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Cold Case Cast Catch-up – July 2020

We maybe are starting to see some early signs of things beginning to think about sort returning to a version of normal.  Perhaps.  For now we will be having to stick with these brief Cold Case Cast Catch-ups looking at the on-going (but currently slightly stalled) careers of the main Cold Case cast.  Let’s see what July 2020 had for us.

We’ll get to Tracie in a moment but first a quick mention of Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC).  Danny is due to visit a school in his home town of Miami as part of a funding scheme set up by the Education Theatre Foundation.  This originally started from a memorial concert for the very successful producer Craig Zadan (Footloose, Drop Dead Diva).  The programme seeks to issue grants to a number of theatre schools in communities of colour.  This is to foster a wider diversity of people working within the arts, helping those that would not normally be able to access such schools.

It seems so long ago now but early this month it was announced that our very own Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) had been cast in the pilot for a new drama on the Fox network.  The show is called Blood Relative and sounds a bit like a cross between Cold Case and Bones.  As you can possibly guess from the title, there is a genealogy element to this.  Combing that with forensics, it is about two woman solving crimes.  Apparently it is based on a newspaper article from a couple of years ago by James Renner about that very thing.  Dascha Polanco (Orange Is The New Black) is set to lead the show with Melissa Leo (Treme).  Tate Donovan (Damages) and Sarah Catherine Hook (the upcoming The Conjuring 3) also star.  Tracie is set to be a regular as Lieutenant Hannah Dixon.  Sort of following from being sort of mentored by Lilly Rush, the first female homicide in Philly, Lt Dixon is first woman to reach that position in their area of the country.  She sounds like she is not so keen on the brand of policing that is the focus of the show, but will no doubt fight for the team, and she has her own personal issues to deal with.  So far Blood Relative is just a pilot, albeit one that will be filmed unlikely many, so we will be keeping an eye out for news on further developments.

Blood Relative is a possible future show but Tracie was recently involved in the end of an existing.  I don’t mean she caused it to end, she just guest starred in the final two episodes.  The show in question was Blindspot on the NBC network.  After 100 episodes Jaimie Alexander (The Brink) brought her role of the very tatooed Jane Doe to a close.  Tracie played the intriguingly named Arla Grigoryan, who sounds like she should be some super spy from a foreign land.  Arla was actually the Interim FBI Director.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – June 2020

I’ll keep this Cold Case Cast Catch-ups for June 2020 brief.  Partly, I will admit, due me nearly forgetting (blame work and a short month) and doing this at the very last minute, and there being not much to report.

In the last few days Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC), for it is nearly always her, recommended a film to watch, one that had only just come out.  Tracie herself doesn’t appear to be credited in the film but does appear briefly in the trailer.  Go figure.  She certainly has close connections to many of those involved in the project.

One of those people is the reason we’ve dug out the Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera in CC) banner for the first time in a while.  Jeremy is credited in Wednesdays (aka aTypical Wednesday (yes, with that odd spelling)) which came out last week.  He named as Detective Parlow.  Typecast again Jeremy?

The film is a comedy described as “a young man embarks on an adventure with another patient at his therapist’s office, who he visits every Wednesday.”  It is by writer/director/star J. Lee (The Orville) and also stars Cooper J. Friedman (Shameless), Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy), Michael Ealy (The Perfect Guy, which Kathryn was in), Seth Green (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Bresha Webb and (Ride Along 2).

I’m beginning to think that IMDb’s credits need majorly updating as they are not only missing significant people like Michael Ealy and Tracie, but also another person we can link to Cold Case, the composer Michael Levine.  Levine did a lot of original music for Cold Case, his work formed the majority of the soundtrack album released from the show.

You can watch a trailer for Wednesdays HERE on YouTube.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – May 2020

In hindsight (such a wonderful thing) this was always going to be the first really difficult entry of the Cold Case Cast Catch-ups to fill since lockdowns started.  Up until now TV shows have largely been continuing to be broadcast as normal.  The main series will have filmed most of their footage for the season prior to shutting down production.  It is May when those shows come to an end.

The difficulties will likely be felt as we get towards the end of the year.  With production traditionally starting in the summer, so episodes to get them through to Xmas are ‘in the can’ prior to the new season premièring in the autumn/fall.  Just how much can be done, even as restrictions lift?  I would assume that the plotting and scripting will have continued as before, but will they need to be re-worked to take into account social distancing?  Productions could try and take extreme quarantining measures but I can’t see that working outside of a few small film shoots.  Certainly not for network television.

So, with all that said we really don’t have much to report at all about the on-going careers of the Cold Case cast this May of 2020, because at the moment those careers are on pause.  I’ve used the ‘everyone’ banner above as it didn’t seem right to pick out an individual.

As mentioned last month, Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC) was in the final episodes of the hit drama series 9-1-1, which aired in early May.  It ended with Connie Britton (Spin City) returning to the show in a one-off guest star role, having played one of the main characters in the first season.  That first season was quite short (not uncommon with new shows) so, as it stands Tracie has been in more episodes than one of the leads!  The show also brought in Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) as another guest star.  It looks like she could well return in the next season.

During these interesting times many celebrities have been doing things online to keep themselves occupied and provide everyone else with a bit of entertainment and distraction.  One creative effort involved a lot of people we all see in TV shows and films but rarely know we’re seeing them: the stunt people.  One of the best known female stunt performers is Zoe Bell.  She took Lucy Lawless’s place in most episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess.  Zoe has also made a successful switch to being the visible face of someone on screen, acting in several roles.  One such part we discussed in many CCCC-ups was her lead role in the film Raze, which co-starred Tracie.  Zoe, many of her fellow stunt women and lots of actresses filmed a lengthy fight scene all done with much social distancing.  Each star appeared to take a punch or kick from the previous person through the camera as it were, get back up, and retaliate to the camera.  This would then pass on to the next.  It was known as the Boss Bitch Fight Challenge and a massive cast, each on screen for just a few seconds.  Tracie, of course appeared with Zoe, Lucy, Kim Murphy (Cold Case, ‘Baby Blues’), Dayna Grant (Xena: Warrior Princess), and KT Tunstall (Cold Case, ‘Running Around’ soundtrack).  And those are just the ones we can link directly to Kathryn through work.  There was also Halle Berry (Catwoman), Florence Pugh (Little Women), Drew Barrymore (Charlie’s Angels), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Cameron Diaz (The Mask), Scarlett Johansson (Lost In Translation), Margot Robbie (Birds Of Prey), Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear), Rosario Dawson (Rent), Daniela Ruah (NCIS: Los Angeles), Daryl Hannah (Splash), Rosie Perez (It Could Happen to You), Thandie Newton (West World).  There are more names, but frankly I’ve padded this article enough with that lot and you get the picture.  You can watch the whole five minute long video on YouTube HERE.

Tracie, later in the month took part in a script reading for the three-day long Chattanooga Film Festival.  Yes, Chattanooga is a real place.  Who knew?  As they can’t hold a normal film festival, this one went online.  Tracie and a group of other actors were in a segment called ‘Scripts Gone Wild’ and they read John Carpenter’s classic horror film The Thing.  Presumably this was done via Zoom or Skype.

I did Tweet about this last week to let a few of my fellow UK residents know about this if they didn’t already.  The second season of the show Mayans M.C., which stars Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) in a large ensemble cast, started airing on the BBC on Sunday nights last.  Two episodes are shown back-to-back each week so the 10 episodes will go by quickly.  However, all 10 are immediately available on the BBC’s iPlayer platform, as is the whole of season 1 for those wanting to catch-up.  This is a CC catch-up post after all!

We sometimes stretch our Cold Case cast remit to include a few other significant figures from the show.  One of them is writer/director Veena Sud.  Veena has been mentioned a few times recently as she created a 13-part long drama called The Stranger for the new mobile video streaming platform Quibi.  The parts is a lot, however, one key feature of Quibi is that each individual video has be no longer than 10 minutes.  The system and The Stranger launched in April.  The reason for mentioning it again is that in the past week the show and the two leads Maika Monroe (Independence Day: Resurgence) and Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) have been put forward for the Primetime Emmy Awards.  Quibi has submitted 19 shows and a number of actors for consideration.  Amongst them is Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) and her show Dummy, which is difficult to describe in this forum.

We wish all the Cold Case cast and crew the best, hoping all stay safe and well and can get back to doing what they love as soon as possible.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – April 2020

tracie_thoms_001_430x180The lockdowns are really starting to have an impact on the business we call show, as the pre-studio closure work has been broadcast and there is increasingly nothing new to replace it with.  Some formats, such as chat shows, have been able to work around the limitations but the traditional drama series really can’t.  As such there is going to be little to talk about in these monthly updates as the current situation goes on.  We will continue to bring you news of the other Cold Case cast members work as best we can.

In circumstances like these we need to cling on to those that we can most rely on to be there for us.  For the KM UK CCCC-up that person is Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC).  Every month, almost without fail, she gives us something to talk about.  Often multiple things.  This April is no exception.

Two of weeks ago now Tracie reprised her role as Dr. Diane Lewis in the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Station 19, which is set in a fire station.  As previously reported Tracie first appeared in this ABC drama three episodes earlier.  In that one Dr Diane was in pretty much every scene as show spoke to various members of the fire fighting crew.  Second time around the role looks to be a little smaller.

In a couple of days (2nd of May) Tracie re-reprises her guest starring role on the show that covers multiple emergency services: 9-1-1.  This episode is the penultimate in the season and is the first of a two parter to end the run.  A big draw for many fans will be the return of actress Connie Britton (Spin City) who lead the first season but seemed to make an abrupt exit.  Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Client List) was brought in as a new character to replace her for season two.

For a little variety Tracie also recently took part in a discussion with Mia Schachter in a podcast called ‘Share The Load’.  Look for it on your podcast app of choice.

After a great showing (beards excepted) last month we have been let down by the gents this time.  Instead we have to look two ladies that appear less regularly but we like to mention when we can as they played a significant role in the making of Cold Case.

Despite the issues the world faces, April saw the launch of the mobile only short form video application Quibi.  Some might say this was in fact the perfect time to do so.  Veena Sud (writer and director on CC and The Killing), as we’ve talked about several times before on this site, created The Stranger for the platform.  Maika Monroe (Independence Day: Resurgence) is Clare, who becomes an Uber (or similar) driver in LA to make some money whilst working on becoming a writer, when she meets her latest fare played by Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2).  Things take a turn, and not just the car.  The reception to the 13 part seems largely positive.  The one rule the platform seems to have is that each video can be no longer than 10 minutes.  So, The Stranger is a two hour long thriller.

To finish up this month we must make mention of Cold Case creator Meredith Stiehm.  She was heavily involved in the earlier stages of the long running drama series Homeland, which just reached its series finale (not quite in the UK).  Meredith wrote 10 episodes and executive produced on over 40.  More recently she’s been involved in the Writers Guild Of America, who have been battling legal issues with talent agencies, and we await further news on a show called The Banker’s Wife which we’re reported on a couple of times before (here & here).  As the first news broke in September 2018 and here we are not far from two years later you can see how slowly these things work sometimes.

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – March 2020

tracie_thoms_001_430x180Things around the world are challenging at the moment for everyone.  The situation has already caused the pretty much complete shutdown of Hollywood so TV and film production has ceased.  This will inevitably impact future KM UK CCCC-ups covering the careers of the other Cold Case cast.  So, we will make the most of them when we can.

After last month’s change of pace, starting with one of our less regular customers (Jeremy Ratchford) we’re back to normal service with Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC).  In February we mentioned Tracie guest starring in a show I knew nothing about: Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt For The Bone Collector.  Turns out Tracie donned the FBI badge again in mid-March, reprising her role as Agent Cutter.  I’m confident that Tracie won’t be back again on the show soon, because that second episode was the first of a double that night to mark the end of the season.

News of a guest role like would often be enough for one month, but that’s not the way that Tracie operates.  Oh, no.  Another show I was not aware of is Station 19.  It has been around for a couple of years and is a spin-off from the hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy, this time set in a fire station.  Jaina Lee Ortiz (Rosewood), Jason George (Grey’s Anatomy), and Miguel Sandoval (Medium) are amongst the stars.  Tracie appeared in the 10th episode of season 3, that aired last Thursday (26th March) on the ABC network.  By the look of it this was not the normal brief appearance.  Tracie was a significant role that meant Tracie was on screen for much of the duration.  She played a psychologist (Dr. Diane Lewis) that came in to talk to the crew after a series of traumatic events.

One thing we would never say to Tracie is “curb your enthusiasm.”  She might say it to us as at the beginning of March she guest starred in an episode of the long running comedy show Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Tracie worked under the moniker of Female Traveller.

And, we’re not finished with Tracie yet.  A few times in recent CCCC-ups we’ve talked about the movie Straight Up.  It came out in the US at the very end of February, but Tracie was doing some publicity into March.  On the 6th she showed up on the KTLA 5 station Morning News show.  You can watch her interview on YouTube HERE.

John Finn (John Stillman in CC) saw is time on the The Walking Dead come to an end.  We reported previously John being in the upcoming 12th episode on the 15th of March.  As it turns out he was also on the show the week before.  However, is was number 12 that saw his dramatic demise.  As we saw on Cold Case, John can do noble characters very well, must be why we often see him in uniform.  In this case whilst helping to protect a group of children John’s Earl character was attacked by some of the titular creatures and did his best to make sure he didn’t harm the children in his altered state.

danny_pino_instagram_001_20200306We don’t have any specific updates to report on new works by Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC), Jeremy Ratchford (Nick Vera in CC), or Thom Barry (Will Jeffries in CC).

What we do have is a 3-for-1 deal photograph.  Early this month Danny ran into two of his old Cold Case colleagues and posted a picture of them together.  You can see the image in its original setting on Danny’s Instagram HERE (a copy is in the KM UK Gallery too).  I guess Danny didn’t have time to grow a grey beard.  Typical :-)

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