Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CASTING NEWS

Superman himself, Henry Cavill, will lead the 8-episode Netflix series Witcher, based on the best-selling books and video games franchise. He will play Geralt, a mutant mercenary whose one true purpose in life is slaying monsters. (Syfy Wire)

Australian actress Jacki Weaver (the original Animal Kingdom) has joined the cast of the upcoming EPIX drama Our Lady, LTD that will star Sir Ben Kingsley. She will play Lillian who, along and Pastor Byron Brown (Kingsley), are known to their parishioners as Ma and Pa and have used religion to bilk hundreds of innocent men and women out of their life savings. Ma, who resembles at first glance a modest, dutiful church lady, is Pa’s willing accomplice, and his counterpart in regard to potency and cruelty. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Dermot Mulroney will have a recurring role on Station 19 as the father to police officer Ryan Tanner (Alberto Frezza). (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Patricia Arquette (Medium) will star in the Hulu anthology series The Act which tells startling, stranger-than-fiction true crime stories, following Gypsy Blanchard, a girl trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother, Dee Dee (Arquette). (Deadline)

Former 007 himself, Timothy Dalton, has joined the cast of the DC Universe upcoming live-action series Doom Patrol, playing leader, Dr. Niles “The Chief” Caulder, a pioneer in medical science, searching the world over for those on the edge of death in need of a miracle. (Deadline)

Actor Sinqua Walls (The Breaks and Teen Wolf) has landed the lead role in the upcoming BET drama series which will be based on the life and career of Soul Train creator Don Cornelius. Walls will play a young Cornelius in the 10-episode series that is inspired by the personal trials and professional successes of the young, ambitious and troubled impresario Cornelius. A premiere date has not yet been set. (Deadline)

Actress Crystal Reed (Gotham and Teen Wolf) has landed the female lead in the DC Universe upcoming drama Swamp thing, based on the legendary DC comic book character. The series will follow Abby Arcane (Reed) as she investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but soon discovers that the swamp holds mystical and terrifying secrets. (Deadline)

Actor Ken Leung (Lost) will have a recurring role on The Blacklist when it returns for its new season this fall, but detail on what character he will be playing are being kept under wraps. (TV Line)

Actress Sofia Vassilieva (Supergirl and Medium) will appear in season two of Black Lightning, playing the DC Comics hero dubbed Looker, who in comic book lore, has had various incarnations: from a mousy bank teller who following a meta-human (and glam) transformation joined the Outsiders superhero team, to, yes, a vampire. But it has yet to be announced what incarnation Looker will be in The CW series. (TV Line)

Actress Jessica Camacho (The Flash and Sleepy Hollow) has joined the ever-growing cast of the upcoming Netflix sci-fi drama Another Life about an astronaut (Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame), who is focused on searching for alien intelligence. Camacho will play the exploratory spacecraft’s brutally honest communications expert. (Deadline and TV Line)

TV NEWS

The half-hour dramedy Younger, which has been airing on TV Land for the past 5 seasons, will return for its 6th season on the Paramount Network, formerly known as Spike TV. (The Hollywood Reporter)

The Paramount Network has canceled the Alicia Silverstone-led series American Woman after only one season on the air. (Variety)

Despite being cancelled after two seasons by ABC, the Kiefer Sutherland-led drama Designated Survivor will be back with a third season on Netflix. The new season will consist of 10 episodes, focusing on President Kirkman (Sutherland) as he faces a political reality–campaign. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Margot Robbie and actor Matthias Schoenaerts are set to star movie thriller Ruin that will be set in the ruins of post-WWII Germany, pic will follow a Holocaust survivor (Robbie) who is forced to make an unlikely alliance with an ex-SS captain (Schoenaerts) in her quest to exact revenge. Together, they hunt down the surviving members of the captain’s former Nazi death squad. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION NEWS

The USA Network has announced that the upcoming fourth season of Mr. Robot, which will air sometime next year, will be its last. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Lyric Ross has been promoted to series regular on This Is Us where she has been recurring as Deja, the teenage girl Randall and Beth took in from the foster system. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Sir Ben Kingsley and actor Jimmi Simpson (Westworld and Psych) have landed roles in the EPIX drama Our Lady, LTD, a modern noir drama that will follow James (Simpson), a young grifter, as he attempts to prey upon Pastor Byron Brown (Kingsley), who turns out to be far more dangerous than he suspects. (Variety)

Actors Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf and Supergirl) and Justin Chatwin (Shameless) have joined the cast of the Netflix sci-fi drama Another Life that centers on astronaut Niko Breckinridge (Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica and Longmire) who is focused on searching for alien intelligence. She leads a crew on a mission to explore the genesis of an alien artifact. Hoechlin will plays Ian Yerxa, the former commander of The Salvare space explorations ship. Chatwin will play Erik Wallace, part of the United States Interstellar Command, dedicated to finding intelligent life out in the universe and Niko’s husband. (The Futon Critic)

Actress Anna Silk (Lost Girl) will have a recurring role in the CBS hour-long action adventure series Blood & Treasure that is set to premiere next summer. The show will center on a brilliant antiquities expert, Danny (Matt Barr from Sleepy Hollow and Valor), and a cunning art thief, Lexi (Sofia Pernas from The Brave), who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. Silk will play Roarke, a skilled international tracker and fighter. (Deadline)

Actor Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill and Sun Records) will have a recurring role in the upcoming third season on the FOX drama Star, playing Xander McPherson, an opportunistic real estate investor who is involved in a toxic relationship with Cassie Brown (Brandy Norwood). (Deadline)

Actress Samantha Mathis (The Strain and Under the Dome) has joined the Showtime series Billions where she will play Sara Hammon, the new COO of Taylor Mason Capital. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Line)

Actress Daniella Alonso (Revolution) has landed a recurring role in the second season of the FOX medical drama The Resident, playing Zoey Barlow, a strong single mother whose two adopted children both have chronic illnesses. (TV Line)

Actor Walton Goggins (Justified) will appear in season 2 of the EPIX drama Deep State, taking over for Mark Strong, who starred in the first season. He will play Nathan Miller, a former CIA operative who now works in the private sector as a Michael Clayton-like fixer for the deep state. Returning cast members include Joe Dempsie, Karima McAdams, Alistair Petrie and Anastasia Griffiths. (Deadline)

Actress Jane Krakowski will appear in the upcoming Apple series Dickinson, the comedy series that will follow renowned poet Emily Dickinson (to be played by Hailee Steinfeld from the Pitch Perfect franchise). Krakowski will play Mrs. Dickinson, Emily’s mother. (Variety)

Actor Alan Tudyk (Firefly) will play the villainous Mr. Nobody in the DC Universe upcoming live-action drama Doom Patrol. Formerly known as Eric Morden, Mr. Nobody is transformed into a baddie after being exposed to mysterious experiments by ex-Nazis in post-war Paraguay. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actor Blake Jenner (Glee) has joined the cast of the Netflix social thriller What/If, which will explore the ripple effects of what happens when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things. The show will star Renee Zellweger and Jane Levy (Suburgatory). Jenner will play a character named Sean, an EMT who is newly married to scientist-entrepreneur Lisa (Levy). (The Futon Critic)

Actor Malik Yoba (New York Undercover and Designated Survivor) has landed a recurring role in the upcoming new drama God Friended Me that will debut on CBS on September 30. He will play Terrence, the uncle of Miles (series lead Brandon Micheal Hall). (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actresses Shantel VanSanten (Shooter) and Rebecca Wisocky (Devious Maids) and actor Eric Ladin (Six and Shooter) have joined the cast of the Apple series For All Mankind, which will explore what would have happened if the global space race had never ended. VanSanten will play Karen Baldwin, the wife of astronaut Edward Baldwin (series Joel Kinnaman) while Ladin will play as Gene Kranz, one of the heads of mission control and Wisocky will play Marge Slayton, the wife of the head of the astronaut program. (Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

Actress Jennifer Esposito (NCIS and Blue Bloods) has landed a key role in the Amazon straight-to-series superhero drama The Boys, which is based on the comic book that is set in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame. It revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as the Boys who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty. Esposito will play CIA Agent Susan Raynor. (Deadline)

STORYLINE NEWS

It’s finally going to happen! Wedding bells will finally ring on NCIS: Los Angeles between Kensi and Deeks, who got engaged last season. It’s looking like the nuptials will happen after Christmas. (Entertainment Weekly)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actor Matt Smith (Doctor Who and The Crown) is joining the cast of Star Wars: Episode IX. It is unknown if he will be on the side of the rebels or the evil empire, but he will be joining returning cast members Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver. (Variety)

Actor Dwayne Johnson will appear as Hawaiian king Kamehameha, the legendary king who was the first to unite the warring Hawaiian Islands. It is reported that it has been a dream of Johnson’s to play the legendary king. (Deadline)

Actors Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and Kyle Schmid (Six, Copper and Blood Ties) will star opposite Bruce Willis in the crime thriller film 10 Minutes Gone that follows a man who loses ten minutes of his memory due to being hit by a stray bullet during a bank heist gone wrong. He must put the pieces of his broken memory together in order to find out who sabotaged the job and took the money, all while being pursued by a powerful crime boss hell-bent on recovering the cash. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/SERIES PICK UPS

Glow has been renewed for a third season by Netflix. (Variety)

ABC has given a straight-to-series order to the drama Reef Break that will star Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace and Unforgettable). The series will revolve around a woman who is a former thief who now works as a “fixer” for the governor of a fictional island in the Pacific. The series is based on an idea of Montgomery’s, which the network has given a 13 episode order to. It is expected to air next summer. (Variety)

Apple has given a series order to a drama based on the famed novel “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov that will revolve around the thousand year saga of the Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it. (Deadline and Variety)

It looks like Veronica Mars just might be coming back to the small screen via Hulu for a 4th season. While the decision has yet to be finalized, IF it goes forward it will be an 8-episode limited run with series star Kristen Bell set to return – around her schedule with the popular NBC comedy The Good Place – and series creator Rob Thomas in board as well. (Deadline)

CASTING NEWS

It looks like Brent Spiner is out but Bruce Boxleitner is in on Supergirl, taking over the role of Vice President Baker, who is described as adept and politically minded, an unlikely leader who steps up in a big way up when his country needs him most. Also, actor Anthony Konechny (Almost Human) will have a recurring role on the show, playing Agent Jensen, a DEO agent recruited by Alex (series regular Chyler Leigh) who struggles to find his footing at the DEO. (The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline)

Actress Karen David (Galavant) has landed a season-long arc on Legacies, the upcoming spin-off series from The Originals/The Vampire Diaries on The CW. The story follows the next generation of supernatural beings at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, where 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) and others come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves — in spite of their worst impulses — all under the watchful eye of headmaster Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). David will play Emma Tig, a beautiful witch-turned-guidance counselor. (Deadline)

Actor Brendan Fraser has been cast as one of the leads – Robotman/Cliff Steele – in the DC Universe upcoming live-action series Doom Patrol. A former race car driver, Cliff Steele was in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable. Cliff’s brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body. Fraser will provide the voice-over for Robotman and will appear in flashback scenes as Cliff Steele. (Deadline)

Actor Graham McTavish (Preacher and Outlander) will have a recurring role in the 4th season of Lucifer that will now be seen on Netflix, playing Father Kinley, a kind, deeply empathetic and revered priest, who is profoundly committed to guarding his flock. That includes doing whatever it takes to keep mankind safe from evil, which doesn’t bode well for a certain devil living in Los Angeles. Also, actress Inbar Lavi (Imposters) will appear as Eve – of Adam and Eve fame – who has “grown restless in her marriage and longs for a less predictable time when things were exciting.” (TV Line)

Actor Kyle Secor (Veronica Mars and The Purge: Election Year) will recur on season 5 of The Flash, playing Caitlin Snow’s hitherto absent father, an extremely intelligent geneticist who has been MIA for decades. Upon returning to Central City, he will try his best to make up for lost time with Caitlin (series regular Danielle Panabaker). (Entertainment Weekly)

Actress Jane Levy (Castle Rock and Suburgatory) will appear alongside Renee Zellweger in the upcoming new Netflix series What/If, a drama anthology from Mike Kelley that will explore the ripple effects when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things. Levy will play a character named Lisa, but other details about the role are being kept quiet for now. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Melanie Liburd has been promoted to series regular on This Is Us for the show’s third season, playing Zoe, Beth’s cool cousin who was seen in the season finale to be Kevin’s girlfriend, traveling to Vietnam with him. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Ennis Esmer has been promoted to series regular on Blindspot, where he has been recurring as Rich Dotcom for the past three seasons. (Deadline)

Actress Dana Delany (Hand of God and China Beach) has joined the cast of the new CBS drama series The Code, which will focus on the military’s brightest minds as they take on our country’s toughest challenges – inside the courtroom and out – where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator – and a Marine. Delany will play Colonel Eisa Turnbull, the Commanding Officer of the Marine Corps’ Judge Advocate Division. The role was played in the pilot by Mira Sorvino. (Deadline)

Actress Selma Blair has joined the cast of the Netflix sci-fi drama Another Life in a recurring role. The series centers on astronaut Niko Breckinridge (Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica and Longmire), who is focused on searching for alien intelligence. She leads a crew on a mission to explore the genesis of an alien artifact. Blair will play 21st century media influencer Harper Glass, who uses journalism, social media and keen intelligence in an attempt to break one of the biggest stories in human history. (Deadline)

Actor Esai Morales (NYPD Blue and How to Get Away With Murder) will have a recurring role on NCIS: Los Angeles, playing Deputy Director Louis Ochoa, a special prosecutor from the Department of Defense who is investigating the NCIS office and its employees. (Deadline)

Actor Reggie Lee (Grimm) has landed a major recurring role in NCIS: New Orleans, playing Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Thompson, who will often butt heads with Dwayne Pride (series lead Scott Bakula) as each have a very different process to approaching and prioritizing their workload. Also, actress Necar Zadegan (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) has joined the cast of the show as a series regular, playing Hannah Khoury, a Special Agent who assumes a leadership spot on the New Orleans team in the wake of the season-ending attempt on Agent Pride’s life. (TV Line and Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Anthony Michael Hall (Dead Zone) will appear in the Riverdale flashback episode that will focus on the teen years of the parents in the show. Hall will play Principal Featherhead. (TV Line)

Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. will guest star in an episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing the father of Lou Grover (series regular Chi McBride, who also wrote the Thanksgiving-themed episode). (TV Line)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Monica Barbaro (UnREAL) will join Tom Cruise and Miles Teller in Top Gun: Maverick, which will be set in a world of drone technology, exploring the end of the era of dogfighting, with Cruise portraying a flight instructor. Barbaro is expected to be a pilot who is also Teller’s love interest in the film. Val Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The film is set to be released on July 12, 2019. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CASTING NEWS

Actress MacKenzie Meehan (Vinyl and The Wolf of Wall Street) will fill the spot left by actress Annabelle Attanasio – who played Cable – on the CBS series Bull. Meehan will Taylor, the newest member of the Trial Analysis Corporation team, who is a former colleague of Marissa’s (Geneva Carr) from her time at the Department of Homeland Security. Taylor’s expertise lies in coding and hacking. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Ethan Peck (the TV series 10 Things I Hate About You) [and the grandson of legendary actor Gregory Peck] will play Spock in Star Trek Discovery in the show’s second season, which is set to premiere next year on CBS All Access. (Variety)

Actors Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon and The Killing) and Michael Dorman (the Amazon series Patriot) and actress Sarah Jones (Alcatraz and Damnation) will appear in Ron Moore’s upcoming Apple space drama – which has yet to be titled – but will take place in a world where the global space race never ended. Kinnaman will play Edward Baldwin, one of the top NASA astronauts. Dorman and Jones have been cast as Gordo and Tracy Stevens, a prominent NASA couple. (Variety and Deadline)

Actress Sandrine Holt (Homeland) has landed a recurring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Lisa Abernathy, a clinical psychologist who consults on cases for the Manhattan district attorney’s office. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Luke Mitchell (Blindspot) will star in the mid-season CBS drama The Code, playing Capt. John “Abe” Abraham, who operates out of the Judge Advocate General Headquarters in Quantico. He is a driven prosecutor for whom becoming a Marine is a longstanding family tradition and a responsibility he treats with devotion and passion. He replaces Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters), who played the role in the pilot. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Michael Angarano (The Knick and Will & Grace) will appear in season three of This Is Us, playing Nicky, younger brother to Jack, who died during the Vietnam War. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Renee Zellweger will star in the Netflix social thriller anthology What/If, which explores the ripple effects of what happens when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things. She will play Anne, a shrewd and mercurial San Francisco venture capitalist. (Deadline)

Actor Travis Van Winkle (The Last Ship) will have a recurring role in season two of the CBS drama Instinct, playing Ryan Stock, a quiet, ex-military police officer from Nebraska, who travels to New York City as part of a task force in pursuit of a killer from his home town that he believes to be responsible for a murder in Manhattan. (TV Line)

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The History Channel has renewed Knightfall for a second season. The show will also add new cast members, including Star Wars vet Mark Hamill in the role of Talus, a battle-hardened Knights Templar veteran of the Crusades who survived captivity for ten years in the Holy Land and is tasked with training the new initiates to the Order. (Variety)

Hulu has renewed Castle Rock for a second season. (Variety)

Anne With an E has been renewed by Netflix for a third season. (Variety)

After three seasons, the USA Network has canceled the drama Shooter. (Variety)

The Royals has been cancelled by E! Entertainment Network after four seasons. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CASTING NEWS

Actor Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect) will take over the role of Greg on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend from departing recurring guest star Santino Fontana who was written off the show until the beginning of the show’s second season. The switch will not be glossed over on the show. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot is nearly set to star in and executive produce a Showtime series based on the life and career of Hedy Lamarr, the Austrian-born actress who became one of the most famous American film stars of her generation, who was also a celebrated inventor, credited with creating a frequency-hopping signal during World War II that could help the Allies disrupt radio controlled torpedoes. The series has not been formally picked up at the premium cabler as yet, but would be a limited series should it become finalized. (Variety)

Actress Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) has landed the role of Batwoman in the annual crossover event between The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl which is slated to air sometime in December. The CW is also currently developing a series based around this character, whose real name is Kate Kane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, she soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence, If the show gets picked up, it would debut during the 2019-2020 season. (Variety)

Actor Danny Nucci (The Fosters) has landed a recurring role in The Rookie, the Nathan Fillion lead series that is set to debut on ABC this fall. He will play Detective Sanford Motta, a tough major assault crimes detective in the station. (Deadline)

Actors Michael McGrady (Ray Donovan) and Ruffin Prentiss (The Arrangement) will both have recurring roles in the second season of the CBS military drama SEAL Team. McGrady will play Commanding Officer Harrington, a confident and skilled mentor to members of Bravo team. Meanwhile, Prentiss will play Summer Kairos, the team’s new EOD (Explosives Ordinance Disposal) tech. (Deadline)

Actor Chris Vance (Transporter: The Series, Supergirl and Burn Notice) will have a recurring role in the upcoming 5th season of Amazon’s drama Bosch, playing Dalton Walsh, the Big Boss of the opioid ring. (Deadline)

Michael Consuelos, the real life son of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, will play his father’s character – Hiram Lodge – in a season 3 flashback episode of Riverdale that will find the cast members playing teen versions of their onscreen parents (KJ Apa as young Fred, Lili Reinhart as young Alice and Camila Mendes as young Hermione). (TV Line)

Actress Kiana Madeira (the Facebook series Sacred Lies) has landed a recurring role in The Flash this fall, playing Spencer Young – aka Spin – who was originally a male character in the DC comics. This version she will be an aspiring social media influencer who seizes the opportunity to make herself famous when she discovers there’s a new hero in Central City. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actor Jovian Wade (EastEnders) has landed the series regular role of Vice Stone – aka Cyborg – in the DC Universe’s live-action series Doom Patrol that is a reimagining of one of DC’s strangest group of outcasts, including Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero). Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder, the Doom Patrol is called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Wade’s Cyborg. Banding together these rejects find themselves on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe. (TV Line)

RENEWALS

Homeland will come to an end after its upcoming 8th season, which is set to premiere on Showtime in June 2019. (Variety)

Queen Sugar has been renewed for a 4th season by OWN. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWAL NEWS

OWN has given a second season order to Love Is ____. (Variety)

FX has renewed American Horror Story for a tenth season. (Variety)

TV NEWS

NBC has given Timeless a special two-part series finale. No premiere date has been set yet, but it is expected to air around the winter holidays. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Diane Guerrero (Orange Is the New Black) has joined the live-action cast of the DC Universe series Doom Patrol that is a reimagining of one of DC’s most beloved group of outcast superheroes, focusing on Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman and Crazy Jane, the latter of which will be played by Guerrero. The series will pick up after the events of Titans, which is also in the works at DC Universe. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Dustin Milligan (X Company) will guest star in Blindspot when it returns for its fourth season this fall, but no character details are currently available. (TV Line)

Nashville alum Chris Carmack will have a big recurring role on Grey’s Anatomy, when it returns for its 15th season on ABC starting this fall. He will play an orthopedic surgeon who comes to work at Grey Sloan Memorial, who is also known as an Ortho God. Further details, of course, are being kept under wraps. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation) will have a recurring role on Supergirl this fall, playing the U.S. Vice President Baker, an unlikely leader who will nonetheless step up in a big way when his country needs him. (Variety)

Actress Jolene Purdy (Under the Dome and Orange Is the New Black) will appear in the next season of The Magicians, playing maenad Shoshana, an emotional creature who stands between party God Bacchus and an old buddy who desperately seeks him. (Deadline)

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party of Five and Ghost Whisperer) has landed a series lead role in the second season of 9-1-1 on FOX. (Deadline)

Actor Patrick Stewart will reprise his role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard will appear in a brand new as yet untitled Star Trek series on CBS All Access. The exact plot details are being kept under wraps, but the story is supposedly set to tell the story of the next chapter of Picard’s life. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Actress Priyanka Chopra (Quantico) is in talks to join Chris Pratt in the box office film Cowboy Ninja Viking, which is based on the Image Comics graphic novel that revolves around an assassin who manifests the toughest skills of three different personas: a cowboy, a ninja and a Viking. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Yellowstone has been renewed for a second season by Paramount Network. (Variety)

Showtime has renewed The Affair for a fifth and final season in advance of the start of the drama’s 4th season. (Variety)

Good Witch will be back for a 5th season at Hallmark Channel (TCA Report)

Amazon has ordered a third season of Sneaky Pete. (Variety)

AMC has given Better Call Saul and Fear the Walking Dead (both) for a 5th season and given McMafia a second season renewal. (Variety)

Lifetime has renewed the new drama You for a second season well in advance of the show’s debut season, which is set for September 9. (Variety)

The Netflix drama Altered Carbon has been given a second season renewal with Marvel’s alum Anthony Mackie taking over the lead role. (Variety)

AT&T Audience Network via DirecTV has given the new drama Condor a second season renewal. (The Hollywood Reporter)

SERIES PICK UPS

Amazon has ordered a 13-episode limited series based on the Taylor Jenkins Reid novel Daisy Jones & The Six, which centers on a fictional rock band in the 1970s, following their rise through the ranks of the LA music scene and beyond, eventually becoming one of the most legendary bands in the world. (Variety)

Netflix has picked up the acclaimed comic book franchise Locke & Key to series, bringing an 8 year saga to adapt the project to the small screen. The story revolves around three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Massachusetts only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. Little do they know, a devious demon also wants the keys, and will stop at nothing to attain them. (Variety)

Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark Channel, has announced there will be a spinoff of the network’s popular long-running series When Calls the Heart, currently titled When Hope Calls that will stream exclusively on the Hallmark Movies Now platform. (Parade)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Luke Baines will take over the role of Jonathan Morgenstern in the remaining episodes of the third and final season of Shadowhunters, taking over the role from Will Tudor (Humans). (Deadline)

Actress Kathryn Newton (Supernatural and Little Women) has been cast in an untitled series at Netflix that will follows a group of teenagers who are mysteriously transported to a facsimile of their wealthy New England town, left without any trace of their parents. As they struggle to figure out what has happened to them and how to get home, they must establish order and form alliances if they want to survive. The series is a modern take on The Lord of the Flies. (Variety)

FX has ordered a limited series based on the life of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon that will star Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams in the lead roles. Based on Fosse, the biography written by Sam Wasson, the untitled 8-part series will tell the story of the romantic and creative partnership between Fosse and Verdon. Fosse was a visionary filmmaker and one of theater’s most influential choreographers and directors, while Verdon was the greatest Broadway dancer of all time. The limited series is set to launch in 2019. (Variety)

The National Geographic channel is planning an Ebola scripted mini-series called The Hot Zone that will star Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife and Dietland). The series will be set during 1989 in Washington, D.C. with Margulies playing Dr. Nancy Jaax, a U.S. Army scientist working with a secret military SWAT team who puts her life on the line to head off an Ebola outbreak before it can spread to the human population. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Rising British star Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country) will play Prince Charles in next season of The Crown on Netflix, stepping into the role of the heir to the throne for the 3rd and 4th seasons. Meanwhile actress Marion Bailey (Allied) will play Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, taking over the role from Victoria Hamilton. (Variety)

Actress Rhona Mitra (The Last Ship) will have a season-long recurring role in Supergirl, playing villainess Mercy Graves, who is known from the comics as super villain Lex Luthor’s longtime bodyguard. Also actor Robert Baker (Grey’s Anatomy and The Originals) will also be joining the cast in the recurring role of Mercy’s brother Otis, who serves as her right-hand man. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actresses Missi Pyle (Impulse), Spencer Locke (Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Sherri Shepherd (30 Rock) and actor Bailey Chase (Longmire) have joined the cast of the Netflix film Walk Ride Rodeo, a biopic about paralyzed rodeo champion Amberley Snyder (Locke). The film will follow the story of nationally-ranked barrel racer Snyder who, at 19 years old, barely survived a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her doctors said she would never walk again, let alone ride, but she overcame her prognosis and was back on her horse 18 months after the accident. (Deadline)

As most know, actor Seann William Scott has taken over the lead in Lethal Weapon after Clayne Crawford was fired from the series. Scott will play Wesley Cole, a war veteran and new partner of Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans). Actress Maggie Lawson (Psych) will have a recurring role in the new season, playing Natalie Flynn, an emergency room surgeon and Cole’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his child. (Deadline)

Actress Garcelle Beauvais (The Magicians and NYPD Blue) will have a recurring role on the Freeform drama Siren when it returns for its second season. She will play Maddie’s (Fola Evans-Akingbola) mom, who returns to Bristol Cove to make amends with her family. (TV Line)

Actor Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure and Numb3rs) will guest star in an episode of Chicago P.D., playing Evan Gilchrist, an outspoken critic of the police department who is forced to call on CPD for help when his teen daughter goes missing. (TV Line)

Actress Annie Ilonzeh (Arrow and Charlie’s Angels) will have a recurring role on Chicago Fire, playing paramedic Emily Foster, who is new to the Chicago Fire Department. Also actor Steven Boyer (Trial & Error) will recur as former firefighter-turned-CFD Assistant Deputy Commissioner Jerry Gorsch, who has his sights set on a cushier job at headquarters. (Variety, Deadline and TV Line)

Actress Alfre Woodard will star opposite Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones and Aquaman) in the new drama See that will debut on Apple. The show is described as a world-building drama set in a future where humans have lost the sense of sight; the new, sightless world order is thrown into chaos, then, when a set of sighted twins are born. Earlier this year, the drama got a 10-episode, straight-to-series order from Apple. Woodard will play Paris, a priestess and advisor. Momoa will play warrior/leader/guardian Baba Voss. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actress Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan) will guest star in multiple episodes of Bull, playing a new client who asks Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly) to help her with one of the most challenging and emotional cases he has ever faced. (TV Line)

Actor Rob Morgan (Daredevil) will have a recurring role on This Is Us, playing Solomon Brown, a city councilman who oversees the district where Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) late birth father William lived. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Line)

Actress Sela Ward (CSI: NY) has joined the upcoming CBS new fall drama FBI, playing Dana Mosier. This character is expected to take over as boss of the New York FBI office, replacing departing cast member Connie Nielsen’s character Ellen. Nielsen exited the series back in May after co-starring in the pilot.) (Deadline and TV Line)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Actor Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey and Legion) will star alongside Harrison Ford in the 20th Century Fox movie Call of the Wild. It is unclear what role Stevens will play, however. Ford will play John Thornton, a prospector searching for gold in the unforgiving Yukon. The film is a big-budget adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel. (Variety)

Actress Bryce Dallas Howard will play Elton John’s mother in the Paramount biopic Rocketman that will include John’s emergency as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music to becoming a music superstar and his partnership with songwriting collaborator Bernie Taupin. Actor Taron Egerton (Kingsman franchise) will play Elton John while Jamie Bell (TURN: Washington’s Spies) will play Bernie Taupin. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS/REBOOT PLANS

Hulu has announced that the 4th and final season of UnREAL will stream on its service. (Press Release from Hulu)

The Canadian series Ransom has been renewed for a third season, and given that CBS has aired the other two seasons here in the States, it is anticipated the network will do that for the new season. (Twitter)

Wynonna Earp has been renewed for a fourth season at Syfy. (The Hollywood Reporter)

The USA Network has cancelled Colony after three seasons. This week final episode will serve as the show’s series finale. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

The Man in the High Castle, which returns to Amazon for its third season on October 5, has been given a fourth season renewal. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

A TV reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in development at 20th Century Fox Television with original series creator Joss Whedon onboard to executive produce. The reboot will see a black actress take over the title role. No network is attached to the series. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Jenna Dewan (The Witches of East End) will have a recurring role on The Resident for the show’s second season. She will play Julian Lynn, a sharp and sophisticated medical device rep with an ability to connect with just about anybody. (Variety)

Actress Anne Heche (The Brave) will have a recurring role on Chicago P.D., playing Dep. Superintendent Katherine Brennan. (Deadline and TV Line)

Sam Witwer (Being Human) has joined Supergirl in the series regular role of the DC Comics character Agent Liberty. (Entertainment Weekly and Spoiler TV)

Actress Amirah Vann (Underground) has been promoted to series regular status on How to Get Away With Murder for the show’s upcoming 5th season. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actress Diona Reasonover, who has been recurring on NCIS as forensic scientist Kasie Hines, has been promoted to series regular. (TVLine)

Actor Jeff Ward has been promoted to series regular on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@Marvel and The Futon Critic)

Actors Nestor Carbonell (Lost) and Josh Kelly (UnREAL) and actress Jaime Ray Newman (The Magicians) have joined the 2nd season of Midnight, Texas in recurring roles. Carbonell and Newman will play Kai and Patience Lucero, the owners of Midnight’s new hotel while Kelly will play Walker Chisum, an openly gay demon hunter who has an intense connection with resident angel Joe Strong (Jason Lewis). (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Chris Klein (American Pie) will play the series regular role of Cicada, the scourge of Central City, in this new season of The Flash. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Boris Kodjoe (Code Black) will recur on Station 19, playing a seasoned firefighter with a mysterious past. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Penelope Ann Miller (American Crime) will play DAMs. Wright in the upcoming third season of Riverdale. (Deadline)

Actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will appear in the second season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan when it airs on Amazon. She will play Harriet “Harry” Baumann, a formidable agent in Germany’s Secret Intelligence, who meets up with Ryan in South America. (Deadline)

Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them) is joining Season 9 of The Walking Dead as a new series regular playing iconic villain Alpha, leader of the Whisperers. (Deadline)

Actor Tim Kang (The Mentalist) has been added to the cast of the upcoming Magnum P.I. reboot, playing Detective Gordon Katsumoto. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Jennifer Hudson and singer Taylor Swift and actors James Corden and Ian McKellen have been cast in the upcoming movie version of the smash musical Cats. (The Daily Mail and Variety)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

Actor Jason Clark and actress Helen Mirren have been cast in the HBO mini-series Catherine the Great. Clarke will star as Grigory Potemkin, a Russian military commander who became Catherine the Great’s lover, favored statesman and life-long friend. Meanwhile, Mirren will star as the titular Russian monarch, a strong-minded, independent, brilliantly intelligent and sexually liberated. (Variety)

COOL FAN SHORT

Wanna see Nathan Fillion as PlayStation character Nathan Drake from the video game series Uncharted? Check out the link to the short below from Dark Horizons:

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CASTING NEWS

Actor Charles Esten (Nashville) will next appear in the upcoming TNT thriller Tell Me Your Secrets that centers on a trio of characters each with a mysterious and troubling past, including Emma (Lily Rabe from American Horror Story), a young woman who once looked into the eyes of a dangerous killer, John (Hamish Linklater from Legion), a former serial predator desperate to find redemption and Mary (Amy Brenneman from Private Practice), a grieving mother obsessed with finding her missing daughter. Esten will play Saul Barlow, a grieving father who has coped with the disappearance of his daughter by walking away from materialism and trying to move on from the loss. This has severely strained his relationship with his wife Mary, who refuses to give up the search. (Deadline and Spoiler TV)

Actors Chris McNally (Altered Carbon and the Hallmark Channel movie The Sweetest Heart) and Kevin McGarry (Heartland and the Hallmark Channel movie Love at First Bark) have joined the cast of When Calls the Heart for the show’s upcoming 6th season. McNally will play Lucas Bouchard, a charming gambler and saloon owner who has a lot up his sleeve while McGarry will play the role of Nathan Grant, the new Mountie in town. (Soap Opera News)

Actress Annabelle Attanasio will not be returning for season three on the CBS drama Bull, as she will direct her first feature film, a passion project she’s been working on for 4 years; the filming of which will conflict with production of Bull. (The Futon Critic and TV Line)

Actor George Newbern (Scandal) will recur on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Al Pollack, a charming, handsome and very wealthy doctor who is a past and future love interest to Detective Rollins (Kelli Giddish). (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Grimm and Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves) will appear on Blindspot in the top-secret recurring role of Madeline Burke. (The Futon Critic and TV Line)

SHOW PRODUCTION NEWS

ITV in Britain and PBS in the US are working together on the 8-part lavish period epic Sanditon based on the unfinished final novel by Jane Austen that follows Charlotte Heywood, a spirited and impulsive woman who moves from her rural home to Sanditon, a sleepy fishing village attempting to reinvent itself as a seaside resort. Heywood’s spiky relationship with the humorous, charming Sidney Parker is a key part of the story. (Variety)

HBO has given a straight-to-series order to the Victorian drama The Nevers from Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Firefly). The series is an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies and a mission that might change the world. (The Hollywood Reporter)

RENEWALS

FX has given a second season renewal to the new drama Pose. (Variety)

Starz has renewed Sweetbitter for a second season. (Variety)

MOVIE NEWS

Downton Abbey is coming back – this time on the big screen. The original cast is set to return and filming will get started in September. (Variety)

TRAILER

Here is the first look teaser at the new Doctor Who and HER new friends

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS AND PICK-UPS

TNT has renewed Claws for a third season and Animal Kingdom for a fourth season. (Variety)

Netflix has picked up a 10-episode order of the FOX pilot Mixtape that didn’t go to series at the major network. Mixtape is a romantic musical drama that will look at the love stories connecting a diverse, disparate group of people in contemporary Los Angeles through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds. The cast will include Jenna Dewan, Callie Hernandez and Madeline Stowe [among others]. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress-singer Brandy Norwood has been promoted to series regular for season 3 of the FOX drama Star, playing Cassie Brown, the sister of Carlotta (Queen Latifah). (Deadline)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and actor Idris Elba (Thor and Luthor) have joined the spin-off of the Fast and Furious franchise to be called Hobbs and Shaw (the characters played by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. Elba is expected to play the main villain. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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