RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits All-Time Finale Low, ‘The Office’ Series Finale Up, ‘Scandal’ Finale Surges

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 9:34am PDT

UPDATE, 9:34 AM: Final American Idol finale numbers are in from Nielsen. While the show remains at an all-time low, it did see an expected adjustment upward. The 8-10:07 PM Idol garnered a 3.6 rating with 14.3 million viewers, which is down 44% in ratings from Season 11′s finale and down 33% in viewership. The show was up 24% from its May 8 episode.

PREVIOUSLY, 8:19 AM: Thursday saw a flurry of finales including American Idol (3.4/11) ending its 12th season with an all-time finale low and The Office closing its doors for good. Declaring a winner from the final two female contestants, the more than two-hour live Idol was down 47% in preliminary ratings from the 6.4/18 final numbers of Season 11’s finale on May 23, 2012. It’s the first Idol finale to have less than 20 million viewers. The show, which went nearly eight minutes over the hour and will likely be adjusted up in the final numbers, pulled in 13.61 million viewers from 8-10:07 PM last night. That’s nearly 8 million viewers less than the 21.5 million who watched last year’s season finale. For the first time ever, the Idol finale wasn’t even the highest-rated show of the night — the Season 6 finale of The Big Bang Theory (4.4/16) topped Thursday. Facing off in the 8-8:30 slot, Idol garnered a 2.8 in adults 18-49 against the CBS geek sitcom. Idol was also way down from the 6.0/16 rating and 17.93 million viewers of the Season 12 premiere on January 16. Thursday’s finale was up 28% in adults 18-49 over last week’s show and saw a bounce from the 11.6 million viewers who watched May 9. With 13.608 millon watching, Fox won Thursday in total viewers and adults 18-49. (See complete list of American Idol finale viewership and ratings numbers below)

Related: Anyone Care Who Won ‘American Idol’? READ MORE »

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‘Scandal’ Finale On Small Screen And Onstage At Television Academy

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 11:54pm PDT

Diane Haithman is a contributor to Deadline.

Scandal Season FinaleScandal fans watched tonight’s jam-packed season finale and received a major revelation SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! because of a single line (“Dad???”).  The ABC drama’s ’gladiators’ as they are called heard it live at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at the end of the first-ever onstage table read of the show using the finale script. The session ended about 10 minutes into the 10 PM PT airing. The cast whooped and hollered too. “The satisfying part is, I knew all along,” Morton crowed as the cast finished reading Act 6 which revealed that Rowan (Joe Morton) is the father of Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). At the top of the session, show creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes said she hoped the experiment would give the audience a feeling of what it’s like to be in the room at a real table read. Washington said she didn’t know that would be a plot twist until the first table read of the script. “I grew up in a household where Joe Morton is a great American hero,” she said. “Every week I would say: ‘Joe, I really hope we have some scenes together. He’d say: ‘We do. We do.’ ”

Related: ABC To Air Some Dramas In Two Batches Of 12 Episodes

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ABC To Air Some Dramas In Two Batches Of 12 Episodes Next Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 9:32am PDT
Nellie Andreeva

ABC is changing things up in scheduling some of its serialized dramas. Taking a page from the cable model, the network will air what ABC president Paul Lee called “a selected group” of dramas in two uninterrupted runs, one in the fall and one in the spring, bridged by limited series. The series that will follow the new scheduling pattern include Once Upon A Time, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and likely Revenge, with others TBD. So far, the network only has set up a bridge series for Once, new adventure reality series The Quest. Lee said such bridge series won’t necessarily be all unscripted. Two cycles of 12 episodes would bring the total orders for the shows to 24, which is hard on a complex, serialized drama, but Lee indicated that number has not been set in stone. He said that the network is looking to further shake up the traditional broadcast scheduling model with “quality launches” throughout the season. Lee also said that new fall drama Betrayal is designed as a limited series, airing 12-13 episodes a season. The same applies to midseason drama Resurrection, which will replace it in the Sunday 10 PM slot in midseason.

Related: ABC 2013-14 Schedule Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Idol’ & ‘Office’ Rise, ‘Scandal’ Hits Series High, ‘Glee’ & ‘Two Men’ Finales Down, ‘Community’ Finale Even

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 9:05am PDT

There was big drama both on and off the stage for American Idol (2.8/9) last night after longtime judge Randy Jackson announced he was leaving earlier in the day and the finalists were voted down to the final two. Now Kree Harrison and Candice Glover will face off in next week’s Season 12 finale along with, according to Ryan Seacrest, a “surprise duet” performance featuring Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert. Coming off a string of all-time lows, Idol was up last night from last week’s results show. The Fox series rose 12% from its May 2 fast nationals and 8% from last week’s final numbers. ABC’s Scandal (3.2/9), meanwhile, surged up 23% from its May 2 show to not only beat Idol again in the key demo in fast nationals but also hit a series high for the political drama.

Related: Seacrest Jokes With Jackson On-Air About ‘Idol’ Departure Read More »

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ABC’s Bubble Freshmen: Who Will Make It?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 9, 2013 @ 10:19pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

At the networks’ upfront presentations, they usually tout their freshman successes. Last year, ABC brought out onstage the casts of breakout freshman dramas Once Upon A Time and Revenge, while CBS built its presentation around 2 Broke Girls. This year, ABC, which normally brings only 1-2 casts to the upfronts, is going with the cast of sophomore Scandal (plus veteran Modern Family, whose trip is paid for by USA as the cable network will showcase the comedy’s syndication rollout). Scandal‘s presence is completely justified as the Shonda Rhimes drama is that rare show that made the leap from an inauspicious start with a 7-episode run at the very end of last season to a bona fide success and a pop culture fixture in Year 2.

But its presence also underlines the fact that, unlike last season, ABC does not have a single breakout freshman series that has been a slam dunk for renewal. NBC has Revolution, CBS has Elementary, Fox has The Following, and the CW has Arrow — all of which received early pickups. ABC is heading into its renewal decisions tomorrow with its entire freshman class on the bubble. The one first-year show that appears most likely to get the nod is country drama Nashville. With a great pedigree, creator Callie Khouri and star Connie Britton, Nashville launched to critical praise and OK ratings. But it’s had a rocky freshman season, with the show going through growing pains and struggling with its creative direction as well as the ratings. I’ve heard accounts of tension between co-producers ABC Studios and Lionsgate and other behind-the-scene issues, including star Britton being unhappy with the experience. But in the end, most problems seem to have been resolved, and Nashville, which at one point looked unlikely to continue, now likely will be on the schedule next season. In addition to the solid response from critics (Britton is a major awards contender), Nashville draws important young viewers and also generates sizable revenue from digital music downloads. The only other freshman ABC drama that is still alive, Red Widow, is not expected to come back.

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UPDATE: RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Idol’ Still Low But Viewership Up In Finals; ‘Big Bang Theory’, ‘Parks & Recreation’ Finale, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ & ‘Two & A Half Men’ Rise

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 3, 2013 @ 3:14pm PDT

UPDATE, 3:14 PM: The final results are in and American Idol has adjusted up in the numbers. While the 2.6/9 rating (up from the 2.5/8 of fast nationals earlier today) is still a new all-time low for regularly scheduled show in the Fox series, the rise in viewership does offer some good news. Idol’s total viewership went up to 11.3 million in the final numbers. Unlike the indication from this morning’s fast nationals, the final number now show that the show has not hit its lowest viewership since August 2002. Today’s final numbers match the final numbers for the two-hour May 2 Idol broadcast. The highest rated and most watched show of the night earlier and still now, CBS’s Big Bang Theory went up in final numbers. The sitcom was up three tenths to a 4.9/17 from its 4.6/16 of fast nationals. That’s up 4% from last week’s finals. BBT was also up to 16.29 million viewers from the 15.69 million of preliminary numbers. While down 6% from last year’s finale in final numbers, last night’s Parks and Recreation season ender was up 23% in the finals from the week before with a 1.6/4. Hannibal, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee and Two And A Half Men were all adjusted up a tenth in the final numbers.

PREVIOUSLY, 9:12 AM: A full week into the May sweep, there was almost nowhere to go but up for most shows last night after the lows and the NFL Draft last Thursday. That however ended up not being the case for everyone, and especially not for American Idol (2.5/8). There wasn’t any more bickering between judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, but Idol still fell to a new regularly scheduled show low. Even though the episode pulled out all the stops on “throwback Thursday,” as Ryan Seacrest called it, Idol still was down more than the previous all-time adults 18-49 low of last week. The show dipped 7% from April 25’s fast nationals and 11% from last week’s final numbers. Fox’s long-running competition series slipped 4% in viewership from last week to 11.0 million, the lowest viewership the series has seen since August 7, 2002 — during its first season. Following Idol, a a Stevie Wonder-themed Glee (1.8/5) was even with last week.

Related: Falling ‘Idol’ Fuels New Mariah-Minaj Feud Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Zero Hour’ Falls, ‘Vampire Diaries’ Up, ‘Idol’ Rises, ‘Parks & Recreation’ And ‘Community’ Hit Lows

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday February 22, 2013 @ 9:22am PST

The second week of ABC’s Zero Hour (1.1/3) saw nightmares of Nazis, more secrets revealed and the Book of Revelation consulted. The new conspiracy drama also the ratings spiral downward. Coming off the lowest-rated in-season debut ever for a scripted show on ABC, the Anthony Edwards show fell 21% from last week. With a 1.3/4, the CW’s 8 PM The Vampire Diaries actually beat both Zero Hour and NBC’s Community (1.1/3) and the 8:30 PM Parks And Recreation (1.3/4) among the key 18-49 demographic for the hour. The CW show was up a strong 30% from last week while the NBC comedies were down 8% and 13% from last week respectively. Thursday also saw series’ lows for both NBC comedies. Beauty And The Beast (0.6/1) was also up on the CW. The show rose 20% from last week’s 0.5/1 fast nationals.

Related: NBC To Finish 5th In Sweeps For First Time
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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘American Idol’ Dips, ‘Glee’ Returns Strong, ‘Last Resort’ Ends Up, ’30 Rock’ Hits Season Viewership High

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday January 25, 2013 @ 9:18am PST

The second show of the second week of American Idol (5.1/4) found the judges taking in auditions in Randy Jackson’s hometown of Baton Rogue, LA. The first one-hour episode of Season 12 dominated the demos and was seen by 15.53 million but dipped 6% from the January 17 show’s 8-9 PM slot –  the same drop compared with fast nationals from the January 26, 2012 show. So far, Idol’s season-to-date four-day average is down 12% year-over-year. Over the same period, Season 11 was down 27% compared with Season 10. With a solid Idol as a lead-in, Glee (2.7/7) came raging back from its winter break, up 35% from its last original December 13. With 11.214 million watching, Fox won the night in overall viewers (11.214 million) and the adults 18-49 demo.

ABC’s freshman series Last Resort (1.2/3) wrapped its abbreviated season and run last night. Cancelled in November, the military drama went out strong, up 20% from last week’s series low. Grey’s Anatomy (3.08) was flat with its January 17 show, and political drama Scandal (1.8/5) was a repeat. However, in the encore universe, it was the show’s best repeat, beating out  the January 3 show’s 0.9 rating. Read More »

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PTC Blasts ABC’s ‘Scandal’ For Torture Scene

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday January 14, 2013 @ 4:24pm PST

The Parents Television Council is lambasting ABC for a torture scene in last week’s episode of Scandal that the group says reveals how broken the content-rating system is. “The brutal nature of that scene, which was rated as appropriate for a 14-year-old child, refutes statements made by an industry claiming to be responsible and concerned about societal violence,” the PTC said in a statement Monday. The January 10 episode of the political drama from creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes had a content advisory at the beginning of the broadcast. But calling the three-minute scene “intense, explicit and bloodied,” the heads-up wasn’t enough for the advocacy group. “It is sickening just how quickly the entertainment industry was able to move past the tragedy of Newtown and get back to business as usual,” said PTC president Tim Winter. The PTC particularly singles out the timing of the episode, coming on the same day entertainment industry representatives met with Vice President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss curbing gun violence in the wake of the Newtown school shooting. The episode marked a Season 2 ratings high for the Kerry Washington-starring drama. Read More »

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‘Scandal’ Creator Shonda Rhimes Says Season 2 Will “Ramp Up The Drama”: TCA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 11, 2013 @ 5:46pm PST

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

Scandal creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes says producers of the ABC series to “ramp up the drama” for the second season. During a conversation on the series’ Hollywood set at the … Read More »

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‘Scandal’s Kerry Washington On ‘Django Unchained’: TCA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 11, 2013 @ 5:45pm PST

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

Kerry Washington, the star of ABC’s Scandal who also has a key role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, was tactfully circumspect today when Deadline asked about Spike Lee’s comments regarding … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Big Bang Theory’ & ‘Scandal’ Hit New Highs, ‘1600 Penn’ Debuts Down

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday January 11, 2013 @ 9:25am PST

A week after hitting its largest audience and ratings ever, The Big Bang Theory (6.3/19) went bigger last night with new all-time highs. The 8 PM CBS science geek comedy pulled in 19.78 million viewers, exceeding the 19.25 million viewers and 3% better than the 6.1/18 rating the show received January 3.  Big Bang wasn’t the only series to hit a new high last night: ABC’s Scandal (2.8/8) was back and burst its previous season high from December 13 with a solid 17% rise from that last original.

Following Big Bang on CBS, Two And A Half Men (4.2/12) slipped a bit from its season high of last week, down 7%. Person Of Interest (3.3/9) dipped 3% from tying its 18-49 demo high December 4. Elementary (2.4/7) was down 8% from last week. With 14.653 million watching, CBS won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.

Having been previewed on December 17, NBC’s 1600 Penn (1.6/4) had its formal time slot debut last night at 9:30 PM. The White House comedy was down 27% from the preview and 6% from Parks And Recreation‘s prior average in the slot. Earlier in the night, 30 Rock (1.4/4) returned; heading toward its hourlong series finale January 31, the Tina Fey comedy was up 27% from its last original five weeks ago and matched its October 4 debut for a season high in the demo. An encore of the 1600 Penn pilot (1.4/4) followed. Back for the last portion of its final season, The Office (2.2/6) returned Thursday night too. The comedy series was up 5% from its last new show December 6. At 10 PM, Rock Center With Brian Williams (1.1/3) returned with a strong 38% rise from its last original December 20. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Scandal’ Hits New High, ‘Up All Night’ Down; CBS Wins Night

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday December 14, 2012 @ 9:29am PST

Thursday saw several shows across the networks wrapping it up for 2012. Hitting highs for the first two of its three-part Season 2 winter finale, Scandal (2.7/7) ended its run last night with a new season best. The political drama from Shonda Rhimes was up 8% from last week. Earlier on ABC, Last Resort (1.2/3) was flat week-over-week, while Rhimes’ other show of the night, Grey’s Anatomy (3.1/8), was up 3% from its December 6 episode. ABC’s fast nationals may be inflated due to an NFL pre-emption in the Philadelphia market.

CBS’ numbers might also have been inflated due to an NFL pre-emption in Cincinnati, but everything was certainly up. The Big Bang Theory, the night’s most-watched show with 16.77 million viewers, rose 4% from last week. In a series of final last first-runs for the year, Two And A Half Men (4.2/12) rose 5%, Person Of Interest (3.0/8) was up 3% and Elementary (2.3/6) rose 10%. With an audience of 13.349 million, CBS won Thurday in viewers and the 18-49 demo. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: Series Highs For ‘Scandal’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday December 7, 2012 @ 9:51am PST
Nellie Andreeva

Shonda Rhimes can do cliffhangers like nobody’s business. She proves it again and again on Grey’s Anatomy, which has some of the highest-rated season finales and premieres for a drama series. (And who can forger the blockbuster two-parter in 2006, which started after the Super Bowl and carried over huge ratings to the series’ Thursday episode). Rhimes proved it again with the three-part winter finale of her newest series, Scandal, which involves the shooting of the show’s fictional president. Last week, Part 1 (2.2/6) popped 10% for a a season high. (In adults 18-34, it hit a series high). Then last night, Part 2 written by Rhimes (2.5/7) jumped another 14% to a series high. The episode posted all-time highs for the sophomore series across the board — total viewers (7.4 million, up 12%) and all key demos, including adults 18-34 and 25-54.

Related: ‘Duck Dynasty’ Season Finale Breaks A&E Ratings Records Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ’30 Rock’ Up, ‘Scandal’ Hits High, ‘Office’ & ‘Parks & Rec’ Hit Lows

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday November 30, 2012 @ 10:36am PST
Nellie Andreeva

Big life celebrations scored in the ratings last night. The Liz Lemon wedding episode of NBC’s departing 30 Rock drew a 1.3/4 in adults 18-49 and 3.6 million viewers. That was up 8% from its last original two weeks ago and the comedy’s best demo rating since Oct. 11 and largest viewership this season. Meanwhile, ABC’s sophomore drama Scandal (2.2/6) popped 10% from its last episode two weeks ago to hit a season high. (In adults 18-34, it hit a series high). That is with Scandal‘s lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy (3.0/8), dipping 6% from two weeks ago to tie its season low. No dead cat bounce for ABC’s Last Resort. In its first airing post cancellation news, the freshman drama (1.0/3) fell 17% from two weeks ago to a series low.

Fox’s Glee (2.2/6), which featured the latest cover of Psy’s ubiquitous Gangham Style, bounced back 47% following the depressed numbers last week when the network aired originals on Thanksgiving. (Fox’s fast nationals for last night may be slightly inflated because of an NFL preemption in New Orleans). The X Factor (2.7/8) was actually down a tenth from last week’s telecast, which was boosted by a football lead-in. Read More »

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UPDATE: ABC’s ‘The Neighbors’ & ‘Scandal’ Get Full-Season Orders

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday October 29, 2012 @ 4:42pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

Following its three-script order earlier this month, ABC’s freshman comedy The Neighbors has received a back-nine order for a full-season 22-episode run. The alien comedy, from Cars writer Dan Fogelman, had a ratings uptick this past Wednesday in the 8:30 PM slot. Fogelman is executive producing with Aaron Kaplan.

Also getting a back-nine is sophomore ABC drama Scandal starring Kerry Washington. Shonda Rhimes’ drama entered the fall with a 13-episode order as it launched in midseason. It  had been expected to continue and sealed its pickup with a solid ratings showing last Thursday. Both The Neighbors and Scandal were up a tenth from their previous airings last week to a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49. Both hail from ABC Studios. It was a bittersweet week for Rhimes, whose other series with a 13-episode order, Private Practice, did not get a back order. She also has Scandal‘s lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Scandal’ Inches Up, ‘Last Resort’ Drops, ‘POI’ Tops ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday October 26, 2012 @ 9:31am PDT
Nellie Andreeva

Scandal Ratings ABCABC’s lineup last night featured two series anxiously awaiting word on a back order: dramas Last Resort and Scandal. One of them got good news. Scandal (2.0/5 in adults 18-49), which had been all but assured a back-nine order, sealed the deal with a ratings uptick of 5% from last week. (It was up across all key demographics, including 18-34, where it spiked 15%). And Scandal did it with its lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy (2.9/8), down 15% from last week to a season low. Airing against Game 2 of the World Series, ABC’s male-skewing Last Resort (1.3/4) tumbled 24% from last week to a series low despite ABC putting extra promotional muscle behind the episode. Baseball was a mitigating factor, and Last Resort is a major DVR gainer but the Live+Same Day delivery was nevertheless disappointing.

CBS’ male-skewing The Big Bang Theory and Person Of Interest did not get dinged by baseball. Big Bang (4.8/14) was up a tenth from its fast national last Thursday, even with the final, to again lead the night. Person Of Interest (3.0/8) was up 7% to match its season high and top Grey’s for the first time this season. The hammock show between the two, veteran Two And A Half Men (3.7/11), slipped 7% from last week’s highly rated Miley Cyrus episode but was still 6% above the episode from two weeks ago, indicating some of the Cyrus ratings gains have stuck. At 10 PM, Elementary (2.2/6) shed another tenth for a new low but still topped the 10 PM hour. Read More »

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First Seasons Of ABC’s ‘Revenge’, ‘Once Upon A Time’ & Scandal’ Head To Netflix

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday September 10, 2012 @ 7:16am PDT
Nellie Andreeva

Putting Breaking Bad on Netflix is credited for the ratings surge the AMC series has experienced this season as more viewers discover the serialized drama. ABC is hoping for a similar bump for the second seasons of its returning serialized dramas Once Upon A Time, Revenge and ScandalIn a unusual move so early into series’ runs, the complete first seasons of  the three ABC shows are being made available for U.S. members to watch instantly on Netflix and will become exclusive to Netflix at the end of the month. The move is timed to get the three series out just days before their second-season premieres. Read More »

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Duo Join ABC’s ‘Scandal’ As Recurring, Ian Hart Cast In DirecTV’s ‘Rogue’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday July 27, 2012 @ 7:16am PDT
Nellie Andreeva

Jillian Armenante Scandal CastingGregg Henry Scandal CastingGregg Henry (Hung) and Jillian Armenante have booked recurring roles on the upcoming second season of Shonda Rhimes’ ABC drama Scandal, which is undergoing casting changes. Domain-repped Henry will play Jackson, a big-money Southern guy who is smart and warm unless you cross him. Armenante, currently seen in The Dark Knight Rises, will play the role of Lucas which was originally written as male. Lucas is described as smart, well-spoken and brash. Armenante is with Domain and Framework. Read More »

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