Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Alexis Denisof (Much Ado About Nothing and Angel) will co-star in the MTV drama pilot Finding Carter that centers on Carter, a teenager (Kathryn Prescott) who learns that her mother abducted her as a child. Carter is a confident and mischievous girl who has no problem being the center of attention or the life of the party. She and her permissive single mother, Lori, have a close, sibling-like relationship. After getting into trouble with friends, Carter is taken to the police station where she learns a life-altering bombshell: that Lori is not her mother but instead the felon who abducted her when she was 3. From there she begins to know more about her biological family, which includes a twin sister and younger brother. Denisof will play David Wilson, Carter’s birth father, who frequently is the family mediator and the most levelheaded in the house. As a novelist, he saw his only real success with his true crime novel Losing Lyndon about the disappearance of his daughter. Now that his daughter is back and insisting on being called Carter, he wonders if writing a follow-up book, Finding Carter, would fix what is broken in his family. Money problems and a tenuous marriage plague him, and this memoir could be the cure. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Will Yun Lee (The Wolverine) will co-star opposite actor Shane Coffey (Pretty Little Liars) in the USA Network drama pilot The Novice that centers on Kyle (Coffey), a recent college graduate who is forced to move back home with his parents and soon lands a position with a Korean crime organization. Lee will play Big Bang, a thug with a lot of anger issues who is a major player in the Korean syndicate. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Craig Horner (Legend of the Seeker) and actresses Laura Ramsey (The Covenant) and newcomer Sarah Goldberg have been cast in the VH1 drama pilot Hindsight that centers on Becca (Ramsey) who, as she nears 40, is about to embark on her second wedding to Andy Kelly, but her joy is tempered by the absence of her old best friend Lolly (Goldberg) who’s a no-show, having dropped out of their relationship years ago. As Becca mulls over her past with Lolly and the mishap of her marriage to her first husband, Sean (Horner), she wakes up on her wedding day and discovers that it’s 15 years in the past – she’s about to marry Sean, her own parents are still married and Lolly is still in her life. Becca must now decide to either go ahead with her marriage to Sean and watch the years play out as they have before or chuck it all and try for a re-do of the history of her life that’s still in the future. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Michael Graziadei (American Horror Story), and actresses Lesley-Ann Brandt (Spartacus) and Louise Lombard (CSI) have been cast in the Lifetime dystopian future drama pilot The Lottery that is set in a world where women have stopped having children, threatening extinction of the human race. When 100 embryos are successfully fertilized, a national lottery is held to decide the surrogates. Graziadei will play Kyle, a recovering alcoholic and single father of one of the last children born in the country. Brandt will play Casey, a U.S. soldier longing for a child who jumps at the shot at being a surrogate by participating in the lottery. And, Lombard will play Tori, a formerly free-spirited artist who is now a member of the Washington power elite, an accomplished writer and spinmeister who has the ear of the president. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Wes Ramsey (Charmed and Pretty Little Liars) will star opposite Lauren Ambrose in the Lifetime backdoor pilot Deliverance Creek that centers on Belle (Ambrose), who attempts to defend her family’s land by any means necessary and is pushed into becoming an outlaw by the corrupt bank that runs their town. Ramsey will play Nate Cooper, Deputy of Deliverance, Missouri and one of the few men left behind to uphold the law during the Civil War. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Megyn Price (Rules of Engagement) and actor Bryan Batt (Mad Men) have joined the cast of the Lifetime drama pilot Unreal that centers on the outrageous duties of a staffer (Roswell and Life Unexpected alum Shiri Appleby) on a hit dating show. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Line)

Starz is developing a half-hour scripted dramedy Heartbeats that will take an intimate glimpse into the constantly intersecting and diverging lives of Bobby and Kristen; two down-to-Earth individuals who would be perfect for each other, if only they had met at a different time. The project will explore their story with an episode format that focuses alternately on Bobby and Kristen. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Jason O’Mara (Vegas and Terra Nova) has been cast as the lead in the USA Network medical drama pilot Complications, which centers around John Ellis (O’Mara), a disillusioned suburban ER doctor, who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy’s life and killing one of his attackers. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The CW is developing another potential drama from DC Comics. This time the story will be focused on Hourman that will follow a brilliant yet troubled pharmaceutical analyst who’s mysterious visions that have followed him since childhood has led to a less than glamorous life, including a divorce that has caused his ex-wife and son to look down on him. When he discovers, however, that the visions are actually previews of events one hour in the future, he sets out to heroically prevent them from occurring. (Variety and Film Thrasher)

Best-selling novelist Patricia Cornwell is working with ABC on a drama project called Greta Stone that is based on one of her own original ideas. The project centers on a young, orphaned, highly skilled female cop who has an uncanny ability to solve crime. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Lifetime is developing a small screen adaptation of the Broadway revival hit The Trip to Bountiful that tells the inspiring story of one woman’s quest to reconnect with her past in order to ensure her family’s future. (Seat42F)

History is planning a new 8-hour Roots mini-series that would be taking from a contemporary perspective. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Jacinda Barrett (Suits and Zero Hour) has landed a recurring role on The Following, which will be back for its second season on FOX starting on January 20. She will play Julia, a very disarming and alluring woman whose mysterious intentions send several main characters in a frightening new direction. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Back in September, it was announced that actress Emily Wickersham was cast on NCIS as a possible successor to the hole left by Cote de Pablo, who played Ziva David. Now comes word that Wickersham has been promoted to series regular status two weeks before her character’s debut on the show. She will play NSA Analyst Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop, a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The CW is working with Entertainment One on a new drama project called The Cover that has received a script-to-series order, which means if the bigwigs at the network like the script it will go straight to series. The project centers on a handsome young FBI agent who goes undercover in Boston with orders to infiltrate the Irish mob. Along the way, he develops a relationship with a local girl who has a secret of her own. Soon he doesn’t know who to trust as the investigation goes sideways. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Aaron Stanford (Nikita) and Amanda Schull (Center Stage and Suits) have landed the lead roles in the Syfy drama pilot 12 Monkeys, which is based on the 1995 Terry Gilliam movie that starred Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. The TV adaptation would follow the journey of Cole (Stanford), a desperate and haunted time traveler from the post-apocalyptic near future who appears in present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will eventually decimate the human race. Schull will play Cassandra Railly, a brilliant doctor who is forced to choose between her idyllic life or joining Cole’s mission to uncover the dangerous conspiracy. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Ender’s Game – $28 million
2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – $20.5 million
3. Last Vegas – $16.5 million
4. Free Birds – $16.2 million
5. Gravity – $13.1 million
6. Captain Phillips – $8.5 million
7. 12 Years a Slave – $4.6 million
8. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $4.2 million
9. Carrie – $3.4 million
10. The Counselor – $3.2 million

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

Question: I kind of hate King Henry on Reign! I hope he gets what’s coming to him soon! – Grace

TV Scoop Team: When it comes to his three ladies, fans can expect to see him commit to each even further, so tons more drama is coming. But his relationship with Francis will be even more complicated as executive producer Laurie McCarthy explains, “There’s a line that he has later, where the king says he has realized that the best gift he can give his son is his death. It’s a gift (he doesn’t) necessarily want to give, so they have a very layered and intense relationship and it seems as though the king is disdainful of Francis and (yet) he’s not. But he sees him as his usurper, just by nature of the line of succession.”

Question: Scandal is totally killing it this year! Best. Season. Ever. What else is coming up? – Shannon

TV Scoop Team: Scandal’s storylines are super top-secret, but since we love this show somuch (and we know the right people to pester) we’ve managed to get some juicy scoop from one of our favorite gladiators. Darby Stanchfield tells us that it’s finally time to get to know more about the best booty-shaker in OPA. “Harrison gets a turn in the hot water,” she promises. “It’s just the beginning but we get to learn a little bit more about him. It’s so fun what’s coming up!”

Question: I absolutely adored JoAnna Garcia (Swisher) on last night’s Once Upon a Time! Please tell me that we are going to be seeing more of Ariel? – Natalie

TV Scoop Team: You’re in luck fairytale fan! We recently chatted with The Little Mermaid and she promised us that we will definitely be seeing this fin-tastic new character in a few more episodes this season. Also did you know that JoAnna Garcia and Jennifer Morrison are off-screen besties? Emma and Ariel will soon be sharing scenes together as well.

Question: I’m a huge Pretty Little Liars fan and I need to know right away if I should be worried about all my favorite couples. Can you give me a status update? – Becca

TV Scoop Team: We’re going to have executive producer Marlene King help you out with that one. We recently chatted with the pretty little executive producer and she gave us a couple-by-couple update on what we can expect when season four returns this January. “Spoby’s solid for now. Haleb is in flux, but those two love each other,” she says. “It’s been such a roller coaster ride this year for our couples, and for us when we create the show. I love Spoby, I love Haleb, I love Ezria, and when you put these couples in the ringer as we’ve done, it’s painful for us. But If I can make myself cry, if I can give myself goosebumps, then it’s good storytelling and I know it’s effective.” And as for Ezria? Well you’re going to have to watch to find out.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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