Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland and Touched by an Angel) will appear in two upcoming episodes of the new Hallmark Channel series Signed, Sealed, Delivered that is set to debut on April 20. The series follows a team of four postal detectives who specialize in investigating misdirected letters and delivering them when they are needed most. Bertinelli will play the team’s Mailroom Supervisor, a revolving role featuring TV icons. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Boris Kodjoe (the short-lived Undercovers) will guest star in an upcoming summer episode of Unforgettable, playing Secret Service Agent Benjamin Hernandez, who informs the Major Case team that he and his partner, Agent Briggs, are taking over a murder case because of its connection to a federal counterfeit case they’ve been working on called “Mata Hari.” (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order) has joined the cast of the NBC drama pilot Babylon Fields that is about a town’s residents who come back from the dead. Merkerson will play Pearl Montoya, Janine’s (series lead Meagan Good) stepmother. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Oded Fehr (The Mummy franchise and Covert Affairs) has joined the cast of the untitled ABC Richard LaGravenese drama pilot that is set in New York, revolving 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. Fehr will play Anderson Cole, Margot’s ex-husband and one of the Forbes 500 whose power has resulted in expanding a multimillion-dollar company into a multibillion-dollar corporation. (The Deadline Team)

Actor David Morse (Treme and The Green Mile) and actress Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda and After Earth) have joined the cast of the untitled CBS Wall Street drama pilot that already includes Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire) and Maggie Grace (Lost) as part of the cast. The pilot centers on Jackson (Cox), a smart, sophisticated, hedge fund trader. Morse will play Conklin, a powerful and authoritative hedge fund genius, worth billions himself and always planning his next move to consolidate his power and wealth. Okonedo will play Bryce, an Assistant Attorney General who’s deeply committed to her work of heading a task force investigating Wall Street. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actors Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do and Beauty And the Beast) and Niall Matter (Eureka and Primeval: New World) have joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot Guilt By Association that centers on Rachel Knight (Julia Stiles), a talented, unorthodox and impulsive Deputy DA in the LA County District Attorney’s office who sometimes operates outside the law in order to uphold it. Scott will play Eric Northup, the Head Deputy of the Special Trials Unit while Matter will play Lt. Graden Hales, a police lieutenant and Detective Bailey Keller’s (Elisabeth Röhm) boss. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Joe Morton (Scandal and Eureka) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot Proof, which centers on a skeptical, hard-science, female surgeon, Katherine (Jennifer Beals from Flashdance and The Chicago Code), who has been struggling with family issues, including a tragic death. She is persuaded to investigate cases of reincarnation, out-of-body experiences, hauntings — all of it looking for verifiable proof to answer one of life’s greatest questions: Is death truly the end, or is there something else beyond? Morton will have the recurring role of Dr. Charles Russell, the serious, dry and intimidating head of Katherine’s hospital. He’s hard-pressed to control her but appreciates her abilities and commitment. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

MINI-SERIES/MADE-FOR-TV NEWS

Syfy has given a greenlight to the 6-hour mini-series event Ascension that will be set in 1963, where the U.S. government launches a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, a mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their mission. This event series is slated to launch in November 2014 and air through December. (The Futon Critic)

Actors Christopher McDonald (Requiem For A Dream) and Trevor Donovan (90210) have joined the cast of the History Channel mini-series Texas Rising that will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. McDonald will play Henry Karnes, a grizzled, tough taskmaster of the ranging company while Donovan will play Kit Acklin, a handsome, wise-ass, expert horseman whose chivalry and equestrian skills are matched only by his gun-fighting prowess. The cast already includes Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Thomas Jane, Olivier Martinez, Chad Michael Murray, Michael Rapaport and Max Thieriot. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Anne Heche (Men In Trees) will appear in the USA Network upcoming event series called Dig that centers on Peter (Jason Isaacs of Harry Potter fame), an FBI agent stationed in Jerusalem who, while investigating the murder of an archaeologist, uncovers a conspiracy 2,000 years in the making that threatens to change the course of history. Heche will play Lynn, the head of the Jerusalem FBI office and Peter’s boss. She’s also his only friend and love interest. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Chadwick Boseman Has Soul as James Brown in First ‘Get on Up’ Trailer

Q&A SECTION (with TV Scoop Team at E! Online)

Question: Please, please, please, give me deets on Teen Wolf. – Jess

TV Scoop Team: Get ready to meet Violet, she’s a pretty 16-year-old high schooler who is very unassuming…but she’s a lot tougher than you’d think.

Question: Please, please tell me Will does not end up marrying Layla on Nashville! – Vicki

TV Scoop Team: Sorry, but we mustn’t tell lies. It’s going to get even crazier for the engaged duo as Layla manages to convince Will that, in addition to getting married, they also need to have their own reality show documenting the whole process.

Question: Revenge has the best twists. How ‘bout a little tease of one? – Matt

TV Scoop Team: Margaux’s half-brother, the devious and dashing Gideon, make an appearance in the season three finale. And he’s sticking around for season four (it’s just a formality that ABC hasn’t announced one yet). But be warned: he has a dark side.

Question: I think Beauty and the Beast fans deserve a little scoop after our tireless voting in Save One Show. So let’s have it! – Jill

TV Scoop Team: That you do, Beasties. That you do. (Also: feel free to nap for an hour or ten, you earned it.) Guess who’s coming back? Cat’s sister Heather, played by Nicole Anderson! Too bad she’ll be put in serious danger as she gets caught up in Gabe’s revenge scheme against Vincent. Uh oh!

That’s it. Enjoy!

PS: Have a great weekend!!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Adrian Pasdar (Heroes and The Lying Game) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, playing Glenn Talbot, an old school member of Bruce Banner’s supporting cast. (Eric Goldman at IGN)

Looks like A&E has pulled the plug on their new thriller Those Who Kill after only two episodes. However, It looks like the cabler wants to give the show another shot with a re-launch at another time. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CBS has renewed the following dramas: NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Person of Interest, CSI, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, Elementary and The Good Wife. However, ne word has come down yet on the new drama Intelligence and the long-running The Mentatlist. (CBS Press Release)

Actor Jorge Garcia (Once Upon a Time and Lost) has been promoted to series regular on Hawaii Five-0 for the show’s recently announced fifth season. He plays Jerry Ortega, a conspiracy theorist and former high school classmate of Detective Lt. Chin Ho Kelly (series regular Daniel Dae Kim). (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Janina Gavankar (True Blood and Arrow) has joined the cast of the NBD drama pilot The Mysteries Of Laura that follow the life and relationships of Laura Diamond (Debra Messing), a female homicide detective who can handle murderous criminals, but not her hell-raising twin children. Gavankar will play Meredith, a tightly wound and perfectly coiffed detective who sees herself as far more sophisticated than her fellow detective and rival Laura Diamond, and it annoys her to no end that Laura is the precinct’s golden child. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Maggie Grace (Lost and Californication) has landed the female lead in the currently untitled CBS Wall Street drama pilot (that includes John Cusack as one of its executive producers. The pilot centers on Jackson, a smart, sophisticated, Wall Street hedge fund trader. Grace will play Jaime, a newly hired in-house legal counsel at the hedge fund who is smart, ambitious, savvy and has a conscience. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Justin Baldoni (Everwood and Undercover Bridesmaid) has been cast in The CW drama pilot Jane The Virgin that centers on Jane (Gina Rodriguez), a hardworking religious girl who, due to a series of outrageous events, is accidentally artificially inseminated. Baldoni plays Rafael, a former playboy whose life is at a crossroads. When he finds out his sperm has been mistakenly used on the wrong woman, he is forced to reexamine everything. (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actresses Maggie Grace (Lost) and Famke Janssen (X-Men) will reprise their roles in the next Taken sequel. (Mike Fleming, Jr. and Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Carla Gugino (Political Animals) will appear in the upcoming box office movie San Andreas where she will play the ex-wife of a Special Ops firefighter (Dwayne Johnson) who treks with him from Los Angeles to San Francisco to rescue his daughter after the Big One hits. (The Deadline Team)

Actors Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride and Psych), Jason Momoa (The Red Road and Stargate Atlantis), Drew Roy (Falling Skies and Shane Coffey (Pretty Little Liars and Perception and actress Haley Webb (Teen Wolf) will appear in the comedy/thriller Sugar Mountain that centers on two down-on-their-luck brothers who fake a disappearance in the wilderness so they’ll have a great survival story to sell. But the hoax turns out to be more real than they planned. (The Deadline Team)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Oliver Hudson and Will Chase have been promoted to series regulars on Nashville for the shows third season that is if the show gets a third season. That decision has not been made yet by ABC. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Claire Holt has left The Originals as a series regular, but she is expected to recur in the future. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Nicholas Bishop (Body of Proof) has joined the cast of Covert Affairs as a series regular, playing Ryan McQuaid, a charming Navy SEAL turned billionaire private military contractor. After McQuaid and Annie (series lead Piper Perabo) first meet in the field as uneasy allies, but their relationship will intensify, as will Annie’s fears that this enigmatic guy may have a secret agenda. Season 5 of Covert Affairs will air on the USA Network this summer. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

The History Channel has given a greenlight to its next mini-series. The 8-hour Texas Rising (which is the working title) will premiere in 2015 and will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. Bill Paxton will play Sam Houston, the father of Texas; and he will be joined by Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Thomas Jane, Olivier Martinez, Chad Michael Murray, Michael Rapaport and Max Thieriot. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Scott Cohen (Necessary Roughness and Gilmore Girls) has joined the cast of the NBC drama pilot Coercion that will revolve around the O’Connor family and their extremely intelligent son, Alex (Gavin Stenhouse), a decorated American war hero and newly minted CIA analyst who is a true patriot and loves his country and family. Unbeknownst to him, though, his father (Cohen), his mother (Hope Davis) and his sister (Margarita Levieva) are part of a dormant Russian sleeper cell that has just been reactivated. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Elyes Gabel (Game of Thrones and Body of Proof) has joined the cast of the CBS drama pilot Scorpion that will center on Walter (Gabel), an eccentric genius and his international network of super-geniuses who form the last line of defense against the complex threats of the modern age. Robert Patrick will co-star. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Rose McIver (Once Upon a Time) has joined the cast of The CW drama pilot iZombie where she will play the lead role of Olivia “Liv” Moore, a med student-turned-zombie who takes a job at the coroner’s office to satisfy her insatiable hunger for brains. With each brain she consumes, she inherits that corpse’s memories; in an attempt to silence the voices in her head, she works with authorities to solve homicide cases. (Andy Swift at TV Line)

Actress Shantel VanSanten (One Tree Hill) has joined the cast of The CW drama pilot The Messengers, that is about a group of strangers responsible for preventing the apocalypse after a mysterious object lands on earth. She will play a NASA scientist named Vera. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) will play the role of Tiger Lily in the upcoming box office adaptation Pan that will be set during World War II, following an orphan named Peter who is kidnapped by pirates and brought to Neverland, where he discovers he’s destined to save the land from the pirate Blackbeard. The cast already includes Garrett Hedlund and Hugh Jackman. (Justin Kroll at Variety)

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

Question: Anything on Suits? —Jeremy

Ausiello: This Thursday’s episode is a big one for Jessica (Gina Torres), who is “forced to re-engage with the woman who her husband left her for,” previews executive producer Aaron Korsh. While their interaction starts off “in a combative way,” the two women “end up coming to an understanding.” Meanwhile, “Jessica is put in a position to either have to perjure herself or not perjure herself, and that decision is juxtaposed with the conclusion of the Mike/Louis journey, dealing with Mike’s secret. They overlap with each other in an interesting way.”

Question: Do you have any spoilers on Pretty Little Liars? —Allyson

Ausiello: How about some scoop on your namesake, Allyson? Not only will Ali play a major part in next Tuesday’s season finale, but you can expect to see a lot more of her going forward. Though she’ll remain her usual secretive self — and we wouldn’t have her any other way — she’ll have less need to lurk in the shadows.

Question: I’m in need of Reign spoilers… mostly Frary! I was so happy that she picked Francis, but now what is going to happen? Will they be happy at least for a while? —Bets

Ausiello: I’ve got some good news for you, Bets: Frary will remain intact for the foreseeable future, as Bash is going to find himself preoccupied with other — far darker — problems. But that doesn’t mean Francis’ fling with Lola won’t come back to bite him. As you’ll see in Thursday’s episode, Lola is still very much hung up on Mary’s new husband. The question is: Will she act on her feelings?

Question: I’m a big Arrow fan and was wondering if you could find something out for me. Doesn’t Slade Wilson have a son named Joe? Will we get to find out what happened to him? —Heather

Ausiello: Though Joe has only been alluded to on occasion on the CW series, Manu Bennett mentions that relationship when discussing why Slade took Shado’s death so hard. “You have to remember, Slade Wilson has also got an ex-partnership and a son out in the world there somewhere. And the son’s potentially got siblings in some scenario that hasn’t yet evolved into the storyline,” he says. “People have to think about more than the layers of what is being shown in each episode. They have to find clues in the DC Comics history, to maybe even piece together more of what Slade is festering upon.”

Question: Anything on Revenge? – Barbara

TV Scoop Team: Is Emily’s cover about to be blown?! Fans will be meeting the clever and dangerous NYPD Homicide Detective Brian Hosko later this season and he is definitely onto her. And yes, you read that right: homicide is hitting the Hamptons again!

Question: Desperate for any Pretty Little Liars scoop! – Fiona

TV Scoop Team: What do a paramedic and two surgeons have in common? All three are featured in the season five premiere of Pretty Little Liars (that airs on June 10), which will find one of our beloved characters in serious danger.

Question: The Fosters continues to be the most underrated show on TV, so help spread the word by giving out some scoop! – Helen

TV Scoop Team: Wish granted. When Stef and Elena away, the kids will play. Well, more like Callie will play as she decides to throw a big party when the couple goes out of town for a relaxing weekend. As all teen movies and shows have taught us, this will not end well.

Question: Reign spoilers, please! – Dani

TV Scoop Team: to see the return of playboy Bash after Mary chose Francis over him, with Torrance Coombs teasing, “We’re going to see a little bit more of that side of him.” And in addition to Rowan, who fans will meet in Thursday’s episode, Coombs says there’s a “definite possibility” that Bash may find a lady at Court. “There’s a lot of character in the castle. There’s a lot of very attractive women, so we’ll just have to see.”

Question: Anything on Teen Wolf? – Michael

TV Scoop Team: You’ll be meeting in season four and now we’re spilling another new face you’ll be seeing: Dr. Geyer, the hospital’s new administrator who happens to be charming and intelligent, as well as handsome. Hm…new love interest for Mama McCall?!

Question: So, is Quinn joining B613 full-time on Scandal? — Tim

Natalie: Perhaps. Even though Olivia asked Jake not to hire Quinn, Scott Foley says Quinn made a compelling argument regarding her potential value to the shady Black Ops Division. “We will see Jake think about reconsidering,” he says. “[Quinn] made a lot of sense to Jake and he knows, especially because his relationship with Olivia is questionable right now, that Quinn could be a valuable asset knowing what she does about OPA.”

Question: How about some Hook scoop on Once Upon a Time for once! — Irina

Natalie: Sure thing. Hook’s missing year includes a battle with the infamous Blackbeard (Charles Mesure), who may have his eye on the Jolly Roger. “He and Captain Hook do not have a lot of love for each other,” executive producer Edward Kitsis says. “The only thing two pirates would fight over even more than a woman would be a ship.” Ruh-roh! We’ll also see an entire episode devoted to the mysterious message Hook received about retrieving Emma. I still say it’s this.

Question: Thanks for all the scoop on The Blacklist lately. Would it be wrong to ask for more? —John

Natalie: Not at all. In fact, I just scored some exclusive casting information about the March 31 episode. The Wire alum Isiah Whitlock Jr. will play a terminally ill patient who is approached by the latest criminal on The Blacklist with an offer that’s impossible to refuse. What’s one last suicide mission when you’re already dying?

That’s it. Enjoy!

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