Scott Caan has been cast as Danny “Danno” Williams in the pending Hawaii Five-O remake for CBS. The new “Hawaii,” from CBS Studios, “Star Trek” writers Alex
Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and “CSI: NY’ executive producer Peter
Lenkov, centers on an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police
headed by Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin). Williams, who was played by James MacArthur on the original series,
is a New Jersey cop who has recently undergone an acrimonious
divorce and has transferred to Hawaii to be near his 7-year-old
daughter. Forced to partner with McGarrett, Danno is initially
leery of their association — but as he grows more familiar with
his maverick new boss, he begins to appreciate the opportunity to
work with McGarrett. Caan is best known for his work in the three Oceans 11 as Turk Malloy and Scott Lavin in Entourage.
Jeri Ryan has joined the cast of ABC’s Body Of Evidence. The show centers on a brilliant, tenacious
medical examiner — a part Dana Delany is in talks for — whose
background as a neurosurgeon gives her a unique and refreshing
crime-solving perspective but puts her at odds with nearly
everyone. Ryan has most recently been recurring on TNT’s Leverage.
via THR.com
BBC Worldwide Productions, the company responsible for Dancing With The Stars, is planning a similarly-themed ice dancing show for ABC. “ABC has become an incredible partner for us — we mirror each
other’s vision in attaining production excellence and we look
forward to taking our relationship to the ice,” commented Jane
Tranter, executive vp of programming and production, BBC Worldwide
Productions. “This program will be a truly unique and exciting
experience for their viewers.”
HBO is looking to adapt Too Big To Fail for a planned TV film. Andrew Sorkin’s book chronicles the credit crisis by focusing on
such figures as Richard Fuld, former chief executive of the
now-bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers, John Mack, former CEO
of Morgan Stanley, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his
predecessor Henry Paulson. Peter Gould, who previously has written episodes of Breaking Bad, will be adapting.
ABC and NBC have both recently picked up pilots, including one from ABC executive producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice). Rhimes’ new show is Off The Map, about three doctors who leave their cushy jobs in the United States for an
isolated tropical clinic. There they face exotic and unusual medical
challenges — as well as personal ones. ABC also picked up Body of Evidence, a former neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner who solves crimes and tends to clash with her superiors. Executive producer Matt Gross describes the serious as “a female postmortem House.” Finally, NBC has scooped up the comedy, The Strip, from Reno911!’s Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, which centers on a former child-star (Lennon) who owns a Hooters-esque restaurant in a strip mall on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
Survivor Palau’s castaway Jennifer Lyon recently succumbed to her fight against cancer, passing away Tuesday at the age of 37. Lyon, who finished in fourth place during the tenth season of the CBS
reality show in 2005, was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer two
months after the show wrapped. “In the summer of 2004, I felt something in my right breast that didn’t feel normal,” Lyon told People in Oct. 2005. “I thought it was probably scar tissue related to my breast implants. So I let it go—for a long time.” Survivor: Vanuatu’s Eliza Orlins added, “The whole time she maintained a positive attitude. She was truly an
amazing girl and I was lucky to know her. Even just last
week when I saw her at the 10-year reunion, we were all laughing and
she had her same glowing smile on her face.”
no matter what the ending is. There will be argument about it … I
have high hopes for it being one of those things where you go, “Oh my
God, yeah!” or “Oh, it’s been that all along. I never knew what I was
looking at until now.” I hope it’s a thing that sends us back to Season
1 and makes us start looking at it all over again with new eyes.
via TVGuide.com
Fox is said to be developing and American version of the U.K. series, Torchwood. Original series creator Russell Davies is writing the script and the original series production team is on board to shepherd this version through the American process. Torchwood is about
a covert group that investigates and fights alien activity. Some of the stars, including John Barrowman (Capt. Jack Harkness) may transition over should Fox pick up the pilot. This version of Torchwood is said to possibly involve a more global storyline compared to the localized plots of the first couple of seasons of the U.K. version. The article also mentions that BBC honcho and show producer Jane Tranter might also try to reboot Doctor Who for the American audience as well.
Finally, in the ongoing Conan/Leno/NBC debacle playing out before us, Conan O’Brien is set to have his first guests on The Tonight Show, Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks, back for his final episode, which is reported to be this Friday. Ferrell was Conan’s first guest on the inaugural show, while Hanks appeared the following night. Adam Sandler, Joel McHale and musical guest Joss Stone will be on Wednesday night’s show,followed by Robin Williams and musical guest Barry Manilow on Thursday night. In related news, Jay Leno says that neither Conan nor he should be blamed for the events that have transpired. Rather, that he had asked twice to be let out of his contract, but that NBC didn’t want to let him go.
