ABC’s Sports Night is being called out of retirement this fall… by NBC. Sort of.
Sports stars Josh Charles and Teri Polo, who played tragic lovebirds Dan and Rebecca on Aaron Sorkin’s late, great dramedy, are reteaming for an episode of Law & Order: SVU, sources confirm to me exclusively. The duo will play a married couple whose son becomes a suspect in — yep, you guessed it — some kind of grisly sex crime investigation.
The episode is currently being shot and is slated to air on Sept. 30.
OMG, Stephen Root is joining Pushing Daisies!
(Crickets)
OK, let’s try that again: OMG, Milton Waddams from Office Space is joining Pushing Daisies!
(The crowd roars)
Now that’s more like it.
Sources confirm to me exclusively that Root, also fondly remembered as NewsRadio”s billionaire boss, Jimmy James, has booked a four-episode arc on Daisies. His character “has a shared history with both Ned’s dad and Chuck’s dad,” explains series creator Bryan Fuller. “He stirs up a lot of hullabaloo for everyone, particularly Aunts Lily and Vivian.”
Daisies‘ second season kicks off Oct. 1.
(The crowd roars)
Rosie Perez, who plays a corrupt cop in Aug. 6′s Pineapple Express, will don a (figurative) catsuit this fall for a recurring role on NBC’s Lipstick Jungle. "I play a publicist, a mean bitchy publicist," she told EW.com while at Pineapple‘s premiere last night in Los Angeles. "Everyone seems to be picking me to play mean people right now. What the hell? I am a really nice person in my everyday life I swear."
Perez says she enjoyed the fringe benefits of the series gig — namely, wearing "lots of excellent clothes" and working with the predominantly female cast. "I thought it was going to be all [she feigns a cat hiss]. But it wasn’t like that at all when I got there," explains Perez. "We just get to show up and say these great lines and play these great roles for women. I love that there is another show with strong roles for women that is about women. It is about time that we have more of those.”
As for her role in Express, Perez says she plays "a whole new level of badass: I am shooting people and blowing stuff up and yelling and I make no apologies. It was fun to let loose and just be bitchy and badass, although the outfit was heavy and uncomfortable. I can’t believe how heavy those cop belts are.”
- With reporting from Carrie Bell
Jason Isaacs — who plays white-haired wizard Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films as well as Michael Caffee on Showtime’s gritty drama Brotherhood — will let his fanboy flag fly when he guest stars on the upcoming season of Entourage. "I couldn’t be more excited," he told EW.com. "I have seen every episode. I can’t tell anyone what I am playing. I can only say I am not playing myself. Christ, I hope no one thinks it’s me. It’s quite a character. I wouldn’t want people thinking he’s based on my personality!"
Isaacs admitted he got a little star struck while taping the series, which returns Sept. 7. "Even after hanging around with these boys for a few days and playing golf with them, I found it hard to shake off my whole fan geekiness," said Isaacs, who added that he is grateful to Showtime for allowing him the opportunity. "They don’t normally give up their series’ actors [to appear on] any HBO show. But I am such a huge fan of the show and they made the exception for me."
He also said that he has "no idea what is in store for the third season of Brotherhood. "The creator just had a baby so I wonder if it is going to turn all soft and cuddly. I doubt it strongly. He’s probably going to be more pissed off and grumpy because of lack of sleep so he’ll come to work and take it out on these characters." Brotherhood returns to Showtime on Nov. 2. "No one has a good time in Brotherhood," Isaacs continued. "I think that’s why people like watching it because by comparison everyone’s lives are just peachy."
Next up for Isaacs: the seventh and eighth installments of the Harry Potter franchise. "I wasn’t in six so it has been a long hiatus for me and I can’t wait to get back in that world," said Isaacs. "It is easy to get back into the mind of Lucius. I just put on the wig. The thing about that wig is that it is long and straight and the only way to get it straight is to tilt my head back and then I’m forced to look down my nose at people. And suddenly Lucius is back in town.”
- With reporting from Carrie Bell
Now that David Duchovny‘s Hank Moody (pictured) is finally settling down with Karen (Natascha McElhone), it looks like he’ll hand over the “wild life sex baton” to Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler) on the new season of Showtime’s Californication, which begins Sept. 28. “Charlie will start having all the show’s sex,” Duchovny told EW.com while attending the recent premiere of The X-Files: I Want To Believe.
Speaking of sex, Pamela Adlon (Marcy Runkle) was also on hand to promise “more sex, drugs, rock and roll, and porn wrapped around a deep, emotional core” in the coming year. “The stories are so good, Adlon teased. “I was a little surprised at how much women liked it at first, but now I meet women all the time who are so into the show. They like the honesty we portray about marriage and sexuality in long-term marriages. People are really obsessive about it and I love being part of something that isn’t just there.
“We will have plenty more boobs in season 2,” she continued. “I don’t think Marcy’s journey is over. One thing I am not supposed to tell you about Marcy and season 2? She’s going to develop a nasty little cocaine habit.”
Oops! Too late! Now, what about Hank’s daughter Becca?
“Becca is disenchanted with being the parent to her parents and she starts to show that this season,” says the character’s alter-ego, Madeleine Martin. “She thinks the adults are still acting immature. She also gets a boyfriend this season, which was fun for me. It was nice to have someone else around on set who is my age. He is a brand new character and Hank doesn’t take it well that his daughter has a serious boyfriend.”
– With reporting by Carrie Bell
He’s alive! Or is he?
Sources confirm to me exclusively that Heroes has tapped acting vet Robert Forster to play Nathan and Peter’s presumed-dead pops, Arthur Petrelli.
Given Heroes‘ penchant for time travel, though, there’s no telling if we’ll see Arthur in the present, via flashback, or during one of Hiro’s little excursions. Another unknown: whether Arthur will use his powers (’cause you know he’s got ‘em) for good or evil.
Rumors of Arthur’s possible “resurrection” this season have been burning up the Internets for months. And while it’s not clear when Forster will first turn up, at press tour last month, his on-screen widow, Cristine Rose, hinted in this video interview that a bombshell would be dropped in the two-hour premiere on Sept. 22. “There’s a secret that comes out that if you’re a true fan, you’re just going to die,” she teased. “It’s a good Angela secret, and it’s [not about] her powers.”
Well, considering the first hour of the premiere was screened at Comic-Con, and, per multiple eyewitnesses, no such Angela secret was revealed, it’s safe to say the big reveal will take place in hour 2. Of course, whether or not said reveal is related to Arthur is also a big fat unknown. It’s all speculation, people!
What do you think? Is Arthur alive? Is Karen Sisco’s dad a good fit for the role? Are you as pumped about Heroes S3 as I am? Sound off below!
Big news, Supe Nazis: No, Supernatural hasn’t been renewed through the 2012-13 TV season. Even better. This week’s installment of Ausiello TV contains exclusive details about this season’s flashback-heavy fourth episode, appropriately titled, “In the Beginning.” Specifically, find out why insiders are calling it “the most pivotal episode of Supernatural ever.”
Also in ATV 1.3: A blind item that’s a matter of life and death for one tube star, and casting scoop that may shed light on the climax of Heroes‘ “Villains” arc.
Enjoy!
Denise Huxtable’s about to inhabit a truly different world.
Former Cosby Show offspring Lisa Bonet is joining the cast of ABC’s adaptation of the time-tripping U.K. cop drama Life on Mars, sources confirm to me exclusively. Bonet will play Jason O’Mara’s present-day girlfriend.
Bonet’s hiring comes on the heels of another high-profile Mars casting: Earlier this week, Gretchen Mol signed on to play O’Mara’s circa ’73 squeeze, setting the stage for one unorthodox love triangle.
Previously announced Mars inhabitants include Harvey Keitel and Michael Imperioli.
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
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