Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Sarah Shahi (Fairly Legal) is joining the cast of the new NBC drama Chicago Fire for “roughly” six episodes, playing Renee Royce, a successful business woman and love interest for Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Leland Orser (Sons of Anarchy and Taken) is joining the cast of the new NBC drama Revolution. He will play a John Sanborn, a tense scientist who loves to build weapons. This is possibly going to be a recurring role. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Jason Beghe (Californication) will have a guest role in the new ABC drama Last Resort, playing Wes Porter, an old mentor to Navy SEAL James King (Daniel Lissing). (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Serinda Swan (Breakout Kings and Smallville) will appear in three episodes of the soon-to-air new USA Network drama Graceland (from Jeff Eastin, the series creator of White Collar). She will play Paige, an undercover DEA agent who sets up at Graceland, a live-in home base for a tag team of law enforcement workers. The series is set to debut next summer. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Felicia Day (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) is going to be back as Charlie Bradbury in an upcoming episode of Supernatural. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is developing a new drama called Black Friday from box feature film writer Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) and executive producer Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air). The project is a thriller that follows a guy who unexpectedly finds himself in the center of a perilous event where he is responsible for the safety of others. The show will follow him as he works to uncover the conspiracy responsible for the event while also following the personal lives of those surrounding him. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC is also developing another drama called Coup from Chris Black, who is a co-executive producer on Mad Men. This is a serialized thriller about a young American man whose wife is taken hostage in an overseas coup, who must join forces with a dangerous mercenary to get her back. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actresses Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), and Nicole Beharie (Shame) will star in the upcoming box office film called The Keeping Room that is a period piece that follows two Southern sisters (Wilde and Steinfeld) and an African American slave (Beharie) left alone in the dying days of the Civil War. The trio are soon forced to defend their home from the onslaught of a band of soldiers who have broken off from the fast approaching Union Army. (Dark Horizons)

Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams and Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Question: What’s this about Snow and Charming finding a way to communicate between worlds on Once Upon a Time? — Emily

NATALIE: It’s true. The star-crossed lovers will find a way, but like everything in these worlds, it comes with a price. “They find a direct line of communication that requires a great risk,” Ginnifer Goodwin says. “There’s something very tragic about the fact that the risk that’s taken is potentially a great sacrifice that is made in order to get Emma and Snow White home. There’s something really beautiful about the selflessness that is necessary to communicate.”

Question: Last week’s Last Resort was intense! Give me some more spoilers! — Steve

ADAM: As one might expect, shooting the Secretary of Defense isn’t going to be good for Admiral Shepard. “His actions make it harder for Kylie to interact with him,” executive producer Shawn Ryan says. “I mean, he’s dragged away by Marines, and he just shot the Secretary of Defense. It will certainly have consequences.” As for Capt. Chaplin & Co., they may not need the admiral as an ally to sustain their new civilization. Remember those minerals Sophie was testing for? “If they do exist, do they represent a means of surviving for Marcus and the crew?” Ryan teases. “How does it change the way the outside world views them?”

Question: An obvious Arrow question here: How does no one realize that Oliver is Arrow?! — John

NATALIE: Stephen Amell feels your frustrations, but don’t worry: It won’t be long before that very question is addressed! “It’s like, ‘Hey, he’s shown up to Starling City right at the same time that the vigilante has. How long do they expect us to suspend disbelief?’ I think that we do a good job of presenting questions and that’s an obvious one and it’s not going to take us too long to figure that out,” he says.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

CONVENTION NEWS

The home of Comic-Con will remain San Diego until 2016, extending their contract with the Convention Center in San Diego one additional year beyond the new contract. Next year’s event will be held from July 18 to 21. (Dominic Patten at Deadline)

TELEVISION

Actor Mike Colter (Ringer) will join the cast of the mid-season FOX thriller The Following. He will have the recurring role of FBI bureaucrat Nick Donovan. The series is set to debut on January 21. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

The ABC political drama Scandal has been given a full season order. (E! Online)

The mid-season NBC mystery soap known as Notorious then was known as Infamous has, once again, undergone a name change. It will now be known as Deception. The series follows a female detective (Meagan Good) who returns undercover to the wealthy and troubled Lawson family she grew up in, as the maid’s daughter, to solve the murder of the notorious heiress Vivian Lawson who was once her closest friend. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Former 90210 show runner Rebecca Sinclair is coming back to The CW with two new hour-long dramas. First is the untitled drama which centers on a self-obsessed young pop star – the black sheep of her religious family – who isn’t interested in saving anything but her own career, until a fan claims to have been miraculously healed by her touch and word spreads that she has divine powers. The second is called The Lost Girls based on the travel memoir of the same name by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner. The TV project will centers on four very different 20-something American women, each at a point of crisis, who decide to escape their lives and their country by going abroad. While in Cambodia, the wanderers bond, happy to find friends who are equally lost; but when one of the women vanishes under mysterious circumstances, the remaining three pledge to find her, embarking on the real journey, a quest that leads them off the beaten path, around the globe and on the road to finding themselves. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Brooke Nevin (Breakout Kings and The 4400) has booked a series regular role in the TNT drama pilot called Trooper that centers on KJ (Mira Sorvino), a recently divorced female state trooper who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Nevin will play Dakota – KJ’s sister who herself is putting the pieces of her life back together. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Omid Abtahi (Argo and Last Resort) has been cast in the A&E drama pilot Those Who Kill, an adaptation of a Danish crime series. The project revolves around police detective Catherine Jensen (Chloe Sevigny) and a forensic profiler who possess a deep understanding of the serial killers they hunt. Abtahi will play Jerry Molbeck, a brilliant and dutiful homicide detective who is happy to do research for Catherine as she gets closer to finding a serial killer. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Frank Grillo (The Gates and Warrior) has been confirmed to play the character of Crossbones in the upcoming sequel to Captain America. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: Who knew Captain Hook was so sexy?! Is there any scoop on what’s next for OUAT’s newest bad boy? – Jentrom15Flicka

Team Watch with Kristin: What’s next is a journey with Emma Swan that Captain Hook himself, aka Colin O’Donoghue, thinks fans will enjoy very much. “They have a very interesting dynamic between the two of them because Emma is obviously a strong character, strong-willed, and Hook is Captain Hook, you know?” he teases. “So they have an interesting kind of back and forth. That’s all I’m going to say at the minute!”

Question: Can we please get some scoop on Kensi and Deeks on NCIS: LA? Or any scoop you have on that show! Love it! – Barbara

Team Watch with Kristin: We talked to LL Cool J about what’s coming up this season, and he seemed borderline giddy (or as close as that man can get to “giddy”) about NCIS: LA exploring Hanna’s life and introducing more family and friends, which of course means they’ll most likely be in danger. When we pressed him for more, he only said that the show is about to get “interesting.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Joe Mazzello (The Pacific and The Social Network) will have a multi-episode arc on Justified, playing Preacher Billy, a preacher who has saved the lives of drug addicts. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Sterling K. Brown (Army Wives) will recur on Person of Interest, playing Cal Beecher, a no-nonsense narcotics detective and a potential love interest for Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Fox International Channels has acquired the TV rights to the new crime series called Jo that stars actor Jean Reno as a veteran detective in Paris’ elite Criminal Brigade who stops at nothing to solve the most challenging murder cases. The cast will include Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan), Tom Austen (The Borgias) and newcomer Heida Reed. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

Actor Ethan Embry (That Thing You Do!) has landed a recurring role on Once Upon a Time, but details are not being released on what character he will play. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actress Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13 and Prison Break) will have a multi-episode arc on the new NBC drama Chicago Fire, playing mother to Lt. Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer). (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Warren Kole (Common Law) will have a recurring role on the upcoming mid-season FOX series The Following, playing Roderick, a devotee of Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a recently escaped serial killer originally captured by FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon). Roderick is one of Joe’s most important followers and does many of his twisted master’s most crucial tasks. The Following will debut on January 21. (Michael Ausiello and Kimberly Roots at TV Line)

Hell on Wheels has been given a third season order by AMC that will consist of 10 episodes. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Mira Sorvino will star in the TNT drama pilot called Trooper (that was original a project at CBS). The project centers on a recently divorced female state trooper (Sorvino) who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Her partner on the job is a widowed father who has a much more by-the-book approach to policing. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Rebecca Romijn will star alongside actor Jon Tenney in the TNT pilot called King And Maxwell that follows Sean King (Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (Romijn), who aren’t the typical pair of private investigators. Both are former Secret Service agents, and their unique skill sets (not to mention their razor-sharp chemistry) often gives them a leg up on suspects and conventional law enforcement. With her striking beauty, athletic prowess and Beltway connections, Maxwell is a formidable investigator, determined to prove herself after being forced to resign from the Secret Service. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Joe Flanigan (Stargate: Atlantis) has joined the cast of the Lifetime pilot called The Secret Lives Of Wives inspired by the Iris Krasnow novel, which explores the unvarnished truth behind the marriages of four different women — Michelle (Kim Raver), Reed (Salli Richardson), Keaton (Amber Clayton) and Jessie (Lauren Bittner). Flanigan will play Reed’s husband Jared, who is the shadow of his former self, becoming passive and unresponsive to his marriage. Also among the cast are David Conrad and Callum Blue. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Irish actor Eoin Macken (who plays Gawain on the Syfy series Merlin) has landed the lead role in the hour-long NBC pilot called After Hours, which revolves around the graveyard shift in the ER at San Antonio Medical Center. It centers on TC Callahan (Macken), who has returned from the Army to practice his unorthodox brand of medicine, often butting heads with his superiors. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Shonda Rhimes (the woman behind Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal) is producing the ABC drama pilot called MILA 2.0 (based on the book by Debra Driza), which is a sci-fi thriller about a young woman who discovers that she is a Mobile Intel Life-like Android (aka Mila), an experiment in artificial intelligence created by the U.S. government and her scientist mother, who kidnapped her when she was found to have human emotions. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Chloe Sevigny will star in the A&E drama pilot called Those Who Kill, playing Catherine, a detective who possesses a deep understanding of the serial killers she hunts. (The Grey). (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Nicki Aycox (Cold Case, Dark Blue and Supernatural) will star in the Lifetime made-for-TV movie called Profile for Murder that revolves around Jackie (Aycox), a retired criminal profiler who, after the horrific crime that ended her career, is living an idyllic life in Northern California with her husband and two children. When she learns that the serial killer she helped convict has escaped from prison with the goal of terrorizing her, she’s forced to dive back into the case. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of E! Online:

1. Argo, $12.4 million
2. Hotel Transylvania, $9.5 million
3. Cloud Atlas, $9.4 million
4. Paranormal Activity 4, $8.7 million
5. Taken 2, $8 million
6. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, $8 million
7. Here Comes the Boom, $5.5 million
8. Sinister, $5.07 million
9. Alex Cross, $5.05 million
10. Fun Size, $4.1 million

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Question: I have been loving the flirting between Eric and Nell this season on NCIS: Los Angeles, it has been adorable to witness! Can we hope to see more of it this season and see that relationship continue? – Cheryl

Sandra: Remember the almost-kiss between Nell and Eric earlier this season? Remember how bummed you were that it didn’t happen? Well, be sad no longer: There’s a KISS COMING! “I won’t tell you which episode,” teases executive producer Shane Brennan. “But there is a kiss coming. It’s nerd love!” (Extra hints because I like you: It will air before December and they are NOT on a mission.) Now, before Kensi and Deeks fans cry foul and claim they’ve been waiting for a love connection longer, Brennan is quick to point out that the two couples are on very different paths. “Nerds don’t hang around when it comes to love. They jump right in,” he jokes. “It certainly has developed. It’s an intellectual relationship that sometimes struggles to find its physicality, but that’s the nature of the characters. Whereas Kensi and Deeks there a playfulness and sexy tension.” Look for Nell and Eric to continue to sizzle this season, and, Brennan predicts, “If it’s a race to the end, I think they’re leading Kensi and Deeks.”

Question: I’ll be honest, I was not expecting Dig to be the first person to learn Oliver’s secret on Arrow. But now that he has, I’m completely on board — especially after executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explained to me what’s in store for this new dynamic duo.

Sandra: “Dig finding out is going to rock everyone’s world,” he says. “We always knew early on that we wanted to give Oliver someone to talk to. We didn’t want to constantly have voiceover where he was expressing his thoughts to the audience.” Additionally, Kreisberg says that, in a way, Dig understands Oliver’s predicament better than anyone else, and his view of the young crime fighter isn’t sullied by “preconceived notions of who Oliver Queen was.” “We always say that if Oliver is the dark then Dig is the light and the truth is somewhere in between,” he says. “They really need each other — Oliver needs someone to remind him of the value of life and that the extreme way is not the only way. And that sort of push and pull between the characters has given us so many great episodes because you get to see them not just having fun as partners but also see them wrestle with the morality of this quest they are both on.” But what does Dig get from Oliver? A sense of Purpose. “Since he’s come back and is in personal security, he feels like he’s not making a difference in the world. So teaming up with Oliver certainly gives him the opportunity to do that,” he says.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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