Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Regina King (Southland) will recur on the new FX drama series The Strain from director Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan and Carlton Cuse (one of the men behind Lost). The drama is a high-concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (actor Corey Stoll), the head of the Centers for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called on to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. King will play Ruby Wain, the smart and accomplished manager of philandering rock star Gabriel Bolivar. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Due to the fact that Kerry Washington is pregnant the folks over at ABC have decided to reduce the episode order for Scandal from 22 episodes down to 18. It’s not because the powers that be over there are upset with the show (or even her pregnancy); but it is getting harder to hide her baby bump and the long hours are becoming hard for the mommy-to-be. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Looks like there will be two new recurring agents on the new ABC drama Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. No casting announcements have been made, but the two new agents will be an African-American, who specializes in combat/weapons and the other will be a high-level munitions expert with past ties to both Coulson and Ward. (Entertainment Weekly and Dark Horizons)

Actor Jon Tenney (The Closer and King and Maxwell) will join the cast of Scandal as a rumored love interest for Mellie, the First Lady. His casting has been confirmed, but no other details have been made available at this time. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

TV TRAILER

Hot TV Teaser: Death Comes To Pemberley

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It looks like the Terminator just might be coming to the small screen again as the folks behind the upcoming Terminator film are looking to expand the popular franchise to TV with a new series that will be written and executive produced by feature film writers Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller with the writers of the upcoming Terminator film – Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier serving as executive producers. This version will follow a critical moment from the original 1984 film, taking it in a completely different direction than the film. But plot details for this small screen version as well as the revamped big screen one are under wraps. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Looks like MTV is moving forward with a script-to-series commitment to Shannara, a drama series based on the popular fantasy books by author Terry Brooks. The story is set in our world, thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization, centering around the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Jenna Mullins at E! Online)

Question: So excited for Rebecca Mader on Once Upon a Time! Can you spill anything on what she’s playing? –Monica

Jenna: She’s one of the best female villains of all time, and not just in recent Disney history. This one even has her own theme music! Also, we can tell you that she is being brought in because now that Rumple and Regina have made peace, the writers felt they needed a new Big Bad and Mader’s character will definitely be at odds with Regina.

Question: Devious Maids is my guiltiest pleasure, so any season-two scoop you have would be perfection. – Alia

Jenna: Want to hear about the terrible people you’ll meet in season two? Of course you do! We’ll meet an ex-stripper who married an older man for money and instead of taking care of her ailing hubby, she just has affairs. But she’s not the worst one. Wait until you meet the charming man whose wife died under very mysterious circumstances.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a really nice weekend!