The Weekly Round-Up for Oct. 19 to 23

By Rueben | October 23, 2009

Here are the entertainment news items for this week (October 12 to 16):

CONDOLENCES

1960s comedian Soupy Sales (aka Milton Supman) passed away in New York on Thursday.  He was 83.

NEWS

FOX has confirmed that Joss Whedon is set to direct an upcoming episode of Glee.  However, don’t expect new episodes of the musicomedy to start airing again until November 11.

Executive Producer John Wells is currently in talks with two networks about finding the recently canceled NBC police drama Southland a new home.  However, the new network won’t be producing any new episodes for the time being.  They would reair the seven episodes from the series’ freshman season and the six unaired produced episodes from Season Two as a thirteen-episode cycle, though.

TNT is bringing back the drama The Closer for a three-week run beginning Monday, December 7 at 9 PM.

FOX has ordered three additional scripts for drama series Lie to Me, which is struggling in the ratings during its second season.  The series currently has a thirteen-episode commitment from the network.

The CW has picked up Melrose Place for full, 22-episode seasons.  But, major renovations are underway with the departure of regular cast members Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Colin Egglesfield, who have been let go.  They will last air in January.

ABC has picked up Castle for a full second season.

NBC has picked up the new medical drama Mercy for a full season.

While Jennifer Morrison is definitely on her way out of the show House, two other regulars will soon be returning to the show. Peter Jacobson and Olivia Wilde will rejoin the team on the season’s eighth episode, which airs next month.  Actor Michael Weston will also appear in this episode.

In Treatment has been renewed for a third season by HBO.  Production is scheduled to begin in New York in early 2010, with the season to air later in that year.

NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE

FOX has given script orders to two new drama projects:

1. A US remake of the 1999 British crime drama Daylight Robbery, about a group of housewives who turn to a life of crime in order to raise some cash.  This series will be adapted by Karyn Usher (Bones), who will executive produce with creator Jane Hewland, Michael Thorn, and Marty Adelstein; and,

2. And, the series Midland, which is about a polygamist with two wives, created by writer/executive producer Kyle Killen.

ABC Family is close to handing out a pilot order to drama Pretty Little Liars, based on the series of novels by Sara Shepard about four friends of a social queen bee who vanished without a trace who are thrown for a loop when they start receiving messages from her from beyond the grave.  Lucy Hale (Privileged) is in advanced talks to star in the series, which will be adapted by Marlene King and executive produced by King, Bob Levy, and Leslie Morgenstein.

Judy Greer (Miss Guided) is attached to a ABC comedy project based on Elaine Szewcyzk‘s novel I’m With Stupid.  The is about a Manhattanite who has a fling with a park ranger while on safari in South Africa; but when she returns home, the ranger tracks her down in New York.

ABC has given a script order to the comedy We Are Here, about four friends who met at the University of Texas but all still live in Austin and deal with adulthood in different ways.

Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci and Wren Arthur, the trio behind Olive Productions, have set up their first TV project.  It is a drama at HBO that will star  Tucci in a family drama about a brilliant, one-time powerful politician struggling to rebuild his career and relationships with his family and friends after being brought down by a scandal.

A US adaptation of British miniseries House of Cards, which will be reimagined as a one-hour drama series about “political ambition and blackmail” is being developed by Media Rights Capital and David Fincher.  The project will be taken out to networks soon.

Angie Harmon (Law & Order and Women’s Murder Club) will have the starring role in the new TNT pilot Rizzoli, which is based on Tess Gerritsen‘s popular Jane Rizzoli mystery novels.

Sarah Shahi (Life and The L Word) has landed the lead in the USA Network pilot Facing Kate, which centers on a divorced San Francisco woman who leaves her job as a lawyer to become a mediator.

NEW SEASON TALLY

When new timeslots for returning series are introduced, they can be just as bad as ‘jump the shark’ moments in storylines. The case is true for the following (and a thank you to Zap2It.com for the details):

The Big Bang Theory was moved behind Two and a Half Men on CBS and the move has been successful.  The comedy is scoring, on average, 13.84 million viewers per week.  The same cannot be said about returning series Cold Case, which was moved to Sunday nights at 10 PM, making room for the new medical drama Three Rivers at 9 PM.  The cop drama was averaging 11.5 million viewers this time last year, but has only been getting about 9 million or considerably less since the move.

A bad move on the part of ABC has been putting Ugly Betty in what is known as the death slot of Friday nights at 8 PM.  About 5 million people watched the two-hour debut this past Friday and while that isn’t bad for the network for that time period, it is a steep drop when the show was getting 7.87 million previously.

Bones may have been moved to Thursday nights at 8 PM on FOX last season, but its stay in this difficult time period (against reality, two new comedies on NBC and new series FlashForward and The Vampire Diaries) seems to be paying off despite the aforementioned competition.  The show got 9.59 million viewers last week and with seven-day DVR viewing that number will easily bump the show to over 11 million viewers a week.

NBC is somewhat hurting, or more to the point, some of the Law & Order franchise shows are hurting. The move of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from Tuesdays at 10 PM to Wednesday at 9 PM has proven a bit unsuccessful.  Granted the show isn’t performing terribly, but it did reach a low of 7.9 million viewers at the end of September, but has rallied back a slight bit getting about 9 million viewers on average.

The crown prince Law & Order, however, is faring better than expected in its jump to Friday nights at 8 PM (from its cushy slot on Wednesdays at 10 PM).  It drew about 8 million viewers last season and is averaging about 7.45 million in its new timeslot.

The CW decided to move perennial long-running series Smallville to Friday nights at 8 PM.  The reason is the new series The Vampire Diaries was taking over the pre-Superman series old slot on Thursday at 8 PM.  The move to Fridays has proven to be less than successful with Smallville losing nearly half of its viewers.  At this time last year, the series was garnering 4.5 million viewers and is barely averaging 2.5 million in its new slot. On the other hand, though, The Vampire Diaries is cresting on just under 4 million viewers each week and is getting better ratings than any other show on the newly monikered network.

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Camilla Belle (Push and 10,000 B.C.) and Alexa Vega (Spy Kids and Ruby and the Rockits) have joined the cast of the romantic comedy to Prada to  Nada, which is a contemporary Latina version of Jane Austen‘s Sense and Sensibility, following two spoiled sisters who are left penniless after their father’s sudden death and forced to move in with their estranged aunt in East Los Angeles.  There they find romance and love for their culture.

Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis) will appear in the upcoming HBO pilot Game of Thrones alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Jennifer Ehle, and Peter Dinklage.

Renée Zellweger has NOT agreed to do a third Bridget Jones movie despite rumors to the contrary.

The long-running musical Miss Saigon is going to be developed into a film with Paula Wagner as producer and Lee Daniels directing.  Shooting is aiming to begin next year for a theatrical release in 2011.

Monica Belluci, David Strathairn and Vanessa Redgrave are joining Rachel Weisz in the true story of a policewoman who uncovers an international scandal in a film called The Whistleblower.

Viola Davis has joined the cast of two projects.  The first project is called It’s Kind of a Funny Story, which focuses on a depressed 15-year-old who puts himself into an adult psychiatric ward.  Davis plays the psychiatrist who helps the boy understand his problems. The second movie is the David Schwimmer-directed Trust, which already stars Clive Owen and Catherine Keener.  The movie follows how a family deals with their 14-year-old daughter after she is victimized by an adult through an internet chat room. Davis will be a counselor that is assigned to the girl’s case.

Gerard Butler (300 and Law Abiding Citizen) has scored a role in an upcoming film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, which is chronicles the tragedy of a devoted and arrogant soldier whose political machinations and military might gain him heroic status, but ultimately lead to his assassination. Ralph Fiennes will star in the titular role and will direct the project.  Co-stars include William Hurt and Vanessa Redgrave.

Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris and Rodrigo Santoro (Lost and Love Actually) are negotiating to lend their voices to Rio from the makers of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  The animated feature follows the adventures of a nerdy macaw who lights out from his small-town Minnesota cage for the exotic Summer Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro.  The move is scheduled for an April 8, 2011, release.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives) has been cast in the Hallmark Channel movie Fairfield Road, which has begun production in Toronto and will premiere in 2010.  The movie is about a Boston-based political strategist with a fast-track career.  His life takes a dramatic turn when in 24 hours he loses his current job, his future job and discovers his girlfriend, who he thought was soon to be his fiancé, has been cheating on him.  He arrives understandably depressed at the small, picture postcard town in Cape Cod where he had planned to propose and finds a place that he loves and a girl that he’ll soon love even more.

AS HEARD ON/MUSIC NEWS

Songs featured on Glee this past week included “Bust a Move” and “Thong Song” as performed by Will (Matthew Morrison), “Sweet Caroline”, as performed by Puck (Mark Salling), “What A Girl Wants”, as performed by Rachel (Lea Michele) and “ I Could’ve Dance All Night”, as performed by Emma (Jayma Mays).

The songs featured in this past episode of Grey’s Anatomy were “Blindness” by Metric, “We Will Be Dust” by All Thieves, “Polaroid Solution” by Faded Paper Figures, “Songs From Different Times” by Jack Savoretti and “Out of the Dark” by Matt Hires.

The debut album “Lungs” by Florence & the Machine may have been released this past July, but you just might want to check out this talent Welch singer who has a rich voice that can easily be described as a combination between Karen O of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and a sultry Sarah McLachlan.

The stars of the Oscar winning movie Once, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, have a new album called “Strict Joy” that will be available on October 27.

Other music that will be available next week include the album “Full Circle” by the band Creed, a new album called “Save Me, San Francisco” by the band Train and a new single called “Halfway Gone” from the band Lifehouse, whose new album “Smoke and Mirrors” will be released on December 8.

Albums that were released in the last week (or so) include the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: New Moon and the album “Colour Me Free” from Joss Stone.

CASTING SCOOP

Sasha Alexander (NCIS) has been cast as House and Wilson’s new neighbor in the FOX drama House.  The duo decides to make their living arrangements permanent by moving to a new place next month.

Jonathan Groff (Taking Woodstock and Broadway’s Spring Awakening) will appear on Glee for five or six episodes playing the lead male singer of Vocal Adrenaline, the group already seen performing the songs “Rehab” and “Mercy” in previous episodes. He will be a potential love interest for Rachel (Lea Michele).

Jon Tenney (The Closer) will appear in four episodes of Brothers & Sisters, starting on November 8.  He will play an oncologist at the hospital where Kitty is getting treated, and he starts on affair with Nora (Sally Field).

David Boreanaz confirmed Zooey Deschanel will join her sister (Emily, who plays Dr. Temperance Brennan) for an episode of the hit FOX series Bones.  Look for Zooey to appear in an episode around Christmas.

Gilles Marini just debuted as a new love interest for Rachel Griffiths’ character Sarah on Brothers & Sisters this past weekend.  He was expected to do a five-episode arc, but it looks like he will return for four additional episodes with the possibility of more beyond that.

Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) will appear as herself in the November 23 episode of The Big Bang Theory.

The Mentalist is adding a new regular to its CBI team beginning in early 2010.  The character’s name is Agent Beth Scott and is described as a forty-something, authoritative African American woman who is a veteran in the California Bureau of Investigations headquarters. She is expected to remain on the show for the duration of the season and perhaps beyond.

Jamie Denbo (Weeds) has been promoted to series regular on the upcoming FX drama series Terriers, where she will play an attorney who is frequently consulted by the unlicensed private investigators played by Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James.

Elsewhere at FX, Joelie Carter (Wonderland) has been bumped up to series regular on the upcoming drama series Lawman, where she will play a former girlfriend of Marshal Givens (Timothy Olyphant) after guest starring in the pilot.

Both Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) and Jane Lynch (Glee) will return to the Starz comedy Party Down.

David Costabile (Damages) is joining the AMC drama Breaking Bad as Walt’s (Bryan Cranston) new assistant, Gale.  The 13-episode third season is slated to debut in March.

Benjamin Bratt will reprise his role as Det. Rey Curtis on Law & Order for one episode only.  The episode will be shot next month.

Neal Bledsoe (Gossip Girl) will appear on Ugly Betty as the given-up-at-birth son of Claire Meade (Judith Light).  This new story arc will start in December.

Sam Page (Mad Men and Shark) is joining the ABC Family series Greek in the major recurring role, Joel, who is described as a smart and accessible local campaign manager for a congresswoman.  He shares a past connection with Rebecca (Dilshad Vadsaria) as he used to work on the Hill with her father. Page will make his debut during Greek’s upcoming fourth season.

RUMOR PATROL

Rumors ran rampant on Tuesday – via Twitter – that Three Rivers, the new CBS medical series was in line to be canceled.  Not long after the news started to pilfer out, hoax reports started going up and the first twitter person to report the news was asked to remove his blog.  He compiled with the caveat that the show has not been canceled – YET.  Time will tell what will actually happen with the series.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The following movie will air this coming weekend:

The Hallmark Channel movie Always and Forever will air on Saturday, October 24 at 9 p.m. and stars Rena Sofer and Dean McDermott as former high school sweethearts who meet again at a reunion.

NEW EPISODES OF EXISTING SHOWS

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

Saturday, October 24:
Robin Hood on BBC America at 9 p.m.

NOTE: CBS is expected to reair last weekend’s episodes of both Three Rivers and Cold Case because of the football overruns that pushed the start time of the former and had a repeat of the latter airing instead of the latest installment this past weekend.  Three Rivers is to air at 8 PM with Cold Case following.

Sunday, October 25:
Mad Men on AMC at 10 p.m.
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 p.m.
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10 p.m.
Three Rivers on CBS at 9 p.m.
Cold Case on CBS at 10 p.m.
Dexter on Showtime at 9 p.m.

NOTE:  BBC America will be airing a marathon of episodes of the new series Being Human in honor of Halloween.  Please check your local listings for the correct time and channel.

Monday, October 26:
Heroes on NBC at 8 p.m.
Trauma on NBC at 9 p.m.
Castle ABC at 10 p.m.
Lincoln Heights on ABC Family at 8 p.m.
Greek on ABC Family at 9 p.m.

Tuesday, October 27:
The Forgotten on ABC at 10 p.m.
Sons of Anarchy on FX at 10 p.m.

Wednesday, October 28:
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 p.m.
Eastwick on ABC at 10 p.m.
Nip/Tuck on FX at 10 p.m.

Thursday, October 29:
FlashForward on ABC at 8 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 p.m.
Private Practice on ABC at 10 p.m.
CSI on CBS at 9 p.m.
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 p.m.
The Vampire Diaries on the CW at 8 p.m.
Supernatural on the CW at 9 p.m.

Friday, October 30:
Dollhouse on FOX at 9 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer on CBS at 8 p.m.
Medium on CBS at 9 p.m.
Numb3rs on CBS at 10 p.m.
Law & Order on NBC at 8 p.m.
Smallville on the CW at 8 p.m.
Ugly Betty on ABC at 8 p.m.
Stargate: Universe on Syfy at 9 p.m.
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 p.m.
Monk on USA Network at 9 p.m.
White Collar on USA Network 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!