appear in the season premiere of Justified when it airs next month. Apparently the role he will be playing is top secret, but it is said that his character “is a total badass boasting a deep Southern accent and ties to Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns), who is back in a big way this winter. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It looks like the USA Network is developing a drama series about Kate Warne, who was the U.S’ first female detective who also worked as a spy for the Union government during the Civil War. The project is described as stylized with a contemporary feel. In 1856, Warne became America’s first female detective when she joined the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. Along with Allan Pinkerton, Warne did work for the Union government. She was part of the Pinkerton team that uncovered a plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln, events that will be at the center of the pilot script. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

HBO has bought Beat The Reaper, a drama series project that will be executive produced by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio. The project is based on the debut book by physician and novelist Josh Bazell. It is a criminal, medical thriller about a young ER doctor whose life is upended when a patient comes through his ward that recognizes the internist from his old life — when he used to work for a notorious crime family. As his past comes crashing back and his enemies from his old life try to destroy him, he tries to hold his new life together while discovering that everything he knew about his past may have been wrong. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!