Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Today’s update is shorter than usual, but there were still some good news items to share with all of you. Hope you find something that you like:

TELEVISION

Devon Sawa (Final Destination) will play the role of Owen in the new CW series Nikita. He will be Nikita’s (Maggie Q) nemesis starting with the 5th episode, which is expected to air on October 7. Owen is described as a highly trained Division agent who is equal to Nikita in skill. (Kristin at E! Entertainment Online)

Timothy Dalton (License to Kill) will guest-star in a multi-episode arc on Chuck, playing a mysterious stranger who has a history with Chuck’s mom, who will be played by Linda Hamilton (Terminator and Beauty & the Beast). (The Futon Critic)

Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) will guest star on Grey’s Anatomy as a patient named Eleanor who blacks out, but her black outs may not be all they seem, as Eleanor claims she blacked out right around the time she raced into a Laundromat and caught her naughty husband folding another woman’s panties. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Allison Miller (the short-lived NBC drama Kings) has joined the FOX drama Terra Nova, which stars Jason O’Mara (Life on Mars). The time-traveling drama revolves around humans from 2149 who travel back 85 million years to pre-historic Earth to try to save the planet from destruction. Miller will play Skye, a Terra Nova resident who bonds with O’Mara’s character’s son. Terra Nova was originally scheduled to premiere mid-season, but was pushed back to fall 2011. Fox will preview the pilot in May before launching the first season in the fall. (Variety and Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

Tia Carrere will return to Warehouse 13 on August 31, reprising her role as Katie Logan, a Secret Service agent who has a history with Pete (Eddie McClintock). She returns because a close colleague is murdered in a plot of revenge against Artie (Saul Rubinek). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has ordered the as-yet untitled new pilot, from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (the people behind The O.C., Gossip Girl and Chuck), about a group of twenty-something roommates who juggle their personal and professional lives in Washington. The young politicos find that the ideals that brought them to D.C. don’t always match with the realities of living in the nation’s capital. (Variety)

NOTE: The TV Addict made a comment about the above new pilot for which I have to whole heartedly agree. Here is his statement: “Good News: ABC has green-lit an OC-esque drama centering around a group of twenty-somethings in Washington D.C. Bad News: We’re still smarting over the CW’s hair-brained decision not to pick up the Brian Austin Green (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars and Moonlight), Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights) OC-esque drama centering around a group of twenty-somethings in Washington D.C that was The Body Politic.”

DVD ANNOUNCEMENT

Army Wives

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Malcolm McDowell, Marilu Henner and Zak Orth have joined the cast of the vampire romance drama Vamps, which is a contemporary story following two beautiful young vampires (Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter) who enjoy the New York City nightlife until romance jeopardizes their immortality. McDowell plays Vlad the Impaler, now living in NYC as the velvet jogging suit-wearing Vlad Tepish. Henner will play a dying woman who gets the chance to resurrect her once-sexy self while Orth will appear as a nerdy friend to the two female characters. Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Johnston, Richard Lewis, Wallace Shawn and Justin Kirk also star. (Dark Horizons)

Stephen Dorff (Public Enemies) is in negotiations to star opposite Maria Bello (The History of Violence) in the indie thriller Carjacked. The story follows a single mother and her child who are carjacked by a thief who has no intention of letting them go. (The Wrap)

That’s it. Enjoy! Have a great weekend!

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Hey All,

Counting down the hours until its Friday; but for now it’s countdown mode until I attend a Writers Guild event tonight with a good friend. The WGA is honoring writers who are nominated for Emmy Awards, which will be presented this Sunday.

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

TELEVISION

Christine Lahti will be back on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, reappearing as overbearing ADA Sonya Paxton sent by the DA’s office to ride herd on the SVU team. (Ileane Rudolph at TV Guide)

Katee Sackhoff will be returning to The Big Bang Theory this fall, where she will reprise her role as “Katee Sackhoff,” the conscience of Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), in an episode that will also guest star Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette. Sackhoff is slated to appear in the September 23rd episode. (Maureen Ryan at AOL TV and Televisionary)

ARTICLES ABOUT TELEVISION

‘Chuck’ Exclusive: Meet Casey’s A-Team!

EXCLUSIVE Interview: Erin Karpluk talks Season 3 of Being Erica!

NOTE: The premiere date for Being Erica is for CANADA. For those of us in the States, we’ll have to wait to see when SoapNet decides to give it an airdate and time.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The new Syfy pilot Three Inches has announced more casting news. The show that already boasts James Marsters (Smallville, Caprica and Buffy), Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Naoko Mori (Torchwood) and Stephanie Jacobsen (Melrose Place and Battlestar Galactica: Razor) as part of the cast now also includes Noah Reid (Strange Days at Blake Holsey High). Antony Del Rio (The Super Hero Squad Show), Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties) and Brandon Jay McLaren (TRON: Legacy, Harper’s Island). The pilot will be 90-minutes long and will feature Alona Tal (Veronica Mars), Craig Eldridge (Covert Affairs) and Julian Richings (Supernatural) as guest stars in the pilot episode. The series is about professional daydreamer and underachiever, Walter Spackman (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. Together, the unlikely band of heroes proves that “super” is simply a state of mind.

The rest of the casting breaks down as follows:

Jace Alexander (Rescue Me, Prison Break) is directing the pilot, written by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks), who also serves as executive producer. Fox Television Studios is producing with Executive Producer Robert Cooper, through his company Landscape Entertainment. J.J. Jamieson heads up television for Landscape Entertainment.

James Marsters will star as Troy Hamilton, a former government agent who takes Walter in to his own team of “super” heroes who fight evil wherever they find it. He is a father figure to Walter.

Andrea Martin will play Belinda Spackman, Walter’s mother, a brutally honest, comically cynical force of nature that loves her son more than words can say and will do anything to protect him.

Stephanie Jacobsen plays Watts, a beautiful “super” hero who has the ability to shape the emotions of anyone she meets at close range.

Antony Del Rio will portray The Human Smell, an adventurous, often irritating teenager who is able to emit a pungent gas through his pores that disables anyone nearby.

Naoko Mori plays Annika, a woman who can duplicate and broadcast any sound she hears.

Kyle Schmid will play Brandon, the “super” hero team leader with all the cockiness and strength of a true action hero, minus the superpowers. He is the opposite of Walter and sees most of the team as freaks.

Brandon Jay McLaren plays Macklin Sportello, Walter’s best friend, a big talker with not a lot to back it up. His relationship is tested when Walter begins to change, but he’s the friend that will always be there for him.

Alona Tal will guest star in the pilot as Lily Theroux, the kind, pretty girl next door and Walter’s long time crush who loves him but “not in that way.”

Craig Eldridge will guest as Todd, part of Troy’s team of “super” heroes who can see two minutes into the future at the cost of a massive disabling headache.

Julian Richings will also appear as a guest star playing Ethan, a man with the ability to communicate with and control the insect kingdom.

NOTE: Thanks to The Futon Critic for providing these details.

FALL TV PROMO PHOTOS

Get Your GLEEK On!

DVD ANNOUNCEMENT

The Mentalist

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Channing Tatum will star in and co-produce the ensemble drama movie Ten Year, which follows a group of friends reunited a decade after their graduation. Jenna Dewan (Tatum’s wife), Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine and Scott Porter are among those being sought for other roles in the film, but no deals are yet locked. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Jeremy Renner has been cat opposite Tom Cruise in the upcoming Mission: Impossible IV. Paramount has stated the following: “[We] have struggled to find the right co-star to play an operative opposite Cruise, and one factor was selecting an actor who could potentially carry the series down the line, should Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character not continue.” A scheduled release date for Mission: Impossible IV is December 2011. (First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Question: Any Glee scoop? —Ines

Ausiello: I’m hearing a major character (a series regular!) will find himself/herself in a literal life-and-death situation in this season’s third episode. In possibly related news (I say possibly because I honest-to-goodness don’t know), Chris Colfer’s Emmy-nominated TV dad Mike O’Malley tells us that episode 3 will be “another emotional, emotional episode” for father and son. The actor goes on to hint that the show will revisit the complicated dynamic between Burt and Kurt’s crush, Finn. “The last time I was on the show, [Burt] threw Finn out of the house. There [may] be some resolution there. One of the things I think is really important in life and for human beings is to forgive and be able to rise up from our mistakes. I’m hoping that Finn and Burt are able to cross that chasm.”

Question: Got anything on Brothers & Sisters? —Tim

Ausiello: Producers are looking for a “celebrity name” to play Gilles Marini’s gorgeous (natch) sixtysomething TV mom, who comes to town and makes quite an impression on the Walker family.

NOTE: I would suggest Raquel Welch or Ann-Margret since they would be gorgeous “older” women who could play his mom. Or if they want to go for slightly older than sixtysomething – there is always Sophia Loren.

Question: Are you going to make a list of the new shows we should watch, and the ones that we should miss? I have no idea how to set my DVR! —Amanda

Ausiello: Help has arrived…

Watch: Lone Star (Fox), Undercovers (NBC), The Event (NBC), No Ordinary Family (ABC), Raising Hope (Fox), Mike & Molly (CBS), Better With You (ABC), Hawaii 5-0 (CBS), and Nikita (The CW).

Miss: $#*! My Dad Says (CBS) and Hellcats (The CW).

If a new show you’re curious about isn’t listed above, it means either I’m on the fence (e.g., CBS’ The Defenders) or I haven’t watched the pilot yet (e.g., Outlaw).

NOTE: I cannot believe that I actually agree with Ausiello on the “to watch” shows – except for the comedies, none of which I will watch since I don’t comedies anyway. And, good for him for saying “miss” to Hellcats, as I didn’t really care for it either.

Question: Got any Castle scoop for us? —Jennifer

Ausiello: There’s a somewhat significant death in the second episode. I’m also hearing something about Castle revealing his REAL name.

Question: Anything on Chloe’s return yet on Smallville? —Maria26

Ausiello: Allison Mack will appear in the premiere and then return “in the middle of the season in a very impactful way in Clark’s life,” reveals Peterson. “It’s a great wrap-up to her character, and it also dovetails into the Chloe/Oliver relationship.”

Question: I have loved this season of Burn Notice so far, and I’m totally digging the addition of Coby Bell. But last week’s episode has me wondering: Now that (SPOILER ALERT!) Jesse knows that Michael burned him, what will become of Mr. Bell? —Kristina

Ausiello: He’ll be back for the second half of the season, don’t you worry. In the meantime, Jesse makes a choice in this week’s finale that will affect Michael in a major way. In possibly related news, the cliff-hanger finds Michael in the most perilous situation we’ve ever seen him in. And this dude’s been in some seriously perilous situations.

Question: The last two Ask Ausiellos haven’t had any scoop on the best series at this moment: The Good Wife! —Ingmar

Ausiello: Good thing we spoke to Alan Cumming over the weekend at the Creative Arts Emmys or else it would’ve been three in a row. Look for Eli to get “more heavily involved in Peter’s campaign,” he teases about his character’s story line this fall. “He gets meaner and ruthlesser.” Regarding his recent upgrade to series regular, Cumming says the biggest difference is “I get paid more. And I sort of have an idea of where my character is going now. [Before] I had no idea what was going to happen. The next week I could’ve been a murderer.”

Question: What are the chances Chuck will get a back-nine order? I’m freaking out over here! —Eric

Ausiello: I assumed exec producers Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz would be too. But they’re not. As Schwartz points out, “We never started a season with more than 13 episodes. Like last year, we will hope for the best, plan for the worst, and be ready to have an incredible final episode 13 if need be with a contingency plan to keep the season going.” Adds Fedak: “Episode 13 no matter what will be epic.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

It’s over the hump day and there is quite a bit of news to share with all of you:

TELEVISION

Angela Sarafyan has joined the cast of The Good Guys in a major recurring role, playing the offbeat and socially awkward Samantha Evans. Since she’s a lowly assistant crime scene investigator, she jumps at the chance to help Jack (Colin Hanks) and Dan (Bradley Whitford) with their cases. Angela has appeared on such series as The Mentalist, In Plain Sight and CSI: NY. The Good Guys will move to Fridays this fall, starting on September 24 at 9 PM on FOX. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Newcomer Simon Miller has been cast as the patriarch of the Lockwood pack, George Lockwood, on The Vampire Diaries. He will appear – in flashbacks – in the 4th episode of Season 2. (Carina Adly MacKenzie at Zap2It)

Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) and Tom Cavanagh (Ed) are set to guest star in an upcoming episode of Royal Pains when the series returns for its first ever winter season this January on the USA Network. Sedaris will play Nan Noonan, Jill’s partner for a Hamptons golf tournament, while Cavanagh will play pro golfer Jack O’Malley. (Fancast and Televisionary)

ARTICLE ABOUT TV

‘Brothers & Sisters’: Bobby Soto cast as Kevin and Scotty’s possible foster son

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Stephanie Jacobsen (Melrose Place) and Naoko Mori (Torchwood) have joined the new SyFy drama pilot Three Inches as series regulars. The series centers on Walter (Noah Reid), a twentysomething underachiever who acquires a seemingly worthless superpower after getting struck by lightning: he can move any object three inches with his mind. He goes on to recruit a team of fellow heroes, each with their own less-than-spectacular abilities. It was announced yesterday that Buffy alum James Marsters was cast in a lead role as well. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) has also joined the cast of the Syfy superhero pilot Three Inches, where she will play Belinda Spackman, the mother of the main character, who is described as “a brutally cynical force of nature who will do anything to protect her son, who has developed a unique not-so-superpower: the ability to move any object three inches using his mind.” (The Hollywood Reporter and Televisionary)

FOX is developing an untitled drama pilot with writer Rick Eid and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci about a prosecutor who discovers that he can tell whether a defendant is guilty or innocent. “Show revolves around an overly ambitious prosecutor who wrongfully convicts an innocent man for murder, an event that becomes the trigger for his magical flashes and an understanding that he has a debt an understanding that he has a debt to repay to the innocent,” writes Variety’s Cynthia Littleton. (Variety and Televisionary)

Meghan Markle (Fringe) has landed the female lead role on the USA Network pilot A Legal Mind, playing Rachel Lane, an attractive paralegal with an encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Patrick Adams (Weather Girl) plays Mike Ross, a brilliant yet slacking college student impersonating a high-powered Manhattan corporate attorney. Gabriel Macht (The Spirit) also stars in the show as the firm’s recruiter who brings him on board. Additionally, Gina Torres (Huge and Firefly) was cast in second position as Katherine Pearson, a senior partner at the law firm. (The Live Feed by James Hibbard)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Looks like Al Pacino and Katie Holmes will be joining Adam Sandler in the upcoming romantic comedy Jack and Jill, a story about Jack, a family man who deals with his twin sister Jill visiting for Thanksgiving. Sandler will be playing both of the siblings. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Anna Paquin (True Blood) and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) have joined the cast of Scream 4, but no confirmation has been made as to what roles they will play. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, as well as Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, and Adam Brody. (Jeff Labrecque at Entertainment Weekly)

Jim Caviezel (The Passion of Christ) and James Frain (True Blood and The Tudors) have joined the cast of the box office thriller called Transit, which follows a band of thieves on the run from a bank robbery who stash their stolen money in a family SUV at a rest stop. The suburban family is on a camping trip and unaware of the murderous band of outlaws on their trail. Caviezel will play the protective father of the family. Elisabeth Rohm plays the family’s mother. Harold Perrineau (Lost) and Diora Baird play two of the bank robbers. There is no word on Frain’s role yet. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Q&A SECTION (with the TV Gurus as TV Guide):

Question: Stefan seemed different in the Vampire Diaries finale. Where is he heading? — Katherine

MICKEY: Interestingly, it’s Katherine’s arrival that awakens something in Stefan. “He accepts that he’s a vampire more; he’s less plagued by being a victim and being run over by his brother,” Paul Wesley says. “He becomes more proactive, and he knows how to have fun sometimes.”

Question: Why is Beckett getting another boyfriend on Castle? Can’t she and Castle get together already? — Melinda

ADAM: “If you don’t create obstacles, the flirtation will lead to something much sooner than the audience wants,” creator Andrew Marlowe tells us. But he promises the roadblocks, including Castle’s reunion with his ex-wife, aren’t just there for the sake of keeping the characters apart. “Part of our metaphor in the early stretch of the season is that these two people, who many feel belong together, ‘married’ the wrong people,” Marlowe says. “So, we’re rooting for them to wake up and find each other again.”

Question: What more can you tell me about the Smallville premiere? — Allen

ADAM: I can tell you that it ends with a twist that executive producer Kelly Souders says “rocks [Clark’s] world and sends him on a different trajectory. … He realizes that he’s not the guy that everybody looks to when they think of Superman, an inspirational totally pure-hearted guy. That’s not who Clark Kent is right now, and that becomes very clear to him.”

Question: Do you have any Chuck scoop about Casey? —Melanie

MICKEY: We’ll meet two former members of Casey’s Special Ops team. One will be as grounded as the other is skittish. They’ll also, oddly, kind of remind you of Justin “I’m a Mac” Long and John “I’m a PC” Hodgman.

Question: What more can you tell me about the Smallville premiere? — Allen

ADAM: I can tell you that it ends with a twist that executive producer Kelly Souders says “rocks [Clark’s] world and sends him on a different trajectory. … He realizes that he’s not the guy that everybody looks to when they think of Superman, an inspirational totally pure-hearted guy. That’s not who Clark Kent is right now, and that becomes very clear to him.”

Question: Do you have any Chuck scoop about Casey? —Melanie

MICKEY: We’ll meet two former members of Casey’s Special Ops team. One will be as grounded as the other is skittish. They’ll also, oddly, kind of remind you of Justin “I’m a Mac” Long and John “I’m a PC” Hodgman.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Some really great casting news has been announced today along with some trailers for upcoming fall shows; and much more. Please check out the following TV and movie news for today:

TELEVISION

Judd Hirsch will join his former Numb3rs co-star Rob Morrow on Rob’s new fall show The Whole Truth, starring as Ruben Wright, a distinguished and well-respected judge who is accused of corruption and murder. He hires Morrow’s rising criminal attorney to represent him. Maura Tierney’s character, who tried the first case of her career in front of Judge Wright, reluctantly takes on the task of prosecuting him. The Whole Truth premieres on September 22. Hirsch’s episode is slated to air in October. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Reggie Austin (Life Unexpected and The Starter Wife) will play the New York baseball star husband of Vanessa Williams’ new housewife, Renee Perry, on Desperate Housewives. (William Keck at TV Guide)

James Marsters (Buffy, Angel and Caprica) will finally get to play a good guy. He will play Troy, leader of a gang of superheroes with substandard powers, in the new series Three Inches on Syfy. The show revolves around a man named Walter who gets struck by lightning and finds he can move objects with his mind — but he can only move them three inches. He is then recruited into a superhero gang full of people with similarly lackluster powers. (TV Squad and Digital Spy)

AMC will launch their newest drama The Walking Dead with a 90-minute premiere on Halloween night (October 31), starting at 10 PM. The series is based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The six-episode series tells the story of life following a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually), traveling in search of a safe and secure home. Jon Bernthal (The Pacific and Eastwick) plays Rick’s sheriff’s department partner before the apocalypse, Shane Walsh, and Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), is Rick’s wife, Lori. Supporting cast include Laurie Holden (The Shield), Jeffrey DeMunn, Chandler Riggs and Steven Yeun. Also, Lennie James (Jericho and Hung) will be featured in the pilot. Subsequent episodes will be one-hour long presentations. (The Futon Critic)

Alicia Coppola (Jericho) will guest star in an upcoming episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, playing FBI agent Amy Rand, an expert on kidnapping cases. Her first appearance is slated to air in October. NCIS: Los Angeles returns with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday, September 21 at 9 PM on CBS. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

FALL TV

Will Lone Star Live Up to its Promos?

AMC’s epic ‘The Walking Dead’ trailer, premiere date

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Steven Spielberg and Fringe’s Kurtzman/Orci to Turn the Graphic Novel Locke & Key into a TV Show

Looks like Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos) has been tapped to star opposite Sherry Stringfield (ER) in the new as-yet untitled Josh Berman pilot for Lifetime. The series is a closed-ended drama set in San Diego, centering on police detective Molly Collins (Stringfield), married mother of two on the verge of divorce, who, along with her partner Brooke Kross (Sigler), investigate the city’s most high-profile crimes while navigating their divergent personal lives. This series is one of 3 new pilots ordered by the network in June. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline Hollywood Daily)

Meanwhile, John Hawkes (Deadwood and Lost) is set to star in the FX drama pilot Outlaw Country, which is a crime thriller/family drama set against the backdrop of southern organized crime and Nashville royalty. It focuses on 4 main characters, played by Luke Grimes (Brothers & Sisters), Haley Bennett (Marley & Me), Mary Steenburgen and Hawkes. Grimes plays twentysomething Eli Larkin, a half-cowboy, half-modern guy who tries to get out of the crime ridden life he has grown accustom. Bennett plays twentysomething Annabel Lee, a gorgeous country singer who is living in the shadow of her overprotective mother (Steenburgen). Hawkes plays Tarzen Larkin, Eli’s uncle and one of the most charismatic and compelling characters in Slaughter, a big-time player in the Southern crime world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline Hollywood Daily)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Andrea Bowen (Desperate Housewives) will star as a driven equestrian who suffers a near fatal injury during a horse show in the Hallmark Channel movie After the Fall set to premiere on October 9 at 8 PM. The movie co-stars Greg Evigan, Gail O’Grady, Rick Malambri (Step Up 3-D) and Fiona Dourif (Deadwood). (The Futon Critic)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

A script by Ahmet Zappa and Michael Wislon called Monster Witness Relocation Program, based on an original idea by Zappa, is being made into a movie. The book follows a brother and sister who discover they hail from a long line of monster hunters, who must learn the family business quickly when their father is kidnapped and they take on the most diabolical creature in the universe. (Deadline New York and Dark Horizons)

Paul Rudd, Topher Grace and Kristen Wiig are being recruited for the independent film Bobby Blue Sky, which focuses on three dysfunctional siblings dealing with their baby brother’s accidental fame (as a character in their father’s children’s book series) warping their lives. (Pajiba and First Showing)

Jessica Alba will be taking on a parental role in the film sequel Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World. The fourth installment of the franchise will see Alba as a retired spy who has been reactivated and mother of a baby and two preteen stepchildren who will step up to be the new Spy Kids. Although this is technically a reboot, apparently franchise star Antonio Banderas and original kids Alexa Vega & Daryl Sabara (all grown up) are expected to get supporting roles. (Heat Vision and First Showing)

Harold Perrineau (Lost), Diora Baird (My Best Friend’s Girl) and Elisabeth Rohm (Heroes) will be starring in the thriller Transit, which follows a band of thieves on the run from a bank robbery and the suburban family they come across during their escape. When the criminals stash their stolen money in the family’s SUV at a rest stop, the road trippers unwittingly draw the murderous band of outlaws on their trail. Rohm plays the mother of the traveling family heading out on a camping trip while Perrineau and Baird are members of the bank robbery crew. (First Showing and The Hollywood Reporter)

Taylor Schilling (Mercy) will star opposite Zac Efron in the screen adaptation of The Lucky One based on the Nicholas Sparks romance novel. The story follows a young Marine who, upon completing three tours in Iraq, returns home to North Carolina attributing his survival to a photo of a mysterious girl, who he then sets out to find. When he finally meets her, the two begin to develop feelings for each other. (The Wrap and Variety)

Looks like Sam Worthington is heading to his hometown of Perth, Australia to star as the lead in the surfing drama Drift, which is an inspired-by-facts story that follows how surfing evolved from a pastime to a global industry. Worthington will play a photographer and journalist instrumental in that revolution. (The West Australian and Dark Horizons)

Andie MacDowell has signed on to play the wife of Dennis Quaid in the upcoming Footloose remake. The acting vets should be a welcome addition to a cast that boasts relative newbies Kenny Wormald (Center Stage: Turn it Up) and Julianne Hough (Dancing with the Stars) as the teen leads. The movie should be on the big screen next April. (Nicole Sperling at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

‘Red Hill’ trailer: Ryan Kwanten is a real cop with his real accent

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

Question: Alex in Venice, Italy: Is Jonathan Groff ever coming back to Glee?

Kristin: Yes! Executive producer Dante DiLoreto tells us, “Yes, absolutely, without a doubt Jonathan will be back. He’s in London right now. We’re hoping he’ll finish that pesky play and come back and work with us.”

SPOILER ALERT!!! – Tread lightly!!

Question: Drew in Chicago: What’s the latest on Brothers and Sisters? You haven’t talked about it in a while!

Kristin: I forgot! And that’s exactly what’s going to be happening to Holly (Patricia Wettig) in the new season—except she’s gonna forget something much bigger. She has memory loss and can’t even remember her own daughter Rebecca, from what I hear. I’m guessing this makes the loss of Emily VanCamp somehow easier? I’m also told that Emily will appear in episode three and four of the new season and that she and Justin will have some serious problems. And there may be another little Walker on the way! One of the women wants to get pregnant.

Question:Nikki in Bowling Green, Ohio: Parenthood was one of my favorite new shows last year, and I need some scoop on the second season!

Kristin: You’re in luck, because the season premiere date is just around the corner (September 14) Erika Christensen was gracious and lovely enough to spill some tidbits on what’s coming up for Julia, and it involves spawning. “My character decides she wants to get pregnant and have a second child. Her husband maybe isn’t quite as enthusiastic about it as she is.” And if her hubby ain’t gonna do the job, someone else might! There are plenty of hot dudes coming on the show next season, after all. “When a woman makes up her mind, she gets what she wants. I do occasionally think maybe she’ll have an affair at one point,” she says. Relax, she’s joking. Or is she?

Question:Roland in Toluca Lake, Calif.: It would be so double rainbow if you could give me any secrets from the next season of Castle.

Kristin: Remember when you thought Stana Katic couldn’t get any hotter? You are so wrong. “Beckett rides a motor bike!” she tells us gleefully. And this won’t be a one-time thing either, so don’t you worry—it’s her new thing. “Beckett definitely has a motor bike at home. I’m so stoked. I can’t wait!” We can’t either. Meanwhile, that sound you hear is millions of fanboys drawing up concepts for Stana’s leather biker-babe ensembles.

Question:Sarah in Massapequa, N.Y.: Am I the only person sensing some romantic tension between Aria’s dad Byron (Chad Lowe) and Hanna’s mom Ashley (Laura Leighton) on Pretty Little Liars?

Kristin: Trust us, you are definitely not the only one catching the pair’s meaningful stares and ever-growing connection, but there might be someone standing in their way when this guiltiest of guilty pleasures returns, and that someone isn’t his estranged wife, Ella (Holly Marie Combs). We caught up with Amanda Schull, aka Byron’s former mistress Meredith, who tells us fans will be seeing more of her in the second half of the season: “As far as I know I will be [back]. I don’t know the details of that but I know that the story line, especially the story lines in the book say I will be.” Well, according to the books she’s around for a long time.

Question:Kiley in Colorado: Any scoop on Psych? My friends and I all agree that this season’s run of episodes has been awesome—so much better than all of last year’s serious drama!

Kristin: Agreed! Lost’s Nestor Carbonell spilled to us about his upcoming guest gig on Psych: “I play a criminal profiler who rivals Shawn and who one-ups him at every turn. Shawn’s never had somebody one-up him. Shawn’s always the man in charge—he’s pretty much a superhero. But I come in and I destroy him—which is a lot of fun.”

Question:Britney in Dallas, Texas: I’m so over Stelena and Delena on The Vampire Diaries. Please tell me we will see more Dalaric!

Kristin: You can rest easy because we will be seeing plenty of Damon and Alaric teaming up in season two. We asked Matt Davis about the unlikely duo’s partnership and here’s what he told us: “Our bromance is definitely developing. You’ll see much more of that for sure. I love Ian to pieces and I love working with him and I think our chemistry as friends and the way Kevin and Julie write the two of them together, just the archetypes of the two characters together I think fit really well.”

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Can you guys believe that Labor Day is coming up in two weeks? Where in the world did the summer go? Maybe it’s me, but this year is flying by so fast.

In the meantime, here are the news items for today that I hope you will find interesting:

TELEVISION

The CW will be giving viewers a second chance to see the networks new dramas Hellcats and Nikita. Hellcats will debut on September 8 with Nikita premiering on September 9. Then the shows will be rebroadcast on September 10 (back to back). The network will do the same thing for both show’s second episodes, airing rebroadcasts on September 17. Don’t worry Smallville and Supernatural fans; both shows return on September 24. (The Futon Critic)

Jennifer Morrison (House) will make a guest appearance on the 6th episode of the new NBC drama Chase as Faith, a single mother-turned-fugitive who embarks on a bloody killing spree across Texas with her innocent little daughter in tow. Chase premieres September 20 at 10 PM. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Tia Texada (Third Watch and Huge) will guest star in the 4th episode of Chuck, starring as the exotic wife of Premier Alejandro Goya (Armand Assante). (William Keck at TV Guide)

Jennifer Aniston will reunite with Courteney Cox as a guest star on the season premiere of Cougar Town on September 22 at 9:30 PM. (The Futon Critic)

MORE GLEE NEWS

Glee Scoop: Britney “Lockdown,” a Romance Update and…John Stamos Is Getting His Own Show!

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah are to star in the upcoming box office movie Joyful Noise, which centers around two women who join forces to prevent a small-town gospel choir from shutting down. Latifah will play the mother of two teens who is put in charge of the Pacashau Gospel Choir after the death of its choir director. Parton will appear as the choir director’s widow who hopes to take over her late husband’s job. (Dark Horizons)

Carey Mulligan (An Education) will be joining Ryan Gosling and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) in the action movie Drive, which is an adaptation of the novel by James Sallis that follows a nameless Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who moonlights as a freelance getaway driver during robberies. When a bank heist goes wrong, he ends up on the run with a contract on his head and an ex-con’s girlfriend (Mulligan) sitting in the passenger’s seat along for the ride. (First Showing)

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

1. The Expendables, $16.5 million
2. Vampires Suck, $12.2 million
3. Eat Pray Love, $12 million
4. Lottery Ticket, $11.1 million
5. The Other Guys, $10.1 million
6. Piranha 3D, 10 million
7. Nanny McPhee Returns, $8.3 million
8. The Switch, $8.1 million
9. Inception, $7.7 million
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $5 million

MORE X-MEN NEWS

Bryan Singer Talks “X-Men” Details

AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations are in order for the winners of the Creative Arts Emmys that were presented over the weekend (courtesy of E! Entertainment Online):

Guest Actor in a Drama Series: John Lithgow, Dexter
Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Ann-Margret, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Betty White, Saturday Night Live
Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Neil Patrick Harris, Glee
Voice-Over Performance: Anne Hathaway, The Simpsons
Animated Program: Disney Prep & Landing, ABC
Short-Form Animated Program: Robot Chicken, Cartoon Network
Reality Program: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, ABC
Children’s Program: Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, Disney Channel
Variety, Music or Comedy Special: The Kennedy Center Honors, CBS
Special Class Program: 63rd Annual Tony Awards, CBS
Commercial: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” (Old Spice Body Wash)
Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Colbert Report, Comedy Central

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

Question: I am a long-time follower of your columns and reviews, and I just want to thank you for all the great series you have steered me toward over the years. The latest is Breaking Bad, which I never would have gone near if not for your raves. What an amazing show. Now I’m wondering if you have been watching The Glades and what you think of its development. Being from South Florida, I am always curious about shows located there. Most shows don’t get the feel of the place (we won’t even speak of that CSI show), but this one seems to be doing it right so far. And talk about someone coming out of left field: Where did this amazing guy Matt Passmore come from? Because I know he is Australian, I’ll forgive his lack of a Chicago accent, but he has developed such an interesting and believable character (thank you also, writers) and is such a charismatic lead. After Lost, I never thought I could appreciate Kiele Sanchez in anything, but I am enjoying her performance as well. Thanks again for all the enjoyable hours of TV and please keep writing your columns! — Susan

Matt Roush: Well, thanks for that encouraging feedback. With The Glades, I’ll fess up that I haven’t seen every episode (which is one of the blessings of a show like this; it doesn’t penalize the viewer who merely samples), but what I’ve seen I’ve liked. Especially Passmore, whose biggest previous credits include Australian standouts Underbelly (which has aired on DirectTV) and McLeod’s Daughters. I enjoy his character’s laid-back irreverence. It fits the funky swampy setting, which as you noted does feel more authentic than the Miami of you-know-what. It’s a fun show, perfect for summer, much like the various USA Network hits — and can I just say, while we’re plugging not-so-guilty summer pleasures, how much Covert Affairs is growing on me; fans won’t want to miss this week’s Christopher Gorham-“Auggie”-centric episode.

Question: I loved Alex O’Loughlin in Moonlight, and I loved the show’s blend of crime, mystery and romance. Have you seen any of the new Hawaii Five-0? I’m trying to decide if I should try it out, but I worry that it will be too much of just a cop show, which I don’t think I’d like. Does it have a fun side? Any romance? — Amanda

Matt Roush: More like “bromance,” at least in the pilot, which is all anyone has seen at this point. The new Hawaii Five-0 is more of an action than “cop” show — the heroes form an anything-goes task force that operates almost outside the law — and takes full advantage of the island’s native beauty, both natural and human. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before O’Loughlin gets a love interest if they haven’t developed one for him already, but the real relationship that matters in the early going is the fractious bantering between his character of Steve McGarrett and Scott Caan’s scene-stealing sidekick, “Danno.” That’s where the fun and humor come in during a pilot that otherwise is pretty violent and is fueled by tragedy and revenge.

Question: I’ve finally finished the first season of Stargate: Universe, and I’m curious about your thoughts on it (and whether you thought it was worth watching, as I don’t remember reading anything about your opinion of it). Stargate: SG-1 was much lighter and had a sense of humor that was usually near the surface, and we’ll just pretend Atlantis was a bad dream. However, SG:U seems like an attempt to shoehorn the Stargate mythology into the dark style and brutal sensibilities of Battlestar Galactica. Don’t get me wrong, I was entertained by the first season and will keep watching, but it’s a departure from what the franchise was, and the melding of the SG mythos with the BSG style results in the proverbial machine that knows all the words but can’t quite get the music right (if that makes any sense). However, I can’t fault it for providing an unexpected reboot of the franchise, and if I only watched shows as good as BSG, then I wouldn’t be watching much. Also, I said I’d watch when it comes back, but I guess that’s making a pretty big assumption: Has it been renewed? — Mike

Matt Roush: Yes, it will be back, with the second season starting Sept. 28 — in a new Tuesday time slot, now that Fridays on Syfy have been turned over to wrestling this fall. (Don’t get me started.) It’s one of my so-far-fruitless goals to catch up with the second half of the Universe season before the new episodes begin. Your reaction of the show feels pretty spot-on to me. There’s no question its tone is darker and harsher than the Stargate norm, and I got the sense many franchise fans were turned off by its relentlessly downbeat nature. I’m certainly intrigued by it, but the fact that so many episodes remain unwatched on my DVR tells me that either my priorities are out of whack or it’s not a world I’m particularly eager to keep exploring. For now, though, keeping an open mind, and even if I end up jumping into the second season without completely finishing the first, I’ll try to give it a shot.

Question: I’ve been getting a bit concerned about Being Human lately. It’s gotten very dark this season as Mitchell has headed down a very scary path in the power vacuum after Harrick’s death. It’s bothered me that we’ve lost some of the whimsy that made me love the first season so much. I hope they lighten things up a bit as we go. I did thoroughly love the scene where Mitchell, stressed out by a long day of vampire taming and a really bad date, goes ape nuts because his favorite TV show has been moved. There’s a vampire after my own heart. — Ann Marie

Matt Roush: Yes, the show is darker and (with those mad experimenting scientists) scarier this season, but I’m OK with that. The characters themselves remain so engaging and amusing, when they aren’t being beaten down by their inner and sometimes outer demons, that I find the new conflicts in their lives (and afterlives) quite gripping. This is still among my favorite supernatural shows of the moment, and I hope Syfy’s Americanized version doesn’t diminish my appetite for this very original piece of dark brilliance.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

The news isn’t too voluminous for once, making this update one of the shortest in a long time; but there is still some good news to share.

TELEVISION

Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse) will guest star in the season premiere of the returning FOX series Human Target. Also, Timothy Omundson (Psych) will return to guest star in that same episode. Molly Parker (Swingtown) and M.C. Gainey (Lost and Justified) are set to guest in episode two. (Korbi at Give Me My Remote)

Michael J. Fox is set to guest star in an upcoming episode of The Good Wife as a pharmaceutical lawyer with a neurological condition. (Maureen Ryan Via Twitter)

Ryan Devlin (Cougar Town) is headed back to Grey’s Anatomy for a multi-episode November sweeps arc, playing the husband of Mandy Moore’s ailing character who will also return to the series in this season’s sixth and seventh episodes, which are slated to air on October 28 and November 4). (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Ross McCall is set to reprise his role on White Collar. He first appeared as Keller an episode to be called Bottlenecked. In this appearance his character looks to avoid a stint in a maximum-security prison. He will receive an assist from a fellow criminal played by Adam Goldberg (The Unusuals and Entourage). It is unclear when this episode will air, but the series will return in January 2011 with new installments. (Fancast and M. L. House at TV Fanatic)

Tiya Sircar (Make It or Break It and The Suite Life on Deck) will guest star on The Vampire Diaries as Amiee Bradley, a high school student who gets involved in supernatural. She will show up on the September 23 episode. (M. L. House at TV Fanatic)

John Glover will be back to reprise his role of Lionel Luthor for multiple episodes of Smallville’s final season. This will be interesting considering the last time he was seen in the show his son Lex pushed him out a window to his death. Glover is booked for at least two episodes, both of which are expected to air in November. He joins a growing list of Smallville alums rejoining the show in its final season, including John Schneider (Pa Kent), Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl), James Marsters (Brainiac), and Michael Shanks (Hawkman). (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Diane Farr (Numb3rs and Rescue Me) will guest in an October episode of Grey’s Anatomy as a patient with Huntington’s disease. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

TV SPECULATION

Longtime followers on Twitter will remember that I [that would be the Televisionary talking] pushed Josh Holloway for the role of Jim Rockford in NBC’s resurrected The Rockford Files back in the spring when I read the pilot script. Michael Ausiello is now pushing Holloway as well and reports that the former Lost star has been “mentioned in connection to the project, but [an unnamed] insider stresses that there are no serious talks going on at this time.” So it’s not like an offer has gone out to Holloway or anything but the project is still alive and kicking, even after an abysmal pilot that starred Dermot Mulroney in the role that James Garner made famous. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly and Televisionary)

DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mutant X

CSI: NY

Andromeda

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Wow, Friday is nearly here. I can’t believe how quickly this work week has flown by. I hope that doesn’t hold true for the weekend, as I think we all would like that to go slowly, right?

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

TELEVISION

Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) will be stopping by Brothers & Sisters this fall, as a new love interest for Saul (Ron Rifkin). No word yet on how long Stephen’s character will stick around, though. (Kristin at E! Entertainment Online)

Fans can relive every triumph, tragedy and touchdown from the very beginning when Friday Night Lights comes to ABC Family on weeknights beginning Tuesday, September 7 at 6 PM. (The Futon Critic)

Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) has been added to the cast of the new CBS cop drama Blue Bloods, playing Charles Rosselini, the boss of Bridget Moynahan’s Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan. Blue Bloods will premiere on September 24 at 10 PM. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) will guest star on the Fox drama Lie To Me this fall, playing Internal Affairs Detective Jenkins, an ambitious, politically savvy police officer on the fast track to the top. She realizes Lightman is someone who must be handled with caution as she tries to bring down Detective Wallowski. She will appear in the third episode, which is slated to air on November. 24. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

The CW has dropped its Canadian import 18 to Life after only three weeks on the air. Repeats of Life Unexpected will return to the Tuesday 9 PM timeslot effective immediately. Six episodes will remain on the shelf here in the U.S. The series, however, will continue in Canada where CBC has ordered a second season. (The Futon Critic)

Stan Lee will guest-star on Eureka, but the network (Syfy) is keeping mum on who or what the comic book legend will play. On the other hand Ming-Na (Stargate Universe), will guest-star next season, portraying Alice Wen, a senator who arrives in Eureka to handle a sensitive matter within Global Dynamics. She may appear in more than one episode. The show airs Fridays at 9 PM. (Denise Martin at TV Guide)

CBS will air a half-hour fall preview on September 6 at 8:30 PM (hosted by Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell, stars of the new drama series, The Defenders) to showcase all the new shows – comedy and drama – that the network will be unveiling this fall. Mark your calendars if you want to get details on the new shows. (The Futon Critic)

The USA Network just renewed Covert Affairs for a second season. (Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Glee

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Idris Elba (The Wire and the upcoming movie Takers) has signed on to play Alex Cross (the James Patterson character) in a reboot of the role originated by Morgan Freeman. This reboot will be an adaptation of the 2006 novel Cross where the forensic psychologist tracks a serial rapist who may have murdered his pregnant wife years before. Elba will next be seen on Showtime’s The Big C and recently starred as a serial killer hunting, unstable cop in the British series Luther that will air on BBC America this fall. (Deadline Hollywood Daily and Dark Horizons)

Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood) has signed on for the ensemble drama Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, which follows an isolated young adult (Toby Regbo) who must contend with his dysfunctional family during his pre-college summer. She will play his sister. Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu and Stephen Lang also star. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Scott Speedman (Underworld) is in negotiations to join the box office film The Vow, which is based on the true story of the newlyweds Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, whose love was tested two months into their marriage when a car accident left her in a coma for weeks. When she awoke, she remembered everyone but her husband. Rachel McAdams will star as the bride while Channing Tatum will be the groom. Speedman is expected to play the bride’s former fiancé who reenters the picture. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

Maggie Gyllenhaal has confirmed that she and her husband Peter Sarsgaard will team for the biopic about bluegrass legend Bill Monroe for which Sarsgaard has been attached to play Monroe. No official announcement has been made yet. (Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Naomi Watts in Doug Liman’s Fair Game Official Trailer

Q&A SECTION (with Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly)

Question: I need some Chuck scoop! —Taylor

Ausiello: Captain Awesome won’t be reviving his short-lived career as international superspy anytime soon. “Last season Awesome realized if there was one place in the world where he wasn’t awesome, it was on spy missions,” notes exec producer Chris Fedak. “He’d like to stay as far away from the spy world as he can.” That’s particularly true now that there’s a mini Awesome on the way. “He is going to be way more into all of the rituals of pregnancy than even Ellie is,” says fellow EP Josh Schwartz of the daddy-to-be. “Like all things in life, Awesome is going to throw himself into the pregnancy with his usual fervor.”

Question: Can you give us Smallville fans any juicy Lois and Clark spoilers? —Wahyu

Ausiello: Episode 6, titled “Harvest,” contains some good Clois action. “It’s a creepy ghost town episode, and Lois and Clark find themselves forced together,” reveals exec producer Brian Peterson. “He doesn’t have his powers, and she finds out a lot more about him than she thought she knew.”

Question: When does the 10-episode final season of Greek premiere? —Emily

Ausiello: Sometime in January. Speaking of which, the final day of shooting is Aug. 26. I’ll be hosting a group hug that morning aboard Los Angeles-bound American Airlines flight # [spoiler alert]. Let’s meet outside the rear lavatory at around, say, 10 a.m. ET.

Question: What did CW prez Dawn Ostroff mean when she said at press tour that Dean will be like Sam and Sam will be like Dean on Supernatural this season? —Isaiah

Ausiello: Let’s ask exec producer Sera Gamble. “When we start the season we very consciously riffed a little bit on season 1 in that Dean is out of the business and Sam comes for him,” she explains. “When we started the series, Sam had attachments. He had a girlfriend he was really serious about, and he had retired from hunting essentially. Dean was this very intense hunter who came for his brother. On the surface anyway, the situation is reversed at the beginning of the season.”

Question: Any scoop on what’s going to happen to Dell’s orphaned daughter Betsy on Private Practice? —Afton

Ausiello: I hear an entire episode will be devoted to answering that very question.

Question: Please tell me some good Castle scoop about Castle and Beckett. —Ilaira

Ausiello: This is probably more bad than good, but Monet Mazur is confirmed to reprise her role as Castle’s ex Gina in this season’s fifth episode.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

It’s over the hump day already. This week is moving along quickly, isn’t it? Let’s get down to the entertainment news for today, shall we?

TELEVISION

Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is joining Desperate Housewives for a multi-episode arc, playing a self-employed business owner and neighbor to Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) will reprise her role as prosecutor Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife, returning in the fourth episode of the new season. Gummer will next be seen in the new Shonda Rhimes series Off the Map about a medical clinic in South America. The series is scheduled to debut midseason on ABC. The Good Wife will be back on September 28 at 10 PM. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Gloria Reuben (ER) will reprise her role as U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson on Law & Order: SVU. In a very intense case involving child slavery, she deputizes Benson and Stabler as U.S. marshals so they can leave Manhattan. (Ileane Rudolph at TV Guide)

Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) has joined the cast of new NBC series Law & Order: Los Angeles, starring in the recurring role of Casey Winters, wife of Det. Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich). Casey is a former cop who has settled down to raise a family. The series will debut on September 29 at 10 PM. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

True Blood will feature the character Hollow Stonebrook in Season Four. Hallow is a “were-sorceress” will turns up in Bon Temps next season. She communicates with the dead, and she’s interested in developing further powers.” No word on who will be cast in the role, however. (Michael Ausiello and Televisionary)

Newcomer Renee Felice Smith is joining NCIS: Los Angeles in the potentially recurring role of Nell, an incredibly bright, somewhat quirky, and extremely chatty intelligence analyst who’ll be assisting Eric (Barrett Foa) in the OPS center. Smith’s biggest role to date was in a project nobody ever saw: Amy Sherman-Palladino’s ill-fated CW pilot The Wyoming Project. (Michael Ausiello and Televisionary)

Mark your calendars: Psych and Burn Notice will be back to the USA Network in November with new episodes. Meanwhile, Royal Pains and White Collar will be back in January as well as the debut of the new show Facing Kate being in January. (The Futon Critic)

A tie-in novel for the popular Canadian series Being Erica has been commissioned, but no other details seem available as yet. (Spoiler TV)

SYFY FALL PROGRAMMING INCLUDES NEW SEASONS OF GHOST HUNTERS, STARGATE UNIVERSE, DESTINATION TRUTH, SANCTUARY, SCARE TACTICS AND FACT OR FAKED

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO is finalizing a deal to develop The Crux, a drama series project starring Kevin Spacey. In the series Spacey will play a charismatic cult leader. Little else is known about the project. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

January Jones (Mad Men) has officially been cast as Emma Frost in the upcoming box office movie X-Men: First Class. The telepathic character, also known as the White Queen, started out as one of the X-Men’s most dangerous foes to one of its most central members. (Deadline New York and Dark Horizons)

Robert De Niro is joining the cast of Manual of Love 3, the third installment of an Italian romantic comedy franchise. Each film has a few different episodes, telling varying romantic stories. De Niro will play a divorced American professor living in Rome in one of the episodes within the film. (Variety and First Showing)

Model Brooklyn Decker has joined the cast of Peter Berg’s adaptation of the board game Battleship, playing one of the female leads, a character named Sam who is described as being able to surf, fight, dance and crush the NY Times crossword puzzle. She is the love interest of Taylor Kitsch, who plays one of the naval commanders in the movie. (Latino Review, Heat Vision and First Showing)

Legendary Swedish actor Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island and Minority Report) is in talks to join the cast of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He will play Henrik Vanger, the man who hires Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to investigate the decades-old disappearance of his favorite great-niece. (Variety and First Showing)

Q&A SECTION (with the TV Gurus at TV Guide)

Question: Got any more scoop on Bones’ new season? — Andrea

ADAM: We hear the show is looking to add a Bill Nye the Science Guy type to woo Brennan… to appear as a guest on his popular children’s TV show. Bones brushes off the request because she doesn’t see him as a serious scientist. But when he persists, Brennan makes him a deal: She’ll do his show if he can help her solve a murder.

Question: I can’t wait for The Good Wife to come back. Do you know who Alicia picks? — Deborah

MICKEY: Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off, with Alicia deciding between standing by her man and answering that fateful phone call. She doesn’t take Will’s call, thanks to Eli Gold, and Julianna Margulies tells us that Will and Alicia will be like “two ships in the night” for a while. But that doesn’t mean that she’s back together with Peter either — though she’s definitely with him. It seems that seeing his feisty wife in the courtroom makes Peter want to debrief her.

Question: How will Criminal Minds resolve last season’s cliff-hanger? — Marcus

ADAM: The season premiere finds the team in what executive producer Ed Bernero calls a “rolling hostage situation,” during which an unexpected member of the team will be called upon to make contact with Tim Curry’s creepy killer in an unorthodox way. “The solution rests on whether or not that team member can convince this psychopath to spare the little girl he’s taken,” Bernero says, adding that “another team member will be affected for a long, long time by what happens.”

Question: What exactly will Vanessa Williams be up to on Desperate Housewives this season? — P.K.D.

MICKEY: It seems she’ll be taking one for the team. We’re hearing that a handsome professional baseball player with some ethical issues will romance one of the

Question: Is Chuck grooming Alex to be a mini-spy? — Ben

MICKEY: It’s no accident that producers have shown us that Casey’s daughter has some serious combat skills. “It’s a spy show, so I think she’s going to be on some missions,” reports Adam Baldwin, who plays Alex’s proud papa.

Question: Is Barney back to his old self now on How I Met Your Mother? — Kingsley

MICKEY: Neil Patrick Harris says that while Barney searches for his dad, he won’t lack female companionship. (Actually, he used much more colorful language, but you get the idea.) Might he birthday-suit up for Zoey, a civic-minded activist who is protesting the destruction of a New York hotel? No. She’ll tangle with Ted, since he’s the guy who’s leveling the historic gem.

Question: How will Smallville deal with having less Chloe this season? — Greg D.

ADAM: As we previously reported, Chloe will give herself up in a trade to save Oliver, who was taken in the season finale. That will keep Chloe off-screen and give Oliver lots to do as he searches for her. Or will it? “Hunting [for her] may not really be a good thing He’s got to weigh that decision,” executive producer Brian Peterson tells us. Adds fellow EP Kelly Souders: “Giving up is maybe not quite the way he would look at it, but letting go might be part of his scenario.”

Question: I love The Big C, but I think it’s sad that Cathy and her husband are apart. Will they ever reconcile? Laura Linney and Oliver Platt are so great together. — Hilary

MICKEY: Well, they don’t have to be together to be great together, do they? In fact, the couple’s fumbling romantic estrangement is the source of much of the upcoming comedy. A particularly hilarious misunderstanding occurs when Cathy says she’d like to have sex in the grass.

Question: What’s coming up on Lie to Me? — Sarah

ADAM: Sounds like the show is cooking up quite a season-ender, thanks in no small part to assurances from the network that it will be back. “We put some characters in jeopardy,” outgoing executive producer Shawn Ryan says. “We really tried to end the season as a launching pad for Season 3. It’s not a Dynasty-esque cliff-hanger, where there’s bloody people on the floor… but there are some pretty high stakes.”

Question: Life Unexpected? Anything? — Tamara

MICKEY: Britt Robertson tells us that there will no more running away for Lux; Season 2 will find her much more settled with her birth parents. “No matter what people did, Lux always felt rejected,” she says. “That’s something she has now overcome.” Good thing too, because her love life is going to get a lot more complicated. Forget Jones vs. Bug: There’s a new surly musician in town, and he’s like catnip to our be-hatted heroine.

That’s it. Enjoy!