Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Mark your calendars geeks, nerds and pop culture enthusiasts: San Diego Comic-Con 2014 will be held on Thursday July 24 through Sunday July 27!

TELEVISION

Actress Parminder Nagra (Alcatraz and ER) has landed a series regular role on this fall’s new NBC drama The Blacklist that will star James Spader as one of the top 10 most wanted criminals who turns himself over to the Feds. Nagra will play Agent Margot Malik, a smart and strong FBI agent who befriends Elizabeth Keen (series lead Megan Boone) and takes on a mentor role. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special will have a global simulcast on November 23, airing at 12 PM on the US West Coast, 8 PM in the UK and 7 AM the next day on the East Coast of Australia. This special will be seen in over 200 countries around the world with an expected 100 million viewers expected to watch. (The Express and Dark Horizons)

Actress Shannyn Sossamon (Mistresses) will star opposite Matt Dillion in the FOX “event series” Wayward Pines, which comes from M. Night Shyamalan. The mini-series is based on the best-selling novel about Secret Service agent Ethan Burke (Dillon) who arrives in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID, on a mission to find two missing federal agents. But instead of answers, Ethan’s investigation only turns up more questions as Ethan faces the terrifying reality that he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. Sossamon will play Theresa Burke, Ethan’s wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Hart of Dixie is adding a familiar face to its roster of series regulars. That face belongs to fan favorite Kaitlyn Black, who plays belle Annabeth Nass. Hart of Dixie will air its season premiere on The CW on October 7. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Black Sails has been renewed for a 10-episode season two by Starz before the 8-episode debut season has even aired. The debut season won’t air until January 2014. (Twitter)

Starz will also air the period drama called Dancing on the Edge that will chronicle The Louis Lester Band, an all-black jazz ensemble playing the club circuit in 1930s London. The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity), Matthew Goode (Chasing Liberty), John Goodman (Roseanne), Angel Coulby (Merlin), Anthony Head (Buffy and Merlin) and legendary actress Jacqueline Bisset. (Michael O’Connell at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Syfy has given the greenlight to a 90-minute pilot for a new project called Dominion that is based on characters from the 2010 box office film Legion. The TV project will be an epic supernatural action drama set 25 years in the future after a war between an army of angels and mankind has transformed the world. It will follow the perilous journey of a rebellious young soldier who discovers he’s the unlikely savior of humanity. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

New Trailer for ‘Romeo & Juliet’ with Hailee Steinfeld & Douglas Booth

TV SCOOP (with Sandra Gonzalez and Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

‘COVERT AFFAIRS’: WILL SPARKS FLY WITH ANNIE AND TEO?

In the July 30 episode of USA’s Covert Affairs, Annie (Piper Perabo) heads back to Colombia to determine the true allegiances of Arthur’s son, Teo (Manolo Cardona), after she receives intel that the terrorist group he’s involved with is planning an attack. There are some tense scenes between Perabo and Cardona, who previously worked together on the slightly less suspenseful 2008 film Beverly Hills Chihuahua. “I can’t tell you everything that happens to him [this season], but it’s dangerous,” Perabo says, with a laugh. “He gets a lot of stunts, car crashes, and shootouts. That’s another reason I was glad they cast Manolo: I was glad to have a really brave, macho guy.”

While we’re happy Annie is finally with her handler, Auggie (Chris Gorham), we can’t help but wonder if we’ll see sparks fly with Teo. “We shot this scene recently with Teo in a foreign city,” Perabo says carefully, “and he rescued me in the middle of this fight. Both the hair and makeup girls came up to me afterward, and they said, ‘What’s gonna happen with Teo and Annie?! It all seems like it’s gonna go off!’ I went up to Manolo, and I was like, ‘All right, keep it on a simmer. You can’t put out that much heat. You’re Latin. A little is a lot!’”

‘SUPERNATURAL’: SCOOP-A-PALOOZA

In addition to what was dolled out during the Supernatural panel, this year’s press room was a wonderful flood of scooplets. Here, I pull out some highlights:

CROWLEY = CURED? – Mark Sheppard scooped to me during our chat on the EW Comic-Con couch that Crowley was most certainly going to struggle with certain side effects from almost being cured at the end of last season, but, he maintains, Sam and Dean “did not cure him.” “I mean, as far as the canon is concerned, if you don’t complete the task then it hasn’t happened. I’d be more interested to see…if there is any residual effects.”

DEAN’S SECRET– So, Dean’s got a secret. Exactly what it is, we’re not sure. Neither is Jensen Ackles, but, he teases, it’s “one of the bigger issues of the series.” “So it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out,” he says. Jared Padalecki teased a little further: “ It does really heavily involve Sam, and even has a lot to do with why Sam’s still alive. So Dean is just kind of lying to Sam. And he’s hating it every step of the way and Sam can’t really tell,” he says. “But when Sam finds out, s–t’s going to hit the fan.”

WILL ACKLES DIRECT? Ackles is also waiting to hear whether or not he’ll step behind the camera to direct another episode. After directing one episode per season for the last three seasons, “I’m not directing this year — well not yet. They haven’t given me one. I usually direct the first one out of the gate, but because I have a 7-week-old daughter I opted to stay home with the newborn instead this year,” he says. But there’s still a chance he can. “There’s still a few episodes that are not slated yet with the directors and I think they’re trying to figure out how they can slide me in there storyline wise.”

CASTIEL’S NEW CHALLENGES – Lots of scoop on what’s coming up with powerless Cas in my chat with Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard, but Collins, who is slated to appear in more than a dozen episodes throughout this season, added on the matter: “I certainly hope that at the very least, Cas is going to change his underwear now that he’s human. But I will tease for you – this is pretty juicy stuff since we’re getting into the wardrobe, there is a Laundromat scene in episode 1. So this very question has been forefront in the writer’s minds.” As for his relationship with the boys? Ackles says, “It’ll be interesting to see how the relationship evolves given his new lack of skills.”

‘SUITS’ ALMOST STAGED A BIG BREAK-UP

The new relationship between law firm associate Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) may get rocky on Suits, but it is here to stay – at least for the length of the USA drama’s summer run. But it wasn’t always that way.

“They were planning on breaking us up at episode 10,” Markle reveals. “I know that it has now been completely restructured and re-conceived because they are enjoying Mike and Rachel as a couple too much. They don’t want to do it.”

The decision is one she definitely supports. “It’s really kind of cool and sweet to just not have to keep slapping him,” she jokes. But on a serious note, she adds, “Because the show is doing so well, and we’re so lucky — you can see that we probably have a few more seasons in us — the idea of ‘will-they-won’t-they, will-they-won’t-they, okay, they will, but only for 10 episodes and then it’s going to go away’ felt like then where do you go from that? If it took us two seasons to try to figure out if we could make it work, then maybe they take that time and really give us an opportunity to have something. Just like with any character, with any relationship that you have onscreen, when you can settle into it a bit more, you get to find what’s interesting about it, find layers and nuances. So I’m really happy that they’re really happy with it.”

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

Question: I NEED some Vampire Diaries scoopage. Especially about Katherine — Lauren

Gonzalez: “Katherine is actually going to be one of the main people this season — one of the main characters,” reports EP Caroline Dries. “So she’s going to be intertwined in their lives — not that they want her there. But she’s actually going to need them more than they need her.” Watch more of your questions get answered here!

Question: Any Falling Skies scoop? — Vicky

Gonzalez: Can you have too much of a good thing? Nope! And luckily, TNT feels the same way. I have confirmed that Falling Skies fourth season will consist of 12 episodes — if you’re keeping track, that’s two more than its usual order. Good news for us, possibly bad news for the likely exhausted Tom and Co. Speaking of the gang, Noah Wyle promises that while there will be a few hanging storylines that people have to tune in next year to see, he says, “I’m very happy that we tie up a lot of storylines this season.” “All the plotlines that are laid down get answered — we now know who the mole is, we’re going to find that out and deal with that, we’ve got this Espheni grid that’s irradiating the Earth and a ticking clock on taking it out, we’re going to take it out, and we’ve got this evil Overlord in the body of a 22-year-old surfer chick that we need to deal with. So all of that stuff gets wrapped up in the last two episodes,” he said.

Question: Thank you team EW for all the Comic-Con coverage! But I’m surprised no one asked Scott or Rachel (who were there for the To Do List) for Hart of Dixie scoop! HELP!! — Dana

Gonzalez: Got you covered there. We caught up with Porter on the red carpet at the movie’s premiere, and he reported that George will be MIA for a while at the beginning of this season! Ok, it’s only 20 minutes, but I’ll let him explain: “I moved away from town a little bit, people can’t find me and the town is in desperate need of a lawyer so they go searching for me,” he says. On the romantic front, Porter says that the show is going to “cool it” on the love triangle for a little bit, in hopes it will give “the fans a breather for a second.”

Question: Great chat with the Jay and Kristin at Comic Con!! Any more Beauty and the Beast scoop to share? — Jean

Gonzalez: First, thanks! (BTW – If anyone missed that chat Jean’s talking about, you can watch it here.) And here’s a little more scoop for you: At the start of the fourth episode, Cat’s in the slammer! The big question: Why?

Question: Scandal!!!! — Tessa

Gonzalez: Recent Emmy nominee Dan Bucatinsky was mum on the details of season 3 but promised “more of that sort of jaw-dropping, heart-pounding drama.” “There are twists and turns that you just can’t believe. Characters continue to behave in ways and do things that will surprise people, even when you thought you’ve seen it all,” he says. A hint lies in a tiny casting nugget: Why is the show looking for someone to play a prostitute? And, more importantly, why is she sharing a scene with David Rosen (!!)?

Question: I’d love something on White Collar! The wait for new episodes is just painful! — Jennifer

Gonzalez: Neal and Peter will possibly face their biggest case yet next season (literally and figuratively): A missing T-Rex.

Question: I was lucky enough to see the SHIELD pilot at Comic-Con. Holy cow! PLEASE tell me you have something on episode 2. — John

Gonzalez: Well, I’ll wait until everyone’s has seen the pilot to dive deep into the awesomeness of SHIELD, but here’s what Clark Gregg had to say about what comes next: “It’s a TV show, it’s not a Marvel movie, but it’s more like a Marvel movie than any TV show I’ve ever seen, and we’re spending it all on this pilot,” he said. “And if anything, it’s bigger, wilder, more effects driven than the pilot.” And while we did see Agent Coulson get a little physical in episode 1, Gregg says there’s more action-packed scenes to come. “My action has been pretty sparse in the movies — he’s kind of been like wrangling the super divas you know, like somebody managing the Green Room at Coachella. And now he’s out in the field and there’s a lot more imminent threats, and yes, I can say safely it’s a whole new level of combat for Agent Coulson.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!