Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Lee Thompson Young (Rizzoli & Isles) will guest star in an upcoming episode of CSI: NY playing Kelvin, a Manhattan accountant who has become successful despite a troubled upbringing in the projects. Although viewed by many in his old neighborhood as a hero, when he becomes the victim of a violent armed robbery, the CSIs will have to dig into his new and old life for answers. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Actress Bree Turner (Rules of Engagement and Raising Hope) is joining the new NBC fairytale-based cop show Grimm on a recurring basis. She will play Rosalee, a former drug addict who has been successful at staying clean. She comes from a long line of “Fuchsbau” (fox-like creatures) apothecaries (sort of like pharmacists), but she left the family business to pursue a career in the real world and returns when a tragedy calls her back to Portland. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Victor Garber (Alias) will guest star in an episode of The Big C when the comedy returns for its third season on Showtime. He will play a man who causes trouble for Sean (John Benjamin Hickey) when an accidental phone call leads to a harassing situation. (The Futon Critic)

Actor James Purefoy (Rome) had landed a recurring role on the new ABC soap Revenge. He will play a new love interest for Victoria (Madeline Stowe). (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FOX has ordered the pilot of a spy drama/thriller that will center on the orphaned 17-year-old daughter of a CIA operative who is recruited to become an operative herself. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actresses Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and Andrea Riseborough (Never Let Me Go) will have the female leads in an as yet untitled sci-fi picture that is to star Tom Cruise. The picture is to revolve around a soldier stationed on a future Earth, the surface of which was destroyed by aliens. When he discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off a chain of events that cause him to question everything he knows. (Jeff Sneider at Variety)

Actors James Marsden, Thomas Jane and Billy Bob Thornton have joined the cast of the upcoming box office film called Red Machine that will center around two at-odds brothers (Jane and Marsden) who attempt to mend fences over a camping trip. Yet, instead of putting things back together, they’re literally torn apart by a relentless grizzly bear nicknamed “Red Machine.” (First Showing and Variety)

Actress Diane Kruger (National Treasure) is negotiating to star alongside Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons and Jake Abel in The Host, the film adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer science fiction novel. The film takes place at a time when a parasitic alien species called The Souls has just about wiped out the human population. If the deal goes through, Kruger will play The Seeker, who is charged with overseeing the conversion of a young rebel soldier (Ronan) whose consciousness has been infiltrated by Wanderer, a soul that has taken control of bodies and minds but who is daunted by the young human’s spirit, and obsessed with the memories of her boyfriend and her brother, and sets out to track them down. The Seeker pursues her, knowing that the conversion of the rebel will lead to the discovery and eradication of the rebel movement. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

CONDOLENCES

Very sad news broke this morning that legendary singer Etta James, most famous for the single “At Last” has passed away at the age of 73 after a battle with leukemia. Rest in Peace, Ms. James! Deepest condolences are extended to her family, friends and fans. (Twitter)

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly and The TV Addict)

Question: Hart of Dixie has layered in so much with each character that I can now not decide which couples I am rooting for or against. So a little inside skinny Sugar would be mighty kind! Thanks. — LA

Sandra: I don’t blame you for not knowing which pairs to root for. In fact, EP Leila Gerstein admits to being in our exact situation. “There’s lots of love triangle stuff going on [in the second half of the season],” she says. “I go from ‘Oh, I’m on Team George’ to ‘I’m on Team Wade’ to ‘I love Lemon and George!’” And look for the characters to be just as conflicted as the rest of us when the show returns. It picks up with a little bit of a time jump and not soon after, we’ll see Lemon and George hitting a rough patch in the back nine episodes as secrets (like the one regarding Lemon and Lavon!) start to come out. “I think that Lemon seeing her mom at the end of episode 10 changed her in fundamental ways,” says Gerstein. “She comes back a little bit of a different person. She’s tense and she’s snappy, and that will be the first thing that will really test their relationship. He doesn’t know what’s going on.” And as for the mad rapping Zoe Hart? “In the first episode coming back, Zoe finds out that by legacy, she’s a Belle. So she has to go thorough initiation to prove that she does belong here. She wears her whole plantation outfit, and gets hazed by Lemon.”

Question: I liked Alcatraz enough to stick around a little while longer. I’m really hoping they do something with the Doc/Rebecca friendship. She seems kind of cold as a character, but I really liked their scenes together. Any idea where they’re taking that? I just don’t feel anything for this group yet. — Eddy

Sandra: It will take a bit of time for the odd duo to come together, according to star Sarah Jones, who I caught up with during a set visit. “I like that Rebecca is not quick to trust people,” she says. “There are very few people in her life who she can trust and I like that the writers aren’t so quick to make Rebecca and Doc best friends. But there’s a relationship that’s built. Sometimes they have a moment together and sometimes she pushes him away. It allows them to get to know each other and learn how to trust each other.”

Question: Are we going to see any more Lost alums on Alcatraz? — Steph

Sandra: That’s sort of the million dollar question. But EP Jack Bender is definitely open to the idea. “I’m very protective of our family on Lost and I want them to continue to thrive … but you worry that with certain characters who were so iconic that you get screwed by the Seinfeld of it all,” he says. “If any of our other Losties want to show up down the road, great.”

Question: Thanks to your recent post pointing to a free download of the series premiere, I’m officially hooked on Smash. Which begs the question as to whether or not you have any scoop as to which actress the producers are going to reward with the coveted title role in Marilyn the musical? — Amanda

The TV Addict: Despite the fact that this by no means indicates whose name — be it Megan Hilty’s Ivy or Katharine McPhee’s Karen — will actually appear on the marquee when the Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe actually does premiere, we can assure you that the answer to your question will be known by SMASH’s second fantastic episode of the season.

Question: Huge Hart of Dixie fan here, please tell me there is any hope for those of us rooting for George and Zoe? — Jennifer

The TV Addict: Wait a second, you mean to tell me that people are actually out there shipping for George and Zoe? Alrighty then, against this Wade fans better judgment (Wilson Bethel FTW!), we’re going to throw all, err… seven (?) of you George and Zoe fans a bone by filling you in on a little secret. Not only will circumstances allow for George and Zoe to spend an awful lot of one-on-one time together when the twosome find themselves alone at a bar in Hart of Dixie’s 19th episode of the season appropriately titled “Destiny & Denial,” the episode will offer fans a glimpse of what could have been (and still might?) when the two pretend to be bright-eyed newlyweds with a couple they meet at a bar. Cooler still, the episode will not only also allow George’s portrayer Scott Porter to show off his real-life musical chops, sources close to production have let it slip that producers are hoping to snag American Idol winner Scotty McCreery for a musical performance.

Question: Noticed you tweeting about Switched at Birth this week. Now that you’re on the bandwagon might I trouble you for some scoop? —Meredith

The TV Addict: Gladly. After-all, following a week spent catching up on the fantastic first 10 episodes of this ABC Family gem, we’re as excited to find out about what happens next as you are. Or make that, was as excited, until we learned about the decidedly dark turn the Kennish’s lawsuit against the hospital is going to take when the medical institution accuses Daphne’s mom Regina of intentionally switching babies in an effort to ensure hers wouldn’t suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome as a result of her own struggle with alcohol.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!