Rueben's Ramblings

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!

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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!

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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!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Charlie’s Angels alum Cheryl Ladd will guest star as a love interest for Ducky aka Dr. Mallard (David McCallum) on NCIS. Her cameo will occur in late October. The series returns to CBS on September 20 at 8 PM. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

TNT is in development on a new procedural tentatively called Tom Clancy’s Homeland Security, which pits a select team of domestic intelligence operatives against all enemies, within and outside the country. (Stuart Levine at Variety)

FOX has bought a family dramedy from Silvio Horta (creator of Ugly Betty) and American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez. The project is about a Latino family, centering on three sisters and their interlinked lives. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Executive Producer and Director McG and his Wonderland production company have sold FIVE drama projects to various networks. Those projects include: 1) House Calls (ABC) which centers on a doctor who quits his successful hospital practice after a scandal rocks his family and starts making house calls; 2) An as-yet titled series (NBC) described as a contemporary take on the Casablanca love triangle that blends romance, action, suspense and comedy; 3) Convergence (FOX) that centers on a brilliant but undisciplined mythology professor who, in the wake of a personal and professional scandal, moves his family from New York City to Charlevoix, the small Michigan hometown of his family practitioner wife; 4) Game On (FOX) that is touted as a sexy action comedy about two best friends who are secretly working as spies for rival agencies and 5) Hustle (The CW) that centers on five highly skilled people in their mid-twenties who come together when asked by the FBI to go undercover in order to combat youth-oriented crimes in Los Angeles. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It looks like another Patrick Swayze film is about to remade. Word has it that the 1991 thriller Point Break that starred the later actor alongside Keanu Reeves will get the revisionist take with the new version being set in the world of international extreme sports infusing the story and characters with new twists and settings. (Dark Horizons)

Actors Stanley Tucci and Chris Cooper have joined the cast of The Company You Keep based on the Neil Gordon novel. The story follows a former Weather Underground member (Robert Redford) who is pursued by a reporter (Shia LaBeouf) hell-bent on exposing his identity as a former political radical and his involvement in a botched robbery. Tucci will play the reporter’s editor and Cooper plays the brother of Redford’s character. The cast also includes Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte and newcomer Brit Marling. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Annie Wersching will guest star in the (slated for) October 24 episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing Samantha Martel, the sister of a murder victim whose death Five-0 is investigating. The show is back with a new season starting on September 19 at 10 PM on CBS. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Happy Days alum Don Most and Northern Exposure alum Valerie Mahaffey will play Rusty and Rose Pillsbury, the parents of guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), who are coming to visit on Glee. The show is back on September 20 at 8 PM on FOX. (Hanh Nguyen at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is developing a new version of the classic fairy tale romance Beauty and the Beast as visualized by Human Target and Jericho writer-producer Jonathan E. Steinberg. The one-hour fantasy drama is described as an epic re-imagining of the tale. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Shonda Rhimes (the brains behind Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice) has another new project in the works with ABC. The one-hour project centers on a young, idealistic and recently fired defense lawyer struggling to start his own firm with an eclectic group of lawyer misfits, while starting to realize that he may have been fired from his old job because he got too close to a deadly cover-up. (Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter)

The production company of John Wells (the guy behind Shameless, The West Wing and Southland) is developing two projects; both based on books. NBC has picked up the project called Easy Rawlins, which is based on the Walter Mosley best-selling novels about Black P.I. Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, who finds himself solving crimes and dealing with the changing world around him in 1960s Los Angeles. The books are set from 1940s to 1960s. Meanwhile, CBS has bought the drama based on the Alice Woo novels by Leslie Glass, primarily the book Ann of Hollywood, which comes out in January. The book is described as a contemporary reinvention of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. This story would give Henry the Eighth’s second wife Anne Boleyn a modern frame as a woman in her late twenties who is smart, witty, and just a cut above her contemporaries. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me show creator Bryan Fuller is bringing the twisted mind of Hannibal Lecter to the small screen, developing Hannibal, a one-hour drama that would explore the early relationship between the famed psychiatrist and his young patient, an FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers. (Deadline and Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

CONDOLENCES

Actor Andy Whitfield, who was the lead in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand passed away over the weekend in his home country of Australia after a battle with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He was only 39 years old. (The Wrap)

Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson passed away over the weekend at the age of 88. He is best known to modern day audiences as Uncle Ben Parker in Spider-Man and the film’s two sequels. (E! Online)

ME: Rest in Peace, Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Robertson! Deepest sympathies are extended to both of their families, their friends and families.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

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

1. Contagion, $23.1 million
2. The Help, $8.7 million
3. Warrior, $5.6 million
4. The Debt, $4.9 million
5. Colombiana, $4 million
6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, $3.9 million
7. Shark Night 3D, $3.5 million
8. Apollo 18, $2.9 million
9. Our Idiot Brother, $2.8 million
10. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, $2.5 million

Actor Colin Firth has joined the cast of the film adaptation of The Railway Man, which is based on the story of former British army officer Eric Lomax’s real-life best-selling account of his torture by the Japanese during the construction of the “death railway” during World War II and his mission decades later to seek revenge on his tormentor. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actress Kelly Reilly (Pride & Prejudice) has landed the female lead alongside Denzel Washington in the new thriller called Flight that follows the redemption of “Whip” (Washington), a commercial airline pilot who pulls off a heroic feat of flying in a damaged plane, saving 98 lives on a flight carrying 106 people. Reilly is negotiating to take the role of Nicole Devlin, a drug addict who is at rock bottom when she meets Whip. The two become friends as each of them try to get their respective demons under control. (Deadline and First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Lifetime has canceled the new police drama The Protector. The network will, however, air any remaining episodes this month. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Monica Raymund (Lie to Me) will have a recurring role on The Good Wife, playing a prosecutor working for newly re-elected Cook County State’s Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth). She could potentially be a possible love interest for Cary (Matt Czuchry). The Good Wife is back on September 25 at 9 PM on CBS. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actress Jacqueline Bisset and actor Billy Burke will both be returning to Rizzoli & Isles for the season 2 season finale, which is set to air in December. Bisset plays Constance Isles, Maura’s (Sasha Alexander) adoptive mother while Burke plays FBI agent Gabriel Dean. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor David Keith, last seen in the short-lived FOX drama Lone Star, will guest star in what could become multiple episodes of Nikita as the titular character’s birth father. Season 2 is expected to examine the core characters’ search for their respective “homes,” a story arc that will encompass Nikita’s Division past as well. And, there will be a new computer geek within the Division walls this year: a beautiful new hacker-type played by newcomer Lyndie Greenwood, but don’t worry Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) will still be around. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Jena Malone (Sucker Punch) has joined the cast of the telefilm The Hatfields and McCoys. She will play Nancy McCoy, a ruthless cousin who uses her feminine wiles to wreak revenge on the Hatfields for murdering her father when she was a child. The film, of course, is based on the legendary family feud that will star Kevin Costner as “Devil” Anse Hatfield and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy, the famed leaders of the feuding families. The project will center on the bloody hostilities between the two clans that escalated to the point of near war between two states. The cast includes Tom Berenger, Powers Boothe and Lindsay Pulsipher. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Line)

Actress Catherine Bell (Army Wives) has signed on to do a fifth film in The Good Witch franchise of films on the Hallmark Channel. The fourth film – The Good Witch’s family – will air on October 29 at 9 PM. (The Futon Critic)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Maggie Friedman are working on a new crime drama for NBC, which follows two connected cases that occur in two different time periods. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has picked up the drama pilot called Haunted from screenwriter Cory Goodman (The Priest), which is a supernatural character procedural that follows Jessica Garrity, a paranormal investigator who each week helps the living move on from a spirit that can’t let go. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC has also bought the musical hour drama pilot The Lockharts from writers Michael Gans and Richard Register (Make It Or Break It). The pilot is set primarily in the cultural hurricane of the late 1970s centered around the Lockharts, a musically gifted family that lands its own variety show on a national network. They are billed as the perfect All American Family but, like all families, they are far from perfect. The series is framed by a slowly evolving present-day mystery involving the scandalous disappearance of the family’s matriarch. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Russell Crowe has joined the cast of the new film adaptation for Les Miserables. He will star opposite Hugh Jackman. (Justin Kroll at Variety)

Actress Keira Knightley and actor Jude Law will star in the new film adaptation of Anna Karenina with director Joe Wright (the man behind Atonement and Pride & Prejudice) at the helm. (Joshua L. Weinstein at The Wrap)

Director James Mangold (Knight & Day) has set his sights on a new project: a film adaptation of the Anne Fortier novel Juliet, a novel that was inspired by the tragic romance of Romeo and Juliet. Here is the official synopsis of the novel: American Julie Jacobs travels to Siena in search of her Italian heritage–and possibly an inheritance–only to discover she is descended from 14th-century Giulietta Tomei, whose love for Romeo defied their feuding families and inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Julie’s hunt leads her to the families’ descendants, still living in Siena, still feuding, and still struggling under the curse of the friar who wished a plague on both their houses. Julie’s unraveling of the past is assisted by a Felliniesque contessa and the contessa’s handsome nephew, and complicated by mobsters, police, and a mysterious motorcyclist. To understand what happened centuries ago, in the previous generation, and all around her, Julie relies on relics: a painting, a journal, a dagger, a ring. (Deadline and First Showing)

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

Question: How would you describe the tone of this season of Castle compared to previous seasons? Thanks for all you do! I enjoy your column each week. — Cheryl

Sandra: If I didn’t know that a very fun Halloween episode and a superhero-themed episode were coming up for Castle, I’d probably be thinking we were in for the darkest season yet based on the premiere. But since I do know those are on the way, I feel a little better saying perhaps the deep issues that will be dealt with will be scattered throughout the season as they have been in the past. That said, prepare for some not-necessarily-love-related issues to make your heart ache. Particularly one scene that shows a side of someone we’ve never seen before.

Question: I don’t really have a question, just anything your “willing” to share that doesn’t “spoil” anything for Castle. — @BecaGreenfield

Sandra: You’re going to get a lot for a non-question: The park scene everyone has been all excited about? It’s as deep and as good as we all imagined…but not for the reason you might be thinking.

Question: When will we find out what Montgomery put in that envelope during the Season 3 finale of Castle and who he mailed it to? — @lkanoczzz

Sandra: First episode. But it definitely opens up some more questions in the process.

Question: Are we going to meet Sam’s wife next season on NCIS: LA? — @ ncisgal995

Sandra: BIG NEWS: yes. Just don’t try shaking down EP Shane Brennan for details. “I’m not going to say anything more than that. It’s a brief appearance, but [fans] should start to look for an episode in November sweeps.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

NEWS

Mary Tyler Moore will receive the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, which will be presented on January 29 at the 18th annual SAG Awards in Los Angeles. (Deadline)

TELEVISION

Actress JoAnna Garcia (Better With You and Privileged) will appear in multiple episodes of Royal Pains, playing Dr. Nina Greene, a smart and compassionate nephrologist who may or may not be a former child star. The doc’s possibly famous-ish background comes to the fore when she is pressed on the issue by patient Jack O’Malley (Tom Cavanagh). The mid-season finale just recently aired with the remainder of the season set to return sometime in early 2012. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Skyler Day (Gigantic) will play the first girlfriend of Drew (Miles Heizer) on Parenthood. The show will be back on September 13 on NBC at 10 PM. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

HBO has picked up the as-yet untitled Aaron Sorkin project about a fictional cable news network that centers on a cable news anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), his newsroom staff (Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski) and their boss (Sam Waterston). (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Laura Innes (ER and The Event) will have a major recurring role on Awake, one of the new NBC dramas that will air during mid-season. She will play Captain Tricia Harper, the supervisor of lead character Michael (Jason Isaacs). The series is about a police detective who in the wake of a tragic car accident finds himself toggling between two realities: one in which his wife (Laura Allen from Terriers) died in the crash, and another in which their teenage son (Dylan Minnette from Lost) instead perished. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Scott Lawrence (JAG) will play an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor named Allen, who will give advice to one of the husbands on Desperate Housewives. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Another project from producer Mark Gordon has been set up at ABC. The project is an hour-long project based on the Candace Bushnell book One Fifth Avenue, which is described as a stylish, sexy, modernization of Miami Vice for the twenty-first century. The project is called Untouchable and it centers on a hard-charging female FBI agent with a blue collar background who is teamed with a reckless, independently wealthy LAPD detective to take on twenty-first century organized crime. (Deadline)

Meanwhile, TNT has given a pilot order to Scent of the Missing, about an intrepid mystery solver and her dog, which is based on a book with the same title. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Lifetime has put the new drama project Princess of Whales in development with writer-producer Stephen Kronish and Cold Case star-turned-producer Kathryn Morris. The project is based on the true story of Marcia Hartman and follows the exploits of one of Las Vegas’ most successful casino hostesses, whose job is to bring in the super-high rollers and make them spend as much as possible. But her lavish lifestyle and life-of-the-party personality reveal a dark side that threatens to destroy her. Morris and her development executive saw an article about Hartman, tracked her down and secured the rights to her story. (Deadline)

Actor Scott Foley (The Unit) is teaming up with former Everwood show-runner Rina Mimoun on The Escape Artist, a potential hour-long drama series about a brother and sister who help people disappear. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor John Malkovich will join actor Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) actress Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four) in the film adaptation of the Isaac Marion book called Warm Bodies, which is the unique story about an existentially tormented zombie named “R” who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims, a relationship that could cause a chain reaction that will transform him, his fellow zombies, and maybe the whole undead world. (First Showing and Variety)

Actor Ben Rappaport (Outsourced) has joined the cast of the film Great Hope Springs that stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a married couple who try to rekindle their relationship by seeking therapy from an unorthodox guru (Steve Carell). He will play the married couple’s son. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Sharlto Copley (District 9) [among others] will stay in the international sci-fi feature Europa, which revolves around a team of astronauts who are assembled from various nations to embark on the first manned mission to Europa, Jupiter’s fourth moon. (Deadline)

Actor Michael Keaton and actress Michelle Monaghan (Source Code) will star in the psychological thriller called Penthouse North. Monaghan plays a photojournalist haunted by a tragic event who has become an agoraphobic trapped in her upscale New York penthouse. Soon the world makes its way in as a smooth but sadistic criminal (Keaton) breaks in looking for a hidden fortune, with the woman mustering her inner strength to survive. (Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items as well as some spoilerish Q&A’s regarding some of the returning fall TV shows – please tread lightly.

NEWS

Actress Meryl Streep, singers Barbara Cook and Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins are this year’s Kennedy Center honorees. (The Wrap)

TELEVISION

Syfy has renewed its freshman drama Alphas for a second season. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Ryan McPartlin (Chuck) will have a guest spot on the new FOX comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter, playing a “hot dad” who shares an instant attraction with Annie (Jaime Pressly). A possible love connection between the two, however, is quickly thwarted when he witnesses first-hand the overbearing, overprotective parenting methods Annie uses with daughter Sophie (Kristi Lauren). The comedy will debut on November 30 at 9:30 PM on FOX. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

ION Television has acquired the off-network rights to Leverage. It will begin airing episodes in the summer of 2012. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Tamlyn Tomita (Eureka) and actor Keong Sim (Southland) will play the parents of Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) on Glee. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Eriq La Salle (ER) will guest star on at least four episodes of the new CBS medical drama A Gifted Man, playing Evan Morrison, a neuropsychiatrist who focuses on human behavior. The show debuts on CBS on September 23 at 10 PM. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide)

Henry Thomas (E.T.) will guest star on The Mentalist as bounty hunter Tommy Lisbon, the brother of CBI senior agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney). They will meet up in an episode airing in late October on a case concerning the death of a police officer. (Michael Logan at TV Guide)

Actress Vanessa Marano (Switched at Birth) will guest star on CSI for one episode, playing Samantha, a street gang groupie and the estranged daughter of an ex-con named Frank (Johnny Messner). The show is back on CBS starting on September 21 at 10 PM. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide)

Actor Michael Cerveris (Fringe) will guest star in an October episode of the new CBS procedural Person of Interest, which stars Michael Emerson (Lost) as a mysterious billionaire who teams up with a presumed dead ex-CIA agent (Jim Caviezel) to prevent violent crimes. Cerveris will play Jarek Koska, a highly organized and educated new breed of gang leader. The show debuts on September 22 at 9 PM on CBS. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Eric Winter (The Mentalist) will have a recurring role on the new ABC dramedy series Good Christian Belles that is based on the Kim Gatlin book of the same name that is centered on Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb), once the ultimate high school “mean girl,” who is forced to return to her Texas hometown in disgrace after her marriage ends in scandal and has to face her old classmates who are less than thrilled to have her back. The cast includes Kristin Chenoweth who plays Carlene. Winter will play Carlene’s handsome brother Luke who is the black sheep of the family due to the fact that he is a Green Democrat. A possible love interest for Amanda, Luke is intelligent, charming and a potential heartbreaker. GCB, which is what the show is possibly being touted as being named, has yet to be given a debut date by ABC. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood) has joined the cast of the History Channel’s telefilm The Hatfields and McCoys, which stars Kevin Costner as “Devil” Anse Hatfield and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy, the famed leaders of the feuding families. She will play Roseanna McCoy, the beautiful daughter of Randall and Sally McCoy (Mare Winningham), who attracts the romantic attention of Johnse Hatfield, leading to a forbidden romance that divides the families still further. (The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has bought one of its most ambitious projects from writer Michael Seitzman and producer Mark Gordon that is based on the Jack West Jr. book series by best-selling Australian action thriller novelist Matthew Reilly. The Seven Wonders is a treasure hunt show in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Arc and National Treasure. It centers on an unlikely five-member team led by commando-turned-archeologist Jack West Jr. as they search the world for seven pieces of an ancient and powerful relic and along the way form a unique non-traditional family that includes West Jr.’s 12-year-old adopted daughter. The first season will be based on the first 2 books in the series. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

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

[SPOILER ALERT!]

Question: Anything juicy on Ripper Stefan on The Vampire Diaries? Thanks! — Val, via Twitter

NATALIE: Juicy is a choice word, Val. Stefan will be sinking his teeth into many humans. “He gets deeper and deeper and the blood starts carrying him away,” Paul Wesley tells us. “He commits to that lifestyle because the blood starts turning him into someone else.” What we want to know is, who’s going to bring him back?

Question: Got any scoop on the final season of Chuck? — Aaron

NATALIE: What would happen if the world’s greatest super-computer, the Intersect, went up against the world’s most-dangerous computer virus? The team may find out when they cross paths with a former computer hacker who now resides at a commune called The Church of the Eternal Wind. Their barely clothed spiritual leader may seem flighty, but she’s secretly just as cold and evil as Volkoff.

Question: Why will Castle and Beckett be apart at the beginning of this season’s Castle? — Whitney

ADAM: I hear the decision to pull back from the relationship is Beckett’s — and she may even lie to keep Castle at a distance. But Stana Katic believes Beckett’s actions are carefully calculated. “She’s making an adult decision not to dive into something because she doesn’t want to screw it up,” Katic says. “She’s in love with him. She’s dated other guys, but he’s the only guy she’s been in love with.”

Question: I can’t wait for the new season of Nikita. What will we see for Nikita this year? — Danica

NATALIE: We might be meeting Nikita’s father! Using information found in the black box, Nikita and Michael spy a former CIA operative who they think might be her birth dad. He’s been hiding out, working against the government… like father, like daughter, right? But how reliable is the information in that black box?

Question: Where’s the Supernatural scoop? —Jacob

NATALIE: The show will feature a man named Johnny Tomorrow, a Bill Murray-esque washout who owns a local Magic Emporium that catches the Winchester boys’ eyes. He becomes a suspect when his competition, a famous psychic, turns up dead.

Question: Any hope of seeing either Booth’s mom and dad on Bones this season? —Dotty

Ausiello: It looks like we may get a glimpse of Booth’s elusive pa in an early ’11 episode that finds David Boreanaz’ alter ego flashing back to his childhood — specifically, the time father and son attended the World Series together. The show is currently casting an 8-year-old version of Boreneaz for the circa ’80s sequence. Mom, send Junior to the audition in funny socks.

Question: Any scoop on NCIS: LA? —Heidi

Ausiello: A November episode will introduce a former NSA agent whose secrets begin to come to light. Middle-aged Larry — the rogue operative in question — is said to be as smart as he is unflappable. But something tells me his knack for pushing buttons won’t have diminished since he was last on duty.

Question: Do you have any scoop on whether Jack Coleman is playing Caroline’s dad on Vampire Diaries? —Elsa

Ausiello: That’s what I keep hearing, but I have no official confirmation of that. Makes perfect sense, right?

Question: Do you know what the ration of mythology/standalone episodes will be on Fringe this season? —Scott

Ausiello: I don’t have any hard data, but after chatting up J.J. Abrams, it sounds like mythology has the definite edge. “What I love about what the show is doing now is it’s kind of doing what the show needs to do to be the best version of the show, as opposed to just the apologists’ stand-alone thing — which I don’t think Fringe could ever be,” he maintains. “Shows like Alcatraz and certainly Person of Interest have much more of a shot because it’s much more, clearly a new case every week, whereas Fringe is like more about this insanely twisted family of people that are working in this crazy lab.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Today is pretty light on the news mainly due to the holiday weekend (here in the States). I sure hope everyone who celebrates the holiday enjoyed themselves and that the first day back to work, school or whatever it is you do, isn’t too crazed.

Here are the news items for the day:

TELEVISION

Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Annual Academy Awards. (The LA Times)

Actress Marilu Henner will guest star on the new fall CBS drama Unforgettable. She will play the aunt of the character played by Poppy Montgomery, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actor Neal McDonough and Cary Elwes will guest star on the TNT series Perception that stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as an eccentric neuroscientist/university professor who helps an FBI agent (played by Rachael Leigh Cook) solve criminal cases. McDonough will appear in one episode as the CEO of an agricultural technology company. His character enlists a code-breaker (Elwes) to decipher the messages of a serial killer who is murdering his business acquaintances. Actress Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks) will also appear in an episode of the new drama, playing a woman who for 26 years has suffered from anterograde amnesia, ever since surviving a serial killer’s attack. Actress Pamela Reed will play her mother. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Scott Cohen (Necessary Roughness) will appear in the new fall ABC series Pan Am, playing Everett, a Pan Am higher up, for a three-episode arc. He has a quirky mistress named Ginny Saddler (Erin Cummings). Pan Am is a ’60s soap following the lives and loves of a team at the legendary airline. The show premieres on September 25. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO has picked up the Jonathan Franzen best-selling novel The Corrections as a new project. The story is about a Midwestern clan whose children have moved to the East Coast to begin a life of their own. (NY Mag, Variety and The Futon Critic)

Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson have booked a potential drama at The CW called Musketeers 3.0, which is to be about three outstanding but out-of-control New York detectives who meet their match when a sexy, young rookie is assigned to their team. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Cara Buono, Ally Sheedy and Samantha Futerman are set to co-star opposite Eric Stoltz in the Lifetime’s dramedy pilot called Modern Love that will weave actual stories from New York Times columns to explore the state of modern relationships. It follows newspaper science editor Simon McElvane (Stoltz) as he faces a deteriorating marriage, the ramifications of potentially starting over and balancing his relationship with his adopted 15-year-old daughter (Futerman). Unexpectedly handed the job of editor of the newspaper’s Modern Love column, Simon discovers he has a lot to learn about life and love. Buono will play the ambitious Styles Editor at Simon’s paper who is torn between her career and her family. Sheedy will play the paper’s ballsy and no-nonsense Assistant Managing Editor. Also, actress Alice Ripley will have a recurring role as Simon’s wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The creator of the ABC Family series Greek – Patrick Sean Smith is developing an hour-long drama/adventure series for FOX that is set in the world of young international travelers, tentatively titled Wanderlust. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here is the list of the top 10 movies for the long holiday weekend according to Exhibitor Relations, Box Office Mojo and E! Online:

1. The Help – $19 million
2. The Debt – $12.6 million
3. Apollo 18 – $10.7 million
4. Shark Night 3D – $10.3 million
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 10.25 million
6. Colombiana – $9.4 million
7. Our Idiot Brother – $7 million
8. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – $6.1 million
9. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D – $6.6 million
10. The Smurfs – $5.6 million

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

TNT has canceled their medical drama Hawthorne, opting not to renew it for a fourth season. (TV By the Numbers)

Actress Katie Leclerc (Switched at Birth) will guest star in the fourth episode of The Big Bang Theory as a potential love interest for Ray. She will appear in the October 6 episode as Emily, a deaf friend of Penny’s who hits it off with Raj. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Twilight franchise actress Anna Kendrick is negotiating to lead the romantic comedy Pitch Perfect, which is a story set in the world of collegiate a cappella groups. It follows a goth-like and rebellious student (Kendrick), unhappy to be at a school at which her father is a professor, who discovers her voice and becomes the secret weapon for the school’s female a cappella group. Additionally, actress Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids) is also part of the cast, but there are no details on what part she will play. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Abigail Breslin Shines in First Trailer for ‘Janie Jones’ from TIFF 2010

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

Question: Any Nikita scoop please! The wait is too long! I feel like I’m getting more impatient as we get closer. — Kelly

Sandra: Amen to that. Thankfully, it seems the wait will be worth it. I’m particularly excited about the sixth episode, in which Nikita finds herself face-to-face with the man she believes to be her father. But there’s more to that story… which, of course, I can’t tell you. I can say, however, that it’s an episode that teaches us quite a bit more about Nikita’s backstory.

Question: Royal Pains ended this week and while it was just an okay episode, I’m really curious what’s going to happen with Divya! Is she coming back after the break? — Amanda

Sandra: Rest assured Reshma Shetty will be back as Divya for the second half of the season in the winter. But her actions in the season finale won’t be without consequences — not the least of which will be the loss of some of Hank’s trust. But it won’t be all dreariness when we return. One of the episodes in the second half will give us a peek at Evan… the thespian!

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific holiday weekend!

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