Posted by Vee | July 27, 2009, 15:53 (EST) | 2 Comments
Category: TV Series

If you were following my (and others’) woeful updates on Twitter this past Friday, you know that the line for Ballroom 20 was an intimidating sight to behold. Fresh off the plane and armed with a bottle of water (and guided by Paul Wesley, funnily enough), I managed to make it in just in time for the Dollhouse panel, where they screened the unaired ep “Epitaph One” – featuring Chris William Martin, who plays Zach in the Vampire Diaries pilot. Was the universe trying to tell me something?

In addition to Kevin Williamson, the TV Guide: SciFi Hot List panel featured a diverse mix of stars and showrunners from existing and upcoming Warner Bros. shows: Zachary Levi from Chuck, Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki from The Big Bang Theory, Rebecca Romijn from Eastwick, Scott Peters and Scott Wolf from V, Allison DuBois (the real-life psychic that Medium is based on), and John Cho and Marc Guggenheim of Flash Forward. The panel was moderated by Craig Tomashoff, executive editor for TV Guide Magazine.

Fortunately, KW was one of the more prominent speakers on the panel; his return to television is a big enough deal on its own, but that his new show is supernatural-based was of particular interest here. When asked what attracts him to television as a writer/creator, he talked of the medium’s “immediacy” and the ability to tell a long story that you can live with every week. “TV’s tough right now” – there’s a greater opportunity to develop the characters, and genre TV in particular has the ability to hook viewers. (And, I would add, genre TV tends to inspire intensely devoted followings – as the entire Con is a testament to.) He talked about his love for True Blood – which inspired big support from the crowd – and also name-checked The Six Million Dollar Man as the genre show he couldn’t get enough of in his youth. (Which makes me wonder if we were spot-on in wondering way back when if Elena’s mother’s maiden name of “Sommers” was a Bionic Woman reference?)

Of course the Twilight phenomenon came up and KW handled it much the same way we’ve seen the cast address it these past few months – acknowledge it, and then move on to why The Vampire Diaries is different. He seemed sincere when he said, “I’m having a good time.” We were also treated to the extended preview, which received a warm response, and Ian’s appearance onscreen brought a big cheer.

Here’s a cool behind-the-scenes video courtesy of TV Guide:

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