As if the “Hannibal” cast couldn’t get any more extraordinary, “X-Files” vet Gillian Anderson has just jumped on board. According to Entertainment Weekly, she will be joining the upcoming NBC series for a multi-episode arc in which she plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s psychiatrist. Read a statement on Gillian’s casting from Bryan Fuller below:

“Every therapist needs their own head examined and we are ecstatic that Gillian Anderson has chosen ‘Hannibal’ to mark her return to American television after ten years to portray Dr. Lecter’s personal psychiatrist. Her intelligence and sophistication, not to mention her pedigree of ground-breaking TV, make her the perfect actress to match wits and psychological manipulations with one of the greatest villains of pop culture. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Not much to this article, but Mads Mikkelsen recently commented on “Hannibal,” the upcoming NBC series created and written by Bryan Fuller. When talking to Entertainment Weekly, he mentioned what to expect with the “thriller” (along with where they are production-wise):

“I’m in Toronto until next year at least. ‘Hannibal’ is a thriller. It’s something you can get away with in American television, and quite bloody. There’s a lot of gruesomeness in this one, but it’s a big big mind game. We’ve only shot six or seven episodes now.”

It seems Bryan Fuller is getting an amazing cast together for “Hannibal”: Broadway star (and “Pushing Daisies” veteran) Raul Esparza has joined the upcoming NBC series! According to TV Line, Esparza will be in “at least two episodes” as Dr. Frederick Chilton, the sanitarium director at Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Although there is little information on this news, it’s assumed that Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) will meet Dr. Chilton when visiting a BCH patient claiming to be the Chesapeake Ripper. As was recently reported, that patient will be played by “Mockingbird Lane” vet, Eddie Izzard.

While we wait for NBC’s decision on whether or not they’ll continue with “Mockingbird Lane,” Eddie Izzard fans have a new reason to celebrate: he’ll be seen on Bryan Fuller’s other upcoming television series, “Hannibal.”

Entertainment Weekly broke the news earlier, announcing that Izzard will be guest staring as an inmate claiming to be “the infamous Chesapeake Ripper.” Although his character’s name was unnannounced, here’s an additional interesting tidbit: he’ll be an inmate at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, aka where we eventually find Hannibal Lecter incarcerated.

Looks like Bryan Fuller is no longer attached to Pinocchio, as Jane Goldman has been brought on board the Warner Brothers movie to rewrite the screenplay. I was personally really looking forward to Bryan and Robert Downey, Jr. working together, so this is quite a bummer! Check out the release below:

Jane Goldman is in negotiations to work on the script for the project, lending considerable heat to what would see Tim Burton direct Robert Downey Jr. for the first time.

While no deals are in place with Burton and Downey, the two have for months been dancing around the project and talking to the studio about it. Goldman’s hiring is meant to bring the courtship to a close and initiate commitments as she will be incorporating Downey’s notes.

Dan Jinks is producing.

The Pinocchio story is a children’s classic (written by Italian Carlo Collodi), though it might be best remembered via the 1940 animated Disney classic. In the version being developed at Warner Bros., Downey would play Geppetto, the woodcarver who creates a puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy and whose nose grows when he tells a lie. When Pinocchio goes missing, Geppetto embarks on a quest to reunite with his marionette.

Bryan Fuller (“Pushing Daisies”) wrote the initial draft.

SOURCE

I’ve added screen caps of four different “Pushing Daisies” episodes to the gallery. You can now find HD captures of the following season four episodes: “The Legend of Merle McQuoddy,” “The Norwegians,” “Window Dressed to Kill,” and “Water & Power.” They are all so generously provided by whimsicons@livejournal.com. Hopefully there will be screen caps from the final episode of the series – “Kerplunk” – very soon. Enjoy!

I’ve added just over 1,500(!) screen caps from the “Mockingbird Lane” Halloween special (aka the would-be pilot episode). Although I don’t usually upload so many caps per television episode, I figured this was an exception considering its title as a one-hour “special.” Unfortunately, the caps aren’t super HD, but it was the best video of the episode currently available — and it’s unknown whether or not we’ll get it on DVD. For now, enjoy!

Entertainment Weekly was kind enough to provide some stills and behind the scenes shots for the pilot episode of Bryan Fuller’s upcoming television series, “Hannibal.” Hugh Dancy (Will Graham), Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal Lecter), Laurence Fishburne (Jack Crawford), and even Bryan Fuller himself are all featured in the images, which have all been added to the gallery. They are currently still filming the episode in Canada with an air date to be announced.

Huffington Post has conducted a new article with Bryan Fuller where he talks strictly about “Mockingbird Lane.” There are some details on the progress of getting it to air, including finding the right time for it. What’s great to note is that Bryan mentioned NBC has “until the end of December or beginning of January” to decide whether or not to take “Mockingbird Lane” to series — so there is still a chance of seeing a full season! Remember to tune in and tell your friends: the Munsters are back, Friday, October 26th at 8PM.

“Mockingbird Lane”‘s status has gone from alive to not-so-alive over the past couple years, which seems appropriate given Grandpa’s undead.
[laughs] Exactly! The show has had this Frankenstein-ian life — and unlife.

October feels like the perfect time to air this show.
“Mockingbird Lane” is an autumnal show, and belongs with the Season of the Witch. Part of why both “The Walking Dead” and “American Horror Story” do so well is they belong in October when everybody is geared for a certain level of monstrosity. The decision when it came around to air the pilot on as a Halloween special, which was not entirely unexpected, we were like, “Oh, yay! We’re actually going to do this.” Jennifer Salke [NBC President of Entertainment] always said to me, “I love this show — I’m not sure who the audience is, but I want to get it out there and let it create an audience.” And that was very reassuring, because there have been a lot of pilots that never aired that were a lot more expensive than this pilot; so it’s not about the money NBC spent on it, it was “when is the right time for this show to find its audience.”

What inspired you in reinventing the concept of “The Munsters”?
I was inspired by what informed “The Munsters” of its time, which included Dracula, The Wolfman, Marilyn Monroe, Frankenstein’s monster, and then there was Eddie’s pet Spot, who was informed by Godzilla. It was this mashup of different pop culture icons. So I went back to the central inspirational premise of that show, and if Grandpa is Dracula, then who is the touchstone for today’s Dracula? I believe it’s Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula who presented Count Dracula in a really iconic way.

FOR MORE, GO HERE.

There’s been so much casting news with regards to “Hannibal” that it’s been a little difficult to keep up. That said, here are some recent newcomers to the ever-growing (and impeccable) cast established for the upcoming NBC television series.

• Lara Jean Chorostecki (Freddie Lounds): “Freddie Lounds – aka Freddy Lounds, the sleazy tabloid reporter – is more sophisticated in her manipulations than her male predecessors, but no less daring, making her a foil for not only Will Graham, but Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford as well.” TV LINE

• Hettienne Park (Beverly Katz): “A bright-eyed yet weary crime scene investigator who specializes in working with fibers. When she first encounters Will [Graham], she confronts the criminal profiler about his unusual role with the FBI and flags the special treatment he receives. While the duo initially clashes, their relationship could potentially become a romantic one.” SHOCK TILL YOU DROP

• Chelan Simmons (Gretchen Speck-Horowitz) is reprising her role from “Wonderfalls.” TV LINE

• Scott Thompson (Jimmy Price): “The third member of the FBI crime scene investigation team. Jimmy specializes in fingerprinting and spatter patterns at crime scenes.” THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

• Ellen Green (Mrs. Komeda): “Novelist and member of Boston’s cultural elite. She’s also a pal of the titular cannibal, Dr. Lecter.” TV LINE

• Gina Torres has joined as the wife of Jack Crawford (played by real-life husband, Laurence Fishburne). TV LINE