Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Tara Buck, who has had a recurring role on the HBO thriller True Blood for the past six seasons has finally been promoted to series regular for the show’s upcoming final season. Buck plays Ginger, the blood-serving barmaid. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot Exposed, which centers on Anna, an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth including making questionable alliances. Kranz will play Jeremy, Anna’s hipster younger brother, a tech genius who runs a corporation and has top-secret security clearance. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers and Frasier) has joined the cast of the CBS drama pilot Madam Secretary that explores the personal and professional life of maverick female Secretary of State Elizabeth McGill (Tea Leoni) as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life. Neuwirth will play Elizabeth’s loyal assistant, and the only person on her staff she actually hired. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Ryan McPartlin (Chuck) will star opposite Ashley Judd in the NBC drama pilot Salvation that is about what happens when mega-church Pastor Daniel Strickland suddenly dies. His loyal wife, Jennifer Strickland (Judd), must rally to keep their family together and save the church. McPartlin will play Congressman Todd Bishop, an ambitious man whose political life keeps him from home, making him a bit of an absent husband and father. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek) will return to TV in the untitled ABC drama pilot from Richard LaGravenese that is set in New York and revolves around the love and rivalry between two equally matched, powerful socialites, Philip Fitzgerald Julien (Rufus Sewell) and Margot Worth Cole, who play out their obsessive attraction and seduction of each other through their manipulation of others. Holmes will play Ann, a woman of education and breeding who, with her husband, runs a philanthropic foundation that helps bring clean water to African villages. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot American Crime where she will star opposite Timothy Hutton (Leverage). The pilot centers on the racially charged murder of a war veteran and the subsequent trial, both of which are examined through the personal lives of the players involved. Huffman will play Barb Skokie, Russ’ (Hutton) stoic ex-wife and mother of the killed young man, Matt. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Bojana Novakovic (Rake) has landed the title role in the ABC drama pilot Agatha, that follows Agatha, a criminal-turned-criminologist, who returns home to Philadelphia to help solve the disappearance of a local girl. She also reunites with her detective father, with whom she hasn’t spoken in 15 years. (Andy Swift at TV Line)

Actor Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters) has joined the cast of the FOX drama pilot Red Band Society, a hospital soap about a group of teenage patients who form a bond while being treated in a children’s wing. Annable will play Dr. William McAndrew, a rock star pediatric oncologist and surgeon who is compassionate and dedicated to his job but tries, usually in vain, not to get attached to his young patients. The cast already includes Octavia Spencer. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Actor Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) will appear in the Lifetime original movie Outlaw, which centers on the true story of Warren Jeffs, the leader of a Fundamentalist Mormon polygamist sect who spent more than a year on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List. He eluded authorities and was ultimately caught by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Q&A SECTION (with TV Scoop Team at E! Online and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: Please ease my pain over Drop Dead Diva ending with some spoilers? – Jenn

TV Scoop Team: We don’t like to leave people wanting. In an upcoming episode, Jane is tasked with getting the sperm donor records to find the father of a teen girl who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. Meanwhile, Owen represents Ellie Chapin, the mayor of Malibu who does some rash acts and doesn’t have the get out of jail free card she thought she did.

Question: Teen Wolf scoop, please? – Jaime

TV Scoop Team: Get ready to meet Ms. Fleming, the new math teacher. And we all know what seems to happen to teachers on Teen Wolf.

Question: I’m a huge Arrow fan and I was wondering if you had any hints about the mysterious girl (with the pigtails) in the “Suicide Squad” promo? –Celeste

Mitovich: The CW has no official comment — and I’m hearing it’s possible this mystery woman won’t appear in the actual episode — but our good friends at IGN are speculating that it’s a veiled nod to Harley Quinn.

Question: I would love some scoop about what’s ahead on Revolution. –Stacie

Mitovich: Casting is underway for the season-ending, double-episode role of a blue-collar dad to two teenage kids who “wants to do the right thing for his family at all costs.” Wow, go ahead and order a red shirt for him now, why don’t you?

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!