Hey All,
Here are the news items for today (there are a lot of development items coming your way):
TELEVISION
Actress Janel Parrish (Mona on Pretty Little Liars) will make a guest appearance on Drop Dead Diva, appearing in the show’s upcoming final season. She will play Chelsea Jones, a cheerleader for a professional basketball team who finds viral video fame after someone captures her epic on-field meltdown on camera. When she decides to sue the team, she calls in Jane (series lead Brooke Elliot) for help, but also becomes a target of bullying by the head cheerleader. Drop Dead Diva is back for the start of its last season on Lifetime on March 23 with a 2-hour premiere. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Olivia Williams (Dollhouse) has joined the cast of the WGN America 13-episode scripted series Manhattan that is set during the clandestine mission to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, NM. The drama will follow the brilliant but flawed scientists and their families. Williams will play Liza Winter, a brilliant botanist with a complicated past who begins to notice unsettling changes to the environment when she accompanies her husband Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey) to the secret birthplace of the atomic bomb. (The Deadline Team)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Actress Paige Turco (the upcoming CW series The 100 and Person of Interest) has been cast opposite Scott Bakula in the planned NCIS spin-off pilot that will be set at the NCIS New Orleans office. Turco will play Linda, the wife of NCIS Special Agent Pride (Bakula). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has joined the cast of the FOX drama pilot Gotham, based on the DC Comics characters, that will focus on a younger version of Batman ally James Gordon (Ben McKenzie from Southland and The O.C.). Pinkett Smith will play Fish Mooney, a sadistic gangster with street smarts and a short temper. (Whitney Friedlander at Variety)
Actress Neve Campbell (the Scream franchise and Party of Five) has pulled out as the lead of the TNT drama pilot Guilt By Association. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)
Actor Edi Gathegi (the Twilight Saga and X-Men: First Class) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot called Proof that will follow Katherine Russo (a part that is yet to be cast), a skeptical, hard science, female surgeon who is persuaded to investigate cases of reincarnation, out-of-body experiences and hauntings to find verifiable proof whether death truly is the end. Gathegi will play Zed, a former refugee from the Sudan with a gentle soul in an intimidatingly tall and lanky frame. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)
Actor Derek Webster (Revolution) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called The Visitors that will take a look at a race against the clock to defeat an unseen alien enemy out to destroy the world by using the Earth’s most precious resource: children. He will play Jessup Rollins, an FBI agent with two disciplinary reprimands on his record and a past of difficult behavior. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)
Australian actor Don Hany has landed the lead role in the ABC drama pilot called Warriors that is about the best and brightest active duty military doctors and nurses as they practice trailblazing medicine. He will play trauma surgeon George Mann. Actor Courtney B. Vance (FlashForward) and actress Eloise Mumford (Lone Star and The River) also star. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)
Actress KaDee Strickland (Private Practice) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot Secrets & Lies, which is an adaptation of the upcoming Australian crime mystery series that centers on Ben (Ryan Phillippe), a family man who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young boy when he finds the body. Strickland will play Ben’s wife Christy whose feelings towards Ben are complicated by the discovery of the neighbor boy’s body. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Debra Messing (Smash and Will & Grace) has landed the lead role in the NBC drama pilot called The Mysteries of Laura, which is based on the Spanish series Los Misterios De Laura. The pilot will follow the life and relationships of a female homicide detective (Messing) who can handle murderous criminals but not her hell-raising twin children. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
A&E is developing a high-concept drama called The 36 that stems from the mystical Jewish concept of the Righteous 36, which stipulates that at all times there are 36 people in the world possessing special powers who don’t necessarily know each other but if even one of them was missing, the world would come to an end. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Terrence Howard (The Butler) will star in the FOX drama pilot called Empire that is a family drama set in the world of a hip-hop empire, centering on Lucious Lyon (Howard), a charismatic, savvy music superstar who is about to take his company, Empire Entertainment, public. Raised on the streets, he has never backed away from a fight and will resort to any measures, fair or foul, to defend his beloved Empire. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS
Actor Dylan Bruce will reprise his role of Bart Winslow in the Lifetime sequel film Petals on the Wind, based on the V.C. Andrews novel. Already announced is actress Rose McIver has been cast in the lead role of Cathy, taking over for Mad Men actress Kiernan Shipka. And, actor Will Kemp (Van Helsing) will play Julian Marquet, Cathy’s abusive boyfriend. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter and James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actor Jai Courtney (the upcoming film Divergent and A Good Day to Die Hard) has landed the plum role of Kyle Reese in the upcoming Terminator reboot being called Terminator: Genesis. Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke has already been announced to play Sarah Connor and Zero Dark Thirty actor Jason Clarke will play John Connor. (Justin Kroll at Variety)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Hot Trailer: Guardians of the Galaxy
Q&A SECTION (with TV Scoop Team at E! Online, Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Question: Teen Wolf is insane this season! I’m almost nervous for the finale! – Carrie
TV Scoop Team: We suggest you start preparing yourselves for one epic mind game, based on what Jeff Davis tells us of “The Divine Move,” the finale. So what does it mean? “People in the know will understand that it refers to a move in the game of Go, which is the Japanese version of Chess, basically,” he explains. “It’s a Go game. Go is a very Asian game. It’s Chinese, Korean and Japanese. It’s a very difficult game to learn and compete in.”
Question: I need some Scandal scoop ASAP! — Jennie
Natalie: The campaign will be in full swing when the show returns, but Fitz may not make it out unscathed. He’ll have to deal with both someone swearing vengeance against him and resurfacing old rumors. In unrelated news, you will see some interesting nudity in the midseason return.
Question: I so envy you! I want to watch Once Upon a Time’s midseason premiere too! — Emma, via Twitter
Natalie: It was everything that I imagined and more. The midseason premiere, which jumps back a year to tell the story of everyone’s return to the Enchanted Forest, also features a shocking proposal that doesn’t quite go the way of happily-ever-after.
Question: Do you have any scoop on the Supernatural spin-off? — Jonah
Natalie: Supernatural: Tribes will air its backdoor pilot in the 20th episode of this season and longtime SPN fans will notice more than a few similarities to the original series’ pilot. After the death of a loved one, the show’s protagonist, Ennis, is dragged into the world of hunting and monsters. It comes as no surprise that Sam is far more sympathetic to the wannabe cop than his brother when they run into Ennis working a case in Chicago. And while Tribes lacks Supernatural’s beloved sibling angst, Ennis has his fair share of Winchester-level daddy issues.
Question: I’m really enjoying The Blacklist. Any idea about what’s coming up? — Nancy
Natalie: So that upcoming episode featuring both Dianne Wiest and Lance Reddick is pretty much going to be off the hook. But NBC’s description of Wiest’s character as “kind and sympathetic” is not quite how I’d put it, particularly since she has a vendetta and will make Cooper pay for a past mistake. While she’s fighting against capital punishment, she’s not above using it herself.
Question: Do you have any Chicago Fire scoop? — Brian
Natalie: Dawson and Casey are still together… for now. But the EMT-turned-firefighter-in-training will soon seek solace in her new teacher, Severide. “We really get close,” Monica Raymund says. “I need him and he’s there for me and we have this… truthful moment where I don’t want to admit something to him and he just gets it and he takes me out and brings me to the firehouse to cheer me up.”
Question: I hope I’m not too late to beg for Castle scoop! —Mandy
Ausiello: This season’s 20th episode is called “That ’70s Show,” and word on the street is it will literally be set in ’70s New York.
Question: I see Matt Mitovich visited the Once Upon a Time set. Did he get anything on Neal? —Viviane
Ausiello: He most certainly did. The good news is that Neal is resolved to reunite with Emma, some way, somehow. The bad news is that his baby momma’s parents don’t immediately agree with his agenda, since they know that Emma is now living in NYC, partially oblivious yet unarguably happy with son Henry. As Josh Dallas explained to MM on the set, “When we get back to fairytale land, Neal is determined to go find Emma, but Charming and Snow just want their daughter to be happy. So they try to say, ‘Look, this is where we live now. This is what we have and that [other realm] is where she and Henry are. We have to let them go.’” But will Neal listen?
Question: In Episode 2.05 of Once Upon A Time, “The Doctor,” there is a scene with young Regina, Rumple and Jefferson at his castle. When Rumple mentions something about the “ruby slippers,” the camera focuses on Regina’s face and she appears nervous and drops something on the table, indicating that the mention of the ruby slippers had some effect on her. Was that on purpose? Is Regina somehow connected to OZ or the footwear in question? —Ana
Ausiello: First off, the slippers you refer to “probably won’t be ruby,” exec producer Eddie Kitsis reveals. Adds fellow EP Adam Horowitz: “The ruby slippers may have been a false road because, in the books, they were silver slippers.” And Once will be “sticking to the book for legal reasons,” confirms Kitsis. Now, back to your actual question regarding Regina’s connection to OZ, I have no clue. But at least I cleared up the ruby confusion! That’s gotta be worth something!
Question: Please tell me Sara/Canary isn’t going anywhere on Arrow. I’m loving her so much! —Joseph
Ausiello: Sara/Canary is alive and well. Thus far. Though her big sister Laurel may wish otherwise. Coming out of their icy reunion, “Sara is heartbroken,” Caity Lotz tells us. “For Sara to be like, ‘I’m not dead, yet [the fling with Oliver] is still that big to you?’ It’s heartbreaking that Laurel isn’t over that [comparatively] small stuff. Sara feels like her sister would rather have her dead!”
Question: I heard that Nashville is finally bringing on Scarlett’s mom/Deacon’s sister later this season. Any scoop for the remaining Claybourne? —Jill
Ausiello: The role hasn’t been cast yet, if that’s what you’re asking. I can, however, share that mother and daughter have a very strained relationship, even by Nashville standards.
Question: Us Grimmsters still have another week to wait until the next new episode. Any word on what to expect when the show returns? –Will
Ausiello: We’re going to meet at least one more member of the royal family: King Frederick, aka Sean and Eric Renard’s father, a formidable man whom we’re guessing is going to lay down some regal smack regarding all of this Eric’s death/Adalind’s baby nonsense.
That’s it. Enjoy!
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Rueben's Ramblings 