Actress Allison Mack (Smallville and Wilfred) will be joining the cast of The Following where she will play Hillary, a naive, small-town police officer caught up in Ryan Hardy’s (series lead Kevin Bacon) hunt for a serial killer. The Following will be back on FOX on March 2 with a 2-hour season premiere. (Sydney Bucksbaum at E! Online)
The cast for the Game of Thrones-esque epic series The Last Kingdom from BBC America, BBC Two and Carnival Films has been announced. The 8-part historical drama, adapted from The Saxon Stories, the best-selling series of books by Bernard Cornwell, is set in 9th century, combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters during the reign of Alfred the Great, who as King of Wessex fought off a Viking invasion. The cast includes actors Alexander Dreymon (American Horror Story), veteran actor Rutger Hauer, Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice and Ripper Street) and Ian Hart (Boardwalk Empire) [among others]. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)
Actor George Eads will leave the long-running CBS drama CSI at the end of the show’s current season. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 box offices movies from this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 1 – 123 million
2. Big Hero 6 – 20 million
3. Interstellar – 15.1 million
4. Dumb and Dumber To – 13.8 million
5. Gone Girl – 2.8 million
6. Beyond the Lights – 2.6 million
7. St. Vincent – 2.3 million
8. Fury – 1.9 million
9. Birdman – 1.8 million
10. The Theory of Everything – 1.5 million
Actor Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) will appear as the villain in the upcoming 2016 feature film X-Men: Apocalypse. (Justin Kroll at Variety)
Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
Question: Do you know when we’ll find out who killed Sara on Arrow? — Steven
Natalie: I took your question straight to executive producer Marc Guggenheim: “I’ve always maintained that you’d find out the answer to who murdered Sara by the end of the year,” he says. “That said, I will say that the S.T.A.R. Labs team is going to end up providing a critical piece of information that cracks open the whole case, but that doesn’t necessarily happen in [the crossover].”
Question: Any chance of some Switched at Birth scoop? — Lila
Natalie: The show will pay homage to It’s a Wonderful Life during their holiday episode. “Daphne and Bay want each other’s lives and their lives get switched,” Lea Thompson teases. “There’s magic involved.” But the girls may get more than they wished for when they discover the Kennish family is not on the best of terms and Regina is back to her drinking days.
Actor Justin Chatwin (Shameless) has joined the cast of Orphan Black for the show’s upcoming third season on BBC America, but there no details on who he will be playing, though. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)
Actor Sebastian Pigott (Pacific Rim, Bomb Girls and Being Erica) has landed a recurring role on Revenge where he will play Lyman Ellis, Louise’s (recurring guest star Elena Satine) brother, a driven politician. (The Deadline Team)
Veteran actor William Shatner will appear in a multi-episode arc of Haven, playing a pivotal character that has the potential to forever impact the fate of the town of Haven and its Troubled residents. (Shaw Media Press Release)
MINI-SERIES NEWS
Actor Mike Vogel (Under the Dome and Bates Motel) has joined the cast of the upcoming Syfy six-hour mini-series Childhood’s End that is being adapted from the Arthur C. Clarke novel that follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture. Vogel will appear as Ricky Stormgren, a mid-western farmer whose life is turned upside down when he is chosen to be the sole representative on Earth for the Overlords. The cast of the mini includes Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) and it will debut sometime next year. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actor Matt Smith (Doctor Who) will star alongside Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) in the box office film Patient Zero. The film will focus on an unprecedented global pandemic of a super strain of rabies that results in the evolution of a new species driven by violence. An inexplicably immune human survivor with the ability to communicate with this new species must spearhead a hunt for Patient Zero in order to find a cure to save his infected wife and humanity. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)
Actress Merrin Dungey (Alias and Betrayed) has landed a recurring role on Once Upon a Time, playing The Little Mermaid villain Ursula. She will be teamed with actress Victoria Smurfit (Dracula), who will play Cruella de Vil and actress Kristin Bauer van Straten (True Blood), who returns as Maleficent. (Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
Actor Riley Smith (True Blood) has landed a recurring role on the second season of True Detective, playing Steve Mercier, a boyish Sheriff’s deputy, the boyfriend of Rachel McAdams character. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Michael Ealy (Almost Human) has landed a series regular role on The Following where he will play the new face of evil, a brilliant, chameleon-like killer who will push Ryan Hardy (series lead Kevin Bacon) to the brink. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
The A&E drama Longmire may have been cancelled, but it has been saved by Netflix, who has picked up the show for a 10-episode fourth season that will air sometime in 2015. (TV Guide Magazine)
Actor Billy Baldwin (Parenthood) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Forever, playing Oliver Clausten, a work-hard, play-hard Wall Street CEO who’s accustomed to getting things his way and lives his life with a master-of-the-universe charm and top-predator charisma. When his protégé Jason Fox winds up dead, the show will peel back the layers of Jason’s humble beginnings and introduction to Oliver, his company, and the dangerously cutthroat world that ultimately lead to his demise. (Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actress Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) and actor Richard Armitage (The Hobbit franchise) will appear in the big screen psychological thriller Sleepwalker that has O’Reilly playing a grad student who goes to a campus sleep clinic to treat her insomnia and nightmares, but instead starts experiencing unsettling changes in her waking reality every time she wakes up. With the help of a doctor (Armitage), she attempts to find her way back to normalcy by unraveling the tangled knot of her dreams, reality, and shockingly tragic past. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)
Question: What have you got about Tony on NCIS? — Marla, via Twitter
Adam: You definitely haven’t seen the last of Keats, Tony’s former partner with whom some sparks flew recently. “That connection…will come up again at some point,” executive producer Gary Glasberg tells us. “It was a tough year for Tony DiNozzo last year. We’re going to continue down the road of getting back to what we call the old Tony DiNozzo — [seeing him] spreading his wings a little bit and enjoying himself.” But not all the character’s exploration will come through love interests. Glasberg teases that Robert Wagner will return as Tony Sr. in a winter episode that offers “more insight into Tony DiNozzo when he was younger.”
Question: What can you tell me about Castle’s mid-season finale? Will it deal with Castle’s disappearance at all? — Caleb
Adam: Executive producer David Amann suggests that the writers won’t be picking up that mystery again until probably February, during this season’s big two-parter episode. But the midseason finale should pack plenty of punch. Because it serves as this season’s Christmas episode, it has a bit of a lighter touch…right up until the end. “We’re looking at a bit of a game-changer for Castle at the end of the episode,” Amann teases, although he promises that Castle and Beckett aren’t getting a quickie divorce. “The events of the episode will cause a shift…in Castle’s life in a fairly significant way.” Bah humbug!
Question: Will Keller be a thorn in Neal’s side now that he’s working for Interpol on White Collar? — Chris
Adam: Because Keller and Neal ultimately have the same goal — to take down the Pink Panthers — they find themselves as unlikely allies. And working together might perhaps change how Neal feels about Keller — and himself. “That’s a relationship I’ve always loved because they’re always the shadowy reflection of each other, that yin and yang,” creator Jeff Eastin says. “It gives Neal a chance to dig in and look inside and ask, ‘Who am I?’ Ultimately, that’s what I think the series has been about: Neal trying to figure out who he is. Is he a good guy or a bad guy?”
Question: Is McQuaid’s wife really dead on Covert Affairs? What if she’s alive and working with Belenko? — Justin
Adam: That would be something, right? Alas, creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord promise that McQuaid’s late wife, whom he casually mentioned in the summer finale, is just part of his backstory. “The stakes of these [remaining episodes] are so high and focused on Auggie that we’re not really finding time for other things, so that’s not something that will come up,” Ord says. “But never say never in the future.”
Actress Lolita Davidovich and actor James Frain (Intruders and True Blood) will have recurring roles in the second season of True Detective that will revolve around three police officers to be played by Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch and Rachel McAdams and a career criminal (Vince Vaughn) who must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder. Davidovich will play Kitsch’s mother Nancy Simpson, a girly girl, a former showgirl continually sucking on cigarettes and margaritas as she mourns the loss of male sexual attention. While Frain will play Jeff Hunt, a ruthless police lieutenant. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Samantha Mathis (The Good Wife) has joined the FX drama series The Strain, playing Justine Feraldo, a no-nonsense City Councilwoman for Staten Island who manages to use her cadre of hardcore cops to cleanse Staten Island of bloodsuckers. (Denise Petski at Deadline)
HBO has ordered the new drama Westworld to series, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Miranda Otto and Rodrigo Santoro (among others) in the dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. (The Futon Critic)
FX has picked up the high-profile BBC period drama Taboo that will star Tom Hardy. The drama will be set in 1813, centering on James Keziah Delaney (Hardy), a rogue adventurer who returns from Africa with 14 ill-gotten diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father. Refusing to sell the family business to the East India Company, he sets out to build his own trade and shipping empire and finds himself playing a very dangerous game. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Stuart Townsend (Betrayed) has landed a multi-episode arc on the CBS drama Elementary where he will play Joan’s new boss, Del. When Joan embarks on a part-time gig as an investigator for a global insurance firm, she expects a fresh source of fascinating cases, but it’s her appealing new supervisor who proves to be the most interesting thing about the job. He will appear in the show’s first episode back in 2015. (Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Callie Thorne (Necessary Roughness) will guest star in an upcoming episode of NCIS: New Orleans, playing Sasha, the daughter of a mob boss who started a non-profit organization to give back to the community and try to rehabilitate her image. When someone close to her becomes the suspect in a recent murder, she must work with investigators to help solve the case. (Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 box offices films for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Dumb and Dumber To – 38 million
2. Big Hero 6 – 36.1 million
3. Interstellar – 29.2 million
4. Beyond the Lights – 6.5 million
5. Gone Girl – 4.6 million
6. St. Vincent – 4 million
7. Fury – 3.8 million
8. Nightcrawler and Ouija – 3 million
10. Birdman – 2.4 million
Actor Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) will produce and star in the box office sci-fi action film called Convergence. Details on the film, however, are being kept under wraps. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush from TV Guide, Kristin dos Santos at E! Online and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Question: Regarding Supernatural’s 200th episode, a musical done-by-a-girls-school version of a prophet-written series of poorly received paperbacks about the Winchester brothers who hunt things that go bump in the night. As a musical? No, it wasn’t exactly Andrew “Floyd” Webber. As a tip of the hat to “watchers?” No, it wasn’t exactly as much of a valentine to the fans (TV viewers, fan-fic writers, artists, ‘shippers, i.e., the formidable “Destielers”) who’ve kept the show on the air for 10 seasons. No it wasn’t exactly what anyone thought it would be. But … As a 200th episode? It was exactly what keeps us coming back to watch Supernatural. It was about family — whether you’re in the cast or in the audience. So, kudos to everyone concerned. — Deana
Matt Roush: What a blast that episode was: so clever, so funny, and it seems to me that the most loyal and passionate fans couldn’t have asked for a more playful, affectionate and tuneful valentine to celebrate this milestone. Maybe this meta smorgasbord didn’t quite hit the heights of Buffy’s classic “Once More With Feeling” musical episode, but what could? I think my favorite joke, which says more about me than it does the show, was less about Supernatural and more about musical theater, when one of the theater nerds said, “Did he just quote Rent?” and the other responded, “Not enough to get us into trouble.” Hee. All together now: “Ghost Facers!” And really, what a gorgeous cover of “Carry On Wayward Son.”
Question: Anything on Castiel from Supernatural? – Lissa
Kristin: Raise your hand if you missed seeing the real Castiel during the 200th episode?! Yeah, us too. Thankfully, Supernatural is going to get Cas-centric for a major chunk of this season. “Castiel is going to be faced with his fading grace yet again,” Misha Collins told us. “But he’s also going to be faced with a character from his past.” And that character is none other than Claire Novak, a.k.a. Castiel’s vessel Jimmy’s daughter!
Question: Are Thea and Roy going to get back together on Arrow this season? – Leah
Kristin: Doesn’t sound like we’ll see these two crazy, butt-kicking kids are reuniting anytime soon, and it’s all thanks to one Carrie Diaries stud. Austin Butler is about to make his debut on the CW superhero drama as Chase, a DJ who catches Thea’s eye. And their first interaction? “It’s incendiary!” executive producer Marc Guggenheim says with a laugh. “Austin Butler plays Chase and he has incredible onscreen chemistry with Willa Holland. Expect some sparks to fly between the two of them.”
Question: Will Octavia and Lincoln be reunited on The 100? – Lil_ksmalls
Kristin: Now that Lincoln’s being held prisoner in Mount Weather for that mysterious Cerberus project, don’t get your hopes up for a happy ending for Linctavia. But Devon Bostick did give us hope for some other characters that are going to reunite…if they can stay alive long enough, that is. “There’s going to be some great reunions,” he teased. “People are still trying to find each other and it’s going to be a tough struggle and battle. Some people are going to get unhinged a little. And there are some shocking deaths pretty much all the time going forward.”
Question: Anything on Red Band Society, my new favorite show? – Madison
Kristin: Is it hard for anyone else to watch Emma’s storyline? Well, it’s about to get even harder when Emma may or may not be released from the hospital before she’s ready, and we see just how much her disease has impacted her family, especially her younger sibling
Question: Rafael and Jane’s big kiss. That was HOT! What’s coming up for them on Jane the Virgin? – Izzie
Kristin: That steamy kiss is actually going to have a very big effect on Jane…and her mother? Oh yes, Xiomara is going to have a lot to say about her daughter moving on so fast from Michael. “Jane is about to make some serious decisions about Michael and Rafael, and the way she’s vocal with her mother is the way that her mother is going to be vocal back to her,” Gina Rodriguez told us on set. “It will be nice to see her mother putting her foot down because that is what Jane needs right now. Is Jane going to be opposed to it? Of course, but it’s going to be nice to see Xo taking on the real mother role and to see Jane’s growing respect for that.”
Question: Any scoop on next month’s Flash/Arrow crossover? —Mason
Ausiello: We’ll learn that The Flash‘s Captain Boomerang (played by Spartacus vet Nick Tarabay) has a surprising connection to Starling City. As exec producer Greg Berlanti teases: “He’s got a relationship to one of our recurring [Arrow] characters, but I shouldn’t say who.”
BONUS SPOILER: The Weather Wizard is returning! No, not the one that brewed a storm in the pilot — his brother. Turns out that Mark Mardon survived the same plane crash that his kin was in, and as such possesses the same, but lethally refined, weather-controlling powers. Oh, and he wants Detective West (AKA Clyde’s killer) dead. Translation: The forecast calls for a s–tstorm.
Question: I would love Arrow spoilers. —Ashley
Ausiello: The official logline for the show’s Dec. 10 holiday episode confirms that Dinah Lance (played by Alex Kingston) is back, which begs the Q: Does that put pressure on Laurel to tell her family the truth about Sara? “Laurel has a really emotional journey about that in that episode, for sure,” Berlanti tells us. “Whenever we get that whole family together, especially subsequent to stuff that’s happened, it will bring a lot of that to surface.”
Question: Any intel on NCIS? —Marsha
Ausiello: The Dec. 16 holiday episode (which also doubles as the fall finale) marks the return of three notorious cyber terrorists: Former Systems Administrator Kevin Hussein (played by Ethan Rains), Heidi Partridge (Erin Allin O’Reilly) and Ajay Khan (Vik Sahay). In the wake of a city-wide Internet blackout the week before Christmas, the NCIS team pulls the trio out of prison to help with the case, and, whaddaya know.
Question: Anything on White Collar‘s final season? —Stacey
Ausiello: The series finale will feature quite a few storyline and character callbacks, exec producer Jeff Eastin promises. “My hope is that people who are real fans of the show, who’ve stuck with us this entire time, will not be disappointed,” he tells us.
BONUS SPOILER: Eastin vaguely teases that Diana and Jones will “continue on and move up” in the last episode.
Question: So you will answer some inane question about Monroe and Rosalee’s honeymoon on Grimm, but you won’t answer my question about whether the sharks on Shark Tank ever go back and make a deal with a contestant whom they have turned down on the show but then had second thoughts about a possible deal? I’ve been loyal to you. Don’t you like me anymore? —Mike
Ausiello: Of course I like you, Mike! That’s why I’m going to give you more of the Grimm scoop for which you so ardently clamor! Silas Weir Mitchell recently gave TVLine a little inside intel on the upcoming Christmas episode. “It’s hilarious and it’s totally messed up,” he said. “There’s a thing that happens to a certain subset of Wesen” around the holidays, and “it’s similar to Krampus, in a way, because it has to do with the seasonal thing.” Weir wouldn’t tell us which of the show’s Wesen will be affected, but he couldn’t speak highly enough of the episode. “It’s another level of Grimm: absurd, funny, ugly, dark and great.”
BONUS SCOOP: Go-to TV Big Bad Arnold Vosloo (24, Chuck) will guest-star in an early 2015 episode as Jonathon Wilde, a Manticore bounty hunter from Texas working on behalf of the Wesen Council.
Question: Need Sleepy Hollow scoop! —Liz
Ausiello: New character Orion, who’ll make his appearance after the winter break, may just prove himself a gift from the heavens for Abbie. “She sees in him someone who is actually completely living for what they believe, and finds that really inspiring and maybe even decides to sort of follow him in that,” Nicole Beharie tells TVLine. No word on what Ichabod will think of that…
Question: Whatever happened to Rafael’s sister Luisa from Jane the Virgin? Is the character gone? —Julia
Ausiello: “She is coming back with a bang,” co-star Justin Baldoni teases of his onscreen sibling, played by Yara Martinez. “It’s a very funny situation and wherever your mind takes you, go there, because these writers are hilarious with the things that they have her and us doing.”
Question: Long time no Person of Interest scoop! Anything you could share? – Riddick
Ausiello: How about an exclusive clip from tonight’s episode, in which Reese — who this week is instructing at the police academy to mind the latest POI — touches base with his (almost flirty?) NYPD shrink:
Question: Any news for Covert Affairs? —Melissa
Ausiello: Ugly Betty reunion alert! Ana Ortiz, who has been racking up some serious guest-star credits during her Devious Maids hiatus, will next turn up in the Season 5 finale of Covert Affairs (which stars her onetime Ugly Betty colleague Chris Gorham). She’ll play Karen Coughlin, a political advisor known on the Hill as “the wolf in chic clothing.” Karen approaches a seasoned Beltway insider with the opportunity to enter into the political arena.
Question: Do you know anything about a possible love interest for Major Crimes’ Lt. Provenza? —Luana
Ausiello: As a matter of fact, Matt Mitovich just got off the horn with series creator James Duff, who had this to share about the certain someone who is poised to change the grizzled detective’s life: “Provenza ends up attracted to someone he never thought he would be attracted to. He felt like the book was closed on the romantic part of his life, and now that book is suddenly reopened.”
British actress Poppy Drayton (When Calls The Heart, the Hallmark Channel movie not the series) has landed the lead role in the 10-episode straight-to-series MTV drama Shannara, based on the Terry Brooks’ fantasy book series that is set in our world, thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization. The story centers on the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. Drayton will play Amberle, an Elven Princess. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Perception has been canceled by TNT. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) will play the next big villain on The Blacklist when it returns from its break in February. He will play Luther Braxton, a meticulous thief who plans his international heists over the course of several months or years. The show will be moving to Thursday nights once it returns after airing an episode after the Super Bowl. (Michael Schneider at TV Guide)
LIMITED SERIES NEWS
Actress Jessy Schram (Veronica Mars, Once Upon a Time and Falling Skies) and actor Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) have joined the cast of the six-episode limited Lifetime series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles that will find actress Christina Ricci reprising her role from this year’s made-for-TV movie Lizzie Borden Took An Ax. Schram will play Nancy O’Keefe, an alluring and ambitious actress and dancer who befriends Lizzie following one of her performances. Banks will play Mr. Flowers, Lizzie’s business associate, a crime kingpin who manages the prostitution and extortion ring in Fall River. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryant at TV Guide, Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Question: Any scoop on Sunday’s two-hour episode of Once Upon a Time? — Deirdre
Adam: “Elsa and Anna get to work together back in Arendelle,” Elizabeth Lail reveals. “So we get to see the two sisters become a team and formulate a plan.” That’s definitely bad news for the Snow Queen, who will learn that her plan to pit Elsa against Anna won’t be easy.
Question: Got any Castle scoop beyond the honeymoon? — Terry
Adam: Look for a bit of a pre-Thanksgiving jolt on the Nov. 24 episode when a routine murder investigation turns into a potentially deadly encounter for Esposito. “Esposito and Ryan are in pursuit of a guy who we think is potentially a second victim,” executive producer David Amann says. “Esposito follows him into a subway, and the guy sees that he’s a cop, pulls a gun and holds the car hostage. Our people on the outside are trying to figure out: ‘Who is this guy, really, because he clearly isn’t who we thought he was.'” The good news: The brush with death will mean some movement on the Lanie-Esposito front. “It does make him reflect on his relationship with Lanie, and consider its importance in his life,” Amann teases.
Question: Got any more Person of Interest scoop? — Jay
Adam: That scene between Shaw and her former partner (and, apparently, Samaritan) at the end of Tuesday’s episode? Yes, it spells big trouble for Shaw and Team Machine. “Things are going to get messy and dirty really soon,” Sarah Shahi teases. “We’ve all been instructed to lead these double lives. Shaw is the one who challenges her own anonymity by putting herself out there. Her accepting this job exposes her, and it’s a big risk that she’s taking.”
Question: Any info on the new Major Crimes episodes? — Dave
Adam: The winter premiere features the disturbing case of a surrogate who was murdered hours after she gave birth to a baby. The problem? She had promised three end-of-their-ropes couples the baby and was extorting them all to get the best deal. Naturally, the theme of adoption runs through the episode as Capt. Raydor makes plans to finalize her adoption of Rusty. But will one final visit between Rusty and his mother stand in Raydor’s way?
Question: What’s coming up on Sleepy Hollow? —Lili
Ausiello: We know a bit about why Ichabod was chosen to become a Witness, but not much about why Abbie got picked for the job. Next week’s episode, “Mama” — in which Aunjanue Ellis debuts as Abbie and Jenny’s mom — fills in some of those holes. And according to someone in the know, Lyndie Greenwood and Nicole Beharie are amazing in the very emotional hour.
Question: What can you tell us about The Blacklist‘s Super Bowl episode? —Ben
Ausiello: NBC is looking to add a little A-list action to the Super-powered hour. A casting notice just went out seeking “star names” to play Jasper, the fiftysomething Director of the National Clandestine Services. Jasper’s in charge of the multi-national group that runs the worlds’ most powerful figures. He’ll also be around beyond Feb. 1, since the role is recurring.
Question: It seems like Covert Affairs just wants to give us little nuggets of information about Annie’s health issues. Can you give us anything more than that? —Jenna
Ausiello: Not much more, but executive producer Chris Ord tells us that Annie’s heart condition “will still be a big part of what she needs to deal with going forward” this season. EP Matt Corman, meanwhile, hints that said health issue will “take on new complexities.”
Question: Do you have any scoop on NCIS: LA. —Leah
Ausiello: The show’s Christmas episode — titled “Humbug” — will introduce us to Sam’s teenage son Isaac. Described as all-American and physically fit (chip off the old block!), Isaac is home for the holidays (on break from the military school he’s attending). Casting is underway!
Question: Anything on Revenge? These past couple of episodes have been intense! — Julius
Ausiello: “Intense” is putting it mildly, Julius, and you’ll be happy to know that Season 4 isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, we’re about to meet another shadow from Louise’s past — and not an imaginary one this time. Revenge is introducing her brother Lyman, a manipulative politician who uses his Southern charm to mask his true intentions.
Question: Are Grimm‘s Monroe and Rosalee ever going to take their honeymoon? —Mirna
Ausiello: Silas Weir Mitchell kept mum on that topic when TVLine recently asked him, but he was happy to talk about the trouble the newlyweds are about to run into, starting this week. The fact that they are intermarried Wesen who’ve befriended a Grimm will earn them some haters in the supernatural community. “Once that’s out in the world, the genie is out of the bottle, and we’re in trouble,” he said, adding that the hatred will eventually make the blutbad or his wife — or both! — fear for their lives.
Question: What’s coming up when The Blacklist returns? — Brandon
Natalie: It actually looks like Red does not have the Fulcrum, but he will set his sights on getting it. Unfortunately, so will another Blacklister. But in the process, Red will be forced to risk his life to protect Liz, who you may be surprised to hear might have a connection to the Fulcrum.
Question: Any scoop on the two-hour episode of Once Upon a Time? — Farah
Natalie: Remember the Snow Queen’s yellow ribbons? You should definitely be worried about them because they’ll come back into play in a very major way.
Question: Has Henry ever run into anyone he knew decades later on Forever? — Bronte
Natalie: We’ll actually see that in an upcoming episode during a flashback to the late ’50s when Henry runs into someone who saw him die on the beach in Normandy. Whoops.
Actor Micah Parker (The Vampire Diaries and Mob City) will appear in an upcoming episode of The Flash, playing Clay Parker, an inmate at Iron Heights Prison who is incarcerated for theft. When Clay’s girlfriend breaks him out of prison, Clay exploits her feelings for him and convinces her to utilize her meta-human powers for one last heist. (ComicBook.com and Dark Horizons)
Graceland has been given a 13-episode third season by USA Network. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)
TNT has cancelled their legal dramedy Franklin and Bash after four season. (Variety)
Actor James Wolk (The Crazy Ones) will star in the CBS summer drama Zoo, based on the James Patterson best-seller. He will play a renegade zoologist who is tasked with trying to figure out why animals are suddenly attacking humans. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Q&A SECTION (with Kristin dos Santos at E! Online)
Question: Constantine scoop! Please! – Rob
Kristin: Time to dust off your “Vote for Pedro” shirts! I can exclusively reveal that Napoleon Dynamite’s Efren Ramirez has been cast on the NBC comic book show. He will guest star in “The Saint of Last Resorts: Part 2” as Julio, a wily, street smart inmate who knows how to “get things” in a Mexican prison, ranging from cigarettes to drugs to women. He’s a survivor who’ll do what it takes to make it another day, and he thought he’d seen it all—but Julio’s never met an inmate like John Constantine. As for why Constantine is in a Mexican prison?
Question: Revenge is SO good this season but Louise is really starting to scare me! Is she leaving soon? – Jeaneen
Kristin: The scares will keep on comin’ as the crazy Southern belle is stickin’ around for a while. The show is currently looking to cast her older brother named Lyman Ellis. Handsome and driven, he’s able to go from charming to conniving in a heartbeat and is super manipulative. So…he’s a politician, of course!
Question: Will Jerry Tyson be making a comeback this season on Castle? – InspiredByStana
Kristin: Sure sounds like it! According to executive producer David Amann, “We plan to revisit the 3XK storyline in a significant way. We’re working on that episode right now.”
Question: When will the “missing 2 months” storyline come back up on Castle? – AlwaysCastle47
Kristin: It’s definitely not gone for good! According to Amann, “This is a mystery that’s very personal to Castle and he will definitely delve back into it.”
Question: How will the Mark of Cain continue to affect Dean and what’s going to happen to him on Supernatural? – Welovejackles
Kristin: Executive producer Jeremy Carver told us that’s going to be a huge part of the rest of the season. “The [brothers’] newfound rediscovery of [their] bond is really put to the test in the coming episodes,” he says. “Their troubles are not over yet for either of them. Dean’s not quite out of the woods yet regarding the Mark of Cain and Sam is not quite out of the woods as to what that means to him as well.”
Question: Got any Jane the Virgin scoop for me? – Monica
Kristin: Let’s just say Jane does the walk of shame in an upcoming episode. Yeah, that kind of walk of shame. Commence all your pearl-clutching now, especially since Jane encounters nuns during her embarrassing morning after!
Question: Got anything on Red Band Society? – Maddie
Kristin: Prepare to meet Leo’s parents in an episode later this season. Oh, and two of the Red Banders will sleep together. (Emma is not one of them!)
Question: Can I get an update on my favorite mechanic, Raven from The 100? – Sam
Kristin: She may have been out of commission after her surgery (without anesthesia!), but she won’t stay down for long. “She was out of last week’s episode and in my mind, she was just sleeping that whole time, recovering from her surgery,” Lindsey Morgan explains. “It’s amazing that she’s even alive! We pick up with her at the brink of starting her new life, being handicapped and paralyzed in one leg. She needs to figure out what that means and how she can live her life and how she can even function. The opening scene is one of my favorites, and it’s really daunting to Raven to face that obstacle.” Expect to see her stumble (literally and figuratively) a lot in this week’s episode and on.
Showtime has given a season renewal to Homeland and The Affair for 2015. (Chris Harnick at E! Online)
Veteran actor Richard Roundtree (Shaft) will appear in a multi-episode arc on Chicago Fire, playing Wallace Boden Sr., Chief Boden’s (series regular Eamonn Walker) father, a retired detective who makes a surprise appearance in Chicago after the birth of his grandson. His volatile relationship with his son causes friction during his visit. (Denise Petski at Deadline)
The Canadian medical drama Saving Hope has been renewed for a fourth season. (Andy Swift at TV Line)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 movies for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Big Hero 6 – 56.2 million
2. Interstellar – 50 million
3. Gone Girl – 6.1 million
4. Ouija – 6 million
5. St. Vincent – 5.7 million
6. Nightcrawler – 5.5 million
7. Fury – 5 million
8. John Wick – 4 million
9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – 3.5 million
10. The Book of Life – 2.8 million
Forever has received a full-season order from ABC. (Variety)
NBC has Peter Pan Live coming up next month and the next “classic” the network plans to reinvent for a live performance will be A Few Good Men, the 1989 Broadway play that was made into the 1992 box office film. Unlike Peter Pan (and The Sound of Music before it), there will be no singing. (Sydney Bucksbaum at E! Online)
Actress Merle Dandridge (Sons of Anarchy and Star-Crossed) will have a recurring role on the NBC summer series The Night Shift. She will play Gwen, a lead paramedic working at San Antonio Memorial Hospital and the best friend of Dr. Jordan Alexander (Jill Flint). (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)
AMC has given a 14-episode order for the fifth and final season of Hell on Wheels. The first seven episodes will air next summer with the final seven premiering in summer 2016. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
ABC is developing a modern take on the classic novel Little Women that will star (and be executive produced by) actress Natascha McElhone (Californication). The potential limited series will follow the lives of four sisters whose family loses its fortune and position during a military scandal. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Q&A SECTION (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line and Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
Question: Two weeks ago, Once Upon a Time‘s Lana Parrilla posted a picture of herself and Robert Carlyle in the mayor’s office. Please tell me Regina is back to being mayor! –Teresa
When will we see more Regina-centric flashbacks on Once Upon a Time? –Fred
Mitovich: Hey, everyone, watch me kill two birds with one scoop: Yes, you will see Regina be mayor again… in an upcoming flashback, to when Regina held the Storybrooke office and met the Snow Queen for the first time.
Question: Do you have any more tidbits from your interview with Castle showrunner David Amann? –Mandy
Mitovich: Well of course I had to ask if there were any “badass Beckett” moments to watch for, seeing as they’ve been in short supply this season, and he did not disappoint. “There is a badass Beckett moment of sorts – I mean, I would consider it a badass Beckett moment — at the end of Episode 7, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West,’” he shared. “Keep your eyes out for that.”
BONUS SCOOP: This just in… Episode 12 will make like Jane the Virgin and revolve around the cast of the telenovela Santos Desperaodos.
Question: I absolutely loved the opening scene of last week’s Supernatural, with Sam and Dean (with shades on) overlooking the lake. But even through the end of the episode, Dean was surprisingly (and a bit disappointingly) cool and put together, post-Demon. He’s gonna explode or have an emotional meltdown soon…right? –Audrey
Mitovich: Considering the Mark of Cain is still haunting the elder Winchester that is a strong possibility. In fact, the pesky problem is going to take up a lot of storyline real estate going forward. “You’re going to see Dean dealing with this pretty much for the next chunk of the season, as he and Sam take different paths in how to deal with it,” executive producer Jeremy Carver teases. “While we’re all very happy he was cured of being a demon, there’s a lot more work to be done.”
Question: I was so not expecting Supernatural‘s Dean to go so far with his kill-Sam campaign! Now that human Dean’s back in business, how long until someone brings up that pesky Cole is fluttering about? –Sam
Mitovich: EP Jeremy Carver responds, “Who’s to say Cole resurfaces…? But if he did, that would be a heck of a confrontation. I’m looking forward to it as much as you are.”
Question: Any scoop on Jane the Virgin? Maybe something about Petra’s (or should I say Natalia’s) mysterious meeting from this week’s episode? — Katie H.
Mitovich: “Petra’s past will continue to haunt her,” affirms EP Jennie Snyder Urman, until “things come to a head with her blackmailer in Episode 6.”
Question: Really enjoying Gotham these past few weeks. But I have to wonder, will Selina and Bruce ever meet? –T.W.
Mitovich: In the November 17 episode — which marks Nicholas D’Agosto’s debut as Harvey Dent — Selina will take residence at Wayne Manor, which strongly, strongly suggests these fated frenemies will finally come face to face.
Question: Long time no Resurrection scoop! Care to change that? –Aly
Mitovich: Episode 11 is guest-casting two “returned” women — Hilary, a burly “Rosie the Riveter” type from the 1940s, and Robin, a contemporary lady – who are being detained at the government facility with a very familiar face who thus far has been allowed to roam free in Arcadia. Thus far.
Question: Are we ever going to find out what the alien equation is on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? — Sarah
Natalie: The long-awaited reveal will come sooner than you think. And just in time, too, because Coulson may soon reach his breaking point—as in, it’s time for May to put a bullet in the back of his head, because S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director is acting more and more like Garrett in next week’s episode. Seriously, you may be hoping for May to pull the trigger after Coulson’s actions lead to a violent clash.
Question: Fish vs. Penguin is my favorite part of Gotham. — Carrie
Natalie: Then you’ll be excited to know that the duo will face off in next week’s episode. Though they’re forced to work together once again when it comes to matters of the mob, Fish has other plans for her former protégé. In turn, the Penguin will seek to uncover her secrets in hopes of getting some leverage—and what he learns will put multiple lives in jeopardy.
Question: Are we done with the Bracken storyline on Castle? — John
Natalie: If I had to guess, I’d say not so much. Showrunner David Amann says that although most of the storytelling surrounding Beckett’s mom is done, there is a “Bracken-related storyline that presents later in the season.” “We like Bracken as a character,” he says. “We think he’s an interesting person to access and there may be a reason moving forward to go back to him again.” Now the question is: Does it have to do with Castle’s disappearance?
Question: You haven’t shared any scoop on Forever before. Any chance of that changing? — Mischa
Natalie: Viewers won’t have to wait too much longer to find out the identity of the apparently immortal mystery man stalking Henry. Until then, though, we’ll get a flashback to the aftermath of Henry’s first death and what it was like returning to his wife. It’s safe to assume that she probably won’t take the news of his affliction very well.
Question: Anything on The Flash? — Ellen
Natalie: As if Cisco didn’t get into enough trouble after the Cold Gun ended up in Capt. Cold’s possession, he’ll land in hot water once again when he finds himself attracted to a meta-human in an upcoming episode. “In terms of teasing something for romance, all I can say is that Cisco lives for danger,” Carlos Valdes says. Bonus scoop: Did you pick up last week’s issue of EW? I dropped a major tease about the Flash-Arrow crossover.
Downton Abbey has been renewed for a sixth season. (TV Fanatic)
ABC Family has renewed the new drama Chasing Life for a 13-episode second season. A Christmas episode for the first season will air on December 9 with the remainder of the first season episode set to return starting in January. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)
Actress Bridget Regan (Jane the Virgin and Legend of the Seeker) has joined the cast of the upcoming ABC drama Agent Carter which is inspired by the character of Peggy Carter from Captain America films that will star Hayley Atwell in the lead role. The show will be set in 1946, centering on Peggy Carter who, working for the covert Strategic Scientific Reserve, must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark. Regan will have the recurring role of Dottie, a small-town girl from Iowa who’ll have a huge impact on the life of Agent Carter. (The Deadline Team)
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS
Actress Minnie Driver has joined the cast of the upcoming NBC musical special Peter Pan. She will serve as the narrator and will play adult Wendy Darling. (Chris Harnick at E! Online)
MINI-SERIES NEWS
Actress Emily Watson has joined the cast of the upcoming four-hour Lifetime mini-series Marilyn about the iconic actress. She will play Grace McKee, the high-spirited, loving guardian to young Norma Jean who instilled in the lonely girl the dream of becoming a star, despite her mother’s objections. The cast includes Kelli Garner and Susan Sarandon. (The Deadline Team)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actor Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg will team together again in the feature film version of The Six Billion Dollar Man, the modern day adaptation of the popular TV series The Six Million Dollar Man with Wahlberg set to play the lead role. (Anita Busch at Deadline)
Here are the news items for Monday through Wednesday:
TELEVISION
The USA Network has renewed Royal Pains for two more seasons (seasons 7 and 8). The show also hit its 100th episode during season 8. (Cynthia Littleton at Variety)
Actor Jeff Fahey (Lost) has landed a multi-episode arc on the 6th and final season of Justified where he will play Zachariah Randolph, a weathered and shaky sixtysomething man who is well-worn from a life of hardship and alcohol. (The Wrap and Dan Snierson at Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Jeri Ryan (Body of Proof) will appear on NCIS as Rebecca, the until-now-unseen 4th wife of Agent Gibbs (series lead Mark Harmon). (Liz Raftery at TV Guide)
CBS has made the decision to bring their long-running drama The Mentalist to an end after this current, seventh season, which will consist of 13 episodes. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
Lifetime has pulled the plug on Witches of East End after two seasons. (Andy Swift and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
A fifth season of Call the Midwife has been ordered. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)
TNT has given a greenlight to the action-adventure series Agent X that will consist of 10 episodes. The series will focus on John Case (Jeff Hephner from Madam Secretary), a top secret agent hidden from the view of the public – and even from the President – who is trained and ready to serve, deployed only at the careful discretion of the Vice President (Sharon Stone). Veteran actor Gerald McRaney will appear as the Chief Steward of the Vice President’s mansion and the keeper of its many secrets. The series will debut sometime in 2015. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Another villain from the DC Comics canon will be featured on Gotham: Scarecrow but he will be seen as a child in this version. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
Actor Jim Parrack (True Blood) will have a recurring role on the ABC drama Resurrection, playing a charismatic member of the “Returned,” a larger-than-life preacher from the 1930s with ties to both Bellamy’s (series lead Omar Epps) birth family and the Langstons. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)
Actress Marcia Gay Harden will have a recurring role on the ABC drama How to Get Away with Murder, playing a mysterious role. (Michael Slezak at TV Line)
Actress Victoria Smurfit (Dracula) will be appearing in upcoming episodes of Once Upon a Time, but details on what role she will be playing are being kept under wraps, but rumor has it that she will play Cruella De Vil. (James Hibberd and Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
TV TRAILER
MINI-SERIES NEWS
Syfy is working on a mini-series based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel 3001: The Final Odyssey that is an epic story of a man lost in time, resolving the tale that was begun in 2001: A Space Odyssey. (The Futon Critic)
Actress Uma Thurman will be taking over for Mary-Louise Parker in the upcoming NBC mini-series The Slap, which is based on the Australian series of the same name that focuses on how one man’s punishment of another couple’s child explodes into a complex family drama. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
TV EVENT SERIES NEWS
The upcoming 12-episode NBC event series A.D. from executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey – the follow-up to the couple’s high-rated The Bible mini-series – has announced its cast. First, A.D. will chronicle the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion as the tiny band of followers fight for survival while they try to spread the Word to the world. But they have hope and soon they have power: the amazing miracle of the resurrection, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit upon them. The cast will include Richard Coyle (Crossbones) as Caiaphas, High Priest of the Temple and all Jews everywhere; Vincent Regan (The Musketeers) will play Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea who orders the death of Jesus at the behest of Caiaphas; Adam Levy (Borgia) will play Peter, who recovers from deep guilt over abandoning Jesus, to take charge of a growing church; Juan Pablo di Pace (Dallas) will play Jesus; Emmet Scanlan (Constantine) will play Saul, a fervent Jewish follower, who is aggressive and zealous in his admiration of the Temple and his people’s traditions; Chipo Chung (Sherlock) will play Mary Magdalene; Jodhi May (The Crimson Field) will play Leah, the wife of the High Priest Caiaphas; Joanne Whalley (The Borgias) will play Claudia, sensitive wife of Pilate; Greta Scacchi (Agatha Christie) will play Mary, the mother of Jesus and Babou Ceesay (Luther) will play Joh, Peter’s right hand. A.D. will premiere on NBC at Easter Sunday, April 5. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 box offices movies for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Nightcrawler and Ouija (TIED) – 10.9 million
3. Fury – 9.1 million
4. Gone Girl – 8.8 million
5. The Book of Life – 8.3 million
6. John Wick – 8 million
7. St. Vincent – 7.7 million
8. Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – 6.4 million
9. The Judge – 3.4 million
10. Dracula Untold – 2.9 million
Actress Lili Taylor (The Conjuring and Almost Human) has joined the cast of the sequel to The Maze Runner, the dystopian adventure based on the books by author James Dashner. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)
Actor Matthew Rhys (The Americans and Brothers & Sisters) and actresses Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Kate Walsh (Private Practice) will star in the upcoming romantic drama flick Everything Carries Me To You that follows an ambitious young dancer whose world is turned upside down when she discovers a note suggesting her love may be cheating. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)
Actor Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and actress Cherry Jones (24) have joined Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen in the upcoming Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light that will focus on the legendary country music star. Whitford will play Fred Rose, the Nashville music producer who helped guide Williams’ career while Jones will play Williams’ mother. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)
Actor Luke Perry and Bruce Davison will star in a new contemporary adaptation of the classic novel Black Beauty. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Q&A SECTION (with E! Online)
Question: Any idea if/when we’ll see more of Tim DeKay on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – thisismydesignn
E! Online: When DeKay was cast, he was only set to appear in last week’s episode. But we just learned that he’s back for at least one more episode airing November 18, and it’s going to be a huge one for the warring Ward brothers! When Grant kidnaps his older brother, Senator Christian Ward, he takes him on a “violent trip down memory lane.” Sounds like Christian is about to seriously regret his decision to have his younger brother transferred from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s high-tech bunker into FBI custody—allowing Ward to break free and escape government custody in that intense and epic fight scene.
Question: I would like to know when will this Olicity (Felicity and Oliver) drought will end on Arrow coz we are literally dying here! – Skylicity
E! Online: Olicity fans might not be too happy to hear about the scoop we just received. In an upcoming episode of Arrow, Ray Palmer tries to take his working relationship with Felicity to the next level, and asks her out on a date!
Question: Anything on Gotham?! – Tom
E! Online: Casting is currently underway for the role of Detective Delaware, a twentysomething guy with a very specific physical appearance. Get this: the Fox drama is looking for a “gangly man with a face like a meatball sub.” Um, okay? Dt. Delaware is also described as a cocky, corrupt officer with a fragile machismo at the GCPD, and expect him to stir up a lot of trouble.
Question: Anything for Supernatural? – Mark
E! Online: We were just at the 200th episode screening and party celebrating the past 10 seasons of Supernatural, and we can honestly say we’ve never seen anything like the 200th episode. If you loved “The French Mistake,” then you’ll absolutely love “Fan Fiction,” since it really takes “meta” to a whole other level! “I’m excited to see the fan reaction to it,” executive producer Jeremy Carver told us. “We had a lot of fun with the episode. We took some risks and every time we do, we wonder if we’ve gone too far or if we’ve gone far enough. It’s fun for us to be on the edge of our seat and wonder how if the fans are going to like it as much as you do. But we think it’s a real fitting, slightly subversive salute to 200 episodes. I’m excited.”
Question: I love Zed so much more than Liv on Constantine. Please tell me she’s sticking around? – Tess
E! Online: You’re in luck! We’re going to be seeing quite a lot more of John Constantine’s new sidekick, and we’re as excited about it as you are, since she can kick some serious butt. “I hope the fans really like what I’m portraying as Zed, because I don’t know of many Latina women playing a superhero,” Angelica Celaya, the fierce woman behind Zed, told us. “I just really want them to feel represented and I want women out there to feel that they can be more than just a sensitive flower. They can kick ass and hold their own! And even though we’re dealing with a very science fiction, comic, supernatural show, within all that there is a powerful woman who stays true to her beliefs and starts carving out her own destiny and I hope women are inspired by her.”
Rueben's Ramblings 