Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Legendary actress Judy Davis has bowed out of the anticipated FOX mini-series 24: Live Another Day due to personal family matters. The producers will recast the role that she was to play. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

After being on the air for eight seasons, the USA Network is bringing Psych to an end on March 26 with an hour-long after show to immediately follow that finale that will feature a Q&A with the cast and series creator Steve Franks. (AJ Marechal at Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actresses Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity and Copper) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Orange Is The New Black) and actor Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) have joined the cast of the Cinemax drama pilot called Blanco that already includes Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead and Red Riding Hood) as part of the cast. The pilot will center on Ruben (Fernandez), an uptown gangster, nicknamed Blanco for being a light-skinned Dominican, who uses his status as a confidential informant to turn the tables on law enforcement and build his criminal empire. Potente will play Leslee, Blanco’s girlfriend Leslee. Nolasco will play Jesus, Blanco’s brother while Rodriguez will play NYPD detective Stephanie Gomez. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Universal TV is adapting the Stephen King short story Ayana into a TV drama. The story is set in the world of miracles, featuring complex and powerful characters who are touched with just a hint of unexplained magic that triggers profound change in their lives. (AJ Marechal at Variety)

Actor David Strathairn (Alphas) has landed the lead role in the high-concept ABC drama pilot called Clementine that centers on the lead character Clementine, a habitual criminal who digs into the mystery of her origins after she becomes the target of a group of zealots who fear she possesses latent supernatural abilities that she will one day harness for either profound good or monstrous evil. Strathairn will play Henry, her father. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor John Shea (Gossip Girl and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot called Agent X that already boasts Sharon Stone and Jeff Hephner as part of the cast. The drama focuses on Natalie Maccabee (Stone), the newly elected Vice President of the United States who is tasked with protecting the Constitution in times of great crisis with the aid of her Chief Steward and a secret operative designated “Agent X” (Hephner). Shea will play President Thomas Eckhart, a Southern politician and a salt of the earth man who gives Natalie the key to her new mansion and introduces her to Malcolm Millar, and later chairs the emergency Cabinet meeting after Missy Stanton is kidnapped. Actor Mike Colter (Ringer) also stars. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

Actress Daniella Pineda (The Originals) has joined the cast of the NBC drama pilot called Odyssey that centers on three families whose lives are torn apart when a stranded female soldier, a disillusioned corporate attorney and a disrespected political activist are pulled into the same shocking international military conspiracy. Pineda will play Molly, a reporter for Time magazine who becomes a love interest for a leading protester against the G8 summit. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

ONLINE SERIES NEWS

Legendary actress Sissy Spacek will co-star opposite Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and Linda Cardellini in the upcoming Netflix 13-episode psychological thriller that is currently untitled. The project centers on a close-knit family of adult siblings (Chandler and Cardellini) whose secrets and scars are revealed when the black sheep oldest brother returns home. Spacek will play their mother. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Alexandra Daddario (White Collar, Parenthood and True Detective) has landed the female lead role opposite The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) in the upcoming box office film called San Andreas. The Rock plays a chopper pilot who sets out to rescue his estranged daughter (Daddario) after a massive earthquake hits California. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actor Chad Lindberg (Supernatural and The Fast & the Furious) has been cast in the music biographical picture called Midnight Rider: The Gregg Allman Story where he will play Joseph “Red Dog” Campbell, the real life rock ‘n’ roll roadie who had a character named for him in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Hannah Ware (Betrayal) will star opposite Rupert Friend (Homeland) and Zachary Quinto (Heroes and Star Trek) in the upcoming box office film Agent 47, which is a reboot of the film Hitman. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actresses Octavia Spencer (The Help), Quvenzhane Wallis (Beast of the Southern Wild) and Diane Kruger (The Bridge) will join actor Russell Crowe and actress Amanda Seyfried in the romance epic Fathers and Daughters that will deal with two different time periods in the lives of a father and daughter who live in Manhattan. The first period is in the 1980s in which a famous novelist and widower (Crowe) struggles with mental illness as he tries to raise his 5-year old daughter. The second follows that now 30-year old daughter (Seyfried) who battles her own turbulent childhood demons in contemporary New York. Spencer will play the head of the psychiatric clinic where Seyfried counsels troubled children. Wallis will play a patient who has been mute since her mother was murdered. And, Kruger will play the sister-in law of Crowe’s character, who blames him for the death of her sister. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at TV Line and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Question: I’m completely addicted to Reign. What can you share about the upcoming episodes? Thx. –Betty

Ausiello: How about this? Executive producer Laurie McCarthy tells us that in Thursday’s outing, “you’ll find out that Catherine’s love life is perhaps richer than any of us would have guessed.”

Question: I’m hankering for some scoop about Arrow‘s Oliver and Felicity. Got any interesting news? —KE

Ausiello: Felicity will be forced to make a tough decision in this Wednesday’s episode — and it has the potential to damage her relationship with Ollie. Also, fans of Ms. Smoak take note: Something for which you’ve been clamoring is about to happen (hint: *a****o**.)

Question: Any scoop on Arrow? —Jen

Ausiello: Get ready for baddies galore. “[Episodes] 14 through 18 are villain, villain, villain. Great, big villains one after the other,” teases executive producer Andrew Kreisberg. “You’re going to see a couple of returning favorites and a couple of amazing new ones.”

Question: I would like something on one of my three favorite couples: Casey and Dawson from Chicago Fire, Elijah and Hayley from The Originals, or Oliver and Felicity from Arrow. Pretty please! —Noel

Ausiello: Enjoy an Originals-centric gift pertaining to this week’s episode: With the full moon out, Hayley invites her cursed werewolf family over for a party — and in the process, learns some information about the wolf who’s been protecting her. (Let’s just say Elijah is not going to like this news.)

Question: Please tell me that Joel won’t be around for the entire season of Hart of Dixie! Joel and Zoe are so boring together. She belongs with Wade, or at least someone who isn’t a total snooze. —Jamie

Ausiello: He will not be around for the entire season. No promises about Zoe and Wade though.

Question: Got anything on The Blacklist? —Bradley

Ausiello: Fans of Diego Klattenhoff, mark your calendars and tune in live for Episode 15. That installment will focus on Mako Tanida, a Japanese Yakuda crime boss put away for seven consecutive life sentences (!) thanks to the work of Agent Ressler’s Reddington task force. As scary TV villains sometimes do, though, Mako will escape from Abishiri prison, and his first order of business will be vengeance against those who dishonored him. In addition to Mako (who’s described as being in his mid-30s-50s), the show is also casting the role of Bobby Jonica, a former partner of Ressler’s in his 30s or 40s. The agents reconnect at a wake, then team up to try to put Mako back in the clink. Along the way, though, Ressler will make a discovery about Jonica that will change their relationship forever. (Alas, Bradley, it’s unlikely that Jonica is Keen’s father.)

Question: Can you give us any new clues as to who bites the dust on Nashville? —Clarlee

Ausiello: The death hits Teddy the hardest. Bonus Scoop: As foreshadowed in last week’s episode, Scarlett will be taking a new lover in the very near future.

Question: Maybe something on Revenge about Victoria’s love life? Or something scandalous about Scandal? —Kokoniasta

Ausiello: Scandal it is! Know how we told you that First Kids Jerry (Jr? The III? IV?) and Karen are being cast? Well, the teens reading for those roles best be ready to Shut. It. Down. Jerry shows up with a chip on his shoulder that makes him less than receptive to talking the talk that’s being fed to him by a media consultant. Karen, meanwhile, initially comes off as very much her mother’s daughter – she might even wonder aloud why Mellie puts up with that man — but said simpatico tune quickly changes when she finds out about [spoiler].

Question: Are Tom and Liz headed for divorce on The Blacklist? — Lola

Natalie: It’s not looking good. Tom invites Liz to go on a trip for a teachers’ conference, but her job once again interferes. Don’t worry though, the mysterious Jolene will also be on the trip to help Tom pick up the pieces. Actually, maybe you should worry…

Question: Do you have any scoop on Nashville? — Laurie

Natalie: Producers are looking to cast the role of Luke Wheeler’s son Colt, a “too-cool-for-school” brooder who couldn’t care less about his dad’s music — or any country music for that matter. His tastes skew more toward EDM and rap. Though he’s initially skeptical of “Nashville princesses” like Maddie, he can’t help but be impressed by her musical talents, and the two end up bonding over their mutual embarrassment of their parents’ relationship both on and off the stage.

Question: What’s coming up on Arrow? — Andrea

Natalie: It’s finally time for Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law)! She’ll make her way to Starling City this week and will return later this season. In related news, we’ll learn much more about what — and who — has been occupying Sara’s time over the last six years. Expect to see a few flashbacks to the weeks surrounding the accident on the Queen’s Gambit.

Question: What’s going to happen to Cyrus on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland? — Sam

Natalie: An upcoming episode will explain Cyrus’ back-story, including how he ended up in that bottle. “Cyrus is described as very arrogant and selfish,” Peter Gadiot teases. “He’s quite the opposite of the romantic Cyrus we see. He’s going to be a complete d— basically, and he’s going to be punished for it by going into the bottle. After spending centuries in there to mull over his choices, he’s realized it’s good to be good.”

That’s it. Enjoy!