Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Mary Lynn Rajskub (24) and Patrick Fischler (Lost) will guest star in the penultimate episode of Grey’s Anatomy. They will play a couple in the midst of their third honeymoon when they come to Seattle Grace complaining of mysterious symptoms. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor William Mapother (Lost) will make a guest appearance on Burn Notice as Garret Hartley, the leader of a team of mercenaries hired to kill money launderer Barry Burkowski (Paul Tei). He will appear in the sixth episode scheduled to air in mid-July. Burn Notice will be back on the USA Network on June 14. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

The CW has given early pick-up orders for The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and 90210 for next fall. (Press Release from The CW)

Starz has given the green light to Black Sails, a straight-to-series project from filmmaker Michael Bay. The eight-episode series is a pirate adventure that will center on the tales of Captain Flint (the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day) and his men. It will take place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island. Flint. (The Futon Critic)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

AMC has given pilot orders to two potential series called Low Winter Sun and an as-yet untitled series from Richard LaGravenese and actor Tony Goldwyn (currently starring in the ABC series Scandal). Low Winter Sun is based on the 2006 two-part British mini-series that will be a contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption that starts with the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective. Seemingly the perfect crime, in reality the murder activates forces that will forever alter that detective’s life and pull him into the heart of the Detroit underworld. The latter project is a legal thriller centered on a District Attorney who uncovers new evidence that prompts the reinvestigation of a sensational murder case. It explores personal morality and how people struggle with the shades of grey found in the absence of a simple, ordered moral universe. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Jeff Fahey (Lost) and director David Cronenberg will guest star in the Syfy drama pilot called Rewind. The project features a team of military field operatives and civilian scientists who use untested technology to travel back in time in order to change the future and avoid a devastating terrorist attack. The cast includes Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) and Jennifer Ferrin (The Cape) [among others]. Fahey will play a former NASA aerospace engineer with Zen-like wisdom who serves as the spiritual backbone of the time travel team. Whereas, Cronenberg will play a brilliant scientist and Nobel Prize winner who becomes unhinged after his wife’s death. He comes up with a dangerous plot to change the course of history. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter franchise) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) will star as the same character in the four-part British TV mini-series that follows Russian doctors after the first World War. Hamm will primarily narrate the story with Radcliffe portraying the younger version of the main character. (The Sun and Dark Horizons)

Actor Rob Lowe (Brothers & Sisters) will star in the Lifetime movie tentatively called Prosecuting Casey Anthony. He will portray Jeff Ashton, the Florida prosecutor in last year’s controversial Caylee Anthony murder trial and author of the best-selling book Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony, for which the movie will be based. (TV By the Numbers)

Singer/actress Jewel will portray the late, legendary country singer June Carter Cash in the Lifetime movie tentatively entitled The June Carter Cash Story. The telefilm will follow June from early childhood growing up in the rural mountains of Virginia to her relationship with Johnny Cash. (The Futon Critic)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games), Michael Cudlitz (Southland) and Mark Moses (The Killing) [among others] have joined the cast of the upcoming independent drama biopic Chavez. The film will follow Cesar E. Chavez (Michael Pena) who organized the largest non-violent protest in U.S. history to obtain basic human rights for over 50,000 farm workers in California. Bentley will play fearless attorney Jerry Cohen; Cudlitz will play a sheriff who lets his personal opinions cloud his judgment and Moses will play seasoned organizer Fred Ross who mentors Chavez. Other cast members include America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Kellan Lutz (the Twilight Saga franchise) will star as Tarzan in the fully animated CGI with motion capture film. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!