The Weekly Round Up (Feb. 1 to 5)

Here are the entertainment news items for this week:

CONDOLENCES

Days of Our Lives actress Frances Reid passed away this week at the age of 95. She was a theater veteran who appeared in the soap for 42 years (from 1965 to 2007). Condolences are extended to her family, friends and fans.

NEWS

Congrats to all the winners at this past weekend’s Grammy awards. And, congrats to all the Oscar nominees that were announced earlier this week.

The Canadian series The Bridge will air on CTV (in Canada) starting on March 5 at 9 PM with a two-hour premiere before shifting to its normal timeslot of 10 PM the following week. CBS still has yet to announce an airdate for the series, which is being co-produced between the American and Canadian netlets.

The Emmy Awards may be coming to the nation LIVE on both coasts rather than the typical tape delayed airings that the West Coast always gets, following the lead of the Golden Globes. No confirmed plans have been set yet, though.

TV SERIES NEWS

A new series finale date for the ABC series Lost was announced earlier this week: Sunday, May 23. Mark your calendar!

The final episodes of Saving Grace will air on TNT starting on March 29 at 9 PM with back-to-back episodes. The remaining 7 episodes will play out over the spring in its regular 10 PM timeslot (with a slight interruption by the NBA playoffs in between).

Southland will conclude its second season on TNT on April 6 at 10 PM. A marathon of the second season episodes will run that same day starting at 5 PM.

Big Love has been renewed for a fifth season on HBO.

The new series Happy Town, a mid-season series, has been given a premiere date: April 28 at 10 PM. The series stars Geoff Stults, Sam Neill, Lauren German, Steven Weber, Amy Acker, Robert Wisdom (among others).  The series is being touted as a creepy show (ala supposedly Twin Peaks) about a small town still haunted by a number of unsolved kidnappings.

The March 5 episode of Ghost Whisperer will be the series 100th episode and it will feature a major characters death.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC Family Channel has picked up the half-hour comedy Melissa & Joey, which will star Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence (who also serve executive producers). Hart will portray Mel, the grown-up former wild child of a political family who is now a local politician herself. When her sister ends up in prison and brother-in-law flees after a scandal hits, Mel must take responsibility for her teenaged niece Lennox and pre-adolescent nephew Ryder. Spread too thin to manage by herself, help comes in the unlikely form of Joe (Lawrence) who, desperate for a job, moves in and becomes the family’s “manny.” The series has been given a 10-episode order and is scheduled to premiere in 2010.

CBS has picked up drama pilot ATF, which centers on an ATF agent who hunts down the most dangerous criminals while trying to balance life as a dad to his teenage daughter who has re-entered his life.

Matt Ryan (The Tudors) is expected to join Forest Whitaker in the cast of the Criminal Minds spin-off about a new group of profilers who work outside the FBI bureaucracy. Michael Kelly (The Sopranos) has also been added to the cast.

The pilot Hellcats based in the world of competitive college cheerleading and based on the Kate Torgovnick book Cheer will come to the CW and will produced by none other than Tom Welling (Smallville).

The exploits of the sexy freshmen class at Harvard Medical School as seen through the eyes of a young female student will come to the CW in a pilot called HMS from co-executive producer Hayden Panettiere (Heroes).

CBS will bring the personal and professional lives of the adult Quinn quintuplets, whose whole lives have been documented on TV to life in the new drama pilot called The Quinn-Tuplets.

Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) has the lead role in the comedy pilot Freshmen from ABC that follows the friendship of three freshmen members of Congress – two men and a woman – who live together in D.C.

Emmy-winner Allison Janney (The West Wing) has joined the cast of the Matthew Perry comedy pilot Mr. Sunshine at ABC, which is about the manager of an aging San Diego stadium who realizes on his 40th birthday that he can no longer get by on just his charming, noncommittal ways. She’ll play Crystal Cohen, his boss at the arena.

Emmy-winners Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green (The Sopranos) have booked a pilot called Reagan’s Law with CBS, which is about a multi-generational family of New York-based cops.

NBC has slated a two-hour backdoor pilot called Secrets of the Mountain for Friday, April 16 at 8 PM. The possible series stars Barry Bostwick and Paige Turco in a story about a single mom (Turco) with three kids who inherits a remote mountain cabin from a supposedly dead uncle (Bostwick) who turns out to be very much alive, and they set out to keep an evil buyer from gaining access to the mountain that holds secrets and treasures.

An as-yet untitled new drama from Hannah Shakespeare (The Philanthropist) has received a pilot order from CBS. The series is to follow a roaming medical team that travels the U.S. helping those less fortunate get through life-or-death medical crises.

Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) has joined the HBO half-hour pilot based on the Pamela Des Barres memoir about her life of bed-hopping with musicians and movie stars in the late 1960s.

HBO is developing an untitled political drama that revolves around a young political aide and his relationship with his idol–the former President of the United States.

Gary Cole will headline the first hour-long mystery comedy called Uncle Nigel on TBS about a veteran homicide detective (Cole) in Philadelphia who partners up with his rookie nephew.

Virginia Madsen will appear as the lead in the new ABC dramedy Scoundrels, which is about a family of small-town criminals who attempt to go straight after the patriarch is sent to prison. Madsen would play the mom. The show, which has been picked up for eight episodes (all of them slated to air this summer), is based on the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune.

Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace) has joined ABC pilot Off the Map, which centers around a team of medical professionals who flee the U.S. to work at a clinic on a tropical island. He will join Martin Henderson in the cast.

Laura Prepon (That ’70s Show) will star in the ABC comedy pilot Awkward Situations for Men, alongside Matt Letscher (Eli Stone).

Bret Harrison (Reaper) has landed the lead role in FOX’s untitled Adam Goldberg single-camera comedy, where he will play a member of a team who crack computer security systems.

Emily Rose (Jericho and Brothers & Sisters) will appear in the Syfy series Haven, which is based on the Stephen King novella The Colorado Kid. She will play FBI agent Audrey Parker, who investigates a murder in the small town of Haven, Maine and finds herself caught up in a web of supernatural activity among its citizens.

MADE FOR TV MOVIES NEWS

The Syfy made-for-TV movie Beauty and the Beast will premiere on Saturday, February 27, at 9PM. The movie stars Estella Warren (Planet of the Apes) is a young Beauty with a gift for healing who helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles, Wraiths of Roanoke) regain his throne and defeat the ruthless nobleman who wants to be king — and then together they try to destroy a power-hungry witch.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Zachary Quinto (Heroes and Star Trek) is set to play famed composer and pianist George Gershwin in a biopic of the man who was responsible for more than a dozen Broadway shows such as Funny Face and Porgy and Bess who died of a brain tumor at the age of 38.

Orlando Bloom is to star in the indie drama The Good Doctor, which centers on a frustrated doctor (Bloom) looking to impress his superiors and colleagues.

Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Billy Crudup will be seen in the indie crime drama The Convincer that follows a desperate insurance salesman whose scheme to acquire a rare violin, which leads to unforeseen consequences.

Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci have joined the cast of the Robet Pattinson-led film Bel Ami, which is based on the Guy de Maupassant novel and set in 1890’s Paris.

American Idol winner and country singing star Carrie Underwood will play the church youth leader in the movie Soul Surfer, the biopic of 19-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack but persevered to resume hanging 10 less than a month later. AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid also star.

Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko will appear in the as-yet untitled romantic drama from acclaimed director Terrence Malick.

Whoopi Goldberg and Kathy Bates have signed on to the film Earthbound which also stars Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rosemarie DeWitt, Steven Weber and Treat Williams.

Bradley Cooper and Reese Witherspoon will appear in the action-comedy This Means War. Cooper is expected to play one of a pair of spies whose friendship devolves into trickery and deceit when they both fall for the same woman (Witherspoon).

CASTING SCOOP

Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz will guest star in an upcoming episode of Chuck, as a Hart to Hart-esque spy couple now over-the-hill but still in the game.

Actor Chelcie Ross (Mad Men) will appear as Jackson’s (Jesse Williams) ailing grandfather, Harper Avery, in an upcoming episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Turns out he is the namesake of the Avery Award that was bestowed on Meredith’s mom, Ellis. This will help form a bond between Jackson and Meredith.

Indy race car driver Danica Patrick will appear on CSI: NY next week as a rival of a racing legend (guest star Antonio Sabato Jr.) who dies in a vehicle explosion.

Dawn Olivieri (Heroes) will play Janice Herveaux, the sister of werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello) and Brit Morgan (The Middleman) will play Alcide’s psycho ex girlfriend Debbie Pelt on True Blood.

It would appear that casting is nearly confirmed for the flashback episodes of Brothers & Sisters with Rachel Leigh Cook, Nora Zehetner (Grey’s Anatomy) or Courtney Ford (Dexter) could possibly playing a young Nora (Sally Field); Kay Panabaker (Fame) will play a young Kitty (Calista Flockhart); newcomer Anna Wood will play Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) and newcomer Kasey Campbell will play Kevin (Matthew Rhys). Also it’s being rumored that singer Joe Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers) will play a young Tommy (Balthazar Getty).

Cynthia Watros (Lost) will appear as Wilson’s (Robert Sean Leonard) first ex-wife and the doctor’s rekindled love interest in upcoming multi-episode arch of House.

Charles Measure (Crossing Jordan), Nicholas Lea (The X-Files), and Lexa Doig (The 4400) are joining the cast of the ABC drama V.

Julie Benz’s appearance in Desperate Housewives has been extended at least one more episode (if not more). Her character will be moving out of Susan’s home and moving in on Katherine (Dana Delany).

Henry Winkler is joining the USA Network hit Royal Pains in a major recurring role next season, playing Eddie R. Lawson, the absentee father to Hank (Mark Feuerstein) and Evan (Paulo Costanzo) Lawson.

RUMOR PATROL

Ginnifer Goodwin (He’s Just Not That Into You and Big Love) is in talks to star in Something Borrowed, which is based on the Emily Giffin novel. She would play a Manhattan attorney who becomes involved with her best friend’s fiancé following her 30th birthday.

Could Rob Lowe be headed to the planned Criminal Minds spin-off on CBS?  Rumor has it that he has been approached about a leading role in the new series.

Russell Crowe is apparently the front-runner for the male lead in the latest remake of A Star Is Born, playing an alcoholic musician who mentors a rising female star and the pair begin a romance. The female role has yet to be cast but Beyonce Knowles is likely to star as the singer/actress has long been linked with the role.

Eric Bana is in the final negotiations to join the movie Hanna, which already stars Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) as a 14-year-old girl who has grown up entirely in a remote woods where her father has taught her to become a lethal assassin.

Brad Pitt is the top contender while Ryan Reynolds is among the potential back-up candidates to star in a film remake of classic western series Gunsmoke. In the film version, Pitt or the other potentials would play the lead role of Marshall Matt Dillon.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies, special and new series will debut and/or air this weekend and throughout next week:

The HBO movie Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes, will air on Saturday, February 6 at 8 PM. This is a biopic about the animal scientist who overcame the stigma of autism to become an authority on livestock in the 1970s.

NOTE: This movie will reair on both Monday, February 8 at 9 PM and Wednesday, February 10 at 8 PM on HBO.

The movie The Cursed will air on Syfy on Saturday, February 6 at 9 PM and follows a writer who awakens a malevolent creature in a Tennessee town with a dark past. The cast includes Costas and Louis Mandylor.

The conclusion of the Jane Austen classic novel Emma, starring Jonny Lee Miller an Romola Garai in the lead roles will air on PBS on Sunday, February 7 at 9 PM.

The new series Past Life will debut on FOX on Tuesday, February 9 at 9 PM. This series follows a woman who “solves crimes that put souls to rest”. The series will then move to its regular timeslot on Thursday, February 11 at 9 PM.

The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics will air at 7:30 PM on NBC on Friday, February 12.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes of the dramas that will be airing this coming week:

Saturday, February 6:
Demons on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM (Series Finale at 9 PM)

NOTE: A repeat of Legend of the Seeker will air in syndication this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Sunday, February 7:
Super Bowl Sunday
Big Love on HBO at 9 PM

NOTE: A repeat of Legend of the Seeker will air in syndication this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Monday, February 8:
Castle on ABC at 10 PM
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM
House on FOX at 8 PM
24 on FOX at 9 PM
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
Heroes on NBC at 9 PM
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
Greek on ABC Family at 10 PM
Damages on FX at 10 PM
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM

Tuesday, February 9:
Lost on ABC at 9 PM
The Forgotten on ABC at 10 PM
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM
Southland on TNT at 10 PM
White Collar on USA at 10 PM

Wednesday, February 10:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10:01 PM
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 PM
Human Target on FOX at 8 PM
Life Unexpected (reair) on the CW at 8 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM
Mercy on NBC at 8 PM
Leverage on TNT at 10 PM
Psych on USA at 10 PM
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV; check local listings for time (Season Finale)
Being Erica on SOAPNet at 10 PM

Thursday, February 11:
The Deep End on ABC at 8 PM
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 PM
Private Practice on ABC at 10:01 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
The Vampire Diaries on The CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on The CW at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA at 10 PM

Friday, February 12:
Smallville on the CW at 8 PM
Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz at 10 PM

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.  Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Jan. 25 to 29

Here are the entertainment news items for this week:

CONDOLENCES

Legendary actress Jean Simmons passed away earlier this week of lung cancer at the age of 80. She won an Emmy for her role in The Thorn Birds and was a two-time Oscar nominee. She appeared in the box office movies Guys and Dolls, Elmer Gantry and Spartacus (among many others).

Long-time soap actor James Mitchell (All My Children) passed away late last week of lung disease complicated by pneumonia at 89 years of age. He was a dancer on Broadway in his early career and he appeared in the movies Oklahoma! and The Band Wagon.

Well-known TV actor Pernell Roberts, who appeared in Bonanza and was the star of the M*A*S*H spinoff Trapper John, M.D., passed away this week at the age of 81 after a battle with cancer.

Legendary author J.D. Salinger (The Cather in the Rye) passed away this week at the age of 91.

Petite actress Zelda Rubinstein, who played the psychic in the classic movie Poltergeist passed away at 76 this past week.

Condolences are extended to the families, friends and fans of Ms. Simmons, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Salinger and Ms. Rubinstein.

Legendary singer Etta James, 72 is currently in a hospital in Riverside, California with a serious infection. Well wishes are set her way.

NEWS

Congrats to the SAG winners who were announced this past weekend.

NBC is going to quietly pull The Jay Leno Show two days earlier than expected with its final “episode” airing on February 9.

Cancellation news broke mid-week that ABC will pull Ugly Betty at the end of its current (fourth) season and the episode order has been reduced from 22 to 20. The show’s bosses were, however, given enough time to create a satisfying series finale, though.

TV SERIES NEWS

Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver will reprise their roles of Jacob and his nemesis on Lost when it returns for its final season.

ABC Family Channel has picked up two new one-hour dramas Huge and Pretty Little Liars:

Huge is based on the book by author Sasha Paley, which is being developed by Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life) and her daughter Savannah Dooley. The series will follow the lives of six teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp, as they look beneath the surface to discover their true selves and the truth about each other. Pretty Little Liars will follow four estranged best friends who are reunited one year after their best friend and queen bee of the group, Alison, goes missing only to discover they are receiving messages from an anonymous “A” who knows all their secrets. The drama stars Lucy Hale (Privileged), Troian Bellisario (NCIS) Ashley Benson (Eastwick), Shay Mitchell, Laura Leighton (Melrose Place), Nia Peeples (The Young and the Restless) and Bianca Lawson (The Vampire Diaries).

This new season of the ABC drama Castle has been extended by two more episodes, bringing the full season order to 24 episodes.

Bryan Batt will not be back for fourth season of Mad Men when it returns this summer on AMC.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

JoAnna Garcia (Privileged) has landed an as yet untitled sitcom on ABC from Shana Goldberg-Meehan Friends) that will center on two sisters who are at different points in their romantic relationships. One is unmarried and in a long-term relationship and the other (Garcia) gets married after getting knocked up.

Some of the new shows in development at the major networks include:

BREAKOUT KINGS (FOX) – This procedural pilot is about ex-fugitives who are recruited to work as U.S. Marshals .

EDGAR FLOATS (ABC) – This pilot comes from men behind the NBC series Life and follows a police psychologist who becomes a bounty hunter.”

PLEADING GUILTY (FOX) – This pilot is based on the Scott Turow novel about an ex-cop-turned-attorney who works as a partner at a powerful Chicago law firm.

NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC) – This pilot come from Greg Berlanti and Jon Harmon Feldman and is about a typical American family whose members have special abilities. ( Kind of like Brothers & Sisters x Heroes?!)

SHAMELESS (Showtime) – The lives of a very unconventional family will be chronicled in this new pilot from John Wells and stars Emmy Rossum, Justin Chatwin and William H. Macy.

187 DETROIT (ABC) – This pilot is about a fictional documentary crew that follows a top homicide division.

CHAOS (CBS) – This pilot revolves around a group of rogue CIA operatives who combat bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting.

JUSTICE (NBC) – This pilot follows an ex-Supreme Court justice who quits the Court to start his own legal practice and comes from none other than Conan O’Brien’s production team.

MIDLAND (FOX) – This soap is set against the backdrop of an oil business that centers on a polygamist living a double life.

THE REMEMBERER (CBS) – A drama pilot about a female NYPD detective who possesses the ability to remember everything – a gift in her job but a curse in her personal life.

THE UNTITLED RICHARD HATEM PROJET (ABC) – A new drama pilot about a beautiful female detective who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground.

THE WHOLE TRUTH (ABC) – This pilot chronicles the building of a case from the perspective of both the defense and prosecution. It will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

THE CUBE (CBS) – Neil Patrick Harris will host the potential game show based on the ITV series of the same name in which folks try to win big bucks by completing simple tasks inside a chamber designed to induce stress.

NOTE: I am only including the above “show” because Neil Patrick Harris has been tapped as the host.

The CW plans to do a remake of the action-thriller La Femme Nikita, which started out as a French film that was then remade for US theaters as the film Point of No Return and then became a popular series on the USA Network. This new version will have the lead character Nikita going rogue with a new assassin brought in to replace her.

Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Dan Palladino are coming back to the CW with a new as-yet untitled project that is supposed to revolve around a family horse farm in the Midwest. Meanwhile Sherman-Palladino also has a deal with HBO for a show about three sisters and their complicated relationships with their mother and each other.

Martin Henderson (Bride & Prejudice) has been cast in the ABC pilot Off the Map from Shonda Rhimes where he will play one of three doctors working a remote medical clinic in the tropics.

Charlize Theron (The Road) has teamed with auteur David Fincher (Zodiac) to develop the HBO drama series Mind Hunter based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s non-fiction book about the profiling of serial killers and rapists.

Maria Bello, Simon Beaufoy, and Russell Crowe have teamed up to develop the HBO drama project Emergency Sex, based on a non-fiction book by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson. The story is about the larger-than-life exploits of expatriate nongovernment-organization workers who find their sanity tested in the face of atrocities, loneliness and primal desires.

Tony Hale (Chuck), Matt Letscher (Eli Stone) will star in the ABC hybrid comedy pilot Awkward Situations for Men, about an Englishman who moves to the US with his wife and discovers that his everyday behavior clashes with American values and gets him into trouble.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Vincent D’Onofrio and Kyra Sedgwick will star in the comedy-drama Chlorine that revolves around a family struggling to maintain their well-to-do lifestyle in their overly materialistic New England community.

Kellan Lutz (Twilight) will star with Mandy Moore in the romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Marriage about a husband (Lutz) of a relationship counselor (Moore) who endangers her marriage while trying to save that of her parents. Actor Dermot Mulroney will be the director and Blythe Danner and Christopher Walken co-star.

Zac Efron will star in the adaptation of the graphic novel Fire by Brian Michael Bendis. He will play a college student who is recruited by the CIA, only to find that he has been trained for a program that creates expendable agents.

Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams will star in the romantic drama Take This Waltz that follows a young woman (Williams) who struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships. The movie is from actress/director Sarah Polley.

CASTING SCOOP

Sam Page (Mad Men) will guest star in episodes of Desperate Housewives, playing a chef who admires Bree Hodge and her conservative values.  The episodes will start in late February.

Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will guest star in Ugly Betty, playing a former flame of Wilhelmina.

Alan Cumming is set to guest star The Good Wife later this season, playing an image consultant named Eli Gold hired to help Peter (Chris Noth) make over his image.

Sarah Drew will return to Grey’s Anatomy for the Valentine’s Day episode to air on February 11.

Richard Burgi will appear on episode of Lie to Me as a state governor who is the target of an assassination attempt.

Brooke Nevin (The 4400) will guest star in an upcoming episode of How I Met Your Mother, playing a romantic interest for Ted. Also, Jennifer Lopez is slated to appear on the comedy in March, as a no-nonsense author of self-help books that teach woman how to train men into relationship machines through the power of denial

Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger himself) will terrorize Booth and Brennan in a slasher-themed episode of Bones that is to air this spring.

Leonard Roberts (Heroes) has been cast as the partner of Dana Delaney’s federal agent character on upcoming episodes of Castle.

John Barrowman (Torchwood) will be guest starring in at least five episodes of Desperate Housewives, as the “Big Bad” at the center of the Angie (Drea de Matteo) mystery.

Mexican pop star Diego Boneta will appear on 90210 as Javier, a young musician who has a fling with Adriana (Jessica Lowndes).

RUMOR PATROL

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is in final negotiations to star on the Criminal Minds spinoff, which revolves around a new group of profilers who work outside the FBI bureaucracy.

Mel Gibson is in negotiations to star in the spy thriller Cold Warrior about a Cold War spy who comes out of retirement to confront a domestic terrorism threat from Russia by joining with a younger agent.

Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore are in talks to star in a remake of the French comedy L.O.L.: Laughing Out Loud that follows a 15-year-old girl who, dumped by her more sexually experienced boyfriend, who sets her sights on his best friend. At the same time, her 40-year-old divorcee mother is struggling to move on with her life.

Julianne Moore may become the lead of the US adaptation of the crime series Prime Suspect if NBC gets what they want. Other actresses being considered for the lead role are Maria Bello, Tea Leoni, and Christina Applegate.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and special will air this weekend and throughout next week:

On Sunday, January 31, Masterpiece Classic on PBS will air part 2 of 3 at 9 PM of the Jane Austen classic movie Emma, starring Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) starring as Mr. Knightley and Romola Garai in the lead role.

The Grammy Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, January 31 at 8 PM.

The new Lifetime movie Lying to be Perfect will reair at 9 PM and stars Poppy Montgomery, as a magazine editor who leads a double life as an anonymous online advice columnist. The movie co-stars Adam Kaufman.

Also, Lost will return for its final season on Tuesday, February 2 for a 2-hour premiere, starting at 9 PM.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes of returning and new series that will be airing this coming week:

Saturday, January 30:
Demons on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Sunday, January 31:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 PM
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10:01 PM
Big Love on HBO at 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Monday, February 1:
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM
House on FOX at 8 PM
24 on FOX at 9 PM
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
Heroes on NBC at 9 PM
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
Greek on ABC Family at 10 PM
Damages on FX at 10 PM
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM

Tuesday, February 2:
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM
Southland on TNT at 10 PM
White Collar on USA at 10 PM

Wednesday, February 3:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10:01 PM
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 PM
Human Target on FOX at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 8 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM
Mercy on NBC at 8 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 PM
Leverage on TNT at 10 PM
Psych on USA at 10 PM
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV; check local listings for time
Being Erica on SOAPNet at 10 PM

Thursday, February 4:
The Deep End on ABC at 8 PM
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 PM
Private Practice on ABC at 10:01 PM
CSI on CBS at 9 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
The Vampire Diaries on The CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on The CW at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA at 10 PM

Friday, February 5:
Smallville on the CW at 8 PM (Two-Hour Special)
Ghost Whisperer on CBS at 8 PM
Medium on CBS at 9 PM
Numb3rs on CBS at 10 PM
Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz at 10 PM
Caprica on Syfy at 9 PM

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Jan. 18 to 22

Here are the entertainment news items for this week: (January 18 to 22):

CONDOLENCES

The best-selling mystery novelist and the creator of both the “Spenser” and “Jesse Stone” series of novels Robert B. Parker passed away earlier this week at the age of 77.

Canadian folk singer and songwriter Kate McGarrigle passed away from cancer this week at the age of 63.

Musician Charlie Daniels suffered a mild stroke on Friday while snowmobiling in Colorado; but he was later released and is recuperating at his home.

NEWS

Congratulations to all the winners of last weekend’s Golden Globe Awards presentation.

The annual PaleyFest held by the Paley Center for Media will be held from February 26 to March 14 and the full schedule was announced this week. It is as follows:

Friday, February 26 at 7 PM – Modern Family
Saturday, February 27 at 7 PM – Lost
Monday, March 1 at 7 PM – NCIS
Wednesday, March 3 at 7 PM – Community
Thursday, March 4 at 7 PM – Dexter
Friday, March 5 at 7 PM – Cougar Town
Saturday, March 6 at 7 PM – The Vampire Diaries
Tuesday, March 9 at 7 PM – Seth MacFarlane & Friends
Wednesday, March 10 at 7 PM – Breaking Bad
Thursday, March 11 at 7 PM – FlashForward
Friday, March 12 at 7 PM – Men of a Certain Age
Saturday, March 13 at 7 PM – Glee
Sunday, March 14 at 7 PM – Curb Your Enthusiasm

As everyone knows by now, the Jay Leno Show 10 PM programming has been pulled and will end on February 12; and the “drama” of the late night scheduling has left Conan O’Brien (and his staff) $45 million richer.

President Obama will have his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, January 27.

TV SERIES NEWS

The new FX series Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant, will debut on March 16 at 10 PM.

Jennie Garth and Rob Estes are both leaving 90210; Estes will be gone next season.

Rob Lowe will be leaving the ABC series Brothers & Sisters at the end of this season.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Relative newcomer Jessica Parker Kennedy (Another Cinderella Story) will star alongside Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the J.J. Abrams spy drama Undercovers. Gerald McRaney (Jericho) will also be part of the show and Carter MacIntyre (American Heiress) has joined the show as a CIA agent with a drinking problem who goes ‘missing’ while trailing a Russian arms dealer.

CBS has greenlit a remake of the classic cop shows Hawaii Five-O to be written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. This updated version will center on an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police who only answer to the governor.

A new pilot at FOX called Midland has been ordered. The series revolves around a polygamist with a double life who works in the oil industry. *Cough* Big Love *cough* part deaux?!

The following ABC pilots have been picked up:

• Body of Evidence a drama from Chris Murphey about a female medical examiner who used to work as a neurosurgeon;

• The dramedy Generation Y from writer/executive producer Noah Hawley (The Unusuals) is based on a Scandinavian series about a group of people who remember their lives ten years ago as high school seniors;

• A female-driven dramedy called Cutthroat from writers/executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters (Reaper) about a single mom who runs a drug cartel in Beverly Hills in order to keep up financially with her neighbors;

• The legal drama The Whole Truth, from writer Tom Donaghy and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer;

• Edgar Floats from Rand Ravich and Far Shariat (the team behind Life) is about a police psychologist who becomes a bounty hunter;

• Matadors, set in Chicago, follows two feuding families; one in the district attorney’s office and the other in a large law firm, comes from Jack Orman (writer and executive producer of ER);

• The cop drama True Blue centers on San Francisco homicide detectives who regroup to figure out who killed one of their own. This series comes from Jon Feldman (Dirty Sexy Money) and executive producers Chris Brancato and Bert Salke; and,

• The Shonda Rhimes created medical drama, tentatively called Off the Map, about three stateside doctors who opt to work for an isolated tropical clinic.

TNT has greenlit two original series, including:

•  The offbeat drama Delta Blues (the working title) executive produced by George Clooney will star Jason Lee as a Memphis police officer who lives with his mother. The cast includes Alfre Woodard (Three Rivers), Celia Weston (Junebug), Sam Hennings, Robyn Lively (Saving Grace), Leonard Earl Howze (Barbershop), Abraham Benrubi (Men in Trees and ER) and DJ Qualls (My Name is Earl). The series will premiere this year and will have 10 episodes.

•  Based on the Tess Gerritsen mystery novels, Rizzoli & Isles (the working title) will star Angie Harmon (Women’s Murder Club) as a Boston detective who works closely with a medical examiner (Sasha Alexander from NCIS) to solve crimes. Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) will have a recurring role in the series with Lee Thompson Young (FlashForward), Bruce McGill, Jordan Bridges (Dawson’s Creek) and Billy Burke as co-stars. This series will also have 10 episodes and premiere sometime this year.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Academy Award winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood will write the Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic with Steven Spielberg and Suzanne de Passe acting as producers.

Keira Knightley is no longer up for consideration in the role of Eliza Doolittle in the new adaptation of My Fair Lady. Current candidates include Carey Mulligan, Gemma Arterton and Emily Blunt.

Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) will be the director of the retooled Spider-Man which is set to pick up in 2012 with Peter Parker in high school

Marcia Gay Harden and Aidan Quinn have joined the indie drama If I Were You, which centers on two women who form and unlikely bond to repair their lives.

Clive Owen is replacing Paul Walker in the action thriller Protection that follows a disgraced former Special Forces soldier who takes on Mexican gangs in an attempt to rescue a judge’s daughter.

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES

The Hallmark Channel movie The Wild Girl will air on April 24 at 9 PM and is set in the Depression Era and stars Brian Austin Green (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves) as an unlikely team who embarks on a rescue mission in the Sierra Madre Badlands, but who stumble upon an orphaned Apache girl abandoned in the wilderness. Kathleen Munroe co-stars. The movie is based on the novel by Jim Fergus.

The movie Healing Hands will air on the Hallmark Channel on March 20 at 9 PM and stars Eddie Cibrian and Lisa Sheridan (both formerly on Invasion). The movie follows the simple life of Buddy Hoyt (Cibrian), a school janitor who lives in the garage apartment of his adoptive parents’ home; but tragedy strikes him and his fiancée Alice (Sheridan) when he ends up in a coma. When he awakens, he discovers he has the ability to heal others just by touching them. The movie also stars Patrick Duffy.

CASTING SCOOP

Rich Sommer (Mad Men) will play a working class fireman who will be aiming for Betty’s heart in upcoming episodes of Ugly Betty. His episode is set to air in March. Liza Minnelli has landed a recurring role in the series, recurring as Lena Korvinka, the high school drama teacher. Kristen Johnson will reprise her role as Helen on next week’s episode of the series. Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Nestor Serrano (24) will play Bobby’s Italian parents, Dina and Anthony in this season’s 15th episode.

Allison Sweeney (Days of Our Lives) will appear in an episode of Mercy as a bus-crash victim who appears to have only minor injuries.

Legendary actress Gena Rowlands will appear in a potentially recurring role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ mother-in-law in NCIS starting in March.

Movie actor Michael Sheen (Underworld movies) will guest star in an upcoming episode of 30 Rock and John Hamm (Mad Men) will return to the series for the Valentine’s Day episode.

Neil Patrick Harris is to appear in the episode of Glee that will be helmed by Joss Whedon.

Billy Baldwin will play Serena’s (Blake Lively) absentee father in a few episodes of Gossip Girl that will air later this season.

Sarah Paulson(Cupid) and J. August Richards (Angel) will appear in the February 18 episode of Grey’s Anatomy as the younger versions of Meredith’s mother Ellis and the Chief. Missi Pyle will also be seen in flashbacks of Dr. Bailey’s first days on the job.

Madchen Amick (Californication) has been cast in a recurring role on CSI: NY. She will play a romantic interest for Detective Taylor (Gary Sinise).

RUMOR PATROL

Rumor has it that CBS is eyeing Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight) for their proposed remake of Hawaii Five-O; but that is speculation at best right now.

Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn are said to be in negotiations to star with Reese Witherspoon in the movie Water for Elephants, which is an adaptation of Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel of the same name about a love triangle among circus employees in Depression-era America.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and specials will air this weekend and throughout next week:

The Lifetime movie The Pregnancy Pact will debut at 9 PM on Saturday, January 23 and is about a blogger (Thora Birch) who investigates a rash of teen pregnancies at her old high school, and rumors swirl about a pact between the girls.

NOTE: The movie will reair on Monday, January 25 at 9 PM.

The US Figure Skating Championships for women will air on NBC at 9 PM on Saturday, January 23.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast on both TNT and TBS on Saturday, January 23 at 8 PM.

Masterpiece Classic on PBS will feature the first of the three-part movie Emma based on the beloved Jane Austen novel with Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) as Mr. Knightley and Romola Garai in the lead role on Sunday, January 24 at 9 PM.

The following new or returning shows will debut this coming weekend and next week:

Damages returns for another season on FX on Monday, January 25 at 10 PM.

Psych returns for the rest of its new season on USA Network at 10 PM on Wednesday, January 27.

Greek will return to the ABC Family Channel at its new time of 10 PM on Monday, January 24.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes of returning and new series that will be airing this coming week:

Saturday, January 23:
Demons on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Sunday, January 24:
Big Love on HBO at 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Monday, January 25:
Castle on ABC at 10 PM
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM
House on FOX at 8 PM
24 on FOX at 9 PM
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
Heroes on NBC at 9 PM
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM

Tuesday, January 26:
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
Southland on TNT at 10 PM
White Collar on USA at 10 PM

NOTE: If you want to remember what happened on last season’s finale of Lost, you can rewatch the 2-hour finale tonight at 9 PM on ABC. You can also rewatch the 2-hour pilot of Caprica on Syfy at 8 PM tonight. A special airing of Human Target is supposed to air on FOX tonight, too. Please check your local listings for time and confirmation.

Wednesday, January 27:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10:01 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM
Leverage on TNT at 10 PM
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV; check local listings for time
Being Erica on SOAPNet at 10 PM
Human Target on FOX at 9 PM (Note: Check local listings for this airing)

Thursday, January 28:
The Deep End on ABC at 8 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
The Vampire Diaries on The CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on The CW at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA at 10 PM

Friday, January 29:
Smallville on the CW at 8 PM
Dollhouse on FOX at 8 PM – Series Finale
Law & Order on NBC at 8 PM
Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz at 10 PM
Caprica on Syfy at 9 PM

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Jan. 11 to 15

Here are the entertainment news items for this week: (January 11 to 15):

CONDOLENCES

Legendary R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1982 car accident passed away this week at the age of 59. Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans.

Golden Girl Rue McClanahan suffered a minor stroke while recovering from heart bypass surgery this week. Doctors state after physical therapy she should be out of the hospital by the end of January. We wish her well.

NEWS

Scott Bakula has signed on to reprise his role as Chuck’s spy daddy, Steve, for multiple episodes of the NBC series Chuck.

Taylor Kitsch will not be returning next season as a series regular to Friday Night Lights. The series is currently airing on DirecTV through February and will rerun on NBC staring on April 30. 

The second Richard Castle cross-platform novel based on the fictional character Nikki Heat from within the ABC series Castle will be available for purchase at the end of September 2010. The first publication “Heat Wave” currently has over 170,000 copies in print and has made it to the New York Times hardcover bestsellers list.

It was announced by ABC that Harold Perrineau and Cynthia Watros will return to Lost for the final season. Also returning are Ian Somerhalder, Dominic Monaghan and Katey Sagal.

FOX is planning a special week of sweeps programming called “Fox Rocks” where music will be a driving theme in much of the networks series. How that will play in some of their shows is still in question, though.

Brothers & Sisters will air a special two-part episode that will be set in 1973 and 1986 and that means casting of younger versions of the Walker family, including William, Nora, Kevin, Kitty, Tommy and Sarah as well as Holly Harper.

Jennifer Morrison will be heading back to House later this season and while the timing and context of her return are being kept under wraps, she will be back before the end of the season.

Steven Spielberg has signed on to produce Rebuilding Ground Zero, a six-part documentary series about the construction of a new World Trade Center for the Science Channel.

More adventures of Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of Serenity will become available to fans in the form of short stories coming from Titan Books with Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica and Caprica) writing one of the planned stories.

TV SERIES NEWS

FOX has renewed the musicomedy Glee for a second season.

It was also announced that there will be a nationwide casting call for three new characters for the FOX series Glee, which will air as a multi-part special leading up to the season two premiere. The producers are looking for actors between the ages of 16 and 26, and all hopefuls will be able to submit auditions online. You can find out more information and updates at www.fox.com/glee.

Earlier this week NBC finally admitted defeat, cancelling the floundering Jay Leno 5-night a week programming decision that was previously touted by the network only to be greeted with weak ratings. With that being said the network has announced their plans for programming for NBC starting in March, including the following:

• On Mondays: Chuck will air at 8 PM, Trauma at 9 PM (beginning March 8 ) and Law & Order at 10 PM (returning March 1 with two-hour episode from 9 to 11);

• On Tuesdays: Parenthood will debut on Tuesday, March 2 and air at 10 PM from there on out;

• On Wednesdays: Mercy will air at 8 PM; encore episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will air at 9 PM and new episodes of SVU will air at 10 PM;

• On Fridays: Friday Night Lights will return with a new season, starting on April 30 at 8 PM; and,

• On Saturdays: Encore episodes of Law & Order will air at 9 PM and encore episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will air at 10 PM.

CBS has picked up both NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife for second season.

TNT ordered a second season of their male-oriented series Men of a Certain Age.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It have both been picked up for new seasons on the ABC Family Channel.

The ABC Family Channel comedy 10 Things I Hate About You will return on March 29 at 8 PM.

Army Wives will be back on Lifetime on Sunday, April 11at 10 PM.

Teen actress Victoria Justice (Zoey 101) will star in the new Nickelodeon action comedy Victorious about kids at a Hollywood Performing Arts school. The premiere will be on March 27 at 9:30 PM and the series has an order of 20 episodes.

MADE FOR TV MOVIES NEWS

The movie The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice will premiere on ABC Family Channel at 8 PM on March 14 and stars Francia Raisa (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) as Alexandra “Alex” Delgado whose figure skating career is in jeopardy because her partner (on and off the ice) gets injured. As their love affairs cools off, she stops competing and turns to teaching. Enter James Van Behr (Brenden Fehr, Roswell and Bones), the bad boy of speed skating who wants Alex as his partner since he was banned from the sport.

The ABC Family Channel movie Business of Falling in Love will debut at 8 PM on April 18. Based on the book by Daniella Brodsky, Diary of a Working Girl, Hilary Duff stars as Lane Daniels, a bright fashion journalist whose career and love life come together in an unusual way after her article “Switching Careers to Find Love” in Cosmopolitan magazine is accepted and that article changes her life in unexpected ways. Also starring in the movie are Matt Dallas (Eastwick and Kyle XY) and Chris Carmack (The O.C.).

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has ordered eight episodes of the new drama Scoundrels for its 2010 summer lineup. The series, which is based on a show from New Zealand, is about a family of small-time criminals who are uprooted when the dad is thrown into prison for an extended period of time. The mother then tries to encourage her children to go straight.

The Alyssa Milano comedy Romantically Challenged is expected to premiere on ABC on Monday, April 5 at 9:30 PM; but a confirmed date has yet to be announced. Should the series move forward it will have a seven episode run.

Jerry Bruckheimer could add three more TV shows to his credit, including the following:

• The NBC series Chase, based on a real-life group and set in the American Southwest, follows a crucial fugitive apprehension team comprised of U.S. Marshals that tracks down the nation’s most notorious criminals;

• The ABC show Hopscotch, a high-concept crime drama that focuses on the five most compelling days in a murder investigation; and,

• The ABC series The Whole Truth, a legal drama that shows both the defense and the prosecution as they build and try a case.

NBC made the following announcements at the winter press tour of the Television Critics Association this week:

• Day One has been trimmed again. First it was a new series then it was diminished to a mini-series now it will be nothing more than a 2-hour pilot that will be considered a two-hour backdoor pilot that will only be picked up for more IF the ratings are strong enough;

• Law & Order has been picked up for at least four additional episodes, bringing its season total to 20;

• A Los Angeles version of Law & Order is being considered;

• An update to the 70’s classic detective series The Rockford Files is being banded about with David Shore (creator and executive producer of House) being considered as show runner;

• A US version of Prime Suspect will come from Hank Steinberg, the executive producer of Without A Trace;

• Undercovers, from J.J. Abrams (Lost) will be about a domesticated husband and wife who re-activated as CIA Agents after years in retirement and are re-activated as CIA agents (British ingenue Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe (Soul Food) have the leads and newcomer Ben Schwartz will play a young CIA agent);

• The series The Event will be a thriller with a unique storytelling device that features multiple points of view concerning a decent, regular fellow who battles against mysterious circumstances that envelope a larger conspiracy from Steve Stark (Medium) and Nick Wauters (The 4400); and,

• Kindreds, from David E. Kelley (Boston Legal), follows a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer and his group of misfit associates as their lives come together to form an unconventional kind of law practice.

Betty White, Jane Leeves (Frasier), Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Valerie Bertinelli will appear in the TV Land comedy pilot Hot in Cleveland that will follow three fortysomething best friends from Los Angeles who, after getting stuck in Ohio, decide to stick around because the locals find them glamorous. White will be a lady who has lived in the cottage of the trio’s Cleveland house for 50 years.

Jeremy Irons will star in The Borgias, a new period series that will replace The Tudors on Showtime, playing Rodrigo Borgia, the patriarch of the Renaissance-era Italian noble family known for its profound corruption. The series is scheduled to premiere in the spring of 2011.

The Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks quirky cop comedy Code 58 from Matt Nix (Burn Notice) is heading to FOX first on May 12 with a sneak preview and then debuting on June 7. The show centers on washed-up cop Dan Stark (Whitford) who spends much of his time drunk and reminiscing about the good old days. His new partner Jack Bailey (Hanks) is a snarky, ambitious detective who unfortunately makes enemies at the station, undermining his own job. Jenny Wade (Reaper) and Diana Maria Riva (Side Order of Life) will co-star.

Matthew Perry will star in the comedy pilot Mr. Sunshine for ABC. The pilot centers on a manager (Perry) of an aging San Diego sports stadium who reevalutes his devil-may-care ways once he turns 40.

Carla Gallo (Bones) and Jose Zuniga (CSI) have been cast in the FOX comedy pilot The Station, which also stars Justin Bartha (The Hangover) and Jordan Peele.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) will star alongside Ryan Reynolds in the box office movie Green Lantern.

Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe) has joined the spy thriller Knockout, joining Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Dennis Quaid.

John Malkovich has replaced John C. Reilly in the comic book adaptation Red, which also stars Brue Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Julian McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox and James Remar.

Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Linda Cardellini (ER) join Rainn Wilson (The Office), Ellen Page (Juno), Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings), and Kevin Bacon (Mystic River) in James Gunn’s movie Super, which is a comedic look at superhero genre.

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts will appear in the movie Larry Crowne, which Hanks will direct.

Robert Downey Jr. has dropped out of the movie Cowboys & Aliens to appear in the Sherlock Holmes sequel.

Michelle Monaghan has joined the time-travel thriller Source Code, starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.

Moon Bloodgood has joined the cast of the Dwayne Johnson revenge drama movie Faster.

Kevin Spacey has signed on to star in the Chinese black comedy Inseparable, which tells the story of a young man with problems at home and work who is befriended by a mysterious American expatriate (Spacey).

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) has joined the cast of the movie John Carter of Mars, which already stars Thomas Haden Church, Willem Dafoe, Taylor Kitsch, Samantha Morton, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Mark Strong.

Angelina Jolie will star as medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta from author Patricia Cornwell long-running mystery novel series.

Bill Murray will replace British actor Toby Kebbell as a murderous mobster in the dramatic thriller Passion Play that is set in 1950s Los Angeles. Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Kelly Lynch also star.

CASTING SCOOP

Singer/Actress Olivia Newton-John will guest star in the “back-nine” episodes of Glee when it returns to the FOX schedule in April. She will also sing her 80’s hit “Let’s Get Physical” with Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch).

Melinda Clarke (The O.C.) will guest star in The Vampire Diaries as Kelly Donovan, the absentee and alcoholic mother of Matt. She will appear in at least three episodes starting in March.

Comic-book legend Stan Lee will appear in an upcoming episode of The Big Bang Theory that is expected to air in February.

Joey Lauren Adams will appear as a new character on the Showtime series United States of Tara when it returns for its second season.

Guest stars to be seen in upcoming episodes of the new Syfy series Caprica will include Meg Tilly, Patton Oswalt, James Marsters and (the previously announced) Scott Porter.

Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives) will appear as a federal agent in two upcoming episodes of Castle.

Actor David Strathairn will guest star in the 17th episode of House, which is being directed by lead Hugh Laurie (making his directorial debut).

Sara Rue (Eastwick) and Bruno Campos (Royal Pains) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Private Practice slated to air in mid-February.

Peter Horton (thirtysomething) will guest star in the new CW series Life Unexpected, playing the father of Cate (Shiri Appleby). Cate’s mother will be played by Cynthia Stevenson (Men in Trees). Erica Karpluk (Being Erica) will also have a recurring role in the series.

Judy Greer (Miss Guided) will guest star on Modern Family, playing an ex-girlfriend of family man Phil (Ty Burrell).

Soap vet Sterling Sulieman (All My Children) will appear in at least three episodes of The Vampire Diaries, as one of the vampire entombed with Damon and Stefan’s lover Katherine.

Former wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper will appear in an upcoming episode of Cold Case, playing (not ironically, I’m sure) as wrestler named Sweet Sil.

Dominic Chianese (The Sopranos) and Craig Bierko (Boston Legal) will both appear in multiple episodes of the FX drama Damages.

Barry Bostwick will appear in the February 10 episode of Cougar Town as the father of Laurie’s (Busy Phillips) boyfriend. Also, Beverly D’Angelo will appear in the series as Laurie’s “white trash mom”.

John Larroquette will appear in an upcoming episode of Parks and Recreation as a former flame of Leslie’s (Amy Poehler) mother, Marlene (Pamela Reed).

Lex Medlin (Southland) will play Cupid in the February 11 episode of Supernatural.

RUMOR PATROL

There is a possibility that the Starz drama series Crash may not be back for a third season.

Rumor has it that Peter Sarsgaard (An Education) is in talks to play villain Dr. Hector Hammond in the box office movie Green Lantern.

Vera Farmiga (Up In the Air) is in negotiations to join the time travel thriller Source Code that already stars Jake Gyllenhaal.

A possible sequel to the 2005 drama Four Brothers could be in development at Paramount Pictures.

Sources say that Daniel Craig is being considered as a replacement for Robert Downey Jr. in the film Cowboys & Aliens.

The front runner for the director’s chair of the to be revamped Spider-Man is 500 Days of Summer director Marc Webb.

Antonio Banderas is in talks to play the head of a Black Ops European unit in the spy thriller Knockout that stars Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum. Michael Angarano (Forbidden Kingdom) is also in negotiations to join the cast.

Kellan Lutz (Twilight) and Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis) are both being considered to play Conan the Barbarian in the upcoming remake. One other unnamed actor who is “more established” is also being considred.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and special will air this weekend and throughout next week:

Saturday, January 16 – The Syfy movie House of Bones about a haunted New Orleans house that terrorizes a TV paranormal team of investigators will air at 9 PM. The movie stars Charisma Carpenter and Corin Nemec.

Sunday, January 17 – The Lifetime Movie Network movie The Wronged Man, stars Julie Ormond as a paralegal who spends countless years attempting to prove the innocence of a man serving a jail sentence will air at 8 PM.

NOTE: The movie will reair on Monday, January 18 at 8 PM.

Sunday, January 17 – A marathon of the first season of Being Erica will air on SOAPNet, starting at 11 AM (check local listings for exact airtimes).

Sunday, January 17 – The conclusion of the PBS movie Return to Cranford will air at 9 PM. The movie stars Dame Judi Dench.

Sunday, January 17 – The Golden Globe Awards will be telecast on NBC at 8 PM.

Sunday, January 17 – The Disney Channel movie Skyrunners about two brothers who discover a small UFO and uncover an alien plot to take over the world will air at 8 PM.

Sunday, January 17 – The ABC Family Channel movie Bring It On: Fight to the Finish about a cheerleader whose hopes are plummeted after a sudden relocation leavers her with a far inferior squad will air at 8 PM.

NOTE: This movie will reair at 10 PM.

The following new or returning shows will debut this coming weekend and next week:

Sunday, January 17 – The FOX drama 24 will return for an 8th season with a four-hour premiere; the first two hours will air from 9 to 11 PM.

Sunday, January 17 – The new series Human Target will have a sneak preview on FOX at 8 PM.

Monday, January 18 – The final two hours of the FOX drama 24 will air from 8 to 10 PM.

Monday, January 18 – The debut of Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM.

NOTE: The pilot will reair on Wednesday, January 20 at 8 PM.

Thursday, January 21 – The new ABC legal drama The Deep End will debut at 8 PM.

Friday, January 22 – The new Starz series Spartacus: Sand and Blood will have its series premiere at 10 PM.

Friday, January 22 – The new Syfy series Caprica will debut for two hours starting at 8 PM.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes of returning and new series that will be airing this coming week:

Saturday, January 16:
Demons on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Sunday, January 17:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 PM
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10:01 PM
Cold Case on CBS at 9 PM
Big Love on HBO at 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Monday, January 18:
Castle on ABC at 1 PM
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
Heroes on NBC at 9 PM
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM

Tuesday, January 19:
Southland on TNT at 10 PM
White Collar on USA at 10 PM

Wednesday, January 20:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10:01 PM
Mercy on NBC at 8 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 PM
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM
Leverage on TNT at 10 PM
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV; check local listings for time
Being Erica on SOAPNet at 10 PM
Human Target on FOX at 9 PM

Thursday, January 21:
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 PM
Private Practice on ABC at 10:01 PM
CSI on CBS at 9 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
The Vampire Diaries on The CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on The CW at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA at 10 PM

Friday, January 22:

Regular programming will not be seen tonight due to the telethon special “Hope for Haiti,” which will air live at 8 PM on the following channels: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, CNN, HBO, BET, MTV, VH1, CMT and National Geographic. Please check your local listings for other networks that may join the cause; or what those channels that do not participate in the telethon will actually air.

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Jan. 4 to 8

Here are the entertainment news items for this week:

NEWS

Kim Raver has been added as a regular on Grey’s Anatomy only two months after she joined the medical drama as a recurring character. She is expected to appear in all but one of the show’s remaining episodes this season.

NBC has plans to renew Law & Order for a 21st season, and by doing so, will make it the longest-running network drama in TV history.

Sandra Bullock will present SAG’s Life Achievement Award to Betty White at the event which will be simulcast on TNT and TBS on Saturday, January 23 at 8:00 PM.

Kevin Bacon will receive the Joel Siegel Award at the 15th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, which will air live on VH1 on Friday, January 15 at 9 PM (hosted by Kristin Chenoweth)

The USA Network announced they have picked up original series Covert Affairs about a young CIA trainee who is thrust into the inner sanctum of the agency when she is unexpectedly promoted to be a field operative. The series will star Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty), Peter Gallagher (The OC), Kari Matchett (Invasion) and Anne Dudek (House). The show will have a 90-minut premiere and 11 one-hour episodes.

The CBS medical drama called Miami Medical (formerly known as Miami Trauma) will debut on CBS on Friday, April 2 at 10 PM. The series follows a team of expert surgeons who thrive on the adrenaline rush of working at one of the premiere trauma facilities in the country. The cast includes Jeremy Northam (The Net), Lana Parrilla (Swingtown), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Elisabeth Harnois (Point Pleasant) and Omar Gooding (Playmakers).

FOX has announced that Eric Milligan, who played Zack, will return to Bones for its 100th episode, which is expected to air later this season.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the recent People’s Choice Awards.

Showtime announced they have ordered 13 episode of the new Laura Linney drama The Big C (formerly known as The C Word), which will focus on a suburban mother who attempts to find humor in her cancer diagnosis. The series will also star Oliver Platt.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC plans to produce 18 pilots this spring, which is the most since 2003. Among the new pilots are Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, starring David Tennant and Jeffrey Tambor, a Rockford Files remake, and Undercovers, a spy thriller from Lost and Fringe creator J.J. Abrams.

ABC has picked up a new crime drama pilot set called 187 Detroit, which will be shot like a fictional documentary crew following a top homicide division, having a realistic yet sometimes humorous tone. The series will be executive produced by Jason Richman, David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.

FOX has given a pilot order to Shawn Ryan’s cop drama project Ridealong, which follows a group of police officers–ranging from beat cops to the female police chief–in Chicago.

David Milch and Michael Mann will team at HBO for a horse racing drama called Luck, which will be a provocative look at the world of horse racing and gambling

Catherine McCormack (28 Weeks Later) has replaced Melora Hardin (The Office) in the FX drama series Lights Out, playing a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and the wife of an aging boxing champion (Holt McCallany) attempting to support his family after he is diagnosed with a rare neurological condition. Stacy Keach (Prison Break) and Pablo Schreiber (The Wire) will also star in the series.

TBS has given ordered a one-hour mystery-comedy pilot called Uncle Nigel, from writer/executive producer Adam Breckman (Monk). The project will revolve around an uptight Philadelphia police detective who clashes with his screw-up cop nephew.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Lucy Punch (Ella Enchanted) has been cast in the movie Earthbound, which follows a woman, played by Kate Hudson, as she learns she has been stricken with cancer before meeting a new guy (Gael Garcia Bernal). Punch will play the woman’s best friend and advertising agency co-worker. Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married) will also star as a best friend and confidante of Hudson’s character. Kathy Bates also stars.

Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air and Twilight) has joined the untitled cancer dramatic comedy (possibly titled I’m With Cancer), starring alongside James McAvoy, as a 25-year-old who learns he has cancer. Kendrick will play the role of Katherine, a young psychologist assigned to handle McAvoy’s character’s case despite her lack of real life experience. Seth Rogen also has a role in the film.

Taylor Lautner (Twilight) will star in the Tom Cruise thriller Northern Lights about a gifted, young, aerobatics pilot (Lautner) who faces off with his controlling, billionaire father (Cruise) and falls in love with a gifted, female pilot.

James Franco (Spiderman) will star in the Danny Boyle movie called 127 Hours about the true life story of Aron Ralston, a mountaineer who spent five days with his right forearm pinned under a boulder during a climb in 2003.

Kat Dennings (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) and Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) have joined the romance drama Daydream Nation about a disaffected high school senior who finds herself deposited along with her widowed father in a desolate Canadian hamlet where boredom leads her into an affair with a teacher and into a more promising romance with a druggie teen.

Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas and Michael Fassbender have all joined the spy thriller Knockout, which also stars mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano. The film is about a black ops super soldier who seeks to uncover who has set her up to take the fall for a job that goes bad and involves a murder.

Maggie Grace (Lost) will star in the action drama Faster alongside Dwayne Johnson, who plays an ex-con bent on avenging the death of his brother, murdered 10 years earlier when the two were double-crossed during a heist. Billy Bob Thornton also stars and Salma Hayek is in negotiations to also star.

Christina Ricci has joined Bel Ami, which follows George Duroy (Robert Pattinson), a young journalist who rose from poverty to become one of the most successful men in Paris via the ruthless and calculating bedding of the city’s most glamorous and influential women. The cast also includes Uma Thurman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

CASTING SCOOP

Julie Benz (Dexter) will appear in three episodes of Desperate Housewives as Debbie, a stripper with a Master’s degree who is offered a chance to transition into a more stable career path by Susan. The first episode will air in February.

James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek) will join the cast of the NBC medical drama Mercy in the major recurring role of Liam West, the hospital’s new ICU chief.

Sharon Stone is joining the cast of Law & Order: SVU for a four-episode arc beginning in April. Stone will play a former cop-turned-prosecutor who will (presumably) go toe-to-toe with Benson, Stabler and the gang.

Mischa Barton has been cast in an episode of Law & Order: SVU, which is expected to air on March 3. She will play a prostitute named Gladys, who has a secret which will create some sort of trouble for Benson.

Carrie Underwood will make her acting debut on How I Met Your Mother later this season, playing a character named Tiffany who catches Ted’s eye. The episode will likely air in March.

Other future guests on How I Met Your Mother include Amanda Peet as a co-worker of Marshall’s on January 18, and New York Yankee Nick Swisher and CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz later in the season.

Ryan O’Neal will appear in multiple episodes of 90210 as the super-famous movie star father of Teddy (Trevor Donovan). The series returns of its mid-season hiatus on March 9.

Lee Tergeson (Oz) will co-star in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a deranged religious zealot suspected of murder.

David Brenner will guest star on an episode of Modern Family that is expected to air on February 10.

RUMOR PATROL

Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) is in talks to appear in the movie Hanna, which is about a 14-year-old Eastern European girl (Ronan) who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father’s world and discovers that she was bred as a killing machine in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life.

Bill Paxton has pitched an idea for a 3D sequel to Twister to producer Kathleen Kennedy, basing the premise of the possible sequel on the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which was a mile wide and stayed on the ground for nearly four hours.

There are reports floating around that a reboot is in the works for the 1980’s comedy smash Mannequin that starred Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall. Writers are supposedly being sought for the project.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies will air this coming weekend and next week:

The Hallmark movie The Wishing Well will air at 9 PM on Saturday, January 9. The movie is about a reportedly magic well that is investigated by a jaded journalist (Jordan Ladd), who makes the same wish as a young girl, setting off an unusual series of events.

NOTE: This movie will reair on Sunday, January 10 at 9 PM and on Friday, January 15 at 9 PM.

Masterpiece Theatre movie Return to Cranford Part 1 of 2 will air on PBS on Sunday, January 10 at 9 PM (1 ½ hours).

The Syfy movie Battlestar Galactica: The Plan will air on Sunday, January 10 at 9 PM.

A marathon of NCIS episodes will air throughout the day on the USA Network. Check your local listings for time.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes of returning and new series that will be airing this coming week:

Saturday, January 9:
Demons on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Sunday, January 10:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 PM
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10:01 PM
Cold Case on CBS at 9 PM
Chuck returns for its 3rd season with a two hour premiere on NBC at 9 PM
Big Love on HBO at 9 PM

NOTE: Legend of the Seeker will be back with all new episodes in syndication starting this weekend. Check your local listings for date, time and channel.

Monday, January 11:
Castle on ABC at 10 PM
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
Heroes on NBC at 9 PM
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
House on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM

Tuesday, January 12:
The Forgotten on ABC at 10 PM
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM
Southland on TNT at 10 PM

Wednesday, January 13:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10:01 PM
Mercy on NBC at 8 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 PM
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM
Leverage on TNT at 10 PM

Thursday, January 14:
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 PM
Private Practice on ABC at 10:01 PM
CSI on CBS at 9 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM

Friday, January 15:
Ghost Whisperer on CBS at 8 PM – Check local listings to determine if this is a new episode
Medium on CBS at 9 PM
Numb3rs on CBS at 10 PM
Dollhouse on FOX at 9 PM
Law & Order on NBC at 8 PM
Sanctuary on Syfy at 9 PM – Two Hour Finale

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

Weekly Round-Up for Dec. 28 to Jan. 1

Here are the entertainment news items for this week, which was a light news week because of the holiday:

NEWS

After a marathon two-day negotiating session, FOX and Time Warner Cable executives on Friday have come to terms on the contentious retransmission consent agreement that threatened to knock numerous Fox channels off Time Warner Cable systems.

CASTING SCOOP

Mayim Bialik (Blossom) will have a recurring role on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, portraying Dr. Wilameena Bink, a counselor that fills the vacancy left by Mr. Molina.

Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights) will appear in the Syfy series Caprica.

RUMOR PATROL

Sam Worthington is being considered for the remake of Flash Gordon.

James McAvoy is rumored to be playing Ian Fleming in the biopic that is in development about the James Bond author. The story is to focus on his younger years as an aimless playboy growing up under the shadow of a famous family, and his experiences in WWII that changed his life and gave him inspiration for the character of 007 based on his own exploits. The story will be based on the book by Andrew Lycett which Matt Brown (Ropewalk) has adapted.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and specials will air this coming weekend and next week:

January 2 and 3 – NCIS Marathon on USA Network from 9 AM to 4 AM.

January 2 and 3 – House Marathon on Bravo from 6 PM to 4 AM.

January 3 and 4 – House Marathon on USA Network from 9 AM to 4 AM.

January 6 – The People’s Choice Awards will air on CBS at 9 PM.

January 6 – Chuck Marathon on Syfy (check local listings for time).

January 7 – House Marathon on USA Network (check local listings for time).

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here are the new episodes that will be airing this coming week:

Monday, January 4:
Heroes on NBC at 8 PM (Two Hours)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family at 8 PM
Make It or Break It on ABC Family at 9 PM
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM

Tuesday, January 5:
The Forgotten on ABC at 10 PM
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM

Wednesday, January 6:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 10 PM
Mercy on NBC at 8 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 PM
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 PM

Thursday, January 7:
Demons on BBC America at 9 PM

Friday, January 8:
Ghost Whisperer on CBS at 8 PM
Medium on CBS at 9 PM
Numb3rs on CBS at 10 PM
Dollhouse on FOX at 9 PM
Law & Order on NBC at 8 PM
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 PM

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up (Dec. 21 to 25)

Here are the entertainment news items for this week (December 21 to December 25):

CONDOLENCES

Actress Brittany Murphy, best known for her roles in the movies Clueless, 8 Mile and Don’t Say A Word, passed away at only 32 year of age this past weekend. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

Alaina Reed Hall, otherwise known as Olivia on Sesame Street, passed away last week after a battle with breast cancer. She was 63. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

Arnold Stang, who was the voice of both Top Cat and Herman Mouse passed away on Sunday. He was 91. Condolences to his family, friends and fans.

Connie Hines, the actress who portrayed Carol Post, wife of Wilbur Post on the old TV series Mister Ed passed away last week at the age of 79 from complications of heart problems. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

NEWS

Maura Tierney may be well enough next year to return to her Rescue Me role of Kelly McPhee, love interest of Denis Leary’s firefighter Tommy Gavin. Plans are underway by series Executive Producer, Peter Tolan, to bring her character back in the 7th season, which will be shot in the spring of 2010.

Starz has already renewed the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, starring Lucy Lawless and John Hannah (among others) before the series has even debuted. The premiere will air on January 22.

Haaz Sleiman who plays Mohammed “Mo’Mo” De La Cruz on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie is no longer with the series. No explanation was given by Showtime. The series will return with no episodes on March 22.

ABC is looking to air a special edition of 20/20 called The Blind Side: The Real Story Behind the Movie on December 29 at 10 PM with Deborah Roberts anchoring. A sit-down interview with the real Michael Oher, Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family are expected.

NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE

A pilot script from Anthony Zuiker, the creator of CSI, for the cop drama Jax and Amber has been ordered by CBS. The story revolves around two female detectives who harbor a unique insight into solving crimes.

Disney XD has given a series order to the live-action comedy Pair of Kings, which revolves around a set of fraternal twins: one is white, the other black, who are raised by their aunt and uncle until they find out that they are heirs to the throne of the island of Kinkou; they relocate there to become kings. The stars of the series include Mitchel Musso, Doc Shaw, Geno Segers, Kelsey Chow, and Ryan Ochoa. The series was created by Dan Cross and Dave Hoge (Aaron Stone).

ABC has given a pilot order to a multi-camera comedy called Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid. It is about a man and a woman who have been very unlucky in love and hope that their latest relationship will work out. The pilot is based on a book by Howard Morris and Jenny Lee, who will write the pilot script.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Kevin Bacon will play the villain in the upcoming action-comedy Super, playing a smooth-talking drug dealer who steals the wife (Liv Tyler) of an average guy (Rainn Wilson), causing the latter to become a one-man crime-fighting force known as The Crimson Bolt. Ellen Page also stars.

CASTING SCOOP

Ugly Betty will return to ABC on January 6 and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) will reprise his role as Betty’s orthodontist. Christine Ebersole will guest stars as Frances, a gallery owner; Matt Newton returns as Marc’s one-night stand, Troy and Denise Ludwig will play a Hollywood player hired to replace Wilhemina.

Max Martini (The Unit) has been cast in an episode of Lie To Me.

Emmanuelle Vaugier (CSI: NY) will appear in the new FOX drama Human Target, playing Emma Barnes, an FBI agent who crosses paths Christopher Chance (Mark Valley). Her character may be first appearing in the January 20 episode.

Tina Majorino will be back as Heather Tuttle on the HBO series Big Love when it returns for its fourth season.

Also, Matthew Humphries will be playing the role of Ron Reed, the new face of the religious right, on Big Love. As the head of an anti-gaming organization, his character will run up against Bill (Bill Paxton).

RUMOR PATROL

The Paley Center for Media and Sony Pictures Television are said to be in talks about launching a television awards special and are talking to multiple networks to gauge interest in such an offering.

Writer/Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) are in talks to direct the 21 Jump Street, based on the popular 80’s TV series that starred Johnny Depp. Mike Bacall penned the script from a story he and actor Jonah Hill developed together. Hill will star in the film and executive produce. Neal Moritz and Stephen J. Cannell will produce.

Taylor Lautner is supposedly in talks to star in a remake of the 1985 drama Vision Quest, which starred Matthew Modine as a high school wrestling star who falls in love with an artist his dad has taken in as a boarder. No confirmation of this casting has been made, however.

It appears Hugh Jackman MAY be attached to the new Antoine Fuqua movie Prisoners, a dark tale about a man who, after his daughter and her friend are kidnapped and the cops fail to solve the crime, takes matters into his own hands, holding hostage the person he suspects committed the crime. Again, no confirmation of this casting has been made either.

The other big rumor (or possibility) is that Eric Millegan MAY be returning to Bones for its 100th episode; but a lot of scheduling will have to be worked to make this happen.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and specials will air this coming weekend and next week:

The Hallmark Channel movie Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle will reair at 8 PM on Monday, December 28. The movie stars James Van Der Beek and Doris Roberts in a story about a widower who hires a nanny to reign in his rambunctious twins; she has a profound effect on the boys, who dub her Mrs. Miracle.

Kennedy Center Honors will air on Tuesday, December 29 at 9 PM, honoring Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro and Bruce Springsteen.

Christmas in Canaan will reair on the Hallmark Channel at 8 PM and stars Billy Ray Cyrus as a widower who tries to ease the racial tension between his young son and a classmate by forcing them to spend time to together.

On Thursday, December 31, the following holiday specials will air:

• Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rocking Eve will air on ABC at 10 PM
• New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly on NBC at 10 PM
• Live from Lincoln Center on PBS at 8 PM (This special will reair at 10 PM)
• New Year’s Eve Star Showdown will air on Disney at 8 PM (featured viewer’s favorite episodes and music videos)

The Lifetime Movie Network will air Ann Rule’s Too Late to Say Goodbye on Thursday December 31at 8 PM. The movie is about a woman’s suicide is not what it seems, and suspicion falls on her philandering husband (Rob Lowe) and a mysterious man she met online.

Pick-A-Flick movie marathon will air on Friday, January 1 on Lifetime Movie Network, featuring viewer’s favorite movies throughout the day. Check your local listings for movies and air times.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Because of the holidays there are very few new episodes for the returning and new fall shows, but here are the new episodes that will air this coming week:

Monday, December 28:
Men of A Certain Age on TNT at 10 p.m.

Wednesday, December 30:
Eastwick on ABC at 10 p.m.
NOTE: This will be the last episode of the series (most likely)
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV only at 9 p.m.

Thursday, December 31:
The Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy from 8:30 a.m. to 12 midnight
Burn Notice marathon on USA Network from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight

Friday, January 1:
Burn Notice marathon on USA Network from 12 midnight to 6 a.m.
Doctor Who marathon on BBC America – check local listings
The Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy – ALL DAY
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Marathon on USA Network from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight
One Tree Hill Marathon on SoapNET from 2 PM to 12 Midnight

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Dec. 14 to 18

Here are the entertainment news items for this week (December 14 to December 18):

CONDOLENCES

Pioneering televangelist Oral Roberts passed away after suffering a fall near his California home. He was 91.

Legendary actress Jennifer Jones passed away this week at the age of 90. She appeared in the movies Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing and The Song of Bernadette (for which she won an Oscar.

NEWS

Congrats to all of the Golden Globe nominees in film and television. Good luck!

Jennifer Morrison (House) is Broadway-bound, as she has joined the forthcoming revival of William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker in the role of Helen Keller’s mother, Kate. The play focuses on the relationship between a young Helen (to be portrayed by Abigail Breslin) and the teacher (Alison Pill from In Treatment) who taught her to communicate. Matthew Modine rounds out the all-star revival.

Men of a Certain Age will wrap its freshman run on Monday, February 22 on TNT.

Leverage will be back on TNT starting January 13 and conclude its second season on February 17.

Southland will air its seven-episode first season starting on January 12 and the six-episode second season will start on March 2 at 10 PM on TNT.

The annual Paley Festival will be held from February 26 to March 14 next year. The first two panels have been announced with the cast and crew of Glee and The Vampire Diaries expected to appear at the event’s new location: the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Lifetime is NOT in any kind of talks to pick up the recently canceled ABC series Eastwick.

House will air a special episode on FOX on Monday, January 11 at 8 PM followed by an unaired episode of Fringe from the first season at 9 PM. Fringe will return on April with House returning on January 25 after the 2 hour premiere of 24 airs on January 18.

The canceled series The Beautiful Life: TBL will get a second chance (of sorts) on YouTube. All five episodes will air there with the first two episodes and a third unaired episode will run Thursday, while the remaining two unseen episodes will premiere Monday.

The 10-part HBO mini-series The Pacific will debut on Sunday, March 14, airing every Sunday at 9 through May 16. The focus of the mini-series is set in the Pacific, following the real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines from the United States’ entrance into World War II to V-J Day and beyond. Stars include James Badge Dale, Joe Mazzello and Jon Seda.

ABC Entertainment has signed a deal to cross-promote the upcoming revival of the Lilith Fair, now known as Lilith Tour, hyping the tour through their online ABC music lounge as well as their other outlets.

Lenora Crichlow, from Being Human, will star in a new six-part drama called Material Girl, a romantic comedy about a young fashion designer battling an evil ex-boss, a sexy-but-devilish business partner and snobby fashionistas to get her break in work and love. The only drawback is that it will be airing on January 14 at 8 PM on BBC1 TV in the UK only.

ABC will complete the episode runs of both Scrubs and Better Off Ted starting in the month of January with back-to-back airings. Scrubs will air at 8 and 9 PM and Better Off Ted will air from 8:30 to 9:30.

FOX will switch the air times for the returning American Idol and the new series Human Target. Human Target will still debut on Sunday, January 17 at 8 PM and get a boost by American Idol on Wednesday, January 20 at 9 PM. Then starting on January 27, Human Target will air at 8 PM with American Idol following at 9 PM.

Time Warner Cable subscribers be forewarned: FOX is threatening to pull programming from Fox Broadcasting, Fox Cable and Fox regional sports, which could really prove to be a problem for the millions of viewers who get the service.

Amanda Seyfried, who has played Bill Paxton’s eldest child on Big Love since the drama debuted in 2006, is leaving the show and will be focusing on her movie career. She will leave at the end of the season, leaving the flock in the 8th episode of the 9 episode season. The fourth season premieres on HBO January 10.

NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE

Casting is underway for the proposed Criminal Minds spin-off and some of the characters include:

• Cooper is the B-team’s leader, a middle-aged alpha male who’s as loyal to his team as he is sketchy about his past.

• Thirtyish Gina escaped the mean streets of Baltimore, only to wind up being sent back to them as an undercover agent. After her father died not knowing she hadn’t really fallen in with a bad crowd, she quit the FBI… until Cooper re-recruited her.

• Ex-British Special Forces operative Mick, 30, a sniper who’s as good with words as he is with a firearm.

• Prophet, also in his 30s, is a born-again African-American ex-con who’s eager to clean the slate he so completely filled pre-prison.

Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) has signed on to write the pilot script of The Vanderbilts the period drama for Showtime, which follows the saga of the wealthy railroad and shipping family.

Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) and Angelina Burnett will write the pilot script for the FOX legal dramedy The Real Amanda Strauss. The story is about a woman who works in the district attorney’s office and secretly comes from a family of con artists.

Gerald McRaney (Jericho) has been cast in the J.J. Abrams NBC espionage drama pilot called The Undercovers. He will play a CIA operative who recruited married spies Samantha and Steven Bloom to the agency and who serves as the company’s liaison with the two spies. Boris Kodjoe (Soul Food) has landed the male lead in the series, where he will play Steven, the sharp, smart, and very attractive half of the show’s central couple.

Show Money, the production company of producer Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing), has several projects set up in development at various networks:

• A US adaptation of the Channel 4 comedy The Book Group at NBC with creator Annie Griffin adapting the story for an American audience;

• The Showtime drama Westbridge about execution chamber workers at a Texas prison from writer Kelly Marcel;

• The A&E police drama Back-Up, which follows a Jewish brother and sister who are both cops in Chicago and must deal with corruption charges against their father, from writer Robert Munic;

• A single-camera comedy called Boyfred at ABC, with Sony Pictures Television attached;

• The untitled Matthew Perry comedy vehicle at ABC about a sports arena manager (Perry) who finds himself in a mid-life crisis; and,

In pilot news, CBS has ordered another project from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre. The project is called Mark and Molly and centers on a couple who meet at a weight-loss support group, the HR says. Lorre wrote the pilot with Mark Roberts, a writer and executive producer on Men

Emmy Rossum (Phantom of the Opera) and Justin Chatwin (The Invisible) and Allison Janney (The West Wing) have been cast in Showtime drama pilot Shameless, which is based on the Paul Abbot UK novel that stars William H. Macy. Rossum will play Fiona, the 18-year-old daughter of an alcoholic (Macy) whose wife has gone missing and who must raise her five younger brothers. Janney will play a potential love interest for Macy’s character, while Chatwin will play a car thief who has a thing for Fiona.

Steve Stark Productions has set up a number of projects at various networks, including:

• The USA drama pilot Facing Kate, starring Sarah Shahi;

• The NBC drama pilot The Event from writer Nick Wauters, about a huge government cover-up that quickly unravels;

• An untitled Lifetime drama pilot written by Gay Walch about a female psychologist at the Dallas Police Department;

• A USA dramedy pilot called Stick from writers Mark Altman and Steve Kriozere about a suspected pro hockey player who helps people;

• An NBC comedy based on the life of Paula Deen; and,

• A comedy pilot called Last Resort about a single mother and an eccentric lifelong bachelor who form a strange family.

Lifetime is developing an untitled legal drama about a team of victim witness advocates from writer Pam Wechsler (Canterbury’s Law), who will executive produce alongside Jim Serpico and Denis Leary.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter and Quarantine) has joined the cast of the indie thriller Hungry Rabbit Jumps, which stars Nicolas Cage as a teacher who joins an underground vigilante organization after his musician wife (January Jones) is the victim of a brutal crime. Carpenter plays the best friend of the wife. Guy Pearce also stars.

Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) is set to direct a film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical In the Heights, which explores three days in New York City’s Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights.

Summit Entertainment will have a new movie called Cancun that will star Taylor Lautner (the Twilight saga), which is about an out-of-place college kid who travels with a girl to Cancun on a break. While there, the girl and her friends are taken hostage by a drug cartel and he is forced to save them. The action will be designed to take advantage of Lautner’s martial arts skills.

MADE FOR TV MOVIES

The Hallmark Channel will air the following made-for-TV movies in early 2010:

On February 13, Elevator Girl, starring Lacey Chabert (Party of Five) and Ryan Merriman (The Pretender), will air. The movie is about a free-spirited woman and an uptight lawyer who get stuck in an elevator together.

On March 6, the movie Uncorked will air. It is a romantic comedy starring Julie Benz (Dexter) and Scott Elrod (Men In Trees). The movie follows a workaholic CFO (Benz) on business to Southern California’s wine country, where she meets a world-famous chef (Elrod).

On March 20, Healing Hands, which stars Eddie Cibrian (Invasion) as a school janitor who awakens from a coma to learn he has the ability to heal others just by touching them. His fiancée will be played by Lisa Sheridan – also from Invasion.

Jodi Lynn O’Keefe, Justin Bruening, Constance Marie, and Eric Roberts have been cast in the Hallmark Channel movie Class, which will also premiere in 2010.

CASTING SCOOP

Recent True Blood casting news includes: Tony winner J Smith Cameron is set to play the recurring role of Sam’s estranged mother, Melinda; Alfre Woodard will guest-star as Layfette’s mother and Tara’s aunt; James Frain (The Tudors) will play Tara’s love interest, a blood-sucker named Franklin Mott with whom she has a crazy strong connection; actress-model Natasha Alam (The Bold and the Beautiful) will have the (potientally) recurring role of Yvetta, Eric’s new dancer at Fangtasia; character actor Gregg Daniel (NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives) will play Reverend Daniels, who Tara’s mom turns to comfort; and Joe Manganiello (One Tree Hill and How I Met Your Mother) will play Sookie’s werewolf crush, Alcide Herveaux, who helps her search for Bill; and Cooper Huckabee (Dexter) will play Joe Lee Mickens, the father of Sam Trammel’s Sam Merlotte.  Shannon Welles (Mad Men) will appear as a mysterious old woman who lives in the middle of nowhere. Lindsay Pulsipher (The Beast) will play the role of Crystal, a young woman who shares an electric connection with Jason.

Sean Maher (Firefly and Serenity) and Autumn Reeser (The O.C.) will both guest star in episodes of the new FOX drama Human Target.

Comedian Jack Black is expected to guest star on the NBC comedy Community.

Willa Holland will be back on Gossip Girl, causing more trouble with Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen).

Sarah Brown (General Hospital) will appear on an upcoming episode of Castle.

Penny Johnson Jerald will guest star in the 150th episode of NCIS that will also feature legendary actor Robert Wagner as Tony’s dad. Jerald will reprise her role as state Department Official Joanne Torrence on the January 12 episode.

Jenny Wade (Reaper) has been cast opposite Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford in the new FOX drama series Jack and Dan. She will play Liz, a tough and quick-witted assistant district attorney who used to date Jack (Hanks) and is now in frequent work-related contact with him.

Scott Elrod, who played Cash on Men in Trees, is set to do an episode of Castle, playing a possible love interest for Beckett.

Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls) will appear in a multi-episode arc on Mercy, playing a patient of Sonia’s (Jamie Lee Kirchner) named Elaine.

Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) will appear in the 150th episode of NCIS.

Jason George (Eli Stone and Eastwick) will be appearing on Grey’s Anatomy as a new love interest for Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). His multi-episode arch will begin mid-February.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and specials will air this coming weekend and next week:

The Hallmark Channel movie The Three Gifts will reair on Saturday, December 19 at 8 PM and is about a couple (Dean Cain and Jean Lousia Kelly) who offers a temporary home to three orphaned boys during the holidays.

NOTE: This movie will reair on Sunday, December 19 at 8 PM and on Friday, December 25 at 8 PM.

On Sunday, December 20 the ION movie A Golden Christmas will air at 9 PM. It is about a pair of childhood sweethearts who are reunited at Christmastime, with the help from a very special dog. Stars Andrea Roth.

The ABC Family Channel movie Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe will reair on Monday, December 21at 9 PM. In this sequel, Santa asks his daughter (Jenny McCarthy) to run the family business. Co-stars Paul Sorvino and Dean McDermott.

On Tuesday, December 22 the FOX special Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special will air at 8 PM for two hours. The special has country superstar Carrie Underwood hosting a holiday variety special with guests Christina Applegate, Kristin Chenoweth, David Cook, Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton.

The CBS special A Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill will air on Wednesday, December 23at 8 PM. The 11th annual event to raise awareness of adoption is hosted by the country superstar.

On Thursday, December 24, My Network TV will reair the 2009 Hollywood Christmas Parade at 8 PM. Susan Lucci serves as grand marshal of the 78th annual Hollywood holiday procession.

The Lifetime movie 12 Men of Christmas will reair on Thursday, December 24at 9 PM – A PR exec (Kristen Chenoweth) moves to Montana after losing her job in New York and raises money for the local rescue squad, but her racy fund-raising ideas spark controversy.  Co-stars Josh Hopkins.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Because of the holidays there are very few new episodes for the returning and new fall shows, but here are the new episodes that will air this coming week:

Monday, December 21:
The Closer on TNT at 9 p.m.
Men of A Certain Age on TNT at 10 p.m.

Wednesday, December 23:
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV only at 9 p.m.

Thursday, December 24:
Raising the Bar on TNT at 8, 9 and 10 p.m.

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

The Weekly Round-Up for Dec. 7 to 11

Here are the entertainment news items for this week (December 7 to 11):

CONDOLENCES

Gene Barry, star of the late 1950’s series Bat Masterson and later on Burke’s Law, passed away at the age of 90 of congestive heart failure. Rest in Peace, Mr. Barry.

NEWS

Andrew McCarthy directed an episode of Gossip Girl that will air next year.

After 54 years of being on CBS, the network has pulled the plug on the soap opera As the World Turns, leaving only six soap operas on the daytime airwaves.

Also saying goodbye is the daytime talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show, which will finish its run at the end of this season.

TNT will air the final three episodes of the series Raising the Bar, starting at 8 PM on Thursday, December 24.

Hugh Laurie will be directing this season’s 17th episode of House which will be airing on March 22.

ABC has reduced the amount of episodes for both new dramas V (down to 12) and FlashForward (down to 24). When V returns on March 30, there will be 8 new episodes and when FlashForward comes back on March 4, there will be 14 new episodes. The new series The Deep End that will premiere at some point next year will have 7 episodes and the new mystery series Happy Town will have 8 episodes, again, sometime next year.

TNT has renewed the Jerry Bruckheimer cop series Dark Blue for another season, giving it a 10 episode order.

ABC will air their new drama The Deep End starting on January 21at 8 PM, and it will run for six episodes.

The HBO comedy Flight of the Conchords will not be returning for a third season.

NBC has launched an online “incentive” in honor of the series Chuck called “Mission: Chuck Me Out,” located at Chuckmeout.com where fans can sign up their Twitter, Facebook and MySpace campaigns for the game. Then, every time they preach Chuck or get friends to watch a clip of the show or advertise the series, they earn points. The winner will have their photo used as one of Chuck’s flashes on-air.

NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE

Cynthia Cidre (Cane) will write the pilot for the revival of the nighttime soap Dallas for TNT. The script is being kept under wraps, but several original actors, including Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, and Linda Grey have supposedly been approached to reprise their roles.

A script based on the upcoming James Patterson novel Private has been ordered by CBS. The story revolves around a former CIA agent/Marine who takes over his father’s private investigation firm.

Cyber Crimes, the latest project from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker, has landed a script order from CBS. The project centers on a newly formed government agency that fights the modern onslaught of Internet- and technology-driven offenses.

Tim Minear will serve as the day-to-day showrunner on the new series Terriers.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Frank Langella has joined the cast of thriller Unknown White Male, which stars Liam Neeson as a man who awakens from a coma to find somebody else has assumed his identity. January Jones and Diane Kruger also star.

Kate Bosworth is attached to star and produce Lost Girls and Love Hotels, which is based on Catherine Hanrahan’s 2006 novel that centers on a woman (Bosworth) who tries to forget her past while working in Tokyo as an English specialist at a stewardess training institute by day and losing herself in a sex- and drug-addled oblivion by night. She finds herself on the road to redemption when she becomes interested in a missing Western girl.

Charles Martin Smith (Air Bud) will write and direct the inspirational drama A Dolphin Tale, which is inspired by the true story of a dolphin named Winter who was rescued off the Florida coast and taken in by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Bryce Dallas Howard (Terminator Salvation) will be joining Clint Eastwood’s movie Hereafter, which tells three parallel stories that eventually intersect as they all become affected by tragedy and hardship. The cast includes Matt Damon, Cecile de France, and Lyndsey Marshal.

J.J. Abrams is working on a deal to produce a feature film version of Colum McCann’s award-winning novel Let the Great World Spin, which follows an ensemble cast of characters struggling throughout New York including a young Irish monk living among prostitutes in the Bronx; a group of mothers mourning their sons, killed in Vietnam, in a Park Avenue apartment; and a 38-year-old grandmother walking the streets with her teenage daughter.

AS HEARD ON/MUSIC NEWS

Songs featured in the fall finale of Glee this past week included “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “My Life Would Suck Without You.”

The songs “These Days” by Jen Stills, “Long Journey” by Sarah Jarosz, “White Sandy Beach of Hawaii by the late Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and “After Afterall” by William Fitzsimmons were featured on this past weekend’s episode of Brothers & Sisters.

The music of Bob Seger will be exclusively featured in the upcoming episode of Cold Case (Sunday, December 13).

The Sarah McLachlan-founded Lilith Fair will return in the summer of 2010, rebranded as a tour, featuring the following artist: Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Erykah Badu, Colbie Callait, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sara Bareilles, Zee Avi, The Indigo Girls, Janelle Monae, Metric, Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Mary J. Blige and Tegan and Sara.

CASTING SCOOP

The ABC Family Channel pilot Pretty Little Liars, which follows four estranged best friends who are reunited three years after their best friend and queen bee of the group goes missing, only to discover they are receiving notes from an anonymous source who knows all their secrets, stars Lucy Hale (Privileged), Troian Bellisario (NCIS), Ashley Benson (Eastwick) and newcomer Shay Mitchell. The cast also includes Laura Leighton (Melrose Place), Jean Louisa Kelly (Yes, Dear), Nia Peeples (The Young and the Restless) and Alexis Denisof (Buffy and Dollhouse) as some of the parents. Bianca Lawson (The Vampire Diaries) has been cast in a recurring role

The as-yet untitled new comedy pilot for ABC Family Channel, which already stars Stephanie Childers (Grey’s Anatomy) and Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls) as parents has added Vanessa Marano (Dexter) and Chloe Bridges (Camp Rock: The Final Jam) as the daughter. Valerie Tian (Juno) has also been tapped to play one of the girls’ best friends.

Vanessa Williams’ real-life bro, Chris Williams (Curb Your Enthusiasm), will guest star in an early 2010 episode of Ugly Betty as Willie’s drag queen doppelganger, Wilhediva Hater.

Elisha Cuthbert (24) has joined the cast of the series The Forgotten, where she will appear in a recurring role in the role of Maxine Denver, a strong and successful Chicago professional who is forced to put her skepticism of amateur detectives’ aside when The Forgotten Network begins investigating a case close to home. Her first episode is slated to air in February.

Joshua Malina will appear on a future episode of Bones.

Jerry O’Connell will be replacing Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) in the David Tennant (Doctor Who) led NBC pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. Lindsay Kraft and Cleo King also have been cast in the pilot.

Elizabeth Banks will guest star on 30 Rock in at least four episodes as a love interest for Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).

Lena Olin (Alias) will guest star on an episode of Law & Order: SVU later this season, playing the attorney for a billionaire (Richard Burgi, Desperate Housewives) who becomes entangled in a kidnapping case. The episode is scheduled to air in February.

Irish actress Orla Brady (Shark) will play Walter Bishop wife and mother to Peter (Joshua Jackson). She is expected to appear in early 2010.

Anthony Michael Hall (The Dead Zone) will be guest starring in an episode of CSI: Miami, which is expected to air next year.

Idina Menzel is in advanced talks to join the cast of Glee, not as Rachel’s mother but rather as the choir director for New Directions’ rivals, Vocal Adrenaline.

Alfre Woodard (Three Rivers) will star opposite Jason Lee in the TNT drama pilot Delta Blues, where she will play a lieutenant who tries to exercise her power over Dwight, played by Lee.

Jane Leeves (Frasier) will Tom Scavo’s psychotherapist in at least two episodes of Desperate Housewives. The episodes are expected to air in late January.

Scott Paterson (Gilmore Girls) has been tapped to play Liam’s biological father in at least two episodes on 90210.

RUMOR PATROL

Rumor has it that the ABC soap opera One Life to Live could be the next one on the chopping box. No official decision has been made yet.

Before director Robert Luketic stars on the film remake of Barbarella, it looks like he might be doing another remake: Romancing the Stone. No other specifics are available at this time.

Rumor has it that Matt Damon MAY be guest starring in an episode of 30 Rock, but no confirmation has been announced.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movies and specials will air this coming weekend and next week:

Christmas in Canaan will air on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday, December 12 at 8 PM. The movie is about a man (Billy Ray Cyrus) who addresses racial woes between his young son and a classmate by forcing them to spend time together. The boys soon forge a bond while caring for a puppy.

NOTE: This movie will reair at 8 PM on Sunday, December 13.

The ABC special Christmas at the White House will air on Sunday, December 13 at 10 PM that will feature Oprah Winfrey.

The ABC Family Channel movie Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe will air on Sunday, December 13 at 8 PM. This is a sequel where Santa asks his daughter (Jenny McCarthy) to run the family business. Co-stars Paul Sorvino and Dean McDermott.

NOTE: This movie will reair on the same night at 10 PM.

The movie The Christmas Hope will air on the Lifetime Movie Network on Sunday, December 13 at 8 PM. It is about a couple (Madeline Stowe and James Remar) in a rocky marriage take in a foster child.

MARATHON: The Vampire Diaries will air at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. each night from December 14 to 18 on The CW.

The special Jennifer Hudson: I’ll Be Home for Christmas will air on ABC on Monday, December 14 at 8 PM and features the singer and guests performing a number of Christmas classics.

NBC will feature Saturday Night Live Christmas 2009 on Thursday, December 17 at 8 PM and presents holiday-themed shticks and sketches culled from the late-night show’s archives.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here is a list of new episodes for the returning and new fall shows:

Saturday, December 12:

NOTE: Check your local listings for channel, date and time for next new episode of The Legend of the Seeker.

Sunday, December 13:
Dexter on Showtime at 9 p.m.
Cold Case on CBS at 9 p.m.

NOTE: Check your local listings for channel, date and time for next new episode of The Legend of the Seeker.

Monday, December 14:
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 p.m.
The Closer on TNT at 9 p.m.
Men of A Certain Age on TNT at 10 p.m.
Lie to Me on FOX at 9 p.m.

Tuesday, December 15:
NCIS on CBS at 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 p.m.
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 p.m.

Wednesday, December 16:
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 p.m.
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 p.m.
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 p.m.
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV only at 9 p.m.
Eastwick on ABC at 10 p.m.

Thursday, December 17:
CSI on CBS at 9 p.m.
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 p.m.

Friday, December 18:
Dollhouse will air two back-to-back episodes on FOX at 8 and 9 p.m.
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 p.m.
Crash on Starz at 10 p.m.

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

Weekly Round-Up (Nov. 30 to Dec. 4)

Here are the entertainment news items for this week (November 30 to December 4):

NEWS

The new FX series Lawman, starring Timothy Olyphant has been changed to Justified and is still expected to air sometime this spring.

TNT has cancelled the Steven Bochco drama Raising the Bar; however, the remaining three episodes will still air, but air dates have yet to be determined.

CBS has pulled Three Rivers from its schedule effective immediately with Cold Case being moved to 9 PM and a revolving door of drama repeats to air at 10 PM. This effective means the show has been cancelled.

Ugly Betty is moving to Wednesdays at 10 PM on ABC, replacing the recently canceled Eastwick.

A second Richard Castle novel is being planned, as the first novel “Heat Wave” did well enough in sales.

Sons of Anarchy has been renewed for a third season by FX. It is expected to air in September 2010.

Country music group Rascal Flatts will appear in an upcoming episode of CSI set to air next year, playing themselves.

V will return to ABC with episodes on Tuesday, March 30 at 10 PM, following new episodes of Lost while FlashForward will return with new episodes on March 4 at 8 PM.

NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE

NBC is developing legal drama Tommy Supreme, based on the life of Tom Goldstein, a lawyer who has argued 21 cases before the Supreme Court and is described as an “inverse House” with a likable guy in the most unlikable profession.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Thomas Dekker (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles), Lynn Collins (Wolverine), Jeremy Piven (Entourage) and Kate Walsh (Private Practice) have joined the cast of the indie drama Waska, which is based on a novel by Leslie Schwartz and follows a young father (Dekker) whose 3-year-old son freezes to death during a fishing trip.

Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) has signed on to play John Lennon in the biopic Naked Lennon that is set between 1967 and 1971, dealing with the end of Lennon’s first marriage to Cynthia, Yoko Ono entering his life, the death of manager Brian Epstein and the band’s own messy and acrimonious disintegration. Naoko Mori (Torchwood) is set to play Yoko, Claudine Blakely (Pride and Prejudice) as his first wife, Andrew Scott (John Adams) as Paul McCartney, and Rory Kinnear (Quantum of Solace) as Brian Epstein.

Sir Ben Kingsley will play Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj Mahal back in the 1600s in the movie Taj, which is to co-star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Jahan’s “favored wife” and the woman whose death in childbirth inspired the construction of the Taj Mahal between 1632 and 1654. Kingsley’s wife, Brazilian actor Daniela Lavender, will also play Persian princess Kandahari Begum, Jahan’s first wife.

Tom Cavanagh (Ed) has signed on to play Ranger Smith in the live-action/CG animated Yogi Bear alongside Anna Faris and Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake who voice the titular character and his sidekick Boo-Boo.

Summit Entertainment has picked up film rights to Top Cow comic Alibi and plans to turn it into a feature. The story centers on a well-known socialite whose public presence establishes a perfect alibi for the covert activity of his secret twin brother, a government assassin.

The movie Love Don’t Let Me Down will star Gwyneth Paltrow as a fallen country singer who embarks on resurrecting her career with rising a singer-songwriter Garrett Hedlund (Friday Night Lights). Tim McGraw will play Paltrow’s husband and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) is a beauty queen-turned singer.

Harold Perrineau (Lost) has joined the cast of The Hungry Rabbit Jumps, which centers on a high school chemistry teacher (Nicolas Cage) whose wife (January Jones) is the victim of a brutal crime which leads him to align himself with an underground vigilante organization. Perrineau will play Cage’s friend and boss, an ex-cop turned high school principal whose loyalties are tested. Guy Pearce also stars.

Dennis Farina (Law & Order) will be leading the indie The Last Rites of Joe May, which also stars Gary Cole (Office Space), Chelcie Ross (Mad Men) and Jamie Allman (The Shield), which tells the story of a short money hustler who always believed that greatness was waiting for him just around the corner. After years of neglecting friends, family, and his own health, Joe befriends Jenny, a troubled young woman and her six-year-old daughter in a last ditch effort to redeem his wasted life.

Chris Pine will play Jack Ryan in a new film that will not be based on one of Tom Clancy’s novels, but will be based on a screenplay by Adam Koxac. Specific details are not currently available, though.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Kimberly Williams-Paisley will star in the Lifetime Movie Network movie Amish Grace based on a true story about the aftermath that followed the schoolhouse shooting in the Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Matt Letscher (Eli Stone) and Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows) co-star. The movie will premiere in spring 2010.

Catherine Bell and Chris Potter will reprise their roles in the new Hallmark Channel movie The Good Witch’s Wedding that is expected to premiere in 2010. Jake Russell (Potter) is looking for the perfect Christmas gift for his fiancée, Cassie Nightingale (Bell), and decides, with just six days left, to give her the perfect gift — a wedding on Christmas Eve but neither are prepared for all the obstacles that get in the way.

AS HEARD ON/MUSIC NEWS

The cast of Glee performed two different songs called “Smile” (one by Lily Allen and Charlie Chaplin song) and “Jump” by Van Halen in this past week’s episode.

The songs featured on this past week’s episode of Eastwick were “The Devil Is A Busy Man” by Sunnyland Slim and “Your Love Is Dangerous” by Eric Schuurman.

The songs “Hare Krisna” by Thievery Corporation, “Whooping Crane” by Lyle Lovett and “I Have Loved You Wrong” by The Swell Season were featured on this past weekend’s episode of Brothers & Sisters.

The songs that played during this past week’s episode of the double feature of Private Practice included “Marie Floating Over the Backyard” by Eels, “Cataracts” by Andrew Bird, “The Sound Asleep” by Sometymes Why and “Hold Onto Hope Love” by Amy Stroup.

“Two Butterflies” by Pang Long played during this week’s episode of The Forgotten.

Albums to be released on December 8 include Glee’s second soundtrack, “Smoke and Mirrors” by Lifehouse and “Songs in the Key of Love and Hate” by Puddle of Mudd.

CASTING SCOOP

Hal Ozsan (Kyle XY) will have a recurring role in upcoming episodes of 90210.

Aunjanue Ellis (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) has been cast in The Mentalist in a major recurring role as the new head of the California Bureau of Investigation who is installed following the resignation of the unit’s former chief, Virgil Minelli, played by Gregory Itzin. Her first episode will air in April.

Lucas Black (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) and Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) have been cast in the Epix pilot Tough Trade. Black will play an exceptional guitarist and singer who could have followed in his family’s musical legacy in Nashville but instead sells illegal ammunition. Elwes will play his father.

Garrett Dillahunt (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has been cast in the comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, where he will play the dysfunctional father of Lucas Neff’s Jimmy, a man who has to raise his infant daughter–the product of a one-night stand–after the baby’s mother winds up on death row.

Ryan Devlin (Veronica Mars) has been cast in Cougar Town, where he will recur as Smith, a love interest for Laurie (Busy Philipps).

Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica), Molly Parker (The Road) and Camille Sullivan (Da Vinci’s Inquest) have been cast in drama series Shattered, a Canadian series that is being shopped around to international broadcasters. The show will revolve around a homicide detective (Rennie) with multiple personality disorder.

Kelly Hu has been cast in the possibly recurring role of Pearl on The Vampire Diaries. She will be seen in flashbacks and plays the apothecary for the town of Mystic Falls.

Season three of True Blood is expected to feature werewolves, more information on Sam’s family and a look at Bill’s first wife. Grant Bowler (Ugly Betty) will play werewolf Coot. Marshall Allman (Prison Break) will play the shapeshifting younger brother of Sam. Shannon Lucio (The O.C.) has been cast as Bill’s wife, Caroline, to whom he never returned after becoming a vamp during the Civil War. Theo Alexander (Chuck) will play Talbot, the vampire boyfriend of the Vampire King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare).

Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) and Jane Curtin (3rd Rock from the Sun) have been cast opposite David Tennant in NBC legal dramedy pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. Ramamurthy will play an ambitious but good-natured lawyer who was in Rex’s shadow until Rex’s career switch and whose friendship with Rex becomes complicated when he falls in love with his pal’s fiancée (Abigail Spencer). Curtin will play the mother/mentor of Rex (Tennant), a highly successful lawyer who falls for Rex’s therapist (Jeffrey Tambor).

Beau Bridges will appear in the December 14 episode of The Closer as a former partner of Provenza and Mary McDonnell will return to the series as well on December 21, reprising her role as Brenda Leigh’s IAD nemesis Capt. Sharon Raydor.

Cast members from The Shield – David Marciano, Catherine Dent, Benito Martinez, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, David Rees Snell and Kenny Johnson – are all signed on for a spring episode of Lie To Me. An airdate has not been announced yet.

Danica McKellar (Wonder Years) will guest star in the January 11 of The Big Bang Theory, playing a grad student at Cal Tech named Abby.

Abraham Benrubi (Men In Trees), Celia Weston and DJ Qualls have been cast opposite Jason Lee in the TNT drama pilot Delta Blues. Weston will play the mother of Lee’s cop/Elvis impersonator Dwight; Qualls will play Dwight’s protégé on the Memphis police force; Benrubi will play Sgt. J.C. Lightfoot.

Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) will appear on Brothers & Sisters, as Kitty’s best friend who will help her through the next phase of her life

Laura Harring (The Shield) is to guest star on Gossip Girl supposedly playing Chuck’s mother, but that has not been confirmed.

Rosanna Arquette will guest-star on Private Practice, playing the bohemian mother of Dink (Stephen Lunsford), who happens to be Maya Bennett’s new boyfriend. The one episode is to air in early February.

Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Rules of Engagement, playing a possible surrogate mother for Jeff and Audrey (Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price).

RUMOR PATROL

Johnny Depp may star as Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa in the Spanish-language biopic Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman with Six Fingers based on the James Carlos Blake’s biographical novel that follows the early 20th-century bandit who became a guerilla fighter and a hero to the poor and later an iconic historical figure. Salma Hayek may co-star.

Director Terry Gilliam may be getting Robert Duvall to star in the movie The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

One new series will debut this coming week. Here is the information:

Men of A Certain Age debuts on December 7 at 10 PM on TNT – This new hour-long program stars Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher as three best friends in their forties dealing with the realities of middle age. Co-stars include Lisa Gay Hamilton (The Practice), Carla Gallo (Bones and Californication) and Brian J. White (Moonlight).

The following movies and specials will air this coming weekend and next week:

The Hallmark Channel movie Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle will air on Saturday, December 5 at 8 PM and is about a widower who hires a nanny to reign in his rambunctious twins. She has a profound effect on the boys, who dub her Mrs. Miracle.  James Van Der Beek and Doris Roberts star.

NOTE: This movie will reair on December 6 at 8 PM.

The movie 12 Men of Christmas will air on Lifetime at 8 PM on Saturday, December 5. The movie is about A PR exec (Kristin Chenoweth) who moves to Montana after losing her job in New York and raises money for the local rescue squad. But her racy fund-raising ideas spark controversy. The movie co-stars Josh Hopkins.

NOTE: This movie will reair on December 6 and December 8 at 9 PM.

The Syfy mini-series Alice will air on Sunday, December 6 and Monday, December 7 at 9 PM (both nights). This is a reimagined version of Lewis Carroll’s classic story starring Caterina Scorsone in the title role along with Kathy Bates as the Queen of Hearts and Andrew-Lee Potts as the Mad Hatter.

NOTE: This movie will reair on December 8 (check your local listings for the correct time).

On Monday, December 7, Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special will air for two hours on FOX at 8 PM, featuring guest stars such as Christina Applegate, Kristin Chenoweth, David Cook, Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton.

The Barbara Walters Special “Fascinating People of 2009” will air on ABC at 10:01 PM on Wednesday, December 9, featuring spotlights on Lady Gaga, Tyler Perry, Sarah Palin and Adam Lambert (among others).

The 2009 Hollywood Christmas Parade will be aired on Thursday, December 10 on My Network TV at 8 PM with Susan Lucci serving as grand marshal of the 78th annual event.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

Here is a list of new episodes for the returning and new fall shows:

Saturday, December 5:
Robin Hood at BBC America at 9 p.m. – SERIES FINALE

NOTE: Check your local listings for channel, date and time for next new episode of The Legend of the Seeker.

Sunday, December 6:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 p.m.
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10 p.m.
Dexter on Showtime at 9 p.m.
Cold Case on CBS at 9 p.m.

NOTE: Check your local listings for channel, date and time for next new episode of The Legend of the Seeker.

Monday, December 7:
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 p.m.
Gossip Girl on the CW at 9 p.m.
Castle on ABC at 10 p.m.
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 p.m.
The Closer on TNT at 9 p.m.

Tuesday, December 8:
90210 on the CW at 8 p.m.
Melrose Place on the CW at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, December 9:
Mercy on NBC at 8 p.m.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 p.m.
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 p.m.
CSI: NY on CBS at 10 p.m.
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 p.m.
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV only at 9 p.m.
Glee on FOX at 9 p.m. – Fall Finale

Thursday, December 10:
CSI on CBS at 9 p.m.
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 p.m.
Bones on FOX at 8 p.m.
Fringe on FOX at 9 p.m.

Friday, December 11:
Ugly Betty on ABC at 8 p.m.
Dollhouse will air two back-to-back episodes on FOX at 8 and 9 p.m.
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 p.m.
Law & Order on NBC at 8 p.m.
Crash on Starz at 10 p.m.

NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.

Have a great weekend!

Please note that I will feature a weekly round-up of sci-fi based (and similar genres) news items at our sister site located at http://scifitvzone.com/. Please visit there as often as you can. Thanks!

Next Page »