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deal with Connie Britton doing fewer episodes. But a

Ausiello: I honestly have no idea how Dame Connie B will be written out, although you mind find this bit of casting intel worrisome: Rumor has it Rayna will be menaced by a stalker this season.

‘s version of Maggie Sawyer? I can’t wait to see Floriana Lima in the role. — Chelsea

Ausiello: In short, Maggie “is an ally,” says showrunner Andrew Kreisberg. As a detective with the Science Police — aka the division of the NCPD that deals with “anything that’s out of the ordinary” — “We’ll be bumping into Maggie a lot, and questions of jurisdiction will be coming up,” he adds. “Maggie is a strong proponent for alien rights, which is going to be [a theme].” (Alas, when we tried to bait Kreisberg with the notion that Maggie and Alex will at first lock horns only to later share sparks of a different kind, he… indicated nothing.)

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Question: I’m cautiously optimistic about Rihanna playing Marion Crane on

, the small-screen Marion will have a boyfriend named Sam who’s the sorta sexy devil for whom a woman might consider embezzling a small fortune. The A&E drama is currently looking for an edgy hunk to take a stab at the recurring role — and, if we were placing bets, we’d wager that a casting call for Marion’s sister Lila would go out next.

Ausiello: Exec producer Steve Molaro isn’t ruling it out. But first, he has to find out what the eff you’re talking about. “I’m ashamed to say I’m not up on my

dance,” he tells me. “But the next time I see Mayim, I’m going to personally ask to see it and then we’ll go from there.”

be giving Rumbelle fans any sweet, pregnancy moments — like discussing names, etc.? —Betsy

Ausiello: Maybe, eventually. But “the ride there is pretty bumpy,” warns series co-creator Eddy Kitsis. Adam Horowitz meanwhile promises moments of “reminiscing” for the oft-estranged marrieds, “and discussing what it’s going to mean when their child is born.”

Ausiello: Though Robert Carlyle was able to lose the mustache he donned when filming this summer’s

sequel, his indeed brought Begbie’s cropped ‘do back to Storybrooke. The loss of Rumple’s salt-and-pepper mane “will

absolutely be addressed,” says Horowitz. “And the answer isn’t that he went to do

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, how will Oliver’s role as mentor to the new team members be different from the one he had/has with Roy and Thea? —Diego

Ausiello: “The biggest difference is he’s just more experienced” coming into Season 5, executive producer Wendy Mericle says. “He’s older, and he’s been through more.” That doesn’t mean Oliver will be

to his new recruits (“Why would he do that?” the EP laughs), but “he appreciates more the significance of being a teacher and what that means. In terms of this universe of martial arts and fighting and training people and what that means, he’s learning there’s value in being a mentor.”

certainly can. The CBS drama is taking Captain Gregson’s relationship with Paige (Virginia Madsen) “to a new level” in Season 5, reveals executive producer Rob Doherty, before confirming that Madsen will reappear in Episode 3. Oh, check it out — it’s an exclusive first look at her return!

Ausiello: Lady Toni Bevell (Elizabeth Blackmore) and her brethren across the pond certainly “didn’t start off on the right foot” with the Winchesters, seeing as how she shot Sam in last May’s finale, notes Jared Padalecki. Indeed, as co-showrunner Andrew Dabb explains, “Toni is very against Dean and Sam and has studied them and has very strong opinions about them, [which are] not positive.” That said, Dabb teases that a compromise of sorts may be in the offing seeing as how “there are other people in the British Men of Letters who want to take a different approach [with the Winchesters].”

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Question: Is it possible that Vanessa A. Williams (aka Francine West) will return in to

Season 3 via Flashpoint, with a different backstory? —Jen

Ausiello: “There are different characters that you will see, some [that have] passed,” co-showrunner Todd Helbing teases, adding that there is “a lot of Easter egg stuff that’s a lot of fun” in the Flashpoint arc.

Question: What can you tell us about Alaric’s upcoming storyline on

Ausiello: I’ll say this, Anna: Don’t shed too many tears over his recent split from Caroline. And I’ll let executive producer Julie Plec explain why: “Alaric hasn’t had the best luck with women. I don’t know if he should be jumping into anything anytime soon, but if he does, the hot nanny would certainly be viable.” (The “hot nanny” in question is newcomer Seline, played by

Ausiello: It ain’t so. Mark my words: The pint-sized, chrome-domed, Eggo-addicted super-heroine will be back in some form.

is ending, which familiar faces can be expected to show up in the last 10 episodes? Wren? Melissa? Lucas? The parents? —Juan

Ausiello: Good news, Juan: Wren will be back for the final 10, as will the Liars’ parents. And even though you didn’t ask, here’s some bonus scoop via exec producer Marlene King: We’ll finally see the flash-forward scene from the 6A finale (where “he” is coming after the girls at Rosewood High) play out in real time.

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Question: Any hint on the recent Blind Item you told us about? —Eric

Ausiello: It’s not a show on CBS, which leaves ABC, Fox, NBC and The CW. And the series in question is back on the air in the next month.

Ausiello: When last we left the lovebirds, Oliver secretly deleted Connor’s acceptance letter from Stanford. In the Season 3 premiere, “We’re going to find out if Connor ever found out about that and how he feels about it,” reveals showrunner Peter Nowalk. “That is the big hanging chad in their relationship. Otherwise, things are pretty happy. But the show doesn’t really thrive on happiness.”

’s Kono? Will she and Adam finally settle down? —Ayaan

Ausiello: As this Instagram sneak peek from showrunner Peter M. Lenkov suggests, happier times do seem to be ahead. As part of our upcoming Fall Preview Spectacular, Lenkov said that as Season 7 unfolds (starting Friday, Sept. 23), “Kono is finally reunited with Adam and sorts through life’s priorities — rebuilding her bond with her husband being No. 1.”

Question: Is there any indication that Sara Ramirez will be returning to

in the future? Is she really taking a break or is she through with the show? —Tricia

Ausiello: Zero indications at the moment, but my gut is telling me we will see Callie at least

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Question: Can you tell us more about what’s coming up for

‘ Booth and Brennan, #Hodgela and the gang? —@KATIARABREU

Ausiello: Zack’s return may threaten B&B’s lives but it will not imperil their relationship. “The Zack [storyline] is certainly going to place them in jeopardy and certainly place them with different viewpoints,” concedes co-showrunner Jonathan Collier, “but is it going to challenge their marriage? I think their marriage is stronger than that.” Collier goes on to acknowledge that there are “many, many threads we want to tie up” during the series’ final season. Like, perhaps, a certain unsolved alarm clock mystery? “That has not been addressed,” the EP concedes. “There’s also Booth’s spiritual debt… a debt of killing that he wanted to pay off.”

Ausiello: Last season’s road-trip episode crashed and burned, but producers seem intent on righting that wrong in Season 4. “There won’t be a designated storyline where they’re off on a road trip, but we want to dig a little bit more into [their respective backstories] as it relates to both of them,” showrunner Matt Olmstead tells TVLine. “That’s a focus for us this year.”

for an episode later this fall. As EP Michael Seitzman explains, her character’s grandson, along with some of his friends, brush up against poison oak while on a camping trip. The twist? “It turns out it’s measles,” he explains. “But the real complication comes when [Baxter’s alter ego] also gets measles, because the measles vaccine wears off by a certain age and she is susceptible to it. The complications for her are far more grave.”

‘s Washington D.C.-set fourth season will look surprisingly authentic for a show that shoots in Georgia. Rumor has it Crane & Co. will head to the nation’s capital next month to capture several episodes’ worth of exteriors.

♦ In case you lost count, the guest cast for

‘s Sept. 19 premiere includes Katey Sagal. And Jack McBrayer. And Dean Norris. And Christine Baranski. And Laurie Metcalf. And Judd Hirsch. And Keith Carradine.

That’s a wrap! Please send questions, comments and anonymous tips to askausiello@tvline.com. (

Additional reporting by Andy Swift, Kim Roots and Vlada Gelman

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I just watched PLL finale and what if the flash forward is the last scene of the serie? Like the girls aren’t done with harassment and there is a next threat after AD? That would be the worst ending ever.

It’s 6A, last night’s was 7A, it was the last scene before the 5 year time jump!

I know that but I meant that the flash forward could me even more in the future, like not in 7B present time, but some times after 7B. Something to remind that they will never get rid of drama and problems even ever the end of the show. But that’s a very very crazy idea I am aware :)

Thanks for the Belle and Rumple questions. Though I tend to just worry when it comes to them. They never seem to catch a break.

I actually did ask about the PLL flash forward, so yay! Thanks for the scoop, as always!

Thanx for asking my question about Gold’s haircut. Gonna miss the floof though :(

My Blind Item guess: one of the people in the Hazmat suits in Last Man on Earth.

one thing i am over is rumbelle in OUAT, its beyond a joke that a woman keeps going to a man who has does what he does to her every season. get them over.

By “what he has done”, do you mean how he tried to kill her entire family, told her she’d always be an orphan, and she still went to the Underworld to bring him back? Ah, wait…that was Hook and Emma.

Not to mention dumping her because she was the Dark One and listening to his dead multiple-murdering brother over her? And that’s not even counting all the lies and secrets he was keeping BEFORE the Dark Two fiasco began. Ah, wuv, twu wuv!

I can dream that big blind item is MRJ coming back as Neal.

I don’t know what they’ll have him do this season, but last season he was doing everything he could for her and their child while everyone else didn’t seem to give to cents about her or the baby. I think they need to catch a break from the story and from the writers. Some of the other couples on this show have done bad things to each other and to the loved ones of their significant other yet they keep getting back together. Same with some of the non-romantic relationships. At least Rumbelle are somewhat realistic in that they are having issues with these things. I just wish they’d move more forward through resolving some of their issues.

The show returning next month rules out the CW I think? Don’t all their shows start in October?

If the blind item is literally the next month doesn’t that also rule out all CW shows? I didn’t think any of their shows premeire before the flash on Oct 3rd

The Blind Item also takes out shows on The CW as they begin airing in October based on the TVLine Calendar. The first premier is The Flash on October 4. https://pmctvline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/tv-schedule-fall-premieres-2016-h8.jpg

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I guess we can rule out any CW shows.

Options for The Blind Item based on the TVLine Calendar and what we know (NBC, ABC, Fox, (CW), returning show, & next month):

I also took off game shows like The Voice…They don’t really do surprise “casting” as much as visitors.

Thanks for making a list. :-) I was just looking at the premiere calendar and I have to keep scrolling left and right, not that I have an actual clue as to which show it is. LOL

I think we can also rule out Secrets and Lies since it was filmed last year and they are just airing it now this year.

That does seem the most likely. They’ll probably introduce some new character that is popular, but that hasn’t really popped up yet.

I think Colbie Smolders becomes a regular as Maria Hill

Maybe Doctor Strange pops in to give us the low down on Ghost Rider?

As for Nashville, i don’t think they’ll kill off Rayna but maybe been stalked causes Rayna to leave because she needs to cope with been stalked.However she leaves her daughters with Deacon while she’s getting help away from Nashville.As for Grey’s, i think we’ll see Callie again sometime this season.Plus Sara Ramirez could come back and tape several scenes that could be spread out over a few episodes.As for Bones, i think dealing with Zack will put Brennan and Booth on opposite sides because Booth might see Zack as a bad guy while Brennan doesn’t.

I can fully support that idea. And then there can be a tearjerking scene of Rayna saying goodbye to Deacon and the girls when she has to go into hiding for the rest of the season, and Deacon can murder the stalker in the finale. Connie just better be returning.

Thanks for the RumBelle and Rumple scoop. I just wish Adam and Eddy would realize how disenchanted the Rumbelle fans are by the relentless angst and separations. Rumbelle was a story about hope for so many fans in seasons 1-3. The writers evidently do not understand that or they wouldn’t have taken so much away from them just to create cheap drama that has done nothing but cause the fans to leave in droves. I mourn how beautiful their story could have been if A&E understood what Rumbelle meant to so many people.

I agree with a lot of this. That’s why I feel that this pairing is long overdue for some happiness and understanding between each other. The way it seems now is that they might find happiness at the end of the series and maybe not even then. Either way it’s a real shame that all they’ve had is bumps in the road. We need some more valleys in between the hills.

Yes, for a show that the writers claim is about hope, they’ve been relentless in beating down every character except Hook and Emma.

Thanks for the Kono video. It will be nice to see she and Adam back together although still a tad strange after watching him as Jim Koto on Murder in the First but that will fade in the first five minutes.

Sorry if i’ve missed it in the past, but did we ever get an answer on the previous blind item – the one about the popular but young series that’s close to cancellation?!?!?!

That’s the one I was thinking about until I clicked on the link. I had forgotten about the new one.

Lost in Space reboot – Jennifer Garner & Ioan Gruffold would both look very good in those tight space suits. :)

My deductions say since the BLIND ITEM in question is airing “in the next month” rules OUT the CW since all their shows are returning in OCT and “next month” is still technically Sept since it’s still Aug now. .

I sincerely hope they can at least talk about Francine this season, because the storyline they gave her was so terrible. Hopefully Wally and Iris can bond over memories of her or something.

Thanks for asking about Rumple and Belle. Sadly, Adam & Eddy’s answers aren’t making me reconsider my decision to sit out this season. Too much annoying angst for these characters, and not enough moments of hope.

I agree. Are the writers trying to lose the few Rumbelle fans who are still watching? There’s nothing to look forward to if you’re a Rumbelle fan.

Amy Farrah-Fowler would totally have memorized the Blossom dance as a kid. I say, Mr Molaro, make this happen!

As a sidenote: tons of typos compared to previous columns. Summer temps at editing?

If producers are going to write Rayna out of the show after 10 episodes, they’d might as well end the whole thing. The reason friends and I keep turning on week after week is the relationship between Rayna and Deacon. Without it, the show will suffer a painful death. They are the two the show cannot live without.

Yeah. :( I honestly didn’t think there was enough story left to fill even a partial season (like 10-13 eps.), let alone a full-22 order; it probably would’ve been best for the show to go the ‘CSI’ route and end with a special made-for-TV movie or double episode (just enough to wrap up the Juliette-and-Avery storyline).

The show died a long time ago – when in an attempt to stay on the air Callie Khouri gave up her princples and made a tv soap.

It’s a shame to see how far the writer of Thelma & Louise has fallen.

Would have been better to take more of that something to talk about material and turn that into a GOOD tv show

It’s sad that they couldn’t do a better story for Francine in The Flash. The druggie black mom who abandons her child really shows prejudice and lazy thinking on the part of the writers. FP was their chance to fix it but alas…

I thought it opened up an amazing exchange between Joe and Iris. Some of the best acting of the season between Jesse L. Martin and Candace Patton. Drug addiction is not just a black problem but a human problem. The Flash writers showed the hurt and destruction is leaves behind – regardless of color.

Thanks for the belle and rumple scoop! We really appreciated!

I thought it wasn’t definite that Connie Britton was leaving Nashville?

No.Shes def leaving,the only question is is how many episodes wil she be in?Shes so far only doing 10 episodes but supposedly in talks for more

I don’t see why she would be leaving early, especially since her character (& her character’s husband) were such famous folks/legends already at the start of Episode One.

There is no doubt she should stay until the end… Or that the end should have been a few month ago at the latest.

Connors admitted she’s not comfortable singing and is not the best singer and a few months ago she spoke out against TN new anti gay laws saying she won’t feel comfortable filming there anymore and her leaving could also be a cost cutting move on CMTs part or maybe she wants to move on and do other projects.I do agree though that I wish she’d stay the entire season.

So the blind item eliminates any CW shows as well, since they come back in October, not next month :)

I honestly remember watching most episodes of “Blossom” when they originally aired, & don’t recall her “Blossom dance” (especially not the way I do “the Carlton”, the show of which I bet was the reason many stayed tuned for “Blossom”).

However, I did see much of the cast together on “Conan” not long ago, & think it seems only natural for them to use at least one episode that refers to the old on-screen relationship of Galecki & Bialik (use “Blossom” clips ala flashback).

Great idea. And they should totally have Alfonso guest star and do the Carlton when Mayim does the Blossom!!! That’s one gif I want to see.

Good news on Elementary. The good Captain needs a partner.

This tweet from Connie Britton sure doesn’t seem to spell doom for her.

Season 5 of #Nashville starts 1/5 @CMT! Will be best yet! Get yer boots on…

I think the blind item is Sue Sylvester is going to cross over from Glee and end up on Scream Queens.

As cool as that might be, it would beg the question, why do Hester and Rachel look identical?

As much as many people will hate this, I really don not (at all) like what they’ve done with Connor on HTGAWM. It’s like he’s a different character… and I want the original back. This new version is pretty pathetic, whiny, and useless. Sorry, I like having a gay couple on TV, but it’s not fun.

Why is a picture of Dean (Jensen Ackles) ALWAYS included when there are Supernatural spoilers but never a picture of just Sam (Jared Padalecki)?

Oh, will you please stop with the fangirl nonsense.

Doesn’t that Pretty Little Liars scoop confirm Spencer lives? Not that anyone thought she’d really die, but that kind of confirms it if that scene hasn’t yet happened.

I wonder if the show from the blind item is Scream Queens. I feel like that show has so many good actors currently on the roster it wouldn’t be too far fetched to add another popular name to that cast.

Josh Hartnett guest stars as Munsch’s son for a Halloween reunion?

In reguards to the blind item, it doesn’t seem to be anything from The CW since those shows start in OCT and it’s stated here that it starts next month, meaning September since this was posted in August.

LOL, I guess I should have read the comments before making my own. I wasn’t the only one who thought this.

I’m wondering if the blind item about the big guest star is about HTGAWM since the pic of Connor and Oliver is right under the q about it. Cicely Tyson had already been a guest and I don’t know how much bigger you get than that. Oprah? Denzel?

I have been watching Bones since Day One and I will really miss ALL the characters. I have my fave episodes, hope they are still rerun but I won’t hold my breath. I have some of them on DVR. Jack &Angela are my faves besides B & B. I will miss Wendell, and all the squints, Max, Caroline. I hated that they killed off Sweets, love Zack too. OK, so now I’m excited to see how the show is wrapped up, and bummed that all great things must come to an end.

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