Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The Canadian drama The L.A. Complex which will air here in the States starting in April has been given a 13-episode second season order by the Canadian broadcaster Bell Media. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Ben Shenkman (Drop Dead Diva and Burn Notice) will appear in Royal Pains when it returns for its fourth season this summer on the USA Network. He will play HankMed’s new employee, Dr. Jeremiah Sacani. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actress Maria Bello (late of the short-lived Prime Suspect) will appear in a multi-episode arc on the new FOX drama Touch, playing an earth-mother type whose daughter shared a gift similar to that of Martin’s (Kiefer Sutherland) son Jake (David Mazouz). Bello has an option to become a series regular if the drama, as expected, is picked up for Season 2. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Mamie Gummer (Off the Map and The Good Wife) will guest star in the Showtime dark comedy The Big C that return on April 8. No details have been revealed on who she will be playing, though. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Paula Marshall (Gary Unmarried) will guest star in a May sweeps episode of CSI, playing a sexy, cold-hearted, tough and no-nonsense CEO of an oil company — who also happens to be a premiere race truck driver. The twist? She is convinced that she may have been the original target of a truck bombing. (Alyse Whitney at TV Line)

British actor Hugh Dancy has landed one of the two leads in the 13-episode drama series Hannibal at NBC that will be a contemporary thriller featuring the classic characters from the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. Dancy will play FBI agent Will Graham alongside his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter (which is yet to be cast), who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Alyssa Milano (Charmed) has landed one of the lead roles in the ABC drama pilot called Mistresses that is based on the UK drama of the same name. The US version will center on four women, April (Rochelle Aytes), Josslyn (Jes Macallan), Katie (Yunjin Kim) and Josslyn’s older sister Sarah (Milano) and will chronicle their sometimes scandalous romantic lives. Milano’s character, Sarah, is a classy and elegant married lawyer at a top Los Angeles law firm. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Paula Marshall (yes, her again) has been cast to co-star opposite John Corbett (and Jennifer Beals) in the CBS drama pilot called Widow Detective that will center on Denny Brennan (Corbett), a decorated police detective who, after losing three partners in the line of duty, becomes surrogate husband, lover and father to their families. Marshall will play Jill, a restaurateur and the mother of three daughters who has accepted Denny’s willing participation in her family with relief, gratitude and love (and occasionally annoyance). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It would appear that actors Billy Bob Thornton and Forest Whitaker have joined the cast of the revenge drama flick called Out Of The Furnace that has Christian Bale playing Slim, a recently released con who just wants to live quietly and marry his long-time girlfriend (Zoe Saldana). When his brother (Casey Affleck) is murdered, he swears to track down and punish those responsible. Whitaker would play a sleazy bookie involved in the death while Thornton would play the main villain. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: Any idea how The Secret Circle plans on closing out the season? — Justine

The TV Addict: Murder? Magic? Can you tell that we haven’t exactly been keeping up with The Secret Circle? If so, we hope this bit of intel will make up for our general lack of interest. Producers are currently on the lookout for a twenty-something actress who bares a striking resemblance to Cassie’s mother Amelia for a pivotal flashback that will see her facing a life and/or death decision.

Question: Any clues as to what Percy has up his sleeve now that he’s escaped Division’s lurches on Nikita. — Mike

The TV Addict: When it comes to Percy, we’ve got tons of ideas. Of course, the only one you really need to be concerned with is what is going down in the explosive season finale that involves a threat to the President of the United States and a finger on a certain button that may-or-may-not activate what we hear is one helluva explosive device.

Question: Any spoilers about Juliette in Grimm? — Kriya

Sandra: Well, I’ll tell you this, you’re definitely going to see a lot more of her. Last time we saw Juliette she had been kidnapped, and she let Nick know she wasn’t sure she could keep going with this lifestyle. In episode 16, which airs in early April, Nick is going to take his lovely lady on a romantic weekend in hopes of reconciling with her and escaping work — but as you might guess, the trip ends up being anything but the getaway he was hoping for. (And Juliette might even walk away with a little more insight into Nick’s lifestyle!) Meanwhile, Grimm itself returns a week from today with all new episodes.

Question: Any scoop on The Secret Circle? — Jenn

Sandra: If you thought the episodes we’ve seen so far this season have had a bit of a spooky factor to them, stay tuned for one of the creepiest yet, says co-star Phoebe Tonkin (Faye). “There’s one that’s in a carnival where we go back to an abandoned carnival ground, and it’s so scary,” she says. “But it’s also so good.” And while we can pretty much guarantee there will be some sort of scary clown image in the episode, there’s one thing you won’t be seeing any time soon: witches on brooms. Tonkin recently tweeted a picture of herself riding a broom on set, igniting a bit of a firestorm among fans. But she assures she was only kidding around. “I was just being stupid because I found a broom on the ground, and I took a photo,” she says with a laugh. “We’re not getting brooms”.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!