Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are some miscellaneous news items from the last month and a half:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

HBO has canceled their new series Vinyl. (Variety)

Younger, the Sutton Foster-led half-hour dramedy, on TV Land has been given a fourth season renewal ahead of its third season premiere. (Variety)

Orphan Black has been renewed for its fifth and final season by BBC America. (Variety)

The Americans has been renewed for its last two seasons by FX. It will end in 2018. (Variety)

The short-lived A&E thriller series Damian has been cancelled. (Variety)

The new drama Cleverman that just recently debuted on SundanceTV has been given a season two order. (Variety)

Lifetime has given a third season order to the series UnReal in advance of its second season premiere. (Variety)

Freeform has cancelled the one-hour drama Recovery Road after only one season. (Deadline)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Wilmer Valderrama (That 70’s Show) has joined the cast of NCIS as a series regular for the show’s upcoming 14th season. He will play a once-grounded NCIS field agent who accepted a deep cover assignment years ago and never resurfaced. Many agents don’t know he’s still on the job or that he’s even alive. Now, he’s back and his dedication to job and country has left him an unpredictable, charismatic loose cannon. (Variety)

Actor Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills 90210 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has joined the cast of the FOX drama Rosewood for its second season. He will play Aaron Slade, East Miami Police’s newest member with a mysterious past, who will both challenge and complicate an already messy situation between Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr. (series lead Morris Chestnut) and Detective Annalise Villa (series lead Jaina Lee Ortiz). (TV Fanatic)

Actress Maggie Geha (Ted 2) will take over the role of Ivy Pepper (aka Poison Ivy) in the third season of the FOX drama Gotham. Following an encounter with a monster from Indian Hill, Ivy Pepper finds herself reborn. Now a 19-year-old woman who’s harnessed the full power of her charms, she sets her sights on Bruce Wayne (series regular David Mazouz). (Variety)

Legendary icon Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman herself) will recur as the President of the United States on Supergirl, which will now air on The CW. Also, actor Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) has landed the role of Superman (aka Clark Kent) on Supergirl. (The Hollywood Reporter and Variety)

Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth has joined the cast of the upcoming musical TV production Hairspray Live! She will play Velma Von Tussle, the self-promoting and manipulative producer of The Corny Collins Show, who will stop at nothing to make her daughter Amber the star that Velma never was. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) has landed a major recurring role on Blindspot for the show’s second season. She will play the head of a secret division of the NSA that has been tracking the Jane Doe case from afar. (Variety)

Film star Ewan McGregor will appear in the next installment of the FX anthology series Fargo, playing the two central characters — brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy, which is supposed to be set closer to present day. Emmit Stussy is the Parking Lot King of Minnesota. A handsome, self-made, real estate mogul and family man, he sees himself as an American success story. His slightly younger brother, on the other hand, is more of a cautionary tale. Balding and pot-bellied, Ray is the kind of guy who peaked in high school. Now a parole officer, he has a huge chip on his shoulder about the hand he’s been dealt, and he blames Emmit for his misfortunes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

SERIES PICK-UPS

FX has ordered comic book drama Legion to the small screen with an 8-episode first season order. The series will center on David Haller (Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame). Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real. (Laura Prudom at Variety)

CBS has given a straight-to-series order to Ransom that will follow crisis and hostage negotiator Eric Beaumont (Luke Roberts from the Starz series Black Sails), whose team is brought in to save lives when no one else can. Eric understands criminals better than they do, and uses his insight into human behavior to resolve the most difficult kidnap and ransom cases. (Laura Prudom at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment are developing a new standalone movie featuring an all-star cast of female DC heroes and villains with actress Margot Robbie attached to reprise her role of Harley Quinn. The picture will also feature popular characters such as Batgirl and Birds of Prey. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!