Rueben's Ramblings

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!