Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Starz has renewed Spartacus for a third season. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Larry Miller (10 Things I Hate About You) will guest star as Ed Slater, the future father-in-law of Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) on the Christmas episode of NCIS. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Jenna Elfman will guest star in an upcoming episode of Shameless, playing Jill, who has a dangerous past and “an awkward present”. Shameless is slated to return to Showtime on January 8. (AOL TV and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actor John Schneider (Smallville) will play the dad of Sam (Chord Overstreet) on an upcoming episode of Glee. Right now, he is only booked for one episode. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Gail O’Grady (American Dreams and Hellcats) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing a woman whose husband is in a coma discovers her supposedly dead son may be alive after all. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The CW has bought an hour-long project called Danny Hollywood, which is based on the successful Israeli half-hour series of the same name. This project is a time travel fantasy-musical, where a young documentary filmmaker travels back in time in order to prevent the death of her ’90s musical idol Danny Hollywood and finds that the story is even more complicated than she thought. Mark Harmon (from NCIS fame) is one of the executive producers. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Director-producer Marc Buckland has sold a drama pilot to NBC called State Of Mind. The project centers on a police forensic psychologist who helps solve the most mysterious homicide cases by getting into the minds of the victims, all while starting to lose his own. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CONDOLENCES

Legendary 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney passed away over the weekend due to complications following minor surgery. He was 92. (E! Entertainment)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Rufus Sewell (A Knight’s Tale) has joined the cast of the theological war epic Paradise Lost, which is based on the classic John Milton poem. The story details the fall of God’s most beautiful angel Lucifer (Bradley Cooper) and the celestial war between his forces and those of the archangel Michael (Ben Walker). Sewell will play Samael, Lucifer’s partisan who urges him to start the rebellion in Heaven. The cast includes Casey Affleck, Djimon Hounsou, Diego Boneta and Camilla Belle also star. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Much in demand actress Jessica Chastain (The Help and The Tree of Life – among others) will play the late, iconic Princess Diana in a biopic called Caught in Flight, which will chronicle her secret two-year love affair with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Kahn that wasn’t revealed until 2008. (Thompson on Hollywood and First Showing)

The top 10 box office movies for this past weekend are as follows according to Entertainment Weekly:

1. Puss in Boots – 33 million
2. Tower Heist – 25.1 million
3. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas – 13.1 million
4. Paranormal Activity 3 – 8.5 million
5. In Time – 7.7 million
6. Footloose – 4.6 million
7. Real Steel – 3.4 million
8. The Rum Diary – 3 million
9. The Ides of March – 2 million
10. Moneyball – 1.9 million

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Fans can rejoice! The new ABC fairytale drama Once Upon a Time has been picked up for a full season. (Twitter)

ABC has ordered five more scripts of the new period drama Pan Am, despite low ratings. (Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Gregory Harrison, best known for his role on Trapper John, M.D., will have a recurring role on the CW series Ringer as Tim Arbogast, the father of the missing Gemma (Tara Summers). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

It looks like Treme will not go beyond season four on HBO. The series just recently started shooting season three, which is likely to air next spring. (Variety)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Holly Hunter (Saving Grace) has joined the cast of the BBC mini-series Top Of The Lake, which is expected to be lead by Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) as reported yesterday. The mini will follow detective Robin Griffin (Moss) who investigates the disappearance of a five months pregnant 12-year-old named Tui who was last seen standing chest deep in a frozen lake. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire and Eastwick) and actress Emmy Rossum (Shameless) will star in the independent crime drama called Way Down South that tells the story of a gambler and small time crook (Huston) who steals a Civil War-era sword from a museum to finance his escape from a loan shark who staked him in a losing poker game. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actresses Melissa Leo and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) have joined the cast of the independent dramatic thriller called Over the Wall that is set in the world of professional stock car racing. The story focuses on how one tragic event rips apart the lives and relationships of four closely intertwined people – husband, wife, surrogate mother and best friend. Nick Stahl and Freddy Rodriguez co-star. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actresses Alona Tal (Supernatural and Against the Wall) and Natalie Martinez (soon to be seen in the FX pilot Powers) have landed the two female leads opposite actor Mark Wahlberg in the film Broken City, which centers on a cop-turned-private-investigator (Wahlberg) who, in an attempt to turn his life around, is thrust into a murder investigation amid a mayoral candidate (Russell Crowe) involved in a corrupt election. Tal would play Wahlberg’s assistant while Martinez will play his girlfriend. Catherine Zeta Jones also stars. (Variety)

Q&A SECTION (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly)

Question: After Wednesday’s crazy game-changing fun, it has become absolutely necessary that you provide some scoop on one Mr. Nolan Ross. He’s had me intrigued from the beginning. I love his character and the two different sides we tend to see from him. And you can’t deny us something when we’ve got to wait TWO WHOLE WEEKS for a new episode of Revenge! – LG

Gonzalez: Devastating, right?! These are going to be two LOOONNG weeks. Anyhoo, I don’t have much, but according to Connor Paolo (who I chatted with this week), the next episodes will definitely dig into exactly why Nolan and Emily don’t seem happy to see each other at the party seen in the pilot. “As the season progresses more and more, they’ll continually go back to the Labor Day party and catalogue who’s there, what are they doing, what are their relationships. Clearly, Emily and Nolan are frosty to each other, so [you’ll see] what happened between them.”

Question: Help calm my fears about Chuck! I was not a huge fan of the premiere but am a huge fan of the show. I want Chuck to have the Intersect back!! — Lola

Gonzalez: Executive producer Chris Fedak was coy this week when answering questions about Chuck possibly getting the Intersect back, but I can tell you that tonight’s episode 2 is an improvement — in no small part thanks to Carrie-Anne Moss. But it’s episode 3 that will really make you feel better about the season. Let’s just say the team learns something about Morgan’s intersect that changes Chuck, Sarah, and Casey’s reaction to some less-than-charming behavior you’ll be seeing from Morgan. Also, look for a BIG Jeff twist in episode 3 that will re-define Jeffster possibly for the rest of time.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The BBC mini-series Downton Abbey has been confirmed for a third season. [NOTE: Those of us in the states are still patiently waiting for Season 2 to get a premiere date, but really nice to know there is so much more to enjoy!] (Michael Rosser at BroadcastNow)

Actress Deidre O’Connell (Law & Order) will appear on The Closer as the caring – yet crazy – first wife of Lt. Provenza (G.W. Bailey). She is the mother of his three children who gets ripped off when pawning some personal items in an attempt to pay for her beloved dog’s veterinary care. She’s an English teacher with a soft heart but who is always correcting everyone’s grammar. Her role may recur in the spinoff Major Crimes that will star Mary McDonnell. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

It looks like HBO is moving forward with their drama pilot, with now confirmed actors Chris Cooper and Diane Wiest in the lead roles. The pilot is called The Corrections and is based on the Jonathan Franzen book, which revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern couple (Cooper and Wiest), and their three adult children as they trace their lives from the mid-20th century to “one last Christmas” together near the turn of the millennium. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is considering a drama series for next summer to be produced by Bob Cooper and actor Anthony Lapaglia (Without a Trace). It is Titled Beautiful Gangsters and revolves around three mafia wives who cut a deal with the FBI to enter Witness Protection together in exchange for their testimony, in the hopes of giving their families a second chance at life. The FBI relocates them to a suburban border town in Canada, where they struggle to fit in, struggle to make ends meet … and struggle to resist temptations to take criminal shortcuts. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) is in final negotiations to play the lead in the BBC six-hour miniseries Top Of The Lake that centers on Robin Griffin (Moss), a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl, who is the daughter of a local drug lord. There is no set provider for viewers in the states, as yet, but Sundance Channel might get it. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Jason Statham will star in the action-drama called Hummingbird that centers on an ex-Special Forces soldier looking for a way out of London’s criminal underworld. A twist of circumstance allows him to assume another identity and act out his vengeance through his redemptive justice. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Theatrical ‘Underworld Awakening’ Trailer with Kate Beckinsale

NOTE: There are some interesting co-stars in this movie as well, including actor Michael Ealy (FlashForward and the upcoming USA Network series Common Law), British actor Theo James (from the BBC series Bedlam), Kris Holden-Ried (Lost Girl) and India Eisley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager).

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

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

TELEVISION

Actress Charisma Carpenter (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel) has landed a recurring role on new ABC Family Channel series The Lying Game. She will play Rebecca “Annie” Sewell, the estranged sister of Phyllis Chamberlain (Sydney Barrosse) and aunt of Sutton/Emma’s best friend, Char (Kirsten Prout). Rebecca’s return to town after many years brings back old memories — and secrets — that Alec Rybak (Adrian Pasdar) and Ted Mercer (Andy Buckley) would like to keep in the past. She begins her arc in the show’s midseason premiere, which is slated to air in early January. (Robyn Ross at TV Guide)

Actor Rockmund Dunbar (Prison Break and Terriers) will reprise his role of Pookie on the BET series The Game for a major arc, comprising of six to eight episodes. The show was renewed earlier this year for a 22-episode fifth season, which is slated to premiere in January. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

British actress Lucy Griffiths (the BBC drama Robin Hood) will appear in season 5 of True Blood, playing Nora, Eric’s (Alexander Skarsgard) centuries-old vampire “sister” (they were both progenies of Godric) who is working as a double agent within the Vampire Authority. True Blood‘s fifth season will have its premiere next summer. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Jonathan Tucker (Black Donnellys) has landed a recurring role on the NBC series Parenthood. He will play Bob Little, a frighteningly young and attractive political candidate for whom Amber (Mae Whitman) and Kristina (Monica Potter) go to work. Kristina’s former intern, Bob hires the harried wife and mother-of-three to run his campaign. Kristina, in turn, hires Amber to assist her. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

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

Question: I’ve got a bunch of Halloween candy leftover. Trade you for some Castle scoop? —Ivy

Ausiello: Castle and Beckett spend an upcoming episode literally handcuffed together.

Question: Please tell me that Deeks getting fired on NCIS: LA is only temporary! His partnership with Kensi is just too good. —Melissa

Ausiello: EP Shane Brennan assures fans that, “Even though he’s fired, in the great tradition of NCIS: Los Angeles, everything that you love about the show will continue. [What lies ahead] is a mystery within a mystery within a mystery.”

Question: I’m absolutely loving Once Upon A Time, but I’m dying to know: Are we ever going to get the scuttlebutt on the cute British sheriff? Does he have a fairytale counterpart? —Kathleen

Ausiello: Answers are coming — and soon! “That particular question is one we intend to answer definitively within the first batch of episodes we’ve already produced,” reveals exec producer Adam Horowitz, adding, “We love that people are theorizing already!”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker) will guest star on Person of Interest, playing Wendy, a charming/funny/sexy/sassy hairstylist from Brooklyn who learns that one should always look a gift horse in the mouth. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives and Mad Men) will guest star on Fairly Legal, playing a powerful, savvy trial attorney looking to expand his legal empire. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and actor Daryl Mitchell (Brothers) have joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot Scent Of The Missing. Glau will play a new member of the K-9 Search and Rescue team who is beautiful and very wealthy but much tougher than she looks. Meanwhile, Mitchell will play a wheelchair-bound former military sergeant who serves as the communications technician for the team. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

With their Nashville pilot Outlaw Country heating up for a series pickup at FX, Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz have sold a second drama project to NBC. The legal drama entitled Major Crimes is set in the world of young ADAs in a Los Angeles downtown court building. Moving at a bullet pace, the show focuses on an ensemble cast of young, massively overworked ADAs falling in love, battling their own demons and ambitions, while seeking out justice on the run. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn) has joined the cast of Les Miserables as Marius, which will star Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert and Anne Hathaway as Fantine. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actor Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and actresses Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) and Amy Smart (Road Trip) have joined the cast of the upcoming thriller film called 7500, that follows a group of passengers who encounter what appears to be a supernatural force while on Vista Pacific Flight 7500, a transpacific flight to Japan. Kwanten and Smart will play a married couple traveling with their two longtime friends for a trip to Japan. Bibb plays a flight attendant involved in a complicated and secret relationship. (Dark Horizons)

Actor Shiloh Fernandez (Red Riding Hood) has joined the cast of the eco-terrorism thriller called The East that follows a contract worker (Brit Marling) who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its leader (Alexander Skarsgard). Fernandez will play the sexually adventurous and free-spirited member of Skarsgard’s group. (Skarsgard Fans and Dark Horizons)

Actress Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation) and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris) have joined the cast of the indie dramedy called Decoding Annie Parker that is based on a true story. The film follows geneticist Mary Claire King (Helen Hunt) who discovered a gene linked to breast cancer. There are no details right now on the roles Jones or Stoll will play, though. Meanwhile, Samantha Morton plays Annie Parker, a woman who resolves to fight her cancer diagnosis and Aaron Paul and Maggie Grace co-star. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Bill Paxton (Big Love) is in talks to direct the film version of the classic 1972 TV series Kung Fu. The original series followed a Shaolin monk (David Carradine) as he wanders the American West. The monk wants peace but usually winds up using his martial arts skills against bad guys. John McLaughlin will write the script and shooting will kick off next Summer in China. Paxton previously helmed “Frailty” and “The Greatest Game Ever Played”. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

FX has renewed American Horror Story for a second season. (Twitter)

Actor James McCaffrey (Rescue Me) is joining the cast of ABC’s Revenge. He will play Ryan Huntley, a take-charge, no-BS attorney who has represented the husband of currently comatose Lydia in their nasty divorce. He will appear in the 10th episode, which is slated to air in January. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Soap actor Brody Hutzler (Days of Our Lives) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Ringer, playing wine connoisseur Jason Sheridan, the handsome and supportive husband of Upper East Side socialite, Greer, who will be portrayed by Madchen Amick. Both are set to appear in Episode 11. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC has purchased the high-concept pitch called Afterthought box office writers Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman) and Melissa Rosenberg (The Twilight Saga). The project is described as a closed-ended procedural in the vein of CSI by way of Inception and The Cell. The story follows an unconventional team within the FBI that uses the six-hour window between clinical death and cellular death to solve murders by entering the memories of the recently deceased. (Jeff Sneider at Variety)

Maroon 5 singer and The Voice judge Adam Levin not only has a karaoke comedy project with NBC but now he also has a potential drama set with the network called Awesome Splendor, which will be set in the world of rock ‘n’ roll. Executive producer Lawrence Trilling (Parenthood) will write and direct the project. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Bradley Cooper, Dax Shepard, Tom Arnold and actress Kristen Bell will star in the romantic action comedy called Outrun that follows ex-getaway driver in hiding Charlie Bronson (Shepard) who agrees to break the rules of his Witness Protection and drive his sexy girlfriend (Bell) to Los Angeles so that she can land her dream job. When the authorities and his former gang (led by Cooper) learn he is back behind the wheel, they hit the road to chase him down. Desperate to stay one step ahead, Charlie upgrades to an even faster car as the story shifts into high gear. Kristin Chenoweth, Beau Bridges, Michael Rosenbaum, Joy Bryant and Ryan Hansen also star. (Dark Horizons)

Actor Terence Stamp has joined the cast of the upcoming film called Pan, which is a twist on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. The story shifts the setting to contemporary United States and recasts Pan as an insane killer. Stamp’s role is unspecified. He joins a cast that includes Aaron Eckhart, Sean Bean and AnnaSophia Robb. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Besides directing what will assuredly be a blockbuster (The Avengers) and sneaking in an independent film based on the Shakespeare classic Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon has yet another movie on his hands. The metaphysical love story is called In Your Eyes and follows two seemingly polar opposites who are deeply connected in ways neither could have ever imagined. Whedon wrote the script and will serve as executive producer. No cast has been announced yet, but filming will start in February. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Here are the top 10 movies at the box office for this past weekend courtesy of Grady Smith at Entertainment Weekly:

1. Puss in Boots – $34 million
2. Paranormal Activity 3 – $18.5 million
3. In Time – $12 million
4. Footloose – $5.4 million
5. The Rum Diary – $5 million
6. Real Steel – $4.7 million
7. The Three Musketeers – $3.5 million
8. The Ides of March – $2.7 million
9. Moneyball – $2.4 million
10. Courageous – $1.8 million

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Sarah Clarke (24 and the Twilight franchise) will appear in a 2012 episode of Nikita, but there are no details on what character she will play. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO has optioned the upcoming non-fiction book Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles by Michael Gross for a TV series. Producer extraordinaire Joel Silver is in negotiations to executive produce the project that explores the history of 16 estates in Los Angeles’ most exclusive enclaves — Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Park — as well as juicy details from the lives of their famous owners. The cast of characters features a slew of Hollywood stars who have passed through the houses over the years, including Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Marilyn Monroe, George Hamilton, Harold Lloyd, Jayne Mansfield, Tony Curtis, Sonny and Cher, as well as decadent Spanish land-grant families, desperado oilmen and railroad titans, corporate moguls, con men, porn magnates and tabloid fixtures. The potential series is envisioned as a drama with soapy and comedic elements. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Syfy Films (a joint venture between Syfy and Universal Pictures) has acquired the screen rights to Wild Cards, a superhero anthology edited, co-created and co-written by George R.R. Martin (the man behind the Game of Thrones books for which the HBO fantasy series is based). Wild Cards is a series of books and stories set in a shared universe where an alien virus has been unleashed over New York City. Those who survived were turned into either a class of beings named Jokers, mostly deformed creatures, (or more rarely) Aces, who have special powers. (Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Damian Lewis (Homeland) and actress Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger) have been cast in the big screen adaptation of the classic British TV series The Sweeney that follows two members of the “Flying Squad,” a branch of the Metropolitan Police specializing in armed robbery and violent crime in London. (Baz Bamigboye and First Showing)

Warner Bros. has picked up the movie rights to The Scorpio Races, a new young adult fantasy novel from Maggie Stiefvater, which just hit shelves last week. The story follows the first female competitor in the titular races which utilize mythological flesh-eating horses from Celtic lore on an island where the woman falls in love with her horse trainer. (Heat Vision and First Showing)

Actor Bill Murray has joined the cast of the upcoming dramatic film A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III that will star Charlie Sheen as a successful graphic designer whose fame, money and charm have made him irresistible to women. But when his girlfriend breaks up with him, his life swirls into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. The cast includes recently announced Kathryn Winnick (Bones) and the newly added Patricia Arquette (Medium) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). Jason Schwartzman and Aubrey Plaza also star. (Variety and First Showing)

Actor Aldis Hodge (Leverage) will have a supporting role in the upcoming eco-terrorist thriller called The East, which centers around a contract worker who infiltrates an anarchist group and finds herself falling for its leader. Hodge will play an ex-military member of the townspeople who is affiliated with the group. The film also stars Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgard, Patricia Clarkson and Brit Marling. (Sophie Schillaci at The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) will host the People’s Choice Awards that is set to air in January. (Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Richard Schiff (The West Wing) will guest star on the new ABC fairytale drama Once Upon a Time as King Leopold, Snow White’s father. He will appear in episode 11. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) will guest star on The Good Wife, but there are few details on who she will be playing. (Kristin at E! Online)

Actress Andrea Roth (Rescue Me) will have a recurring role on the new CW drama Ringer, playing Catherine, the conniving ex-wife of Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) and the mother of Juliet (Zoey Deutch). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actors Kevin Alejandro and Grant Bowler (both recently on True Blood) will guest star on the ABC mid-season dram GCB (Good Christian Belles – formerly Bitches). Alejandro will play Danny, a local butcher who offers to supply meat for Booby-licious (a Hooters-like restaurant in the show) on the condition that Heather (Marisol Nichols) goes on a date with him. Meanwhile, Bowler will appear as Mason Massey, a frozen foods magnate and thoroughbred horse breeder. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips (Stargate Universe) will guest star in Southland as Danny Ferguson, a physically intimidating beat cop who is deeply cynical about law enforcement. His views cause more than a little tension with Ben (Benjamin McKenzie) and Sammy (Shawn Hatosy), but when the time comes to put up or shut up, Ferguson proves to be an exceptional officer. Southland will be back on TNT on January 17. (TV Guide)

Singers Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + the Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J. will headline the VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul, the latest edition of the popular musical series set to air from New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on December 19. (E! Online)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Austin Butler (Switched at Birth and Life Unexpected) will star alongside Danielle Panabaker (Shark) in the ABC Family hour-long pilot Intercept in a recurring capacity. The pilot is a technology- and action-driven drama about four college students who get roped into solving crimes when one of them (Butler) creates a high-tech communication device that intercepts conversations throughout the West Coast. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy) has launched her own production company – Calamity Jane – and sold its first project to ABC. The untitled drama is partially based on Laura Blumenfeld’s June article in ELLE Magazine about the female agents on the Secretary Of State’s security detail. The project will revolve around Diplomatic Security special agents who travel the world protecting American officials on diplomatic missions and will explore the personal and professional challenges these young women and men face while taking on one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Eric Winter (The Mentalist) will star opposite Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) in the new TNT drama pilot called Scent Of The Missing, which is based on the book by Susannah Charleson. It centers on Susannah (Helfer), a tenacious, strong-willed K-9 Search and Rescue volunteer who works with an equally determined partner — her mischievous golden retriever, Puzzle. Winter will play Jake, a member of the search and rescue team with his dog Shadow. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Dawn Oliveiri (The Vampire Diaries and Heroes) will appear in the independent film called Missionary, which revolves around a young missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ who has skewed God’s instructions in his efforts to win the affections of a married woman he feels should be his wife and soul mate for eternity. She will next be seen in the new Showtime comedy House of Lies that is set to debut in January. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actors Gerard Butler, Sam Worthington and Matthew McConaughey have joined the 3D CG motion-capture action-thriller called Thunder Road, which is based on the novel by Davd Zucchino. The project is described as the untold story of the dangerous surprise assault and capture of Baghdad by American Forces at the onset of the Iraq War. (Thompson on Hollywood and Dark Horizons)

Actress Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) will star in the film adaption of the Cat Patrick sci-fi novel called Forgotten, which follows a 16-year-old who has her memory erased at exactly 4:33 each morning. All she can remember are events from her future. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Robert De Niro and comedian-actress Kristen Wiig will appear in the drama film called The Comedian that is to be directed by Sean Penn. De Niro will play Jackie Burke, a comic who once had a beloved TV character but is now past his prime and trying to revive his career. After being sentenced to community service for hitting an audience member in the head with his microphone, Jackie meets Harmony (Wiig), a dazzling and defiant redhead who turns his life sideways. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: First Charming Trailer for Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’ Hits the Web

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

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

TELEVISION

Actor Dorian Missick (last seen in the short-lived series The Cape) has joined the TNT cop drama Southland in the recurring role of Ruben Robinson, the new partner of Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Showtime has renewed their new series Homeland for a second season. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The classic Stephen J. Cannell 1980s series Wiseguy will be getting a contemporary reboot at NBC. This version will be a re-imagening of the original series that centered on a disgraced former cop who, while serving time in prison, cuts a deal to work undercover for time off his sentence. This isn’t the first classic series to get a reboot for next season. CBS has a Bewitched remake in the planning stages and The CW has Beauty and the Beast. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Karl Urban (Star Trek) and Ben Barnes (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) have joined the cast of the upcoming action thriller Overdrive. The actors will play adventurous brothers who find more trouble than they are looking for in the South of France. Actress Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) is in negotiations to join the cast, but nothing has been confirmed yet. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: Any scoop on Once Upon a Time? I’m so excited for Episode 2 this Sunday! —Aurore

Ausiello: Episode 3 flashes back to Snow and Prince Charming’s first meeting, and suffice it to say, it wasn’t pretty. “Their relationship is so complicated,” says Snow’s portrayer, Ginnifer Goodwin. “It was based in the beginning on real animosity and manipulation and selfishness.” (Spoiler Alert: They met on The Bachelor!) Meanwhile, Josh Dallas (a.k.a. The Prince) has this to say about the forthcoming arrival of Alan Dale as his onscreen father, King George. “The kingdom is ailing and [my dad] needs some help,” he explains. “He goes to King Midas, and they make a deal. King Midas says, ‘If your son slays this dragon, I will take care of your kingdom. I will give you gold. I will give you riches. You will be taken care of.’ So he makes a deal with Midas for me to slay this dragon.”

Question: Did you know that we have the same birthday? I would appreciate either a belated or early birthday gift in the form of some Smash scoop please. —Emily

Ausiello: Producers have been so enamored of recurring guest star Will Chase — who plays Joe DiMaggio in the Marilyn Monroe musical-within-the-show — that they’ve extended his arc by five episodes and added a Season 2 series regular option to his contract.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Grey Damon (The Nine Live of Chloe King and Friday Night Lights) and actress Stepfanie Kramer (from the classic series Hunter) will both appear on The Secret Circle. Damon has landed the potential recurring role of Lee Laceque, a “sexy and mysterious twenty-something grifter type with a lot of confidence — and knowledge who comes from Santeria heritage and runs an occult Botanica in the suburbs”. He, of course, is a bit dangerous, catching the attention of Faye. Meanwhile, Kramer will appear in one episode as Kate Meade, the equally complicated and strong mother of Charles (Gale Harold) and grandmother to Diana (Shelley Hennig). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actor Angus Macfadyen (Braveheart and Miracles) will guest star in a multi-episode arc on Chuck as the last major villain of the show’s final season. He will play Nicholas Quinn, a former CIA agent who now runs a mercenary spy ring. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

AMC has renewed The Walking Dead for a third season. (TV Guide)

CBS is giving new dramas Unforgettable and Person Of Interest a full season each. (Twitter)

WEB SERIES NEWS

Alloy Entertainment, the creative minds behind such teen TV shows Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Circle as well as the online series Wendy, is currently producing a new web series called Dating Rules From My Future Self. In addition to the recently announced Shiri Appleby (Roswell and Life Unexpected), who will play the lead role, actors Taylor Kinney (The Vampire Diaries), Alison Becker (Parks and Recreation), Mircea Monroe (Episodes), and Bryce Johnson (Pretty Little Liars) have joined the cast. The web series follows a 29-year-old woman (Appleby) who gets text messages from herself 10 years in the future that serve as warnings that she has to change her dating tactics or she’ll end up alone and unhappy. (Tanner Stransky at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Lily Collins (Priest and Abduction) will star alongside Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear, Nathan Lane and Michael Angarano in the independent comedy film called The English Teacher, which centers on a beloved high school English teacher (Moore) whose repressed personal life is in contrast to the passion she brings to the classroom. After her former star pupil returns to their small town after failing as a playwright in New York, she convinces him to mount his unproduced play at the school, which creates more drama than she’s ever known. Collins will play a popular high schooler who comes into conflict with the teacher. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actors Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Forest Whitaker and Kevin Durand have joined the cast of the upcoming film called The Truth that follows a former CIA operative-turned-political talk show host (Garcia) who is hired by a corporate whistleblower to expose her company’s cover up of a massacre in South American village. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Katheryn Winnick (Bones) will play the female lead opposite actor Charlie Sheen in the independent drama film called A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charlie Swan II that follows a successful graphic designer whose fame, money and charm have made him irresistible to women, but when his girlfriend breaks up with him, his life heads into a downward spiral. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor John Cusack has landed the lead role in the new action thriller called The Numbers Station. Actress Malin Akerman has stayed attached as the lead female role. The film follows a disgraced black ops agent (Cusack) tasked with a dead-end job of protecting a young woman (Akerman) in the middle of the Nevada desert. When the two come under attack, they have to fight to stay alive. (Variety and First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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