Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

So, the big day is almost here. I hope you guys have all of your holiday shopping done, your cards are mailed and you’re getting ready for a nice long holiday weekend.

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Amy Carlson will be promoted to series regular on Blue Bloods should the freshman drama return for a second season. She would continue to play Linda Reagan, the wife of Donnie Wahlberg’s character. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Illeana Douglas will appear in two episodes of the new NBC series The Cape, playing a nurse named Netta who for years has taken care of a mysterious patient inside The Orchard asylum. Netta ends up in a fierce battle with Orwell (Summer Glau) after Orwell’s investigation takes her inside the creepy facility. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actress Michaela McManus (most recently seen on The Vampire Diaries and One Tree Hill) will appear in a February episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing a tough district attorney named Kathleen Roberts who will work alongside Kono (Grace Park). (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actor Joel David Moore (Bones and Avatar) will also guest star in Hawaii Five-0 as a deputy director of a tsunami tracking center whom the team calls on in a crisis. (Movieline and Hanh Nguyen at Zap2It)

The new costume drama Camelot will debut on Starz on April 1 at 10 PM. The 10-episode retelling of the classic medieval tale of King Arthur stars Joseph Fiennes as Merlin, Jamie Campbell Bower as Arthur, and Eva Green as the darkly powerful Morgan. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Last week the announcement was made that ABC is developing the Canadian cult-hit Being Erica for US television. Now word has broken that the show will be set in Philadelphia. Being Erica will air its third season on SOAPnet starting January 26 at 11 PM. (Jennifer Armstrong at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

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

1. Tron: Legacy, $43.6 million
2. Yogi Bear, $16.7 million
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, $12.4 million
4. The Fighter, $12.2 million
5. The Tourist, $8.7 million
6. Tangled, $8.68 million
7. Black Swan, $8.3 million
8. How Do You Know, $7.6 million
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, $4.8 million
10. Unstoppable, $1.8 million

Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Olivia Munn (Iron Man 2) and Seth Meyers (SNL) have joined the cast of a film adaptation of I Don’t Know How She Does It by author Allison Pearson. The story follows a high-powered financial worker (Sarah Jessica Parker) who is also the mother of two young children, trying to balance the various competing elements of her life. Hendricks would play a friend of Parker’s character while Munn would play a work colleague. Pierce Brosnan and Kelsey Grammer also star. (LA Times and Dark Horizons)

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

Question: Do you think Fox moving Fringe to Fridays is the kiss of death for the show? What’s the reasoning behind the move? — Troy

Matt Roush: In most circumstances, I’d say without hesitation that a move like Fringe to Fridays is a harbinger of failure. But Fox is confronting the situation head-on, cutting an entertaining promo repudiating the gloom-and-doom prognosticators. Fox isn’t doing this blindly. They know the challenges of getting an audience on Friday, and they also know Fringe’s small but fierce fan base is a loyal one, so the hope is that if Fringe can carry enough of its audience to Fridays, factoring in strong DVR playback numbers as well, the network might still see this as a win. Not that anyone who has championed the show during this remarkable season is happy about this. But you ask why this happened, and the answer boils down to two words: American Idol. Nothing is more important to Fox’s bottom line than this show, and with its new scheduling on Wednesdays and Thursdays, something had to give. And that something was Fringe. Which probably has the best chance among any of Fox’s cult series to do business on Fridays, and those with long memories remember that The X-Files did OK on that night (although it did better once it was moved to Sundays). But honestly, spinning this positively is a case of desperately trying to find a silver lining in a pretty dark cloud.

Question: Now I agree with your long-held stance not to pre-judge any show before it has even aired. However, there is an upcoming show I am already concerned about: The Cape. I like the premise; the comic-book nature is right up my alley, and the previews actually look interesting. My concern has to do with one major factor: It’s on NBC. Can anything good come out of NBC these days, besides Chuck and the comedies, that is? The Event is…just OK to me. I was looking so forward to Undercovers and look what happened there. I almost have no expectations when it comes to NBC these days and I wonder whether The Cape will be yet another disappointment. Your thoughts? — Larry

Matt Roush: The good thing about lowered expectations is that there’s always the possibility of being pleasantly surprised. So my advice, as it usually is in these cases, is to give a show a shot if it intrigues you, regardless of the network or the time period. (Look at Community, for instance. It’s in a terrible time period on a bad-luck network, but still is one of the bright spots of the last year.) I’m not saying The Cape is the show that will reverse NBC’s fortunes. In fact, I doubt it. But if you’re a fan of comic-book superhero stories, you could do worse than this one. It’s not bad, but unfortunately, it’s nothing new. And NBC really could use something new and fresh, but I’m not seeing that a lot anywhere on the broadcast networks this season.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Happy Friday to each and every one of you! Hope you have some fun activities planned for this weekend. I’ll be hitting up several movies with friends so that ought to be fun.

In the meantime, here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Kaylee Defer (The Mountain and The Ware at Home) is joining the CW series Gossip Girl as a recurring character, which is shrouded in secrecy but will be introduced later this season. (Deadline)

Actor Jack Huston has been made a series regular for the second season of Boardwalk Empire. (Maureen Ryan at TV Squad at AOL)

Actress Rita Wilson and actor F. Murray Abraham will guest-star in an episode of The Good Wife inspired by The Social Network. The episode is slated to air in February and will center on a wunderkind who creates a successful website. His story is, naturally, created into a film, which prompts him to sue the studio for defamation. Abraham will play Burl, the head attorney representing the studio while Wilson will play Viola, a bright lawyer and old friend of Diana (Christine Baranski), who she turns to for help with a case. (Entertainment Weekly and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actor Danny Strong (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will guest star on How I Met Your Mother, playing a noogey-loving bully from Marshall’s (Jason Segel) past. The episode will air early next year. Alexis Denisof (Alyson Hannigan’s real-life husband and fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star) will make a return visit as Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) former co-anchor, Sandy Rivers. (Vlada Gelman via LA Times)

Actor John Corbett has been tapped to appear in a multi-episode arc on the NBC series Parenthood as Lauren Graham’s on-screen ex-husband Seth, a recovering alcoholic-musician. His arrival is slated to coincide with Parenthood’s move to Mondays at 10 pm in early March. (Deadline)

Actors Brian Austin Green (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Harold Perrineau (Lost) will lead the cast of the TBS hour-long comedy pilot called The Wedding Band that follows a group of guys who try to escape the stress and craziness of their lives by performing in a wedding band. Anchored by lifelong best friends – one a perennial bachelor and the other a married father of two – the band will stop at nothing to make every wedding, birthday or bar mitzvah a concert to remember. The pilot stars Peter Cambor (NCIS: Los Angeles) and Derek Miller (Secret Girlfriend). (The Futon Critic)

Soap actress Alexa Havins will appear on Grey’s Anatomy as the new wife of Meredith and Lexie Gray’s father, Thatcher. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Latin actor Kuno Becker will have a recurring role on the CBS series The Defenders, starring as a Cuban bad boy named Alex Velasco, who is too smart for his own good. His episodes will start appearing in early 2011. (William Keck at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actors Nick D’Agosto (Heroes) and Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) are set as the two leads in the USA pilot called Eden, which centers on a young hotel worker (D’Agosto) who, with the help of his escaped con artist cousin Eddie, gets a job as the concierge at an elite NYC hotel. Together they manage to provide the hotel guests with whatever they desire, at whatever the cost. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg is planning to bring Marvel superhero, Jessica Jones, to television. This potential project is being considered for the slate of new ABC shows for next fall. (Variety and Jeff Labrecque at Entertainment Weekly)

Scottish actress Laura Fraser has landed a lead role in the Showtime drama pilot Homeland, which centers on Marine Sergeant Scott Brody, who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq. Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes) is the driven CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America. Fraser (A Knight’s Tale) will play Jessica Brody, Scott’s smart, strong wife. Mandy Patinkin will co-star. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Rising, new Australia actress Bella Heathcote has landed the female lead in Twylight Zones, the film David Chase wrote and is directing. She joins John Magaro, Will Brill and Jack Huston in the film that is set in the 1960s and involves three high school friends who form a band inspired by the classic rock influences like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. The film follows their rise and the pitfalls of fame. (Deadline)

George Clooney has taken over for Robert Downey Jr. in the film Gravity, which will also star Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks and newcomer Thomas Horn. Clooney will play the team leader of a space station. He and Bullock’s character are off working on a shuttle and become the sole survivors when the space station is decimated by the debris field from an exploded asteroid. Bullock will carry much of the action adventure, a mother who is hell-bent on returning to her young child back on earth. (Deadline)

The sizable ensemble cast of Ten Year has added actresses Rosario Dawson (Unstoppable) and Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). The film already stars Chris Pine, Justin Long and Anna Faris in a story which follows a group of friends attending a ten year high school reunion. (Risky Biz and First Showing)

Actress Sienna Miller (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) and actor Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) will star in Two Jacks, an indie drama based on the story The Two Hussars by Leo Tolstoy. The story follows two different generations of a family starting in 1992, when a legendary filmmaker returns to Hollywood after a lengthy absence to get financing for a new movie. He’s a boozer, a womanizer and wins the money he needs from poker games. Flash forward 20 years later and the filmmaker’s son (played by Jack Huston from Boardwalk Empire) comes to town to make his directorial debut amid curiosity as to whether he’s inherited his father’s gifts. (Variety and First Showing)

Actor Dennis Quaid will star in the indie thriller Beneath the Darkness, which is a story following a teen (Tony Oller) who struggles to expose the grim secrets of the house owned by Quaid’s character, a respected local hero. The cast also includes Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights) and Brett Cullen (Lost and The Gates) [among others]. (Variety and First Showing)

Actress Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) and actor Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding) have joined the thriller Beyond, that follows a veteran detective and a questionable television psychic who will stop at nothing to find a missing child. Jon Voight also stars. (Heat Vision and First Showing)

SPOILER ROOM (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly)

BURN NOTICE: PREQUEL MOVIE SCOOP!

You’re probably nursing a TV hangover from last night’s two-hour season finale, I know, but I come with the scoop equivalent of a greasy breakfast cure. In our conversation with Bruce Campbell, the actor spilled some juicy details on the upcoming Sam Axe-centered Burn Notice TV movie, which shows us Sam’s last CIA mission in the mountains of Colombia. “[Sam] sees some events go down that change the initial plan, and he takes matters into his own hands at great risk to himself and others with a small group of misfits to try to right a bad situation,” Campbell said. “It’s a David and Goliath thing.” The Jeffrey Donovan-directed movie, which Campbell says will introduce us to the “mature side of Sam” via an emotion-heavy mission, is scheduled to air in spring before the start of Burn Notice‘s fifth season. “[People] should watch it because that’s the only way they’re going to get the whole [season 5] story,” Campbell said. “There is possibly a character and story elements that will linger forward — and not in a good way. Something from Sam’s past might come back to haunt him.”

SIDE DISHES:

Question from Heather: Thank you for all The Vampire Diaries EW has covered lately! Now, any word on the upcoming Damon shower scene I’ve been hearing about?

Answer: No word on the identity of the “beautiful girl” he shares the scene with, but I can confirm it takes place in episode 13 and airs February 3.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

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Hey All,

What a day! For one, work has been a little off today and then second, there was the news of a TV show cancellation that is sad and unfortunate. Then there was the death of a legend and the announcement that a new version of a wonderful Canadian show that doesn’t need to be copied is being copied. ARGH! What next? Pigs are going to fly and hell will actually freeze over? Okay, those are both extremes, but you get what I mean, right?!

Well, anyway, here are the news items for today:

CONDOLENCES

Blake Edwards, the writer-director who helmed Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and turned Peter Sellers loose in the original Pink Panther movies, died last night at age 88 of complications from pneumonia. His longtime wife, screen-legend Julie Andrews, was said to have been at his hospital bedside. (E! Entertainment Online)

ME: Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans!

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE….

TELEVISION

Actress Leven Rambin (Scoundrels) will play the “spunky and sexy” Molly Sloan in multiple episodes of CSI: Miami. Her character is a trace evidence technician, who will be transferred in from Tampa and will form a close relationship with Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo). CSI: Miami will return to CBS on January 9. (Movie Line and Spoiler TV)

Not that this comes as a surprise to (hardly) anyone, but The Good Guys will not return for a second season on FOX. (TV By the Numbers)

Syfy just announced that Stargate Universe will not be back for a third season, which means the upcoming 10 episodes – expected to air in the Spring -will be the series’ last. (Deadline)

ME: And the other bit of news regarding this cancellation: The cast was apparently NOT told first – some of them are learning via tweets at Twitter. Classy move, Syfy! Classy.

ARTICLE ABOUT TV VIA BBC AMERICA

BBC America Strengthens Its Commitment to Sci-Fi With All New Supernatural Saturdays in 2011

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Looks like even though the show is still on in Canada and airing here in the states on SOAPnet – at least until the end of 2011 when the network will no longer exist, being replaced by Disney Junior, ABC is developing a US version of hit Being Erica. Maggie Friedman (Eastwick) will write the US version and executive produce. The series centers on a woman who travels back in time to relive a regret from the past and manages to correct those wrongs in the present. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE

Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) is set to star in the dark indie comedy called Sexy Evil Genius, playing a woman who brings all of her ex-boyfriends together in a downtown Los Angeles bar; where over the course of the night she gets her revenge on some, rekindles romance with others, and solidifies her reputation as a Sexy Evil Genius. (Vision Blog and Dark Horizons)

Sarah Jessica Parker has joined while Zac Efron and Halle Berry are in negotiations to star in the holiday romantic-comedy ensemble movie New Year’s Eve that follows several characters as they make their way through the year-end holiday in New York City. Parker will play the mother of Abigail Breslin’s character, who is too clingy with her daughter. Efron is expected to play a bike messenger who tries to keep a promise to Michelle Pfeiffer’s character by scoring tickets to a big party. Berry is in talks to play a caterer who runs into an old lover. Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Hilary Swank, Sofía Vergara and Lea Michele also star. (Reuters and Dark Horizons)

Tom Cruise is now in talks for a role in the adaptation of the stage musical Rock of Ages. Rumor also has it that Gwyneth Paltrow has also been offered an unknown role in the musical. (Entertainment Weekly and First Showing)

The upcoming box office film Ten Year, which is the story about friends reuniting a decade after their high school graduation will star the talents of Chris Pine (Star Trek), Anna Faris (The House Bunny), Justin Long (Going the Distance), Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Christ Pratt (Parks & Recreation), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker), Kate Mara (127 Hours), Jenna Dewan (Step Up) and Oscar Isaac (Body of Lies). (Risky Biz and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Robert Pattinson Aches for Reese Witherspoon Under the Big Top

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Happy Over the Hump Day! Are you guys getting ready for the big day next weekend? Can you believe it’ll be Christmas next weekend? I know I can’t.

Anyway, here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

AMC has ordered the pilot Hell on Wheels to series. The series will have a 10 episode order and is a 1860s drama that centers on former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount) whose quest for vengeance has led him westward to work on the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. This series as well as the new show called The Killing will both premiere sometime next year. (Deadline)

More casting for True Blood has been announced, including actor Dane DeHaan (In Treatment) as Timbo, a teen resident of HotShot and actress Rebecca Wisocky has also been cast as Queen Mab. (Deadline and Margaret Lyons at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Bill Pullman (Independence Day) has signed on to star in the upcoming 4th season of Torchwood as a regular, playing Oswald Jones, a dangerously clever convicted murderer who escapes his lifelong prison sentence on a technicality and quickly becomes a media sensation. Genuinely repentant yet boiling with lust and rage, Oswald gets caught up in a terrifying worldwide crisis. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

A&E has ordered two new hour-long pilots: Big Mike is about a plus-sized detective and a force of nature in the San Diego PD. One of the best in his field, he gets things done, knows all the right people, gets along with everyone, and knows all the best places to eat. His greatest challenge is his romantic life. The other is The Package Deal, based on the Walt Longmire Mystery series of novels by Craig Johnson. Walt Longmire is the local sheriff in rural Wyoming. (Deadline)

Actress Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) has the lead in the as-yet untitled Lifetime pilot, which centers on Ann Brown (Moss), New York’s premiere celebrity psychologist. With her life and marriage in shambles, she leaves town to join her sister, the Dean at a teaching hospital, to become the chief of staff of the hospital’s psych ward. There, she rediscovers her love for helping people while reconnecting with her sister, despite their volatile history. This pilot is just one of many pilots ordered by Lifetime this year, including Against the Wall, Exit 19, Meet Jane and an untitled project from Josh Berman. The other four are in various stages of production. (Deadline)

Desperate Housewive’s creator Marc Cherry is developing a new drama for ABC called Hallelujah, which will revolve around the town of Hallelujah, Tennessee. The town is being torn apart by the forces of good and evil, but its fortunes change when a stranger comes to Hallelujah, bringing justice, peace and faith. (Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Fast Five Trailer: Is It Furious Enough?

Must Watch: First Lovely Trailer for Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life

MUSIC NEWS

Actor/singer Matthew Morrison (Glee) is finishing up his solo album and is preparing for a tour once the series wraps its second season. His album is due in May and then the tour will happen while Glee is on hiatus. (Tim Stack at Entertainment Weekly)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Today was the big announcement day of nominees for the Golden Globes – the full list is further down – and Twitter and the net (as a whole) has been very active with folks’ comments on the surprises and snubs. I’d love to hear what you think once you peruse the nominations.

Meanwhile, there are a number of other interesting tidbits to share, so please have at it:

TELEVISION

Actor Mekhi Phifer (Lie to Me and ER) has landed a leading role in the 4th season of Torchwood, playing CIA agent Rex Matheson in Torchwood: The New World. His character is described as a fast-tracked high-flyer with a lethal sense of humor who starts to feel his mortality when his life is put in danger. Torchwood: The New World will air on Starz in the US and BBC One in the UK in summer 2011. (Deadline and Daemon’s TV)

Actress Virginia Madsen (Scoundrels) will have a recurring role in NBC series The Event, playing Catherine Lewis, the widow of a U.S. senator from Alaska. The series will be back with new episodes starting on February 28. (Deadline and Robyn Ross at TV Guide)

BBC America has acquired the basic cable rights to the racy Showtime costume drama The Tudors. All four season will be aired with a kick off, all-day marathon of Seasons 1 and 2 on January 16, with subsequent episodes running every Tuesday at 10 PM. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2) has signed on to star in the Showtime pilot House of Lies, a half-hour, dark comedy based on the hit tell-all book House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Tell You the Time by Martin Kihn. The production will start in February 2011. The pilot is about Marty (Cheadle), a subversive, scathing look at a self-loathing management consultant from a top-tier firm. (The Futon Critic)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Neve Campbell is in negotiations to star in the drama Singularity, which takes place in 1778 and 2015, involving intertwining souls, past lives and a ring. Josh Hartnett is playing two characters: an archeologist who falls into a coma and a British captain in colonial India. Campbell would play Hartnett’s wife and fellow archeologist in 2015 who gets stuck in a sunken ship while trying to retrieve a ring. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actress Jessica Chastain (the upcoming films The Tree of Life and The Help) will star and Shia LaBeouf has officially signed on to the Prohibition-era drama The Wettest County, which is an adaptation of the historical crime drama novel by Matt Bondurant. The story is based on the author’s grandfather and two grand-uncles – three infamous brothers who made up a fierce criminal gang at the center of the American South’s moonshine trade. Thomas Hardy and LaBeouf play two of the brothers while Chastain will play Hardy’s love interest, a big city woman now living in a small town who at one time was mixed up with gangsters. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actor Colin Firth is in talks to star in the remake of the 1966 British caper comedy Gambit, which originally starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine in a story about a cat burglar who tries to rob a billionaire of a priceless statue. He enlists the help of a waitress who is a dead ringer for the victim’s late wife, but the job’s execution is complicated by his relationship with his accomplice. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Country singer-actor Tim McGraw (The Blind Side and Country Strong) has landed a role in the thriller Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. The story follows a young CIA agent (Reynolds) who becomes the house sitter of a governmental safe house when a criminal (Washington) in hiding there must be transported to another location when the house comes under attack. There are no specifics on McGraw’s role, however. (Coming Soon and First Showing)

Actress Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) will be seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, playing the small, but pivotal, role of The Grey Lady, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw and ghost of the Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Vanity Fair and First Showing)

Actor Angus Macfayden (Californication) has joined the Cameron Crowe adaptation of We Bought a Zoo, which is the story of a zookeeper named Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), a struggling single father who moves his family to an estate that turns out to be a zoo. Scarlett Johansson is also slated to star in the film. No details on the role Macfayden will play yet, though. (Variety and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: First ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Trailer

AWARD SEASON

Here is the complete list of nominees for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards (courtesy of E! Entertainment Online), including some rather “interesting” nominees and quite a number of snubs:

Golden Globe Nominations

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

Question from Jill: Thanks for including Friday Night Lights in your top 10 list! Any scoop?

Kristin: Look for a big showdown between Coach (Kyle Chandler) and Ornette (Cress Williams, Vince’s dad) about how to handle college recruiters. Ornette makes a move by the end of the episode that has Coach’s hair all but standing up and screaming with rage. (Coach’s hair, as you know, is more expressive than most whole actors.) Oh, and Jason Street (Scott Porter) is back, joining Coach on the sidelines for the season’s all-important East Dillon-Dillon game!

Question from @ayetortuga (via Twitter): I’m excited for Scott Porter to return to Friday Night Lights this week. When are other original cast members coming back?!

Kristin: Here’s your FNL return schedule right here. Circle these dates in puffy-paint hearts on your calendar!

Taylor Kitsch returns Jan. 19 (swoon)
Adrianne Palicki returns Feb. 2 (she’s in the last two episodes of the season)
Zach Gilford returns Jan. 5 for one episode and then returns for the finale Feb. 9
Jesse Plemons returns in the finale Feb. 9

Question from Heather: How about something on No Ordinary Family? I’m digging that show!

Kristin: Hearing good things about episode 11, which stars the first boy I ever took a photo of with my Smurf camera back in the day (a photo of the TV screen, which um, didn’t turn out so well): Rick Schroder. I’m told Jim (Michael Chiklis) saves him from a bus hit and the families become friends—until there’s a twist regarding some art heists. But the coolest part of the episode is what happens between a certain “watcher” villain, our dear friend Stephen Collins and Katie. You fans will likey!

Question from Duncan: White Collar?

Kristin: Look for Tim DeKay to sport a fabulous mustache when White Collar returns in January. Why, you ask? Well, says DeKay himself, “That’s a flashback episode where Peter wore a mustache for a few months…I did get to ride a horse, which is fun. You’ll learn how Peter and Neal (Matthew Bomer) met, you’ll learn more about what’s behind the music box and who’s pulling all the string—what the music box opens up and what you see and what comes about from that, it’s pretty awesome. It’s priceless.”

Question from Keenan: Psych?

Kristin: Dulé Hill tells us, “We have Aggie the Polar Bear [coming up]. And then we have the season finale, which is the return of the Yin-Yang trilogy. We have Ally Sheedy, Mena Suvari and then we find out who Mr. Yin is. I can’t tell you that.” Forget Mr. Yin, we want to know more about this polar-bear business! For the record, Dulé’s partner-in-crime-solving James Roday teases, “Shawn and Gus have to save a polar bear, which may or may not be framed for murder.” Comedy. Gold.

Question from Jada: Any scoop on Covert Affairs? It was my fave show of the summer, and I’m running out of Annie-Auggie fanfic to keep me busy until new episodes!

Kristin: Ha! We actually just caught up with Piper Perabo and Chris Gorham at USA’s A More Perfect Union event at the New York Public Library, and we asked about those two because we’re curious as well. Piper told us, “Chris and I hope [things happen between Annie and Auggie]. We keep trying to turn up the heat but the writers keep trying to keep a lid on it, so hopefully.” And Chris said, “I think it’s a potential long-term story arc for sure. I think right now, we’re very happy with what their relationship is—they really rely on each other. They’re the only two people that they can trust in that agency.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

The news is pretty short today, but that is a good thing every once in awhile, right? Read on please…

TELEVISION

Anthony Michael Hall (The Dead Zone) will guest star on a February sweeps episode of No Ordinary Family, crossing paths with Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis), but no specifics on his character were provided. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Gwyneth Paltrow will reprise her role as substitute teacher Holly Holiday on Glee, but no word yet on when the episode will air. (Gina DiNunno at TV Guide)

Actor Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side) will guest star on One Tree Hill in the 14th episode, playing Tommy, a student in Nathan’s (James Lafferty) business class who is singled out by Professor Kellerman (Peter Reigert) for being an athlete. He is slated to appear in just the one episode, which will air sometime during February sweeps. (MovieLine)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Eric Mabius (Ugly Betty) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot Bird Dog, which centers on Gail McGrath (Ashley Williams), a patrolling officer whose new partner is her cop dad Sam McGrath (Gerald McRaney). He will play Tim Burke, the boyishly handsome County Sheriff who is secretly attracted to Gail. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Carla Gallo (Bones and Men of a Certain Age) is set to star opposite Amanda Walsh in the CW pilot Danni Lowinski, which is about a scrappy hairdresser (Walsh) who graduates from law school but is brushed off by law firms and sets up her own practice in a shopping mall kiosk. She will play Danni’s best friend Kaz who is brassy, a little slutty and fiercely protective of Danni. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

One of the major US networks has signed on for a TV series based on the Jason Statham-led action film franchise The Transporter. The series is aiming to premiere early November next year with a 12 episode order. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Ethan Hawke is in talks to star in an upcoming CIA-set drama for FOX called Exit Strategy, which follows CIA operatives who are sent in to extricate other agents when situations go dangerously awry. Hawke would play the head of the team. (Deadline and Margaret Lyons at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, $24.5 million
2. The Tourist, $17 million
3. Tangled, $14.6 million
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, $8.5 million
5. Unstoppable, $3.8 million
6. Black Swan, $3.3 million
7. Burlesque, $3.2 million
8. Love and Other Drugs, $3 million
9. Due Date, $2.5 million
10. Megamind, $2.5 million

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

It’s better late than never, right? That saying applies for Friday’s update, which is finally done and ready for your perusal. Hope all of you are having a great weekend so far.

TELEVISION

Actress A.J. Cook (formerly of Criminal Minds) will play opposite Jeremy Irons in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: SVU. (William Keck at TV Guide)

NBC has decided to cut back on the episode order of the upcoming new mid-season series Love Bites. Rather than having 13 episodes there will now only be nine. The series is a romantic anthology that will star Becki Newton (Ugly Betty) and Greg Grunberg (Heroes and Alias). (Vulture)

Actor Michael Gross (Family Ties) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Brothers & Sisters, as a man who tries to come between Saul (Ron Rifkin) and his boyfriend (to be played by Richard Chamberlain). Gross is only expected to appear in one episode, but the role could be expanded. (Kristin at E! Entertainment Online)

TNT has announced the 7th season of The Closer will be its last, getting 15 episodes out of that season. (Michael Ausiello)

Comedian/Actor Dane Cook has been cast to play the brother of Danny “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan) on Hawaii Five-0. Yes, you’re ready that correctly; it’s not a joke. He is set to appear in one February episode. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill (who was last seen in the short-lived TV series Happy Town) will star opposite Sarah Jones in the J.J. Abrams FOX pilot Alcatraz. The project follows a cop (Jones) and a team of FBI agents trying to track down a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day after disappearing thirty years earlier. He will play Emerson Hauser, the intelligent and authoritative head of a government agency. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Ashley Williams will now star in the TNT pilot Bird Dog, replacing Eliza Dushku as the lead. Williams will play Gail McGrath, a cop who is forced to partner with her estranged father, also a policeman, who will be portrayed by Gerald McRaney (Undercovers and Major Dad). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actor Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter franchise) has joined the new HBO drama Luck, which is set in the provocative world of horse-racing, following the owners, gamblers, jockeys and industry players. The cast includes Dustin Hoffman and Joan Allen. (Gina DiNunno at TV Guide)

Syfy is reportedly considering redeveloping the drama pilot Three Inches as a comedy. The story revolves around professional daydreamer and underachiever, Walter Spackman (Noah Reid) [who] is struck by lightning, and develops a unique “super” power — the ability to move any object using just his mind… but only a distance of three inches. He’s soon recruited by a covert team of superheroes each gifted with their own extraordinarily ordinary abilities. The cast includes James Marsters, Kyle Schmid, Naoko Mori and Stephanie [among others].  (The Futon Critic)

Actor Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds) has joined the cast of the Showtime drama pilot Homeland, which stars Claire Danes. The story is about an American soldier taken prisoner during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Left for dead, the soldier miraculously returns to the U.S. after years in captivity. Danes plays Carrie Anderson, a driven CIA officer battling her own psychological demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to his re-capture was a setup and that this national hero may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. Patinkin is set as the smart and politically savvy CIA Division Chief emeritus Saul Berenson who is Carrie’s main champion in the intelligence upper echelon and her sounding board. (The Futon Critic)

A contemporary re-imagining of the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo taken from a female perspective is being considered for TV by ABC Studios and Temple Hill, the producer of the Twilight movie franchise. In this reboot the story would chronicle a mysterious young woman who comes to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the people who destroyed her family. The team of ABC Studios and Temple Hill are also considering a series adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. Temple Hill also has the drama Garden Spells set up at the CW. (Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIES NEWS

The next Hallmark Hall of Fame movie The Lost Valentine will air on CBS on January 30 at 9 PM, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a TV reporter whose own love life is impacted by her Valentine’s Day-themed assignment to profile a woman (Betty White) whose love for her husband remains as strong as when she last saw him several months before he was declared MIA while serving during WWII. The movie also stars Meghann Fahy, Billy Magnussen and Sean Faris. (The Futon Critic)

DVD NEWS

Doctor Who “A Christmas Carol”

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Lily Collins (who play Sandra Bullock’s daughter in the movie The Blind Side) will play Clary Fray in the adaptation of The City of Bones, the first book in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series. The description of book one of the trilogy goes like this:

When Clary Fray witnesses three tattoo-covered teenagers murder another teen, she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in front of her eyes, and no one else can see the killers. She learns that the teens are Shadowhunters (humans who hunt and kill demons), and Clary, a mundie (i.e., mundane human), should not be able to see them either. Shortly after this discovery, her mother, Jocelyn, an erstwhile Shadowhunter, is kidnapped. Jocelyn is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must find the cup and keep it from a renegade sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans, including benevolent werewolves and friendly vampires. (First Showing and Collinder)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Bam! Kapow! Explodey New Thor Trailer Is Here!

*SPOILER ALERT* – tread lightly over this last section if you don’t want to be spoiled on the TV shows V, Brothers & Sisters, Leverage and Supernatural:

SPOILER ROOM (from Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

‘V’: A TRAITOR AMONG THEM?

Fun Fact: When a season ends with the sky turning red, there’s cause for concern — and we learn all sorts of reasons why in the Jan. 4 season opener. For one, it can cause your face to melt off — kidding. Sort of. Gruesomeness aside, the premiere gives reason to believe this season could be faster-paced than the freshman run. Here’s what goes down: We learn a bit about the meaning of the red sky (clue: an environmental scientist has a piece of the puzzle); we learn the consequences of accusing Anna of becoming more human (clue: don’t mess with a woman who has a tail with a pointy end); we see Decker make a bold move to support the V (clue: goodbye, journalistic integrity); and we learn of a possible traitor in the Fifth Column. No clue for that one, but prepare to be devastated by the answer.

‘BROTHERS AND SISTERS’: THE WALKER WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS

Moms are the greatest, aren’t they? Especially around the hectic holidays when they, you know, do everything. So, when Karl sees Nora fraying at the edges during her own quest for the perfect Christmas, he offers to take her to Santa Fe to escape the madness (because nothing says holiday cheer like paper bag lanterns) — and she takes him up on it! Meanwhile, the Walker children are left Christmas orphans. What results is plenty of campy Walker-ness, mostly between Kitty and Kevin as they battle for the right to host Christmas — and ownership of the village and train that come along with the honor. (Admit it; you do like the camp as long as it’s in small doses.) At the heart of the episode: some very surprising scenarios, like lucid Holly, Justin drunk off his a**, and Kevin with a rather disturbing mustache that falls somewhere between Clark Gable and Billy Dee Williams on the facial hair scale. Oh, I’ve said too much…

‘LEVERAGE’: MOREAU WHERE THAT CAME FROM

The final two episodes of Leverage‘s third season (airing Dec. 19) will easily be fan favorites. There’s plenty of what you love about the show: Parker wit, scheme-offs with international crime man Damien Moreau (Goran Visnjic), and Alec showing us how big his brain is. But there are also touches of things we don’t see as much on the show. For one, there’s a tender moment between the team and tough guy Eliot, following a huge revelation. Other highlights: Alec’s brush with death after he takes a swim…while wearing handcuffs; guest star Visnjic in a robe (yum!); Sophie acting as first lady to a country in peril; and the season’s huge cliffhanger.

Side Dishes:

Question:  Laura P. asks: Is Crowley REALLY dead on Supernatural?

Answer:  The sight of Crowley’s burning bones last week sent chills through me, too. And while my Supernatural sources can’t say for certain if Mark Sheppard will return to the show this season, I am told that fans should “never say never to seeing him again in the world of Supernatural.” I think we can all agree that bringing a character back from the (presumed) dead is just another day at the office for the show, no?

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

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Hey All,

The end of the week is almost here and I want to give a heads-up that tomorrow’s entertainment update will be postponed until the evening simply because I have to be a good little employee drone and attend my day job’s mandatory holiday luncheon. And then I’m going to a movie to wipe away all the memories of that awful yearly forced gathering, which means Friday’s update will be posted late.

But, today’s update is right here so please have at it:

TELEVISION

Want to see season 3 of True Blood again? Or maybe you missed some of the episodes or perhaps all of the season? Well, you can catch up on it all by watching back-to-back episodes of True Blood on HBO starting on December 27 at 8 PM and continuing through December 30. (Zap2It)

Veteran actor Larry Hagman (Dallas) will guest star on Desperate Housewives later this season, as the love interest of Lynette’s mother, Stella Wingfield (Polly Bergen). (The Hollywood Reporter and Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Warren Kole (24 and Mental) is set to star in the USA Network buddy cop dramedy Common Law opposite Michael Ealy (FlashForward). (Deadline and Entertainment Weekly)

LITERARY NEWS

Author Sara Shepard will add four new books to her Pretty Little Liars series, starting with a July 2011 release. The new books will bring the total in the series to 12. The series follows the aftermath of a popular girl’s disappearance and is the basis for the ABC Family Channel drama of the same name. The first new installment, Twisted, will be on sale July 5. The Lying Game was just released. (Jennifer Armstrong at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Anne Hathaway has signed on to the play the lead while Bradley Cooper is in contention to play opposite her in the box office movie The Silver Linings Playbook that focuses on a man who, after a mental collapse, is released from a health facility determined to find the silver linings in his life. In total denial that his wife has remarried and moved on, he moves home with his parents and befriends a depressed woman who offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife. (Showbiz 411 and Dark Horizons)

Jessica Biel and Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) are in negotiations for roles in the box office film New Year’s Eve that is a sequel of sorts to the film Valentine’s Day. Biel would play a pregnant woman who tries to win a cash prize given by a hospital to the couple who are first to give birth on New Year’s Day. Lea Michele and Abigail Breslin are already confirmed while Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank and Ashton Kutcher are in various stages of negotiations to join the cast. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) will have a small part in a film called Maladies with James Franco, Claire Danes and Catherine Keener. The film centers on a successful actor who retires at a young age due to what is believed to be a mental illness. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Carey Mulligan is joining Michael Fassbender in the indie drama Shame. The film is said to examine the nature of need, how people live their lives and react to the experiences that shape them. (Deadline and First Showing)

Gerard Depardieu, Adil Hussain, and Irrfan Khan will star in the adaptation of the novel Life of Pi. Khan is set to play the adult version of the title character, while Hussain is on board to play Pi’s father and Depardieu to play a chef. (Variety and Entertainment Weekly)

Taylor Lautner (the Twilight franchise) is attached to star in the upcoming movie Incarceron, an adaptation of the Catherine Fisher young adult novel. Lautner will play Finn, a young man who has lived his entire life on Incarceron, a savage, futuristic prison society where he meets the warden’s daughter, who is trapped in her own prison, a futuristic world constructed to look like the 17th century. Together, she and Finn find a crystal key that allows them to communicate and hatch an escape plan for Finn. (The Wrap and Deadline)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: First Teaser Trailer for ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Happy Over the Hump Day! We are getting closer to the weekend. Is anyone getting excited or are you too busy with work, school and/or holiday “stuff” to think clearly. Regardless, sit down for a bit and relax with today’s update:

TELEVISION

Syfy has decided to give their new pilot Alphas an 11 episode order in addition to the 90-minute pilot. The show is expected to get a summer 2011 debut. The series stars David Strathairn and follows a team of ordinary citizens who possess extraordinary and unusual mental skills. The cast also includes Warren Christie, Malik Yoba, Laura Mennell, Ryan Cartwright and Azita Ghanizada. Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica) guest stars in the pilot. (Blastr and Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FOX will not be ordering the “back nine” episodes of Lie to Me, making the third season only 13 episodes long; but the network claims the show has not been canceled. A final decision on the show’s future is expected to be made in the spring. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Adrienne Barbeau (Maude and Carnivale) will guest star on CSI: New York in February, playing a clinic manager who plays an important part of an investigation to track down a hit man played by Ne-Yo. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

When the finale of Dexter airs on Showtime this Sunday, viewers will get a 20 minute sneak peek at the network’s new drama Shameless which stars William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, a far-from-stellar working-class patriarch of an unconventional Chicago brood of six motley kids whose eldest daughter (Emmy Rossum) keeps the home afloat while he’s out drinking and carousing. Shameless will debut on January 9. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Hot on the heels of FOX’s success with the musicomedy Glee, it looks like the CW is developing a struggling rock-band drama for next season. Tentatively dubbed The Prickly Spheres, the show is expected to revolve around a classical-music prodigy who turns down a full ride at Julliard and instead ends up joining an alternative-rock band in Minneapolis filled with quirky but super-talented musicians. (Josef Adalian at Vulture)

FOX has picked up the medical thriller pilot called The Danger List about a doctor with a complicated past who investigates medical abuses, crimes and conspiracies. While the CW has picked up the pilot Beautiful Strangers, about two young thieves who are given a second chance as informants for a new FBI division. The latter comes will be executive produced by Veronica Mars and Party Down veteran Rob Thomas. (James Hibberd at The Live Feed at The Hollywood Reporter)

Author John Grisham is working with NBC to turn his short story collection “Ford County” into a primetime drama. Brothers and Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz has signed on to write the adaptation, but no other details are available just yet. (Variety)

DVD NEWS

Justified

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Oprah Winfrey may star in an HBO Films adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lynn Nottage play Ruined, which is set in a brothel in the war-torn Congo and captures the experiences of the women working there. (Dave McNary at Variety)

More names are being attached to the upcoming box office film The Hobbit. Among them is Cate Blanchett, who will reprise here role of the ethereal elf Galadriel. The others are Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson’s War) who will play the Dwarf Lord Balin; Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) who will play the wizard Radagast the Brown; Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt who will play the shape-shifting bear-man Beorn; British actor Ryan Gage who will play Drogo Baggins; and New Zealand actors Jed Brophy and William Kircher who will play the dwarves Nori and Bifur, respectively. (Josh Rottenberg at Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Pauley Perrette (NCIS) will star in the science-fiction romance film The Girl From Mars, which is about a lonely geek whose life is transformed when he meets the girl of his dreams (Perrette) who claims to be a visitor from another planet. (Dark Horizons)

Q&A SECTION (with Natalie and Adam from TV Guide)

Question: Nikita scoop, please! — Monica

NATALIE: Alex is faced with her final test, in which she’ll have to kill or be killed. When she’s unable to pull the trigger, she’s forced to turn over Nikita to Division to save her own life. That doesn’t mean Alex won’t make her first kill though, and wait until you see who the victim is.

Question: Are we going to see Rose again on The Vampire Diaries? — Michelle

ADAM: Yep, and sooner than you think. I’m hearing that she’ll pop back up in order to help Damon and Stefan with a mysterious mission. First stop on their quest: a visit to another vampire savant who knows everything about everything in the world of bloodsuckers. He’s willing to hand over the dangerous info Damon and Stefan seek — but only in exchange for a day-walking ring.

Question: What can you tell us about the V premiere? — Rachel

NATALIE: The premiere picks up four days after the finale, when Anna released that creepy red sky that caused widespread panic and rioting among the humans. Anna’s actions have also stirred unrest among her captains, who fear that she has developed human emotions. Lesson of the premiere: Never doubt Anna, or she’ll kill you with her tail. That’s not a metaphor.

Question: Got anything interesting on NCIS? — Jeffrey

ADAM: Ask yourself this: Which NCIS-er do you think needs to see a shrink? (Correct answer: All of them!) But in the meantime, one team member could log some couch time in the near future, as the show is looking to add a clinical psychiatrist who specializes in combat trauma and stress-related anxiety issues to the cast. She reads people like books and isn’t shy about digging up sensitive memories.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today, which I think you will enjoy. Have at it:

TELEVISION

The final two episodes of the CW series Life Unexpected will air back-to-back on January 18 and yes, it has been confirmed by the show’s executive producer Liz Tigelaar that the show has been cancelled. (The Futon Critic)

More actors have joined season 4 of True Blood, including Christina Moore (Hawthorne), who will play Suzanne McKittrick, a WASPy Texas housewife who possesses certain special abilities. Neil Hopkins (Lost) will have a multi-episode arc as Claude, Claudine’s (Lara Pulver) mysterious brother while Chris Butler (The Good Wife) will play Emory, a prissy and conservative shapeshifter with his own agenda. (Michael Ausiello)

ARTICLE ABOUT NATHAN FILLION

Nathan Fillion on ‘Glee’: I Want to Play a ‘Mean’ Broadway Scout

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Procter & Gamble and Walmart will premiere their latest made-for-TV family movie called Change of Plans on FOX on January 8 at 8 PM. The movie demonstrates how our lives can be turned upside down with a single phone call. When Sally Danville (Brooke White – a formerly American Idol top 10 contestant) finds out that her best friend from college died in a tragic accident while serving in the Peace Corps, she also learns that she has been named the legal guardian of her friend’s four children three of whom were adopted from third-world countries. Now Sally and her husband, Jason (Joe Flanigan from Stargate: Atlantis), must quickly learn to parent this instant family and help the kids deal with culture clashes and life in America. Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show) also co-stars as social worker Dorothy. Three songs from the movie’s soundtrack are from star Brooke White as well as tracks from various recording artists. (The Futon Critic)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Rick Schroder (24) has joined the cast of the Molly Parker-led Lifetime drama pilot called Meet Jane, which is about an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area who is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband, a computer technician the government suspects is selling top-secret information to Russia. Schroeder will play her husband. (The Futon Critic)

Easy come, easy go. It would appear that actress Eliza Dushku (Buffy and Dollhouse has departed the TNT drama pilot Bird Dog, which is about an unlikely partnership between two cops who happen to be father and daughter, due to creative differences. (The Futon Critic)

Starz has greenlit production on Magic City, a drama centering on the gritty side of Miami in the 1960s from executive producer Mitch Glazer (The Recruit). This project revolves around Ike Evans, the head of the Miramar Hotel who meets pressures from the mob, his own family, and the changes brought on by Fidel Castro taking charge of Cuba. The 10-episode series will begin casting soon, and is slated to premiere in 2012. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise has four dramas in the works; three for CBS and one for the CW. The CBS projects include:

Detail, loosely based on bodyguard Kim Maree Penn, is about a female bodyguard protecting a different high-risk client of the week. She’s not only a bodyguard to her clients, but also a de facto counselor. (ME: Sounds a little like the female version of FOX’s Human Target.) Next up is Desperado, which about a band of lawmen doling out very Texas-centric cowboy justice. And third is Treadstone, which is about spies in our daily lives. Then the CW project is called Spirits , which is about three women at a startup company who try to help people with otherwordly problems. (Tim Molloy at The Wrap)

AWARD WINNERS

Congrats to the winners of the first-ever American Country Awards, including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Easton Corbin, Josh Turner, Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins. (E! Entertainment Online)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass) and Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) have joined the cast of the film adaptation of the 1980 Broadway play called Albert Nobbs, which is set around a luxury hotel in Dublin in the 19th century. Glenn Close will reprise her award-winning stage role of a woman who impersonates a man to survive. Michael Gambon, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Janet McTeer also star. (Dark Horizons and Screen Terrier)

Chris Colfer (Glee) will make his feature-film debut in an independent movie for which he also wrote. The movie is called Struck by Lightning and is a coming-of-age comedy. There is no studio or distributor attached yet, though. (Rick Porter at Zap2It)

Ryan Phillippe has joined the cast of the heist film Set Up, which stars Bruce Willis and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Jenna Dewan Tatum (Step Up) also stars. The film is to follow a group of friends who are catapulted into the middle of a diamond heist that turns deadly. (Variety and First Showing)

Lucy Punch and Rich Sommer have signed onto the romantic comedy The Giant Mechanical Man that follows a quiet zoo worker (Jenna Fischer) who is torn between a street performer (Chris Messina) and a pompous motivational speaker (Topher Grace). Punch will play the street-performer’s girlfriend. Malin Akerman also stars. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Must Watch: Epic New Full-Length Trailer for ‘I Am Number Four’

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

Question from ChickenLady: No Ordinary Family?

Kristin: NOF is introducing a supervillain by the name of Roy Minor. He’s introduced as being the dad of one of Daphne’s high school friends, but he quickly turns capital-E EEEEeevil.

Question from Lauren: I heard that Autumn Reeser is pregnant. Any idea how that will affect her character on No Ordinary Family?

Kristin: Word on the street is that The Powers That Be over on No Ordinary Family are figuring that out as I type. It’s possible Autumn’s pregnancy will be written into the show, or maybe producers will go the way most TV pregnancies and just hide the bump behind megasized purses and kitchen counters. Which would you prefer?

Question from @timegoesaway (via Twitter): Psych! Specifically, Shawn/Juliet. More specifically, Yin/Yang finale angst.

Kristin: First, a metaphor: Juliet is Yin to Shawn’s Yang; now that they’ve connected, nothing will tear them apart. Not even the serial killer Mr. Yang (Ally Sheedy), who—to be specific—returns Dec. 22 in the conclusion to the Yin-Yang trilogy, “Yang 3 in 2D.” Star James Roday told us “everything comes out in the wash” and “we find out who Mr. Yin is”—with a little help from one of his alleged victims, Mena Suvari. Also returning are Shawn’s mom (the lovely Cybill Shepherd) and Mary Lightly’s Jimmi Simpson—in flashbacks? As Mary’s twin? (Yin?!) Roday refused to be more specific!

Question from Zoe: Tell me about Justified!!

Kristin: OK!! Good news for you fans of Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) and Winona’s (Natalie Zea) relationship. Raylan’s protective ex-husband/sometime-lover instincts are activated in episode six, when Winona happens to be at a bank during a robbery, and one of the bad guys roughs her up. Look for Raylan to deliver some delicious Southern vengeance on her behalf. Yummy.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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