Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

ABC has given drama Body of Proof an order for 3 additional episodes. (Deadline)

Actress Elisabeth Shue will take over as a series regular for Marg Helgenberger on CSI starting on the episode that is set to air on February 15. (CBS)

AWARD WINNERS

Congrats to the winners of last night’s American Music Awards, including (but not limited to): Taylor Swift, Adele, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Lady Antebellum and The Foo Fighters (E! Online)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Dwayne Johnson will to star in the box office film called Monster Hunter’s Survival Guide, a live action adventure film based on the comic book mini-series by John Paul Russ. The book series is a comprehensive guide to hunt monsters, the undead and unnatural beasts, and survive the confrontations. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Here are the top 10 movies at the box office this past weekend courtesy of E! Online:

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1, $139.5 million
2. Happy Feet Two, $22 million
3. Immortals, $12.3 million
4. Jack and Jill, $12 million
5. Puss in Boots, $10.7 million
6. Tower Heist, $7 million
7. J. Edgar, $5.9 million
8. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, $2.9 million
9. In Time, $1.7 million
10. The Descendants, $1.2 million

Actor Chris Evans (Captain America) will be taking over for actor James Franco in the upcoming box office film The Iceman that is based on the Anthony Bruno book about Richard Kuklinski, a contract killer for the mob. Actor Michael Shannon is attached to play Kuklinski, aka The Iceman and Evans will play his mentor, Robert Pronge. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actress Amber Heard has been chosen for the female lead opposite Dominic Cooper in the upcoming film Motor City. Cooper plays a man released from prison who goes on a revenge mission, hunting down the people who framed him. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Showtime has renewed Dexter for 2 more seasons. (Variety and Twitter)

Actress Amy Acker (Angel and Dollhouse) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the new NBC drama Grimm, playing the Black Widow or more specifically, Lena, your run-of-the-mill happy housewife. The twist? She suffers from rapid-aging syndrome and every five years, she has to leech the life out of three guys in three short days in order to maintain her appearance. (Andy Patrick at TV Line)

Actresses Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Peri Gilpin (Fraiser) will guest star as bickering sisters on an upcoming episode of Grey’s Anatomy. They are scheduled to appear in mid-January. (The Hollywood Reporter and Robyn Ross at TV Guide)

Actresses Marcia Gay Harden (Damages) and Rita Wilson (Tom Hanks’ other half) will appear in an upcoming episode of Body of Proof in a case similar to that of Casey Anthony. Harden will play a Nancy Grace-like journalist named Sheila Temple, while Wilson will portray the mother of the accused mother. (Entertainment Weekly and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FX has passed on the Nashville-set drama pilot Outlaw Country but is keeping their other new pilot called Powers alive. Outlaw Country was to be a crime thriller/family drama set against the backdrop of Southern organized crime and Nashville royalty. Meanwhile, Powers is based on the comic book of the same name that is a police procedural set in a world where superpowers are relatively common. It centers on two detectives, Christian Walker (Jason Patric) and Deena Pilgrim (Lucy Punch), in a Homicide department that deals with cases involving “powers” (people with superpowers). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

HBO and BBC are collaborating on a mini-series adaptation of the award-winning historical novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The story is set in Medieval England and is a fictionalized biography chronicling the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) has been cast in the female lead in the upcoming film I, Frankenstein. She will star as a beautiful and gifted scientist, the love interest of Aaron Eckhart. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Young actor Asa Butterfield, who will soon be seen in the box office film called Hugo, has been offered the title role in Ender’s Game, the adaptation of the Orson Scott Card science fiction novel. The book is a seminal futuristic novel that begins on Earth after an alien attack, when gifted children are recruited by a government desperate to fight back. The kids are taught a competitive game that’s a cross between the Quidditch matches of Harry Potter and the Jedi light saber battles from Star Wars. Only the best and brightest will be chosen. A young boy emerges as a genius strategist, and the planet’s best hope to destroy the alien Formic race. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actor Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) has indeed been chosen to play Arthur in the upcoming Warner Bros. movie Arthur and Lancelot. Actor Joel Kinniman (The Killing) was chosen to play Lancelot awhile back. Both actors had been rumored to be getting the roles quite some time ago, but this is the final confirmation. Plot details are vague, however. (Justin Kroll at Variety)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Amanda Seyfried Freaks in Heitor Dhalia’s ‘Gone’ First Trailer

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Legendary actress Jane Curtin (Kate & Allie and 3rd Rock From the Sun) has been added as a series regular to the new CBS drama Unforgettable. She will play Jane Webster, an acerbic and demanding Inspector who was running the Medical Examiner’s office in Manhattan until being demoted to the Queens Police Department for mouthing off one too many times. Although she is a brilliant forensic pathologist with an encyclopedic knowledge of New York crime, she refuses to be pigeonholed as merely a crime fighter, and even teaches a course in Romantic Poetry at New School. Carrie will soon come to rely on Jane’s deductive prowess and historical expertise to help solve the murder of her own sister more than two decades ago. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Becki Newton (Ugly Betty) will appear as a potential love interest for Barney on How I Met Your Mother. She is expected to recur throughout the show’s current season. Her character is named Quinn and her appearance comes on the heels of Barney’s breakup with Nora and subsequent rejection from Robin. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Emily Rose (Haven) will guest star on Harry’s Law, playing a woman attempting to adopt an escaped gorilla. This will be the same episode for which Smallville’s Erica Durance appears. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actor Roger Bart (Desperate Housewives) will guest star on an upcoming episode of the new ABC drama Revenge, playing a rich, pretentious journalist who is writing a tell-all book on the Hamptons elite. (Entertainment Weekly and Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actress Meredith Baxter (Family Ties) will guest star on the ABC Family series Switched at Birth, playing Bonnie Tamblyn Dixon, the mother of Kathryn (Lea Thompson) and biological grandmother to Daphne (Katie LeClerc). Sparks fly and tension rise when she arrives for a family visit. The series returns on January 3 at 8 PM. (Robyn Ross at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has given a pilot order to The Munsters, an imaginative reinvention of the classic 60’s comedy from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller. Word is that the network envisions the new Munsters as a potential summer or event series. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Writer Melissa Rosenberg (the writer of the film adaptations of the Twilight franchise) will write and executive produce one of two dramas for ABC. Her project centers on the widow of an assassinated criminal who is suddenly forced to adopt her late husband’s role in order to protect her family. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) has joined the cast of the upcoming film Pacific Rim that is being called a “very, very beautiful poem to giant monsters” according to director Guillermo del Toro. The cast includes Idris Elba, Charlie Day and Charlie Hunnam. (Wired and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Erica Durance (Smallville) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Harry’s Law as a psychologically infirm woman who retreats into the persona of the DC Comics heroine to help wreak revenge on perpetrators of domestic abuse. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

NBC has announced they are shutting down production on Prime Suspect. (Vulture)

Actor Dean Cain (Lois & Clark) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Criminal Minds, playing Curtis, a blue-collar, east coast type who is a down-on-his-luck gambler. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor James Wolk (the short-lived Lone Star) will appear in multiple episodes of Happy Endings, play Max’s old new boyfriend. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Aaron Tveit (Gossip Girl and the Broadway productions of Next To Normal and Catch Me If You Can) is set to star in the untitled hour-long pilot from White Collar creator Jeff Eastin for the USA Network. The project follows agents from various federal and local agencies (DEA, FBI, LAPD) who all live at an undercover house in Southern California. Tveit will play Mike Warren, a freshly minted FBI agent just out of the Academy and dripping wet behind the ears. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Great New Trailer for Aardman’s ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’

Mirror, Mirror Trailer Is Here! So Which Snow White Adaptation Is Fairest of Them All?

Must Watch: First Full Trailer for Pixar’s New Fairytale ‘Brave’ Arrives

Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams from TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Will Adam and Cassie ever get together on The Secret Circle? —Sammy

NATALIE: Here’s some good news for Adam and Cassie ‘shippers: Executive producer Andrew Miller says their sparks will ignite when the show returns in January. “It won’t be on the backburner for long,” he says, noting that Jake’s absence will open new possibilities. The bad news: Cassie’s journey toward the dark side of magic will change her as a person.

Question: What’s coming up on Pretty Little Liars? —Nikki

NATALIE: The Halloween prequel showed us that good guy Lucas has an evil side, and it looks like the PLLs will soon discover it. “There’s a big reveal coming up for Lucas … [he’s] getting scarier and scarier,” executive producer Oliver Goldstick tells us. Could this be related to the other big hints Goldstick offered about the rest of Season 2? “Somebody is getting arrested and somebody is getting killed.”

Question: Will Danielle find out that Auggie’s in the CIA too on Covert Affairs? — Heather

ADAM: Danielle’s still coming to terms with Annie’s big secret, but once she does, she might have some suspicions about the other people in her sister’s life, including Auggie. “That was one of my questions. What’s going to happen to Auggie?” Christopher Gorham tells us. “Does she find out that Auggie also works for the CIA? Would she automatically assume that he did? … We found a great way to deal with that question in the [Season 2 finale]. It’s going to set up Season 3 in a really interesting way.”

Question: It’s been fun seeing Madeline get in on the action on Burn Notice this season. Is she a temporary or more permanent addition to the group? — Troy

ADAM: With big bad Anson on the loose, the team needs all the help they can get. Thankfully, Mama Westen is up for the challenge. “Madeline becomes a very integral into the workings of trying to bring Anson down,” Gabrielle Anwar tells us. “She becomes part of the team in much more concise ways than ever before. Every time that the team has relied on her to come through, she’s always come through.”

Question: I am a loyal follower and this is the first time I have asked for scoop! Do you have anything about the Nov. 28 episode of Castle entitled “Cuffed”? Specifically, how do Beckett and Castle get handcuffed together in the first place? —Lauren

Ausiello: Good question. So good that I went directly to series creator Andrew W. Marlowe for the answer. He said, “Fans should be very curious as to why Beckett and Castle are handcuffed together” — and they’re not alone in that. “I think Beckett and Castle are very curious as to why they are cuffed together, and wonder why they can’t remember exactly how it happened.”

Question: I am a HUGE Leverage fan. Will we get to see a shirtless Hardison and Eliot this season? If you could respond, that would be awesome! —Jessa25

Ausiello: Half of your wish comes true in the Nov. 27 midseason premiere when Hardison loses his clothes during an undercover mission at a fraternity (where he’s forced to participate in a hazing ritual). Even better, things get very flirty — and kissy! — between Hardison and Parker when she poses as his slightly loony date.

Question: Any chance you have some Leverage scoop, particularly something involving Nate and Sophie’s relationship? —Lauren

Ausiello: A special Office-like mockumentary episode airing Dec. 4 finds the team posing as efficiency consultants at a greeting card company. When one of the real employees picks up on some tension between Nate and Sophie, the unsuspecting staffer — at Sophie’s delightfully evil urging — confronts Nate about it. That prompts the two of them to take their playful war to the cameras, talking-head style. Bonus scoop: Nate writes one hell of a greeting card to Sophie.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

NBC quietly gave legal drama Harry’s Law a full season order while giving new fairytale drama Grimm an additional order of more scripts. (TV.com)

Actor Derek Webster (Damages) is taking over the role of fictional New York City Mayor Robert Weldon from actor Joseph C. Phillips (General Hospital) on Castle. The role will be “beefed up” in terms of adding in critical back story details on the mayor’s longstanding friendship which allowed Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) access to the Beckett and the team. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

CBS has ordered three more episodes of the medical drama A Gifted Man, now giving it 16 episodes for its debut season. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

AMC has purchased a drama project called Thunderstruck, which concerns UFOs and extraterrestrial visits. Producer David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) is on board to produce. (Deadline and TV.com)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) has joined the cast of the action film called Snitch that stars Dwayne Johnson as a construction company owner who becomes a DEA snitch to reduce his son’s prison sentence. Bernthal will play an ex-con laborer for the construction company who is forced by his boss to help connect him to an underground drug dealer. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Q&A SECTION (with Kristin from E! Entertainment)

Question: I’m obsessed with Once Upon a Time. Scoop please!

Kristin: Hearing that Emma (Jennifer Morrison) will battle it out with the newspaper editor for a very important law-enforcement job. And Emma’s arrangement/deal with Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) will get more complicated than even she knows. That all goes down in the Rumplestiltskin origin episode.

Question: Once Upon a Time info please!!! Which story book character is the Sheriff? Is he good or bad? Sunday night confused me!

Kristin: He is not good.

Question: Revenge scoop (please)?!

Kristin: Prepare for the real Emily Thorne (Margarita Levieva) to stir up some major trouble on the ABC hit show. “Boy, is she back!” Gabriel Mann tells us of the real Emily, who will be crashing with Nolan (Mann) while she’s in town. “She’s a handful. She just jumps right into the middle of everything. The ripple effect of her presence will affect just about every character on the show. It’s major,” Mann teases. “I think Nolan is very, very, very curious about her and you’re going to see what happens between the two of them in episode eight.”

Question: Any Revenge scoop would be appreciated. Thanks!

Kristin: If you were annoyed that the show didn’t show Nolan and Tyler’s (Ashton Holmes) make out session, you’re not alone! Mann tells us that’s the only complaint he’s heard about the duo’s shocking hookup. “It wasn’t so much about the intimacy, the physical intimacy itself, but the intention of what that liaison meant,” he explains. “To have those two people hooking up, who are both potentially such grifters, and the monkey wrench that that could potentially through in Emily’s revenge plan.”

Question: I would love to get any scoop about Revenge!

Kristin: We’re hearing people (lots of them!) kind of like Nolan and Emily (Emily VanCamp) together, so we had to ask Mann what’s coming up for the revenging duo. “That relationship continues to evolve and become more complex,” Mann says of Nolan and Emily’s. “It’s fun to mess with her because she’s such a badass. How much do I have to do before she starts karate kicking me or throwing me against a wall again?” That’s not all he had to say about Nolan and Emily, but you’ll have to check back on Wednesday to hear what Mann thinks of the possibility of a romance brewing between the two.

Question: Why you guys never give the PLL fans a scoop?

Kristin: Because when we were in preschool we missed the lesson on sharing, but I guess we can tell you this: Remember that super-creepy doll that Alison (Sasha Pieterse) has hiding in her room? Well we’re thinking that the girls will be finding it soon because in an upcoming episode called “If These Dolls Could Talk” the gang meets Martha, the owner of a run-down doll boutique. This is probably the same place where ‘A’ purchased their eerie look-a-like dolls. Yikes!

Question: Can we talk about the end of Secret Circle, please?! Anything to tide us over until January?

Kristin: It seems like Melissa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) may finally be starting to get over Nick (Louis Hunter), her dearly departed BF. There’s one problem? Melissa’s new crush may get her into some pretty dangerous situations.

Question: Secret Circle post-hiatus scoop would be great?

Kristin: You know what else would be great? If we could go back in time and push Jake (Chris Zylka) off the boat to reunite him with Cassie (Britt Robertson), or so he could tell the gang there’s another Blackwell child in the coven. Sadly, we still haven’t finished our time machine. “Jake knows the existence of such a child, but the emergence of the second Blackwell offspring will be revealed in due course,” executive producer Andrew Miller ominously says. And for Jake fans worrying we won’t see his pretty face anytime soon, fear not! We’re hearing there’s still plenty of Jake action to come.

Question: Tell us about Grey Damon’s character on Secret Circle! I loved him on Nine Lives!

Kristin: Well, we loved him when he was on Friday Night Lights, so we win! “His character is a very dangerous guy for a lot of reasons,” Miller teases. “He’s confident and cocky and has a different kind of power than we’ve seen, but one of our characters will be drawn to him in a way that could prove dire for other characters.” Spoiler alert: it’s Faye (Phoebe Tonkin).

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has acquired the drama pilot called Legends, which is about an undercover agent who takes on legendary identities — while coming to face the possibility that his own identity is fictional as well. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

NBC has given a pilot order to Beautiful People, a character-driven futuristic drama spec by Scrubs co-executive producer/director (and occasional actor) Michael McDonald. The project is described as an imaginative and thematically rich ensemble “what if” drama set 10 minutes in the future where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population that is until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.” (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actor Joel Gretsch (The 4400 and V) has joined the Lifetime original made-for-TV movie called Of Two Minds that chronicles the relationship between a woman (Kristin Davis) and her younger sister (Tammy Blanchard), who has schizophrenia. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Harry Potter director David Yates is teaming up with the BBC to turn its iconic sci-fi TV series Doctor Who into a big screen franchise. Yates is about to start work on developing the adaptation with Jane Tranter, the BBC Worldwide L.A.-based executive VP of programming and production. Yates made it clear that his movie adaptation would not follow on from the current TV series, but would take a completely fresh approach to the material, but it could be a few years before the finished product could be seen. (Variety)

Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. Immortals, $32 million
2. Jack and Jill, $26 million
3. Puss in Boots, $25.5 million
4. Tower Heist, $13.2 million
5. J. Edgar, $11.5 million
6. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, $5.9 million
7. In Time, $4.2 million
8. Paranormal Activity 3, $3.6 million
9. Footloose, $2.7 million
10. Real Steel, $2 million

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Trailer for The Hunger Games

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY!

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Misha Collins (Supernatural) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Ringer, playing Dylan, a man from Siobhan and Bridget’s past in Tahoe who played a strong role in the rift between the twins, leading to a six-year separation. (Tierney Bricker at E! Entertainment)

Actress Ashley Green (from the Twilight franchise) will appear in a three-episode arc on the new, but struggling, ABC period drama Pan Am, as a debutante with a past connection to Ted (Michael Mosley). She will first appear in the December 5 episode. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Eureka) will guest star on the Bones spinoff The Finder. She will play Athena Brooks, the lawyer representing the music mogul to be played by special guest star 50 Cent, who will play Big Glade, a successful, intimidating hip-hop bigwig who is desperate to find the lost tracks of a deceased rap artist on his music label. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Russell Tovey (the original BBC America series Being Human) has just announced he is leaving the series. It appears that the departure of actor Aidan Turner (and subsequently his character Mitchell) seems to be the catalyst. Of course, the news may come as a shock to fans and it’s quite unclear at this moment if his departure will take place during season 4, or at the end of it. (Blastr)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Max Irons (Red Riding Hood [and son of actor Jeremy Irons] has landed the second male lead role in the film adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer novel The Host. Actor Jake Abel (Supernatural and I Am Number Four) recently landed the other male lead. Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) will play the female lead. (Entertainment Weekly and First Showing)

Actor Jason Clarke (The Chicago Code and Brotherhood) is the first actor set for the Kathryn Bigelow-directed drama about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Clarke will play a terrorist hunter in service of the U.S. efforts to hunt Bin Laden. Other actors being considered for roles include Tom Hardy (Inception), Jennifer Ehle (A Gifted Man), Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker), Idris Elba (Luther), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Nina Arianda (Midnight In Paris). (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actor Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia and Captain America) has joined the cast of the upcoming movie My Dinner With Herve, the indie biopic of French dwarf actor Herve Villechaize, who is best known for his roles on TV series Fantasy Island and 007 film The Man With The Golden Gun. Actor Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) will star as Herve while Cooper will play the reporter who gets the final interview before Herve committed suicide in 1993. (Dark Horizons)

Actor Matt Lanter (90210) has landed the lead role in the indie drama A Chance of Rain, which follows a young man who, while trying to bring water to a destitute village in Africa during a horrible drought, encounters his own problems, challenges and struggles. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actors Sullivan Stapleton, Philip Winchester, Rhashan Stone and Michelle Lukes will return for the official second (and unofficial third) season of the Cinemax hit action series Strike Back, which has received a ten episode order that will be shot on location in South Africa, starting in January for debut later in 2012. (Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Must Watch: Badass Trailer for Action Film ‘Safe’ with Jason Statham

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they may be, for today:

TELEVISION

Actor David Anders (Alias and The Vampire Diaries) will guest star on House, playing the “Patient of the Week” in an early 2012 episode, which centers on House’s unorthodox process being put on (metaphorical) trial. Actress Audrey Marie Anderson (The Unit) will play the wife of Anders’ character. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Nicholas Lea (Kyle XY and The X-Files) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Supernatural that will be a time-travel episode where he plays Eliot Ness, the real-life G-man. The episode will visit Ness during his heyday in the 1940’s where, in the Supernatural world, he is actually a hunter. Actress Meghan Ory (Ruby on Once Upon a Time) will guest star as a “working girl” name Sally who comes to Sam for help. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

AWARD WINNERS

Congrats are extended to the winners of Country Music Association Awards that were presented last night, including Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, Mac McAnally and Kenny Chesney. (E! Entertainment)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Teaser Trailer for ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’ 3D Sequel

Must Watch: First Trailer for ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ Arrives

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan and the recently defunct Against the Wall) is joining the cast of NCIS: Los Angeles in a recurring role. He will play NCIS Assistant Director Allan Granger, a high-ranking federal agency supervisor. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Carlos Bernard (24) has landed a recurring role on the TNT remake of Dallas that will air next summer. He will play a suave Venezuelan businessman trying to hammer out a deal with J.R. (Vulture)

Actress Torrey DeVitto (who happens to be the real-life wife of Paul Wesley) will appear on The Vampire Diaries in the recurring role of Mary, an intelligent young doctor intrigued by Alaric’s (Matt Davis) powers of recovery. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings franchise) will make a guest appearance on Franklin & Bash play a college security guard who dons a cape and tights by night to fight campus crime under the name Viper. When he’s accused of killing a so-called culprit, he retains Franklin and Bash to defend him. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Kevin Alejandro (True Blood) will guest star in an episode of the A&E series Breakout Kings, playing Benecio Cruz, a tattooed, Latino religious obsessive, who is dying from Stage 4 lung cancer. Cruz escapes from Sing Sing and fighting to maintain his sanity with the aid of a pain patch, attempts to atone from his past crimes. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

CBS is planning on remaking the 1950’s/1960’s classic TV series The Rifleman with Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier writing the script and executive producing. The original series starred legendary actor Chuck Connors as a skilled gunman and widowed Civil War hero who moves to uncharted New Mexico territory to raise his young son and gets recruited by the sheriff to help protect the unruly town. (Variety)

Syfy has picked up three new potential projects (all scripted dramas). The first is an untitled project that has this tagline: After decades of war, the newly formed Unity Democracy orders a volatile mix of humans and trans-humans to lead the Starship Defender on an expedition in search of lost worlds requiring law and order. The second has the working title of Seeing Things and is about a cop who becomes a ghost after his violent death and the only person who can help close his last case is a socially awkward man who realizes that the hallucinations he’s had all his life may not be a figment of his imagination. The last is called Ghost Projekt and is based on the popular comic series about a female KGB agent and male American weapons inspector who form an unlikely partnership when a deadly force is unwittingly unleashed from a Siberian research facility. (TV By the Numbers)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The casting is underway for the adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer novel The Host. Actress Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) is already cast in the lead, but now it has been announced that actor Jake Abel (Supernatural and I Am Number Four) will play one of the two male leads. The other male lead role is still up in the air with the likes of Liam Hemsworth, Max Irons, Kit Harrington and Jai Courtney vying for the role. (First Showing)

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

Question: Some Revenge scoop, please? —Sabrina

Ausiello: Some of the Hamptons’ stuffed shirts may start looking a little deflated after we meet over-the-top Mason Treadwell. He’s a fancy pants writer type whose book on the locals has made him as big a celebrity as any of the rich bitches he’s profiled.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Corey Reynolds (The Closer) has signed a talent holding deal with NBC and with that sealing that the deal that he WON’T be involved in the spin-off from The Closer – Major Crimes – that will star Mary McDonnell. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Soap actress Tanya Clarke (Guiding Light) will appear as Mary Evans, the mom of Sam (Chord Overstreet) on Glee. This news follows yesterday announcement that John Schneider (Smallville) will be playing Sam’s dad. This is potentially to be a recurring role for Clarke. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Treat Williams (Everwood and Against the Wall) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Jake Stanton, a former all-star quarterback caught up in a sting operation with an underage prostitute. Stanton will be represented by famed defense attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher). (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actress Janet McTeer (Into the Storm) has been added as a regular on the fifth and final season of Damages, playing Kate Franklin, a former colleague of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) who aims to take on her old boss by working for rival Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) and actor Peter Weller (Robocop) will both guest star on Franklin & Bash. Seymour will play the freewheeling, indecisive Earth Mom of Peter Bash (Mark Paul Gosselaar). Weller will play a reclusive rock star whose estranged son is being evicted from a Hollywood music club he created. Franklin & Bash will return sometime next summer. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Emilie de Ravin (Lost) will guest star on Once Upon a Time, playing Belle from the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. There are few details on her story, but it is said Belle will have a connection to Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). She will appear in an episode slated to air early next year. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Hayley Atwell (Captain America) has joined the independent steampunk-themed film called The Return Of Captain Nemo, which is a sequel to Jules Verne’s classic novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. The story has President Ulysses S Grant freeing Captain Nemo (Hugh Bonneville) from prison to try and discover why mysterious “sea monsters” are sinking ships up and down the Atlantic Coast. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

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Q&A SECTION (with Kristin at E! Entertainment)

Question from Monique: Once Upon a Time is my new fave show!! Please, any info you have! Give us something juicy!

Kristin: Sheriff Graham (Jaime Dornan) is definitely a well-known storybook character. Guesses? Also, I’m hearing of a big death in the works for one of the major characters.

Question from Jake in Seattle, Wash: Grimm! What new monsters can we expect this season?

Kristin: Oh, what a wicked web Grimm weaves! We are really intrigued about a future episode which features Lena, a beautiful yet terrifying “Black Widow” creature who is cursed with a disease that causes her to age rapidly. The only cure to stop the aging? Kill three young men in three days by sucking the life out of them. Eek! But here is where the show really gets interesting: When Lena isn’t preying on the innocent, she is driving a minivan to soccer practice and enjoying a simple suburban lifestyle.

Question from Shannonxo: Secret Circle goodness in the way of black john scoop please?

Kristin: You may be asking, “Who the heck is Black John?!” right about now. While TV viewers know him as John Blackwell, fans of L.J. Smith’s book series know and love to hate him as Black John. “We might incorporate a character like Black John,” executive producer Andrew Miller coyly tells us. “He might be renamed.” So yes, John Blackwell definitely equals Black John, and if you’ve read the books, you know the character is pure evil. Basically Black John is to TSC what Klaus is to The Vampire Diaries.

Question from lindsx11: anything & everything Secret Circle…please?!

Kristin: How about that Cassie (Britt Robertson) will begin looking into her past, namely her mysterious (and most definitely evil) father John Blackwell? “We’re going to see Cassie looking through books and go through a whole thing of who her mother was and what her mother did,” Robertson tells us. “It’s like, I can only imagine where she’ll go with her father. She needs to know who she is at heart and what makes her who she is.”

Question from @the1nonlunisha: It seems like Hart of Dixie is moving away from Zoey and George any chance they’ll revisit that?

Kristin: We’ve got scoop on that! Minus the Zoe (Rachel Bilson) part… Later this season, we’re going to see George (Scott Porter) seriously butting heads with someone, and surprisingly it’s not Lemon (Jaime King). Introducing: Lawrence Lee, an extremely competitive and arrogant lawyer who clashes with George both in the courtroom and during a fierce game of Pictionary. His wife is Delia Ann, head of the Blue Bell Historical Society so we’re just going to assume that Lemon will want to smooth out these conflicts as soon as possible.

Question from Fatherdowling: when is Jack going to get an actual love interest on #Revenge?

Kristin: Something, or someone, tells us we’ve already met her. And that someone is Joshua Bowman who says, “There is going to be an introduction to another character, and I don’t know if that is going to make it into a love square but it is definitely going to put a spin on the works.” Our guess? Jack (Nick Wechsler) is going to take an interest in the real Emily Thorne (Margarita Levieva) who just came into town. Ruh-roh!

Question from Stacy: Revenge is my new guilty pleasure. got a scoop for me?

Kristin: It’s our guilty pleasure too, just minus the whole guilty part. It’s that awesome. Prepare for a major rift to occur between Daniel (Bowman) and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) in next Wednesday’s episode. “There is a huge showdown because she does something very nasty,” Bowman teases. “She does something to Emily (Emily VanCamp) to pull on me to confront her in a serious level, and it wasn’t good. It wasn’t cool. I can’t say what it is, but it has to do with Frank (Max Martini).” Color us intrigued!

Question from BLehmanDC: When (and how) is Tyler going to “get his” on Revenge?

Kristin: Sorry to break it to you, but we think Tyler (Ashton Holmes) is going to be around for a little longer. The good news? He’s so much fun to hate and Daniel is on to him. “Tyler is really taking a grip of my dad and he’s starting to weasel his way in,” Bowman says. “I am going to put a stop to that you’ll see over the next three or four episodes.” Go Daniel!

That’s it. Enjoy!

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