News
The Weekly Round-Up for August 16 to 20
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
NEWS
An apparel line inspired by the FOX’s musicomedy Glee was launched at Macy’s over the weekend. Now fans can proudly advertise their Gleek status (for under $35). While you shop for your Glee hoodie or fashion top, Macy’s will immerse you in the Glee experience with in-store vignettes and window displays. So far, the clothes are only available at the retail locations, although a junior’s line should be available on Macys.com on Sept. 14.
Michael Douglas has been diagnosed with a tumor in his throat. The 65-year-old Oscar-winning actor will undergo eight weeks of radiation and chemotherapy to treat the tumor.
A tie-in novel for the popular Canadian series Being Erica has been commissioned, but no other details seem available as yet.
TELEVISION
NBC is cutting their summer series Persons Unknown short by one episode. This skipped episode (called Seven Sacrifices) will turn up online, though. The 10th episode (Called Identity) will air on Saturday, August 21 at 8 PM; episode 11 (Seven Sacrifices) will debut online before the shows signs off with it 2-hour final on Saturday, August 28 at 8 PM.
Syfy has picked up their hit series Eureka for a 5th season.
Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) will reprise her role as prosecutor Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife, returning in the fourth episode of the new season. Gummer will next be seen in the new Shonda Rhimes series Off the Map about a medical clinic in South America. The series is scheduled to debut midseason on ABC. The Good Wife will be back on September 28 at 10 PM.
Gloria Reuben (ER) will reprise her role as U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson on Law & Order: SVU. In a very intense case involving child slavery, she deputizes Benson and Stabler as U.S. marshals so they can leave Manhattan.
True Blood will feature the character Hollow Stonebrook in Season Four. Hallow is a “were-sorceress” will turns up in Bon Temps next season. She communicates with the dead, and she’s interested in developing further powers.” No word on who will be cast in the role, however.
Mark your calendars: Psych and Burn Notice will be back to the USA Network in November with new episodes. Meanwhile, Royal Pains and White Collar will be back in January as well as the debut of the new show Facing Kate being in January.
Fans can relive every triumph, tragedy and touchdown from the very beginning when Friday Night Lights comes to ABC Family on weeknights beginning Tuesday, September 7 at 6 PM.
The CW has dropped its Canadian import 18 to Life after only three weeks on the air. Repeats of Life Unexpected will return to the Tuesday 9 PM timeslot effective immediately. Six episodes will remain on the shelf here in the U.S. The series, however, will continue in Canada where CBC has ordered a second season.
CBS will air a half-hour fall preview on September 6 at 8:30 PM (hosted by Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell, stars of the new drama series, The Defenders) to showcase all the new shows – comedy and drama – that the network will be unveiling this fall. Mark your calendars if you want to get details on the new shows.
The USA Network just renewed Covert Affairs for a second season.
John Glover will be back to reprise his role of Lionel Luthor for multiple episodes of Smallville’s final season. This will be interesting considering the last time he was seen in the show his son Lex pushed him out a window to his death. Glover is booked for at least two episodes, both of which are expected to air in November. He joins a growing list of Smallville alums rejoining the show in its final season, including John Schneider (Pa Kent), Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl), James Marsters (Brainiac), and Michael Shanks (Hawkman).
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
ABC Family has ordered a script for the drama pilot What Would Jane Do, about a dateless high school outsider living a double life as a twentysomething career girl in the corporate world.
Michael Ealy (FlashForward and the upcoming box office movie Takers) will be the co-lead in the new USA Network buddy police dramedy called Common Law. He will play LAPD officer Travis Marks, who is a polar opposite of his partner Wes Mitchell. So far USA has only ordered a pilot of this series.
HBO is finalizing a deal to develop The Crux, a drama series project starring Kevin Spacey. In the series Spacey will play a charismatic cult leader. Little else is known about the project.
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Rose Byrne (Damages) is in talks to play Moira MacTaggert in the upcoming box office movie X-Men First Class. In the comics, MacTaggert is a scientist and an authority on genetic mutation who also serves as the love interest of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). Meanwhile Jason Flemyng (Clash of the Titans and Kick Ass) has been cast as the teleporting mutant Azazel. The character was the lead of an ancient race of mutants who looked like demons and could teleport into other dimensions. He was also the father of Nightcrawler.
Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars and Heroes) will join the ballet-themed indie black comedy Dance of the Mirlitons. The story is about an ambitious, slightly overweight ballerina with an overbearing mother (Bell) who will stop at nothing to become a star. The girl enters a “Mean Girls”-type environment where she has to prove her worth in class.
Karl Urban (Star Trek and Lord of the Rings) is to appear in the re-telling of the Judge Dredd story (made “famous” by Sylvester Stallone). This version is expected to be R-rated though.
Actress Rooney Mara, who appeared in the newest re-invention of The Nightmare on Elm Street movie and will be seen in this fall’s The Social Network movie has been cast in the much-sought after role of Lisbeth Salander in the English-language version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She will star opposite Daniel Craig in the three films adapted from the books by the late Stieg Larsson.
January Jones (Mad Men) has officially been cast as Emma Frost in the upcoming box office movie X-Men: First Class. The telepathic character, also known as the White Queen, started out as one of the X-Men’s most dangerous foes to one of its most central members.
Robert De Niro is joining the cast of Manual of Love 3, the third installment of an Italian romantic comedy franchise. Each film has a few different episodes, telling varying romantic stories. De Niro will play a divorced American professor living in Rome in one of the episodes within the film.
Model Brooklyn Decker has joined the cast of Peter Berg’s adaptation of the board game Battleship, playing one of the female leads, a character named Sam who is described as being able to surf, fight, dance and crush the NY Times crossword puzzle. She is the love interest of Taylor Kitsch, who plays one of the naval commanders in the movie.
Legendary Swedish actor Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island and Minority Report) is in talks to join the cast of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He will play Henrik Vanger, the man who hires Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to investigate the decades-old disappearance of his favorite great-niece.
Idris Elba (The Wire and the upcoming movie Takers) has signed on to play Alex Cross (the James Patterson character) in a reboot of the role originated by Morgan Freeman. This reboot will be an adaptation of the 2006 novel Cross where the forensic psychologist tracks a serial rapist who may have murdered his pregnant wife years before. Elba will next be seen on Showtime’s The Big C and recently starred as a serial killer hunting, unstable cop in the British series Luther that will air on BBC America this fall.
Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood) has signed on for the ensemble drama Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, which follows an isolated young adult (Toby Regbo) who must contend with his dysfunctional family during his pre-college summer. She will play his sister. Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu and Stephen Lang also star.
Scott Speedman (Underworld) is in negotiations to join the box office film The Vow, which is based on the true story of the newlyweds Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, whose love was tested two months into their marriage when a car accident left her in a coma for weeks. When she awoke, she remembered everyone but her husband. Rachel McAdams will star as the bride while Channing Tatum will be the groom. Speedman is expected to play the bride’s former fiancé who reenters the picture.
Maggie Gyllenhaal has confirmed that she and her husband Peter Sarsgaard will team for the biopic about bluegrass legend Bill Monroe for which Sarsgaard has been attached to play Monroe. No official announcement has been made yet.
CASTING SCOOP
Actress-singer Mandy Moore will be back for the 6th episode of Grey’s Anatomy, reprising the role she played in the show’s stunning season finale.
Sam Page (Desperate Housewives) is joining Gossip Girl for a multi-episode arc as Serena’s (Blake Lively) new love interest. His first appearance is expected to be in October. The show returns on September 13 on the CW.
Victor Webster (Charmed and Mutant X) will play the new boyfriend of Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) on Castle this fall with his first appearance being in the 4th episode of the new season. His character will be “more of a motorcycle guy … a person that is going to intrigue Castle, because he’s going to see a different side of Beckett.” Castle returns to ABC on September 20 at 10 PM.
Antonio Sabato, Jr. has just been cast on Bones as a guido bouncer at a Jersey Shore club that Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) visit to question someone involved with a murder. Expect the club to be filled with plenty of gold chains and big hair, making Brennan and Booth stand out like sore thumbs.
Chad Faust (The 4400) has landed a recurring role on the new FOX drama Lone Star, playing Harrison, the roguish ex-husband of Cat Thatcher (Adrianne Palicki from Friday Night Lights). Lone Star is about as a con man (Jimmy Wolk) juggling two lives and wives (one of whom is Palicki’s aforementioned Cat). The new drama premieres on September 20 and the cast includes David Keith, Jon Voight, and Eloise Mumford.
Chris Vance (Prison Break and Burn Notice) has booked a multi-episode arc on Dexter, playing Cole – a meticulous, physically fit, well-spoken personal aide to a famous businessman. Vance is slated to appear in at least 3 episodes of the Showtime series.
Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is joining Desperate Housewives for a multi-episode arc, playing a self-employed business owner and neighbor to Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan.
Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) has joined the cast of new NBC series Law & Order: Los Angeles, starring in the recurring role of Casey Winters, wife of Det. Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich). Casey is a former cop who has settled down to raise a family. The series will debut on September 29 at 10 PM.
Newcomer Renee Felice Smith is joining NCIS: Los Angeles in the potentially recurring role of Nell, an incredibly bright, somewhat quirky, and extremely chatty intelligence analyst who’ll be assisting Eric (Barrett Foa) in the OPS center. Smith’s biggest role to date was in a project nobody ever saw: Amy Sherman-Palladino’s ill-fated CW pilot The Wyoming Project.
Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) will be stopping by Brothers & Sisters this fall, as a new love interest for Saul (Ron Rifkin). No word yet on how long Stephen’s character will stick around, though.
Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) has been added to the cast of the new CBS cop drama Blue Bloods, playing Charles Rosselini, the boss of Bridget Moynahan’s Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan. Blue Bloods will premiere on September 24 at 10 PM.
Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) will guest star on the Fox drama Lie To Me this fall, playing Internal Affairs Detective Jenkins, an ambitious, politically savvy police officer on the fast track to the top. She realizes Lightman is someone who must be handled with caution as she tries to bring down Detective Wallowski. She will appear in the third episode, which is slated to air on November. 24.
Stan Lee will guest-star on Eureka, but the network (Syfy) is keeping mum on who or what the comic book legend will play. On the other hand Ming-Na (Stargate Universe), will guest-star next season, portraying Alice Wen, a senator who arrives in Eureka to handle a sensitive matter within Global Dynamics. She may appear in more than one episode. The show airs Fridays at 9 PM.
Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse) will guest star in the season premiere of the returning FOX series Human Target. Also, Timothy Omundson (Psych) will return to guest star in that same episode. Molly Parker (Swingtown) and M.C. Gainey (Lost and Justified) are set to guest in episode two.
Michael J. Fox is set to guest star in an upcoming episode of The Good Wife as a pharmaceutical lawyer with a neurological condition.
Ryan Devlin (Cougar Town) is headed back to Grey’s Anatomy for a multi-episode November sweeps arc, playing the husband of Mandy Moore’s ailing character who will also return to the series in this season’s sixth and seventh episodes, which are slated to air on October 28 and November 4).
Ross McCall is set to reprise his role on White Collar. He first appeared as Keller an episode to be called Bottlenecked. In this appearance his character looks to avoid a stint in a maximum-security prison. He will receive an assist from a fellow criminal played by Adam Goldberg (The Unusuals and Entourage). It is unclear when this episode will air, but the series will return in January 2011 with new installments.
Tiya Sircar (Make It or Break It and The Suite Life on Deck) will guest star on The Vampire Diaries as Amiee Bradley, a high school student who gets involved in supernatural. She will show up on the September 23 episode.
Diane Farr (Numb3rs and Rescue Me) will guest in an October episode of Grey’s Anatomy as a patient with Huntington’s disease.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The following new movie will air this weekend and throughout next week:
The Syfy movie Lake Placid 3 will air on Saturday, August 21 at 9 PM, starring Colin Ferguson and Yancy Butler in another sequel about deadly crocodiles that wreck havoc on a game warden and his family.
The movie Bond of Silence will air on Monday, August 23 at 9 PM. The movie stars Kim Raver as a widow trying to solve the mystery of her husband’s death, which occurred while he tried to quiet down a teen party.
Here are the new episodes of the dramas that will be airing this coming week:
Saturday, August 21:
Persons Unknown on NBC at 8 PM
Being Human on BBC America at 9 PM
Sunday, August 22:
Leverage on TNT at 9 PM
The Gates on ABC at 10 M
The Glades on A&E at 10 PM
Rubicon on AMC at 9 PM
Mad Men on AMC at 10 PM
Unnatural History on Cartoon Network at 9 PM
True Blood on HBO at 9 PM
Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime at 9 PM
Army Wives on Lifetime at 10 PM
Monday, August 23:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family Channel at 8 PM
Huge on ABC Family Channel at 9 PM (Part 1 of 2)
The Closer on TNT at 9 PM
Rizzoli & Isles on TNT at 10 PM
Lie to Me on FOX at 9 PM
Tuesday, August 24:
Make It Or Break It on ABC Family Channel at 9 PM
HawthoRNe on TNT at 9 PM
Memphis Beat on TNT at 10 PM
Rescue Me on FX at 10 PM
Warehouse 13 on Syfy at 9 PM
White Collar on USA at 9 PM
Covert Affairs on USA at 10 PM
Unnatural History on Cartoon Network at 8 PM
Wednesday, August 25:
Psych on USA at 10 PM
Dark Blue on TNT at 9 PM
Thursday, August 26:
Rookie Blue on ABC at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA Network at 9 PM
Royal Pains on USA Network at 10 PM
Friday, August 27:
Eureka on Syfy at 9 PM
Haven on Syfy at 10 PM
The Pillars of the Earth 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!
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