The Triumphant Return of Rachael Leigh Cook
Your favorite late-'90s superstar is making a comeback on the small screen. Also today: Baz Luhrmann has found his Daisy Buchanan! Seth Rogen gets a writing gig. And a nerdy goddess heads to New Jersey.
Rachael Leigh Cook used to be all that, but then she stopped being all that, or much of anything really. Time wandered and blew like a sad wind, and here we are, eleven thick years later, and Rachael Leigh Cook is getting a second go at the rodeo, getting a second chance to take those glasses off, toss her hair around, and strike us dead with her de-nerded beauty. Specifically, she's going to be on a TNT pilot about a quirky professor who solves crimes, starring Eric McCormack. So, OK. I maybe got a little carried away there. Rachael Leigh Cook is not getting a chance to to be all that again, but she is getting a chance to be... some of that. Not all of it. Just some. She's Some Of That. Hey, could be worse. Freddie Prinze Jr. is currently starring in He's None of That, in which he works for WWE. True story. [Deadline]
Oh goody, just what you wanted. Another Seth Rogen comedy! Well, OK, he's just writing it. The living embodiment of Fozzie Bear has been asked to rewrite the hilarious-sounding comedy Neighborhood Watch, about a group of dads who pretend to be doing neighborhood watch (hence the title) but really just want to hang out with their wangs out. But then suddenly they discover a terrible world-threatening plot! So it's like Date Night kinda except with all dudes. So that is going to be great. Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg are doing rewrites on an already existing script, which is set to be directed by Peter Segal, the genius behind 50 First Dates and The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. So, line starts behind me for tickets to this puppy. It's gonna be good. [THR]
Wow, talk about a one-two punch. Here's more awesome news. CBS is developing a comedy called How to Raise Men, about "a father who learns how to be truly masculine from his sons." Great! I can't believe CBS is being so daring as to air a sitcom about men. And with the word "men" in the title and everything! If winners go home and fuck the prom queen, CBS is up to the nose in organza right now, because man oh man. A hilarious comedy about a toady man and his bruiser sons. You get us, CBS. You really do. [Variety]
Mayim Bialik has been promoted to series regular on CBS's The Big Bang Theory. I'm sorry. Have you had too much good news today? I should stop, I know. I should let you catch your breath. I'm overwhelming you. [EW]
Do you like Dr. Who because who needs to date girls anyway? Well then here's an important news update for you: Karen Gillan, from that television series, has been cast a New Jersey teen who wakes up one day to find herself transported into the play Romeo & Juliet. It's not an episode of Dr. Who, it's its own thing. And it's not one of those whimsical X-Files episodes (the best ones, sometimes), even though Gillian Anderson is in it. It's really just its own movie. The teen girl clearly wants to get out of the play because she knows that it ends badly. It's called Romeo & Brittney. Once again, line starts behind me. [Deadline]
Aha! Baz Luhrmann has apparently settled on his ideal choice for Daisy Buchanan in his planned adaptation of Nicolas Sparks's famous novel The Great Gatsby, and that person is... Seth Rogen! No, a joke. It's Rachael Leigh Cook. Oops, gotcha again! It's actually Carey Mulligan, who is basically in all the movies these days. Apparently she burst into tears, in public!, when she got the news on her cellphone. Which is sort of weird to think about, big movie stars getting all emotional over parts. But of course they do. I mean, that makes complete sense. It's just weird, in a nice, humanizing sort of way. Anyway. How do you feel about Carey? Could be a lot worse, right? [Deadline]