Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The Killing which was cancelled by AMC last year but then brought back from the dead for a third season has been, once again, cancelled by the network; but it will be coming back for a six-episode run on Netflix. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Frank Grillo (Prison Break) will star in the new DirecTV original drama called Navy St., a 10-episode straight-to-series order from the network over the summer that is a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym in Venice, California. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Nicholas Lea (The X-Files and Kyle XY) will guest star in two upcoming episodes of Arrow, playing Mark Francis, Walter Steele’s close associate, who will have a crucial part in the surprising twist that Moira’s life will take after her murder trial. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The CW is taking a different direction with the character The Flash, who is set to appear in a couple of upcoming episodes of Arrow. Actor Grant Gustin (Glee) will play this character, but rather than appearing in three episodes of the hit CW series, he will appear in two episodes and then a traditional stand-alone pilot will be made instead of a Flash-centric episode of Arrow, allowing the powers-that-be at Arrow to better flesh out the superhero’s story and his world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3) and Blair Redford (Switched at Birth and The Lying Game) will co-star alongside Matt Passmore (The Glades) in the as-yet-titled Sean Jablonski USA Network pilot that follows investment banker Neil Truman (Passmore) and his wife, Grace (Szostak), as they struggle to sift through their stagnant marriage, looking for the spark they once had. When Neil discovers that Grace has been seeing a debonaire male escort (Redford) his entire world is turned upside down. As he gains a new perspective on life and what motivates women, Grace contemplates her own needs and whether her marriage is worth saving. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

It looks like AMC is going to order a pilot for a TV adaptation of the Garth Ennis acclaimed graphic novel series Preacher, which follows a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon. Given immense powers, the preacher teams with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire to set out on a journey across America to find God, who apparently had abandoned his duties in heaven and hold him accountable for his negligence. (IGN and Dark Horizons)

Actress Bonita Friedericy (Chuck) has joined the cast of the Marti Noxon Lifetime pilot Unreal that goes behind the scenes of a hit competition dating series to follow the experiences of a young staffer (Shiri Appleby from Roswell and Life Unexpected) whose lone job is to manipulate the relationships with (and among) the contestants in order to get the vital dramatic and outrageous footage producers demand. Friedericy will play Dr. Wagerstein, the network-mandated show psychologist. The cast includes Francia Raisa, Megyn Price and Freddie Stroma [among others]. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

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

1. Thor: The Dark World – 34.9 million
2. The Best Man Holiday – 34 million
3. Last Vegas – 7.9 million
4. Free Birds – 7.5 million
5. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – 7.2 million
6. Gravity – 6.2 million
7. Ender’s Game – 5.6 million
8. 12 Years A Slave – 4.6 million
9. Captain Phillips – 4.3 million
10. About Time – 3.2 million

It would seem, for whatever reason, Star Partners and Hummingbird Prods. are collaborating on a production of a sequel to the classic 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life that would be entitled It’s A Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story. (Don’t shot the messenger, okay?!) The plan is for Karolyn Grimes, who played George Bailey’s daughter Zuzu in the original film to return as an angel who shows Bailey’s unlikeable grandson (also named George Bailey) how much better off the world would have been had he never been born. (Dave McNary at Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Emily Swallow (Monday Mornings) has been promoted to series regular on The Mentalist two weeks before her first episode is even set to air. She will play a character named Kim Fischer, who will have a profound impact on Jane’s (series regular Simon Baker), but little else is known about her character. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Shelley Hennig (The Secret Circle) will appear in the MTV thriller series Teen Wolf when it returns on January 6. The show will introduce a new mythology, but what part Hennig’s character plays in that is shrouded in mystery as is anything about her character. (Tierney Bricker at E! Online)

Actress Michelle Tractenberg (Buffy and Gossip Girl) will guest star in a holiday episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, playing Lily, a smart, witty, charming and physically capable environmentalist-slash-private chef. When a scary home invasion turns Lily’s life upside down, she does her best to keep a brave face, despite dangerous and uncertain circumstances. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC Studios and Amblin TV are working on a series adaptation of the acclaimed Spanish hospital drama called Polseres Vermelles (Red Band Society) for FOX. The story is a coming-of-age drama set at a big-city hospital, exploring with dark humor the daily life of a group of teenage kids living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FX is working on an event series called Rasputin that will tell the story of the Russian peasant and mystic who became an adviser to the Russian Imperial family. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Heaven Is For Real Trailer Arrives

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

Question: Ah, I’m still obsessing over Bash and Mary’s first kiss! Please tell me he won’t be involved with anyone else on Reign! – Jasmine

TV Scoop Team: Hello, this is a teen drama. Are you new?! When we asked Torrance Coombs about Bash’s previously flirty interactions with Mary’s ladies-in-waiting Kenna and Lola and whether or not they could go somewhere, he teases, “I certainly would think that’s a possibility. We’re laying the groundwork for anything to happen, but we go off pretty strongly in one direction pretty soon.” (And the Francis and Mary shippers go wild!)

Question: Got anything on the 24 reboot miniseries? I’m SO pumped for that!! – Jill

TV Scoop Team: Unfortunately, spoilers for Jack Bauer’s return have been hard to come by, which is fine by us (for now) as we don’t want to face the wrath of Kiefer Sutherland. But we did manage to get Kiefer to tell us that they start filming in January in London, and guess what? That movie that was supposed to happen before the miniseries was announced might still happen! “We’re doing 12 episodes, so that’s exciting in itself,” he says. “And then perhaps the movie.” We’re all for as much Jack Bauer as we can get!

Question: I need Ravenswood scoop…like now! – Melanie

TV Scoop Team: Demand and you shall receive! We recently chatted with the dead darling of Ravenswood, Nicole Gale Anderson, and she promises that Tuesday’s midseason finale will help fill us in on some of the town’s oldest and darkest secrets. “In episode five you kind of get to learn more about their past and their mysteries,” the actress teases. “There are also some really awesome flashbacks that we got to do that revealed the original Miranda and Caleb and you kind of get an idea why they have this instant connection.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a really nice weekend!

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