The Weekly Round-Up for April 4 to April 8

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

Congratulations to the winners of the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, including Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band, Reba McEntire, The Band Perry, Garth Brooks and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers.

Mark your calendars! True Blood will be back on HBO with 12 all new episodes (the show’s fourth season) starting on June 26 at 9 PM.

Actress Mary McDonnell will reprise her role as Captain Sharon Raydor on The Closer during the series super-sized ‘final’ season, being upgraded as a full-time series regular. This has led to the belief that she will lead the spin-off series titled Major Crimes along with some of the current cast of The Closer crossing over to that new series. Nothing has been confirmed for this latter part of news, though. The final season of The Closer will air 10 episodes this summer, followed by five in the winter, and the final six next summer.

Showtime has picked up two new shows: Homeland and House of Lies, which have both received 12 episode orders. Homeland is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Scott Brody (Damian Lewis) a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed deal for nine years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. Mandy Patinkin will portray Saul, a veteran CIA Division Chief who is Carrie’s (Danes) boss and mentor. Meanwhile, House of Lies is a half-hour comedy that stars Don Cheadle as Marty, a highly-successful and cutthroat consultant who is never above using any means (or anyone) necessary to get his way with and for his clients. Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars and Heroes) will play Jeannie Van Der Hooven, a razor-sharp, Ivy-League graduate who works at Marty’s firm. Co-stars include Ben Schwartz (Undercovers), Josh Lawson (The Deep End) as Marty’s corporate team members and Dawn Oliveri (Heroes and The Vampire Diaries) as Marty’s acerbic ex-wife [among others].

Actor Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) will star opposite actress Ashley Judd in the ABC action series called Missing that has received a 10 episode order. The series will center on Becca Winstone (Judd), a devoted single mom who, after her 18-year-old son disappears in Italy, takes it upon herself to travel to Europe and track him down. It soon becomes clear that Winstone is a former CIA agent who will stop at nothing to bring her son home alive. Bean will play Becca’s husband Paul, who was blown up in front of his son but will appear throughout the series in flashbacks.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

A new hour-long drama is being considered by ABC Family based on the childhood of country singer and recent Academy of Country Music winner Miranda Lambert whose father – Richard Lee “Rick” Lambert – is a retired police officer who became a private investigator in partnership with her mother, Beverly “Bev” June Lambert. The project is being described as Hart to Hart with a family, centering on a Texas family where the kids help their PI parents in solving cases.

Actress Brenda Strong (the voice of Mary Alice Young on Desperate Housewives) will play Ann Ewing, the latest wife of Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) in the TNT drama pilot/remake Dallas. In this version actors Jesse Metcalfe (Chase) plays all-grown-up Christopher Ewing (Bobby’s son), while J.R.’s conniving spawn, John Ross, will be played by Josh Henderson (Over There). Larry Hagman will reprise his iconic role as J.R. Ewing.

Actress Hope Davis (In Treatment) will star opposite Tea Leoni in the HBO half-hour comedy pilot Spring/Fall, which is set in New York City against the backdrop of the fashion world and centers on the dysfunctional partnership between Margo (Leoni) and Eden (Davis), two women with different approaches to career, family and friendship. Margo is a successful designer and a happily married mother of 5-year-old twins working for famous fashion designer Victor Cross. When he commits suicide, Margo takes over his line and quickly realizes she’s in over her head, so she reaches out to her estranged former best friend and collaborator Eden, a one-time famous fashion designer herself, and convinces her to come work for her.

Actress Amber Valletta will guest star in the ABC drama pilot called Revenge that revolves around Emily (Emily Van Camp from Brothers and Sisters), a woman who moves to the Hamptons and learns quickly that every kind gesture her new neighbors make is an invitation to their own downfall. Ashley Madekwe (Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Nick Wechsler (Roswell), Gabriel Mann (Mad Men), Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl), Christa B. Allen, Henry Czerny (The Tudors), Madeline Stowe and Josh Bowman round out the cast.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Legendary actor Burt Reynolds will co-star with LeAnn Rimes in the CMT made-for-TV movie called Reel Love, one of the first two films to come out of the newly created CMT Original Movies division, which will produce TV movies with a focus on romantic comedies and music-based films. Reel Love stars Rimes as Holly, a successful big-city girl who returns to her small-town roots after a family emergency. She then embarks on a soulful, comedic journey to reconnect with family and friends and find meaningful romance along the way. Reynolds will play Holly’s father, a grizzled ex-Army, ex-cop, ex-trucker. The movie will premiere in September.

Another Procter & Gamble family friendly 2-hour movie is set to air on NBC. The made-for-TV movie (and backdoor pilot) is called Passport and stars Robyn Lively as Meredith, an expert chef skilled in Piloxing (Pilates mixed with boxing) who is raising her teen kids alone because of her geologist husband Simon’s (Loren Dean) erratic travel schedule. When Simon doesn’t return home from his latest trip, Michelle launches an investigation and discovers that he has been leading a double-life as a covert intelligence operative with CAD (Clandestine Activities Division). Along with her teenage daughter (Skyler Day), she travels to Europe to save Simon, who was abducted during his latest mission and must work together with his captor to bring down a traitor at CAD.

The HBO made-for-TV movie Too Big to Fail, starring William Hurt, Paul Giamatti and Matthew Modine, based on the bestselling book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, will premiere on Monday, May 23 at 9 PM. The movie centers on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (Hurt) and examines the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington. The cast includes Edward Asner, Billy Crudup, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Michael O’Keefe, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub and James Woods.

The upcoming four-hour mini-series Titanic has announced some of its cast, including Linus Roache (Batman Begins), Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter) and Toby Jones (Infamous). The film will focus on different characters ranging from steerage passengers to upper class guests.

Actress Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) will return to the small screen as producer and star of the HBO original movie based on the best-selling novel The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood, which centers on a mother mourning the death of her young daughter and struggling to overcome the grief that jeopardizes every aspect of her life — including her marriage. She begins to find her way back into the world through a knitting circle.

ANIMATED FILM NEWS

Actress Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) will be voicing a role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars but very little is being released about which character she will play except that it is “a memorable character”.

CASTING SCOOP

Legendary actor Malcolm McDowell will appear in the season premiere of Psych as Ambassador Fanshaw, a witty British diplomat temporarily residing in Santa Barbara. When a murdered woman turns up in his house, Fanshaw hires Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dulé Hill) to help him psychically find her killer. Psych will be back with its 6th season sometime this summer.

Actors Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia (both from Heroes) are set to voice Iron Man and Wolverine respectively in two new animated series based on the Marvel superheroes that will air on G4 next year.

The role of Diana’s girlfriend on White Collar has been cast. Actress Moran Atias (from Starz’s series Crash, which was based on the box office film) will play Christie, Diana’s (Marsha Thomason) oft-referred-to-but-never-seen onscreen sweetheart who is a cardiologist who brings out Diana’s lighter side with her sweet smile and scalpel-edged wit.

Actor Brad Dourif (Deadwood) will appear in the season finale of Fringe on May 6, playing a mysterious character named Moreau.

Actor Ethan Peck (the TV series 10 Things I Hate About You) is set to appear on Gossip Girl later this season. He will play a director’s assistant, but no other specific details are available at this time.

Despite rumors to the contrary, actress Christina Ricci will not be appearing on the CBS drama CSI. That role will actually be filled by actress Elisabeth Harnois (Miami Medical), who will debut in the May 5 episode as a young woman who helps the Las Vegas team with the Nate Haskell investigation who is the estranged daughter of Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann). Her character works for the Los Angeles Police Department. Harnois is expected to return in the fall for more episodes.

Actress Annabeth Gish (Mystic Pizza and The X-Files) will appear in the second season of Pretty Little Liars as the therapist that all of the girls have to visit because of the events that unfolded in season one. Gish’s character is Anne Sullivan, the mysterious woman assigned to uncover the ugly truth from each girl. The show will be back with new episodes on June 14.

NOTE: The weekly calendar and box office news will appear separately this week.

Have a great weekend!