Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/SERIES PICK UPS

Glow has been renewed for a third season by Netflix. (Variety)

ABC has given a straight-to-series order to the drama Reef Break that will star Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace and Unforgettable). The series will revolve around a woman who is a former thief who now works as a “fixer” for the governor of a fictional island in the Pacific. The series is based on an idea of Montgomery’s, which the network has given a 13 episode order to. It is expected to air next summer. (Variety)

Apple has given a series order to a drama based on the famed novel “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov that will revolve around the thousand year saga of the Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it. (Deadline and Variety)

It looks like Veronica Mars just might be coming back to the small screen via Hulu for a 4th season. While the decision has yet to be finalized, IF it goes forward it will be an 8-episode limited run with series star Kristen Bell set to return – around her schedule with the popular NBC comedy The Good Place – and series creator Rob Thomas in board as well. (Deadline)

CASTING NEWS

It looks like Brent Spiner is out but Bruce Boxleitner is in on Supergirl, taking over the role of Vice President Baker, who is described as adept and politically minded, an unlikely leader who steps up in a big way up when his country needs him most. Also, actor Anthony Konechny (Almost Human) will have a recurring role on the show, playing Agent Jensen, a DEO agent recruited by Alex (series regular Chyler Leigh) who struggles to find his footing at the DEO. (The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline)

Actress Karen David (Galavant) has landed a season-long arc on Legacies, the upcoming spin-off series from The Originals/The Vampire Diaries on The CW. The story follows the next generation of supernatural beings at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, where 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) and others come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves — in spite of their worst impulses — all under the watchful eye of headmaster Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). David will play Emma Tig, a beautiful witch-turned-guidance counselor. (Deadline)

Actor Brendan Fraser has been cast as one of the leads – Robotman/Cliff Steele – in the DC Universe upcoming live-action series Doom Patrol. A former race car driver, Cliff Steele was in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable. Cliff’s brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body. Fraser will provide the voice-over for Robotman and will appear in flashback scenes as Cliff Steele. (Deadline)

Actor Graham McTavish (Preacher and Outlander) will have a recurring role in the 4th season of Lucifer that will now be seen on Netflix, playing Father Kinley, a kind, deeply empathetic and revered priest, who is profoundly committed to guarding his flock. That includes doing whatever it takes to keep mankind safe from evil, which doesn’t bode well for a certain devil living in Los Angeles. Also, actress Inbar Lavi (Imposters) will appear as Eve – of Adam and Eve fame – who has “grown restless in her marriage and longs for a less predictable time when things were exciting.” (TV Line)

Actor Kyle Secor (Veronica Mars and The Purge: Election Year) will recur on season 5 of The Flash, playing Caitlin Snow’s hitherto absent father, an extremely intelligent geneticist who has been MIA for decades. Upon returning to Central City, he will try his best to make up for lost time with Caitlin (series regular Danielle Panabaker). (Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Jane Levy (Castle Rock and Suburgatory) will appear alongside Renee Zellweger in the upcoming new Netflix series What/If, a drama anthology from Mike Kelley that will explore the ripple effects when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things. Levy will play a character named Lisa, but other details about the role are being kept quiet for now. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Melanie Liburd has been promoted to series regular on This Is Us for the show’s third season, playing Zoe, Beth’s cool cousin who was seen in the season finale to be Kevin’s girlfriend, traveling to Vietnam with him. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Ennis Esmer has been promoted to series regular on Blindspot, where he has been recurring as Rich Dotcom for the past three seasons. (Deadline)

Actress Dana Delany (Hand of God and China Beach) has joined the cast of the new CBS drama series The Code, which will focus on the military’s brightest minds as they take on our country’s toughest challenges – inside the courtroom and out – where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator – and a Marine. Delany will play Colonel Eisa Turnbull, the Commanding Officer of the Marine Corps’ Judge Advocate Division. The role was played in the pilot by Mira Sorvino. (Deadline)

Actress Selma Blair has joined the cast of the Netflix sci-fi drama Another Life in a recurring role. The series centers on astronaut Niko Breckinridge (Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica and Longmire), who is focused on searching for alien intelligence. She leads a crew on a mission to explore the genesis of an alien artifact. Blair will play 21st century media influencer Harper Glass, who uses journalism, social media and keen intelligence in an attempt to break one of the biggest stories in human history. (Deadline)

Actor Esai Morales (NYPD Blue and How to Get Away With Murder) will have a recurring role on NCIS: Los Angeles, playing Deputy Director Louis Ochoa, a special prosecutor from the Department of Defense who is investigating the NCIS office and its employees. (Deadline)

Actor Reggie Lee (Grimm) has landed a major recurring role in NCIS: New Orleans, playing Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Thompson, who will often butt heads with Dwayne Pride (series lead Scott Bakula) as each have a very different process to approaching and prioritizing their workload. Also, actress Necar Zadegan (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) has joined the cast of the show as a series regular, playing Hannah Khoury, a Special Agent who assumes a leadership spot on the New Orleans team in the wake of the season-ending attempt on Agent Pride’s life. (TV Line and Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Anthony Michael Hall (Dead Zone) will appear in the Riverdale flashback episode that will focus on the teen years of the parents in the show. Hall will play Principal Featherhead. (TV Line)

Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. will guest star in an episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing the father of Lou Grover (series regular Chi McBride, who also wrote the Thanksgiving-themed episode). (TV Line)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Monica Barbaro (UnREAL) will join Tom Cruise and Miles Teller in Top Gun: Maverick, which will be set in a world of drone technology, exploring the end of the era of dogfighting, with Cruise portraying a flight instructor. Barbaro is expected to be a pilot who is also Teller’s love interest in the film. Val Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The film is set to be released on July 12, 2019. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!