Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Ashley Madekwe (formerly of Revenge) has joined the cast of the first scripted series for WGN America called Salem that will be set in the volatile world of 17th century Massachusetts, exploring what really fueled the town’s infamous witch trials. She will play Tituba, Salem’s most powerful witch Mary Sibley’s exotic and mysterious right hand and helper who hasn’t aged in the ten years she has been apart from her master. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor William Sadler (Roswell and Iron Man 3) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Elementary, playing Ian Gale, an iconic technology entrepreneur and innovator. (Jethro Nededog and Tim Kenneally at The Wrap)

Actor Amir Arison (Homeland and the short-lived Zero Hour) will have a recurring role on the new hit NBC drama The Blacklist, where he will play FBI Tech specialist Aram Mojtabi who is an enthusiastic, hardworking agent desperate to assimilate. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Bess Armstrong (My So-Called Life) will have a recurring role on the mid-season CBS drama Reckless, which is a sultry legal drama about gorgeous Yankee litigator Roya Rayder (Cam Gigandet from Twilight and Burlesque) and charming southern attorney Jamie Sawyer (Anna Wood). Armstrong will portray Roy’s mother Melinda. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Ryan Kelley (Prayers for Bobby) will appear in an arc on the MTV thriller Teen Wolf, playing young Deputy Sheriff Perish, the newest member of the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Annie Wersching (24 and Revolution) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Castle, playing Dr. Kelly Nieman, an elite cosmetic surgeon who draws the interest of the NYPD detectives because of her connection to a murder victim. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Jeri Ryan (Body of Proof) has joined the cast of the upcoming new Syfy thriller Helix that will follow a team of Centers for Disease Control scientists who travel to the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak. Once there, they find themselves involved in a life-and-death struggle “that holds the key to mankind’s salvation or total annihilation.” Ryan will play the COO of the research facility where the series takes place. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Andrew Cosby created the Syfy series Eureka and he is now developing a new series called Strange Fiction for NBC. The series will center on a young book editor drawn into the world of the supernatural by a reclusive and quite possibly insane paranormal investigator. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Jennifer Ehle (Pride & Prejudice and the short-lived A Gifted Man) will play the role of Carla in Fifty Shades Of Grey, the mother of Anastasia Steele. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Young actor Brenton Thwaites (Blue Lagoon: The Awakening) will star alongside Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (from Game of Thrones) and Geoffrey Rush in the box office film called Gods Of Egypt. Butler will play Set, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. He killed and mutilated his own brother Osiris. Horus (Coster-Waldau), the son of Osiris, seeks revenge. Thwaites will play Bek, a human thief who cares little for the affairs of gods but when he discovers Zaya has been cursed by Set, he falls on the side of Horus, hoping that Set’s death will break the curse. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actor Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter franchise) has joined the cast of the upcoming box office film called Fury that will be set in the waning days of the war, revolving around the five-man crew of an American tank who come upon a desperate German division. Isaacs will play the confident captain and veteran on the team that includes Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman and Michael Pena. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: S.H.I.E.L.D. question: Will there be more storylines like the one in the pilot? I liked the reluctant superhero idea. – Brennan

TV Scoop Team: Yes, fans of the pilot will be happy to know that the S.H.I.E.L.D. gang is far from done looking for people who have recently become super. Episode nine in particular will be pleasing to those who want Coulson and his crew to get back to business.

Question: I’m the biggest Caskett fan! Got Castle scoop regarding my favorite couple?? – Ash

TV Scoop Team: Stana Katic talked to us recently about the future of Kate and Castle, and it doesn’t exactly sound like smooth sailing ahead. “I think these two characters have strong opinions, and that will create a lot of conflict and opportunity for romance and interest, hopefully,” she tells us. “It would be a new kind of like, new version of the show. But they’ve been revolutionizing the show, I think, for the past two or three years, so I think that they did a nice job of kind of shifting it into the romance last year, and now finally into the engagement, and I’m already filming episode seven or right, and it seems like they’re doing a great job of kind of creating that shift.” Gird your loins, shipper.

Question: LOVED the BATB premiere, but nervous about VinCat’s future, especially with Gabe still in the picture! – Nancy

TV Scoop Team: Fret not over the handsome former Beast’s presence as Sendhil Ramamurthy assures that Catherine won’t be feeling amorous about Gabe anytime soon. “It stays pretty combative, certainly in these first few episodes,” he teases of the duo’s dynamic moving forward, “and then they kind of grow to an understanding. And Gabe kind of shows that he’s on board with going forward with this and trying to help with a cure for Vincent.”

Question: Any scoop on Arrow would be great! Maybe about Roy? – Karine

TV Scoop Team: Mini-vigilante is still trying to be a vigilante when we see him again in season two, much to Thea’s dismay. But he’s not giving up, even after several meetings with the Hood, who suggests he should. Oh, and you can expect to see the two come to an understanding by the end of episode two, one that will please fans hoping to see Colton Haynes eventually don a superhero suit of his own (aka everyone in the world).

Question: The Blacklist is my new favorite show! Any scoop on why Reddington is so interested in Liz? – Nicholas

TV Scoop Team: You know that theory circulating that he’s her father? Well, those theorists may want to head back to the drawing board after this tease: We will meet Liz’s father Sam, who is battling a sickness, in episode seven and soon learn he shares a history with a man with an affinity for hats…

That’s it. Enjoy!