Recaps
The Weekly Round-Up for Sept. 27 to Oct. 1
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
TELEVISION NEWS
The USA Network has picked up White Collar, Royal Pains and Psych for another season each. Royal Pains has received a 16 to 18 episode order with Psych and White Collar both getting 16 episode orders.
Human Target is being moved yet again. The premiere will now air on November 17 at 8 PM. This move changes the show from Friday nights to Wednesday nights AND bumps the show back over a month from being aired (it was to be back on October 1).
ABC Family is said to be close to giving a back order of 10-12 episodes to comedy Melissa & Joey.
Adult Swim has picked up a 14-episode second season of the web series Childrens Hospital, which was created by Rob Corddry, who stars and executive produces the series. The cast includes Malin Akerman, Lake Bell, Erinn Hayes, Ken Marino, Megan Mullally and Henry Winkler.
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Ed Decter and John Strauss have officially signed on as show runners for the USA Network series In Plain Sight. The duo replaces John McNamara, who departed the series due to medical issues.
Showtime has signed up some big names for new development projects at the cable network, including Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards, who are working on a drama project together as well as Jeff Daniels and Timothy Busfield, who are collaborating on another project called Happily Ever After, which would star Danielsas a Michigan factory worker who quits his job to pursue music. The as-yet untitled Ruffalo/Edwards project is to be set in the morally ambiguous world of media crisis management and is to be centered on two partners running such a firm.
Treat Williams (Everwood) will star opposite Rachael Carpani in the Lifetime drama pilot Against the Wall, which is a family drama set in Chicago following policewoman Abby Kowalski (Carpani), who causes a rift with her three cop brothers when she decides to join the department’s Internal Affairs division. Williams will play Abby’s dad, an old-school career Chicago cop who is rough around the edges but has a real soft spot for his only daughter until she tells him of her new gig, news that makes him feel hurt and angry.
ABC Family Channel has greenlit three pilots, including the following:
The drama Nine Lives which follows Chloe King who is looking forward to celebrating her 16th birthday with her friends and single mother, just like every other year until she starts developing heightened abilities (super speed, agility, hearing…claws), and discovers she’s being pursued by a mysterious figure. She soon learns she’s part of an ancient race who have been hunted by human assassins for millennia – and that she may be their only hope for ultimate survival. Casting on the project is yet to be announced.The drama is based on the book series The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Celia Thomson.
The drama Switched at Birth,which tells the story of two teen girls who discover they were accidentally switched at birth. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and two brothers, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing as a child due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls. Casting for the project is yet to be announced.
The drama Strut, which revolves around a showgirl named Roxy who marries a stranger after a wild evening, and overnight finds herself living in a small town in Texas and reinventing the high school’s struggling drill team. Roxy uses her background as a dancer to connect with the group of high school outsiders, specifically awkward teen Meg. When Roxy takes it upon herself to shape them into a bona fide strutting team of performers, she turns the town upside down in the process.
Actress Rachel Bilson and Josh Schwartz (the man behind The O.C. and Chuck) are teaming up for a new project at NBC. The project is to be called Ghost Angeles with Bilsonstarring as a young woman in Los Angeles who talks to the dead and helps out ghosts as they help her.
Bryan Fuller (the man behind Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies) is working on a modern-day reboot of the classic series The Munsters. So far, NBC has only ordered only a pilot, but since the potential series is being described as “Modern Family meets True Blood,” it could have a shot at succeeding.
FOX is considering ordering Lawyers for Less, which is to be a workplace comedic drama about two best friends – a white-shoe lawyer coming back from disbarment for mixing business and pleasure and an enterprising black lawyer who takes him in as partner – who run a small storefront law firm specializing in ambulance chasing and defending the defenseless.
Lifetime has given a pilot order to the drama Meet Jane, which revolves around an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area who is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband, a computer technician because the government suspects he is selling top-secret information to Russia.
ABC has given a script order to an untitled one-hour dramedy from executive producers Jennifer Lopez, Simon Fields, and Alexa Junge about three branches of an extended Los Angeles family, as told through the eyes of their three Latina nannies.
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
Daniel Stern (Home Alone) and Matt Frewer (Eureka) will star as former best friends who are dueling neighbors whose Christmas decorating rivalry gets a bit out of hand in the Hallmark Channel movie Battle of the Bulbs. The movie will debut on December 18 at 8 PM.
Victoria Justice (Victorious) will appear in the Nickelodeon movie The Boy Who Cried Werewolf on October 23 at 8 PM. Justice will star as Jordan Sands, a shy and unpopular teen who, through an accident, is transformed into a werewolf during a visit to Wolfsberg, Romania where her family has inherited an ancient castle.Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle) and Brooke D’Orsay (Royal Pains and Drop Dead Diva) co-star.
The Hallmark Channel movie The Santa Incident will debut on December 7 at 8 PM. The movie stars Ione Skye (Private Practice and Say Anything) and Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) [among others]. Homeland Security’s Asymmetrical Threats Division has unknowingly targeted Santa Claus for piloting an unidentified aircraft and flouting national sovereignty. A heat-seeking missile is set upon Santa Claus; and once his reindeer are rocked and he crashes to Earth, he rescued by a couple of kids and nursed back to health by their mom Joanna (Skye). But a couple of bumbling secret agents (including Germann) have also homed in on Santa’s position, and they are determined to make Kris Kringle pay for their looking bad in a prior botched anti-alien interdiction.
Fionnula Flanagan (Lost and Brotherhood) will star in the Hallmark Channel movie Three Wise Woman on December 14 at 8 PM. The movie is a new twist on ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Flanagan stars as Beth, who has a rare opportunity to accompany her guardian angel, Tom (Hugh O’Connor), to visit her past and find out exactly how a single choice can change a life.
Charles Dance (Bleak House) will star opposite Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel, and Bob Hoskins in Nick Willing’s Neverland, the four-hour mini set to air on Syfy and Sky Movies HD.
ABC Family Channel will air the made-for-TV movie The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation on November 28 at 8 PM. The movie features Paris Hilton (in her first voice-over role) as Bella, a French poodle who becomes the target of inept thieves during a holiday getaway. Returning as the voice of the misguided guard dog Zeus, in pursuit of Bella’s affections, is Mario Lopez. The cast also includes Gary Valentine (The King of Queens), Dean Cain (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Elisa Donovan (Clueless), Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Catherine Oxenberg (Dynasty), and Adrienne Barbeau (Maude and Carnivale).
CONDOLENCES
Actress Gloria Stuart – best known for her role as the elder Rose Dawson in the box office hit Titanic – has passed away at the age of 100. She started in films in 1932, taking roles in horror classics like Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. She became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933, but retired from the big screen in the 1940’s.
Legendary actor Tony Curtis (father of Jamie Lee Curtis) passed away Wednesday night at the age of 85. Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans.
Prolific producer of iconic TV shows such as The A-Team, 21 Jump Street and The Rockford Files (among MANY others) – Stephen J. Cannell – passed away last night at the age of 69 due to complications associated with melanoma. Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans.
BOX OFFICE NEWS
British actor Stephen Fry (Bones) has joined the cast of the upcoming sequel Sherlock Holmes, playing Mycroft Holmes, brother of Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) and a key power player in the British Government. The movie is expected to be released next Christmas. Also, Jared Harris (Mad Men) [and son of the late Richard Harris] will appear as Professor Moriarty in the sequel.
Jason Reitman (Director of Up in the Air) has a new project called Young Adult, based on a script by Diablo Cody, about a ghostwriter (CharlizeTheron) of young adult novels who returns to her hometown to reconnect with high-school friends. Patton Oswalt has joined the cast and Patrick Wilson is negotiating a deal to join the cast as well.
Josh Holloway (Lost) is in final negotiations to act as a member of the Impossible Mission Force for the box office sequel Mission: Impossible 4. The cast already includes Tom Cruise, of course, as well as Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton,VingRhames and Simon Pegg.
Maggie Grace (Lost) and 9-year-old newcomer Mackenzie Foy will play the roles of Irina and Renesmee (respectively) in the upcoming two-part The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. And, the rest of Denali clan has also been cast. MyAnna Buring and Casey LaBow will portray the other two Denali sisters, Tanya and Kate meanwhile Mía Maestro and Christian Camargo will portray the Denali parents, Carmen and Eleazar.
Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men and Angel) will star as the father of Amanda Seyfried’s character in the sci-fi box office movie formerly known as I’m.mortal. The story is set in a society where people engineered to stop ageing at 25-years-old and time has become the currency of the realm. The wealthy are practically immortal while the majority of the populous struggles to bank what extra time they can.Justin Timberlake plays a ghetto rebel wrongly accused of murder who is forced to go into hiding with a beautiful and rich hostage (Seyfried). They soon begin a steamy romance.
Tobey Maguire is set to both produce and star in Good People, which is based on the book by Marcus Sakey, which follows a Chicago couple who come across $400,000 and do whatever they can to try and keep it.
Rachel Bilson (The O.C.) has joined the cast of the romantic comedy BFF and Baby starring alongside Krysten Ritter and Kate Bosworth.Thestoryis about two best friends who fight to maintain normalcy in their lives after one of them (Ritter) gets pregnant and has a baby. Ritter wrote the script.
Michael Shannon, Benicio Del Toro and James Franco are attached to star in the box office movie Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, which is based on the true story of Richard “The Ice Man” Kuklinski, a man who for more than 40 years led a double life as both a professional assassin and a doting husband and father in suburban New Jersey. Mickey Rourke was linked to the project earlier this month.
Sam Raimi (Director of Spider-Man) is in talks to set up an alien invasion movie titled Earth Defense Force, which is being described as a cross between Top Gun, Independence Day and The Last Starfighter. It is based on a reading of Andrew Marlowe’s script, opening with the U.S. and Chinese militaries coming under attack from aliens, who swiftly depart, only to destroy many of the world’s landmarks and military installations before vanishing. It seems they came to test Earth’s defensive capabilities, and we failed miserably.
Legendary actor Christopher Plummer has joined the cast of the American version of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. He will play the wealthy industrialist who hires a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) to solve a 40-year unsolved murder. The case uncovers a web of familial corruption.
Emma Thompson is in negotiations to join the cast of Men In Black 3D as Agent OH, who is monitoring a, presumably alien, prison breakout. She joins returning cast member Tommy Lee Jones and new additions Jemaine Clement (as the villain Yaz) and Josh Brolin as a younger version of Jones’ character, Agent Kay, during a part of the story that involves Jay traveling back in time to 1969 for some unknown reason. (Heat Vision and First Showing)
CASTING SCOOP
Sonya Braga (Alias and American Family) will appear on Brothers & Sisters as the mother of Gilles Marini’s character on the Thanksgiving episode that is to air on November 14.
Newcomer Darren Criss (who has guest starred on Eastwick and Cold Case) has joined the FOX series Glee as a new gay student named Blaine, who hails from a rival glee club called the Dalton Academy Warblers. He will befriend Kurt (Chris Colfer), but their relationship will remain platonic for now.
Aimee Garcia (Trauma) will appear in the mid-season series Off the Map, playing a local who falls for Zach Gilford’s (Friday Night Lights) character, who is a plastic surgeon in a remote medical clinic in South America.
Jorge Garcia (Lost) will appear on an episode of How I Met Your Mother, playing Blitz a friend of Ted, Marshall and Lily from college who has the uncanny ability to leave a room right before things finally get interesting.Blitz has been cursed with this regrettable phenomenon for over twelve years.
Rachel Nichols (Alias) has been cast in a multiple-episode arc on Criminal Minds, where she will play FBI cadet Ashley Seager. She is slated to appear in three episodes.
Izabella Miko (Coyote Ugly) will appear in a five-episode arc on the upcoming midseason NBC superhero drama The Cape.
Catherine Dent (The Shield) will appear in at least two episodes of NCIS. She will play Whitney Sharp, aformer NCIS agent who shares a past with Ducky. Both of these episodes will air during November sweeps.
Miranda Cosgrove (Nickelodeon’s iCarly) will guest star as a troubled pop star in need of representation after she’s arrested on a DUI charge on an upcoming episode of The Good Wife.
Parminder Nagra (ER) will guest star in an episode of the ABC legal drama The Whole Truth. She will appear in the 8th episode of the new series as PilarShirazeem, who comes to her best pal’s defense when she is charged with killing her husband.
Kyle MacLachlan is set to appear in at least two episodes of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, as the ex-husband of Zoey (Jennifer Morrison). Morrison’s first episode airs October 18, while MacLachlan is set to debut in early November.
Shelley Conn (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) has been cast as the female lead in FOX’s upcoming prehistoric/futuristic adventure series Terra Nova, which will get a sneak peek in May before launching in Fall 2011. Conn will star opposite Jason O’Mara and Stephen Lang and will play Elizabeth Shannon, the wife of O’Mara’s character, who travels back 85 million years.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
With the fall season fully upon us, there is a lot of programming for which to keep track. The list below includes the following:
Any new or returning shows that will debut this upcoming week
New episodes of shows that have already returned or debuted
Any summer shows that are still finishing up their runs
New movies that are debuting this coming weekend and/or next week
Reairs of shows and movies from this past week on the major and cable networks
Saturday, October 2:
The Event on NBC at 8 PM (reair)
Chase on NBC at 9 PM (reair)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 10:15 PM (reair)
Sunday, October 3:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 PM
Brothers &Sisters on ABC at 10 PM
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM (Return)
The Glades on A&E at 10 PM (Finale)
Rubicon on AMC at 9 PM
Mad Men on AMC at 10 PM
Law & Order: UK on BBC America at 7:30 PM (Debut)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 9 PM
Bored to Death on HBO at 10 PM
Eastbound &Down on HBO at 10:30 PM
Dexter on Showtime at 9 PM
Weeds on Showtime at 10 PM (reair)
The Big C on Showtime at 10:30 PM (reair)
Lies in Plain Sight movie on Lifetime Movie Network at 8 PM (Debut)
Wallander: Faceless Killers movie on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS at 9 PM (Debut)
Monday, October 4:
Hawaii Five-0 on CBS at 10 PM
Castle on ABC at 10:01 PM
90210 on the CW at 8 PM
Gossip Girl on the CW at 9 PM
House on FOX at 8 PM
Lie To Me on FOX at 9 PM (Early Return)
Chuck on NBC at 8 PM
The Event on NBC at 9 PM
Chase on NBC at 10 PM
Weeds on Showtime at 10 PM
The Big C on Showtime at 10:30 PM
Boardwalk Empire on HBO2 at 8 PM (reair)
Bored to Death on HBO2 at 9 PM (reair)
Tuesday, October 5:
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM
No Ordinary Family on ABC at 8 PM
Detroit 1-8-7 on ABC at 10 PM
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM
Glee on FOX at 8 PM
Parenthood on NBC at 10 PM
Melissa & Joey on ABC Family Channel at 8 PM (to air as one hour)
Unnatural History on Cartoon Network at 8 PM
Sons of Anarchy on FX at 10 PM
Stargate Universe on Syfy at 8 PM (reair)
Stargate Universe on Syfy at 9 PM (New)
Caprica on Syfy at 10 PM (Return)
Weeds on Showtime at 9 PM (reair)
The Big C on Showtime at 9:30 PM (reair)
Dexter on Showtime at 10 PM (reair)
Wednesday, October 6:
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
The Defenders on CBS at 10 PM
The Whole Truth on ABC at 10 PM
Hellcats on the CW at 9 PM
Undercovers on NBC at 8 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 9 PM
Law & Order: Los Angeles on NBC at 10 PM (Debut)
Terriers on FX at 10 PM
Law & Order: UK on BBC America at 8 PM (reair)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 9:15 and 10:15 PM (reairs)
Dexter on Showtime2 at 8 PM (reair)
The Big C on Showtime2 at 9 PM (reair)
Weeds on Showtime2 at 9:30 PM (reair)
Lies in Plain Sight movie on Lifetime Movie Network at 8 PM (reair)
Thursday, October 7:
CSI on CBS at 9 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
My Generation on ABC at 8 PM
Grey’s Anatomy on ABC at 9 PM
Private Practice on ABC at 10:01 PM
The Vampire Diaries on the CW at 8 PM
Nikita on the CW at 9 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX at 10 PM
The League on FX at 10:30 PM
Boardwalk Empire on HB02 at 10 PM (reair)
Dexter on Showtime at 10 PM (reair)
Weeds on Showtime2 at 9 PM (reair)
The Big C on Showtime2 at 9:30 PM (reair)
Friday, October 8:
Medium on CBS at 8 PM
CSI: NY on CBS at 9 PM
Blue Bloods on CBS at 10 PM
My Generation on ABC at 9 PM (reair)
Smallville on the CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on the CW at 9 PM
The Good Guys on FOX at 9 PM
Outlaw on NBC at 10 PM
Law & Order: UK on BBC America at 9 and 10 PM (reairs)
Haven on Syfy at 10 PM
Boardwalk Empire on HBO Signature at 9 PM (reair)
Weeds on Showtime at 8 PM (reair)
The Big C on Showtime at 8:30 PM (reair)
Dexter on Showtime at 9 PM (reair)
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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