In today’s TV news roundup, “Ray Donovan” casts Stacy Keach for the upcoming fourth season. Plus, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew Broderick will star as a mother-son duo in an upcoming TV adaptation of a popular memoir, and Hulu orders a prehistoric drama pilot.
CASTING NEWS:
Stacy Keach has been cast in “Ray Donovan” Season 4, Variety has learned exclusively. The Golden Globe winner and Tony Award nominee will appear in two episodes, playing Marty Minor, a retired fixer from Ray’s (Liev Schreiber) past.
Keach joins more new players for the upcoming season, including “Revenge” alum Gabriel Mann. Schreiber stars in the Showtime drama as the best professional fixer in Los Angeles who is called in to make the city’s celebrities, athletes and business moguls’ biggest problems go away. Season 4 premieres June 26 at 9 p.m.
Keach’s TV credits include “Prison Break,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Simpsons” and more. On the film side, he’s been in “The Bourne Legacy” and “American History X,” among other projects.
Popular on Variety
Shirley MacLaine and Matthew Broderick will star in the Paramount Television dramedy “Bettyville.” The series, an adaptation of journalist George Hodgman’s memoir, centers on a young George’s (Broderick) relocation to his Midwestern hometown to care for his elderly mother (MacLaine). John Hoffman will serve as “Bettyville’s” showrunner and exec producer, with Hodgman and Archer Gray’s Anne Carey and Amy Nauiokas also attached to exec produce.
PILOT ORDERS:
Hulu has ordered a pilot for “Dawn,” a prehistoric drama from “Without a Trace” creator Hank Steinberg and “Black Hawk Down” screenwriter Ken Nolan. Temuera Morrison, Carl Shaaban, Matthew Hopkinson and “Game of Thrones'” Fola Evans-Akingbola are in talks to star in the series, with “Maleficent” helmer Robert Stromberg attached to direct the pilot episode. “Dawn,” a co-production between Hulu and MGM TV, will center on a group of Neanderthals struggling to sustain their way of life after crossing paths with homo sapiens.
BEHIND THE CAMERA:
Emmy-winning director Adam Bernstein will direct the premiere episode of Spike and TWC-Dimension Television’s “The Mist,” a new scripted series based on a horror novella by Stephen King. The series is set to premiere in 2017, with production to begin this summer.
Bernstein has directed episodes of hit series such as “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul” and “Californication,” as well as pilots for “30 Rock,” “Scrubs” and “Fargo.”
EXECUTIVE NEWS:
Freeform has promoted Elizabeth Boykewich to senior VP of casting and talent. In her new elevated post, Boykewich will supervise all casting and talent deal negotiations for the studio and network’s original programming including movies, pilots, live action series, animation, alternative and reality programming.
She’s been part of the ABC Family (now Freeform) team since 2005 and has identified and develop talent for series including “Pretty Little Liars,” “The Fosters,” “Switched at Birth,” “Shadowhunters” and “Young & Hungry.”
