Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) will guest star in multiple episodes of The Blacklist this fall, playing Mr. Vargas, a dapper, finicky “muscle” who handles delicate situations in the criminal underworld. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line and Mandi Bierly Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Lori Petty will reprise her role of inmate Lolly on Orange Is the New Black during season 3. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line and Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) and actress Holliday Grainger (The Borgias) will appear in the BBC1 TV movie adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, playing lead characters Oliver Mellors and Lady Chatterley. (Dark Horizons)

BBC America is adding another series to its line-up in the form of the sci-fi drama The Living and the Dead that will take place in Somerset, England in 1888, exploring a land and a community on the edge of monumental change and on the hinge between ancient traditional ways and an industrial, scientific future in a land of ghosts and myths, poltergeists and demons. At the heart of the community is Nathan Appleby, a reluctant farmer obsessed with proving the existence of the afterlife. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

CBS is working with executive producer Jason Katims and Sarah Watson (Parenthood) on a new medical drama project that is yet untitled. The project will be set at a high-tech Silicon Valley hospital with a cutting-edge approach to medicine. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Amblin Television is putting together a TV series version of the box office film Minority Report. Plans are in the very early stages of development so there are no other details at this time. But, as a refresher, the story from the 2002 movie had Tom Cruise in a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams and Samantha Highfill at Entertainment Weekly)

Question:  I saw the EW questions for Once Upon a Time. Why no Rumple or Belle questions? It made me sad, I know there had been some. — Karen

Natalie/Samantha: I did ask about them… just not during The Hot Seat. On the Belle side, there’s this. But on the Rumple side, I hear things are going to get very contentious again between him and Hook this season. “Hook and Rumplestiltskin have a very long history that is blood-riddled and difficult that has been put aside for a little while due to circumstance,” executive producer Adam Horowitz tells me. “But now that circumstances have changed, that past history is going to rear its head again.” Let’s just hope Hook doesn’t steal another one of his wives.

Question:  Do you have any scoop on Lucy Lawless’ character on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? — Sydney

Natalie/Samantha: Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Isabelle Hartley shares a history with Coulson, though it’s more like “mutual respect” than anything sexual, according to executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen. In fact, one might look to the comics for a possible clue as to who Isabelle shares that kind of past with. Could she be the very Isabelle that dated the late Victoria Hand? “There’s always a chance,” Jed Whedon says coyly, adding that trust will be an issue with Isabelle. “When we meet her, she might not necessarily be on the right side of things.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

PS: Have a great weekend!!