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It’s the last day of the month so it must be time for the traditional latest edition of KM UK’s Cold Case Cast Catch-up. Let us see what the key members of the long running CBS police procedural have been getting up to.
What feels like an increasing part of that tradition seems to be the breaking of news that would fit right in not long after publication. A few days after the CCCC-up for February it was announced that Danny Pino (Scotty Valens on CC) would be starting a recurring role on the ABC drama series Scandal. Normally at this time of year talk about additions to show casts would be more likely to be in reference to changes for the new seasons starting in the autumn. Not this time. Danny made his Scandal début last Thursday night (March 24th) on episode 15 of the 20+ run as Alejandro ‘Alex’ Vargas. He’s a campaign manager and brother of an existing recurring character played by Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives). Alex offered the lead character Olivia (Kerry Washington, Boston Legal) a tit-for-tat-for-tattle deal. It is not known at this stage how many more episodes Danny/Alex will be in.
Presumably Danny can’t spend too long on Scandal as his new show, this time for the CBS network (Cold Case‘s old home), is in production. BrainDead, first talked about on KM UK at the end of last year, has had a première date announced. Those with access to an American television should be in front of it on Monday the 13th of June at 10pm. BrainDead is a comedy drama set in the world of Washington, D.C. politics where many of the staff and congress members have become zombies thanks to alien visitors. The 13 episode-long series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk) amongst others.
Tracie is the one we’d normally describe as the workaholic of the group but we can add Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera on CC) to the list this month. Jeremy did a guest starring role on the Comedy Central sitcom Workaholics earlier in March. The show is about a group of friends that live together and also work together in telemarketing. This particular episode (number 9 in the 6th season) involved the boys setting up a casino in their house. Jeremy is listed as ‘Frank’.
Unbelievably it has been the best part of a year since I last made mention of Thom Barry (Will Jeffries on CC). And this is a return to the topic at hand back then. The Eddie Murphy-starring movie that was originally known as Cook and then changed to Henry Joseph Church has now become Mr Church. It is set to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and heading for a more general release in November. Eddie is the titular character who becomes the cook for a family. The planned short term arrangement lasts much, much longer. Britt Robertson (Under The Dome) and Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show) co-star.
A couple of previously unmentioned projects have cropped up for Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) since the last CCCC-up. First is Raven’s Watch, a thriller due for a festival showing in October. There’s not much more to add at the moment other than Erin Cahill (Saving Grace), Denise Crosby (Star Trek: TNG) and Kevin Daniels (Modern Family) star. Second is a short comedy drama film called Divorce: The Greatest Hits. It stars Kaili Vernoff (The High Life), Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted), Kevin Daniels (him again? sensing a theme here?), and the voice of Holland Taylor (Two And A Half Men). I could tell you about the story but why don’t I just show you as the whole film is watchable on Vimeo HERE (a bit NSFW). Tracie appears about 12 minutes in. Awkward!
That will do us for this month. Be sure to check out the showbiz news sites in the next few hours and days because, based on recent form, something major will be announced for one of our favourites 😐
It’s still February, right? (Déjà vu?) Just when you think you’ve got used to the 28 day long month they go and throw in an extra 24 hours. Typical! It’s like they do it every four years (ish) just to catch us out!
As last month’s CCCC-up (where we look at the on-going careers of the Cold Case cast) was a little late and a lot rushed (no pun intended) I managed to miss out a few things. I’ll try and do a bit better this time. No promises though.
It was all about Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) last time and it was some of her stuff I forgot so I’ll start with her to redeem myself.
9 Rides (aka Nine Rides) is by writer/director Matthew A. Cherry (Almost Home) and is a feature film about the very much vehicle of the moment (pun very much intended) an Uber driver and his News Year’s Eve. For those of you living under a rock Uber is a effectively a taxi service run by individuals under the control of a smartphone app. If you don’t know a smartphone is… Customers use the app to request a car. Uber drivers can choose which jobs to respond to. Despite the ‘indie’ image Uber is a well funded operation which takes a cut from each fare. They operate in cities all over the world, with a lot of opposition from local taxi services. It is not without controversy to say the least. I digress. Dorian Missick (Southland) is the unnamed ‘Driver’ who receives some very bad news. Tracie is listed in the cast as ‘Fiancee’. The film is due to première at SXSW festival in March (11-19th). There is a Kickstarter page raising money to help with the final post-production elements with more details and a teaser video HERE.
Love. Remember when that was all the rage two weeks ago? Well, just after that Netflix released the Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) / Lesley Arfin (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) / Paul Rust (I Love You, Beth Cooper)-created comedy series Love starring the aforementioned Rust and Gillian Jacobs (Community). Tracie stars as Susan in five of the 10 episodes in the first season. The show has already been signed up for a second run. I hear good things about it so it might be worth checking out if you can.
As is the way of these things a few days after the last CCCC-up news broke of a Lifetime network movie called The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story being put into production. It is about the mother of NBA star Kevin Durant. I don’t know basketball but I gather Kevin is a big deal in the sport. The film is about the struggles of his mother Wanda to raise two sons alone. Apparently Kevin famously dedicated his 2014 winning of the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award to his mother calling her “the real MVP”. Tracie plays a close friend of Cassandra Freeman’s (Single Ladies) Wanda. Queen Latifah (Bringing Down The House) is producing. Filming was already under way when this story appeared at the beginning of February. It is expected to be first aired in time for the American version of Mother’s Day on the 8th of May.
To mark Black History Month (February in the US) the Word Theatre in LA put on a free show called And All That Jazz. Tracie was amongst the many stars at the Hall Of Liberty performing an of ‘inspiring evening of stories, poetry and memoir’ about the jazz greats. As we all know Tracie is very accomplished singer as well as actor.
Again, a few days after the delayed Jan CCCC-up it was announced that the new comedy thriller BrainDead, from the makers of the soon to end The Good Wife, had signed Tony Shalhoub (Monk) as another lead actor. The show, set in political world of Washington DC but with zombies, was first covered in the Dec ’15 CCCC-up when Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) was added to the cast. The show is due to première this coming summer on the CBS network.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for John Finn (John Stillman in CC). He had guest starring roles in recent episodes of The Good Wife and Elementary (the US TV modern take on Sherlock Holmes). I can’t comment on his roles in either show.
Stretching our remit (as we do occasionally) to stretch the piece we note that regular Cold Case writer and producer Veena Sud (US version of The Killing) has been chosen to write an American remake of the German movie We Monsters. The original film is new, having had a North American première at the influential Toronto Film Festival just last September and centres around recently separated parents forced to get back together to help their teenage daughter cover up a murder.
What better way to end the year than a quick round-up of new in the careers of the main Cold Case cast from December. Here on KM UK we call it the CCCC-up. For obvious reasons Kathryn is excluded.
Not for the first time news has broken on one of our CC alumni just after a CCCC-up was posted. Sure enough within hours of our November item it was announced that Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) will be returning to the CBS network, after a four season stint on NBC for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The creators of the hit series The Good Wife have a comedy thriller in the works called BrainDead and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (The Returned). It is set in the political world Washington, D.C. Intriguingly, apparently it includes a zombie and aliens element. Congressmen and other staff have had their brains eaten by aliens. Brainless politicians… Surely the jokes pretty much write themselves at this point? Danny will be Mary’s brother, a Senator from Maryland. BrainDead is due to air next summer.
A CCCC-up is not complete without a mention of Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC). She always gives us something to post about. Back in the summer (it seems so long ago now) we reported on a movie Tracie was starring in called Equity. It has been scheduled to have its world première at the Sundance Film Festival which takes place towards the end of January. Following on from August’s update about the Tracie-led web series Send Me there is news. The plan is for the series to be premièred in February, which is Black History Month. Send Me is about a woman (Tracie) who has the power to transport people back in time to the era of slavery in America.
It’s time for the latest CCCC-up, our end-of-month look at the on-going careers of the cast of Cold Case.
In July I made some bold statements about Danny Pino‘s (Scotty Valance in CC) future regarding the Imagen Awards. I’m pleased to say that I have been proved correct once again (it doesn’t often happen, note the date!). Yes, a month ago I claimed the awards that recognise the work of those from the Latino community in the media would be happening on the 21st of August. Also, I asserted that Danny was nominated for an award. And, lo, it came to pass that KM UK was shown to be a teller of truth. A truth peddler be I! Enough! The awards happened and Danny won in his category of Best Supporting Actor: Television. The show he was in, Law & Order: SVU, won the gong for Best Primetime Television Series: Drama. Congratulations to Danny and all those involved in SVU.
Thinking it had been lost in the desert I’d pretty much given up on Death Valley, a drama film starring Katrina Law (Arrow), Lochlyn Munro (True Justice), Victoria Pratt (Mutant X), Kelly Hu (Arrow) and Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera in CC). Over the past couple of years I’ve been vaguely tracking the movie. There have a few festival showings and… well… that was about it. In the past week or so things have turned around significantly. The film, about four friends who find themselves in a spot of bother in the aptly named area in eastern California, will now receiving a more general release in US cinemas on October 23rd. It may not be in every multiplex but it should possible to track down a showing in your area of America (assuming you have an area that is).
Each month Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller on CC) manages to inject something into the CCCC-up. The lady is just soooo busy. This time out it’s called Injection. A drama short about a family dealing with cancer and the appearance at the door of a possible cure. Not sure of Tracie’s role in the piece yet other than her character’s name: Sarah Wenscombe. Tracie doesn’t seem like a Wenscombe to me, but she’s a good actress so I’m sure she’ll pull it off. We can be a little more certain about Tracie and the webseries Send Me. The drama is about an academic, Gwen (Tracie), with ability to send other African Americans back to the times of slavery in the US, and much of the world. Earlier this month a couple of trailers for the project were released. Follow through from the official website HERE to YouTube and you can find a load of behind the scenes videos. I’ve not seen a specific date mentioned for the series release yet.
Back in the March CCCC-up I reported on John Finn (John Stillman in CC) had a role in a new drama series pilot called Doubt. Since then, to say the least there has been a lot of doubt about Doubt. The pilot clearly didn’t float the boat of those in the position to make the decision so a series was not commissioned from it. However, the project was kept alive and there has been a lot of re-writing and re-casting going on the past few months. KaDee Strickland (Private Practice) was to be the lead but she has been replaced by Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy). Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me) steps in for Masters Of Sex star Teddy Sears, who has moved to The Flash. Others, such as Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black), Dulé Hill (Psych), and Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl) are said to still be involved. Whether John is or not we’ll just have to wait and see.
A few hours after posting last month‘s CCCC-up the news broke that American wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper passed away. We’d only just mentioned the death of author Ann Rule. Roddy, appropriately enough, starred in the season 7 wrestling-themed Cold Case episode One Fall. A week later the actor Terrence Evans, he was the present day/older Lester Hughes in Daniella from season two, also died. Our condolences to their families and friends.
To misquote someone: “It’s quiet in here, it must be Summer.”
All the major US TV show have started production on their autumn/fall seasons so news on castings is thin on the ground. However, I’m sure we can collect together a few tasty morsels from the month of July (is it July already!) for our regular round-up about Cold Case cast members that aren’t Kathryn, aka the KM UK CCCC-up.
Let’s start with the gentleman pictured above: Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC). The Imagen Foundation works to further the interests of the Latino community in the media. Each year they hold an event to honour those that have embodied that goal in the previous year. Not surprisingly they call it the Annual Imagen Awards. This year marks the 30th running of the ceremony. Danny is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor – Television category for his role as Detective Nick Amaro in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He’s sharing the ballot with six other actors Justin Baldoni and Jaime Camil from Jane The Virgin, Raul Castillo (Looking), Joe Minoso (Chicago Fire), Carlos Ponce (Cristela), and Mel Rodriguez (Getting On). The gongs are handed out on the 21st of August. Good luck to everyone. Of course, we know that Danny won’t be repeating this next year as he is not returning to SVU for the upcoming season. No word on any future plans yet.
As short as this post might be it (like most others in this series) would be even smaller if it wasn’t for the works of Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller on CC). First up Tracie has a role in a forthcoming movie called Equity. It’s not about the value of a house or the UK acting union. It’s a Wall Street-based film, but one with a difference. Anna Gunn, in her first major role since Breaking Bad (I’m assuming most don’t count Gracepoint), leads the female-centred drama. Alysia Reiner (Orange Is The New Black) and Carrie Preston (True Blood) also star. There are some men too: Richard Kind (Spin City) and James Purefoy (Rome) amongst them. Not too sure about Tracie’s role but she did make some comments on Instagram about being Alysia’s “movie wife”. The other Tracie news is her guest starring in a series for Netflix called Love. It’s been created by writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) and Lesley Arfin (Girls), and stars Gillian Jacobs (Community) and Paul Rust (I Love You, Beth Cooper). Love is… about Mickey and Gus’s relationship. It already has as 22 episode order split 10:12 across two seasons starting next year.
This goes beyond the normal scope of the CCCC-ups but some times you have to let these things go. Speaking of letting go… News broke in the last few days of the death at the age of 83 of Ann Rule, the writer of the book And Never Let Her Go which was turned into a TV movie starring Mark Harmon (NCIS) and Kathryn. The story is about Anne Marie Fahey (Kathryn), an emotionally vulnerable young woman, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances after ending an affair with a powerful and controlling attorney (Mark Harmon). It all becomes even more disturbing when you discover that it is very closely based on true events. Looking at Kathryn’s filmography it is difficult to believe that And Never Let Her Go comes between The Contender and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. As Anne Marie she seems much younger, and Kathryn brings that vulnerability across so strongly. Interesting facts of the day: Back in the 80s Harmon played serial killer Ted Bundy in a movie. Ann Rule was good friends with Bundy before he was found out. She was asked to write a book called Ted about a killer prior to finding out it was about Bundy.
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Shout Outs To… Those suffering in war-torn areas
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