Hey All,
Here are the news items for today:
TELEVISION
Actress Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development, Ally McBeal and Better Off Ted) will play Lily Munster in the NBC reboot of the classic 60’s comedy, which will be called Mockingbird Lane. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Bellamy Young, who plays First Lady Mellie Grant on the ABC drama Scandal has been promoted to series regular. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Margarita Levieva will be back for season two of Revenge, appearing in 7 of the first 14 episodes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Showtime is bringing their “ground-breaking’ dramedy Weeds to a close after its current 8th season. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
Actresses Mia Kirshner (The Vampire Diaries and The L Word) and Rachel Blanchard (TV’s Clueless) have joined the cast of the Lifetime TV movie called The Perfect Surrogate, which tells the story of a couple turning to surrogacy to have a child, only to find a young woman they choose as a partner is not as perfect as she appears. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
HBO has given a pilot order to the Cold War spy drama called The Missionary with actor Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) in talks for the lead role. The series will be set in Berlin in the late 1960s, centering on a young American missionary (Paul) who becomes involved with the CIA. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
NBC has given a pilot production order to the Jerry Bruckheimer project called The Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives that will revolve around three couples living in a seemingly idyllic California community that becomes a hotbed of secrets and intrigue. The script had been in development at ABC this past pilot season and is inspired by the book of the same name by Josie Brown. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actor Hugh Laurie (House) is in negotiations to play the villain in the remake of Robocop that stars Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) as cop Alex Murphy who is brought back from the brink of death and turned into a cyborg police officer. Laurie will play the evil and ultra-rich CEO of Omnicorp, the company that makes Robocop. Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson also star. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
Actors Brendan Fehr (Roswell and Bones) and Tony Sirico (The Sopranos) and actress Erin Cummings (Spartacus) will star in the upcoming movie called Zarra’s Law with Sirico playing a retired police detective who is pulled into the criminal underworld when his younger brother is murdered. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER/BANNERS
ME: I missed posting this trailer back in March so when the following banners were released, I thought I should include the very cool looking trailer too:
Teaser Trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Rise of the Guardians’
Check Out Six Colorful Character Banners for ‘Rise of the Guardians’
Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Question: Any Tony-Ziva NCIS scoop? — Rita
ADAM: Executive producer Gary Glasberg says it was no accident that the fan-favorite couple ended last season in close quarters when the bomb went off at NCIS HQ. “We’ll pick up with them in that elevator and, with the situation that they’re in, there will be some conversations,” Glasberg says. “Hopefully we’ll scratch our way a little bit deeper into the relationship.” What’s that?
Question: Will The Vampire Diaries kids actually graduate and leave Mystic Falls this year? — Jess
NATALIE: Put your Kleenex away: Executive producer Julie Plec says it could be a while before those decisions will be made. However, the theme of moving on and growing up will be prevalent this year. “What is that passage of adulthood for these kids who have been living these tragic lives as young adults [with] no parents, no parental supervision?” Plec says. “That’s our next couple of seasons, to get them through senior year and into college… or not.”
Question: Got any teases about the new season of Burn Notice? — Mitch
ADAM: The show is looking to bring on a pretty nasty nemesis who Michael & Co. will chase to Panama as part of a CIA snatch-and-grab job. Described as cunning and merciless, this operative will have a major impact on Michael when his ruthless actions force Michael to again question the CIA after finally getting back in their good graces.
Question: We know where Neal will be when White Collar returns, but what will happen to Peter? — Chad
ADAM: After Neal’s escape, Peter is put on leave by the FBI and is barred from having any role in the manhunt for Neal. (That effort will be led by guest star Mekhi Phifer). But with all that free time on his hands, why shouldn’t Peter take a little tropical vacation of his own? Naturally, Peter gets mixed up in the search — but he won’t be playing for the FBI.
Question: Are Jane and Dean done on Rizzoli & Isles? — Lisa
NATALIE: No, Dean is still in the picture, but Jane has bigger fish to fry when her old flame Lt. Col. Casey Jones (Chris Vance) returns next week — injured — which sets up one doozy of a triangle. “There’s a little more to [his injury] and she doesn’t know how to react at first,” Angie Harmon tells us. “She’s not exactly skilled in the areas of the heart and I love the way she handles it. But Dean is certainly in there, which is problematic, and her heart’s telling her one thing and she has to figure out if she’s acting accordingly or not.”
Question: Sad to hear about the casting changes on Body of Proof. What can you tell me about the new characters? — Deb
ADAM: Police detective Tommy Sullivan has transferred to Philadelphia in order to rekindle his relationship with Megan. Even though he cheated on her 20 years ago, Megan still finds Tommy hard to resist. Perhaps standing in the way of a reunion is Tommy having to babysit his new partner, who joined the force to stick it to his high-profile defense attorney father. He’s super-green, but, to Tommy’s chagrin, thinks he’s got it all figured out.
Question: Any scoop on Drop Dead Diva? —Alex
Ausiello: There will be multiple deaths by season’s end, one of which (I suspect) will make viewers very happy.
Question: Any Vampire Diaries scoop on Bonnie? —Macarena
Ausiello: Her decision in the finale to help Klaus take possession of Tyler’s body (all for the greater good and unbeknownst to everyone) sets up a very interesting Season 4 for Elena’s BFF. “This is Bonnie’s ‘I am witch woman, hear me roar’ moment,” declares Vampire Diaries EP Julie Plec. “She went and made a decision that she felt was best for the people that she loved, consequences be damned. Bonnie is the true hero in all of this, if you really look at it. She came in and found a way to save the day. Had she not done what she did, all of our heroes would be dead… We’re just seeing the beginning of growth for her, exploring who she is and what it means to be a witch and how she feels about it.”
Question: I need some Vampire Diaries scoop on Delena. —Karolina
Ausiello: Although not specifically about the star-crossed duo, Plec reveals that Year 4 will be the Season of Transition. “Every character is growing up and graduating, so to speak,” she says, “and setting up the future of their grown-up worlds outside of Mystic Falls… Or maybe not.”
Question: ABC Family’s The Lying Game is quickly moving up my list of favorite television obsessions. Can you give me any scoop? —Gina
Ausiello: There will be a time jump between Seasons 1 and 2, but it will be teensy. We’re talking a few seconds, which, technically, still qualifies as a time jump in my book.
Question: Got anything on Pretty Little Liars? —Dawn
Ausiello: Additional members of Team A will be revealed, and “they are people you might know,” hints exec producer Oliver Goldstick. “Just when those girls thought the ‘A’ of it all went away, he or she seems to resurface and take a new form. And it might be even more difficult and more formidable than the previous version.”
Question: In the Once Upon a Time finale, did Rumple restore the magic — even if it meant empowering Regina — because he was so ticked about Belle being hidden away so long? —Joshua
Ausiello: “His plan was set in motion long before he knew that Belle was alive,” notes exec producer Adam Horowitz. So all his actions in the finale were part of something else going on. When he discovers that Belle is alive and that Regina had her locked away, that’s a wrinkle in his plan and something that he must deal with in Season 2 while he also deals with whatever agenda he already has (hey, we’re not gonna spill that just yet!).”
Question: Any tidbits on Falling Skies? —Scott
Ausiello: In this Sunday’s Season 2 opener, on the very same night that The Killing wraps its second season, Brandon Jay McLaren (who recurred as Bennett Amed on the AMC drama) joins the cast as Jamil, a heretofore never-seen 2nd Mass member who’s extremely crafty with auto-mechanics and is poised for romance with one of the TNT sci-fier’s pretty (if grungy) ladies.
That’s it. Enjoy!
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Rueben's Ramblings 