Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The History Channel has ordered a second season for its first scripted series Vikings. (Press Release from History Channel)

Actress Katey Sagal (Married with Children and Sons of Anarchy) will play Artie’s mom on Glee in the upcoming Stevie Wonder-themed episode. (Kristin Dos Santos at E! Online)

The UK company behind the mini-series Sherlock is working on a new 3-part drama called The Guilty that will star Tamsin Greig (Episodes) as a detective investigating the disappearance of a little boy that is set across two timelines, one in 2008 and the other in the present day. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

Actors David Andrews (Justified) and Jonathan Keltz (Entourage) and actress Johanna Braddy (Greek) will be appearing in the upcoming season of Unnecessary Roughness. Andrews will appear as the Hawks’ new coach, Tom Wizinski, who takes the reins after a personnel shake-up. Keltz will play a high school baseball player named Darryl “Hutch” Hutchinson while Braddy will guest-star as a court-ordered patient Dr. Dani (lead Callie Thorne) must keep out of trouble, and out of jail. Unnecessary Roughness returns on June 12 on the USA Network. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Syfy has bought a drama spec fro Alfonso H. Moreno (NCIS), which is currently untitled, but will start off with a meteorite striking a plane. The only two survivors find themselves sleepwalking and waking up with no memory of their actions. On the run from the government, they must figure out what happened to them and prove their innocence. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) will provide the voice of the White Rabbit in the proposed Once Upon a Time spin-off. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

PILOT NEWS

Actress Jessica Lu (Awkward.) will have a guest starring role in the ABC pilot Westside that focuses on two rival families and a forbidden and dangerous romance between two members of the rival families. Lu will play Eva, the best friend of Sophie is one half of the forbidden love affair. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Kellan Lutz (Twilight) will star in the upcoming epic box office film Hercules 3D that will deal with a romance between the son of Zeus and the mortal princess of Crete, who was promised to his older brother despite her love for Hercules. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Omar Sy (The Intouchables) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office thriller Candy Store that is set against a dynamic criminal underworld in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. Clarke will play a former covert operative, who discovers the organization he was dedicated to fighting is now operating in his new backyard. When he teams up with a disgraced local cop, their investigation leads them to a king pimp (Sy), a Cold War consigliere, and a beautiful girl wrapped up in an elaborate threat against Manhattan. (Lionsgate and Dark Horizons)

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock and the upcoming Star Trek sequel) and Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and actresses Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) and Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office film Crimson Peak that is to be directed by Guillermo del Toro. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Michael Pena will join the likes of Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence in the upcoming as-yet-untitled David O. Russell film that is inspired by a true story of a notorious financial con artist and his mistress/partner in crime, who were forced to work with an overly ambitious federal agent to turn the tables on other con artists, mobsters and politicians. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: I about died when I saw the beautiful Tom Ellis (The Fades, Merlin) in the Once Upon a Time promo. Do you have any scoop on his Robin Hood character? –Sandi

Mitovich: While Adam Horowitz says that Ellis is “amazing” in the role and Eddy Kitsis teases that he figures into “a very fun scene with Rumple,” the series’ creators stress that the Rumple/Belle-centric episode (airing April 21) will not delve into the Prince of Theives’ backstory. “It’s done in the spirit of what we did a lot in Season 1 — bringing in a character and mashing him up with our story without having to do ‘the Robin Hood story,’” says Kitsis. “But now there is a character in our universe who, should the time arise, we would love to delve into further.”

Question: We were given a hint about a connection between Once Upon a Time’s Neal and Hook in Neverland. Do you have any scoop about what their history might be? – Stef

Mitovich: I kinda sorta do, and I share it in the next episode of Spoiler Alert! But until that goes live, I can share that the dots will be connected in this season’s penultimate episode, “Second Star to the Right.”

Question: I have been waiting for Warehouse 13 to air the back half of season 4. Any scoop on what’s going to happen? –Brendan

Mitovich: I’m going to be honest: Not a fan of the midseason finale. It was clunky, and the cliffhanger was only slightly better than what turned out to be the Alphas finale. Which isn’t saying much. That said, the resolution to all that Artie/Chinese Orchid hullabaloo plays out satisfyingly when the Syfy series returns April 29. Among the teasers I can slide your way: Leena resurfaces in an interesting way (as do the likes of Dr. Calder and James Macpherson); you’ll see the warehouse like you have never seen it before; Saul Rubinek turns in a heartbreaking performance; Caprica’s Polly Walker makes quite an impression; and James Marsters is pretty damn terrific in the guest-starring role of an expert on somethingoranother, playing “drunk” in the first stretch of scenes and taking part in a Buffy shout-out that will have you rolling.

Question: I have never asked for spoilers but I am asking in my nicest, chattering-teeth way to sink your teeth into BBC America’s Orphan Black and give your readers some info. –Jen

Mitovich: Wowza, that was quite the request. How about an answer to the age-old question: Will Sarah start to develop real feelings for her clone Beth’s boyfriend? “Initially, Sarah doesn’t have any sense that she’s going to stick around long in this life, so there are no ties being made to anybody in Beth’s life,” says series star Tatiana Maslany. ”But the more she steps into this life, the less she’s able to get out without causing trouble. So she does start to become very linked to all the people in Beth’s life.” OK, but: Paul included? “An interesting dynamic between Paul and Sarah starts to develop,” the actress hints. ”Things definitely get more complicated.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!