Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Archie Panjabi will be leaving The Good Wife at the end of this current season as she has signed with 20th Century Fox TV and should be headlining her own pilot this fall. (Debra Birnbaum at Variety)

Syfy has acquired the new original series called Dark Matter that is based on the graphic novel by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. It has been given a 13-episode order that will air in 2015. The story will focus on the crew of a derelict spaceship awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets. (The Futon Critic)

Cast members for the AMC series Humans, based on the Swedish series of the same name, have been announced. The series will be set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a ‘Synth’ – a highly-developed robotic servant eerily similar to its live counterpart. In the hope of transforming the way they live, one strained suburban family purchases a refurbished synth only to discover that sharing life with a machine has far-reaching and chilling consequences. Among the cast will be William Hurt, who will play George Millican, a widower who has formed a close relationship with his out-of-date synth Odi, who he treats more like a son than a piece of machinery and Colin Morgan (Merlin) who will play Leo, who’s desperately trying to track down someone from his past. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Jes Macallan (Mistresses) will have a multi-episode arc on the new FOX drama Red Band Society, playing Ashley Cole, the sister of Hunter (Daren Kagasoff from The Secret Life of the American Teenager) a new patient at the hospital. (The Deadline Team)

Actor Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) will appear on NCIS in the often-mentioned, but yet-to-be-seen husband, Jake Malloy, of Special Agent Ellie Bishop (new series regular Emily Wickersham). (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Alexandra Breckenridge (American Horror Story) has landed a recurring role on The Walking Dead, but details on what character she will play are being kept under wraps. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Kim Dickens (Deadwood) has landed a recurring role on the Netflix series House of Cards for the show’s third season that will air in early 2015. The role she will play hasn’t been revealed yet. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life) will appear in an upcoming episode of Bones, playing Valentina, the New Age-focused doula (basically a mid-wife) for Daisy. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Q&A SECTION (with E! Online and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: I’m worried about Irving on Sleepy Hollow? Is he going to be OK? — Heather

E! Online: Actually, it turns out that selling your soul to the Horseman of War isn’t all bad. “There’s part of signing that contract that does work in his favor,” executive producer Len Wiseman says. “As dark as that is, there’s something in the offer that’s quite hard to turn down. It is something that his character is going to have to struggle with because the temptation is not an easy one to turn his back on.”

Question: What’s coming up on The Flash? — Matt

E! Online: On the October 21 episode, Barry’s loyalties will be tested when he considers using his powers to bust his dad out of prison. Of course, Barry’s adopted father Det. West won’t stand for it. Unfortunately for Barry, circumstances will eventually force him to choose between the two men. Meanwhile, we learn that Barry’s third father figure, Wells, has been waiting to take Barry under his wing for much longer than he lets on.

Question: I can’t wait to “Thank Grimm It’s Friday”! But isn’t Nick going to be handicapped by not being able to see the Wesen woge? — Mark

E! Online: You don’t know the half of it! Not only will Nick have to rely on Trubel to be his seeing-eye-Grimm, but he’ll discover that there’s another problem associated with losing his powers. It turns out that there’s an unintended consequence to the spell that Adalind cast on him that will only get much worse. Can’t that Hexenbiest do anything right?

Question: Felicity Smoak is the best part of Arrow, but will we ever learn about her life before Oliver? — Chris

E! Online: Yes — and soon! Episode 5, which is aptly titled “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” will finally fill in the backstory of everyone’s favorite I.T. Girl. “All the flashbacks will be from Felicity’s point of view,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim says. “You’re going to learn a bit more about her father. You’re going to learn a lot about her mother.”

Question: I need some Covert Affairs information. — Nick

E! Online: Unfortunately, Ryan is not doing too hot when Season 5 resumes. But Annie can’t stick around to nurse him back to health. Instead, she’s off to Istanbul to tail Belenko — with some help from an old friend. Oh, and someone dies.

Question: Any scoop on what’s coming up for my favorite Revenge character, Nolan? —Keith

Ausiello: Your favorite character is going to make a bold move on Sunday’s episode, and it’s not going to sit well with Ms. Emily Thorne. The ever-private Emily wants to keep last week’s intruder incident under wraps — especially from a certain cop friend of hers — forcing Nolan to go behind her back to keep her safe.

Question: Any spoilers on Revenge? —Ferlay

Ausiello: How about a nasty spoiler about a certain estranged father? Sunday’s episode reveals a habit of David Clarke’s that we’ve never seen before. No one’s seen it before, in fact, and something tells me he wouldn’t want Victoria catching him in the act.

Question: What do you know about Henry’s plan on Sleepy Hollow? Why does he have that miniaturized version of the town? —Raj

Ausiello: “Every man has a hobby,” executive producer Len Wiseman jokes. “He’s orchestrating a bigger plot and bigger plan. Really, the [3-D] map of Sleepy Hollow is not that different from an operations board. It’s his creepy operations board with his plan.” Though Wiseman and showrunner Mark Goffman won’t spill much about what the Horseman of War has up his sleeve, Goffman does say that there’s a “really tense” scene in the midseason finale, and Henry is in it.

Question: When are we going to see Abbie and Jenny’s mom on Sleepy Hollow? —Courtney

Ausiello: Mid-November. Aunjanue Ellis will debut as Lori Mills in Episode 9, titled “Mama.” Fun fact, courtesy of Goffman: We were originally going to meet Lori in Purgatory in the premiere, but because the Season 2 opener was “a bit of an overstuffed sandwich,” that scene will now air as a dream sequence in Episode 9.
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Question: Was that NCIS’ Scottie Thompson in the new Blacklist promo? Who is she playing that is so important to Red? –Dee

Ausiello: Yes, that was her. She’s playing Zoe D’Antonio, a charming blue-color gal who holds a key to Red’s past. Her four-episode arc kicks off on Oct. 20.

Question: Before the first half of Once Upon a Time‘s season ends, will we find out who wrote the storybook? —Tom

Ausiello: Actually, no. As co-creator Eddy Kitsis revealed, Regina and Henry’s “Operation Mongoose is going to be a rather big story for the year. Whereas we are splitting seasons in half, this is a story that will transcend both halves.”

Question: If Maleficent is heading back to Once Upon a Time, does that mean we’ll see Aurora and Prince Phillip too? —B.D.

Ausiello: Oh, you’ll see Sleeping Beauty well before Maleficent’s midseason encore. When we recently chatted up Sarah Bolger, she was already heading back to shoot her second episode of the season, but we’ll first see Aurora in Episode 7, now “out of her princess gear” in Storybrooke. As for Phillip, Julian Morris is currently busy with New Girl, to be followed by Amazon’s Hand of God, but Bolger trusts, “I’m sure he will be [back],” in some capacity.

Question: I saw a very ominous tweet from the lovely Scott Porter which has me worried that Hart of Dixie will end after its upcoming fourth season. Please tell me it isn’t so! —Tina

Ausiello: No official decision has been made about a fifth season, but I’m told producers hedged their bets and wrote a Season 4 finale that could serve as a satisfying series finale, if need be. Probably a smart move considering Dixie barely survived to see a fourth season.

Question: Can you please tell me something about Laurel from Arrow? —Micaela

Ausiello: In addition to mourning Sara alongside familiar faces, the stages of grief also will point Laurel in the direction of a stranger — gym owner Ted “Wildcat” Grant, to be played by Emily Owens alum J.R. Ramirez starting with Episode 3. Meeting through her work for the D.A.’s office, “At first they definitely butt heads, but ultimately he surprises himself with the amount of respect he develops for Laurel,” Katie Cassidy tells us. And as one might surmise, given Laurel’s destiny to claim the Black Canary mantle, Ted is “definitely a part of her journey. He can see the potential that she has, and wants to help her evolve and grow.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the few news items for today:

TELEVISION

Manhattan has been given a second season order by WGN America. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Hunter Parrish (Weeds and The Good Wife) will appear in the third season of The Following, which will air in early 2015. He will play Kyle, one half of a “murderous” couple. (Andy Swift at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Pretty Little Liars executive producer and co-showrunner Oliver Goldstick is set to write and executive produce a drama project called The Town for The CW. The project is based on the 2012 ITV mini-series that centers on a young man who starts to investigate his parents’ suicide and begins to suspect they were actually murdered and the entire town is culpable. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Marc Cherry, creator and executive producer of Desperate Housewives and Devious Maids will team with Under the Dome showrummer Neal Baer on an action-adventure mystery drama project for The CW called Cheerleader Death Squad (I couldn’t make that name up if I wanted to, by the way). This project is described as Heathers meets Alias, centering on a disgraced CIA agent-turned-teacher at an elite Washington D.C. prep school. When he realizes that his students have high-level access through personal connections, he trains a select few to be his eyes and ears into the world of international espionage and help him earn his way back into the agency. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Odeya Rush (The Giver) has been cast in the upcoming action-thriller called Hunter’s Prayer. She will play Ella, a young girl who teams up with the assassin hired to wipe out her family to find the person responsible. Actor Sam Worthington is in place to play Lucas, the contract killer who helps Ella navigate the tangled web of hitmen and thugs on her quest for justice. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)

Actor Javier Bardem is in talks to take on the villain role in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean film. (First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Kristin dos Santos at E! Online)

Question: I literally cannot wait until Sunday to see Emily and David finally come face to face! What can we expect from Revenge’s big reunion? – Jeaneen

Kristin: Fireworks, of course! “You’re going to see a father and daughter probably bond, although it’s going to be in a very tumultuous way,” Madeleine Stowe spilled to E! News. She also teased that we’ll see more of Victoria’s past, mainly her decision to betray David. “You’re going to find out Victoria never really understood why she did what she did and it’s actually very obvious because Conrad was involved with terrorists and Victoria knowing this, had to choose between her lover or her son’s life.”

Question: How is Sara’s death on Arrow going to affect Laurel and Oliver’s relationship? – Leah

Kristin: Producer Marc Guggenheim promises that their relationship won’t take a hit in the aftermath of that brutal and shocking murder (which I’m still not over, BTW). “It’s funny, I just watched a scene between the two of them in episode 6 where it’s like the sweetest scene,” he said. “I think Sarah’s death pulls them closer together rather than further apart. That’s not to say there aren’t some significant moments of conflict between them also. I mean, that’s one of the reasons we killed Sara off. The amount of story and richness that we get out of it…there’s a scene in episode two where they’re going at it and can’t stand each other. And there’s also a scene in episode 2 where they’re the closest they’ve ever been. And it’s all in the same episode.”

Question: I am a total sucker for the love triangle on Red Band Society! Who will Emma choose? – Madison

Kristin: How’s this for complicated? In an upcoming episode, Emma will kiss one of the boys, but hold hands with the other. And further complicating matters? A new guy possibly catching Emma’s interest.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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