Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Christine Woods (FlashForward) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Castle where she will play Leann Peach, an ambitious young reporter who lands the story of a lifetime when a bomb goes off at an anti-Wall Street protest rally during her live broadcast. This episode is slated to air in late March. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor-Director Ken Olin has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called Americana that will follow Robert Soulter (Anthony LaPaglia), the creator of the most iconic fashion brand in the world which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Olin will play Martin Garano, the owner of a garment manufacturing company whose daughter designs clothes for the company. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

Actor Colin Donnell (Pan Am) has joined the cast of the drama pilot for The CW called Arrow, which is a modern retelling of DC Comics character Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), better known as Green Arrow. Donnell will play Tommy Merlyn, Oliver’s playboy best friend. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Chris Egan (Kings and Letters to Juliet) has been the first to be cast in the ABC pilot Beauty and the Beast that will be set in the mythical city where its princess, Grace, is tasked with quelling a rebellion. Egan will play Garrick, said princess’s fiancé and Emperor Dorian’s – her father – most favored soldier. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot called L.A. Noir, a period drama that will chronicle the epic battle between Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker and mobster Mickey Cohen. Ventimiglia will play Ned Stax, a former marine who served with Joe Teague (Jon Bernthal) during WWII, now a budding lawyer groomed to be a master ‘fixer’ for the mob. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse and currently on the Syfy version of Being Human) has landed a role in the ABC drama pilot called Last Resort that will follow the crew of a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order become fugitives, take over the NATO Listening Post in Sainte Marina and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Lachman will play Tani Tumrenjack, a native of Soubourg; a mixture of intelligence and naiveté; inherited a local bar, but has ambitions beyond the shores of Sainte Marina; daughter of elder tribesman. The cast currently includes Andre Braugher, Autumn Reeser, Daisy Betts and Scott Speedman. (TV Line and The Futon Critic)

It was only two weeks ago that news broke that film star Ryan Phillippe would be coming back to TV in the as-yet-untitled CBS drama pilot (formerly called Golden Boy) from show runner extraordinaire Greg Berlanti. But now, Phillippe has departed the project. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actors Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis are in negotiations to star in the as-yet-untitled CBS Las Vegas period drama that tells the true story of Ralph Lamb. Quaid is in talks to play the lead role: rodeo cowboy turned longtime Sheriff of Las Vegas. Chiklis would play Johnny Savino, a Chicago mobster who recently moved to Las Vegas, a ruthless killer with a polished edge. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Lee Tergesen (Oz and Desperate Housewives) has landed a role in the ABC drama pilot called Penoza (based on Dutch series) that centers on the (yet-to-be-cast) widow of an assassinated criminal who is forced to adopt her husband’s role in a crime syndicate in order to protect her family. No specific details are available on what character he will play. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Michael Rady (Melrose Place and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants franchise) will star in the medical-themed drama pilot First Cut for The CW. The pilot will follow Emily, a newly-minted doctor as she discovers that life at the hospital where she works is no different than high school. Rady will play a fellow doctor. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

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

Question: Any update on whether Castle will be touching on the 3XK killer again? — Chase

ADAM: The show is definitely keen on revisiting that story line, but it’s all about timing. “We’re having talks about whether we’re bringing him back by the end of this season,” executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe says. “But we’re still waiting to hear on Season 5. If we get the Season 5 pickup, it’s something that we might wait and make more of a meal of next year.”

Question: Got any good teases about Nikita? — Haley

ADAM: Nikita may soon confront her deadliest foe yet. The show is currently casting for a depraved psychopath who Nikita captured five years ago when he attempted to sell nuclear weapons to a terrorist group. But he’ll soon be back on the hunt when Percy offers him a get-out-of-jail free card in exchange for the nukes.

Question: Just saw the new promo for Switched at Birth and was wondering if you had any spoilers. —Heather

Ausiello: There may be trouble in paradise for the show’s happily married parental unit, John and Kathryn. “My wife is having a little flirtation with our new lawyer [played by Mad Men’s Sam Page], and I’m going, ‘What’s that about?’” teases Bay and Daphne’s onscreen pop, D.W. Moffett. But he’ll have bigger things to worry about when the aforementioned attorney digs up some new information “that’s going to be very earth-shattering in terms of what the [lawsuit against the hospital is] about,” he previews. “We’ve always thought it was Angelo. … but there’s another piece of information that’s going to get leaked that is completely different.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Tim Guinee (most recently seen on The Good Wife) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Castle where he will play an activist who is critical of an anti-Wall Street movement and witnesses a bombing of a protest rally in a New York City Plaza. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Legendary actor Robert Englund (the original Freddy Krueger) and actress Julie Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer will both guest star on an upcoming episode of Criminal Minds. Englund will play Det. Gassner, who helps the team at the BAU with a case involving a string of ritualistic murders in Oregon while Landau will play the ghost (yep, you read that right) of a former actress named Catherine Heathridge, who had a psychotic break as a young woman. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Peter Jacobson (House) has joined the cast of the Showtime drama pilot called Ray Donovan that stars Live Schreiber in the title role of Hollywood’s best professional “fixer” – the one called in to solve the complicated, confidential and controversial problems of the city’s elite. Jacobson will recur as Lee Drexler, a hard-driving, foul-mouthed wheeler-dealer who relies on Ray as Mr. Fixit whenever his high-profile clients get into hot water. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Monica Raymund (The Good Wife) has been cast as one of the leads in the NBC pilot Chicago Fire, the action drama about the complex and heroic men and women of the Chicago Fire Department. Raymund will play Gabriella, a fast-thinking and fearless paramedic committed to her job. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Titus Welliver (Lost and Sons Of Anarchy) is the first actor to be case in the NBC drama pilot called Midnight Sun, which is based on an Israeli format that follows the mysterious disappearance of Midnight Sun, a group living on a cult-like commune in Alaska, and a female FBI cult specialist leading the investigation that uncovers a larger conspiracy. Welliver will play Bennett Maxwell, the charismatic and manipulative leader of Midnight Sun. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Lucy Lawless (Spartacus and Xena) has joined the cast of the seven-part mini-series Top of the Lake that chronicles one detective’s (Elizabeth Moss) tireless search for a missing 12-year-old pregnant girl who just so happens to be the daughter of a local drug lord. Holly Hunter also stars. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond and Gladiator) will star in the film adaptation of the Caryl Férey’s novel Zulu that follows two Cape Town police officers (Bloom and Hounsou) who investigate the murder of a 18 year-old girl who just happens to be the daughter of one of the players from the championship winning Sprikboks rugby team, bringing an insane amount of media attention to the case. (Screen Daily/The Playlist and First Showing)

TV and film scripter Marc Guggenheim, is in negotiations to write a script that would bring fictional defense lawyer Perry Mason to the big screen starring Robert Downey Jr. The Perry Mason stories generally follow a certain formula: Mason takes on a client with an unusual case, and there’s a massive courtroom showdown in which the police believe the client is guilty, but Mason provides alternate evidence to convince them of the opposite. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush at TV Guide)

Question: Just wanted to thank you for turning me on to the fabulous Downton Abbey. I love everything about it, and could Maggie Smith be any more delightful as “Granny” Violet? I’ve always loved Maggie Smith, but she has outdone herself with this role. I can’t wait to hear what comes out of her mouth next. I’m with all the others who think the season is too short. Will this show continue for several seasons or is it meant to be more short-lived? I know the Brits do things differently than we do. — Camille

Matt Roush: There is at least one more season guaranteed for Downton Abbey, which will begin production soon and, if the pattern holds, will captivate British audiences in the fall and regale us next winter, leaving us ravenous for more in much the same way as we’re now feeling after Sunday’s richly satisfying finale. It is expected to be set in the Roaring ’20s, and Shirley MacLaine has been cast as Martha Levinson, the mother of American-born Lady Cora Grantham. We can’t wait to see her go grande dame-to-grande dame against Maggie Smith. The British do tend to take things one season at a time, and the show’s creator Julian Fellowes has said he can’t imagine the Downton story continuing indefinitely — each season eats up a lot of story, covering a fair amount of time. But it’s also hard to imagine something this successful and enjoyable being cut too short, so I’m hoping we get at least four if not five seasons out of this. In this case, the more the merrier.

Question: Wouldn’t it be a great idea on Smash to have Karen play Norma Jean and Ivy play Marilyn? That would help to visually show her change/evolution. Anyone else think that’s a great idea? — Don

Matt Roush: I’ve certainly heard worse. It would be fun to see them try to share the spotlight — although as you’ll see in next week’s episode, even having them share the same rehearsal room becomes a problem. But given the way theater gossip works, I can’t help but bring up the unfortunate precedent of the recent short-lived On a Clear Day You Can See Forever revival (starring Harry Connick Jr.), which I had the misfortune to see. The gimmick involved splitting the lead female character (formerly played by Barbara Harris, Barbra Streisand, and in concert — which I was lucky enough to witness — Kristin Chenoweth) into two: one being a gay man, the other being a woman from a previous incarnation trapped within. It didn’t work. But kudos for the provocative idea. I don’t see Smash (or the musical within) heading that way, but you’ve nailed it that Katharine McPhee would make a much more natural Norma Jean, while Megan Hilty is better suited for the Hollywood Marilyn.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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