Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor F. Murray Abraham and actress Sartia Choudhury have been made series regular on Homeland when it returns later this year for its new season. Abraham played Dar Adal while Choudhury played Saul’s estranged wife Mira. (Kimberly Roots at TV Line and Hitfix)

EARLY UPFRONTS NEWS

FOX has announced the pick-up orders for four new pilots for the fall, including the following:

Almost Human: JJ Abrams reteams with Fringe’s J.H. Wyman and Bryan Burk on this buddy cop show set in a future where all LAPD officers are paired with human-like androids. The series will star Star Trek’s Karl Urban, Common Law’s Michael Ealy, Friday Night Lights’ Minka Kelly and Lili Taylor.

Gang Related: Lost’s Terry O’Quinn, Charlie’s Angels’ Ramon Rodriguez and Nashville’s Jay Hernandez are to star in this drama about a gang member tasked with infiltrating the San Francisco Police Department, where he eventually ends up on the Gang Task Force. Naturally, his loyalties are soon tested.

Rake: Making his broadcast TV debut, Greg Kinnear stars as a brilliant but self-destructive criminal defense lawyer in this legal drama based on the Australian series of the same title.

Sleepy Hollow: From Fringe executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, this modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s classic tale finds Icabod Crane (Tom Mison) time-traveling two and a half centuries and teaming with a police officer to save humanity. Nicole Beharie and Orlando Jones will co-star. (Tierney Bricker at E! Online)

Meanwhile, NBC has picked up two new pilots for the fall including the following:

Believe – Another pilot from JJ Abrams that will center on a girl with emerging powers (newcomer Johnny Sequoyah) and a man sprung from prison to protect her (Jake McLaughlin).

Crisis – From Rand Ravich (the man behind the short-lived series Life) that will be a D.C.-based thriller, centering on a Secret Service agent who becomes wrapped up in an international crisis when the President’s son and classmates are kidnapped. Among the cast are Dermot Mulroney and Gillian Anderson. (AJ Marechal at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) has landed the role of Prince Charming in the upcoming live-action movie Cinderella that will have actress Lily James (Downton Abbey) in the title role, will include Cate Blanchett in the cast and will be directed by actor-turned-director Kenneth Branagh at the helm. (Tim Kennally at The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Trailer for Romantic Comedy ‘Baggage Claim’ Starring Paula Patton

Q&A SECTION (with Team Watch with Kristin at E! Online and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: The title of Arrow’s finale “Sacrifice” is making me nervous! Should we expect a big death?! – Cady

Team Watch with Kristin: Executive producer Marc Guggenheim says not to read too much into the title, as “everyone should have a drinking game because literally if you were to take a drink every time the word sacrifice or some derivative thereof is used, you’d be buzzed by the end of the first act.” However, we can tell you there will be at least one major casualty in Starling City by the finale’s end.

Question: What will happen when Gabe and Vincent come face-to-face on Beauty and the Beast?! – Mae

Team Watch with Kristin: Tension with a capital T! Sendhil Ramamurthy teases fans will not want to miss. “It’s pretty interesting, because obviously Vincent is not trusting of Gabe,” he says, adding that Gabe will not exactly be himself when he first meets Vincent. “It’s Gabe-Beast meeting Human-Vincent, it really floors Vincent because he’s incredulous at this point…that whole scene is really cool.”

Question: I have to know who Elena will choose in TVD’s season finale! – Desiree

Team Watch with Kristin: While we won’t reveal which Salvatore brother our heroine chooses, we can assure you that she does in fact pick one. As for the other brother, fret not as he’ll have more than enough to deal with that not landing the girl (for now) will hardly register. Start prepping for one of the series’ best twists ever, basically!

Question: Fitz choosing Olivia has the Olitz/POPUS shippers over the moon. How long before Scandal ruins the honeymoon? –Mandy

Mitovich: My advice would be to savor the POPUS/Olitz goodness while you can, because big things are brewing for season’s end. As Kerry Washington shared with me, “The end of the season finale is so shocking that at the table read I almost couldn’t get it out of my mouth. You can’t imagine how you’re going to live through the hiatus.”

Question: When Falling Skies returns, how much time has passed on screen between the Season 2 finale and the Season 3 premiere? –@jacobsjj

Mitovich: I will go out on a limb and say that seven months have passed — if only because about a dozen different characters mention in the Season 3 opener that seven months have passed. As such, Tom and Ann are thisclose to birthing their baby, which will, all things considered, present out-of-this-world complications. I can also share that the premiere has a wowza cold open in which the rebels kick some ass… until they don’t; Hal is somehow paralyzed, yet still finding ways to rendezvous with an ever-creepy Karen; and a murder mystery plays a big role in at least the first episodes.

Question: I’ll take any (and I mean ANY) scoop regarding Castle‘s season finale! Monday cannot come fast enough! –Martina

Mitovich: Awesome, because I have any scoop: Chuck alum Mekenna Melvin, we knew, was guest-starring in Monday’s episode. I can now tell you she’s playing Talia McTeague, a well-off Harvard student who shares a connection with the Victim of the Week.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Colin Ferguson (Eureka) is joining the cast of the Syfy series Haven in a season-long arc. He will play William, a handsome mysterious stranger, whose secret agenda leads him to FBI agent-turned cop in the small town of Haven, Maine Audrey Parker (Emily Rose). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

TNT has picked up the spy drama called Legends from the producers of Homeland and based on the novel by Robert Littell. The series will star actor Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) as Martin Odum, an undercover agent working for the FBI’s Deep Cover Operations (D.C.O.) division. Martin has the uncanny ability to transform himself into a completely different person for each job. But, he begins to question his own identity when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t the man he believes himself to be. (Jethro Nededog at The Wrap)

Actor Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon a Time) and Ioan Gruffudd (Ringer) will both appear in upcoming episodes of Necessary Roughness. Sbarge will appear in two episodes as Carl Webber, a high-level employee at V3, the sports and entertainment management company headed by Connor McClane (John Stamos). Carl seeks Dani’s (Callie Thorne) counsel after a traumatic incident. Gruffudd will appear as Nolan Powers, a successful self-help guru embarking on a book tour. Nolan despises anything that has to do with therapy which doesn’t sit well with Dani. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actress Merritt Patterson (Kyle XY and Supernatural) has joined the cast of the upcoming series Ravenswood, which is a spin-off of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars. Ravenswood centers on a town not far from Rosewood, Pa. (where Pretty Little Liars is set), that has suffered for generations under a deadly curse. Five strangers find themselves connected by the fatal curse and are charged with investigating the town’s mysterious and terrible history before it’s too late for everyone. Patterson will play the series regular role of Tess, Olivia’s (Elizabeth Whitson) former best friend who is not involved with the curse. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Bruce Greenwood (the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness) has joined the cast of the remake of Endless Love that will star Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four and Magic Mike) and Gabriella Wilde (The Three Musketeers) as teenage lovers from opposite backgrounds. Greenwood will play Wilde’s father, who doesn’t approve of her relationship with a blue-collar boy while Robert Patrick (The Unit and Last Resort) will star as Pettyfer’s father, who runs an auto body shop where his son works. (Jeff Sneider at The Wrap)

Young Australian actor Callan McAuliffe (Flipped, I Am Number Four and the upcoming The Great Gatsby) has landed the lead role in the upcoming movie called Our Robot Overlords that centers on a teen who gathers a group of teens together to search for his long lost father in the midst of a war between humans and robots. The teen discovers a way to fight back and he realizes that there’s more to this war than his own family. Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson will also star. (Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Hot Trailer: Lee Daniels’ ‘The Butler’

Hot Trailer: Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Ender’s Game’

Watch: Tom Hanks in First Compelling Trailer for ‘Captain Phillips‘

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

Question: What can you tease about The Vampire Diaries finale?! — Rachel

NATALIE: We promise that tears (both happy and sad) will be shed while watching the final hour, which includes an epic declaration of love, a duo (finally!) setting off for the summer together, a major death and another character heading on a path that will leave fans screaming at their screen.

Question: Any new hints about the Person of Interest finale? — Richard

ADAM: Look for another major download of answers about Finch’s past, including exactly what tragedy befell his former partner Nathan Ingram and how that moment led Finch to take up Nathan’s mantle with regards to doing the work of The Machine. But given Finch’s alleged recent betrayals of Reese, is their partnership also destined to end in flames? Also, in the race to save The Machine, expect more resolution than your traditional cliff-hanger. “At the end of this 24-hour period, someone is going to control The Machine, and the identity of that someone is something of a surprise,” creator Jonathan Nolan says. “We consider this finale the end of one chapter. Next season is a brave new world.”

Question: I’m so excited about Manu Bennett being a series regular on Arrow next season. Will we get a hint towards his Deathstroke future any time soon? — Kayte

NATALIE: Actually, we may get a hint this week, though it may not be the most obvious thing. “I would caution anybody who thinks that they know which way the story is going to go,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says. “What’s always interesting about the island is that you know that Oliver survives the flashbacks, so there’s no suspense in that, but it’s who lives and who dies, and what they do and how they do it; that’s the stuff that is constantly the surprise and the thing that you don’t see coming.”

Question: It’s my birthday over here and a great gift would be scoop on the Scandal finale. But anything Scandal is greatly accepted. —Mateo

Ausiello: How about details on John Barrowman’s top-secret May 9 guest stint? According to Shonda Rhimes, the Arrow baddie plays “a fixer” with a “very interesting” client. Bonus (b-day) Scoop: Joe Morton’s character/Jake’s boss does have a name: Rowan!

Question: Love Orphan Black, but I miss Art! Please tell me Sarah’s going to re-join the force soon. —Christopher

Ausiello: Art’s “like a bad smell,” notes EP Graeme Manson, “he just won’t go away.” Translation: “We haven’t seen the last of Art,” he confirms. In the meantime, “Sarah’s many deceptions are still rippling and the effects are being felt, so there’s prices to be paid for the things that she’s done.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

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

TELEVISION

TNT has given the Michael Bay drama thriller The Last Ship a 10-episode order. The series will revolve around a submarine crew that survives a nuclear disaster, starring Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy) as Captain Tom Chandler, a career Navy man who is authoritative and decisive, but also fair and courageous. The cast also includes Rhona Mitra (Strike Back) as Rachel Scott, a strong-willed, intelligent and fearless paleomicrobiologist; Adam Baldwin (Chuck) as Slattery, the ship’s second-in-command who occasionally clashes with Dane’s Captain Chandler and Tracy Middendorf (Boardwalk Empire) as Darien Chandler, the captain’s wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline and Cynthia Middleton at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith will produce and star in the upcoming box office film called Salsa that will co-star Latin hunk (and former Dancing with the Stars alum) William Levy. Amy Heckerling (the woman behind the cult classic film Clueless) will write and direct the film. The movie is about a woman (Pinkett-Smith) at a turning point in her life who meets a salsa teacher (Levy). Through the dance of salsa she begins to get her life back on track. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actress Sophia Myles (Moonlight and Underworld) will have a major recurring role in the upcoming box office film Transformers 4. She will play a scientist in the film, though the specifics of her role are unknown. The cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor and Kelsey Grammer also star. (The Wrap and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: Beauty and the Beast scoop if you’ve got it! – Andy

Team Watch with Kristin: Now that the show’s been officially renewed for a second season, executive producer Jennifer Levin says fans can expect to see more of Vincent and Catherine’s relationship struggles next year. “We spent this season really bonding Cat and Vincent, and they are so strong together,” she explains. “I think next year we want to put some obstacles in their way and really challenge their relationship, so that’s what we’ve been talking about, how to do that.”

Question: Got anything on Grimm? – Sebastian

Team Watch with Kristin: The Grim Reaper is a-comin’ for a visit in the finale! When we chatted with David Guintoll, Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner recently, they revealed that one of the three of them might not make it out of the finale alive. Gulp!

That’s it. Enjoy!

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