Neal McDonough is Desperate’s new man
One thing you have to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they’re really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we’ve seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.
The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He’ll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he’d do with Nicolette Sheridan’s character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn’t setting him up as a mystery man from Bree’s past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!
Neal McDonough is a well-known face on TV, but he’s a guy who’s never quite had a breakout hit. He was riveting in Band of Brothers on HBO, which lead to an NBC primetime series.
Remember when Boomtown was being hailed as NBC’s next great show? The pilot was great, and Neal was terrific as its lead. The show sort of fell apart after the pilot — and hasn’t that happened to other highly-touted series before — and McDonough moved on to the next project.
There was Medical Investigation, Traveler, the mini Tin Man. As an actor, McDonough is always working.
Now, it’s Desperate Housewives. In addition to McDonough, Gale Harold will also be joining DH in the recurring role as Ken. In the flash-forward finale, he was the man kissing Susan.
Harold, a fan favorite from Queer as Folk, was killed in Vanished on Fox — that was a show that ended too soon — and also did a two-parter on Grey’s Anatomy.
Housewives Borrows a Neighbor From Boomtown
Neal McDonough is the future on Wisteria Lane.
The former Boomtown star will be joining the cast of Desperate Housewives this fall as a new addition to the neighborhood who could become more suit-clad prey for Nicollette Sheridan’s man-eater Edie Britt, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The blue-eyed McDonough most recently starred in the short-lived ABC series Traveler, the Sci Fi miniseries Tin Man andwe won’t hold it against himthe much-razzed Lindsay Lohan flick I Know Who Killed Me.
As Desperate fans know, the show jumped five years into the future toward the end of the fourth-season finale in May, so our heroines will be greeting an unfamiliar set of only-time-will-tell challenges in season five.
Joining McDonough on the block is Gale Harold (he briefly starred in the ill-fated Fox mystery Vanished), who will provide a personality for Ken, the mystery man Teri Hatcher kissed in the finale.
Leno’s options: Could he replace Letterman at CBS?!
You know how people say stuff like “if CBS cancels Moonlight, I’m never watching that stupid network again!”? I think those proclamations are usually silly, but I might be in that group if the following happens: CBS replacing David Letterman with Jay Leno.
That’s one of the options listed in this handy Hollywood Reporter guide to what Leno will do after his stint on NBC is over in 2009. The other options are going to ABC at 11:35, going to FOX at 11:35, a syndicated show with Sony, he stays at NBC and does some other primetime show, he takes over for Larry King on CNN, or he goes back to doing standup full-time. Taking over for Letterman would happen if (and when - he could extend his contract) Letterman retires in 2010.
This would, to me, completely suck, even if Letterman did retire and wasn’t really “replaced” by Leno. But I think that Letterman would be hurt by that decision if CBS were to make it. Just this week we found out that Letterman has suffered his worst ratings since he started on CBS in 1993, for the 18-49 demo anyway, getting a 0.9.
It would certainly be odd to see Leno replace Letterman at CBS, almost like it would be the final nail in the late night talk show coffin and final proof that when it’s all said and done, Leno beat Letterman in the ratings and even beat him on his own network.
Ivy Grows on Sarah Jessica Parker
Now that Sarah Jessica Parker’s Big moment is behind her, it’s time to start thinking about her post-Sex life.
The actress who never met a funny hat she didn’t like is in talks to star in The Ivy Chronicles, a dramedy about a single gal making her way in New York.
If that sounds a little too familiar, this time around Parker would play newly divorced mom Ivy Ames, who loses her high-powered job and has to give up her uptown digs for an apartment more suited to…well, someone like Carrie Bradshaw.
Eventually, she totally rocks her new life in ways meant to both dazzle and inspire the largely female audience this film will be seeking.
If the deal goes forward, this would most likely mark Parker’s next return to the big screen after her massive success with the still-playing cinematic version of Sex and the City.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the 43-year-old mother of one had signed on to the romantic comedy The Late Bloomer’s Revolution (which, interestingly, sounds as if it could be about the same exact thing as The Ivy Chronicles) for New Line Cinema and HBO Films’ Picturehouse, but now that New Line has folded into Warner Bros., the future of the project is uncertain.