Navy on TV

Fox TV carrier project casts female lead, but falls off pilot schedule

By Kevin Lilley on March 22, 2013 Aviation, Entertainment

A few days after casting a familiar face for a key male role, the producers of “Wild Blue,” a TV drama in development for Fox that will be set on an aircraft carrier, found their female lead … then put their entire cast on ice. Gina Rodriguez, recently of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” will bring both those traits to the new project as Pilar “Maytag” Robles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Three days later, THR reported the entire project would be pushed out of the traditional fall season pilot filming window, with producers failing to lure country singer and…

Ready for your close-up? 'Company Town' seeks extras

By Kevin Lilley on March 15, 2013 Entertainment, Navy, Norfolk Naval Station

Heard about the CW Network pilot “Company Town”? Eager to begin a Hollywood career like other sailors before you? Well, we’d suggest acting classes. Or an agent. But if you’re looking to be part of the scenery of the Norfolk, Va.-based young-adult drama that could find its way to your TV set this fall, you’re in luck. The show wants you as an extra, and it’s holding an open call Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Paradise Ocean Club in Fort Monroe, Va., according to multiple media reports. Orchestra-style musicians, hospital-staff types and twentysomethings were singled out…

Carrier-based Fox TV pilot casts Mykelti Williamson in key chief role

By Kevin Lilley on March 11, 2013 Entertainment

A Fox television pilot that promises to tell stories aboard an aircraft carrier from both officer and enlisted perspectives has cast a critical part for such an endeavor. Mykelti Williamson, whose most recent work has been on the FX drama “Justified,” has been cast as Command Master Chief Donald Bowman in the flattop-themed “Wild Blue,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. He’s likely best known for his portrayal of Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue in a small independent film Oscar-winning blockbuster “Forrest Gump,” but his credits include everything from guest shots on TV classics (“Starsky and Hutch,” “The White Shadow”) to regular…

Norfolk TV show moving forward, with a new name

By Kevin Lilley on January 23, 2013 Entertainment

With “Last Resort” sailing toward its “kick-ass ending,” fans of Navy-centric television that doesn’t include the initials “NCIS” are out of luck for a few months. But as we reported earlier this month, there are a half-dozen shows with Navy ties in the Hollywood development pipeline, ranging from dramas set on aircraft carriers to updates of Cold War-era apocalypse novels. One of those new shows, a pilot headed to the CW network about young sailors’ lives and loves on a large East Coast naval base, was supposed to be titled “Norfolk.” Here’s a summary, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter: A…

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