Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for yesterday and today:

TELEVISION

Actress Katie Holmes will have a major guest role on the third season of Showtime’s Ray Donovan, playing a shrewd and chic businesswoman named Paige who enlists Ray’s (series lead Liev Schreiber) services, who is also the daughter of billionaire producer Andrew (Ian McShane). (Elizabeth Wagmeister at Variety)

Actress Brianna Brown will return to the Lifetime dramedy Devious Maids as a series regular for the show’s upcoming third season, reprising her role as beautiful trophy wife Taylor Stappord. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Veteran actress Rita Moreno will appear on Jane the Virgin as the mother of Rogelio De La Vega (series regular Jaime Camil). (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actor Tyler James Williams (The Walking Dead and Everybody Hates Chris) has joined the cast of spinoff pilot of Criminal Minds. He will play Monty, a tech analyst who stays at home to liaison with the victims’ families while the rest of the BAU team trots the globe. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Nico Evers-Swindell (the Lifetime movie Will and Kate) will appear in at least two episodes of Grimm as Prince Kenneth, from one of the royal families, who is sent to Portland by the King with the express intent of recovering Adalind’s (series regular Claire Coffee) daughter. (Kimberly Roots at TV Line)

Actor Nick Gehlfuss (Shameless) will have a recurring role on Chicago P.D., playing Jay Halstead’s brother Ryan, who is a bit of a playboy and a successful doctor. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Veteran actress Blythe Danner will have a guest starring role on the upcoming NBC drama The Slap, which is based on the acclaimed Australian mini-series and 2008 novel that is a complex family drama about what happens after a man (Zachary Quinto) slap another couple’s misbehaving child. Danner will play Virginia, the grandmother of Anouk (Uma Thurman), a TV writer dating her show’s young leading man (Penn Badgley). The Slap debuts on February 12 at 8 PM. (Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness and True Blood) has been cast in the CBS Supergirl pilot that will star Glee alum Melissa Benoist as the title role. He will play James “Jimmy” Olsen, her love interest. (Elizabeth Wagmeister at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The female version of Ghostbusters announced who will play the lead characters: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and SNL alums Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. (Natalie Finn at E! Online)

Looks like Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy and Parks & Recreation) and Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games franchise) both are up for some big roles in the near future: Indiana Jones for Pratt and Independence Day for Hemsworth. Nothing is confirmed yet, but there you have it. (First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: After the episode where Gibbs’ and Fornell’s ex-wife was shot, will NCIS address what happens to her child with Fornell? —Joy

Ausiello: As a matter of fact, the Feb. 17 episode, titled “Cabin Fever,” will deal with many of the reverberations of Diane’s tragic death — as felt by the men in her life as well as daughter Emily. “There are some really brilliant moments between Mark Harmon and Joe Spano, as they spend some time in Gibbs’ cabin and hash out some of the issues they’re both facing because of that loss,” showrunner Gary Glasberg previews. “And Emily makes an appearance too — it’s all part of what Fornell is carrying right now. He’s having trouble, and Gibbs is there as a friend.”

Question: I’d love something on Thursday’s Scandal return.

Ausiello: You won’t have to wait long for an answer to the question, “Where in the world is Olivia Pope?” And I think you’ll find her whereabouts alternately shocking and hilarious.

Question: We’re not going to have to wait until the Sleepy Hollow season finale to find out why Henry killed Moloch, are we? —Gabriella

Ausiello: Not according to Tom Mison. “There’s going to be a little bit of ambiguity to begin with, but it becomes very clear” soon after Henry makes his presence known, the actor says. He also cagily adds, “I’ll remind you that he didn’t only kill Moloch, he saved Ichabod and Katrina,” so make of that what you will.

Question: I know we’re only two episodes into 12 Monkeys, but I really want to see Cole and Cassie get together. Chances of that happening? —Molly

Ausiello: “I’m not completely ruling that out, with other variables, and they do have chemistry,” star Amanda Schull tells TV Line. Still, even if a romantic connection does happen, it won’t be for a while. “Cole and Cassie don’t just fall madly in love by Episode 2 or 3 and decide to screw the end of the world and run off to the Bahamas or something,” she adds. “They have a mission.”

Question: I’m dying for some Forever intel. (See what I did there?) —Marc

Ausiello: The ABC series’ next new episode, airing Feb. 3, is a huge one for Abe, series creator Matt Miller says. And Abe’s revelation begins in the least likely of places: with Henry’s adversary, Adam. “What we learn is that Adam… had some terrible things happen to him in his past. And he and Abe share a connection regarding World War II, and he helps Abe resolve some mysteries about his own past.”

BONUS SPOILER: Miller adds that the show is in the early stages of bringing in a romantic interest for Jo. “And maybe Henry starts to get a little bit jealous, and we start to watch that play out,” he teases.

Question: Anything on Ray and Felicity’s crossover to The Flash? —Cassie

Ausiello: The pair drop by (in Episode 18) when Ray needs a little help with his A.T.O.M. suit. Not surprisingly, the tech billionaire “finds a best friend in Cisco,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg shares. After all, he may look like Brandon Routh, but Ray likes his toys. “There’s even a line in the script where Felicity says, ‘Ray is like Barry in Oliver’s body. Oh God, did I say that aloud?’” Meanwhile, Felicity’s arrival comes “at a particularly bad moment for Barry. He’s having a crisis of conscience that in some ways only somebody like she can help him through.”

Question: I feel I know almost nothing about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for when it comes back in March. Got any scoop (that’s not cryptic)? –Andy B.

Ausiello: Dude. It’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Cryptic is what they do. That said, Brett Dalton perhaps only rated 7 on a scale of 10 when teasing for us Ward’s next move, having taken his licks (and a few bullets) in service of HYDRA and Whitehall. “He’s hitched his cart to a horse before — HYDRA— and it hasn’t really turned out so well,” the actor notes. “So, now he’s like, unhitching the cart and hopping on his own horse and going his own way.” And maybe just maybe, some day, that could lead him kinda sorta back into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s good-ish graces…? “I mean, he has a sense of right and wrong, he has a sense of duty and obligation, and I think he’s also a sympathetic character,” Dalton contends. “Though he can be heartless, it’s always in the service of something, an intention that is good. So I do feel good about his future. The writers could have given Ward a quick redemption arc, and that would have been the end of it, but they’ve left him raw, unpredictable… a complete wild card.”

Question: I’m in denial that Parenthood is ending this week, but that’s not going to stop me from asking for one last spoiler about the Bravermans. —Joyce

Ausiello: The episode-ending montage contains a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really fun surprise. Like, really fun. Really.

That’s it. Enjoy!