Trending at Mediaweek: Mercado’s Top 5

The new US TV season is underway – here is Andrew Mercado’s Top 5 tidbits about what’s coming up:

1. Australian stars continue to take over Hollywood.

James Noble will play Sherlock’s (Jonny Lee Miller) father in Ten’s Elementary, Miranda Otto is a new CIA chief in Ten’s fast-tracked Homeland, Sullivan Stapleton is an FBI agent in Seven’s fast-tracked Blindspot and Liam Hemsworth will guest star on Seven’s new series of The Muppets. Does this mean Miss Piggy is about to develop a taste for Aussie men?

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2. Morgan Freeman is one of Madam Secretary’s executive producers and he will also soon appear in a cameo role.

No word yet on who he will play but given he has already played God in two Bruce Almighty movies, let’s assume his deep voice is being tapped for a president or some other important world leader. Meanwhile, cult star Bruce Campbell isn’t just appearing in Stan’s upcoming Ash VS Evil Dead series – he also features in SBS’ Fargo prequel as … wait for it … Ronald Reagan!

3. New cast members on Fargo

Jennifer Love Hewitt may have joined the cast of Seven’s Criminal Minds but she has already departed after just one season due to her having a baby (on the show and in real life). And although it looked like Ted Danson was about to depart TV for a while, he’s bouncing from the finale of Nine’s CSI to continue on as the same character on Ten’s CSI: Cyber. And he too will star in the Fargo prequel alongside Kirsten Dunst and Aussie actor Angus Sampson.

Featured picture: Patrick Wilson and Ted Danson in Fargo.

4. Remember the first time Heroes screened with the tagline “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World”?

When Heroes Reborn makes its fast-track return on Seven, it will begin with news that the “Cheerleader” has not been saved. The new 13-episode reboot has killed off cheerleader Claire and that’s probably because actress Hayden Panettiere is firmly ensconced on Foxtel’s Nashville. Heroes may be reborn but let’s see how long it lives on Seven in a primetime timeslot (I give it two weeks).

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5. Allison Janney wins her seventh Emmy

Allison Janney just won her seventh Emmy Award for Nine’s Mom so it must have been a requirement to find another incredible actress to guest star as her mom. What better choice then than Ellen Burstyn who has won the Triple Crown of Acting with an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award. Burstyn is perfect to play the mother of Janney’s alcoholic character given she also played the mother of one of cinema’s all time demon children in The Exorcist.