Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Robert Sean Leonard (House) and actress Gloria Reuben (ER) will both be showing up in five-episode arcs on Falling Skies when the series returns to TNT next year for its third season. Leonard will play Roger Kadar, PhD, an obsessive but gifted scientist who runs Charleston’s power grid and lives underground with his pet rats. Reuben will play Marina Perlata, an aide to Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), who has been one of the leaders from the human resistance movement against an invading alien force. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Kristin Lehman (The Killing) has been cast in the Canadian series called Motive that has been given a 13-episode order by the Canadian channel CTV. The series follows divorced single mom Angie Snow (Lehman), a feisty female Vancouver homicide detective who matches wits with killers in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Garcelle Beauvais (Franklin & Bash) will appear in an upcoming episode of Psych as a new crush for Gus. She will play Miranda, the owner of a radio station where Gus (Dule Hill) and Shawn (James Roday) go undercover as on-air personalities to solve a murder. The confident Miranda is more than forward about her feelings for Gus. But while he would normally welcome such attention, Gus has a serious girlfriend (Parminder Nagra). (Sadie Gennis at TV Guide)

Actress Arielle Kebbel (The Vampire Diaries) and Robbie Amell (Revenge and younger brother of Arrow star Steven Amell) will both have guest appearances in the same episode of Hawaii Five-0. They will play a couple who enter a fortune-teller’s lair and face devastating consequences. Hawaii Five-0 is back for a new season starting on September 24 on CBS. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actress Madchen Amick (Damages) will guest star in the new CW series Beauty and the Beast. Appearing in episode 3 of the debut season, she will play a wealthy polo-club president named Lois who owns a therapeutic horse camp. Beauty and the Beast debuts on The CW on October 11. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Angela Bassett and Ruby Dee will appear in the Lifetime made-for-TV movie called Betty and Coretta that will tell the dual stories of Coretta Scott King and Dr. Betty Shabazz as they carry on as single mothers following the assassinations of their husbands, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Bassett will play King opposite Mary J. Blige, who co-stars as Shabazz. Dee will appear onscreen as a historical witness to narrate the duo’s story as someone familiar with the events of both their lives. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has bought an hour-long romantic comedy tentatively titled Cyrano, which will be a contemporary project centering on a less-than-attractive but genius campaign strategist who returns to save the floundering gubernatorial campaign of the handsome but inarticulate Mayor whose career he helped launch. With the candidate being the photogenic, charismatic mouthpiece for the strategist’s ideas and rhetoric, the sky’s the limit — until both men fall for the same woman, a journalist covering the campaign. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC Family has just picked up two new drama pilots: one from Jennifer Lopez and one from Jane By Design producer Gavin Polone. The first is called The Fosters (from Lopez) which will be about a multi-ethnic family that compromises of a mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms. The other is called Socio, which centers on a charismatic sixteen-year-old alleged sociopath, who recently reconnected with his two female best friends from childhood, and who becomes the prime suspect when a fellow student is murdered. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The CW has given a script commitment to a new drama from Richard Hatem (co-executive producer of Supernatural) for a drama project called Wrecking Ball that is about a JFK Jr.-type brash young man from a well known political family who teams with an idealistic twenty-something girl volunteer from his failed Congressional campaign to solve underdog cases of the week. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Alexander Ludwig (The Hunger Games and Race to Witch Mountain) has landed the role of Navy SEAL Shane Patton in the film adaptation of the Marcus Luttrell book called Lone Survivor, which tells the harrowing story of how Luttrell and his Navy SEAL team members fought to stay alive after being ambushed in Afghanistan in 2005 by Taliban forces during a covert mission in the Hindu Kush mountain region, where the team went to kill a terrorist leader. Ludwig plays a soldier alongside a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch and Eric Bana. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actress Mireille Enos (The Killing) will star in the upcoming box office film called Ten that will star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington. She will play a member of the elite DEA team, and she is married to the character played by Worthington. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Looks like actor Hugh Laurie (House) won’t be appearing as the villain in the remake of RoboCop after all. (Variety and First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they are, for today:

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Sprague Grayden (Jericho and 24) and actor David Costabile (Suits) will co-star alongside actors Mark Strong, James Ransone and Lennie James in the AMC drama pilot called Low Winter Sun, which is based on the 2006 British miniseries. The project is described as a story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption that starts with the murder of a cop by fellow Detroit detective Frank Agnew (Strong). 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. Grayden will play the fierce and ruthless Elena, Damon’s (Ransone) wife who wants to extend the family’s crime networks while Costabile will play David Westwood, an upright investigator from Internal Affairs who shows up and causes quite a stir among the officers. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko from Lost) has joined the cast of the upcoming film Thor: The Dark World, as one of the lead villains, playing the dual roles of Algrim the Strong and Kurse. Chris Hemsworth will once again appear as Thor with Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgard, Rene Russo and Kat Dennings all reprising their roles. Christopher Eccleston will play the primary villain Malekith the Accursed, the ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. (Variety)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Tomorrow night at 10 PM, TV viewers will get to see the failed FX pilot Outlaw Country as a made-for-TV movie. The project is a crime thriller/family drama set against the backdrop of Southern organized crime and Nashville royalty. It will star Luke Grimes, Haley Bennett, Mary Steenburgen and John Hawkes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Team Watch with Kristin from E! Online)

Marybeth: I would love some scoop on the new season of Revenge!

Team WWK: Ruh-roh, sounds like someone is in danger, and it’s the life-threatening kind! Episode four will find one of our Hamptonites being rushed to the ER, where a cool and calm doc will have to work with the patient’s loved ones to make the best decision. Yikes, sounds serious! Please don’t pull the plug!

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

FINALLY! The BBC and BBC America will simultaneously air the season premiere of Doctor Who on Saturday, September 1. American fans can watch it at 9 PM on the cable network. Fans should also take note that a 5-part web prequel mini-adventure called “Pond Life” will go online daily starting next Monday. (Dark Horizons)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has put in development an hour-long dramedy called Between Park & Lex that comes from writer Maria Maggenti (the box office film Monte Carlo) and produced by ABC Studios, Allan Loeb’s DarkFire TV and actor Ryan Reynolds (yep, you read that right!). The project centers on a mother and daughter who team up as amateur sleuths, who balance their day jobs and regular lives with solving crimes on the side. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The cult British adventure/sci-fi series Blake’s 7 is getting a reboot at Syfy with a script-to-series commitment, which means that if the cabler likes the script, it will greenlight the project as a 13-episode series. The series centered on hard-core renegades and criminals who escape from a prison planet, battling humans and aliens alike – and becoming heroes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CBS is developing a reboot of the classic western series Have Gun Will Travel, which will be written by David Mamet, who will also direct the potential pilot. The original series starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a top-notch gunfighter who preferred to settle problems without violence but stood his ground when provoked. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Anthony Zuiker (the creator of the CSI franchise) is teaming with Gossip Girl executive producer Sara Goodman for a new drama project called Taboo that has been sold to CBS. This potential series is a sexy soap that centers on a stay-at home-mom who goes back to work as an undercover psychological profiler for the FBI, but the job isn’t nearly as dangerous as the sexual obsession she falls into with the man she’s investigating. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Looks like Disney Pictures is going to attempt a reboot of the period adventure film The Rocketeer. The 1930’s set original film followed a racing pilot (Billy Campbell) who discovers a rocket-pack prototype having been hidden inside his stunt plane by gangsters. (Vulture and Dark Horizons)

Actor Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) has been cast in the role of Finnick in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryan and Natalie Abrams from TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Will Castle and Beckett being together change the kinds of cases Castle features? — Melanie

ADAM: Not really, but it could change the location of the show a bit. “It opens us up to brand-new territory,” creator Andrew W. Marlowe tells us. “There are ways that are organic to get Castle and Beckett out of New York; they can go away for the weekend.” Case in point: An upcoming episode will feature a romantic getaway in the Hamptons! Well, it’s romantic until the town’s fresh-faced police chief calls on Beckett and Castle to assist with his first-ever homicide investigation.

Question: How long will it be before Elena starts embracing her vampirism on The Vampire Diaries? — Amy

NATALIE: Not long. Once the transition starts, there’s no turning back. Fortunately, she’s got a ton of friends who have already been through it themselves! In the season premiere, Stefan will have a heartfelt chat with Elena about her new strengths and weaknesses. He’ll also present her with her first daylight ring — made especially for her by Bonnie.

Question: What can we expect from Jimmy Palmer on NCIS now that Brian Dietzen has been made a series regular? — Marc

ADAM: With Ducky sidelined by his heart attack, look for Palmer to jump scalpel-first into his job as acting coroner. “He really has to take over the reins, [and] it points out both Palmer’s strengths and weaknesses,” executive producer Gary Glasberg says. But what happens when Ducky comes back? “They work so brilliantly together as a team,” Glasberg says. “[But] Palmer is assuming a certain role. Inherently, there are moments [of conflict]. There’s a great episode down the road when Ducky has to rediscover his mojo.”

Question: Now that Michael knows the name of the man who killed his brother on Burn Notice, will he actually be able to find him? — Rebecca

ADAM: Sort of. During Thursday’s midseason finale, Michael will come face-to-face with the man he believes to be Tyler Gray. But Michael will be forced to question the legitimacy of his intel when he learns a very surprising (and life-threatening) revelation about someone close to him.

Question: Now that Bree Turner is a series regular on Grimm, please tell me that the hinted-at romance between Rosalee and Monroe will finally get a kick in the butt! — Leslie

ADAM: The Blutbad-Fuchsbau moment you’ve been waiting for will finally arrive when Monroe and Rosalee go out on a date. But while we were hoping for an enchanting, furry encounter à la Lady and the Tramp, danger in the form of another Wesen interferes. But don’t worry about their safety: Rosalee will reveal an unexpected side of herself.

Question: Any scoop on Once Upon a Time? —Rae

Ausiello: Something will happen this season that will ensure Mary Margaret and Emma get a lot of mother-daughter bonding time, whether they like it or not. Bonus clue: Think Lost.

Question: Can I get a spoiler on Season 2 of Person of Interest? —Andres

Ausiello: Finch going missing in the Season 1 finale raises a big question about the Machine’s identification of the next POI — and viewers will get that answer when the hit drama returns Sept. 27. ”[Exec producer] Jonah [Nolan] and [writer] Denise [Thé] have found a really novel, interesting way to present the number in the absence of Finch. Who does the Machine turn to?” says EP Greg Plageman. “And that is answered in the premiere, per the title [‘The Contigency’].” Wait, so it’s not simply some pneumatic tube like at the bank drive-up? “We toyed with that!” Plageman admits.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today (few though they may be):

TELEVISION

Actor Goran Visnjic (ER) has joined the cast of the upcoming mid-season series Red Widow, which will debut on ABC. The series is based on a Dutch format, centering on Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell) who, after her gangster husband is brutally murdered by a rival cartel, takes on the gangsters and the FBI to unveil the truth about her husband’s death. Visnjic will play Schiller, the mafia mob boss. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Neal McDonough (who just finished a recurring role on Justified) will appear on an upcoming episode of CSI: NY this fall. He will play Senator Gordon Hamilton, the “ultimate politician”. CSI: NY will return for a new season starting on September 28 at 8 PM (its new time slot). (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actor Terrence Howard (Iron Man) will guest star on Hawaii Five-0, being featured in flashbacks to Danny’s (Scott Caan) life as a cop in New Jersey. This episode will also feature Ving Rhames. Hawaii Five-0 will be back starting on September 24 on CBS. (Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

BBC is producing a new take on The Lady Vanishes with a cast that includes Keeley Hawes (Upstairs Downstairs, Gemma Jones (Spooks) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (The Hour). The story centers on Iris, a young socialite on vacation who leaves her friends to travel alone; but after fainting at the train station, she awakens in a dreamlike state where a woman who comforts her then vanishes. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Director Gary Ross (who directed The Hunger Games) has a new project: Peter And The Starcatchers with Disney. The film is in spirit a prequel to Peter Pan (by J.M. Barrie) In this film the story is focused on a fantasy pirate adventure that starts when Peter leads a group of orphaned boys sent to work as servants for King Zarboff. He winds up on a ship with Molly, who intrigues him with a story of how she is an apprentice Starcatcher, a group that collects “starstuff” that falls to Earth and gives power to those who find it. They must keep it away from the pirate Black Stache, as well as the king. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Team Watch With Kristin at E! Online)

Question: Something I never thought I’d say: Peter Hale has become my favorite character on Teen Wolf! What’s he going to be up to in season three? – Jacqui

Team WWK: You aren’t the only one loving Peter’s funnier side. “Ian Bohen loved it. It’s fun when you can bring a character back like that. From mass murdered in season one and people love him now!” executive producer Jeff Davis says. As for Peter’s role in season three, Jeff teases, “His intentions I would say are pretty murky at the moment. You’ll definitely know more in season three. He’s going to become a bigger presence than he’s been.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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