Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek and Friends With Better Lives) has joined the cast of the upcoming CBS spin-off series CSI: Cyber. He will play FBI agent Elijah Mundo, an expert in battlefield forensics recruited by Special Agent Avery Ryan (Patricia Arquette). Mundo is a savant in weaponry, vehicles and bombs while Ryan brings her expertise in psychology. (Alex Stedman at Variety)

Actress Aly Michalka (Easy A and Hellcats) will have a recurring role on the mid-season CW series iZombie, based on the DC comic of the same name that centers on med student-turned-zombie Olivia “Liv” Moore (Rose McIver from Once Upon a Time), who takes a job in the coroner’s office to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat to maintain her humanity. Michalka will play Peyton, Liv’s best friend, which was a series regular role, played by Alexandra Krosney in the pilot, but changed to recurring. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Michael Beach (Third Watch and Sons of Anarchy) will have a recurring role on the upcoming ABC drama Secrets & Lies that stars Ryan Phillippe as a family man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. Beach will play Jim Fenton, a charming, genuine, trustworthy guy who can make anyone feel at ease. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Kyle MacLachlan (Believe and Twin Peaks) will appear in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this fall, playing a character best described as Skye’s (series regular Chloe Bennett) father. The question of Skye’s parentage, including who her mom and dad are, how she ended up at an orphanage and why she is classified as an 0-8-4, loomed large during show’s debut season. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing an FBI agent who works with McGarrett on an upcoming case with a dangerous man. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actress Morena Baccarin (Homeland and Firefly) will reprise her role as Erika Flynn, a sexy sociopath, on The Mentalist when the series returns during mid-season on CBS. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The HBO drama Pilot Westworld that already includes Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood has added more to its cast, including Jeffrey Wright (Boardwalk Empire), Rodrigo Santoro (300 and Lost), Shannon Woodward (Raising Hope), Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Hercules), Angela Sarafyan (The Good Guys), and Simon Quarterman (The Devil Inside). (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies and Halt and Catch Fire) will star in the sci-fi thriller called Prisoner Of War, a story about an American soldier and a French foreign aid worker who team up in Africa amid humankind’s last stand against a cataclysmic alien invasion. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)

Actors Ian McShane (Deadwood) and Nelsan Ellis (True Blood) have joined the upcoming biopic called Bolden that will focus on legendary musician Buddy Bolden (Gary Carr from Downton Abbey), who is considered by many as the father of jazz. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) will join actors Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds in the CIA thriller flick Criminal that is about a dangerous and unpredictable criminal who finds himself in unfamiliar territory when a dead CIA operative’s skills, secrets and memories are implanted into his brain, with the government agency hoping that he will finish the mission for them. (Linda Ge at The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: Do you have any scoop about Once Upon a Time’s Belle that doesn’t involve Rumplestiltskin’s dagger? –Natalie

Mitovich: What if I told you that we just may get to see some of Belle’s life before she met Rumplestiltskin.

Question: In Season 10 on NCIS, we finally met McGee’s dad. Will we see him this season or at least get an update on his cancer? –Linda

Mitovich: “I don’t know if we’ll see McGee’s dad or not,” show boss Gary Glasberg said when I brought your question to him, “but we’ll certainly revisit that storyline.”

Question: I’ve heard a rumor that Emily Wickersham (Bishop) will only be back for a couple of NCIS episodes in Season 12. Can you confirm or deny? –Antonia

Mitovich: Let’s dismiss this tall tale, seeing as the show has plans to explore the probie’s past and personal life. Says Gary Glasberg, “We’ll be getting into Bishop’s background a little and meet her husband Jake, understand what their relationship is all about.”

Question: Any scoop at all about the second season of Sleepy Hollow? –Advanteege

Mitovich: When Abbie goes to vote in a November election, Ichabod must take note of the remarkable occasion. “What I like about this moment is it is special for both of them,” says EP Mark Goffman. “Crane, seeing how our society has gotten to the point where [blacks] can actually vote, and having a point of view about that fact that no one is at the polling station. And also the fact that Abbie can vote. It took two constitutional amendments before Abbie got the right to vote.”

Question: Do you have any scoop on Syfy’s Defiance, especially regarding Nolan and Irisa? –Mena

Mitovich: Yes, but no – because this piece of news is about the show’s other dysfunctional family. Ingenue Amy Forsyth, who just landed a gig on MTV’s Scream pilot, will appear in an end-of-season arc as Andina, a Castithan who unwittingly becomes entwined in Tarr family politics.

Question: On Major Crimes, are we going to discover Dr. Morales’ first name? –Ilona

Mitovich: Series creator James Duff likes how you think, Ilona! “If you guys really want to know Dr. Morales’ first name, I will give him a first name,” he told me. “Jonny [Del Arco] has come to me a couple of times and said, ‘Can I have a name?’ — it’s like that episode in Voyager when The Doctor tells Janeway, ‘I’d just like to have a name’ — so I’m thinking about how to introduce it and what the name will be. You know, it took me six seasons to give Provenza a first name! I just wouldn’t do it.”

Question: Please, please, give me anything you´ve got on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2! –Ana

Mitovich: I can confirm the rumblings started over at io9 that Adrian Pasdar and a big, fake mustache will reprise the role of Colonel Glenn Talbot in the season opener.

Question: When can we expect to get some details on why and how the kidnapping went down on Finding Carter? –Bruce

Mitovich: Before the MTV drama directly addresses the kidnapping, we’re going to see a little more of Carter’s life with Lori, beginning this Tuesday. “You keep seeing flashbacks of things Lori did, and they start to seem a bit weird,” star Kathryn Prescott teases. “There’s a scene where they’re looking at babies, and Lori asks Carter which one she wants, but Carter doesn’t get that there’s more to the joke. Over the course of the episode, Carter starts to think, ‘Maybe Lori’s not who I thought she was.’”

That’s it. Enjoy!