Tuesday, August 13, 2013

TV News - Sandra Oh to Depart 'Grey's Anatomy'; Frank Darabont's TNT Series Gets New Name, Premiere Date & Trailer; Plus 11 More Updates!

Bryan Fuller's Syfy pilot casts its two leading characters

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. adds another recurring player.

Another FOX comedy nabs another alum from a recently-canceled ABC comedy.

Plus additional updates for MTV's Teen Wolf; Lifetime's Witches of East End; FOX's Wayward Pines; WGN America's Salem; CBS' Hawaii Five-0 and The Good Wife; A&E's Bates Motel; and ABC's Castle.


Original Grey's Anatomy cast member Sandra Oh has decided to exit the long-running medical procedural when her contract expires at the end of the upcoming tenth season. On her exit, Oh said, "Creatively, I really feel like I gave it my all, and I feel ready to let her go. It's such an interesting thing to play a character for so long and to actually get the sense that she wants to be let go as well. She wants to be let go, and I am ready to let her go. We have to start the process, story-wise, for the Grey's writers to think of why she's going to go."

Jake Sandvig (Easy A) and Chris Diamantopoulos (The Office) have landed the lead roles in the 90-minute Syfy drama pilot High Moon from Bryan Fuller. Sandvig will play Marty Thurgood, an American astronaut investigated for engaging in possible espionage and sabotage when a giant blast goes off near an area where he was working. Diamantopoulos will play Marty's older brother, a chief investigator for the American federal government who has been dispatched to the moon to figure out who caused the moon explosion.

Doug Jones (Hellboy, Falling Skies) will appear on MTV's Teen Wolf when it returns for the second half of its third season in 2014. He will play Barrow, a very mysterious murderer. He will first pop up in Episode 15.

Freddie Prinze Jr. - who will appear on the upcoming ninth season premiere of FOX's Bones - will guest star on Lifetime's new drama series Witches of East End. He will play Leo Wingate, a gallant and sweetly shy entomologist who falls in love with Wendy Beauchamp (Madchen Amick). He will appear in the fourth episode with the possibility to appear in more.

Tim Griffin (Prime Suspect) and Charlie Tahan have been cast on FOX's limited event series Wayward Pines. Griffin will play Adam Hassler, the Special Agent in charge of the Secret Service and Ethan's (Matt Dillon). Tahan will play Ethan and Theresa's (Shannyn Sossamon) son.

Richard Shepard (Criminal Minds, Ugly Betty, Golden Boy) has signed on to WGN America's first scripted drama series, Salem, as pilot director and executive producer. Salem - set in 17th century Massachusetts - has a 13 episode order and will begin production in the fall in Louisiana for a 2014 premiere.

Luck alum Ian Hart is joining the cast of ABC's new drama series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He will recur on the series as a new scientist but the team behind-the-scenes is continuing to hold all important character details close to the vest.

Nick Jonas - of The Jonas Brothers - will guest star on a fall episode of CBS' Hawaii Five-0. He will appear as a computer hacker with questionable motives involved in a case that the Five-0 team is investigating.

Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 vet Dreama Walker will appear on the third season of FOX's New Girl. She will play Molly, a beautiful, mean-girl teacher at the school where Jess (Zooey Deschanel) works as a new substitute. She will first pop up in the second episode.

CBS' The Good Wife has cast Talia Balsam (Mad Men, Homeland) as a political reporter for its upcoming fifth season. She will first appear in a mid-October episode.

Kathleen Robertson (Boss) is joining the Season 2 cast of A&E's Bates Motel. She will play Jodi, a smart, sexy businesswoman and artist who's as hard-charging as she is successful. She's a natural born leader who gets what she wants and is not afraid to use her arsenal of brains, charm and creativity to make things happen.

The Client List co-star Alicia Lagano will guest star on the sixth season of ABC's Castle. She will play Emma Briggs, a fugitive who takes several people hostage and will only negotiate with Castle (Nathan Fillion). She will appear in the fourth episode of the season.

Frank Darabont's (The Walking Dead) new TNT series Mob City - formerly known as both L.A. Noir and Lost Angels - will debut on Wednesday, December 4 at 10/9c. The 1940s period mobster drama stars Neal McDonough, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey DeMunn, Gregory Itzin, Robert Knepper, Milo Ventimiglia, Alexa Davalos, Ed Burns and Jeremy Luke.