By Romeo San Vicente
Ron Weasley explodes in 'Cherry Bomb'
Turn kids into movie stars and soon enough they'll want to start acting in movies about hookers and drugs to show you how grown up they are. Daniel Radcliffe went the art-theater route by getting naked on stage in "Equus," but his "Harry Potter" pal Rupert Grint has gone full-tilt depraved in "Cherry Bomb," a film about a wild teen weekend that goes all wrong. According to early reports, Mr. Grint snorts coke, has sex with night-ladies and is somehow involved in a bisexual love triangle before the closing credits roll. Sounds like Romeo's idea of a fun weekend. Shot back in 2008, the movie has no official release date yet but it's about to hit film festivals, which means multiplex audiences will get their eyes on it later in 2010 or sometime in 2011.
Jennifer Beals: Chief of Police
On "The L Word," Jennifer Beals as Better Porter was quite often the one character in the mix who seemed to keep her head screwed on properly when everyone else was coming unglued. So it makes perfect sense that Fox would want to cast the unflappable one as Chicago's first female police chief in its new series "Ride-Along." Don't get too excited yet, lesbians. This might signal major progress since the days of "Police Woman," but it's still a pilot and comes fully equipped with the usual warnings – it might not make the schedule, its star could be re-cast, or they might decide to set it in outer space with a choir of singing teenagers. But as of right now you're one step closer to seeing the lady packing heat and using it on wrongdoers.
Ann Coulter, The Sitcom
"Wright vs. Wrong," at first glance, sounds like a show made up to justify its cutely clever title. A conservative right-wing TV commentator doing regular comedy battle with a liberal counterpart and a snarky manager, a workplace sitcom designed to appeal to both red and blue states, but one that will probably swing to the left (it's Hollywood, after all). And who knows, that may be what we wind up with, but at least it has a cool cast to flesh out the material. Debra Messing stars as the female Glenn Beck while Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") will pick up duties on the left. And best of all, Carrie Fisher will star as the sarcasm-dispensing boss. And how weird will it be if the "Will & Grace" star's new character has an anti-gay bent? Will she choke on the dialogue or deliver it like a pro, Archie Bunker-style?
Romeo really wants this one to make it on the air.
Superheroes in the 'Family'
Greg Berlanti, the talented gay writer/producer with credits like "Dawson's Creek," "Everwood" and "Brothers & Sisters" under his belt, wants to introduce you to a new pack of brothers and sisters in "No Ordinary Family." Starring Michael Chiklis, Romany Malco (-"Weeds") and Julie Benz ("Dexter"), the action series centers on a family who discovers that they all have superpowers, sort of like "X-Men" crossed with "The Brady Bunch." It's due in the fall. Meanwhile, Berlanti is currently directing the feature "Life As We Know It," about two single adults who become overnight parents to the children of mutual friends who die in an accident. That one stars Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas and "Mad Men"'s Christina Hendricks and, in spite of its heavy premise, is actually a comedy and is scheduled to surface sometime later this year, which is far enough into the future to help us forget about those other Katherine Heigl-starring comedies we've seen.
