Paley Festival (a.k.a., TV Boyfriend Weekend), part 1
Lordy, what a weekend. I haven't felt this exhausted and satisfied in years :)
I'll post about our Michael Rosenbuam sighting/squeeing later, because I just remembered that I have to get ready for work :)
Supernatural at the Paley might be in two parts. Seriously, I took thorough notes. Great panelists (no McG!), pretty good Q&A, which opened with my question (!!), and they stuck around to sign & talk. And OMG, I didn't spaz half as badly as I thought I would. (I saved that for later.) Gah, MT&R needs to release that DVD now.
Until then, prepare to declare Mary McDonnell your favorite lady ever...
I took very few notes at Friday's Battlestar Galactica panel. kelbelle and fenwic took thorough notes, so look for full reports from them tomorrow or Tuesday.
* Yay, I saw softeranswer! Also saw Lance (who quit a few weeks ago & who is very much missed at work) was there with his youngest son. I also met Kel's friend Carrie, whose love for Bono knows no bounds. The audience had potential to be super-geeky, but no one freaked out until the very end. [see below]
* William C. Paley, William S. Paley's son, attended & spoke briefly. He's a huge fan of the show. We heard Kevin Smith was there, too, though we didn't see him. Meh, I've already seen him IRL.
* They screened "Lay Down Your Burdens, part 1," the episode that aired Friday night. Prior to that, they played a scene from the original series, featuring Baltar & his cape, the formerly male Starbuck and Boomer, and Lorne Greene in his fabulous Adama cape.
* panel participants, sitting L to R on stage: Grace Park, James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, and creators David Eick & Ronald Moore. Everyone looked good, thought EJO's hair was a little scary. (Hopefully, fenwic will post her pic of Katee in her that cute halter.)
* I'm interested in which actors are friends and/or are actually paying attention, so I watched for body language: Right after Jamie sat down, he patted James' knee. James put his arm across the back of Jamie's chair, then leaned in to whisper; Katee whispered to Jamie a lot. Seriously, a lot; Mary McDonnell, who even dressed like Roslin, look around the audience a lot, smiling that cute & sincere smile the entire time, and paid close attention. She seemed genuinely happy to be there, giggly just like Roslin before the debate; Grace Park sat stick straight the entire time, so she looked awkward when she leaned forward for her water; EJO was himself (if that makes any sense). He's a very intelligent man & proved that to us for minutes on end. (I mean, he's a great speaker, but after awhile I was dying to hear the other five actors speak.) David & Ron were funny and speak passionately about the show.
* Trcia Helfer wasn't there, but she taped a message. Cute moment: she motioned with both hands at the bottom of the screen and said, "Be nice to these guys!"
* When Ron & David wrote the miniseries, they used Mary & EJO as archetypes for Roslin & Adama. (Mary's role in Donnie Darko in particular.) They never thought they'd get either actor in those roles. Ron's mission statement, which wasn't supposed to reach the actors, eventually convinced Mary & EJO to read the script.
* Jamie watched the original show but didn't remember Apollo. "I remembered Adama, Starbuck, even the dog..."
* James showed up a day early for his audition & thought he blew it. He also watched the original show, but didn't want to play Baltar, "the fruity guy in a cape."
* Katee just wanted to shoot a gun & wasn't picky about which character she wanted to portray. She didn't watch the original until after she got the part (I think? Or after they started shooting?). Her father urged her to watch it, but wouldn't tell her why. Paraphrasing her story... Katee & a friend grabbed a bottle of wine & watched the old show. "They kept talking about Starbuck, but I didn't see her on screen. So we rewound & watched again..." At some point, she realized Starbuck was a man: "Oh, holy shit!"
* Grace orginally read for Starbuck & wanted that part; didn't want to be Sharon "because she seemed like the nice girl." That's when Katee explained she really wanted to be Sharon because she was the nice girl & wasn't sure she could play Starbuck.
* They took about 3 or 4 questions from the audience, only one which was slightly cringe-worthy. A guy basically asked how he could sell his genre show to a network, though he was smart enough to reword it with generic terms & direct it toward David & Ron's experiences.
* Trivia contest at the end, which probably cut the Q&A short.
As soon as the moderator finished with the thanks, etc., about 50 people ran down our aisle. The eight panelists immediately got up & headed offstage. I took a few pictures, but I'm not sure how they turned out.
I'll post about our Michael Rosenbuam sighting/squeeing later, because I just remembered that I have to get ready for work :)
Supernatural at the Paley might be in two parts. Seriously, I took thorough notes. Great panelists (no McG!), pretty good Q&A, which opened with my question (!!), and they stuck around to sign & talk. And OMG, I didn't spaz half as badly as I thought I would. (I saved that for later.) Gah, MT&R needs to release that DVD now.
Until then, prepare to declare Mary McDonnell your favorite lady ever...
I took very few notes at Friday's Battlestar Galactica panel. kelbelle and fenwic took thorough notes, so look for full reports from them tomorrow or Tuesday.
* Yay, I saw softeranswer! Also saw Lance (who quit a few weeks ago & who is very much missed at work) was there with his youngest son. I also met Kel's friend Carrie, whose love for Bono knows no bounds. The audience had potential to be super-geeky, but no one freaked out until the very end. [see below]
* William C. Paley, William S. Paley's son, attended & spoke briefly. He's a huge fan of the show. We heard Kevin Smith was there, too, though we didn't see him. Meh, I've already seen him IRL.
* They screened "Lay Down Your Burdens, part 1," the episode that aired Friday night. Prior to that, they played a scene from the original series, featuring Baltar & his cape, the formerly male Starbuck and Boomer, and Lorne Greene in his fabulous Adama cape.
* panel participants, sitting L to R on stage: Grace Park, James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, and creators David Eick & Ronald Moore. Everyone looked good, thought EJO's hair was a little scary. (Hopefully, fenwic will post her pic of Katee in her that cute halter.)
* I'm interested in which actors are friends and/or are actually paying attention, so I watched for body language: Right after Jamie sat down, he patted James' knee. James put his arm across the back of Jamie's chair, then leaned in to whisper; Katee whispered to Jamie a lot. Seriously, a lot; Mary McDonnell, who even dressed like Roslin, look around the audience a lot, smiling that cute & sincere smile the entire time, and paid close attention. She seemed genuinely happy to be there, giggly just like Roslin before the debate; Grace Park sat stick straight the entire time, so she looked awkward when she leaned forward for her water; EJO was himself (if that makes any sense). He's a very intelligent man & proved that to us for minutes on end. (I mean, he's a great speaker, but after awhile I was dying to hear the other five actors speak.) David & Ron were funny and speak passionately about the show.
* Trcia Helfer wasn't there, but she taped a message. Cute moment: she motioned with both hands at the bottom of the screen and said, "Be nice to these guys!"
* When Ron & David wrote the miniseries, they used Mary & EJO as archetypes for Roslin & Adama. (Mary's role in Donnie Darko in particular.) They never thought they'd get either actor in those roles. Ron's mission statement, which wasn't supposed to reach the actors, eventually convinced Mary & EJO to read the script.
* Jamie watched the original show but didn't remember Apollo. "I remembered Adama, Starbuck, even the dog..."
* James showed up a day early for his audition & thought he blew it. He also watched the original show, but didn't want to play Baltar, "the fruity guy in a cape."
* Katee just wanted to shoot a gun & wasn't picky about which character she wanted to portray. She didn't watch the original until after she got the part (I think? Or after they started shooting?). Her father urged her to watch it, but wouldn't tell her why. Paraphrasing her story... Katee & a friend grabbed a bottle of wine & watched the old show. "They kept talking about Starbuck, but I didn't see her on screen. So we rewound & watched again..." At some point, she realized Starbuck was a man: "Oh, holy shit!"
* Grace orginally read for Starbuck & wanted that part; didn't want to be Sharon "because she seemed like the nice girl." That's when Katee explained she really wanted to be Sharon because she was the nice girl & wasn't sure she could play Starbuck.
* They took about 3 or 4 questions from the audience, only one which was slightly cringe-worthy. A guy basically asked how he could sell his genre show to a network, though he was smart enough to reword it with generic terms & direct it toward David & Ron's experiences.
* Trivia contest at the end, which probably cut the Q&A short.
As soon as the moderator finished with the thanks, etc., about 50 people ran down our aisle. The eight panelists immediately got up & headed offstage. I took a few pictures, but I'm not sure how they turned out.