Grant Bowler / Brenda Strong /
Ryan Eggold / Sarah Roemer
© Gettyimages
A few news bits from today.
- We already know for a while that Lindsay Lohan is playing the iconic Elizabeth Taylor in Lifetime’s upcoming movie based on the movie star. But as of today, courtesy of Deadline, we also know who will play another, equally iconic character. Grant Bowler (“True Blood”, “Ugly Betty”) has been cast to play Richard Burton, the actor who was married twice to Taylor. His casting was finalized today after a reading with Lindsay Lohan. Production is set to begin on June 4, for an air date TBD.
- Also per Deadline, Mason Cook is the young actor who has been chosen by NBC to play Eddie Munster in “Mockingbird Lane”, the upcoming “Munsters” reboot created by Bryan Fuller (“Heroes”, “Pushing Daisies”), and to be directed by Bryan Singer (“The Usual Suspects”, “X-Men”). The project will be a reinvention of the sitcom from the 1960s about the Munsters, a family of “Monsters”. Eddie Izard plays Grandpa, and newcomer Charity Wakefield is set as the Munsters’ “normal” cousin, Marilyn.
- FOX’ “Touch”, which airs its first season finale May 31, is getting a companion web series, per the Hollywood Reporter. Creator Tim Kring has set up five 10-minute online episodes of “Daybreak”, which will star Ryan Eggold (“90210″) and Sarah Roemer (“The Event”). Eggold plays Ben Wilkins, a man whose life gets out of balance due to the dodecahedron, the 12-sided shape which was recently introduced on “Touch”, and will be featured again in the upcoming finale. Ben tires to get his life back together using AT&T technology. Kring wrote on his blog that ”"Daybreak’” doesn’t share any common cast or plot lines with “Touch”, but it will have a similar look and feel.” The series premieres online on May 31, on www.daybreak2012.com.
- Per TVLine, Vanessa Ray (“Suits”) has been cast for a guest spot in one episode of the upcoming second season of ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars”, where she will play Cece, a charming blonde stylist working at a hip boutique. But there’s more, which is kind of spoilery, so hit the source link for the rest…
- According to Deadline, TVLand has ordered two comedy pilots. “I’m Not Dead Yet” is “about a man who finds out that he has a rare heart condition that could cause him to die at any moment and decides to finally start speaking his mind and live life to the fullest.” And “Brothers-In-Law” centers on “the family dynamic between a husband and the eccentric fiancé of his wife’s twin sister, who have nothing in common but the sisters constantly force them to bond.”
- Oh, and if the one thing you will miss most from the just-ended “Desperate Housewives” is Brenda Strong and her soothing voice narrating all the shenanigans at Wysteria Lane, you’re in luck. The actress has just booked another narrating gig, per TV Guide. She will be voicing Discovery’s new true crimes show “Blood Relatives”, wich revolves around murder, conspiracies and kidnapping in families. The show debuts June 7 at 10/9c PM.
