Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TV TRAILER

Hot TV Trailer: NBC’s ‘Crossbones’

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Bravo Media is development a drama-mystery series called All The Pretty Faces that will be executive produced by Jennifer Garner. The potential series is set in the bucolic beach town of Half Moon Bay, California, centering on two warring families engaged in an epic, decades-long feud. The death of one of their own brings both families together in search of the secret to the affliction that has plagued them for generations: immortality. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

HBO and the BBC will adapt J.K. Rowling’s novel “The Casual Vacancy” into a three-hour mini-series. The book was about a seemingly idyllic English village where various factions are at war: rich vs. poor, teenagers vs. parents, wives vs. husbands etc. Production will begin this summer in south west England. (Variety)

Actors Jeremy Davies (Justified) and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) have joined the cast of the History Channel’s mini-series Texas Rising that will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. Davies will play Sgt. Ephraim Knowles, a shifty rogue whose only thought is for his own survival who reluctantly joins the Rangers to avoid being executed for desertion; while Knepper will play Empresario Buckley, an unshaven bombastic slob, who is the only law in the town of Victoria, and he abuses his position to further his own agenda and make himself rich in the process. (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It looks like another Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie will be made as Alloy Entertainment is developing the fifth and final novel by Ann Brashares for the big screen. The book “Sisterhood Everlasting” picks up ten years later, after the Sisterhood friends have grown apart. It centers on Tibby who tries to bridge the distance by reuniting the girls for a trip that will change their lives forever. (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Hot Cannes Trailer: Ken Loach’s ‘Jimmy’s Hall’

Hot Trailer: Emma Thompson & Pierce Brosnan In ‘The Love Punch’

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

Question: Jack is back! Please spoil the return of 24! — David

Natalie: Although he’s been on the lam for four years, Jack comes out of hiding to stop the assassination of the U.S. president in London. And as you might guess, he’s promptly captured the minute he shows his face. But Jack’s not that rusty. In fact, there’s a very specific reason Jack allows himself to get caught — and it involves a familiar face. Unfortunately, Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski from Chuck), a Bauer-esque CIA operative looking to prove her worth, wastes little time standing in the way of the blessed reunion.

Question: Please tell me Cobie Smulders is going to stay on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. full-time! — Cara

Natalie: The good news: Producers are hoping to find a more permanent position for her next season. The bad: Agent Hill’s future on the show, including her return in the April 29 episode, will be highly contentious. For starters, she was last seen applying for a job at Stark Industries at the end of Winter Soldier. “It would appear that she’s moving on. Coulson clearly has not,” executive producer Jeph Loeb says. “And let’s not forget that Hill hid the truth about T.A.H.I.T.I. “I don’t know how much Coulson trusts her opinion on anything, frankly,” executive producer Jeffrey Bell says.

Question: Do you have any more scoop on the Castle wedding? — Jeanine

Natalie: You can’t have a wedding without a best man, right? Expect a ridiculous competition between Ryan and Esposito as they try to win the job. “Ryan [wants] to have nice time at the bachelor party,” Seamus Dever teases of his character’s approach. “He knows a great place with a great wine list. He’s going to be a classy best man where Esposito is going to be like, ‘Yeah, I’m your frat boy!'” Unfortunately for both men, Castle may (unintentionally) be hard to woo. “The whole time they’re jockeying for favor, all of their efforts are wasted because he’s not even aware of what they’re trying to do,” Dever says.

Question: What’s going to happen to Scarlett after her onstage meltdown on Nashville? — Chinta

Natalie: She’s going to take a long, hard look in the mirror. “Scarlett has to really look at some of the choices that she’s made and [decide] whether or not it’s something she can really dedicate her life to,” executive producer Callie Khouri says. Could she really walk away from her burgeoning career? “She found herself succeeding in a business that she never had any interest really in being in,” Khouri says. “She starts really looking at whether or not she’s in the right place, made the right decisions, doing the right thing.”

Question: What’s the plan for Donna and Harvey now that Scottie’s gone on Suits? — Connor

Natalie: What do you think Donna is, a rebound? Unfortunately, there will be no movement on the romance front for them, as Donna’s focus is helping Harvey get acclimated to the post-Mike world in Season 4. “I still don’t think it’s the right time [for them to get together],” creator Aaron Korsh says. “And Donna knows they are not meant to be at this time too. If they got together now, it would ruin their friendship.” But will either get any lovin’ next season? There are no plans as of yet, but don’t expect to see Scottie back.

Question: Any update on whether Elisha Cuthbert will be back as Kim in 24: Live Another Day? —Jennifer

Ausiello: My sources insist the 12-episode revival will be Kim-free, but there’s reason to believe those insiders are spinning tall tales. Keep in mind, executive producer Manny Coto told us back in January that there “might be” a place for Jack’s cougar-bait daughter in this brand new day, but “it would be later in the season, and it would mean giving away a plot point.” In the meantime, I can confirm that Kim does play an off-screen role in the two-hour May 5 opener, which I’ve seen and found immensely entertaining. If you were a fan of 24, you’re going to love 24: LAD. Chloe acolytes, in particular, will be very happy. BONUS SCOOP: A returning character is keeping a big secret and it’s of the medical variety.

Question: Hart of Dixie fan not-so-patiently waiting for George and Zoe scoop. —Ma’ayan

Ausiello: All I’ll say is that at least six entries in our May Sweeps Scorecard are earmarked for Dixie. Interpret as you like.

Question: On Once Upon a Time, who is ruling over Oz while Walsh is absent? –Marko

Ausiello: “That’s a great question,” series co-creator Adam Horowitz responded when we hand-delivered your query — and it’s one that comes with an answer. The May 4 episode, which is titled “Kansas” and revisits the land of Oz, “will address that pretty directly,” the EP shares.

Question: Any information on whether Nashville‘s Luke is secretly working with Jeff to sabotage Rayna? –Christine

Ausiello: We took that exact query to series creator Callie Khouri, who shut the rumor down quickly. “No,” she said, adding that Rayna’s relationship with the superstar “is entirely personal” and that Luke’s frustration stems from Deacon’s enduring involvement with Ms. Jaymes. “It’s just a really rough place for another guy to be when the person you’re involved with has this very complicated, long history with another man, and that man is still in her life.”

Question: Any Under the Dome spoilers you might have gathered so far? —Babar

Ausiello: Season 2’s eighth episode will introduce us to Hunter, a tech-savvy teen who, per the casting breakdown, “doesn’t subscribe to any programmer stereotypes or labels.” (Although he’s fine if you want to refer to him as a hacktivist.) He’s a free-thinking foster kid who speaks his mind. He’s also set to recur. The role calls for an actor in his mid-to-late teens.

Question: Any Orphan Black tidbits, especially on Alison? She is so wound up and fussy, I love her. –Leia

Ausiello: As you might have already surmised, Alison’s community theater production will turn out to be quite a show, as her anxieties build with no Team Clone pals available to calm her down. I also leave you to ponder the context of this upcoming line: “I don’t believe I’ve ever done ‘the nasty.’”

Question: Burning Arrow question: What can you tease about Oliver’s next move now that it’s clear that Slade is building a super-powered army? —Sam

Ausiello: First and foremost, Oliver is focused on one particular recruit to said army — Roy. In tonight’s episode, “We see the devastating toll the Mirakuru injection has taken on Roy,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg tells us. “He goes through a pretty surprising arc,” as most everyone debates if he’s too wild a card to let live. “That is the question of the hour, and it’s not just our team that’s asking it, but also Thea and Sin,” Kreisberg previews. “And where everybody comes out on that issue, I think, will be surprising.”

Question: Anything on Devious Maids? —Claire

Ausiello: I’ve got good news for you, Claire, especially if you’re worried about Rosie’s future with Spence. Executive producer Sabrina Wind assures TVLine that Peri’s plan to keep them apart “will not come full-term,” so to speak. The truth about her fake pregnancy will be revealed – and sooner than you might think.

Question: Is NCIS ending the season with a major cliffhanger? —Donna

Ausiello: As Matt Mitovich shared on Twitter the other day, there will be “no whiff of a cliff” — in part because the season will end with a solemn goodbye to Ralph Waite’s Jackson Gibbs, and not the Tony-centric episode which got moved to May 6. As show boss Gary Glasberg explains, “Because the season was as complicated as it was, we just didn’t feel like we needed to do a traditional cliffhanger. We wanted to ground everything and get things back to ‘normal.’”

Question: I’m in desperate need of more season two spoilers for Sleepy Hollow! The wait is killing me. – Melissa

TV Scoop Team: Prepare to meet another one of the Founding Fathers! The Fox hit is set to welcome Benjamin Franklin in season two. Franklin will appear alongside Ichabod in a flashback to 1775 and show off his scathing sense of humor. (The character was briefly seen in season one, but a recast is going down.)

Question: Anything on Supernatural’s season finale? – Tyler

TV Scoop Team: Jeremy Carver told us this about the season nine ender: “All bets are off when Sam, Dean and Castiel take the fight to Metatron. Uneasy alliances and brutal choices await all culminating in shocking consequences.”

Question: The Blacklist is on fire right now. What can we expect to see leading up to the finale? – Ronan

TV Scoop Team: Oh, you thought the showdown between Tom and Liz was intense in the last episode? Just. You. Wait. We can tease that one of their next encounters involves a gun. And it’s not pretty. Oh, and yet another major character’s life will be in jeopardy in the penultimate episode. This show is insane and we love every single second of it.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items covering Friday, Monday and today:

TELEVISION

Actor Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica) will be making a guest appearance on The CW period drama Reign, playing John, a sexy nobleman visiting the French Court. (Tierney Bricker at E! Online)

Actor Eion Bailey (Once Upon a Time) will have a recurring role on the Showtime series Ray Donovan, playing a charismatic motivational speaker/self-help guru who needs Ray’s (series lead Liev Schreiber) help. Ray Donovan will be back starting July 13. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Stephen Lang (Avatar and Terra Nova) has landed a recurring role on the WGN America thriller Salem that is set in 17th century Massachusetts, exploring what really fueled the town’s infamous witch trials. It centers on Mary Sibley (series lead Janet Montgomery), the beautiful, ruthless but vulnerable wife of the ancient, ailing but very wealthy George Sibley, one of Salem’s town Selectmen. Lang will play Increase Mather, an old-line, hard-core Puritan who led the way across the ocean to the Promised Land in the late 1600s. Intellectually, spiritually and politically, he’s the most influential man in the country — and the most feared. Salem airs on WGN America on Sunday nights at 10 PM. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Colin Egglesfield (The Client List and Rizzoli & Isles) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the CBS procedural Unforgettable, playing Charles Sewell, a hard-charging agent with the Coast Guard Investigative Services who helps Carrie (series lead Poppy Montgomery) and Al (series regular Dylan Walsh) in their investigation of a boat explosion in New York Harbor. (Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

Actor Nestor Carbonell (Lost and Bates Motel) will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS drama The Good Wife, playing Daniel Irwin, a charming entrepreneur who catches Alicia’s (series lead Julianna Margulies) eye. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

TV SHOW VIDEOS

Witches of East End Season 2 Promo

Exclusive First Look: Syfy’s Dominion

Falling Skies Season 4 Trailer

WGN America’s Manhattan Teaser

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC Family has made a pilot order for the drama called Stitchers that follows a young woman who is recruited into a covert government agency to be “stitched” into the minds of the recently deceased, using their memories to investigate murders and decipher mysteries that otherwise would have gone to the grave. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE VIDEO

‘Petals on the Wind’ Trailer

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Actors Rhys Coiro (Hostages and A Gifted Man) and Joe Egender (Alcatraz) have joined the cast of the upcoming History Channel mini-series Texas Rising, which will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. Coiro will play Vern Elwood will Egender will play Beans Wilkins, a Ranger who is always hungry and looking for his next meal. The cast of this mini-series already includes Bill Paxton, Ray Liotta, Brendan Fraser and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Actor Reiley McClendon (The Fosters) will appear in the independent film called Shangri-La Suite that will star actor Luke Grimes (True Blood and Brothers & Sisters) and actress Emily Browning (Sucker Punch). The film is set in 1974, focusing on two troubled 20-year-olds who set out to kill Elvis Presley. McClendon will play young Elvis. (The Deadline Team)

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past holiday weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 26.6 million
2. Rio 2 – 22.5 million
3. Heave is for Real – 21.5 million
4. Transcendence – 11.1 million
5. A Haunted House 2 – 9.1 million
6. Draft Day – 5.9 million
7. Divergent – 5.75 million
8. Oculus – 5.2 million
9. Noah – 5 million
10. God’s Not Dead – 4.8 million

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Brendan Gleeson & Taylor Kitsch in New Trailer for ‘Grand Seduction’

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

Question: I’m in a serious slump in between Teen Wolf seasons. I will literally take any scoop you have on season 4. – Elizabeth M.

TV Scoop Team: Get ready to meet a new hired gun, named Fahey. He’s in his late 30’s and he’s described as “frightened, yet masculine.” As for who hired him as a gun, we don’t know yet. However, we do know that apparently Fahey has got some explaining to do, Lucy-style, and you’ll meet him in episode six!

Question: I’m dying without my weekly dose of Pretty Little Liars! I need a Rosewood update ASAP! – McKenna G.

TV Scoop Team: We all know that PLL fans want to end the series with a jaw-dropping, mystery-filled movie, and guess what? So does creator Marlene King! “That’s always been the ultimate goal, is that it ends its life in one medium and starts another life on film. I love that.” And the showrunner exclusively spilled to E! that she doesn’t want this to be a made-for-TV movie. We’re talking the silver screen, people! “Oh we want an in-theaters film! Big, big, big opening weekend, with all those Pretty Little Liars fans are coming out. It would be so much fun. And we’d get to do so much like big stuff too,” she smiled. Let’s make it happen, little liars!

Question: I miss Sleepy Hollow so much. Got any season 2 scoop? – Lauren P.

TV Scoop Team: There’s a new sheriff in town, and she’s kind of a far cry from Corbin. Described as “smart, forceful, highly trained and commanding but also has a warm and maternal side,” Sheriff Vasquez apparently used to live in Sleepy Hollow before moving to Texas to work for the U.S. Border Patrol. We hear that’s not a very chill job, so we’re thinking she’s not going to be very tolerant of the headless time-traveling supernatural nonsense that’s taken over the town as of late. We’ll see how that goes.

Question: I’ve been pretty impressed with how Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has managed to fold in the plot line from the new Captain America movie without giving away too much from the film. It seems like a really difficult balance, and given that this is the only time I can think of where a TV show has run concurrent with a film series, I give a lot of credit to the writers for walking that fine line. If only there was something they could do about the mostly bland acting. All the characters seem so “blah” that I’m half-hoping that the resulting fall-out from this arc is that half the team gets replaced with people who are, you know, interesting. Unfortunately, that also includes Clark Gregg, who is a fun actor but just doesn’t seem strong enough to carry a show and is so one-note that when he tries to show emotion of any kind it comes off as really forced. — Chip

Matt Roush: We covered some of this ground in last week’s Q&A, but you’re right that even though the current storyline is S.H.I.E.L.D. at its best to date, a show is only as good as its characters, and this conflict gives the producers a perfect opportunity to make some bold moves in resetting the board and refreshing the ensemble. I can’t imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. without Coulson, and for the most part I still enjoy Clark Gregg’s stoic irony, but I can see how the limited palette with which he’s working could come off as monotonous. Now’s the time for everyone on this show to raise their game, and I’ll be curious where it takes them in what seems an inevitable second season.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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