Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

TELEVISION

Actress Lisa Kudrow (Friends) will have a recurring role on Scandal, playing a character named Shelley Meyers, who is a powerful and smart politician. Scandal returns to ABC on October 3. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Michiel Huisman (Nashville) has joined the cast of Game of Thrones in an as-yet unidentified role. Game of Thrones will return to HBO sometime in 2014. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Andrea Roth (Rescue Me) will have a major recurring role in the DirecTV series Rogue, playing Marlene, a fallen from grace FBI agent who butts heads with Grace (Thandie Newton). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

France and Sony Pictures Television Network have renewed Crossing Lines, the international series that aired on NBC this summer starring William Fichtner, Donald Sutherland, Marc Lavoine, Tom Wlaschiha, Gabriella Pession and Richard Flood; but, there is no word yet on whether NBC will pick it up for airing here in the States or not. (TVSeriesFinale.com)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FX has ordered a drama pilot called Hoke that will star Paul Giamatti. The dark comedy is based on the Charles Willeford series of novels, centering on Hoke Moseley (Giamatti), a hard-boiled and possibly insane homicide detective in 1985 Miami. (AJ Marechal at Variety)

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas is working on his next project, the as-yet untitled Les Miserables-themed FOX pilot that will take a contemporary look at the story as a primetime soap about a brilliant lawyer running a legal exoneration program who fights to evade the consequences of his own unjust conviction many years before. He must navigate high society, continue his mission of saving innocent people, and manage his tumultuous family and romantic life all while staying one step ahead of a ruthless U.S. Attorney who refuses to let the ghosts of the past die. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor James Spader (the star of this fall’s The Blacklist) has been cast as Ultron in the upcoming The Avengers sequel. (Dominic Patten at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with TV Scoop Team at E! Online)

Question: If I could I would move to Bluebell and never ever leave! What’s coming up on my beloved Hart of Dixie this season? – Dani Bree

TV Scoop Team: We recently chatted with the lovely Kaitlyn Black and she exclusively told us that AnnaBeth and Zoe are going to get super close—like braid each other’s hair close. “Yes there will definitely be a stronger relationship between the two of them and we will get to see lots of AB/Zoe shenanigans,” she says. So does this mean that AB and Lemon’s Belle bond is broken? Black explains, “Zoe is not taking the place of Lemon but with Zoe being very close to Lavon and AB being in love with Lavon they definitely get to hang out with each other quite a bit more.”

INSIDE SCOOP (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: Will Once Upon a Time explain how Mulan and Aurora helped Philip get his soul back from the wraith, before they found an injured Baelfire? –JJ

Mitovich: In a word, kinda. “We’ll hint at it, but we probably aren’t going to show that [back]story for a while,” says co-creator Eddy Kitsis. For one, it’s not like Neal has reason to raise it as a conversation topic. But more importantly, Kitsis explains, “One of the things about Season 3 is we’ve really tried to focus on the core characters, including the six people on that boat and Neal. We do eventually want to get to that [Philip/wraith] story, but we’re coming out of the gate with the people on that boat.”

Question: Is there any way that Once Upon a Time‘s Ariel and Regina already met? Assuming that the “certain mermaid” Regina referred to in Episode 1×12, “Skin Deep,” was Ariel? –Mirza

Mitovich: I suspect you are onto something, though co-creator Adam Horowitz will only say that “we might” flash back to that aforementioned encounter during JoAnna Garcia’s turn as the Little Mermaid.

Question: Last year, OUAT ran a one-hour special to recap the season before the new season starts. Do you know if they will be doing that again? –Bernadette

Mitovich: Yes, they shall. Once Upon a Time: Journey to Neverland will air Sunday, Sept. 29 at 7/6c, leading into the Season 3 opener.

Question: Can you give us any hints on how Deeks’ mom will come into play this season on NCIS: Los Angeles? –Anna

Mitovich: Actually, somewhat interestingly, she won’t – meaning, I hear that at this time there are no plans to introduce her. (This topic, on which I have received multiple reader emails, is apparently the result of some game of “Telephone.” Sorry!)

Question: On NCIS: LA, will we learn more about Callen’s past? –Molly F.

Mitovich: Oh yes. As show runner Shane Brennan shared with me, “You know that little tea tin sitting on the mantle in Callen’s house, filled with little pieces of his past, pieces of that jigsaw? Well, he adds another very significant piece of the puzzle to that box” early this season. “It’s incredibly emotional.”

Question: Have you heard anything yet about Oded Fehr’s “secret” Covert Affairs return date? – Jo

Mitovich: A) It’s still a secret, because B) Eyal’s appearance is designed to catch you – as well as Annie – quite off guard. Teasing the encore, Piper Perabo told me, “Something happens, a door opens and it’s him — and when this door opens, you are not thinking about him at all. There is no reason he should even know where she is.” In fact, Perabo says she was slightly distracted when first reading that script, and thus was startled herself to see Eyal pop into frame! “It’s so shocking when he appears,” she reiterates. “For me to be reading one of the scripts and be so like, ‘W-w-what?’ is really fun.”

Question: Any info on the remaining Graceland episodes? –Hayley

Mitovich: Only on, like, you know, the season finale, which airs Sept. 12 and finds Jangles taking a resident of Graceland hostage. The rest of the house thus must band together to (hopefully) rescue one of their own.

Question: Do you have any scoop on Haven? Will Nathan and Audrey be reunited early in the season? –Stephanie

Mitovich: Early might be stretching it. Granted, I’ve only seen the season premiere thus far, but there are obstacles a-plenty standing in the way of them finding each other. For one, Nathan is kinda persona non grata, having fled town after his acts in the finale failed to do squat. (Jordan, for one, is very much not a fan of his now.) Secondly, Audrey doesn’t believe she needs to be “found,” wherever she now is. In fact, she seems pretty content just kicking back and schmoozing Colin Ferguson’s charming mystery man.

Question: Any word on whether NCIS will bring back family members of the team? And if so, do you happen to know which? –Daniel

Mitovich: Thus far, both Ralph Waite and Robert Wagner are likely (though not double-secret confirmed) to again play pop to Gibbs and DiNozzo, respectively.

Question: Is there a 100-percent chance that Monroe’s son is revealed during Revolution Season 2? –Jack

Mitovich: Definitely 97 percent, I’d say. Series creator Eric Kripke tells us that while that reveal will be “a slow burn,” “It does become a storyline this season” – one that offers “some twists and turns” along the way.

Question: Robert Sean Leonard was great (although almost unrecognizable) on Falling Skies. Any word if he he’ll return in Season 4? –Sue

Mitovich: Yes, RSL was almost unrecognizable, and yes, at this early stage, he is confirmed to appear in at least one episode of the upcoming season.

Question: Is there any hope that King & Maxwell gets renewed for a second season? I was just getting to know everyone! –Susan

Mitovich: Show boss Shane Brennan says he hopes to get the good word next month – “perhaps in early September” – about any possible Season 2, adding: “Fingers crossed!”

That’s it. Enjoy!