Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Patrick Fabian (Big Love and Veronica Mars) has landed a recurring role on Grey’s Anatomy, playing a pediatric surgeon who comes in to help Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Grey’s Anatomy will be back on ABC on February 27. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actress Emily Rose (Haven) will have a recurring role on the USA Network drama Graceland, playing Jessica Foster, one of Mike’s (series lead Aaron Tveit) superiors in Washington, D.C., but also his ally. Actress Brianna Brown (General Hospital and Devious Maids) will also recur on the show as Kelly Badillo, the widow of Juan Badillo, murdered by Briggs and Mike’s former control agent. And, actor Benito Martinez (The Shield) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the show as Alfredo Armas, the head of the Caza Cartel. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor C. Thomas Howell (Southland) will make a guest appearance on Grimm later this season, playing FBI agent Weston Steward. Grimm will be back on NBC starting on February 28. (Sadie Gennis at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

BBC America is developing a Game of Thrones reinvention of the classic Robin Hood story called Nottingham. The project will be written by Cole Haddon (the series creator of the recent NBC series Dracula) and it will center on the Sheriff of Nottingham whose wife is killed by King John’s men. When no one is brought to justice, the Sheriff launches a one-man war against the Crown. By day, he remains the reviled Sheriff, loyal servant of the King, but by night he puts on a hood and, using the intelligence he gains from his office, attacks the King where it hurts the most – his coffers. As Robin Hood, he systematically raids the King’s men, his noble loyalists and political allies, giving the spoils to the starving peasantry and starting a rebellion that will change England forever. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor John Wesley Shipp (Dawson’s Creek and the 1990s TV series The Flash) has been added to the cast of the CW pilot The Flash that is in the works right now. There are no details on what character he would be playing, though, should the show get picked up. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Ahna O’Reilly (The Help and Fruitvale Station) has landed the lead role in The CW drama pilot called Identity that centers on Mia (O’Reilly), a grounded, whip-smart but restless young New Yorker who finds her world upended when she learns she needs an organ transplant to survive and her only living relative is a newfound half-brother from a wealthy and powerful family in Charleston, SC. She connects with the family only to find they’re the target of a CIA investigation, and the agency wants her as their newest informant. Her loyalty and morality are tested as she slowly builds a case against the family who saved her life. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Donal Logue (Vikings and Terriers) has joined the cast of the FOX Batman prequel pilot Gotham. He will play Det. Harvey Bullock, the rough-around-the-edges partner of the future Commissioner Gordon to be played by Ben McKenzie (Southland and The O.C.) (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)

HBO is developing a pilot for a potential new show called Utopia, a US adaptation of another British series that revolves around the die-hard fans of an iconic, underground graphic novel who are suddenly launched into their own pop-culture thriller when they learn that the author has secretly written a sequel. Unfortunately, the new manuscript is much more than just a book and those on the hunt for it suddenly find themselves in a game of shifting loyalties, conspiracy and shocking twists as the true meaning of the book is slowly revealed. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Michiel Huisman (Nashville and soon to be seen in Game of Thrones) has joined the cast of the upcoming box office film The Age Of Adaline that will star Blake Lively (Gossip Girl). The film follows the miraculous life of 29-year old Adaline, who stops aging after recovering from a near-fatal accident. Over the course of the 20th century she embarks on an epic but isolated worldwide journey, keeping her secret, until she meets a man who forever alters her life. Huisman will play that man. (The Deadline Team)

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at TV Line, TV Scoop Team at E! Online and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Question: Will we see Peter Pan in the second half of Once Upon a Time Season 3? I was thinking that even if he’s dead, that doesn’t mean he can’t show up in flashback or maybe in Rumpelstiltskin’s subconscious. —Natalie

Ausiello: Series co-creator Eddy Kitsis shares your fandom of Robbie Kay’s run as Pan, saying, “We definitely would like to see him in a flashback, because the character was so much fun to write. I’m not sure it will happen this season, but there is a potential.” Concurs Adam Horowitz: “We would hate to not be able to use him again.”

NOTE: Once Upon a Time will be back on March 9 after its extended winter break.

Question: Can you give me any scoop on Stiles from Teen Wolf? He’s my favorite character. –Amy

Ausiello: Scott and Stiles’ friendship will be tested to the limit this season… possibly with fatal results.

Question: Not going to be picky — I’ll take anything you have on Arrow. —Josh

Ausiello: How ’bout I give you everything I have: Cynthia Addai-Robinson will next appear as Amanda in the mid-March episode “Suicide Squad,” which flashes back to Dig’s days in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we’ll find out what Ollie’s biz partner (and sometimes business partner) Isabel Rochev has been up to when Summer Glau resurfaces in Episode 18.

Question: I’m begging for some scoop on Pretty Little Liars! I’d like information about Ezra, but I’ll take anything! –Estee

Ausiello: Now that Spencer has told Hanna and Emily about Ezra, it’s only a matter of time before Aria finds out. But given Spencer’s recent dalliance with pills, Aria vehemently refuses to believe her soul mate is evil. (Fun fact: I don’t have the foggiest idea what I just wrote.)

Question: I love The Fosters. Got any scoop? — Cora

Ausiello: We’re only halfway through the season, but you might want to start bracing yourself for the winter finale, airing March 24. When we brought up the episode with exec producer Peter Paige at the Family Equality Council’s Annual Los Angeles Awards Dinner this past Saturday, where he and fellow EP Bradley Bredeweg were being honored, Paige got choked up. “I literally almost cried, just now standing here talking to you,” he said. “It’s a freight train. And it’s coming for your heart.” Added young star Hayden Byerly: “It’s so dramatic. It’s so heartbreaking for Callie and Jude, especially. Something terrible happens to both of them.”

Question: Do you have any scoop on Season 6 of Royal Pains? Will Hank ever get a love interest? —Laura

Ausiello: Not sure about Hank, but I hear Jeremiah is going to get some action courtesy of Natalia, a drop-dead gorgeous immigrant who is spending the summer working as a bartender in the Hamptons. And it looks like their romance will be semi-serious; the character is slated to appear in roughly seven episodes. Casting is underway.

Question: Any new information on Fitz and Mellie’s two oldest children on Scandal? —Dan R.

Ausiello: Jerry and Karen (as played by Dylan Minnette and Madeline Carroll) will buck the episodic drama’s annoying teen trend and be “complicated, substantial and interesting people” in their own right, according to their onscreen dad Tony Goldwyn, who adds that their arrival from boarding school “really escalates” things for the Grant household.

Question: Please make my day with some Scandal scoop. —Whittney

Ausiello: When the show returns on Feb. 27, Cyrus will be in full-tilt damage-control mode, both on the home and work fronts. “He has rocked his marriage to the core and he also screwed up every chance he has of keeping Sally on the ticket,” explains his portrayer, Jeff Perry. “Cyrus is more scared of what he’s done than we’ve ever seen him, and he’s scrambling like hell to get out of it.”

Question: Any Pretty Little Liars scoop about my favorite TV bad boy, Ezra? – Laur_darb

TV Scoop Team: Sounds like the season finale will be a game changer, with Ian Harding even wondering where the hell the show can go next. “I don’t know what I’ll be doing next season,” he admits, adding that things will never be the same in Rosewood. “They just can’t after what happens.”

Question: Seriously concerned for Teen Wolf’s Stiles! Is he really the big bad this season? – Thomas

TV Scoop Team: Not according to Tyler Posey, who dishes, “The ninjas are definitely the main villains of the season.” But that doesn’t mean we should stop worrying about Stiles. “You’ll definitely see [him] go more in the direction that you can already see him going in,” Posey spills. “Of course, It’s Teen Wolf, so we’re going to pop up with a couple of different villains in there, so there’s no shortage of evilness to come.”

Question: In desperate need of info on Reign! – Ashley

TV Scoop Team: A new suitor is coming to French Court! The CW period drama is currently looking to cast a very gorgeous and masculine visiting nobleman who will woo one of our ladies. And get this? He may be sticking around for quite some time, like possibly for season two.

Question: Can you tell me more about the Beckett episode coming up on Castle? — Julie

Natalie: Beckett’s going undercover — with potentially disastrous complications. “Beckett thinks she’s pretending to be one person, but discovers that [the criminals] think that she’s somebody else completely,” creator Andrew W. Marlowe says. “She has to navigate those waters and figure out who she’s supposed to be, and any misstep could get her killed.” Adding an extra layer of danger? As the undercover operation unravels, Beckett will once again come into contact with some familiar faces from the Johanna Beckett murder investigation. Any guesses?

Question: Please share some Scandal news. — Aidy

Natalie: Sally Langston is far from being out of the picture after killing off her husband. In fact, she’ll redouble her efforts to maintain a sense of power in the White House by working closely with Leo to plan her next career steps. In related news, the midseason premiere is called “Ride Sally Ride.”

Question: When it comes to Downton Abbey, I’m on Team Downstairs! Now that Alfred got accepted to the culinary school at the Ritz, is that love triangle with Ivy and Daisy done? — Sarina

Natalie: Daisy still carries a torch for the ginger-haired former footman, and his absence doesn’t necessarily make it easier for her to get along with Ivy. Daisy will soon catch somebody’s eye, though, and each girl will have to make a major decision that could change their lives forever after receiving two very promising proposals. I’ll just say this: By the end of the season, somebody could be packing their bags.

Question: Please share some Arrow scoop. — Jeremy

Natalie: If you’ve also been thinking that Moira has been getting away with far too much — in particular, lying about Thea being the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn — then you’re in for a real treat. “She still really hasn’t had her come-to-Jesus moment, despite what you think would be rock-bottom… and that’s coming,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says. Her fractured relationship with Oliver over the big lie will have far-reaching implications for every character. “The cold war between Oliver and Moira is not going to go unnoticed by anyone.”

That’s it. Enjoy!