We got to start off by having some casual conversation. Adam’s no stranger to Comic Con and being a fan cult hero (Firefly). He started by asking how our Comic Con was going so far. He admitted he hadn’t been out to the floor yet but hoped to do so after the signing. He did notice one thing...
“There are many hats floating around that are nostalgic for me. Yes, those orange knitted hats from a show long, long ago and far, far away. So there’s that, it’s always nice to see, people are very supportive of my work in the past. I like that.”
|
We had a nice five minute chat with Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike) at Comic Con in the Chuck press room. He was in a really good mood and hopeful that the fans would come through and take Chuck beyond this so called "final season." What he didn't tell us, but I discovered from walking down 4th street in San Diego, was that he was headlining a stand up show at a local club that weekend. It was a pretty impressive poster on the front of that building. I do need to check out one of his stand up routines.
As we were getting started, I complemented him on his hat, which was pretty fine looking in my opinion. He had a small hat story to go with it! “I didn’t have a lot of hats before, baseball caps mainly, I bought this hat, wore it on stage for stand up one night, and all of a sudden people started sending me a hats so I’m got a lot of hats.”
After having a great roundtable interview with Julie Plec, our table sat around for a while waiting. Time was running thin and we still hadn’t talked to both Michael and Candice. They both ended up at our table at the same time, thus not giving us the promised full amount of time with each. Michael arrived first and Candice snuck in a minute later. Michael left while Candice answered a few questions. I’ll indicate which actor answered which question just to minimize confusion. I’ll also indicate which questions were mine. I again was extremely fortunate to get in quite a few (a rarity at these things).
We had a little chance to talk casually with Michael before getting started. He first noticed the two new iPad 2s that were at the table and was quite impressed (as was I, staring at my original iPad in shame). He has been busy in his off time. He’s been spending time in LA taking care of business and doing photo shoots and after this event will be heading to Eyecon in Atlanta. “Tyler is hopefully on his way back soon,” he said in response to when he’ll be shooting again. After that, we were ready to begin with the questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many with Michael.
I have been in a Chuck press room at Comic Con before and this is the fourth time I’ve attended a Chuck panel, but I never had the honor of meeting Executive Producer Chris Fedak until now. He missed our press table due to lack of time at Comic Con and the opportunity never presented itself the other times.
As an avid watcher of Chuck since the pilot episode though, I’ve grown to love this man’s work. Executive Producer Josh Schwartz told me in that press room all that dorky humor that dominates this show comes from Chris. He really is the true creative genius behind it all. He knows how us 80’s geeks think! So when I heard he was coming to Chicago’s C2E2 Expo this year, I had to try again and make the trip.
This weekend I had the pleasure of attending C2E2, the second annual Comic and Entertainment Expo held in Chicago. This year, Warner Brothers brought for the first time to this event producers and actors from two shows to the event. One of those shows was the CW hit show The Vampire Diaries.
In the press room the first person that sat down in our roundtable session was Executive Producer Julie Plec, who calls the Chicago area home. She proudly told us before getting started with the Q & A that she is a Park Forest native and a Northwestern University grad. After getting settled, we got started. Julie had a lot to reveal about her show’s renewal prospects for season three, the creative process that has gone into the show’s two very successful seasons, how characters like Jonathan Gilbert and Elijah have really enhanced the show, how secondary characters have become really important this year and that how Damon’s character journey is giving Ian Somerhandler a few challenges.
No worries spoilerphobes, you’re pretty safe here. Questions from me personally are indicated in parenthesis. I was very fortunate to get several questions in.
A successful show entering its fourth season has a lot to feel great about but there’s a lot to live up to as well. For The Big Bang Theory there’s a different challenge. They are not only under pressure to satisfy the faithful, but now they have to headline a new comedy block on a new night for their network. For executive producers Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, a time change is nothing compared to pushing the creative direction. There are bigger fish to fry.
It is premiere week on The CW, that traditional time for a few of their proven favorites and new offerings to be showcased at least a week or two before the other networks. Up this week, America’s Next Top Model, new show Hellcats, The Vampire Diaries, and another new show whose name might be familiar but with a tone that is anything but. That show is Nikita, a continuation of sorts of the La Femme Nikita franchise of the 1990s.
“The difference is that this tells the part of the story that no one’s seen before. This tells the story about Nikita after she’s already left the agency, after she’s escaped,” said executive producer Craig Silverstein at our press roundtable session at Comic-Con in July. “She’s being hunted by the agency that created her. She’s trying to take them down at the same time. And as we’re following that story we’re also following the story of a new young recruit who’s brought into to replace her.”
The CW is no stranger to rebooting old '90s' franchises and giving them a new spin. Still, Nikita is quite different than the soapy fare of 90210 and Melrose Place. Why this franchise?
“They were looking for a female, kick-ass action show, their Alias they wanted,” explained Silverstein. “Warner Brothers owns Nikita and the rights to the name. It was just up to me to try to figure out a take that was different enough, that it wasn’t a straight redo.”
What happens when a web series gets to be a cable TV show? Especially when the web series is an unconventional medical spoof comedy that involves unfunny and bloody clowns, outrageous medical cases, and horny doctors who can’t seem to control their behavior around young patients? Adult Swim will find out this Sunday. Childrens Hospital, with no apostrophe because the hospital is named after founder Arthur Childrens ("I believe the Childrens are the future"), is the wacky brainchild of creator/producer/actor Rob Corddry (The Daily Show).
“I dislocated my daughter’s shoulder one afternoon and had to take her to Children’s Hospital,” said Corddry in the press room at Comic-Con a few weeks ago. “It was the least funny place I’d ever been in my life. Somehow the idea was born of that.”
Mythbusters. Seven seasons; 147 episodes; 738 myths tested; 419 myths busted; 171 myths confirmed; 148 myths plausible; 2,326 experiments performed; 725 explosions; 115 vehicles destroyed; 11 tons of explosives used.
|
|
| 
| 
