Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

There isn’t a lot of news for today, but here is what I found:

TELEVISION

Actress Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) will appear in the new upcoming ABC drama Scandal (yet another Shonda Rhimes series) as Vice President Sally Hewitt in what will be a multi-episode appearance. The series follows a professional fixer (Kerry Washington) who formerly worked at the White House. Scandal is expected to premiere sometime in late February or early March. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

The cable network Starz has given a second season renewal to the Kelsey Grammer drama called Boss that hasn’t even debuted yet. It will begin its first season next month, but the network must have a lot of faith in the show to give it a renewal. The series is about a powerful Chicago mayor (Grammer) who is hiding a deteriorating mental condition. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Coming off the recent success of the newest update to Upstairs Downstairs, BBC One (one of the major networks in Britain) is moving forward with a 6-episode follow-up that will include, among other stars, Alex Kingston (who plays recurring character River Song on Doctor Who). (BBC)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Film District, the company behind this year’s releases Drive and Insidious, is finalizing a deal with MGM to allow the movie studio to finally distribute the remake of Red Dawn sometime next year. The cast includes Chris Hemsworth, who, since the filming of this remake, has gone on to star in this summer’s Thor and Josh Hutcherson, who, also since the filming of this remake, has gone on to film The Hunger Games which will be out next March as well as Adrianne Palicki (from Friday Night Lights and the failed Wonder Woman TV pilot), Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and who will be seen in Immortals this November) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen and Supernatural). (24 Frames and First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Joe Manganiello (True Blood) will guest star on Two and a Half Men, playing the smoldering hot boyfriend of Bridget, the ex-wife of Walden (Ashton Kutcher). Bridget will be portrayed by Judy Greer, who makes her first appearance on Monday. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FX has bought the original drama project called Furlough from crime novelist/comic book writer Charlie Huston. Details of the plot are being kept under wraps but the potential series is described as a private detective/prison drama. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CBS has bought the drama project called Legacy from Jericho co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg. The potential series centers on a one-term president who goes back to work at his hometown law firm where he hand-picks the cases that really matter to him. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

TV wunderkinds J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke are working together on a drama project for NBC that is being described as an epic adventure thriller. But, no other details are currently available. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has picked up another drama project with “magical elements” – this one from Kings creator Michael Green that centers on a female cop who, after pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, discovers a magical world that exists within New York City. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Director Lee Daniels is working on a series treatment for the classic 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls for NBC. The book spans over two decades, chronicling the lives, career highs and ultimate self-destruction of 3 female best friends: Anne Welles, who works at a Broadway talent agency, Neely O’Hara, a vaudeville star, and Jennifer North, a showgirl. The title of the book refers to a slang for sleeping pills for which the three women become dependent. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

NBC is hoping to, much like what AMC did with the American version of The Killing, make a US version of the Dutch series Borgen (aka Government), into a hit series. Borgen focuses on the fight for political power and its consequences, centering on a smart and sexy 40-year-old populist party leader, who scores a surprise election victory only to discover the biggest challenge of her life is yet to come. Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims is one of the exeuctives in charge of this new potential project. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Kevin Williamson (the man behind The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle) has just landed a drama pilot with FOX. The project is currently untitled is described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller about a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and the FBI agent who finds himself in the middle of it. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Jessica Chastain (The Debt) will be on one of two female leads in the upcoming sci-fi thriller film previously called Oblivion that will star Tom Cruise. The film revolves around a soldier stationed on a future Earth, the surface of which was destroyed by aliens. When he discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off a chain of events that cause him to question everything he knows. Other actresses up for the other female lead include Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling and Noomi Rapace. (Justin Kroll at Variety)

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

1. The Lion King, $22.1 million
2. Moneyball, $20.6 million
3. Dolphin Tale, $20.3 million
4. Abduction, $11.2 million
5. Killer Elite, $9.5 million
6. Contagion, $8.6 million
7. Drive, $5.8 million
8. The Help, $4.4 million
9. Straw Dogs, $2.1 million
10. I Don’t Know How She Does It, $2.05 million

Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer (Angels and Demons and Munich) has replaced actress Julia Ormond in the upcoming Superman reboot film called Man of Steel. She will play Lara, Superman’s Kryptonian mother. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

FOX has given the Kiefer Sutherland-led pilot Touch a 13-episode order with the show planned to debut next spring. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Lifetime has picked up Drop Dead Diva for a fourth season. (Twitter)

Actress Catherine Dent (The Shield) will appear in a multi-episode arc on The Mentalist as Special Agent Susan Darcy, a seasoned and assertive FBI agent who often downplays her intelligence to get what she wants without causing friction. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Actor Billy Zane (Titanic) will be joining The Playboy Club, starting on the 6th episode (if it last that long, of course), playing the recurring role of Oscar Bianchi, the cool-headed but ruthless younger brother of Chicago Mafia boss Bruno Bianchi, who was murdered in the first episode. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actor Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files) will make an appearance on the new FOX series The Finder, playing a former cop-turned-death row inmate who reaches out to Walter (Geoff Stults) to help him with something very important. (Give Me My Remote)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Legendary TV series creator Steven Bochco has a new project at ABC called Legal Affairs that is an ensemble legal drama following the partners and associates at a prestigious L.A. law firm who must balance tangled personal relationships with the demands of family and high-profile cases. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Fox has bought The Raiding Party, a drama project from Breakout Kings creator Nick Santora. The project centers on three brothers, overseen by their dominant mother, who carry on the successful family business that was founded by their grandfather and bequeathed to them by their dad. That family business just happens to be robbing banks. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actors Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) and Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) have landed lead roles in the HBO pilot called 40. They join previously cast Ed Burns and Michael Rapaport in the single-camera ensemble comedy, which revolves around four lifelong friends who help each other navigate life at 40, which isn’t all they expected it to be. Burns plays a married guy and a father who used to work at Bear Stearns making more than $2 million a year, but has now been out of work for almost a year. Rapaport plays another friend, also married, who is described as a neurotic everyman. Imperioli plays a single guy, a hustler who is shameless when it comes to self-promotion. And, Pasdar plays the fourth of the buddies, a Wall Street millionaire. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has bought Zero Hour, a mystery drama from Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring. The project is described as an epic adventure about a skeptical everyman who gets swept up in one of history’s greatest conspiracies. His search leads him on a dangerous journey around the world collecting clues that will unlock not only a spectacular mystery surrounding the Twelve Apostles but also questions about his own identity. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Richard Jenkins has joined the cast of the box office film One Shot, which is adapted from the Lee Child novel, starring Tom Cruise as a former military police officer, who investigates the case of a sniper accused of murdering five people at a mall. Jenkins will play the district attorney prosecuting the sniper. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress CCH Pounder (Warehouse 13) has booked a multi-episode arc on the new ABC drama Revenge where she will play the tough-as-nails Warden Stiles, the woman in charge of the juvenile detention center once occupied by Emily Thorne (née Amanda Clark) [Emily VanCamp]. Her character is slated to appear in both the present day and in the series’ signature flashbacks. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

The 7th season of Doctor Who won’t premiere until autumn 2012, but details are still very murky in terms of details, a schedule prediction has been compiled by fan site Doctor Who TV:

2012
Easter Special
Autumn – Series 7 Part 1
Christmas Special

2013
Spring – Series 7 Part 2
Autumn – Series 8
Christmas Special

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

BBC and Cinemax have commissioned an 8-episode order of a new spy thriller called Nemesis (aka Morton) that will star Melissa George (Alias and Grey’s Anatomy) in the lead role. The new series will be in the vein of Bourne Identity, set in the world of international espionage, centering on a highly skilled operative for an elite private intelligence firm who survives an attempt on her life that may have been orchestrated by members of her own team. Once she returns to the firm, she must perform her secretive duties without knowing who to trust and who wants her dead. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

ABC Family enters into the world of music with its first musical, a two-hour original movie tentatively titled Elixir” that is slated to air on the network sometime in 2012. The story is thus: Harper (Jane Seymour) was one of the best dancers to hit Broadway, but an injury caused her to leave the spotlight, become a choreographer, and raise her daughter, Mirabella (Sara Paxton from Aquamarine). When Mirabella, the star of Harper’s next big production, decides to quit the show to get married, her mother is determined to put a stop to the wedding and show Mirabella that she cannot give up her career for love, especially to marry playboy Marco (Alexander John from 90210). After the long flight to the Italian wedding site, Harper takes a swig from a strange bottle that is supposed to dull the pain of an old dance injury. Instead, the elixir magically turns Harper 30 years younger. Harper’s younger appearance (Chelsea Kane plays Young Harper) allows her to secretly infiltrate the wedding – only to confront a huge obstacle in Mirabella’s father, Ryan (Tom Wopat), who can recognize his ex-wife in any form. After he too experiences the reverse-aging effects of the elixir (Drew Seeley plays Young Ryan), Ryan teams with Harper to reverse the damage she’s done to Mirabella and Marco’s relationship, hopefully in time to save the wedding. Throughout this fairytale romance, Harper, Mirabella, Ryan and Marco express themes of life and love through song and dance in a magical story examining life, love and family bonds. (The Futon Critic)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Paula Patton (soon to be seen in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol) has joined the cast of the indie drama film called Disconnect that follows several disparate lives that intertwine as the digital technologies intended to bring people closer together push families further apart. The cast includes Alexander Skarsgard, Andrea Riseborough, Frank Grillo and Jason Bateman. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actors Don Cheadle and Bruce Greenwood have joined the cast of the upcoming film called Flight that stars Denzel Washington as a pilot who rescues his passengers from a dangerous situation. But, as it turns out, he seems he is not as heroic as he appears as his negligence (due to an addiction) was partly responsible for the danger in the first place. Kelly Reilly also stars. (Moviehole and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: 4-Minute Trailer for Fincher’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’

Watch: First Official Trailer for ‘Big Miracle’ with Barrymore & Krasinski

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

It looks like MTV is going to double the episode order for the second season of Teen Wolf, giving the new season 24-episodes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Michael Zegen (Rescue Me) has joined the cast of The Walking Dead. He will play Randall, a new character that isn’t featured in the original comic book. (Michael Schneider at TV Guide)

Actress Alexandra Daddario (who played Kate on White Collar) will appear on Parenthood as Rachel, the new receptionist at Adam (Peter Krause) and Crosby’s (Dax Shepard) new business venture, The Luncheonette. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actor Gilles Marini (Brothers & Sisters) will guest star on Modern Family, as Julian, a friend of a friend of Cameron and Mitchell’s whom they both assume is gay; however, that proves to be erroneous when the boys invite Claire (Julie Bowen) on a rare “fun night out” and end up leaving her with Julian –- and in short order it becomes clear that he is very straight. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Jeff Nordling (formerly of Once and Again) will guest star on two episodes of CSI: NY, appearing alongside Sela Ward who also starred in Once and Again. He will play a U.S. senator who is still miffed at the way Jo (Ward) handled a rape case involving his daughter, Serena (newcomer Jenn Proske). The senator comes to New York City when his daughter’s rapist is arrested on a new case and applies pressure to make sure things aren’t screwed up the second time around. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Deirdre Lovejoy (who played “The Gravedigger” on Bones) will play the potentially recurring role of Jeannie Morris, the wife of Detective Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) on Body of Proof. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Victor Garber (Alias) has been tapped to provide the voice of Charlie on the new reboot of Charlie’s Angels that will debut this Thursday on ABC. (Vulture and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Former Columbia Pictures chief-turned-producer Matt Tolmach has sold a female-driven drama project to CBS that is titled Sleepers. It centers on a woman who has the gift to save “sleepers,” people who are caught somewhere between life and death. The network also bought a project from feature film director Sam Raimi that is about a female FBI agent who is placed undercover in a St. Louis homicide unit to solve murders while investigating her own precinct for corruption. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Novel writer Nicholas Sparks is making his first foray into TV writing. He has sold an original story idea to ABC for a drama series titled The Watchers. This project tells the story of a fallen angel looking for his mortal love. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FOX has bought a CIA drama that is a procedural thriller centered on the orphaned 17-year-old daughter of a CIA operative who is recruited to become an operative herself. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) will star in the upcoming box office film King of Heists where he will play George Leslie, a mild-mannered gentleman who quietly assembled a crew and pulled off a $3 million heist from the Manhattan Savings Institution in 1878. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actor Robert Knepper (Prison Break) has joined the cast of the supernatural action thriller R.I.P.D. that is based on the Dark Horse comic, starring Ryan Reynolds as a murdered cop who is recruited to work in the Rest in Peace Department, a police force comprised of ghosts who battle spirits unready to depart this world. Knepper will play one of the spirits, known as a “deado”. Jeff Bridges plays Reynolds’ partner while Kevin Bacon and Mary-Louise Parker [among others] co-star. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Actress Leven Rambin (who will be seen in the upcoming film The Hunger Games) has joined the cast of the surfer biopic called Mavericks that follows Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston), a Santa Cruz native who found his calling in the world of surfing at a young age and flourished under the guidance of local elder Rick “Frosty” Hesson (Gerard Butler). Moriarty passed away the day before his 23rd birthday in a free-diving accident in the Maldives. Rambin will play Moriarty’s best friend and potential love interest in the film. (Showblitz and Dark Horizons)

Actor Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) will appear in the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln as Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederate States during the Civil War and a nemesis of Lincoln’s slavery reform agenda. The cast of this film includes Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd as well as Tommy Lee Jones and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Deadline and First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds) will guest star as the wife of the LAPD Police Commissioner in an episode of The Closer that will air on December 19. Her character, Gail Meyers, gets into some serious trouble when she tries to cover up a potential scandal. Gail’s husband is played by the great Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives). The Closer begins its winter run on TNT on November 28. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor D.J. Qualls (Memphis Beat) will play Garth, a quirky, laid-back hunter on Supernatural who doesn’t hit it off with Dean. The show is back with its season premiere on The CW on September 23 at 9 PM. (Zap2It and TV Line)

Former actor now big-time executive producer Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the NBC drama Prime Suspect, playing a married Deputy Chief, who used to be lovers with Jane (Maria Bello). (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Drea de Matto (The Sopranos) will guest star on CSI: Miami, playing a sexy and smart poker player who’s the only woman competing in a dangerous, high stakes illegal game. When the game is robbed and a man is murdered, we learn she’s actually a devoted mother out to avenge the attempted murder of her son in a similar robbery that left him disabled. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Margarita Levieva (Adventureland) will have a recurring role on the new ABC series Revenge, playing a stripper with a sordid past. Revenge debuts on September 21 at 10 PM on ABC. (Entertainment Weekly and TV Line)

Actor Gregory Harrison (who most recently played Julian’s father on One Tree Hill) will guest star as Dr. Cameron Fischer on Body of Proof, which returns tonight with its season premiere on ABC at 10 PM. (Jethro Nededog at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Cam Gigandet (Twilight and Burlesque) has landed one of the leads in the TNT Western drama pilot Gateway that is also being called Tin Star, which is an action/adventure project set in the Colorado town of the same name in the 1880s. It tells the story of three brothers who step in to save their town when their sheriff father is murdered, pitting them against a corrupt cattle baron determined to make the town his own. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) and her production company have teamed with Canada’s New Franchise Media to develop The Eleventh Commandment, a series adaptation of UK author Jeffrey Archer’s 1998 novel. The action thriller centers on Connor Fitzgerald, the CIA’s most deadly assassin. Only days from his retirement from the Agency, Connor is framed by the Director of the CIA for a phony assassination on a Russian presidential candidate that could inadvertently trigger World War III. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has bought two new drama scripts for their development slate: Safehouse, and Murder Season. Safehouse centers on a young, brash CIA agent who joins a crew of agency professionals headed by his long-estranged superspy mother. Murder Season focuses on a gifted but troubled female FBI profiler who, while working with an elite team to catch the country’s worst criminals, struggles to hide a dark secret from her past. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CONDOLENCES

Dolores DeFina Hope, a singer, philanthropist and the wife of the late, legendary comedian Bob Hope, passed away yesterday of natural causes at her Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles. She was 102. The singer and the comedian were married for nearly 70 years. (LA Times)

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Hope. Deepest sympathies to her family, friends and fans.

BOX OFFICE

Actress Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood) will replace Hilary Duff in the upcoming box office film The Story of Bonnie and Clyde that will deliver a new take on the story of two of the most famous fugitives in modern American history. Duff and Kevin Zegers were both originally cast in the title roles but both have bowed out due to scheduling issues. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here is the news for today:

NEWS

Congrats to the Emmy winners from last night’s awards presentation, including the folks from Modern Family and Mad Men, writer/series creator Jason Katims, actors Kyle Chandler, Peter Dinklage, Margo Martindale, Julianna Margulies, Melissa McCarthy, Barry Pepper and Jim Parsons; as well as the folks from the mini-series Mildred Pierce and Downton Abbey.

TELEVISION

Actor Romany Malco (No Ordinary Family and Weeds) will appear in a multi-episode arc on The Good Wife, playing a pro bono lawyer who is renting space at Lockhart Gardner. The Good Wife returns on September 25. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) will guest star on an episode of American Horror Story, playing a patient that sees Dr. Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) because of his fear of urban legends. The new FX drama debuts on October 5. (Robyn Ross at TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) will guest star on Castle, playing the hostage negotiator who tries to defuse a situation at a bank where Castle and his mother find themselves trapped inside during a heist. Castle is back tonight at 10 PM on ABC. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Jack Coleman (Heroes) will not only be showing up on The Vampire Diaries, but he will also appear in Criminal Minds as Bill, a man who once held a young girl captive for seven years, and in an attempt to recreate a perceived connection with the victim, proceeds to kidnap her mother (played by Brigid Brannagh from Army Wives) in the exact same fashion. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

CONDOLENCES

Actress Frances Bay, who played the grandmother of Adam Sandler’s character in the film Happy Gilmore, passed away late last week at the age of 92. (E! Online)

ME: RIP, Ms. Bay. Deepest condolences to her family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The following list is the top 10 movies for the box office this past weekend courtesy of Hollywood.com and based on studio estimates. Please note that The Lion King (in 3-D) began its limited, two-week engagement this weekend:

1. The Lion King 3-D – $29.3 million
2. Contagion – $14.5 million
3. Drive – $11 million
4. The Help – $6.4 million
5. Straw Dogs – $5 million
6. I Don’t Know How She Does It – $4.5 million
7. The Debt – $2.9 million
8. Warrior – $2.7 million
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – $2.6 million
10. Colombiana – $2.3 million

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush at TV Guide)

Question: I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode of Ringer. I was a huge Buffy fan because of the writing of the Whedon crew, so I follow the writers and not the cast. But the show seems to be a good fit for Sarah Michelle Gellar, and it was soapy and suspenseful in a very mainstream way. While the “twist” at the end of the pilot was entirely predictable, there are enough questions to keep me coming back for more. What did you think? I am not one of those people who avoids watching a TV show I think will be canceled (thus encouraging networks to cancel it), but I do hope a show like this is produced in sensible 13-episode arcs. More shows seem to be trying to hedge their bets that way. While I’m not asking for spoilers, do you have any sense of whether or not the show has mini-endgames planned in case the show doesn’t go the distance? (Whedon was great at that for most of Buffy’s run). — Rebecca

Matt Roush: I was more fair to Ringer than many critics. I’m not entirely convinced there’s enough material in this set-up to fill an hour every week over the long haul, but I have a soft spot for this kind of glossy mystery melodrama, and I liked her and the cast (especially the two men she’s caught between, Ioan Gruffudd and Kristoffer Polaha). So for now, I’m on board. And while a story like this has to stay open-ended by its very nature of building suspense and twists along the way, I agree it would be wise for the writers to cushion the cliffhangers with some sense of resolution at the end of the first 13 — and the back nine, should Ringer be so lucky (which it probably will be) — so that fans won’t be too perturbed if the show doesn’t make it to a second year. It’s awfully hard to predict the threshold of success and failure on a mini-net like the CW.

Question: Since last week was the final “summer” episode of The Closer, does this mean we will still have a winter series to come? I had believed that this was the end of a wonderful show, but I am not sure. I sincerely hope that I am wrong. I will definitely miss this show. Is there a specific reason that Kyra Sedgwick decided to leave after this year? There are still so many wonderful stories to be explored with her and her team. I have read that there is the possibility that the show may continue with all of the other characters remaining? Is this definite or only a possibility? If so, what will happen to Fritz, Brenda’s husband? — Mary Ann

Matt Roush: There’s still quite a bit of confusion among some fans regarding what’s happening with this franchise. Here’s the deal: After the five-episode run in November and December, The Closer will be back for a final run of episodes next summer, marking the end of Kyra Sedgwick’s participation in the series. This transitions directly into a spin-off, Major Crimes, which will be built around Mary McDonnell’s character of Sharon Raydor but includes many of the Closer ensemble. Can’t really say what part Jon Tenney/Fritz will play in this, because that depends on how they write Brenda out of the show. And I prefer not to know that for now. The main reason Sedgwick has cited for leaving the show at this point is that she prefers to go out on top and not overstay her welcome, plus a desire to get back to her life on the East Coast with her family. Seven seasons is a pretty good run for any character. And who’s to say she won’t pop back into the world of Major Crimes from time to time?

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The cable network Starz will pay tribute to former Spartacus star Andy Whitfield, who passed away of cancer last weekend. The tribute will air this Sunday at 9 PM and will include five episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, including the premiere and finale episodes. The network is set to re-air the entire first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand starring Whitfield starting on Dec. 16. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC Family has canceled their new drama The Nine Lives of Chloe King and their new comedy State of Georgia. Meanwhile, the network has picked up drama Make It or Break It for another season and has given their new drama The Lying Game an additional 12-episodes order. (TV By The Numbers and Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Lou Gossett Jr. and actress Sara Rue will guest star on Psych this fall, appearing as two of Lassiter’s (Timothy Omundson) new neighbors after the detective moves into a new and seemingly cursed condo. Gossett will play Lloyd, the creepy manager at the Overlook Gardens Condominium while Rue will play quirky nurse Amy Alleris, an overly friendly neighbor. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Carrie Preston (True Blood) will to The Good Wife, playing Elsbeth Tascioni. She is slated to appear in the 7th episode of the third season, but it there is a strong chance her time of the show will be expanded during the season. The Good Wife will air in its new time slot on September 25 at 9PM. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

The FOX drama Bones is expected to air six episodes this fall and seven in the spring with its spinoff The Finder bridging the gap in the winter. Now word has it that FOX has ordered four additional episodes, possibly set to air over the summer or to be carried over to Season 8. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

The Voice champ Javier Colon will appear as legendary blues singer Ray Charles on The Playboy Club this fall. Colon will appear in the sixth episode of the show’s new season. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

MTV has greenlit the scripted series called Underemployed that takes a comedic look at the post-college generation starting life and career in today’s harsh economic climate. (Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Michael Nouri (Damages and NCIS) will guest star in House as Thad Barton, a corporate bigwig who comes under fire from his employees when he announces he’s moving his company to China. House returns to FOX on October 3. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight) will appear in Blue Bloods as Jacob, an international and very charismatic art curator who begins dating Erin (Bridget Moynahan) after they meet at an art gallery. He is expected to appear in three episodes, starting on November 4. The series is back on CBS starting September 23. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Ilene Chaiken (creator of The L Word) and director-producer Joel Silver are teaming for a character-driven procedural at CBS that is centered on an edgy punk hacker girl who teams up with an Oakland police detective to solve crimes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Looks like ABC now has two different Jekyll & Hyde projects from which to choose for their development slate. The first is from Mark Gordon Co. and film writer Matt Lopez (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) that is described as a suspenseful, darkly romantic retelling of the classic tale with a unique sci-fi twist. It is set in modern-day San Francisco, centered on a female criminal psychologist who is drawn into the mysterious world of a brilliant but inhibited scientist and his volatile alter ego. And the second is from writer Sheldon Turner that is about an ER doctor whose id manifests itself as a different person when he goes to sleep as a result of an experiential medical treatment. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The CW and CBS are developing a contemporary reboot of the late 1980’s drama fantasy series Beauty and the Beast that will air on The CW. It is described as a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist. This project should NOT be confused with the other ‘Beauty & the Beast project announced last week that is in development at ABC and is described as an epic fantasy reimagining of the public domain fairy tale. (The Live Feed and Dark Horizons)

The sci-fi thriller Source Code, that starred Jake Gyllenhaal as an Army helicopter pilot who takes part in an experiment through which he inhabits the consciousness of a man on a train for the last eight minutes of the man’s life to try and find out who planted a bomb on the train, may now be made into a TV series for ABC. The TV version will follow three former federal agents who use the same “source code” technology to insert themselves into the consciousness of different dead people each week, presumably to head off more terrorist attacks and other catastrophes. (The Hollywood Reporter and Blastr)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Rupert Grint (Harry Potter franchise) will join actors Jim Broadbent, David Tennant and Stephen Mangan as part of the voice cast for a 3D film adaptation of the British children’s series Postman Pat. The story has Pat coming face-to-face with the temptations of money, status and a shiny new suit when he enters a national TV talent show competition that threatens to tear him away from his hometown of Greendale and the friends he loves. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Must Watch: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in First Trailer for ‘Premium Rush’

Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving in First ‘Oranges & Sunshine’ Trailer

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

USA Network has renewed Covert Affairs, Royal Pains and Necessary Roughness. (Ted Linhart at USA Network via Twitter)

Actress Tania Raymonde (Alex Rousseau from Lost) will guest star in Hawaii Five-0, playing Trisha, a married woman caught up in a love triangle between her husband and the volleyball coach she’s sleeping with. Meredith Monroe will guest star in the same episode as a star player on the volleyball team. Also, actor Robert Englund (Freddie Krueger himself) will also guest star on Hawaii Five-0 in the show’s Halloween episode. He will play a homeless desert storm veteran who hangs around an ancient burial site and becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Rebecca Romijn (Eastwick and Ugly Betty) will guest star in Chuck as Robin Cunnings, an elite Special Agent with the CIA who’s as cold and calculating as she is sexy, and is known for her barbaric (yet highly effective) interrogation techniques. Her appearance brings nothing but bad news for Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Morgan. Her character is said to be a member of a rogue group within the CIA that is planning to frame Chuck for the crime of the century. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Richard Schiff (The West Wing) has joined the cast of the new half hour dark comedy series House Of Lies. He will play the boss of the management consulting firm where stars Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle are employed. (Alex Ben Block at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actors Ethan Hawke and Vince D’Onofrio have teamed with writer-producer Chris Brancato for a cop drama called Blue Tilt that has been picked up for production by NBC. Brancato conceived the project and took it to Hawke and D’Onofrio, who helped shape it. All three will executive produce. The show will star Hawke and D’Onofrio as two seasoned homicide detectives — one married and one divorced — as they solve cases while dealing with their wives/ex-wives and kids. The title Blue Tilt refers to a cop term for homicide detectives who, as a result of dealing with particularly brutal crimes, become a danger to themselves and are put under psychiatric observation. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Impossible Pictures (British producers) and Omni Film Productions are teaming for a Canadian spin-off of the British Primeval sci-fi series. The twist is the new Canadian series, Primeval: New World, will be structured as a Canada-UK co-production, and will use characters and story-lines from the British Primeval series, while inserting new Canadian characters and story-lines into the local version. The production has been picked up for 13 one hour episodes for the Space channel. The series will be set in Vancouver against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, and promises elements that Space viewers already know from watching the Brit Primeval series while including darker storylines from an all-Canadian writers room. (Etan Vlessing at The Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has picked up a drama project called Bazirkus, a soap from based loosely on 32-year-old Nicole Feld of Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey Circus, who grew up in the circus her grandfather bought in 1967 and has become the first female producer in Ringling Bros’ history. The project will be set at a fictional circus and will be a family/workplace soap about unfulfilled dreams and great expectations in the circus world where everyone is pushing the limits, personally and professionally, to reinvent themselves as they reinvent their world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Meanwhile, FOX has a new as-yet untitled medical dramedy on tab as a possible new project for the network, which would center on a young neurologist who is a single mother of a sperm-donor baby. The show would chronicle (with humor) her struggle to balance work, motherhood, family and romance as she moves to Boston to start a new job that she hopes will help her find a cure for her ailing brother. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Elsewhere, ABC Family is nearing a pilot order for “Strut” from writer Amy Sherman-Palladino (the woman behind Gilmore Girls), was asked to come on board and give the show a refreshening after network executives felt the original pilot needed retooling. The show centers on a Las Vegas showgirl who unwittingly gets married to a Texan and becomes a high school instructor for a misfit drill team. The cabler is also giving a pilot order to the action-driven drama Intercept, which is about college students who are crime solvers. (Stuart Levine at Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Marisa Tomei will co-star with Bette Midler and Billy Crystal in the box office comedy called Us and Them that follows the story of a couple (Milder and Crystal) who are stuck caring for their grandchildren and baffled by their 21st century lives. Tomei will play the couple’s estranged daughter, Alice, for whom they slowly repair their relationship. Young actress Bailey Madison also stars as one of the grandchildren. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Future Films has reportedly optioned the film rights to the supernatural mystery comic called Hope Falls that was created by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood. The comic is about a girl who returns to her hometown after 20 years, and then is revealed to have been murdered by a group of men who are now prominent town citizens. Now she’s out for some supernatural revenge. (Bleeding Cool and Dark Horizons)

ME: Doesn’t this kind of sound like the female version of The Crow?

Actor Nathan Lane has joined the cast of the box office film called The English Teacher”, which stars Julianne Moore as a small-town high school English teacher visited by a beloved former student (Greg Kinnear) who has returned after failing as a playwright. Lane will play the high school’s drama teacher who tries to get the playwright’s help with his upcoming school production. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Official Trailer for Creepy Horror ‘The Awakening’ with Rebecca Hall

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

1970’s icons Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) will appear as Burt Chance’s (Garret Dillahunt) parents on Raising Hope. The comedy will return to FOX on September 20, at 9:30 PM. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Diane Farr (Numb3rs) will guest star on CSI: Miami as a popular novelist who gets tangled up in a Halloween-theme case. Horatio’s (David Caruso) team investigates a murder with vampiric undertones that appears to be based on a young adult book series penned by Farr’s character. The show will be back on CBS starting on September 25 at 10 PM. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) will appear in a 4-episode arc on the new FX series American Horror Story, playing a medium named Billie Dean. The series will debut on October 5. (Jenna Mullins at E! Online)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has picked up an as-yet untitled drama from The Blind side writer-director John Lee Hancock, who has teamed with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott’s recently launched TV company for the project that centers on an unorthodox protagonist described as Walter Mitty of the crime world. This recently launched company has already sold several projects to ABC, including a drama from about a complex female ADA and two comedies. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Looks like CBS has bought Sherlock Holmes with the hopes of making it a new drama at the network. The project is described as a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye. The network has also put into development the Mommy-Track Mysteries, which is an adaptation of the Ayelet Waldman comedic series of books about Juliet Applebaum, a public defender turned stay-at-home-mom and private investigator. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Former 70’s TV icon Shaun Cassidy is prepping a Western project with director Thomas Schlamme for NBC that would be set in 1840. The project is called The Frontier and it follows a group of disparate travelers in Missouri as they go on an adventure through the mountains, deserts and plains of the West on their way to the coast. (Michael Schneider at TV Guide)

FOX has bought The Spectre, a drama series project based on the DC Comics superhero, which centers on a former cop serving time in afterlife limbo who hunts down earthly criminals on behalf of the dead — and mortals soon to be dead if ultimate justice is not served. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Veteran actor Gerald McRaney (Deadwood and Jericho) will appear in the box office film Django Unchained from director Quentin Tarantino. The story follows a slave-turned-bounty hunter on a mission to rescue his wife from her sadistic slave master. McRaney’s role is unknown at this time, though. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Ashley Greene (the Twilight franchise) will star in the movie called Olivia Twisted, which is a modem take on the classic Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. The story follows 19-year-old Olivia and a group of highly trained street urchins who, upon accepting a kidnapping job, they find themselves in the middle of a turf war between warring criminal factions. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILERS

Watch: Official Trailer for Cameron Crowe’s ‘We Bought a Zoo’ Movie

First Official Trailer for TIFF’s ‘Burning Man’ Starring Matthew Goode

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

Question: I’m a sucker for Castle spoilers. Got anything juicy for us this week? —Ivy

Ausiello: Nathan Fillion declares that “sparks will be flying” when Kristin Lehman debuts as a romantic foil for Castle in October, and the fireworks won’t go unnoticed by Beckett. “There is fun to be had in that episode with the Castle and Beckett relationship, for sure,” show runner Andrew W. Marlowe told TVLine’s Matt Mitovich just hours ago on the set. “Anytime a very attractive woman has her eye on Castle, and with Castle being the kind of guy he is, it makes for some interesting sparks.”

Question: Do you have any idea if Katherine will be returning to Vampire Diaries? —Kris

Ausiello: The question isn’t if Elena’s doppelganger will be back, it’s when. “We’re not going to see Katherine right away,” says VD EP Julie Plec. “But when she does show up, she’s not going to show up empty-handed. She’s going to show up with some pretty valuable information.”

Question: Desperate Vampire Diaries fan here! Can I have some “Forwood” scoop, please? —Jo

Ausiello: Elaborating on her Comic-Con tease that Caroline and Tyler would remain in an awkward friends zone in Season 3, Plec says, “The thing about the friends zone is, when there’s that much animalistic sexual tension that exists between two people, eventually the friends zone is going to have a mattress involved. I think we can safely say that sooner or later, Caroline and Tyler aren’t going to be able to avoid the fireworks that very clearly have been simmering between them all summer long.” Now that is a woman who knows how to craft a good sound bite. Well done, Plec. Well. Done.

Question: What’s this I’m hearing about Rookie Blue introducing a new love interest for Andy next season? —Lynda

Ausiello: While it’s true that a new rookie will join the force in Season 3, he will not be a love interest for Andy, per exec producer Tassie Cameron. “Anybody who comes on our show is going to be a love interest for somebody,” she muses, “but I think you’ll see in the first few episodes of Season 3 that we’re headed [in a different direction] with him.”

Question: Oh, great and wonderful Ausiello. I am begging for some Pretty Little Liars scoop! —Estee

Ausiello: The second half of Season 2 will heavily feature Brendan Robinson’s loveable geek, Lucas, beginning with the standalone Halloween episode in October. Also, there’s buzz producers are toying with the idea of introducing Caleb’s recently-mentioned mom. Finally, I realize it was probably self-serving of me to leave in the first part of Estee’s question, but it’s been a long day and, dammit, I am great and wonderful. There, I said it.

Question: Any scoop for Nikita, preferably about Birkhoff, if you have it. —Siobhan

Ausiello: I don’t have it, but Aaron Stanford sure does. “There’s a fledgling romance that happens in an early episode,” he says, “where Birkhoff ends up starring down the wrong end of a gun in the hands of his crush.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »