Melissa George scrubs up
Melissa George has landed a role in a new US medical drama, Heart Matters. The pilot will focus on a female heart transplant surgeon, played by George, who must balance her work and personal lives. The pilot script, for the US network NBC, was written by Jill Gordon and will be produced by Amy Brennerman and Kathy Magliato, the doctor on whose life the series is based. George is currently in NBC's remake of the Australian series The Slap.
Lady Gaga's Horror role
Hot on the heels of her show-stopping performance of The Sound of Music at the Oscars, Lady Gaga has secured a leading role in the new season of American Horror Story. The fifth season of Ryan Murphy's award-winning series will film later this year and it air in October. It will be titled American Horror Story: Hotel. No details have been released, though insiders are saying Gaga's role will be a lead in the season-long story arc.
Keep it short
Networks who go "category shopping" at the Emmy Awards will have their antics curtailed under new regulations that require comedies to be less than 30 minutes long. Last year both Orange is the New Black and Shameless were submitted as comedies. In another change is the "miniseries" (now "limited series") will not permit characters to cross from season to season, effectively cutting past nominees Luther and Sherlock from the category.
ABC pilot for Ed Oxenbould
Australian actor Ed Oxenbould, who starred in the film Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, has been cast in a new pilot for the network ABC. Titled Chev & Bev, it reunites Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, who starred in a series of National Lampoon "vacation" films. They play a couple whose lives are turned upside down when they must raise their grandchildren. Oxenbould's character is described as "a nerdy handsome amateur magician".
Netflix deal House of Cards
The critically exalted US drama House of Cards will headline the Netflix paid streaming service when it launches in Australia next month, the company's chief content officer Ted Sarandos has confirmed. The first two seasons of the series had previously aired in Australia on Foxtel; Netflix will launch its service with the upcoming third season, and offer all three seasons on-demand to customers. The third season launches in the US on Friday, February 27.
Strange but familiar
Australian actor Patrick Brammall will star in the US remake of the ABC2 comedy The Strange Calls. The remake, titled just Strange Calls, shifts the setting from a caravan in a coastal town to an old lighthouse in Nantucket. The role won't be too much of a leap for Brammall who played the same character – a police sergeant – in the Australian version of the series. The show's Australian producers, Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield, are producing the remake.
